The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 28, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 26, 1985 Page: 4 of 12
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WRESHER FINE /IRTS
Despite poor ending, Actresses good selection to start series
The Actresses
Main Street Theatre
through March 2
In London, after the death of
Cromwell, a new and shocking
idea was introduced into the
F.nglish theatre: actresses. They
had appeared a short time before
in France but nowhere else. Max
Pearson's new play. The Actresses,
which is loosely based on fact,
occurs during this period.
When Cromwell became the
ruler of England during the
Commonwealth, all theatres were
closed and actors were run out of
the country or forced to turn to
other ways of making a living.
After Cromwell's death in 1658.
actors returned to England and
companies began to reassemble.
T his play deals with one of those
companies.
Actor Thomas Carruthers
obtains a patron. Sir Brandon
Ellsworth, and gathers together
two of his old company members
to transform an old fabric
warehouse into Salisbury Court,
the first theatre to reopen.
However, a few strings are
attached to Sir Brandon's money:
one is his mistress, the bored
society widow Olive Smith, who
wants to act the role of Cleopatra;
another is the new Italian fashion
of painting backdrops on flats.
William Beeston. the new leader of
the company, is not overly
enthused about these ideas and
neither is Cecil Weatherby, his
friend who used to play the
women's parts. Nevertheless, the
men are forced to comply with Sir
Brandon's wishes.
William decides to present
Faustus and the three men begin
putting the play together. They
must also attempt to train the new
actresses without becoming
exasperated. Olive has a screechy
Cockney accent when she tries to
project and her niece, Belinda,
sounds somewhat akin to a mouse.
Meanwhile, the third actress has
yet to appear and the scene painter
is a temperamental Italian. In
addition to these problems, the
men have not yet managed to
secure the royal patent that is
necessary in order to present a
play.
This play actually focuses more
on the three actors in the troupe
and all are portrayed well. Philip
Hafer is a strong and hearty
William and Kent Johnson's witty
Cecil Weatherby is a fine
counterpoint to William.
Unfortunately, Patti Bean's
direction and Mr. Pearson's script
combine to hit the audience over
the head with the fact that the two
were more than just friends', there
are too many references and
"meaningful looks" exchanged.
Frit/ Dickman was pleasant and
practical as Thomas Carruthers
and Les Neal did well as William's
old nemesis, Thomas Killigrew.
In the women's roles, Virginia
Lang is splendid as the spirited
Mistress Smith. 1 especially
enjoyed her scenes with Sir
Brandon, her slightly henpecked
suitor. Belinda is portrayed
amusingly by Minay Miller; she'sa
ninny but a lot of fun to watch.
Barbara Sims plays Tilly, the maid
who turns out to be a natural
actress, with the proper amount of
composure and grace.
Monica Giraud's costumes were
lovely and Leroy Mazak and
Marianne Lippett sould be
credited for the hair design.
Maurice Tuttle's set design is
sparse, but works nicely, as does
Patrick Higgins' lighting.
The program for this production
mentions that Main Street Theatre
tries to emphasize new works,
among other things. In spite of a
slightly unsatisfying ending, this
was a very good selection for to
start off their New Voices/ Differ-
ent Views series.
—Karin Murphy
Sugar brought down by poor acting despite ornate costumes
Sugar
Theatre Under the Stars.
February 21
If 1 were going to be generous
about the latest production from
the Theatre Under the Stars, I
would say that Sugar was
somewhat less than perfect. In fact,
it would be generous on my part to
say that Sugar had some major
glitches. But it would be much
more honest of me to say that I
hardly know where to begin in
explaining what those glitches are.
Really, there is so much to hate
about this production that the
prospect of cataloguing its wrongs
is frightening.
The story will be familiar to
anyone who's seen its inspiration.
Some Like It Hot. In Prohibition-
era Chicago, two out-of-work
musicians. Joe and Jerry, witness a
mob shoot-out organized by Spats
Palazzo. Spats is a little nervous
about having witnesses, so Joe and
Jerrv decide that it might be a good
idea to find work elsewhere.
Lheir only choice, however, is to
don women's clothes and join
Sweet Sue's Society Syncopators
in their trip to Miami. Naturally,
both Joe and Jerry, now known as
Josephine and Daphne, fall for the
band's lead singer. Sugar, a sweet
thing whose luck with men has
been less than stellar. Once in
Miami, Joe cons Jerry (still in
drag) into entertaining a lusty old
millionaire while Joe sets himself
up as a wealthy young man in
order to steal Sugar's heart.
