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(01/21/10 5:26am)
Wine tasting, quiche, hors d’oeuvres including spanakopita, a Greek spinach pastry and intimate live piano playing in a lobby.This was the inviting atmosphere welcoming visitors to the Vision Series, a new program from PlayMakers Repertory Company.This series invites all to come to the Paul Green Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art to talk to directors about productions in progress while “enjoying flavors of the Triangle.”Wednesday’s discussion, the third in the series, focused on “All My Sons,” a play written by renowned playwright Arthur Miller and directed by Davis McCallum.The mainstage PlayMakers show opens on Jan. 27 and runs through Feb. 14.The play, written and set in 1947, takes place in the backyard of a middle-class family in a middle-class American town in the postwar era.“It is a blue-collar situation, but the stakes are high,” said McCallum, who said his approach as a director to this play came from the perspective of Greek tragedies.“All My Sons” focuses on the Keller family and their two sons, who have gone to war. The play opens with one son still gone — his whereabouts unknown — and the other having returned home.The stage, serving as the Kellers’ backyard, is covered in artificial turf, or AstroTurf, and offset by a black-and-white backdrop of a house with windows and yellow paneling.The setting is meant to evoke a sense of everyday life in which the audience can see into these windows and feel as if they are walking down the neighborhood street.Not only is it important for the stage to evoke the mood of the play, but everyone in the cast has to buy into the play as well, McCallum said. It is up to the actors to come together in a human way over common feelings and translate that from the stage to the audience.“You have to start from you and imagine something else. That’s what drama does,” he said.McCallum said he feels a deep connection to this play. He was familiar with the play before directing it, but he was still moved when rereading it in preparation. McCallum said he performed in the play in college, but now, as a father, he sees it from a different perspective. He said the hairs stood up on his neck, which doesn’t happen too often to him.Alexander and Carol Lawrence, who drove in from Cary to attend the event, have been subscribing to PlayMakers for 19 years.Alexander Lawrence said they have attended the previous two Vision Series events also. “It is a different perspective to start with the director telling you about the challenges of the play,” Carol Lawrence said.Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(11/12/09 7:10am)
If you have ever been in an awkward situation, comedian Mike Birbiglia knows how you feel.The comedian has become famous for his stand-up, which usually plays off awkward situations.Students and the community alike have the opportunity to hear about these awkward situations and more as UNC welcomes Birbiglia for a performance tonight.Birbiglia has made appearances on Comedy Central Presents and late night shows such as the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and the Late Show with David Letterman. He is a regular contributor to the radio show “This American Life.” “I’ve always been a huge fan of his stand-up and thought he’d be perfect for Carolina,” said Amanda Kao, president of Carolina Union Activities Board. The show has not yet sold out, but once the show was opened to the general public, ticket sales increased. More general public tickets have been sold than student ones. Kao anticipates many people just showing up at the door the night of the show.“I think his comedy is really special because he is such a gifted story teller,” said Cody Hughes, a student comedian who has participated at local comedy clubs.“He is only 30 or 31 years old, which is really impressive. It takes five years to find your voice on stage and 10 years to get the timing of a joke right,” he said.Birbiglia got his start in third grade when he won the “Author of the Month” award and the rest is history. His recent one-man off Broadway show “Sleepwalk with Me” is critically acclaimed. “He’s a very relatable comedian. A lot of his jokes are based on, I don’t want to generalize, but awkward situations he finds himself in,” Hughes said. “I think we can all relate to that.”Sam Morgan, chairman of CUAB’s comedy committee, describes Birbiglia’s style as very laid-back and relatable. He said his style is story-based and approachable and above all, hilarious. Kao said another reason she enjoys his comedy is that it’s clean and not crude.“I think that takes a lot of talent because it’s still hilarious but not perverse,” she said.Student tickets are $10 and general public tickets are $20.“If anyone is on the fence about coming to the show it’s a great price,” Morgan said. “It should be a great show. ATTEND THE PERFORMANCETime: 8 p.m. todayLocation: Memorial HallInfo: unc.edu/cuab/events.shtmlContact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(11/02/09 5:48am)
Alcohol, drugs, romance, sex and parties.The 1920s era-based play “Wild Party” focuses on these elements that still pervade society today in a strong but not spectacular musical.“Wild Party” embodies these phenomena, but it never fully peaks musically.The musical is presented this weekend, today and Tuesday in the Cabaret by UNC Pauper Players, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa.The play follows the story of Queenie, a vaudeville performer, and Burrs, a clown, who grow tired of their relationship and throw a party to spice things up.During the party, the two try to make each other jealous, which leads to a large fight and results in a character’s death.While the silky flapper costumes shined and the mini-bar and colorful abstract paintings of the scenery gleamed, the acting was only sufficient and the plot was obscure during the first act.Issues with lyrical annunciation and characters’ solo overlaps made it difficult to keep up with basic plot structure.With multiple characters singing at once, the audience was left to decide who to focus on.As with most musicals, some numbers were better than others.In some cases, the leads fell short of vocal climaxes, but at other times they blew the audience away with range and talent.Jamie Serkin, who plays the role of temptress Kate, is particularly spectacular.Another highlight was the jazz band, which sounded authentic of the time period and kept smooth rhythm throughout the scenes.Director Nick Culp said in the program’s director’s notes that “the elements of ‘Wild Party’ — violence, passion, jealousy, infidelity