University Daily Kansan
Arts / Entertainment
Thursday, February 26. 1987
7
'Brighton Beach' rekindles old memories
Danny Ray/KANSAN
Stanley, portrayed by Jake Karnes, Lawrence resident, explains the ways of the world to his little brother Eugene, portrayed by Chris Hayes, Olathe freshman. Karnes and Hayes act in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs," which opens tonight.
Brighton Beach Memoirs opens at 8 p.m. today in the Craftron-Prey Theatre in Murray Hall. Other performances are on Friday and March 5-7. All seats are reserved, and tickets are on sale at the Murray Hall box office and are $3 and $2 for KU行李费. Both senior citizens and $6 and $4 for other students.
By JERRI NIEBAUM
Staff writer
Survival takes precedence over having a good time in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs," which opens tonight at the University of Kansas.
"Jack would have been my father," Kuhike said.
"It brings back vivid memories from my childhood," said William Kuhike, professor of theater and media arts. Kuhike plays Jack Jerome, the father of a Jewish family growing up in the 1930s.
"Brighten Beach Memoirs" is the first in a trilogy of plays that Simon wrote based on his life. Eugene, a 15-year-old Jewish boy by Brooklyn, Beverly and Belfast, Brooklyn, N.Y., develops (for writing while he learns the facts of)
Dannv Rav/KANSAM
In "Bright Beach Memories," Chris Hayes, Olathe freshman, portrays Eugene Jerome, a 15-year-old Jewish boy growing up in the 1930s.
life.
Jack Wright, artistic director and professor of theater and media arts, said, "He's already observing life and the world around him and feels compelled to get it down in his memoirs."
Eugene, played by Chris Hayes, Olathe freshman, writes about his fascination with girls and confusion about sex. He goes to his older brother for advice.
"You only learned about that from your older brother," Wright said. "Today if kids want to learn about sex, they just go rent a videotape."
Kim Silles, Great Bend graduate student, plays Kate Jerome, mother of two boys and Jack's wife. Wright said Kate delivered the play's key line.
'You didn't spend a dime without thinking about it.'
William Kuhlke professor of theater and media arts
Danny Ray/KANSAN
Stiles said, "She is the the one who keeps the family together."
"The world doesn't survive without families," Kate says.
"Brighton Beach Memoirs" opened on Broadway in March, 1983, and ran for 1,530 performances under the direction of Gene Sak. It was followed by Simon's "Blossy Blues" in 1983 and "Broadway Bound" in 1986.
Wright said that he didn't think Simon set out to write his life story, but that after "Brighton Beach Memoirs," well, "The rest just poured out of his pen."
Simon's comedy makes people laugh because it offers insight into the foibles of human beings, Wright said.
Ukhlke's father was a machinist who lost his machine shop during
"He's able to strip us down and reveal what's ticking underneath." Wright said. "He can make you laugh one minute and cry the next, or at least tear up a little. We're very vulnerable under his pen."
Simon wrote about real life, and Kuhle remembers what life was like at the end of the Depression.
Jack Jerome, portrayed by William Kuhike, professor of theater and media arts, explains his work dilemma to his wife, Kate, portrayed by Kim Stiles, Great Bend graduate student. The two are acting in Neil Simon's "Bright Beach Memoirs," which opens tonight in Crafton-Preyer Theatre at Murphy Hall.
the Depression and became an insurance salesman.
"I can remember night at ease, night sitting at the dining room table stamping his literature," Kuhlke said.
In "Brighton Beach Memoirs," Jack Jerome makes his living cutting raincoats at a garment factory. He sells party favors for extra cash.
Kuhike remembered his own parents hassling him about scuffing his shoes and wearing out their soils
"He's had to bustle all his life to keep his family solvent," Kuhike said about Jack.
"You didn't spend a dime without thinking about it," he said.
Stanley Jerome, Eugene's brother, works to help support his family.
"Stanley works very hard because he wants Eugene to go to college," Stiles said. "At that time, survival was more important than being happy."
Kuhike and his brother both worked during boyhood. "It wouldn't occur to us to keep the
money for ourselves," he said.
He said that boys in the 1930s always were running to the corner grocery for their mothers.
"A lot of times I would ask my mother just like Eugene asks his mother, 'Why don't you get a whole pound of butter instead of just one cube at a time?' "Ukbike said.
But in the '30s, keeping the family together was most important.
Wright said, "If someone misses dinner, it's really serious. That's the family hour."
Gordon Kennedy, assistant professor of theater and media arts, designed the play's setting, a two-story house with a fragile build and wallpaper full of memories.
"The slightest thing might topple it, but the family keeps it solid." Wright said.
"In spite of the poverty, those are very fond memories," Kuhlke said.
The wallpaper is a collage of tin-type style photographs collected from the actors' scrapbooks and 1930s paraphernalia.
Symphonic Band keeps a busy pace, prepares for concert
Staff writer
By JENNIFER FORKER
Members of the KU Symphonic Band stepped into a bus Monday afternoon for a week of touring before settling at home for a Sunday performance.
Robert Foster, director of bands, said the band was squeezing in performances this week because the students needed practice for the annual state convention of the Kansas Music Educators Association tomorrow.
Music teachers and students from schools and colleges throughout the state will participate in the conven- cent Century Two Concert Hall in Wichita.
"The convention is the reason for the flurry of activity this week," he said.
