University Daily Kansan / Friday, January 25, 1991
Arts and Entertainment
9
KC Symphony travels to KU to perform score during film
Bv Katie Chipman
Kansan staff writer
The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will perform in a special multimedia concert at 8 tonight in Hoch Auditorium as part of a tour of several Big Eight schools.
Charla Jenkins, representative of KU performing arts, said Sergei Eisenstein's famous 1938 film, "Alexander Newsky," would be shown with the accompanying musical score performed by the symphony and chorus.
Sergei Prokofiev's score, in recognition of the centennial of his birth in 1891, is being performed nationwide this year.
Because of the poor technology at
the time it was first recorded, critics say the movie's original score is of low quality. However, they say the live performances showcase Prokofi
The film has been updated to feature renewed dialogue and sound effects, newly translated subtitles and new orchestral chironomizing the orchestra and screen
William McGlaichnig, music director for the symphony, will conduct the 83-piece Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and 125-voice Symphony Chorus for the concert. The featured mezzo-soprano Claudine Carlson.
sented "Alexander Nevsky" at the University of Missouri last night and will perform the work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln tomorrow night.
The Kansas City Symphony pre
The KU performance of "Alexander Newsky" is partially financed by the Mid-America Arts Alliance, an arts organization in Kansas City.
Tickets are on sale at Murphy Hall box office. Student tickets are available at the SUA office in the Kansas Union. Tickets are $15 and $12 for the public and $7.50 and $6 for KU students.
For more information or to charge tickets by telephone, call 864-3982.
REVIEWS
Gibson's 'Hamlet' for the masses
By Kristine Curley
Special to the Kansan
To see "Hamlet" or not to see "Hamlet?" That is the question.
Franco Zeffirelli's screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's tale of a young Dane, haunted by the ghost of his father, is effective despite its somewhat commercialized packaging.
The film stars road-warrior Mel Gibson in the title role of Hamlet. Many people thought Gibson would not be able to do the character justice. Zeffirelli had used big-name stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in bringing earlier works by Shakespeare to the screen, but many felt he went too far in casting Gibbon.
Gibson, however, does not embrass himself or Zeffirrell with his performance Gibson gives Hamlet a mischief in his character, while his character through each misfortune he encounters. We aren't sure whether Hamlet will explode into a fit ofrage or collapse in a state of emotional exhaustion thanks to Gibson's handling of Hamlet's osche.
MOVIES
Gibson's performance is not the only acting that ignites this film. Sharing the duties magnificently is Glenn Close as the somewhat unstable mother of Hamlet, Gertrude. Close is a joy to watch as she tackles the role of the "good" queen with benevolent ease.
Gibson is at his best at these emotional extremes.
"Hamlet," however, is not casted with only Hollywood stars. Zeffirelli who also wished cast master the spians Shakespearean school of Shakespearean stage acting.
Veterans such as Alan Bates as
Claudius, Ian Holm as Polonius and Paul Seifoel as the revenge-seeking ghost live up to the craft of their trade.
The presence of these weathered Shakespearean actors creates a balance when combined with the flashiness of Gibson's Hollywood
The only black sheep in this otherwise stellar acting ensemble is the performance by Helena Bonham-Carter. As the lovely maiden Ophene, she is also her performance is flat and is lost in her compatriots' performances.
As for the story itself, Zeffirelli cut more than half of the play to fit in his two-hour film. The many die-hard experts who regard Shakespeare's text as sacred may bicker at such an effort, but for many who have never read Shakespeare, Zeffirelli has created a work that makes this medieval playwright available and understandable to the masses.
■ "Total Recall," SUA movie, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas $2.50
Friday
**Film" Alexander Newsy" with Kansas City Symphony performing score, 8. p.m., Hoch Auditorium, tickets necessary.
i Ian Moore & Moment's Notice and Id Explosion, 9:30 p.m., The Bottleneck, 737 New Hamshire St., S4.
■ Love Squad, 9:30 p.m. The Jazzhaus,
■ Massachusetts St. $3.
CALENDAR
"MONTY Python's The Meaning of Life," SUA movie, midnight. Woodrift Auditorium. Kansas Union. $2.50.
Saturday
"The Godfather," SUA movie, 4 p.m.
Woodfruit Auditorium, Kansas Union, 2
"Total Recall," SUA movie, 7 and
9:30 p.m. Woodfruit Auditorium, Kansas
LA. Ramblers and Pattor Frogs. 9:30 p.m. The Bottlehead, 737 New Hampshire St. $3.
- Love Squad, The Jazzhaus, 9:30 p.m.
926 1/2 Massachusetts St., $3.
"wanty Python's The Meaning of Life," SUA movie, midnight, Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union. $2.50.
