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Show Hie Daily Utah Chronicle, Tuesday. February 10, 1976 Page Five However, adept as she may le at driving her wheelchair, Williams plays sluow mediocrity by ELLEN JACOB Chronicle staff Tennessee Williams certainly knew what he was saying when he stated. "Nothing succeeds like mediocrity." Unfortunately he did not reali7 tfc statement would come all too true in the Salt Lake Acting Company's performance of "Garden District." which consists of two of his plays. I he first. "Something is Unspoken." a con- versation between Cornelia Scott, an aging southern, lady, and her secretary. Grace. It is a sad. touching attempt at communication by two women locked in iamond: crowd pleaser by DAVID PROCTOR wouldn't know it by the near Chronicle staff Neil Diamond's performance at the Special obviously bought Diamond was selling stock and barrel. mixture of greatest hits tunes given a good reading and. in the "Jonathan en- what lock, Diamond his made in the sixties as a reputation rock 'n roll songwriter for groups like the Monkees and. occasionally, for himself. He trained himself to be a better singer and performer and was soon hitting the charts regularly with fun songs like "Cracklin' Rosie." a tribute to the bubbley wine. It was during the time he recorded his Stones album that he began to see himself as something more than a good-tim- e rocker and he began to explore the mysterious and his in metaphysical Livingston Seagull" segment, overstated pretentiousness emphasized by Diamond's almost reverence toward his own work. When he fills the role of rock entertainer, as he did much of the two hour show, Diamond is on solid ground. His material like "Cherry em-harassi- "Kentucky Woman." "Solitary Man" and "Sweet Caroline" is familiar and comfortable for both him and his audience. Rut when he shifts his an persona to become artiste, writer of songs that are supposed to transcend form and become artistic statements, he is clearly in over his head. But you -- crowd's thusiastic reaction to nearly everything he did. They Events Center (SEC) Saturday night was a Cherry." capacity disastrous Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack LP and the almost solemn equally Serenade. Saturday night's show was basically a rehearsal for album. Diamond entered to the recorded strains of an a'capella African chant and opened with "Sooliaman" and "Cherry Cherry." complete with a couple misfired Elvis Presley moves. After several of the older songs Diamond moved into "The Ust Picasso." which was greeted more quietly than the others. But e. Jay and the Americans. Diamond hit it big by writing Then in 1966, the the song ."I'm a Believer" for a "new" group, the Monkees. Later that year "Solitary Man" came out. 1. What was the first Top Ten single done by Diamond? 2. What song was on the flip side of "Solitary Man?' 3. On what label did Diamond first record? Thursday's Answer: Tom Terrific's arch enemy was the somewhat manby-pamb- y bad guy Crabby Appleton. ld I salt lake lelievable. having learned the lesson of subtlety. The play Suddenly Last Summer, has many of the same faults. While offering a few good scenes to his only groan kind of the to drugstore keep me alive?" Fdditha Perez is excellent as Catherine, the disturbed, confused reject the she fears her. Joan girl who cannot truth even while Cukrowicz it might destroy Frbin. who is the secretary in the first play, gives another believable performance as Catherine's mother. But the award for best contortionist must go to the young man who plays Catherine's brother, blessed as he is with what seems a severe nervous tic of the lohotomy Udy. rescue it from utter high school thespianism. It is the quietly terrifying story of a man's death at Cabeza de jox), and his mother's to attempts destroy the girl who was with him at the time. She has even employed a Dr. to perform a on the girl, Catlierine Holly. Apparently "Dr. Sugar." as he is called, btlieves that fine acting consists of an intense quiver of the brow or a slight palpitation of the eyeballs, delivered intermittently on appropriate occasion. Mrs. Venable. the dead man's mother, is played by the same woman who portrays Cornelia Scott. Anyone who can overact well as she for the length two plays can only commended. It must be as of be an experience. exhausting Aside from the fact that some of the actors drop a little English andor New York accent in with their southern drawl, it must be admitted that they are skilled in the gymnastic and isometric arts. And Dr. Sugar does have a very nice U-ar- Who knows, if the Salt I.ake Acting Company could stop acting long enough to act. the future might hold a little bit more for them than bodies and agile jaws. well-exercise- d THERE'S ONLY ONE two 9 GREAT "SPAGHETTI TREMENDOUS CALADC album up-comi- Noise," the song he said set the theme for the concept LP. Just when things were going well for him he had to mention he borrowed a