Friday, December 4, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
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Animal House writer relives college days
By Pallavi Agarwal
Kansas staff writer
The college comedy Animal House may have spawned a dozen imitations, but none have captured the redeming sweetness of the original, said the movie's screenwriter.
Chris Miller, who co-wrote *Animal House* with two
authors, wrote on numbers.
The cult classic, which captures the antics of a group of fraternity men as they drink and carouse through college, was inspired by Miller's experiences in fraternity at Dartmouth College in the early 1970s.
Mitter showed a slide show of photos shot during the film's production and other National Lampoon highlights from his career. The free event took place in the Kansas Union Ballroom last night.
The film, which was made in the 1970's, purposely was set in 1962, said Miller.
"We wanted to set the film back in time before Kennedy got shot and things turned cynical," he said.
The movie launched the careers of John Belushi and Kevin Bacon and was different because none of the people involved in the making of the film were from Hollywood, Miller said.
"The movie was good because nobody expected much from it," said Miller. "There were no studio guys sticking their necks in."
mutter also shared with the audience memories of his days with the National Lampoon, a satire magazine that produced the film.
The film came to light after the publisher of the magazine liked some of Miller's short stories based on his fraternity days.
"It is the strangest thing for your life to be filmed as a movie," he said.
Joanna Luft, Topeka senior, found Miller's talk funny...
"He acted like a guy who would write *Animal House* — a crazy, funny guy, just a little older."
For first time, sold-out Vespers will play on public television
By Mariana Paiva
Kansan staff writer
Thousands of people will be able to see a University of Kansas holiday tradition this year.
For the first time, KCPT-TV Channel 19 in Kansas City, Mo., will air a delayed broadcast of the 74th Holiday Valespers.
About 4,000 people have purchased tickets to Vespers, presented by the KU choirs and Symphony Orchestra at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Lied Center.
Although the performances have sold out, the Lied Center Box Office will sell standing room-only tickets beginning one hour before each performance.
Simon Carrington, director of choirs and professor of music and dance, said the concert had changed dramatically since it originated.
"They used to wear church robes and process with candles," he said. "Now they
When: 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Lied Center
tickets are sold out, but standing room only tickets will be sold one hour before each performance.
Carrington said in the five years he had conducted the choir, he tried to present a bigger variety of music.
are trying to be more inclusive. We are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and all the different festivals."
The performance opens with "Hanukkah Light" by Zamir Bavel, professor of computer science.
Hanukkah tunes that will be sung in Hebrew.
meil Melomane, the eight-man ensemble of KU students from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, will present "Noel Ayisyen."
Channel 19 will air the broadcast of Vespers at 7 p.m. Dec. 23 and also will offer it to other Kansas public television stations. KANU, the on-campus FM station, will air the concert at 7 p.m., Dec. 22, 1 p.m. Dec. 24 and 9 a.m. Dec 25. It also will be available in real audio on the KANU Web site, http://www.ukans.edu/~kanmu-fan.
The audience can join the choir and the orchestra in singing traditional carols, such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." "Deck the Halls" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful."
Before each performance, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., Tandy Reussner, Lawrence doctoral student, will present a recital of holiday organ music in Balley Organ Recital Hall.
Tickets cost $7 for the public and $5 for students and senior citizens.
Student debuts in dark film with cheery title
By Augustus Anthony Piazza
Kansan staff writer
A University of Kansas student made her feature film debut last night.
Jennifer Drelling, Manhattan senior, had a lead role in Pep Squad, a dark comedy filmed in Wamego and Manhattan, during the summer of 1997.
Summer Makovkin plays the character of Julie in Pep Squad. Contributed photo
Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St., had a special preview screening of the movie at 9:30 p.m. last night. Drilling plays Beth in the film.
"Beth is very lonely and sad," Drilling said. "She is the calm before the storm. Someone you think you should trust, but she becomes the catalyst for a chain of events to arise."
Steve Balderson, writer and director of the movie, has known Drelling since she was in eighth grade. He said he chose her because she looks so pleasant on film.
Pep Squad is a hurd trip through the lives of a handful of students attending a seemingly average Oak
Hill High School. The student body is uniformly jaded, obsessed with sex, drugs and suicide.
Dreling said that the characters in the movie were loosely based on people with whom she went to high school and people Balderson knew from when he attended California Arts Institute.
Dreiling said that she couldn't remember the first time she saw the movie because she was unable to separate herself from being on screen.
"I couldn't enjoy it because I kept critiquing myself." Drrelling said.
Brian Lavid, Buffalo senior, watched the screening last night.
"Iliked it on the condition that you have to expect something out of the ordinary," Lavid said. "You just kind of laugh."
Drelling said, "I would do it again. It was extremely challenging and a lot of hard work."
Balderson said that he didn't know when the movie would be released in theaters because he didn't know what studio would release the film
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