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Show luesaayjAugust , iyyTT After Honrs lHb SlGNrOaf 'Arachnophobia' creeps By C. Mark Howard Arts editor of The Signpost Spider! Just the mere mention of that word conjures up, in most of us, a host of creepy, frightening, and otherwise unpleasant images connected with those hairy web-builders. "Arachnophobia," uses the fear of spiders, which many people harbor, and thousands of spiders and makes for a very entertaining, and-especially to you arachnophobes-even disturbing, movie. The film is billed as a comedy thriller, a thrill-omedy to be exact; and certainly a thrill-omedy it is. The thrill portion of the movie deals with spiders, spiders, spiders, and the actors' and actresses' attempts to destroy or escape from those scurrying, deadly, and ever present arachnids. This is where the film's great special and visual effects send chills running down the viewer's spine. But the comedy portion of the film is clearly the more successful half of the double bill. Jeff Daniels plays Dr. Ross Jennings, a highly successful general practitioner, who decides to leave San Francisco with his wife and two childern and take over the practice of the only doctor in the small town of Canaima. Jennings, who suffers from acute arachnophobia - his memory being that of a spider creeping into his cradle, finds his dreams ot a quiet, idyllic life dashed when the town doctor, Sam Metcalf (played by Henry Jones) informs Jennings of his new intentions of not retiring. Jennings, who has just moved into a nice country house complete with an old barn, now faced with the possibility of poverty, finds an unexpected friend and ally in Utah Symphony to perform the 'Utah' By C. Mark Howard Arts editor of The Signpost The Utah Symphony, under the direction of Associate Conductor Kirk Muspratt, will be performing "An American Salute" featuring the Utah premiere of composer John Duffy's Symphony No. 1, "Utah" August 10, 11, and 12 as part of its 1990 Summer Series. With over 300 works for theatre, concert stage, film, and television to his credit, Duffy, a native of New York, is currently president of "Meet the Composer" an organization founded to promote American composers. He recieved and Emmy award in 1981 and 1984. The "Utah" Symphony has been performed at Avery Fisher Hall in New York's Lincoln Center, but this will be the first time the piece will be heard in Utah. Duffy was commisioned by the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club for the express purpose of promoting assistance for the preservation of Utah's wilderness. Duffy wrote in the program notes of "Utah's" New York premiere, "I begun sketching musical ideas for Symphony No. 1... while hiking through southeastern Utah in spring 1988. S 1 . : - - j DR. JENNINGS (Jff Daniels) keeps a Margaret Hollins (played by Mary Carver), who volunteers to throw him a welcoming party and become his first patient. Jennings, upon examining Mrs. Hollins, finds her in great health and takes her off the high blood pressure pills Dr. Metcalf has had her on because, he argues, her blood pressure isn't high enough to warrant such medication. When Mrs. Hollins suddenly and mysteriously dies. Dr. Metcalf and the town sheriff (played by Stuart Pankin of 'Not Necessarily the News' fame) blame Jennings tor indirectly causing her death and refuse him the opportunity of performing an autopsy on Mrs. Hollins to determine the exact cause for her death. Needless to say this type of incident to happen to a newly arrived stranger in a close-knit small town is not good for Jennings or his wife, his two children. As the composition went forward I found sustenance from the spirit of the land which along with photographs, rocks, and red clay filled my Manhattan studio." "I began sketching musical ideas for 'Utah' ... while hiking through southeastern Utah in spring 1988. As the composition went forward I found sustenance from the spirit of the land.... John Duffy Duffy also discussed the passion with which "Utah" was created, "I've worked longer and more intensely on 'Utah' than any music I've written because of the urgency of the cause for which the music was commissioned and the sheer immensity of Utah's forth vith more laughs than screams wary watch out for those spiders . As a graceful gesture, the local high school football coach hires DELBERT MCCLINTOCK (John Goodman) and friend plan spider extermination 6" rr COMPOSER JOHiJ Duffy seencreating the 'Utah" Symphony. wilderness." popular composers such as George The remainder of "An Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" - American Salute" will feature with Susan Duehlmeier as piano works some of America's most soloist, Morton Gould's "American Jennings to give his players physicals;and whenoneofthe kids later collapses and dies, Jennings is again blamed and this time his two children feel the cruel lash of gossip as their father is branded, "Dr. Death." Only when Dr. Metcalf falls dead with the same mysterious sickness, is Jennings listened to. After a couple exhumations and autopsies, the truth of the matter slowly begins to materialize: spiders, a very poisonious, and heretofore unknown, species of spiders are to blame for the deaths of the town's people. Thus enter arachnophile (that's a spider lover - not hater) and world-renowned entomologist (that's a bug lover in general), Dr. James Atherton (played by Julian Sands), and the slightly neurotic local bug exterminator, Delbert McClintock (played by John Goodman), to try and save the town from the invasion of these deadly spiders. 1v V ' Symphony , - . ;- ; v 4 The movie works awkwardly as a realistic thriller. The spiders behave with uncanny stragegy and murderous intent, the spiders are portrayed more as a nuisance than they are actually scarry, and the actors' and actoresses' reactions to them are a bit too melodramatic and overdone. I found myself wanting to smash spiders instead of running from them; and I even fancy myself an arachnophobe. Throughout "Arachnophobia," the laughs are plentiful and some are even gruesomely subtle - as is the fate of the spider-loving Dr. Atherton; the thrills are minimal, unless you have a propensity for arachnophobia; but on the whole, the movie is well worth dipping into the entertainment budget for. On a rating system of one through five bags of popcorn, five bags of popcorn being a movie of the highest caliber, I give "Arachnophobia" three and one half bags of popcorn. with Dr. Jennings (Jeff Daniels). Aug. 10-13 Salute," Leroy Anderson's "Bugler's Holiday," Samuel Barber's "Adagion for Strings," Sousa's "El Capitan," and Cohen's "Star Spangled Spectacular" sing-along.The Utah chapter of the Sierra Club will also be holding a reception following the August 10 concert at Symphony Hall. John Duffy will be present at the reception in the Abravanel Room of Symphony Hall, to socialize with those interested. The reception will cost $5 with tickets available at the door. The concert will be held August 10 in Symphony Hall at 8 pm., August 11 at Deer Valley at 7:30 pm., and August 12 at Snowbird at 4 pm.. Tickets for the Symphony Hall concert will range from $10 to $16 with student tickets for $5. Tickets for Deer Valley are $13 in advance, $15 the day of the show, and a limited number of reserved seats available for 25$. Tickets for the Snowbird concert are $13 in advance, $15 the day of the show, and $20 for reserved seating. To obtain a student ticket all one needs is a student ID. Only one ticket per student I D can be bought . For further information, or to order tickets, call the Utah Symphony Box Office at533-NOTE. i |