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Show The Thunderbird Monday December 5, 1983 P age 1 mmei To Randy Hickman nothing is impossible by Jay Hill Randy Hickmans life is as the characters he played in the SUSC musical Bamum colorful, determined and wanting, most of all, to see other people smile. Randall S. Hickman, the oldest of eight boys in his family, hails from Payson, Utah. He is a junior working towards a composite degree. Randy was actively involved while attending high school. He was president of both the science and the drama clubs. He was involved with the student council and was elected as the president of the International Thespian Society. Hickman continued his practice of being involved when he came to SUSC after his 1981 graduation from Payson High School. He is a member of the Forensics team and President of the Drama Club. His theatrical achievements at SUSC include a variety of roles. He has appeared in Sweeney Todd, The Royal Family, You Cant Take It With You, The Match Maker, and Trial by Jury. He played the role of Demetrius in A Midsummer blights Dream, and Judas in G odspell. Most recently, Hickman took the lead role of Phineas T. Barnum in the musical Bamum. Last year he achieved a second place in the National College Forensics Tournament in the area of Dramatic Interpretation. During the past three summers, Hickman has spent the vacation time away from school doing summer srock at the Jackson Hole Playhouse in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Hickman says that he has done a lot of growing up in the three years that hes attended SUSC and that he has learned more about himself than he ever had before. Everything Ive done in the has been a learning drama department experience, whether it was good or bad. If its bad, youre learning from it and you wont do it next time, he mused. After his graduation from SUSC he plans to attend Asolo Graduate School in Florida and says he would like to Randy Hickman, teach communications as a whole, perhaps television broadcasting. Randy says, I am in theatre because I know I can make it. He says that his ultimate goal is to go to Broadway, and while he admits that might be a little farfetched, he says,l work hard on what I do, and I know the harder I work on major and Drama Club president, as Phineas T. Bamum in SUSCs recent production of the musical Bamum. whatever Im doing, the harder it will be for me to accept failure. He offers this insight on taking chances, If there is a chance you should grab it! If you burn your hands, you burn your hands. At least you will know what it feels like to burn them, and if you want to take a chance on burning them again, go for it. One might think that actors lose their nervousness after a while, but according to Randy that is not necessarily true. Ten minutes before show time Im still biting off my fingernails, but then I get out on stage and it doesnt matter any more because Im now doing it for the audience. Hickmans philosophy is that an actor is there to entertain the audience, and if the audience didnt get their moneys worth then the actor has let them down. The audience is not there because they have to be, they are there because they want to be there. Hickman does what he wants with the attitude that the only thing that is impossible is impossibility. I believe that God put something into our brain that says, I want to do this, and history is filled with examples of people who achieve against the odds. Columbus wanted to sail to the new world and he did it. If somebody wasnt doing something we wouldnt have what we have today. Youre only going to be able to grab that brass ring on the carousel once, and if you dont grab it the first time, someone else is going to grab it right behind you." Randys attitude is one of success and hope. He claims to have achieved all that he has by hardi work and good support from family,, friends and teachers. He is not just another actor performing on stage, but he is Barnum in the way he makej, life colorful for others. Melodrama picks up the pace in second scene Theatre review by Fletcher Matson If, between preparing for finals and shopping for Christmas presents, you find yourself with time on your hands and a couple of extra dollars to spend, bop over to the SUSC Drama Clubs production of Seven Keys to Baldpate for some silly fun and speakeasy action. Its not exactly Broadway comedy, but it is amusing. Directed by Mitzie Rae McKay, a senior theatre major, this years annual melodrama centers on a pulp novel writers attempt to win an expensive bet by completing a literary masterpiece within 24 hours in the seclusion of Baldpate Inn, an isolated hotel owned by the man with whom he wagers. His efforts jolt to a halt when a gallery of strange characters, ranging from a crazed hermit to jittery con men, commence a neurotic parade through the authors privacy and peace of mind, each one adding his own confusion to the hopelessly convoluted relationships until nobody is certain just what is going on. Also included is the Roxys Roost Review, a combination of short vaudeville skits, dances and songs designed to continue the atmosphere of a 1920 s night club floor show. Julienne Crofts is perfect for Roxy, the spotlightseeking torch singer who murdered her philandering husband to buy her own club. As the critics back then would have said, the kids got a great set of pipes. Her number is just one of several strong vocal solos sung by Minskys Gem Girls, including The Man with the Gi cger Mustache, a boozy blues lament and the everpresent Stormy Weather, complete with storm. As far as dancing goes, the Toledo Tappers manage some appealing trio hoofing but the rest of the review cast didnt fare so well. Timing was a bit off and the ensembles floundered a bit in uncertainty, especially during This Joint Is Jumping. The spirh was definitely willing but the flesh needed more than just three days of rehearsal. Review Coordinator Troy Lunt plans to do a quick bit of major reworking to get the scenes up to par. By next week it may be there, he said. The feature play starts slowly with rather flat dialogue and the tempo doesn't really perk up smoothly until the last minutes of the first act. The comic spots are sporadic and most of them dont really get many laughs. Most of the fault for this can be laid upon the script; the plot drags visibly through the somewhat repetitive conversation. This years alteration in the basic melodrama flavor is also part of the problem, according to McKay. Shows in previous years incorporated a great deal of physical audience participation throwing popcorn at the villains, cheering the heroes, sighing for the heroines and tossing out in reply to the often corny Naughty-Ninetie- s scripts. Baldpale's characters are not as stereotyped as most and one-line- 20th-centu- (continued on page 14) 1 |
