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Show The Salt Lake Tribune UTAH a BS Sunday, October 12, 2003 Gritty ‘Snakebit’ rite with life’s treacheries “Snakebit” By CELIA BAKER The Salt Lake Tribune British playwright John Osborne revealed the dark under- Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundaysat 2 p.m. through Nov.2. Back @ Tickets are $15; $10 for students,call in Anger” in 1956. gional premiere Friday at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center under auspices of Pygmalion Productions, is one of “Anger’s” many descendents. It’s a taut little drama for just a few troubled characters, set in the confines of a small apartment. It isn’t pretty, but that is not the point. “Snakebit,” by David Mar- shall Grant, is about people who are caught in a social up- Puoros by Lisa Marie Mitien/The Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune nevertoo late to learn to make music. Especially when onefingeris all it takes to sound an entire chord. Listen to 72-year-old JoAnn Nielsen for proof. As a widow whose grown children are busy with families of their own, Nielsen decided, about a year ago, to try her hand at the organ. “It’s nice to sit down andplay and not think about anything During class, students follow and sing along in color-coded music books with notes in large up) as part of an international print. Most of them sport gray “Music Making and Wellness” program created more than a decade ago by the Chicago-based Lowrey Organ Co. The 10-week program has been in the Salt Lake Valley since 2000 and is also operating in Logan, Riverdale andSt. George. The easy-to-play organ hair, reading glasses and comfortable shoes. “The exercise is good for my hands,” says Arlene Smart, 67, of her arthritis. “We're old, but lessons boast 60,000 students worldwide. In the South Jordan music store, class leader Ann Christenson stands in a room decorated with paperstars bearing students’ pictures, and begins the weekly, hour-long course with a joke about the non-existence of perfect men andtheterrible apartment, By experimenting with the control panel on a hobby organ, students can play the same song to different rhythms,such as fox trot, country, Latin, polka,big band, even gospel. In fact, organ sales are how Piano Gallery co-owner Stan Beasley affords to keep theles- acters: Michael’s Childhood health-care specialists on hand Saturday at the center’s annual health fair, an event featuring liams quite literally got her information on cancer awareness, substance abuse, mental- wake-upcall. health She was driving from the west desert town of Ibapah to and other issues specifically geared toward American Indi- Wendover. ans. Free immunizations and Seven years ago, Toni Wil- Her 65-year-old counseling, nutrition daughter, Rachel, was a passen- flu shots were offered as well. ger. Williams, who knew she Diabetes is the top heath risk for American Indians. had diabetes but was not properly treating it, fell asleep at the “I have become so angry wheel when her blood sugars about this disease,” says Williams. “Every native family is went out of whack. The car rolled, and both mother and daughter were thrown from the vehicle that was moving at 70 mph. Rachel survived with bruis- es, while Toni spent the next year recovering from a broken back and other serious injuries. As soon as she was well enough, Williams took course work to become a diabetes educator. She now serves as the di- abetes program coordinator for the Indian Walk-In Center in Salt Lake City. Williams was one ofseveral = R COP affected by it somehow. They either have it themselves or a close family member has it. Most people I meet here know they haveit or suspect theydo, but they close their ears to it. They don’t want to know.” Williams, a 50-year-old Northern Arapaho, says her main challenge is teaching lifestyle changes and emphasizing the need to check blood sugar levels regularly. “People really have to know; they haveto acceptthatthis isa life-threatening disease,” she 4 friend Jonathan (Dan Larrinaga) is visiting from New Yorkto audition for a movie role. Jonathan’s wife is there too, and she has a history with Michael that Jonathan has not heard. The actors are not perfect physical types for their roles, Dean Smart, 69, has been taking lessons at The Piano Gallery for about a year. Smart said he always wanted to try something musicaland likes to experiment with the Latin style that can be produced on the organ. “Lowrey Goes to the Movies” @ Students will showcasetheir talents Oct. 22 at the South Towne Expo Centerin Sandy. A guest organist from Chicagowill also host organ workshopsin the daylong extravaganzacalled “Lowrey Goes to the Movies.” @ Tickets are $12 a person, or $20 a couple, from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. “as long as wesell a few organs a month,” he says. Students aren’t required to people are mostly retired and enjoy the socialization.” Manyorganists can’t keep their handsoff their new hobby and continue taking lessons past the initial 10 weeks. For $10 a book, they can advance throughall 20 levels of Lowrey’s program. “This gives you a goal,” says Nielsen. Plus, “everyone needs someself-esteem.” khsiao@sltrib.com Indian health fair teaches risk trends The Salt Lake Tribune lover re- His job as a social workeris endangered because he became too attached to a young female client whom he wishesto adopt. cent do, says Beasley. Those without organs or keyboardsat home maypractice in the store. “We won’teverchargeforthe lessons because our business philosophyis to help people enjoy and participate in music,” Beasley says. “This is the perfect demographic to do that because By HoLty MULLEN male cently left him, meaning he can’t afford to keep the place. buy an organ, but about60 perRon Nuttall plays “Country Garden” for fellow students at The Piano Gallery. The notes are printed above the keys for easy playability. Michael of moving out. The visual chaos in the apartment mirrors the messy lives of the play’s char- sons free. The program paysfor itself where (Kirt Bateman) is in the process refuse to let them fail.” ently.” revelations “Snakebit” is about a tense weekend in a Los Angeles have them