Jamie Baker, Harper senior, and president of bands, said the performances this week served as recruiting tools as well as rehearsals.
Foster said that the hour and a half performance Sunday would be a full concert, but that the 30-minute performance the week were only半 concerts.
"We have really good performing groups." Baker said "Hearing the band is the best recruitment tool there is. They're not just frivolous trips for practice."
Baker said that he wished the band could tour more often, but that budget constraints limited touring.
"The more experience we can get, the more students will come to KU." Baker said.
Foster said the convention allowed him to communicate with other
instructors. The bands and orchestras perform from 30 to 40 minutes to demonstrate what they had learned at the University of Kansas.
KU sent two of the three college bands appearing at the conference. Dodge City Community College sent a band. High school bands also will perform.
Foster said schools had to submit a taped audition in the spring to be auditioned for a role.
He said the conference was an enriching opportunity for instructors to learn new ideas and concepts. For example, experienced instructors can help junior high school teachers to deal with voice changes in 13-year-old boys.
"It gets their batteries charged. It gets them excited about teaching." Foster said.
KU also is sending the University's orchestra and concert bands.
Gwen Garland, Oswego, Ill., graduate student, said she suspected that music classes would be depleted tomorrow. Garland is performing in the symphonic band and the orchestra.
"It's going to be a long day," she said.
Foster said the symphonic band was the most selective and most demanding of the 11 bands at KU.
"The symphonic band is the premier performing group in the whole program. It represents the University the most at conventions." Foster said.
He said the band comprised about 70 graduate and undergraduate students and featured all instruments except strings.
After playing at Lee's Summit High School on Monday afternoon, the band played Tuesday at Shawnee Mission Northwest, Wednesday at Topeka West High School and will perform tomorrow in Wichita at the convention. Today, the band will rehearse at KU.
in the fall, the marching and pep bands toured football games. In winter, the basketball band toured the most. But Foster said spring was the concert groups' season for performing.
He said three days each week were filled with one of the 11 bands performing. It averaged 1.3 performances a day, he said.
"It's a big university with a lot of
musical needs." Foster said. "We're an arm of the University."
Symphonic band musicians rehearse four afternoons for one and a half hours each week. Foster said. They also spend time practicing on their own. Gartland practices on her own three hours a day, she said.
"It takes an incredible amount of time. It's one of a lot of things they do." Foster said.
He said members often participated in other bands or took private lessons in addition to their symphonic band responsibilities.
The symphonic band will perform at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Crafton Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall.
Misfit grows in 'The Foreigner'
"It's the only chance for people in Lawrence to hear this program in the history of the world," Foster said.
The Foreigner will be performed by the Lawrence Community Theatre on March 5, 6, 7, 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. and March 8 and 15 at 2:30 p.m. For reservations, call the Lawrence Community Theatre box office at 843-7469
By JENNIFER FORKER
Staff writer
Charlie is having a bad day. His marriage is shaky. He's having fits of depression. He's basically a shy, wimpy, undaring kind of guy. Or is he?
The Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 New Hampshire St., will perform "The Foreigner" on March 5, the first of seven performances.
The two and a half hour dramatic comedy concerns the misnips of a shy, depressed Englishman, Charlie, who is thrown into situations that test his confidence and leadership abilities.
Charlie is taken to a rural Georgia fishing lodge by Froggie, a friend who casts Charlie off as a foreigner
who doesn't understand English Townpeople then speak openly in front of Charlie, unaware that he knows what they're saying.
— Nan C. Scott Lawrence resident
Charlie overhears bad guys plotting against him and the people living at Betty's lodge. He must decide whether to wimp out and do nothing, or muster the courage to fight them and save the town.
'Little people without power can succeed if they group together and use their brains,'
who plays Betty, the owner of the lodge where Charlie and Froggie reside, said the play was a classic case of the underdog confronting the powerful evil forces, and succeeding. An upbeat, positive theme underlies the play, she said.
Nan C. Scott, a Lawrence resident
"Little people without power can succeed if they group together and use their brains," Scott said.
"He has to rise to the occasion," she said about Charlie. "He realizes this is what he has to do. There is more at stake than his feeling bad about himself and his marriage."
James L. Secor of Lawrence, who plays Charlie, said that the play was people-oriented. Few props are used, he said.
The set resembles the rustic interior of Betty's fishing lodge. Some plates and silverware are used, and a trap door is used to give the appearance that characters walk down cellar steps.
The cast is in its third week of rehearsals, director Randy Parker said. It rehearses Monday through Friday.
"It's really demanding," Parker said. "There are so many focuses changing from college to community theater. Learning lines becomes difficult. You just don't have the time you had while in college."
He said that most of the cast members and crew had full-time jobs during the day and that acting in the community theater was a hobby.
"It is fun, but people get really tired. It's like working two jobs," Parker said. "It's addicting. It's something that means a great deal to you."
At the end of the play, Charlie says to Freggie, "Thank you for making me the foreigner." Charlie's new persona had helped lift him out of depression by awakening his confidence.
Stephen Wade/Special to the KANSAN
THE XANSAF
Cast members of "The Foreigner" listen as Charlie, standing left, interviews by Lawrence resident James L. Secor, tells a story. The play, which is about Charlie's misadventures in a small Georgia fishing village, opens March 5 at the Lawrence Community Theatre.