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Show Park City News Thursday, February 24, 1983 Page C3 'Prairie5 fire burns in latest show byJeffHowrey Pure Prairie League's de facto leader, Mike Reilly, told an interviewer recently, "There isn't an outrageous member of the band. We don't project that image." After seeing Pure Prairie League's lethargic and largely uninspired set at the Cowboy Bar last weekend, it seems curious that Reilly would consider the band's facelessness some sort of anti-image asset. While Pure Prairie League's perfunctory set before a near sell-out crowd last Saturday was undeniably undeni-ably well-executed, there was no spark or sense of energy behind the band's craftsmanship. To be frank, Mr. Reilly, you could have certainly used an outrageous member or two last week. It would have perked up the proceedings proceed-ings quite a bit. Not to say that Pure Prairie League's set didn't have moments of musical luster. For one thing, the band played their best known material quite capably. Even though several group members have come and gone since the band's heyday in the early 1970s, their biggest hit the ethereal country-pop, "Amy" sounded as good as always. The song's trademark billowing bil-lowing harmonies, in the clustered third mode made so popular by Crosby, Stills and Nash a few years before Pure Prairie arrived, are still intact. . Likewise, the band's big Top 40 hit of a year or so' ago "Let Me Love You Tonight"' sounded solid. The song, with its California pop overtones reminiscent of the highly influential Michael Mi-chael McDonald of the late Doobie Brothers, is indicative indica-tive of Pure Prairie League's recent shift away from country material towards easy listening MOR stuff. "Let Me Love You Tonight" To-night" also highlights the best thing there is about the current Pure Prairie League lineup multi-instrumentalist Al Garth. Garth, whose previous credentials include a lengthy stint with Loggins and Messina, plays a beautiful beauti-ful saxophone. His melodic break on "Let Met Love You" is the song's hook and a big reason it did so well with the Top 40 crowd. When Garth's given the chance, he does an admirable admir-able job on lead vocals as well. When he launched into a jumping rendition of the Johnny Otis classic, "Willie and the Hand Jive," it was one of the few moments the band cut loose and played with genuine conviction. For the most part, however, how-ever, Pure Prairie seemed to be just going through the motions. Playing the same set twice a night to a resort town crowd all the while (maybe?) thinking that they were too good for the gig. That they deserved (possibly?) (possib-ly?) to be playing in a more prestigious venue. The Cowboy Bar is a long way from the Salt Palace. ! Pure Prairie League has tasted the glory of playing such big venues as the Palace before. Maybe it's hard for them to swallow the fact that now they're stuck playing resort club bars. Whatever the reason, Pure Prairie League didn't seem to be giving it their all at the Cowboy last week. They did everything you expected. But nothing more. As group leader Reilly has admitted, their isn't an outrageous thing about them. Nothing really unusual at all. In fact, when you come down to it, perhaps the most intriguing thing about Pure Prairie League is their name. It is a pretty unusual name for a group. Pure Prairie League. Where did that name come from? It turns out that they got the idea from a 1939 Errol Flynn movie. The film was called "Dodge City." In it, there was a women's temperance tem-perance union called the Pure Prairie League. It figures. Pure Prairie League was named after a bunch of old biddies who wanted to keep people from drinking. They wanted to keep people from cutting loose and really having fun. That's the true origin and meaning of Pure Prairie League. It figures. ij X' ' J. . i l '. l f -4 . y. j, .. ' ' iM kX v. " u& Pi -jCv iff JLi v ' IT I" h LL.:.. : Local touches liven up The Apple Tree' How much room is there under the apple tree? Enough room for three short musicals, a cast of veteran Park City players, and inventiveness in-ventiveness from the actors and director Richard Jewkes. The play also features two new faces on the Egyptian Theatre stage musical director John Ogden, and local newcomer Shari Summers, Sum-mers, who stars in one of the six main roles. Park City Performances will open "The Apple Tree" this Friday at 8 p.m. A reception will begin at 7 p.m. The play, written by "Fiddler "Fid-dler on the Roof" authors Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, is actually three one-act musicals. On Broadway, Alan Alda and Barbara Harris starred in all the stories. But director Jewkes cast three different couples. A "Narrator" character has also been split up into three roles. "Originally you would have had a cast of three and a chorus," said Jewkes. "This way, you give more people a chance to work." The first play is set in t!e Garden of Creation where Adam (Richard Scott) first encounters Eve (Shari Summers). He is exasperated, because she is an adventurous sort who goes around naming things. The story is taken from writings by Mark Twain. The Garden is represented on stage as a kid's playground. And Jewkes is encouraged by the acting of Scott 'and ; Summers. "There's a sincerity between them." The second story by Frank Stockton, "The Lady and The Tiger," is based on the famous fable. Maggie Reno is the queen of a barbaric kingdom and Dave Sturges is the captain of the guards who's been dallying with her. He's caught, and given the awesome choice of entering en-tering two doors behind one a beautiful lady, behind the other, a ferocious tiger. Jewkes said the production produc-tion depicts the story in a vaudeville, high-camp style. "The mood is sexy, pizzaz-zy," pizzaz-zy," he said. "But we still set up the basic story line, the same lines and lyrics. We made no big direct changes." He isn't the first director to tamper with the second act. In some productions, Jewkes said, it has been dropped entirely. The third story, "Pasionella," is a jab at TV by Jules Feiffer. Susan Jar-man Jar-man is a chimney sweep turned turn-ed into a movie star by Mr. TV Guide (Kurt Graf )-who finds it's better to be yourself. your-self. Larry Sheldon plays her antagonist. The feeling here is comparable com-parable to contemporary, cool jazz, said Jewkes. "And Susan has an incredible energy and vibrancy," he said. The Narrator in the play is three actors Graf, Jossy Sheya, and Connie Jean Boyle. In the Garden, they are seducers tempting Eve to bite the apple. In the other stories they are guides or observers. ob-servers. The director said he's pleased by the opportunities here to devise new details or comic nuances to tell the story. The actors are encouraged en-couraged to invent too. "In 'The Lady and the Tiger' Jossy was a sportscaster observing ob-serving the story. In one rehearsal, she put her microphone away, took off the foam cap on the mike, stuck it on her thumb, and talked into that." Jewkes has worked on the Egyptian stage before, as the director of last summer's "Night of the Iguana." Musical director John Ogden is a Salt Lake actor. Both men get considerable praise from Shari Summers, the new face among a familiar cast of Park City actors. (She has only lived here since the first of January.) They've given her a real learning experience. "In the high school plays they would just tell you, 'Here's your blocking, here's your song, learn it.' Ogden will say, 'OK, dammit, this is terrible!'" She also praised co-star Richard Scott for helping her to feel at ease, and to realize elements in her performance. "He's one of the nicest people I ever met," she said. Shari said she asked about local theater shortly after she arrived in town, and found herself in the lobby of the Egyptian one day. "When are they having the next play try-outs," someone yelled up the theater stairs. "Tonight," came the answer. an-swer. She finds Eve an exciting role for her. The character has feelings similar to her attitudes, she said. "The hard thing then is to put that across from the stage." "The Apple Tree" will play on Feb. 25-26 and March 3-5. Admission is $7.50, $5.50 for PCP members. For reservations, call 649-9371. Take out service available. ry (J y B(g)(g)Q f Ski In and Ski Out! Park City's newest and most exciting atmosphere for lunches, dinner and apres ski fun. 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