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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle, Thursday, January 19, 1978 PageTeii enfarfanent Director of'Eamest7 confident about play by MOLLY FOWLER Chronicle staff Before Dr. Frank Whiting entered college he had appeared in over 100 111 Dr. Frank M. Whiting theatrical productions. His career lead him through 17 years as artistic director of The Showboat Theatre in Minneapolis, Minn., and 38 years in association with the Department of Theatre at the University of Minnesota. After all of that, Whiting says he doesn't get too upset 4 DON'T BUY SKI EQUIPMENT. RENT IT AT THE SKI CONNECTION And connect with the Just $6.00 Located in best ski a day equipment. the Hillside Plaza Shopping Center 7200 South and 2300 East and Park City behind the old Miners Hospital. in Student's Almanac Answers and Advice on University Life announces the 1978 STUDENT ALMANAC & STUDENT DISCOUNT CARD haven't received the mail and are a student with a current activity card, you may pick one up in the ASUU offices in the north wing of the Union Bidg. If you one in STUDENT DISCOUNT CARD INSIDE THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS Of THE UNIVERSITY Of UTAH Never Pay Full Price for Movies Again! expanded its discount ticket sales to include Evenings & Weekends ASUU TICKETS FOR: Plitt, Mann, Century & Trolley Weekdays 8:00 am 4:30 pm, ASUU offices Weekdays 4:30 pm 9:30pm, Union Main Desk Sat. 9:00 am 9:30 pm, Union Main Desk Sun. 1:30 pm 9:30 pm, Union Main Desk about a play: he is directing. With tha kind of record, you can't Dlame him. affectionately Whiting, referred o as Doc, through it." "We toured that horrible little melodrama through "A while ago, I was honored by a very prestigious group of people with the theater, and they asked what my most rewarding was," recalls experience Whiting. "My reply was the time I'd spent teaching high school drama in Kimberly, several different counties in Utah," he said. Since that time, Whiting's name has is profile lrrently optimistic about wonderful grown to be a respected name directing "The Importance of Being Earnest," a Babcock Classic Theatre production. This is the fifth time he has directed this particular play and he says he feels "terribly t Idaho. Well, I floored them, could call it moment, but theatre, not only nationally but internationally as well. It is largely due to Frank Whiting that the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis was established. "At that point in time I was one of the few who the even knew who Tony Guthrie was," says Whiting about the prominent actor Sir Tyrone Guthrie. Currently, the Guthrie ranks as one of the finest theaters in the country. are supposed to be pessimistic, but since I've retired, I don't seem to get as worried about a play as I used to." According to Whiting, "Earnest" is one of the most frequently produced plays in America. "It hasn't been done too many times in Salt Lake City, though, and I haven't been able to figure that one out," he says. Whiting was born in Wallsbury, Utah and grew up on a cattle ranch near Provo. "I did my first show I was 14," says when those days they "In Whiting. said Franky was a bashful boy, so I think they were hesitant about giving me a part. My grandfather thought he was too old to do a role and my father said no to it, so they gave it to me," recalls Whiting. Through the influence of Whiting and Guthrie, Minneapolis has become one of the U.S. centers for theater. Of the 38 years Whiting spent at the University of Minnesota, 30 were spent as chairman of the Department of Theatre. He has had a hand in the training of thousands of professional school in a play by the time I left," says Whiting. In 1974, Whiting retired from the University of Minnesota. "It was like Donahue (the Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company) and most of the members of the Guthrie Theatre Repertory ComDoc attending my own funeral," he muses. Upon his retirement the proscenium stage at the University of Minnesota was named for Whiting. "They let me direct 'King Lear' for the opening of the theater." "After all of that, what the hell would you do for an encore?" Whiting asks. actors and directors including John Clark pany. "My experience watching kids from that kind of background get excited about theater. I think I'd cast all but two kids from that in production, this show has that sweet aroma of success." Whiting explains, "They must have guess you a dramatic it was a laim to fame?" asks Whiting. "I lived c For an encore Whiting came back to Utah, his native soil. Although he doesn't teac h any acting classes, he is a member of the faculty of the University Department of Theatre and frequently has a hand in campus productions like "Earnest" and other Pioneer Memorial Theatre shows. "I've always had a soft spot for this University and can think of no better encore than to be on its faculty," concluded Whiting. the Family' may come to an end 'All in CBS programs chief Robert Daly says: "We have an option on the show for another year and we're trying to convince the talent to stay." A spokesman said by JAY SHARBUTT AP Television writer ANGELES Will LOS All in the Family be back next fall? The answers are: (a) maybe; (b) maybe not; (c) perhaps with half the cast and a new title, and (d) perhaps as a Daly means the entire cast. But producer Norman Lear, whose hit series began on Jan. 12, 1971, says in a frequent special. TOMORROW carefully qualified answer the Family as we know it is finished because two of its four stars are leaving. He says Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers are committed to other projects next season, Reiner for ABC and Struthers for CBS. "Ana All in the Family to me is that group, that set, the music, that title. ..we are looking at the last season of all that and the concluding shows will wrap up all of that," he adds. I Ie said, CBS would like to do a half-- family series next fall with the two other Family regulars, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Staple-ton- , and call it either Archie and Edith or The Bunkers. But Stapleton isn't signed for either "and I'm not sure Carroll is, although he's indicated interest," Lear said. "It could happen. I don't know. If the network can't get that, it would like to see six, eight, maybe 10 specials with all four Family stars. That could happen if the a STANFORD R. BOHNE Former U of U Vice President Central Chapel 12 FRIDAY noon Noon THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DASAINTS Y institute of DEVOTIONAL ffeligiOll UNIVERSITY OF UTAH other doesn't. "But the show, All in the Family with everything it's come to mean, well, we're watching its concluding season now," he said. |