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Show SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY THE THUNDERBIRD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1989 Arty Facts True West to debut The silent film version of the Phantom of the Opera will be presented on Oct. in Thorley Recital Hall. Michael Ohman will augment the 1925 production on the organ and a synthesizer. Admission is free, although a $2 donation is suggested for upkeep of the theatre organ. 27 Stage season opens Oct. 26 A superb comedy from one of Americas foremost contemporary playwrights opens Oct. 26, the first production in the colleges 1989-9- 0 season. R. Scott Phillips is the director for Sam Shepards True West , a Stage II production scheduled to continue Oct. 27 and 28 and the weekend of Nov. 2 through 4. Curtain is at 8 p.m. in the SUSC Auditorium where the play is being staged in a intimate, three-quartarena, setting. True West is a comedy with brilliantly funny scenes, and its an excellent piece of writing, Phillips notes, because its also a commentary on the decline of family in 20th century America. Its a very contemporary play with real life situations, and I think thats what makes it interesting, Phillips says. Its a perfect way to open the season because we can take a real look at what we are now. True West has only four characters, a mother, her two sons and a film producer. A fifth character, the old man, is one of the most important characters in the play, but the figure is never seen, only carried along in the conversation. The action in the play takes place when the two brothers, one an alcoholic thief, the other a playwright by profession attempt to sell their respective film scripts to the trendy producer, and the playwrights romantic script is rejected for the older brothers true western. One of the funniest scenes in the play evolves around stolen toasters, a room full of them. Lee, the older brother, is played by Matthew Zahner, a junior English major from Connecticut. Austin, the younger brother, is played by Michael Bud Metters, a senior theatre student out of Washington state. Saul, the producer, is played by Joe Martinez, a senior theatre major from Price. The mother, who has been off to Alaska, is played by Janette Jensen, a senior theatre major from Orem. Sets are being designed by Michael Krecher, costumes by Sandra Stiglinski. Patti Esplin is the stage manager, and Brian Baker, a transfer student from Eugene, Ore., is the sound designer. While True West is a comedy, a physical play with some very funny scenes, its also a play about role models, role reversals, and a desperate search for frontiers, the idea on which Shepard bases the title of his play. Its a comedy, but not a family comedy, Phillips explains. Its in the same vein as Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? You have comic situations but subliminally theyre very painful. PAGE 9 East Meets West: Utahns collect oriental art will be in the Braithwaite Fine Arts Main Gallery Nov. 2 through Dec. 13. In conjunction with SUSC International Week, works of Asian cultures from various Utah collections will be on display. er Also Nov. 2 through Dec. 13, in the Braithwaite Fine Arts Small Gallery, Hmong Textiles will be featured. Fabric work from the Hmong, an ancient Chinese culture, will be on display for the public. Opening receptions are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 2. There will be a musical selection and light refreshments. Admission to the gallery are free to the public. Often, the artists being featured will attend their respective opening receptions. . Sam Shepards True West opens Oct. 26. Matthew Zahner plays older brother Lee and Janette Jensen plays mother. The play contains mature language. Phillips directed Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? November 1984, the first production in SUSCs Stage II season of alternative theatre. His True West is the first Stage II show to be moved into the SUSC Auditorium. Weve made a number of changes, all of them good, said theatredance publicity director Roger Bean. Stage II productions have been moved out of the Auditorium classroom and onto the stage in the college Auditorium, a move that gives production crews a lot more technical flexibility. This change has come about thanks to the expansion of SUSCs theatre department into the newly completed Randall L. Jones Memorial Theatre for the December production of Peter Pan. The Stage II season also has been expanded. Productions will run six nights over two weekends mirroring the Mainstage format. This move not only expands the run of the popular alternative theatre season, but will result in less confusion about the combined II calendar. Since its inception in November 1984, SUSCs Stage II program has become synonymous with an intimate theatre element that setting, a crowd-pleasin- g wont be disturbed with the move into larger quarters. Phillips is directing True West in three-quartearena, the same several he chose setting years ago for the acclaimed highly production, A L ion in MainstageStage rs Winter. Tickets for True West , and for the entire 1989-9- 0 theatre season, are available at the Auditorium box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on days of performance. Stage II seating is still by general admission, but a computerized box office has simplified the ticket process. By purchasing a season ticket, patrons are assured a seat for Stage II shows, said Bean. Because of the intimate seating, theyll have no trouble finding an excellent seat. ' There is still time to see the works of Allan Schulz and Gary Alan Kalpakoff in the Braithwaite Gallery. Their works will be on display until Oct. 27. Schultz, in the main gallery, focuses his watercolors of the Southwest. Its touted as A trip through the beauties of our environment. In the small gallery, KapakofPs photographs reflect a sensitive look into our inner worlds. Music Festivals for young string and piano students will be held at SUSC for the seventh consecutive year early next year. Sawyer Brown tickets are still on sale in the Centrum box office and Jolleys in St. George. The concert is Friday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. in the Centrum. Tickets are $13 for students. ' |