All is progressing nicely — Jerry
(as Daphne) gets engaged to his
millionaire and Joe wins Sugar
through his ploy — when Spats
Palazzo shows up in Miami for a
rest cure and naturally decides to
see Sweet Sue's Review. Will Joe
and Jerry save their skins? Will Joe
confess to Sugar that he really isn't
a millionaire? Will Jerry reveal to
his fiancd that he's a he? Oh, the
stereotypes are killing me!
The corny plot isn't the only
problem this musical has. One of
its bigger ones is Bethany Wright,
the actress playing Sugar. Miss
Wright, the proud winner of the
talent contest in the 1980 Miss
America Competition, cannot
sing, cannot dance, and cannot act.
She can, however, stand in a
particularly pouty position that
is well-suited to displaying her only
visible asscl (and it is usually very
visible).
Larry Kert, who plays
Joe, Josephine, is not a great help
to the cast either. He can at least
sing, but his attempts to play the
saxophone are best left
unmentioned. Robert Morse
(Jerry/Daphne) is a little better.
He has a good touch with comedy,
but occasionally goes a bit too far.
He is particularly fond of
exaggerated hand movements that
leave most of us wondering, "Was
that supposed to be funny?" He
does, however, do tolerably well in
his scenes with Charles Krohn, the
lusty millionaire.
Even the performance of Alfred
Desio, who plays Spats Palazzo,
was not perfect. Mr. Desio is a
wonderful tap dancer, but when
he's not dancing, he comes off flat.
To save this from being a totally
negative review, though, I should
mention that the scenery and
costumes in Sugar, designed by the
San Bernardino Civic Light
Opera, were actually quite good.
The show had the ornate look that
is so appropriate to a musical, even
one that didn't live up to its
scenery. Sugar. I'm afraid, is is
anything but sweet.
— Carolyn Austin
Simple Turk 182 gives only mediocre entertainment
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Turk 182
Directed in Boh Clark
Turk 182, a simple film with a
simple premise and simple
characters, provides a simple vet
mildly entertaining two hour film.
I he film is set up, shot, and acted,
you guessed it. simply. To wit:
Simple Character: the shafted
public servant who, acting on his
own initiative, saves a child but is
injured in the process.
Simple Premise: the uncaring
city government rejects all his pleas
lor aid (all 142 of them), with the
mayor personally insulting his
integrity when his brother appeals
on his behalf.
Simple Plot Device: The loyal
brother elects to avenge the wrong
Airfare and Hotel 3 Nights from $233
SPRING BREAK!
Mexico Wholesalers 531-0084
via extraordinary measures,
becoming a mysterious folk hero in
the process. Simple enough so far?
As Jimmy Lynch. Timothy
Hutton makes an endearing
juvenile, not quite delinquent, yet
hardly on the straight and narrow.
He is appropriately in awe of his
older brother's feats and loyal to a
fault. His efforts to see that his
brother gets the care he deserves
bring him into direct conflict with
the mayor of New York (Robert
Culp), a suitably self-centered
fellow, who fails miserably at being
a nice guy.
Consequently, Jimmy capital-
izes on the publicity surrounding
the mayor's political campaign to
make his grievance known and
execute his personal vengeance on
the mayor's arrogance. Naturally,
his being the "little guy" (and
known to the public only as TU RK
182) transforms him into a folk
hero, much to the dismay of the
mayor and his security staff.
Hutton portrays Jimmy with the
required half-genius, half-crazy
neurosis, at once convincing you of
both his intent and his ability to
pull off the overgrown practical
jokes at the Mayor's expense.
Jimmy's secret identity and
consistent success vields him two
I
agents on his trail. One. played by
Peter Boyle, is the chief of the
mayoral security force and bears
the brunt of his honor's
frustrations at TURK !82's
upstaging stunts. The other, a
street-wise detective quietly
played by Darren McGavin, uses
his head to lead them to Lynch's
front door.
Boyle is impressive in his decay
from competent administrator to a
determined killer, set o n
eliminating the source of his
humiliations. Likewise. McGavin
does well in his transformation
from a cynical tough guy to an
understanding ally.
Naturally, Hutton gets a love
interest (Simple Plot Device No.2)
in the social worker played by Kim
Cattrall. She begins quite well,
coming across as a dynamic
individual who cares for her work
and those around her. Unfortun-
See Simple, page 0
Ihe Rice Thresher, February 26, 1985, page 4
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Havlak, Paul. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 28, Ed. 1 Tuesday, February 26, 1985, newspaper, February 26, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245590/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.