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Footloose and Fancy Free:
Chicago’s River North moves on jazz
By Brian Mackey
The River North Chicago Dance
Company is putting dance back in Sangamon Auditorium this
Saturday.
 Specializing in modern and jazz
forms, River North is scheduled to present a concert of nine
pieces, both new works and favorites from the company’s past.
As of press time, Saturday’s repertoire was as follows:
In 2003’s “5 Easy Lessons,” the
full company of 12 dancers performs for more than 12 minutes to
the jazz music of Sarah Vaughn.
In “A Mi Manera” (2001), the
Gypsy Kings reinterpret Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” while three
dancers highlight the different styles of the piece’s three
choreographers.
After the duet “At Last,” an
excerpt from 1999’s larger work “Mission,” the company takes
another Latin turn.
“Balada para un Loco” (2003),
literally “ballad for a crazy person,” won a Dance Chicago 2003
award for choreography.
The structured improvisation of
“Beat” (2001) allows a soloist to shine before 1996’s “Grusin
Suite” returns eight dancers to the stage.
“The Mourning,” composed for
another group but brought to the company this year, is described
in program notes as “an intense, contemporary pas de deux”
scored by “a Russian composition with a haunting vocal
performance.”
Then the full company returns
for the 15-minute marathon “The Sweetest Sounds – A Tribute to
Richard Rodgers” (2003).
Finally, “Turning Tides,” first
performed by River North in 1997, combines what the company
calls a “somber, soulful solo” (“Adrift”) and a “defiant,
emotion-laden ensemble work” (“Storm”).
Founded in 1989, River North is
celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Frank Chaves, who
joined River North as a choreographer in 1992, became the sole
Artistic Director in 2001 after sharing that title for seven
years.
Saturday, Nov. 6 at 8:00 p.m. at
Sangamon Auditorium. Tickets range from $27 to $40 (students
$16.20 to $24). For more information, contact the Sangamon
Auditorium Box Office at 217-206-6160 or
www.sangamonauditorium.org.
‘The Invisible Man’ has no clothes
By Brian
Mackey
Since the early part of the
twentieth century, Halloween and popular culture have met on
film.
The 1930s gave life to
Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Mummy; today, we have Jason
Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers.
 But before film became the
holiday’s dominant cultural medium, the fright-seeking turned to
literature. Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and H. G. Wells were
every bit as capable of inducing insomnia as that guy who knows
what you did last summer.
It is in that older spirit of
Halloween that the Aquila Theatre Company set about presenting
Wells’ “The Invisible Man” at Sangamon Auditorium last Sunday.
Wells’ 1897 story is about an
English scientist named Griffin, a talented chemist who finds a
way to make himself invisible. His achievement, apparently
irreversible, isolates Griffin from society and pushes him into
madness.
This brief adaptation was highly
stylized. Some scenes were remarkable for what could be
conveyed with the show’s bare minimum of sets, props, and
dialogue. Other scenes missed the mark.
The first five minutes were
acted without words. You could feel the collective sigh of
relief in the audience when someone finally spoke (American
audiences do not do pantomime).
Approximately eight lines are
spoken in the first quarter-hour of the play, with more and more
dialogue through the end. Large swaths of the work, however,
were performed entirely without words, just movement.
Aquila is well known for its
interpretation of classical Greek drama. Their reintroduction
of masks to that canon has been roundly praised; one scene of
“The Invisible Man” was performed with all characters but one
wearing masks.
Unlike film, and to a lesser
extent, television, the stage usually requires “acting big.”
Most of the audience is simply not close enough to notice a
subtle change in facial expression.
By using masks, Aquila pushes
the point even further. With the face completely obscured and
the dialogue spare (if present at all), acting is all about body
movement.
Some of the scenes were so
silent and tightly choreographed that a latecomer entering the
theater midway through the show might think they were watching a
ballet.
Since Griffin is only “seen”
when completely covered in cloths and bandages, it follows that
he must be naked to make use of his invisibility. Several
scenes have actors throwing themselves around as though they
were being roughed-up by the invisible man. Some do this better
than others.
In a flashback that is the most
abstract scene in the play, Griffin recalls his first public
experience with invisibility. The actor bounds across the
stage—“unseen” by everyone else—in a skin-tight flesh-colored
unitard. He knocks hats off people’s heads, fosters a love
connection between strangers on a park bench, and feels the
first pangs of the isolation that will come to define the
remainder of his life.