Sundav
**Bowling and Billiards Recreation Tournament, SUA activity, noon, J-Bowl, Kansas Union, $6 entry fee. Registration. Friday, Jan. 25, by p.m. at SAU office.**
- "Total Recall," SUA movie, 2 p.m.
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union,
£9.50
Monday
Open Mike Night, 9:30 p.m. The Bottleneck, 736 New Hampshire St., free.
Tuesday
Inner Circle and Interface, Jamaican
■ "Godzilla vs. Megalon," SUA movie, 7 p.m. Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union, $2
Wednesdav
reggae, 9:30 p.m., The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St., advance tickets, $6.
■ "Godzilla vs. Megalon." SUA movie, 7 p.m., Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union, $2
Mongol Beach Party and Random
Aztec, 9 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737
New Hampshire St. $3
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, 9:30 p.m. The Jazzhaus, 926/12 Massachusetts St., $4
Thursday
"Joymbo," SUA movie, 7 p.m.
"coordor Auditorium, Kansas St."
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 9:30 p.m. The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $3
Poetry reading by Robert Peters of Huntington Beach. Calif. 8 p.m. Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union, free.
The Sons of 26 Rex, p. 9/m.
The Jazhaus, 9/26 I/2 New Hampshire St. $3.
The musical "CATS" will make its third appearance in the Kansas City area next week.
'CATS' makes a return to the Kansas City area
By Katie Chipman
Kansan staff writer
The internationally renowned musical "CATS" will return to audiences in the Kansas City area for a special one-week engagement from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 at the Midland Theater, 1228 Main Street, in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
Although this is the third time that "CATS" has been performed in Kansas City, Robin Pearce, Midland Theater League representative, said the musical always paired people back to see it again.
"It's a beautiful story with beautiful music." Pearce said. "It's really haunting, and it captures people's imagination."
The musical, which is based on
T. S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," was set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and has won Awards including Best Musical.
With elaborate sets and costumes, the cast portrays the lives of many cats, and through complex choreography and song, the audience gets to know the cats and their personalities.
"CATS" started touring seven years ago and is still playing to sold-out audiences from coast to coast. The musical has been a hit in over a dozen countries all over the world, and it has served several national touring companies that are now performing throughout North America.
Both the 1987 and 1989 performances of "CATS" in Kansas City
sold out the theater and broke box-office records. This year's encore engagement features the touring company National IV, which performed "CATS" in Kansas City in 1989.
Ticket prices are $27.50 for the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening and Sunday matinee performances; $25.50 for Saturday matinee performances; and $29.50 for Friday and Saturday evening performances.
Evening show times are at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. The matinee is on Wednesday 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets are on sale at the Midland box office and all Tickle master outlets, or call 1-800-776-SHOW.
Hollywood provides ample repertoire of desert war movies
The Associated Press
War always has been a mainstay in the make-believe world of Hollywood, from the brutal realities of the Vietnam War in "Platoon" to the majesty of Lawrence of Arabia. The bold war II heroes of "Sergeant York."
The war in the Persian Gulf has refocused attention on the desert war, a subject the more men have seen and sometimes successfully and sometimes as a joke.
T. E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) was an arrogant cartographer in the British army who is sent to Arabia to assist Prince Feisal (Alic Guecins) in the 1017-18 Arab revolt against the Mongols and to help them to the desert and the Bedouin way of life. He also becomes a messianic warrior whose strategy and wisdom
The most excellent example of desert warfare was David Lean's Academy Award-winning "Lawrence of Arabia."
Here is a list of some movies with a desert-warfare theme available on
■ "Action in Arabia" (1944): Nazis plan to unite with Arabs against Allied forces during World War II. George Sanders and Virginia Bruce.
are matched only by ego and obsession.
Theirs was not a war of high technology, but one of wits — one that used the desert itself and culture ethos as weapons.
videocassette:
■ "The Battle of El Alamein" (1968): Exciting retelling of the British vs. Rommel in the Libyan Desert.
"The Beast" (1989): Strange tale of Soviet battle with Afghan rebels played out in the deserts of
Afghanistan. Stars Steve Bauer.
■ "Beaute Gale" (1989). All-star cast headed by Gary Cooper re-creates the romance of the Foreign Lioness.
Afghanistan. Stars Steven Bauer.
■ "The Desert Fox" (1951): The one and only German Field Marshal Rommel, starring James Mason. ■ "The Adventures of Captain Cassius" (1939): Upper-class British snobs battle in the Sudan, with Ralph Richardson adding a touch of class.
- "Khartoum" (1966): Arabs defeat
"■ "Lion of the Desert" (1861): Rod Steiger, Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed star in this epic about Arabs vs. Mussolini.
the British in 19th-century North Africa. Stars Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Charlton Heston.
"The Lost Patrol" (1934): British soldiers trapped in the Mesopotamian desert during World War I fight off Arabs who kill them one by one.
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