Arts/Entertainment
University Daily Kansan / Friday, April 14, 1989
11
Newer version of "Cabaret"takes the stage
Members of the "Gabaret" cast perform to the song "Willkommen" during a dress rehearsal. Pictured from left are Angie Casey, Hutchinson sophomore; Dianna Dresser, Lawrence sophomore; David Hall, Hannibal, Mo., sophomore; Michael Moore, Wichita freshman; and Jeff Napshin, Prairie sophomore.
by Christine Winner Kansan staff writer
KU performance is the play's amateur debut
Berlin's infamous Kit Kat Club, with all its glitter and glamour, is the setting for "Cabaret," which
opens at 8 p.m. today in Crafton-
Preyer Theatre.
The nightclub is the background for a story about a romance struggling to survive during 1928-30. The Nazis began their rise to power.
Cliff, a U.S. player played by Gregory Cunneen, Leawood senior, and Sally, an English showgirl played by Linda Sue Mosher, Kansas City, Kan., junior, meet and become lovers.
Cliff undertakes a dangerous but well-paying mission to Paris when he learns that Sally is pregnant and takes her to the club against Cliff's wishes.
Cliff tries to persuade her to leave Berlin, but she refuses. He leaves for Paris to write his memoirs of the affair.
"Cabaret" is jointly staged by the University Theatre and the department of music and dance.
Director Kennis Wessel, assistant professor of theater and film, said the KU production was the first non-professional staging of the new version of the musical since it reopened on Broadway last season.
The new version is close to the 1972 film version of "Cabaret."
Wessel said that they decided to stage the new version for several reasons.
"We had access to it and I think it's a better show. It makes a more potent statement using the cabaret message for moral corruption." He sighed.
The show confronts the idea that there is evil in everyone, he said, because the characters show a will associated to attracted to or tolerant of Nazism.
Wessel said the message was potent for the University because swastikas were found carved on the members of the university during Christmas break.
Staging its a well-known musical has such difficulties, he said.
"The role of emcee was originated by Joel Grey. Most subsequent artists feel obligated to replicate his concept of the role. We are not replicating, but the audience may have expectations." he said.
Wessel said that the set, costumes and lighting were particularly strong in the production.
"You can literally see the characters in their homes through the cabaret," he said.
Wessel said that through the set design, the cabaret itself was a central metaphor.
Jep Nashpil, Prairie Village freshman, said that the set was the most elaborate he had ever seen in an amateur production.
Written by Joe Masteroff with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, "Cabaret" is based on both the play "I Am A Camera" by John van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood.
Kander will attend tonight's performance and meet with the cast after the performance.
Wessel said that Kander's score was a fine example of how music could enhance drama.
The first Broadway show opened November 1966 and ran for more, than 1,150 performances. It wilt now be released on DVD in the 1972 film version won eight Oscars.
A four-piece stage band and the University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jorge Perez-Gomez, assistant professor of orchestral activities at KU, will accompany the 32-member cast.
After tonight, performances will be at 8 p.m. Saturday; 2:30 p.m.
Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Thursday; and 8 p.m. on April 21 and 22. All performance
will be in Crafton-Preyer
Theatre at Murphy Hall.
Tickets are on sale in the Murphy Hall Box Office. Tickets are $9 and $10 for the public. Tickets are half price for KU students.
Mom's Jazz Band plays just for kicks
by Javan Owens Special to the Kansan
ABLAST!
The band's first notes sound like a sonic boom to those packed into the dining room of Gutierrez Restaurant and Club,
2600 Iowa.
nd-a-one-and-a-two-and-a-three BLAST!
The band sounds as if it has played the number a hundred times, but chances are that most of the musicians have not seen the score before. But this is hardly a chore for Mom's Jazz Band, a group of KU students, KU faculty members and professionals from the Topека and Kansas City areas.
The 20-member band usually plays twice a month at the restaurant but will give a special performance to benefit KU's Pk Pi Lambda Mamba on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Thursday in Swarthout Recital Hall.
Tickets for the concert are $3 and are available from the department of music and dance, 452 Murphy Hall. The proceeds will go to the Pi Kappa Lambda scholarship fund. Dick Wright, KU associate professor of music history, will be the master of ceremonies.
After Thursday's performance, the band will return to its home, Guitarrez, where its members literally have their backs against the wall. They won't be able to feign comfort with a drumset, electric piano, music stands and a plethora of other musical instruments squeezed into a space
that was made to seat only 10 people.
But no one seems to mind the cramped
place where they crowd the crowd more than it
ever could have had for them.
"This band is what I would call a kicks band, but do it for kicks," said Tom Ashworth, the band's owner. "We like to play."
The band members don't get paid. The rehearsal band, the only one of its kind in Lawrence and one of just a few in the Kansas City area, has a chance to make contact with professionals.
"We're just doing it for grins," said Ashworth.
"We'll be there as long as everyone keeps their minds on us."
Ashworth said he devised Mom's Jazz Band for four years ago when he was teaching at the school.
The original members of Mom's Jazz Band, named in honor of Ashworth's mom, played in Dallas. When Ashworth moved to Kansas two years ago, he brought the idea with him.
