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Show ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT Thursday, March 1,2007 Page 5 ••>--• In search of better facilities U theater department needs more space Although PAB is the official building for the department, it simply does not offer enough space. Students looking to find a professor's office must sift through offices Alexandra Gregory located in PAB, the Babcock Theatre The Daily Utah Chronicle and the West Institute, which is locat"We need a new building—bad," said ed at 170 S. University Street. Classes Aaron Buckner, a junior in the Actor of all types are held in each of these three buildings, as not a single one has Training Program. The Performing Arts Building, home enough space for all the classes the to the U theater department, was built department offers. "The greatest problem caused by in 1920. Back then, it served as the campus cafeteria and later it became our being split among three buildings the geology storage building, said Bob is that students and faculty don't see Nelson, theater department chairman. each other as often as we need to," The building was remodeled in 1938, Nelson said. "There are faculty and but it was not turned into the Perform- staff that I wouldn't see for weeks on ing Arts Building until 1986, when Pio- end if we didn't have a meeting, or if I didn't wander over to their building t neer ^Theatre Company moved into the department's previous home, Pioneer or if they didn't wander over to this building." Memorial Theatre. For a discipline as creative and - "I came in here as a new department chair with three goals, and one hands-on as dramatic art, the departof them was a new building," said Nel- ment's facilities do not provide an adson, who has been the theater depart- equate environment for communication. ment chairman for a year and a half. "Running into each other and rubIn addition to the regular issues of silverfish, intrusions of homeless peo- bing shoulders together frequently ple due to a lack of carded entry, holes provides opportunities for collegia! in the wall, broken pipes and a faulty interaction and collaboration," Nelson heating system, PAB is insufficient in said. matters of size and space. "We need the faculty, staff and stuStudents, faculty and staff of the the- dents to be housed under one roof to ater department are spread out among three separate buildings on campus. See THEATER Page 6 Editor's note: This is the second installment in a two-part series about the Performing Arts Building. £??- LENNIE MAHLER/ Mr D-.-.ih Ui-ih Chronicle A portion of Room 110 in the Performing Arts Building has been barricaded with pianos and sofas. The hardwood floor is in need of repairs because of mold growth and splitting wood, which gave acting students splinters. The room is still used for acting classes in spite of the blockage. LEJVNTE MAHLER/ The Daily Utah Chronicle Spots from old vines mark the walls at the south entrance to the Performing Arts Building. The building was built in 1920 and became the Performing Arts Building in 1986. 'Breaking' all the rules Before its unjulffiling:p$ieliisfon, 'Entering' is a unique, compelling exariiination of social values Chris Bellamy prime business location. Will and Sandy are the minds behind an ambitious urban-reThe last 15 minutes of "Breaking newal landscaping project right and Entering" are rubbish. Writer/ in the middle of King's Cross. director Anthony Minghella stumBut, fittingly enough, not long afbles into a two-pronged, force-fed ter they move there, their offices resolution that doesn't really make are burglarized courtesy of Miro logical sense and actually seems (Rafi Gavron), a 15-year-old Bosto contradict itself. The key decinian/Serbian who lives with his sions of one character, and the exwidowed, refugee mother, Amira planation of those decisions, don't (Juliette Binoche), who is a seamadd up. I wanted to shout at the stress. Will follows Miro home one screen, "Wait...come again?" day 'after a burglary and begins... well, not a relationship, exactly, It's almost like damage control. but a tempting flirtation. There is The forced tidying-up gives the a bond between the two—even a "film closure and keeps the char- not the main focus. acters' lives as unblemished as The film, Minghella's first origi- great affection. But it's driven by possible, despite putting them nal screenplay since his 1991 de- their emotions and their chemis. through the ringer during the pre- but, "Truly Madly jbeeply," is too try—not their libidos. The marvious 105 minutes. And while I ad- dense to be encapsulated in an keting campaign might have you mire Minghella's optimism in the easy plot description. The plot, believe this is a "Fatal Attraction" face of near-constant emotional per se, involves' an idealistic and sub-plot, but please, don't believe and social turmoil, the way it plays self-absorbed architect, Will (Jude what you see on TV. out makes it seem like he's betray- Law), whose 10-year relationship But all that is merely a platform ing his own story. with beautiful Swedish-American on which to hang a half critique, Those seem like harsh words for Liv (Robin Wright Penn) and her half observation of class differa movie that I highly recommend, autistic 13-year-old daughter is in ences in England. Nothing, and no but "Breaking and Entering" is in- flux. Will and his business partner, one, is on solid footing here. The deed aflawedmovie. It is not, at its Sandy (Martin Freeman), have just unrest in the lives of the characheart, the movie that it wants to be converted ah old factory into their ters mirrors the social upheaval at the end. Nor is it the movie be- new office in King's Cross in North that either surrounds them or has ing sold in trailers; it is not about London, an area known more for an illicit affair...or at least, that's its crime and poverty than for its See BREAKING Page 6 The Daily Utah Chronicle "Breaking and Entering" The Weinsteirr Company Written and directed by Anthony Minghella Starring: Jude Law, Juliette Binoche,.Robin Wright Penn, Rafi Gavron,! Poppy Rogers, Martin Freeman,Vera Farmiga andRayWinstone Rated R/120 minutes Opens March 7,2007 Three-and-a-half ' put of fotir stars Trentalange's new album sets the bar too high Photo Album of Complex Relationships is a dark, monothematic collection of songs that, nevertheless, are complex and layered soundscapes. The title is apropos: Trentalange has composed, to her credit, a dozen sultry songs about failing, failed or fractious relationships. Sounding like an aggregate of Fiona Apple phoning it in and a gothic PJ Harvey, Trentalange's songs, while moody and initially intriguing, blend into one another—a pretty yet eventually tiresome collection with few cues as to where one song ends and another begins. That said, the accomplished former member of Crooked Fingers and Seattle's Spyglass is an amazing instrumentalist, handling 10 instruments with few backing artists' assistance needed. The album's redemption lies in its lyrical content. Trentalange captures evocative portraits of lust and loneliness, fear and melancholy. In "Monster," Trentalange artfully submits herself as the destructive, brutal figure in the relationship. "Cover up your bruises babe," she taunts her lover. "No one believes they're from my hands." Though lackluster by similarity, the layered dissonance of Trenta- lange's cellos; Trentalange organs, piano Photo Album and theremin ofComplex that fashion her Relationships songs reverCocoTauro berate and are Records hauntingly cavThree out of ernous. These five stars amalgams un••• derscore the anguish of acumen and resignation—wisps of melodies, whispers of resignation and snarls of defiance in the sincerity of her tremulous and multifaceted voice. No one will question her versatility and talent as an auditory and visual artist, but Photo Album of Complex Relationships is a project that falls short of its potential and disappoints in the monotony of the album as an entity. Christopher Wallace |