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Show Sec Scessical 4he Musical review OK pa<}e Monday • September 29, 2008 * •< Shrivel up and die... of laughter "Flies in the Snuffbox" comedy back to the Black Box £ MELSUNDQU1ST Life editor • & MATTHEW A. JONASSAINT Asst. Life editor D. Terry Petrie and Isaac Walters, the chair of and a lecturer for the theatrical arts department respectively, jump-started UVU's theater season from summer by directing the best production we have ever seen on campus. Flies In The Snuffbox, collected 1880's Russian comedy sketches by Anton Chekhov, is more than a successful production - it is unadulterated, enlightened entertainment. The 'play is technically four short comedies, the first of which has been segmented to form a more distinct transition between the stories. The first sketch. On The Htirmfulness Of Tobacco, was brilliantly handled. The piece was broken into four segments, and was integrated ^ty/e&n,, thp^ crthen sketches,; -~ — . - «.-.. . in a w ^ that creatively urn- - EKze-Njewtorrafid?dulie SazcU fied them. Nathaniel Drew heart palpitations in 77-/E PROPOSAL. was the sole performer in provides the low point in the light design as well is parthis particular sketch, and he show. However, as the plot ticularly well-done in this did a fantastic job. His charheightens, and the audience piece. acter, who spoke directly to The leading actors in The becomes better acquainted the house, was the perfect with the leading characters, Bear, Jeremy J. Minagro and bridge between actors and any disappointment is more Penny Pendleton, ease you audience. His performance than made up for. Here is in to a full-on yelling match, is engaging, relatable. invigwhere the theme of pseudo- which warms the audience orating, and hilarious. In the psychological terror in long- up nicely for the altercations hands of a lesser actor, this term relationships really in the following sketches. rambling bit of script would manifests. And it evolves It's an example of an extensimply be stale and flat, but into a delightful character- sively incorporated aspect of he made it effervescent. based comedy that is more the show - to stretch themes The beginning of The entertaining than any movie and plot devices across all Bear, skit two in the play. in theaters right now. The of the short stories. The good, the bad, and the snubbed An unapologetic analysis of the 2008 Emmy wins • Rainn Wilson, The Office LUIS R. MERINO Life writer For enthusiasts of any kind, there is usually a night where one year's worth of hard work culminates into one moment of glory. The Super Bowl is this night for football fans, the last game of the NBA Finals for basketball followers, but for people like myself, die-hard television watchers, it's the Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired live last week. Throughout the Emmy's 60-year run. almost all of the shows that have appeared on their lists of nominees have been from network television, but within the past five to eight years, more and more cable shows have been making their mark. Let's take a look at this year's list of honorees: Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy Jeremy Piven, Entourage (Winner) Kevin Dillon, Entourage Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men Anyone who has seen Jeremy Piven's foul-mouthed Ari Gold either loves to hate or hates to love him. There's no doubt that Piven dishes out Emmy-worthy performances, but this year marked his 3rd win and 4th nomination - enough is enough. I'm not saying he's not talented, Piven is tremendously good on Entourage, but year after year and season after season, it's the same thing: Jeremy Piven doing his Ari Gold thing. Academy, he's got his glory, so let's move on to other Emmy-worthy performances. The Academy needs to take a serious look at some of the new faces, like Ugly Berry's Michael Urie, Pushing Daisies1 Chi McBride, or 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer. dd Scott M. Stringham's high-strung performance in the third sketch. The Proposal, forces the audience to feel his anxiety. Imagine Charlie Brown without therapy at 35 years old, trying to ask a friend of the family to marry him. Add a dash of Munchausen syndrome and you're close to Stringham's character. Elize Newton is the other standout performance of this piece. She plays the obstinate, ar- P i I pi h i in+Q MER1NDA PEARCE Lite writer It's time for the semiannual intramural scavenger hunt. This