"The band is really a forum for the musician," Ashworth said. "There are a lot of solo parts. And before the night is over, you probably will have heard everyone in the band."
Richard Gutierrez doesn't mind that his family restaurant provides a forum for the musicians. It's good for business. Gutierrez jumped at the chance a year ago to let the band play at his
"It's been a dream," Gutierrez said. "It has
proven very successful with the patronage of the jazz enthusiast in town. It has been a terrific manure.
For Chip Shutta, a Kansas City symphony
tunnel player, the rehearsal sessions are all
vibrant.
"I don't ever get a chance to play jazz, and I'm pretty rusty at it," Shutza said. "I come out here so I can learn and keen my hand in it.
"I have come to realize these are the best players. The trumpet players in this band are probably the best players I've worked with anywhere."
Kristin Umbarger, Los Alamos, N.M., sophomore, would hardly say she's one of the best players Shuiza has worked with. When Ashworth called her, she was surprised and a little embarrassed. But the other band members soon helped her gain confidence.
"I'm getting a chance to play with these professional musicians from Kansas City," she said. "Who at my age would get a chance to do that somewhere else?"
Although she enjoys being in a band that does not rehearse for hours before its performance, she said her first time sight-reading for a performance was terrifying.
"You get used to it. And really that is the mark of a good musician," she said. "And if you can't figure it out, you fake it and pray."
Inge tribute features film versions of 'Bus Stop,' 'Picnic'
"Bus Stop" and "Picnic."
by a Kansan reporter
The films will be shown today in Downs Auditorium at Dyne Hall, "Bus Stop," a 1956 release starring Marilyn Monroe, will be shown at 3:45 p.m. "Picnic," which was based on the play that received the 1953 Pulitzer Prize, will be shown at 7 p.m. The movie starred William Holden, Kim Novak and Rosalind Russell.
Kansas playwright William Inga was primarily interested in human relationships, and that interest gives his plays a universality, said Chuck Berg, associate professor of theater and film and director of film studies.
Voss is associate professor of English at the University of Alabama. He has written numerous views, memoirs, unpublished manuscripts, letters and papers, including
The films will be introduced by Ralph F. Voss, author of "A Life of William Inge: The Strains of Triumph." University Press, which is sponsoring the tribute, is releasing Voss's book this month.
those found in the Inge Collection in the playwright's hometown of Independence, Kan.
Ige was a 1953 KU graduate who wrote a string of Broadway hits in 1950s. Privately, he struggled with alcoholism and homosexuality. His later work received less acclaim than his works. Ige committed suicide in 1973.
EVENTS
A special, film tribute, "Lost Hearts in the Heartland: William Inge in American Film," will feature two of Ige's best-known works.
■ Lazzi Faire, an improvisational comedy troupe, will perform at midnight Friday in Hashingh Hall theater. The event is free.
C A L E N D A R
■ The Pinch Press Corp is sponsoring a Pinch lawn party from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on the lawn west of Fraser Hall. Wear a backpack and play couquet or capture the flag or both
I will bimt title "Lost Hearts in the Heartland: William Iage in American Film" will take place in Downs Auditorium at Dyche Hall, with an introduction by Ralph V. Voss, whose biography on Inge will be released in November. "Bus Stop" will begin at 3:45 p.m. and the film, "Pimpin'," will begin at 7 a.m.
"Cabaret" will open at 8 p.m. in Crafter-Prayer Theatre. Tickets are $10 and $9 for the public, $2 and $4.50 for KU students and $9 and $5 for senior citizens and other students. Hail Hall Box Office for more information.
SATURDAY
"Cabaret" will begin at 8 p.m. in Crafton-Frey Theatre.
John Wojick, teaching教学 assistant in band, will give his doctoral recital in conducting at 2:30 p.m. in Swarthout Recital Hall.
SUNDAY
"Cabaret" will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Crafton-Prever Theatre
The Tuba/Euphonium Consort will perform at 8 p.m. in Swarthout Recital Hall.
P. J. O'Rourk, international affairs editor for Rolling Stone Magazine, will give the lecture "Holidays in Hall" at 8
MONDAY
p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
Admission is $3, or $2 with a KUID.
Tryouts for "The Murder Room."
Lawrence Community Theatre's final show of the season, will be at 7 p.m.
Monday and Tuesday in the theater,
1501 New Hampshire St. Call the theater for more information.
**Norman Paige**, tenor, Icius Bashar Paige, mezzo-soprano, and Richard Angeloetti, piano, will give a faculty at 6 p.m. in Swarthout Rectal Hall.
TUESDAY
The Lawrence Women's Chorale will give its spring concert at 8 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St. The concert will be directed by Sara Wentz and will feature guest soloist Phyllis Pancella, a member of the Chicago Lyric Center for American Artists. Advance tickets are $4 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Call the Lawrence Arts Center for more information.
WEDNESDAY
The Kansas Chamber Artists will give their last concert of the season at 8 p.m. in Swartouth Recital Hall and string selections and winds will perform.
THURSDAY
Mom's Jazz Band will give a benefit concert for the KU chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society at p.m. in Swainton Routhect Hall. Tickets are $3 and are available from the depart-ment of music an art dance, 452 Murphy Hall.
"Cabaret" will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Cratton-Prever Theatre.
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