friday, september 19, 2003
the university daily kansan
news
7A
A crowd followed Reverend Billy down Massachusetts Street as he praises local businesses and chastises corporate stores. Billy taien was an out-of-work actor the mid-'90s before he created the "Reverend" out of disgust with consumerism and the temptation to shop.
The Reverend Billy condemns the globalization of corporate America with an accusing finger.
'Reverend' uses religious persona to preach against corporate greed
John Nowak/Kansas
Anti-corporate act features parade play and protest
By Steve Schmidt
sschmidt@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Clad in a preacher's outfit, sporting an Elvis-style hairdo and armed with a Southern accent, Reverend Billy has come to town. But instead of saving sinners from dammation, he's going after consumers who he says continue to feed big business a corporal fighting corporate America religiously.
The production, about the immediate effects of Sept. 11 on New York City, will run at 7:30 p.m today and tomorrow at the Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall.
America religiously. Reverend Billy's real name is Bill Talen. Before becoming The Reverend, the 53-year-old worked as an actor in San Francisco and later in New York City.
cisco and later in lawrence Sunday. His week-long stay filled with protests, workshops and demonstrations will end with two performances of his play, Other Love.
phy Han.
Talen and Savitri Durkee, the play's director, hesitated to say much about the show, wanting audiences to discover the story themselves.
themselves.
"It's really about psychological collisions that people faced," Durkee said. "We thought it was a real opportunity for global change, a time to step forward."
Durkee said the country, behind the leadership of President Bush and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, took several steps backward at a crucial time by allowing corporate America to capitalize on the country's fragile state.
Talen began his Reverend Billy routine in 1997 when Disney attempted to take over all of Times Square.
"They wanted to make 'Times Square — the theme park,' " he said.
After marching up to the company's Times Square location and giving a sermon, a character—and a following—was born.
and a following
Since then Talen has been taking his act across the country by spreading his message of supporting small businesses instead of large corporate chain stores. He said that large corporations mainly used sweatshops and other forms of cheap labor and led to an array of domestic and foreign problems.
of donate what we don't "The transnational companies do think they are the government," Talen said. "They make it difficult for people to the see the identity of their community."
He said college students had a tremendous influence on the market.
"Your dollar is your vote," Talen said.
Talen said.
Reverend Billy and his "Church of Stop Shopping" have held congregations at various conferences and college towns since his crusade began. Talen said he'd been to about 10 colleges, including Yale University, Brown University and the University of Michigan.
Billy's bandwagon stopped in Lawrence after he was invited by Patricia Ybarra, assistant professor in the University of Kansas' department of theater.
Talen said he was quite pleased to see how well small independent stores have flourished on Massachusetts Street.
Durkee said the town's thriving local commerce was a rarity in the United States.
Massachusetts "The main street has been well defended here," he said.
"Lawrence is a great success story as far as we can tell," Durkee said. "It's a great lesson for America."
Ybarra said she wanted Talen to come so her students could learn about theatrical arts not limited or enclosed by a stage. In addition to performing actual plays, Talen writes scripts that are acted out wherever he pleases, whether a street corner or inside a Starbucks.
Starbucks.
"I think it was important to do.
Bringing Bill was part of learning new strategies in the classroom. I was interested to see how Bill was using those performances to teach," Ybarra said.
Talen's performances have come with a price. He said he'd been arrested about a dozen times during his crusades, usually being cited for disorderly conduct and trespassing.
"I wanted to see theater that just isn't consumed by audiences. I wanted to get something beyond that."
trespassing. "All social change involves the charge of trespassing," Talen said.
"Lawrence is a great success story as far as we can tell. It's a great lesson for America."
Savitri Durkee play director
play director
His week's activities in Lawrence included a protest against Wal-Mart on Tuesday, a workshop on Wednesday at the Burge Union and a "Reverend Billy's Heroes and Villains of Mass. St. Parade" yesterday. Talen and his supporters went to various spots on campus and Massachusetts Street for the parade to spread their message to bystanders.
their message to by you. Talen said he was ordered off store property during his Wal-Mart parking lot protest and the manager tried to prevent him and his followers from boarding a public city bus. Police arrived and Talen and company left on the bus.
1011
A Wal-Mart manager declined comment.
and has written several award-winning books including The Modern American Presidency and The Harvard Century.
DOLE: Illinois wants Dole director
Edited by Andy Marso
CONTINUED FROM 1A
and The Harvest Because of this reputation Chancellor Robert Hemenway is not surprised that Smith is in high demand.
"He's possibly the most gifted person in this field," Hemenway said. "But we'll do everything we can to keep him here."
can to keep me Hemenway said he had been talking with Smith about his options.
"I'm trying to convince Richard that the advantages of Kansas are superior to those of Illinois,"Hemenway said.
