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Show The Summer Chronicle, WcdnexUv. August 2, 1978 Page Three entertaiien Or mm Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Century 22 Theatre eatle magic intact in lSgt. Pepper1 by BARBARA RATTLE Chronicle staff Peter Frampton, George Burns, The Bee Gees, Steve Martin, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston, Aerosmith and Earth, Wind and Fire in a musicalvisual fantasy extravaganza with no dialogue and with a plot and characters based loosely on random phrases taken from 27 Beatles songs? This is not a film for discussion at cocktail parties. Explaining the plot alone would see a crowd through nine rounds of drinks. Sgt. P.P.P. Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band were America's secret weapons during VVWI, for, when the band played, the enemy would lay down its weapons. The sergeant's hometown, the idyllic Heartland, USA, erects a golden Sgt. Pepper weather vane which will always point the way to happiness, in honor of the great man. At the dedication ceremony, presided over by the lovable mayor, Mr. Kite (George Burns), the old sergeant drops dead. His will is read and it is discovered that his band's instruments have the power to make dreams come true. They must be kept in Heartland at all times, or the town will fall into ruin and be filled with filth and evil. Peter Frampton plays Billy Shears, the grandson of the sergeant who, during Billy's childhood, had asked him to form a new Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And so he does, 20 years later, with his three best buddies, played by the Bee Gees. The band takes to the stage and the town frolics. In the midst of the celebration a telegram arrives from L.A.'s foremost record company, Big Deal Records, and off the boys go to the smog filled City of Angels in search -- of success. Meanwhile, a sickly-yello- w van arrives in Heartland, containing the evil Mr. Mustard, a neurotic real estate broker. Mustard is under orders from the mysterious FVB (Future Villian Band, played by Aerosmith) to take over Heartland. In the process, he is to rip off the magical instruments and deliver them to other evil characters which he does. One instrument goes to a certain Dr. Maxwell Edison (Steve Martin), whereupon he is empowered to medically convert old, ugly, corrupt, greedy, venal people into young, beautiful, corrupt, greedy, venal people with a magic silver hammer. They are turned over to the FVB "army." A second instrument is given to Father Sun (Alice Cooper) at his Temple of Electronic Cosmology, where hordes of uniformed young people are brainwashed into hating love and joy, and loving only money. Back in L.A., the band members have become the nation's biggest superstars in a mere week and are being wined, dined, drugged and seduced in bizarre luxury. Billy Shears' girlfriend, Strawberry Fields (Sandy Farina) hops a bus to L.A. and tells the band of the havoc in Heartland, which was immediately filled with punks the second the instruments were pilfered. Thus ensues the rescue of the instruments and the meeting of Good (Billy and Band) and Evil (FVB and cohorts). That's only the bare bones of a plot created by journalistscreenwriter Henry Edwards. The guy certainly has an l s4'rX imagination. Extravaganza is the suitable description for this film, in the tradion of Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar. Which isn't surprising, considering that all three films, plus Grease and Saturday Night Fever were produced by the man on the cover of last week's Newsweek, Robert Sligwood. Sgt. Pepper is Tommy's alter ego the latter projected sociopolitical messages and was deemed "heavy." The former is fantasy, and that's all. Taken as such, it's a hell of a lot of fun. Where do the Beatles fit into this comic ? book Only through the songs it's hard to decide whether this film is a celebration of the Beatles' art or of the idols and musicians present day teeny-bo- p that sing on screen. Much of the audience is too young to have been aware of the songs at the time they became famous. Some older Beatles fans have already expressed disgust in the film, calling it a prostituted showcase of Lennon and McCartney aimed at an audience too young to appreciate it. For those of us who do remember and appreciate, the disgust can be discarded. The songs still hit; their beauty and ability to come-to-life- Maurice, Barry and Robin Gibb (1 to r) and Peter Frampton as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, arrive in L.A. in search of success. provoke emotion are still intact, no matter who happens to be singing them. The cast members, for the most part, are not actors, but do fine in spite of it. What counts is the music, which is not tampered with; arrangements and even vocal inflections remain almost identical to the original Beatles product. "The old hit musicals worked because they were contemporary in their own time," said mentor Stigwood. "In the '50s and '60s most of the musicals failed because they were all wrong half this and half that. I have a feeling that total fantasy is what works best today." You might be right, Bob. ODD Literature reading in Liberty Park The Salt Lake Council for the Arts will present a poetry and prose reading in the Liberty Park bandstand at 3 p.m. Saturday as part of the Arts in the Parks program. Four published authors will read selections from their works. David Kranes, a professor of English at the University will read from his fiction. Kranes collection of stories tided Flesh Tones will be published in the fall by the University Press. Next season, National Public Radio will produce "The Young Comic and the Folksinger," a radio play by Kranes. Bruce Weigl, Sandra Hoben and Andrew Grossbardt will read selections from their poetry. Weigl is currendy the editor of Quarterly West and has a book of poems forthcoming titled Eclipse. Hoben is a teaching fellow at the University. Her poems have appeared in the Western Humanities Review and other literary magazines. Grossbardt's work has appeared in The Nation and several other publications. His poetry has been compiled in a book titled The Traveler. Artist in the City poet StephenRuffus will introduce the program. The Arts in the Parks program will present dance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Salt Lake Art Center in Reservoir Park. Artist in the City performer John Berton will present a dance concert featuring short studies in a variety of dance styles. Jitterbug, jazz and tap blend to provide an evening of light entertainment. "Our nine numbers range from disco to Astaire, with music adapted from musical comedy scores and popular groups," Berton said. He will perform with Artist in the Gty dancers Shellie Cash, Barb Baird, Esther Burchival, Leslie Allen and Sandi Payne. Unexpected Company, an i m pro visa tional theatre group, will open the program. Founded by Jackie Skidmore and Steve Blakely, the company has children's theatre and conducted performed theatre workshops. as low as 2d The New XEROX 9200 COPIER and Francis Zimbeaux will be included. Crafts and sculpture by Angelo Caravaglia, Thomas Kass, Richard Johnston, H. James Stewart, Milt Beens and Ken Litde will also be shown. Old favorites, recent acquisitions and seldom-see- n objects will provide a survey of the visual arts in our state, with an emphasis on craftsmen and artists working during the last 20 years. The exhibition will continue through September 6. Gallery hours are 11 to 5, Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 5, Saturday and Sunday. Delivers the Sharpest Cleanest Copies Possible -- Center presents techniques of Utah artists Now showing at the Salt Lake Art Center, 54 Finch Lane in Reservoir Park, is an exhibition of works dating from the late 19th century to the present by Utah artists and craftsmen. The pieces will be from the permanent collection of the center and show the wide variety of styles and mediums explored by Utah artists. Paintings by Ranch Kimbal, Edward Maryon, Donald Olsen, G.M. Ottinger, Edith Roberson, Roger Des Rosier, Cornelius Salisbury, V. Douglas Snow, F. Anthony Smith, LeConte Stewart with copies Themes and Reports Bound Choice of spiral or Velo binding and cover stock Give your important work a professional, published look for SORTED COLLATED STAPLED AT INCREDIBLE SPEED only pennies Thesis reproduced and bound a specialty since 1969 GPl ii ii WHILE YOU WAIT K0JD University Off ice 273 South 13th East 582-828- 2 |