playing songs in two wecan still learn, and it’s fun to Grant’s greatest strength as REVIEW aramapneenies feel, boosted by a strong cast of system stimulation. see how weall play songs differ- a playwright is his uncanny experienced actors. they say, support other research showing music’s therapeutic value in pain reduction,stress weeks,” says Christenson. “We World War II generation. Simi- rector Jerry Rapier gives the icantly decreased anxiety, depression and loneliness for older adults.” These findings, students at South Jordan’s Piano Gallery, 10888 S. 300 West. The shop offers free organ lessons to seniors (ages 55 and layeroffat.” production a gritty, realistic that group organ lessons “signif- “Wetake people who have neverplayed before, and we of Osborne’s play was thedisillusionment felt by the post- about relationships betweenits characters,is in some waysthe stuff of a television Movieof the Week. But “Snakebit” has some important things to say about a segment of modern society. Di- song, Christenson and teaching assistant Meg Nielson lead the class through several “wellness” exercises, including deep breathing and knee squeezes. The Organ Club of America reports that a 1999 study showed practices at least two hours daily. She is among 150 elderly or- play in a bikini, is so trim that it is hard to imagineheras insecure enough to call herself “a soap opera-style unteer to perform last week’s management and immune- Bateman as a former ballet dancer. And Brenda Sue Cowley, who spends most of the skinny person wrapped in a the sexual revolution and the AIDS epidemic. Grant’s play, with its many driving of perfect women. Everyone chuckles. else,” says Nielsen, who has now learned nearly 50 songs, and is a mental stretch necessary to seeing Larrinagaasa potential Hollywood action hero or wholive in the Then, before asking for a volSOUTH JORDAN — It’s but they inhabit them so well that it ceases to matter. There what it promised. The subject aftermath of different wars — Seniorsfinding organ lessons therapeutic — andfree By Karyn Hsiao 801-355-ARTS. heaval that did not give them lar angstis felt by Grant’s characters, Soundsofwell-being Center, 138 W. Broadway, Salt LakeCity, belly of the drawing-room comedy when he penned “Look “Snakebit,” which had its re- Organ students Eleanor Bass,left, and Ellen Fullmer, with instructor Ann Christenson sing a skit to students at The Piano Gallery in South Jordan. The shop takes part in an international “Music Making and Wellness” program and offers free easy-to-play organ lessons to seniors. @ At the Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre in the Rose WagnerPerforming Arts ear for the cadences of contemporary speech, and an ability to define characters quickly. Thatis all Bateman, Larrinaga and Cowley need asa basis fortelling performances. Larrinaga draws a bead on Jonathan's antsy Type-A mannerisms and steamroller personality. His characteris selfabsorbed and tactless — a bull in the china shop of human re- lationships. Larrinaga makes sure he has likable qualities, too, and is the main source of humor in the play. Bateman avoids stereotypes in his portrayal of a gay man with much on his mind. His almost Zenlike calm is the antidote to the storms around him. Michael’s own explosion, when it comes, is nuanced for empathy. Cowley’s role as a put-upon wife is perhaps the trickiest. She gives complexity to her character — a mothertrying to deal with a sick child while carrying a secret burden. David Lunais effective in his small role as an apartmenthunter with a hidden agenda. “Snakebit” does not flinch in its study of the treacheries of modern life, which it reveals in realistic, often coarse, language. It is not for everyone, but will strike a familiar chord with many. chaker@sltrib.com Mayors unite against nuclear testing, waste Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, joined by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, hopes to persuade Congress not to plow moneyinto speeding the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste disposal site or into testing of new-generation nuclear weapons. “Wecan think of no greater threat to the health and welfare of our citizens and communities than being downwind yet again,” the mayors said in a joint letter, which was sent to members of Congress in their respective states. Theycalled the possibility of new nuclear testing a “moral choice that must be judged in light of a legacy of death and deceit.” Congress is polishing spending bills that would designate $40 million to the development of new nuclear weap- ons. The House of Representatives has proposed boosting spending on Yucca Mountain to $765 million and establishing an above-ground storage facility at the site. Meanwhile, policy-makers in the states most affected by the proposals have fought them as a drain on tourism and propertyvalues. STUCK ON YOU says. “They have to accept that without taking care of it, they can go blind, or lose a limb or die. You can’t get rid of it; you haveto learn to live withit.” Information on the Walk-In Center’s outpatient substance abuse program also was available at the fair. Childhood immunizations were popular, too. Lorraine Levi, community health liaison for the center, said immunizations have increased 2,000 percent inthe five years the health fair has offered | | | them. Phyllis Pettit Nassi of the | Huntsman CancerInstitute was distributing brochures targeted specifically toward American Indians. “There are all kinds of pam- | | phlets that educate about can- | cer, but if they don’t see anyone | going to register,” says Nassi. | As the managerof special popu- | wholooks like them, it’sjustnot | lations for Huntsman, she takes cancer education to the West’s native populations. <€ Rosext Hiascut/ The Salt Lake Tribune Makeup artist Chris Hanson works on Andrew Liston, playing “Pinhead”from the “Hellraiser” movies,in preparation for a night of scares at Rocky Point haunted attraction in Salt Lake City on Friday night. Hanson is @ professional makeup artist and prosthetics specialist who lives and works in Hollywood. He has worked his magic in “Men in Black” | and 2, the “X-Files” movie and dozensof others. J - |