In Illinois, Smith would be the head of a $115 million library covering more than 160,000 square feet. The library is scheduled to open at the end of the year
Burdet Loomis, chairman of the political science department at the University of Kansas, said that the lure of the Lincoln Library would be too much for Smith to turn down.
"It has the possibility of being a world-class institution," Loomis said.
Unlike the Institute, the Lincoln Library is not connected to a university, so there would be no competition for funds, Loomis said.
said.
"Put that all together and it's an extremely attractive opportunity." Loomis said.
Loomis said the University would miss Smith's experience as a showman and promoter, but Smith lacked programming experience, especially in a university setting.
setting.
"In some ways, it wouldn't be as substantial a loss," Loomis said.
my. Loomis did decide to leave Kansas, Loomis said the Institute would be fine.
hiring a director, Otterbein
Former Sen. Bob Dole did not
return phone calls.
said. Smith has headed the Institute since its dedication in July. The Illinois governor's office does not have a strict timeline in place for hiring a director, Ottenhoff said.
Edited by Ashley Marriott
BROWN: Case advances education
CONTINUED FROM 1A
Roediger referred to the writings that he believed were significant in reflecting the struggle for equality dating back to the days of slavery.
of slavery. The final speaker was Roger Wilkins, a professor of history and American culture at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He captivated the crowd with a story of his relationship with Justice Thurgood Marshall, legal director of the NAACP who argued the case in the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Wilkins' focus at the symposium was the disabling of African-Americans in modern society. He spoke on a variety of topics, from the ignorance that inner-city children as they are sent to school to his opinions on the ongoing debate of the admittance methods at one of his alma maters, the University of Michigan.
versity of Michigan "The University of Michigan is a light-years better institution than when I went there and never
learned from a black or female professor," Wilkins said. "The lessons white folks learned reinforced what they already knew. Black folks were reinforced with lessons that they we were peripheral, useless, and still had to prove ourselves."
prove our services Wilkins' ability to captivate the audience with personal experience drew praise from many of those in attendance, including Mark Dupree, Kansas City, Kan., senior.
sentir.
"The way he did it, being born into segregation, and seeing his father die because of segregation, that was amazing." Dupree said.
"Even when he was grown, seeing the children excited, but yet ignorant, he took it upon himself to make a change."
to make a change.
The program was the first in a series that will culminate March 14 to 17 at the University of Kansas with a conference on The Legacies and Unfinished Business of Brown v. Board.
—Edited by Abby Sidesinger
The Associated Press
KC development firm wants to build twister
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — St. Louis has the Arch. Seattle has the Space Needle. New York has the Statue of Liberty.
and now Tom Overby wants to create a monument for his hometown of Kansas City; a 650-foot-tall tornado — 45 feet taller than the Space Needle, 20 feet taller than the Arch and 345 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty — that would anchor a tourism district with a theme based on The Wizard of Oz.
The giant tornado, said Overby, president of nonprofit development company Avenue Area Inc., "would be a state landmark," drawing at least a million people to the area each year.
Plans call for visitors to take an elevator to the top, where they could eat at a restaurant and enjoy the view.
"I think Kansas can really capitalize on using something that it's known for, and building a structure of this magnitude would certainly be a draw," Overby said.
As Overby envisions it, the area surrounding the tornado would include buildings made to look like they were destroyed by a twister. Inside those buildings would be gift shops. The base of the tornado would include a museum with information on the history and science of twisters.
Businesses around the monument could rename themselves to fit that theme.
Capitalism meets its foe!
He's against consumerism, capitalism, and social inequities at all levels... He's running for president.. Starbucks and Wal-Marts QUAKE when he comes to town.
REVEREND BILLY Church of Stop Shopping
Presented by The University of Kansas Department of Theatre and Film and The University Theatre with support from the Hall Center for the Humanities Fund for the Improvement of Teaching
In residence at KU:
September 15-18,2003
STUDENT
SENATE
PERFORMANCES OF "Other Love" An intense look at what has happened since 9/11/01
General admission tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864- ARTS; SUA Office, 864-7469; and on-line at kutheatre.com; public $12, all students $10, senior citizens $11; both VISA and Mastercard are accepted for phone and on-line orders. This program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee.
Friday, Sept.19 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept.20 at 7:30 p.m.
Swarthout Recital Hall, Murphy Hall
BORDERS proud sponsor of
Sat., September 20th
HERTZ proud sponsor of
Boko Maru • Steve Cole • Brian Culbertson Norman Brown Grammy Award Winner Sun., September 21st
BMW • Ken Navarro • Mindi Abair Down To The Bone
Purchase Tickets at Gate, (816) 931-3330
TICKETS ONLINE AT TICKETMASTER.COM, OR TICKETMASTER OUTLETS
HEN HOUSE, STREETISD RECORDS, THE JONES STORES.
Purchase Tickets at Gate. (816) 931-3330
SEPTEMBER 20-21, 2003 @ CLINTON LAKE, LAWRENCE KS
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talent lineup subject to change without notice