and substance abuse — are timeless, so the story retains its relevance 80 some years later.”Themes of sexuality, betrayal of trust, substance abuse and crime resonate with the audience as common issues of this day and age. These themes were portrayed well throughout the play.Yet musically and plot-wise, “Wild Party” only truly climaxes toward the end of the play, with the sexual debauchery of party-goers and the accidental murder of one of the leads.A line from the play sums up the characters’ mind-set: “If in Heaven you don’t excel, you can always party down in Hell.”Culp also said that “‘Wild Party’ exemplifies the good, the bad and the ugly of the roaring ’20s, but in a broader context bears a striking resemblance to the social scene of the present.”At the end of the musical, there was sincere applause and a few shouts for favorite leads, but no standing ovation.The audience response reflected their collective feeling. It was an entertaining show, but not enthralling.Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(10/26/09 3:48am)
A 10-foot-tall rooster with big silver-balled eyes, a red cape and machetes on its hind claws greets everyone that walks into Hanes Art Center’s side lobby.The sculpture is a crowd-stopper, if not a traffic-stopper, as it occupies a large amount of the John and June Allcott Gallery.The gallery houses this rooster and additional photography by Florida-born Cuban-American artist Gabriel Martinez, who lectured at UNC earlier this month about his work. The photos are a selection from one of Martinez’s series, and they display men’s legs and feet.All from the knee down, the photos show feet set upon various surfaces and interiors.“All the photos are of heterosexual men,” said Chloe Tham, a junior studio art major who is an assistant at the gallery. “He does a lot of sexual connotations in his artwork.”They are self-portraits of heterosexual men who were given lubricant and porn and were left to complete the portrait after Martinez set up a camera for them.The portraits are meant to represent male desire fulfilled, but only from the knees down, he said.Martinez also included Guerrero, a large fighting rooster, in the exhibition.The entire statue had to be shipped by U-Haul in pieces and was assembled on site.“It just grew and grew and took on a life of its own,” Martinez said.“I love the idea of it growing out of the gallery and taking on a life as its own.”Its cape is made of traditional Quinceañera ball gowns.Martinez said the statue fuses his memories of childhood in Miami with the macho culture surrounding cockfighting.Trained in photography, Martinez usually works in that medium, but said he also creates other works, such as this statue.“The response has been extremely positive,” said Roxana Perez-Mendez, the director of the gallery and an art professor, of people’s response to the rooster. “It is an impressive piece in its size and visual force. It is heroic, stoic, demanding and intimidating at the same time.”Perez-Mendez said it is always good if work confronts you in unexpected ways.Part of the gallery’s three-tiered mission is to exhibit the work of professional artists. The next exhibit, featuring Clifford Owens, opens Nov. 3.Students usually seem confused when they first see the statue.“Why a huge rooster with a red cape?” asked Julia DaSilva, a freshman biology major.DaSilva said she is impressed by the size and stature of the rooster but doesn’t understand it.“Why those machetes?” she said. “It’s impressive, definitely, but makes me wonder why the red cape and machetes. Especially the machetes.”Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.
(10/02/09 5:12am)
Grab a seat for the season premier of “The Anatomy of Gray” tonight.But don’t expect to see Meredith or McDreamy from ABC’s prime time show.“The Anatomy of Gray,” which actually was named Gray’s Anatomy for a while during its composition, is indeed about a doctor — a doctor named Galen Gray. But, this Lab! Theatre production follows Dr. Gray as he stumbles into a small town while struggling to find purpose in his life.Lab!, a student-run theater group that also works with the Department of Dramatic Art, opens its season with tonight’s show. All shows are free and are in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art.Opening tonight at 8:15 p.m., the show runs through Tuesday with one show every day and additional matinees on Monday and Tuesday.“The Anatomy of Gray,” written by Indiana playwright Jim Leonard and directed by graduate student Matthew Murphy is a coming-of- age tale about finding oneself.In the opening dedication of the play’s script, Leonard addresses illness, loss and the struggle to tell a story the right way. The play aims to embody all of these aspects.Leonard writes that he did not find the story, but the story found him.Ramey Mize, a sophomore art history and theater double major who plays the part of June Muldoon, said as she discovered June’s traits, she realized she displayed some of those qualities herself.“That is why I do acting,” she said. “It’s so revealing of who you are. It’s a continuous self-discovery process.”As June continues to question how things are versus the way she thinks they should be throughout the play, the audience comes to realize certain truths about life.Mize said that June’s stream of consciousness is more poignant than the other characters’, and her character is the primary storyteller.Doug Harris, a junior drama and political science double major, who plays the role of Dr. Gray, said the show is about what it means to “come home.”“How does someone who hasn’t had a home in so long find this community and find out where he fits in with all these other issues of death and disease?” he said.In the play, Dr. Gray has been without a home for a while and seems to be wandering without roots.Through the discovery of his character, Harris said he has learned to appreciate his family more.He said he realized the value in having that foundation, even when you cannot access it, such as living away from home while in college.Harris said that there is something incredibly powerful about being onstage. As an actor, he has a more personal interaction with audience members, instead of through the common contemporary filters of technology, such as cell phones.He said this type of communication barely skims the surface of what human interaction should be.Both Mize and Harris said that being a part of this show has been a positive experience“It is so worth it,” Mize said. “We’re so interested in the story, it’s extremely gratifying.”Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.