Mozart melody for the basis of the simplistic "Song Sung VVOpen from 5 p.m. -- T Closed Sundays Open 12 Noon Sot. jLY TAKE OUTS 716 E. 4th So.ST1 Blue." a tragic misuse of genius. He lead into "I Am...I Said." another of his very good songs, with Rod homilies about individuality and followed it with another of his good songs, "Holly Holy". The old show stopper. "Brother love's Traveling Salvation Show," was hauled out for further service and it worked again. That music is what Diamond does best and when ' he does it he is a gas to watch. The audience was on its feet and brought him back McKuen-style- lagnificent entertainment, d self-affirmati- sumptuous, lush, gorgeous, thrilling, haunting . . . transporting the viewer into a world of long ago, and creating the kind of magic few movies accomplish . . f Rex Reed, Syndicated Columnist for more. The problem was the "more" turned out to be a medley from J.L. Seagull, one of Diamond's more said you'd never But you might have to. You might not be able to afford them. Right now new ones can run $15 to $50 a pair. Who knows how much they'll be next month. A part-tim- e job as a Provident Mutual campus insurance agent can make sure you always have the money you need. While it lets you work the hours you want. Drop by our campus office and let's discuss fitting our program into your schedule. Office Home 262-543- 1 533-051- 5 , "Longfellow," of the Seagull tunes and "Play Me" all begin to sound alike when played close jeans! 0 "Picasso," "For My Children," several give up Suite 16 embarassing moments. "Sanctus," "Dear Father," "Sky Bird" and "Lonely Looking Sky" were marched by in close order drill to enthusiastic response as a projected Jonathan winged overhead. It was then that the similarity of some of his recent melodies began to become noticable. You Greg Hawker 220 E. 3900 So. artistically PROVIDENT MUTUALCOMPANY 1 IFE INSURANCE OF PHILADELPHIA Pa. 19101 Home Of1.ce: 4601 Market St.. Phtla.. Subsidiaries: Providor Management Company Providor Sales Company together. Usually Diamond's tunes are the most engaging part of his songs. The two hour show came to an end with "I've Been This Way Before" and most everyone left happy, unconcerned about the contradictions so prominent in Diamond's stage NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW per- sonality. He does not have the moves to be a rocker but that is still his best material; he is more at ease with his ballads but they ring with cliches and answers to difficult questions. On the other hand, he did make a lot of people happy Saturday night. over-simplist- "Best Film of the Year" Written for the screen 4nd directed by STANLEY KUBRICK ic stirring TAN O'HEALaMARA IPG in "Isn't it sentimental unabashedly culminated in "Beautiful full-tim- IN can disagreement when she asks, "For My Children" were recognized quickly and by WAYNE TYLER pre-me- busy being just that an actress that she never truly acts, and never lets us suspend our disbelief. We are too aware that she is aware of us as an audience. When she is nervous and agitated, it seems not so much a result of Cornelia's internal conflicts, as the result of having learned her lines just a little too well to be really comfortable with them. She also overplays her role to perfection. It's a wonder she doesn't break htr jaw or pop an eye in the the process. (irace, secretary, is much more "Longfellow Serenade." Me" and the "Play favorably. A long monologue about 16-ye- ar However, poor direction is only too apparent in the shallow interpretation given Cornelia. The actress is so lf Mayor La Trivia- - old a used guitar and seven years and you wind up with "Solitary Man." Neil Diamond, a Brooklyn product, has rarely been off the charts since that first song. At 10, Diamond was singing for nickles and dimes in an informal group, "The Memphis Backstreet Boys." At 13, he had formed his own group, "The Roadrunners." While at the University of New York, on a fencing scholarship, he continued to compose. He quit ten hours short d of a degree so he could write In 1964, pop composers, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich persuaded Diamond to compose for them. Under their guidance he composed for such groups as Sonny and Cher and Give a shy cobweb of "something forgotten." Cornelia Scott is a lonely, insecure woman who is struggling vainly to convince herself of her own importance, putting up a front before her secretary as well as before everyone else. his upcoming world-wid- e tour which starts in New Zealand later this week. Before the few American dates he just finished Diamond had been off stage for years and there were some kinks he wanted to iron out. With this in mind it is not surprising he decided to stay on familiar ground and only introduced one new song from his just completed three-and-a-ha- grayness: one the color of steel, and the other of a we from Wvner Bros Q A Wrs 'BERgNSON0 Communications Company OPENS WEDNESDAY! 1:30.5:00.8:30 |