timeless ( ^\ c-T^";,-^ )' A £ '• • • J!" '*£$ t r a d i t i o n " V , • •**$» is a fun > * ^7 opportuni.,1 -- v •'•,, • ty for o n e " ""•" t e a m to get some extra cash. The first team to turn in all of the items from the list will win $300. The scavenger hunt six-category list ranges from super easy to super tough. The list was compiled by the intramurals staff and created to stump participants. Jaime Malone, assistant director of intramurais, DVD Iron Man, Sept. 30 azon.com Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Sept. 30 2008 Olympics: Beijing Complete Opening Ceremony, Sept. 30 iazon.com Theatres An American Carol, Oct. 3 Yahoo.com Blindness, Oct. 3 Yahoo.com Flash of Genius, Oct. 3 •(*!•? _ ? + " - *»»-„•.-;<!•(•,;, . ioo.com M M HI LOU NUMBS trial MHL Yahoo.com 'A * • ; ' Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist, Oct. 3 *' ^ » lntramura lsemiannual Yahoo.com scavenger hunt kicks off Intramural scavenger hunt to be difficult to find. For those teams .^ that do not Cost: free submission Hours: 9-5 Mon-Fri Deadline: Oct. 10, 4 p.m. Contact: Intramurals SC 108 h, 863-6163 >' will get every item on the list, there will be a second place prize. Submissions are due to the intramural office by Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. Teams must have all items present at time of submi ss i o n . Remember, photographs are not accepted. With an interesting list and a hope for extra cash, participants are sure to have a good time in their pursuits. said, "I'm sure the items exist." Items range from one burnt marshmallow to a piece of Burl Ives memorabilia. Participants should be prepared t o search anywhere and everywhere for the items. Some rare items are sure CD Ben Folds: Way To Normalt Sept. 30 ii-j James Taylor: Coders, Sept. 30 Jennifer Hudson: Jennifer Hudson, Sept. 30 mazon.com Video Games Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood - Available for the Nintendo DS on Sept. 30 Illustrations by Aaron Anderson Silent Hill: Homecoming Available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on Sept. 30 Find this logo hidden throughout this issue of the newspaper and win a prize. Valhalla Knights 2 Available for the PSP on Oct. 1 The first three people to contact the UVU Review with the total number of these UVU Review against the worid symbols will be rewarded with an awesome prize. Kristin Chenoweth, Illustration by Jordy Kirkman mazon.com A • How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, Oct. 3 The UVU Review challenge Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy See EMMY • 65 UVU Theater Department gumentative counterpart to Stringham, adding her own brand of hilarity to the action. Julie Suazo plays the mother, and Suazo ably balances the characters' tension and mediation in the story. The plot of The Proposal is less neatly tied off than in The Bear, which paralT leis the theme of devolution in long-term relationships nicely. The final sketch, The Jubilee, descends into pure chaos by the end. This sketch, about employees of a bank on the night of a company party, practically erupts on the stage. The women show the worst characteristics they are blamed of earlier in the script, the men become children or monsters, and every relationship between characters is destroyed. But it is still a delight to watch. Amos Omer plays a smug, self-appreciating boss whose egocentricity is exceeded only by his overly talkative wife, played by Britni Gibbs. His antics will seem all too familiar to students working through school by relating with middle management; he is akin to Michael Scott from The Office, but with actual concern for his career. Jana Grass is fantastic as a dynamic character whose obstinate and thunderous nature is matched only by Leviticus Brown as an elderly, miserable volcano who leads the tone of the entire sketch with the sense of a slowly approaching collision. Performers also include Samuel Davis, Natalie Devine, and Jacob Porter. The comedy is not merely effective -- it's etfhaXfcfTrtgT and that's because the actors perform so provocatively that each line becomes an engaging, relatable experience for the audience. Flies In The Snuffbox is executed well because at the heart of the production, there is a message inherent to the actors, directors, stories, and Chekhov: that human beings are weak, desperate, stubborn creatures who overexaggerate and complain often. And for some reason, that's uproarious to witness. New this week |