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Show 4E B way finally honors Saroyan SuetUy, November 27, 1983 The Salt Lake Tribuse By Samuel G. Freedman New York. Times Writer NEW YORK Five days before be died in 1981 at the age of 72, Wil- - liam Saroyan called the Associated Press to dictate his valedictory. Everybody has got to die, he said, but I ah 'ays believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what? On a recent Sunday night, (Oct 30) on the Broadway he had both adored and scorned, Saroyan lived again. In a night of tribute at the Circle in the Square Theater, actors brought to life his cavalcade of characters those poetic, funny, innocent as one critic called dreamers, them. And the people who knew Saroyan or who admired him from afar spoke of him, praising his talent reveling in his eccentricities. The tribute carried an implicit apology, too. The event was organized now because Broadway did not commemorate Saroyan at the time of his death, said Howard Stein, the chairman of the Oscar Hammer-stei- n School of Theater Studies at Columbia University. The school sponsored the tribute jointly with the Circle in the Square and Columbia's Armenian Studies Center. Brenda Gross is the daughter with Debbie Zeis as Mrs. Savage in the Salt Lake Com- - ricks r Their efforts come as Saroyan's works are rising out of decades of neglect, and tne buu persons who paid homage Included the director Jose Quintero, the actresses Glenn Close and Mary Beth Hurt, and Lucy Saroyan, the playwrights daughter. prod action of John Pat The Curious Savage." 50s comedy, Community theater offers Curious Savage The Salt Lake Community Thea tender comedy concerning fools of good heart," for its first production of tne season. John Patrick's The Cur..iS Savage, will be offered free to the public Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Bryant Intermediate School auditorium, 50 S. 8th East. Robert and Dorothy Antrim direct the play which features cast members Yevet Crandell, Fran Nate, September ater has selected Hulhnger, John Thomsen, Jo Grover, John Whittle, Kelly boiezal, Brenda Gross, Debbie Zeis, Ann Straley and Leon Johnson. The story concerns an elderly woman, Mrs. Savage, who is committed to a mental institution by her in an effort to greedy stop her from donating her fortunes to various charities. The play examines societys concept of where reason ends and madness begins, by step-childr- Tryouts for Davifl Kxanes play Auditions will be held Dec. 4 from 2 to 5 p m. and Dec. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. for the Salt Lake Acting Company's The production of David Kranes Salmon Run. The play is scheduled to run Feb. S through March 3. Parts are open for three men in their 40s, one women in her 30s and two young met., ages 18 to 20. Auditions will be held at the theatei, 168 W. 5th North and persons planning to attend are asked to call the theater for an audition appointment, weekdays from noon to 6 p.m. The director is to be announced. TlheWotW comparing the behavior of the gentle inmates with that of the savage norand the mal people of the outside world. The play opened on Broadway in 1950 with Lillian Gish in the starring role, and received generally unfavorable notices Later though the work proved successful in stock and community theaters, with the author reported to have earned in excess of $400,000 from the rights. step-childr- Holiday series tryouts Instrumental, vocal or dramatic groups interested in participating in the Salt Lake Arts Councils Holiday Performance Series, are asked to contact the council at its offices in the Art Barn, Reservoir Park and Finch Lane. This will be the third year that the council has sponsored the series which takes performances to area hospitals, rest homes and community centers during the Christmas season. The program is under the direction of Gerald McDonough William Saroyan is one of the great talents of Western theater, Quintero said, and theres been Im dismayed no memorial, no celebration for him until now. A great man for the arts should be celebrated not because of the past, but for the future. Saroyan certainly never looked back. He first gained fame at the age of 26 with his short story The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze and at one point writing went a story a day for one month on to produce more than 40 plays and more than 60 novels, collections of short stories, memoirs and essays. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 play "The Time of Your Life and turned it down, saying businessmen should not judge artists. He argued with producers and directors, criticized critics, drank, gambled and, by his own estimation, made and lost $2 million. In explaining Saroyan, Howard Stein, the chairman of the theater arts school at Columbia, turned to "n'VerI ground the Wo1' Thursday, December 8:00 P.M. eotor.nge DeC 2 nVoung University Brighof" Dancers wta0"3 the prologue of "The Time of Your In the time of your life," Life: Stein read, live so that in that wondrous time you shall net add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it" Carmen Capalbo smiled as he recounted the infinite variety of Saroyan. He was both a wacky public figure and a serious playwright who wanted to be taken seriously," said Capalbo, who directed Saroyans 1958 Broadway play, The Cave Dwellers. He was a street person and a boulevardier. He was a gambler in every sense of the word. He was literally a gambler with money and he was a gambler when he said he didn't want anyone else to do his plays. He took over everything producing, directing, financing, renting the theater. He wanted complete control and, unlike most people, he was able to get it. Saroyan was a hero to his fellow Armenians. He exuded an immense pride in his heritage, spending his first earnings as a wri.er on a visit to Armenia and decreeing in his will that half of his ashes be returned to Armenia. They were interred in Yerevan, in the Armenian Republic of the Soviet Union. He was like a symbol for us, said Jack Antreassian, an independent publisher of Armenian literature. He gave us a tremendous boost and an identity. In the Armenian community, when he entered a room, he dominated people. When he and he talked, people listened could talk for hours. People would cluster around him. He'd almost hold court." But Saroyan somehow lost his literary and dramatic circles after such early successes as "The Time of Your Life and The Human Comedy, a film. In an age that sought social realism, Stein of Columbia said, Saroyan stuck to a poetic vision; when nihil- -' ism was the emotion in vogue, Saroyan remained optimistic. A typical Saroyan creation was the young girl in the play "The Beautiful People who, rather than killing mice, fed and sheltered them. hold in American The feeling that we responded to in Saroyan was a sentimentality, an optimism, Stein said. He was affirmative. He was in love with the individual. It wasn't that he was naive about the world. His plays don't shy away from the violence, the ugliness. But he wanted to live in spite of it The role of art." he once said, is William Saroyan American Playwright to make a world which can be inhab- - ' ited. ; Siutc Sal cyan s death, lua artistic star has risen anew. Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company last year presented a revival of The Time of Your Life, and Wilford Leach and Galt McDermot are now developing a musical version of The Human for the Public Theater. Comedy One number from the musical was performed at the tribute last night. Quintero has introduced his drama students at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., to Saroyan through a production of The Time of Your Life. The students performed a scene from the show on that Sunday nighL Saroyan to them meant nothing at all," Quintero said. They were surprised to find out about him. The Time of Your Life is one of the most enchanting plays written in America. The man was in love with life and his plays celebrate life. Quintero said he never met Saroyan, but corresponded with him for several years. Their major subject was Quinteros proposal to develop a musical version of The Time of Your Life. Saroyan turned down the idea, but his explanation was vintage. He resisted my idea, Quintero recalled, because he said the play already had its own kind of music. (Copyright) 1 U of U Fine Arts Auditorium presents 8pn'-- RICARDO IZNA0LA Harriott i igflggfgssg Guitaiist in Concert Winner of seven international competitions Tickets: $7.50 Master Class December 2, a.m. Info - 7 ig7ie:ipew, WfTH THE UTAH SYMPHONY Choreography: Wiliam F. Christensen Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky NUTCRACKER DATES & TIMES ft ft ' . TICKET PRICES A lovely gift SpUindalour'" robes made of Dacron"1 polyester . . . PRESENTED BY THE UTAH OPERA COMPANY fleece in red Back by popular demand, this touching Christmas story will charm audiences of all ages. Three performances only! or navy with white piping trim. She'll love snuggling into this soft velvety robe Dec. 9, 8:00 p.m., Dec. 10, 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., 1983 Long robe $39 Short robe $35 Registered trade mark of DuPont Tickets on sale at the Utah Opera Box Office am to 6 pm 50 West 200 South Monday thru Friday Phone orders 533-555with Visa, Mastercard or American Express Tickets also available at all Datatix outlets including ZCMI stores and the Salt Palace. 1 1 SPONSORED BY SLL910 Call to chage to VISAMASTERCARD. Tickets also available at all ZCMIDaUtix Outlets. All performances in the Capitol Theatre. 533-555- 5 Croup rates available, call Mail orders accepted until Dec. 533-5o0- ' 1 t r TICKET ORWR FORM 5 . .& ifc- jroe Phone . Address - City . Slate (El t&Mi Fashion FHoce Cottonwood Moll Center Ogden Mall ZCMI University Mall I Date . I ime iMal 7ip lvt) Loudon DO of ticket price per Hike! handling TOTAL MAIL TO: BAl LET TICKET OmCE:50 WEST 200 SOUTH. SEC. LT MI04. Plea include a check for the toLil amount. mm |