This scene, and the others like
it, were…interesting, to say the least.
I have always been reluctant to
condemn art that exists on the bounds of the mainstream. The
question is: did I miss something or was this simply not that
good?
Presumably, this dithering
lessens with age and experience, and for now I can only trust my
instincts.
At times, the style of “The
Invisible Man” threatened to overshadow its substance. Watching
the actors slog across the stage as though dancing in a vat of
pudding generated unintended (and probably misplaced) empathy
among members of the audience, whose impatience was occasionally
betrayed with furtive, wristward glances.
Charlize Theron and
Christina Ricci play deviating roles in 'Monster'
By Gabrielle
Wiegand
 “Monster,” an Academy Award
winning film starring Charlize Theron, was shown October 29 in
Brookens Auditorium as part of the Independent and Foreign Film
Series that is being sponsored by the Division of Student
Affairs at UIS.
“Monster” is based on the real
story of Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute and the first female
serial killer to be executed in 2002 for killing six men between
1989-1990. Wuornos meets Selby Wall, played by Christina Ricci,
in a bar. Wall has been sent to live with her aunt by her
parents in an attempt to cure her homosexuality.
Coming from a troubled
upbringing, Wuornos is quickly drawn to Wall and falls in love
with her. Wuornos continues to work as a prostitute while being
in a relationship with Wall. Then one of her clients becomes
violent and Wuornos kills for the first time.
Before being executed, real life
Wuornos confessed to the murders of all six men but insisted
that she killed in self-defense. Much of the movie’s shooting
was done in actual locations where Wuornos murdered her
victims.
“Monster” star Charlize Theron
won an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for
Best Actress. Theron, a lithe ballerina from South Africa, put
on between 25-30 pounds to play Wuornos. Contact lens, fake
teeth, and extensive hair and makeup transform Theron into the
serial killer.
The audience could really believe
that nice Charlize Theron from “The Italian Job” and “Sweet
November” is a deeply troubled serial killer. It was quite the
change to see Theron play a deeper, darker character. She
definitely deserved her Oscar, but Ricci’s performance is also
something to mention. It seems like just yesterday Ricci was in
“Now and Then” and “Casper.” “Monster” shows Ricci as a bit more
grown up.
Patty Jenkins wrote and directed
“Monster,” which also stars Bruce Dern.
The Independent and Foreign Film
Series provides a different film every Friday night at 7p.m. in
Brookens Auditorium free of charge. The concluding two films
for the semester are “The House of Yes” on November 5 and
“Pieces of April” showing on November 12. For more information
contact the UIS Office of Student Life at 206-6665.
Grade: B
Political comedy 'View of the
Dome' opens at Studio Theatre
By Gabrielle
Wiegand
The UIS Theater
program will open their season November 5 with the political
comedy, “View of the Dome,” by Theresa Rebeck.
 There will be six
performances of “View of the Dome”: Friday-Sunday, November 5-7
and 12-14. Friday and Saturday shows will begin at 8 p.m. and
Sunday matinees are 2 p.m. The performances will be located in
the Studio Theatre in the lower level of the PAC building.
“View of the Dome”
tells the tale of an idealistic young D.C. attorney who
convinces her old law professor to run for Congress. A
misunderstanding pits the young woman against the immoral movers
and shakers of D.C. and she retaliates by promoting a sex
scandal that brings her to the attention of the religious
right.
Rebeck’s other plays
include “Omnium Gatherum,” “The Butterfly Collection,” “Abstract
Expression,” “The Family of Mann,” “Loose Knit,” “Spike Heels,”
and “Sunday on the Rocks.” Her film and television credits
include “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Harriet the Spy,” and
“NYPD Blue.”
This play is being
directed by Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, the director of theater at
UIS and an assistant professor. According to a UIS press
release dated October 14, “View of the Dome” will be entered
into the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival as an
associate entry.
Thibodeaux-Thompson
said, “At the recent Illinois Theatre Association annual
conference, UIS Theater was one of three colleges/universities
from across Illinois chosen to make a presentation at the
‘Showcase of Scenes.’ Several UIS students from our cast
performed and did an outstanding job.”
The cast for “View of
the Dome” includes Lytishya Borglum as Emma and Ashley Rook as
Sheila/Anchorperson/Bella/Bartender. Molly Sullivan plays
Annabeth/Junette/Senator A, Tricia Bennett is Marjorie/Senator
C/Reporter 3, and Shawna McCoy is E.T. Black. It also includes
Paul Cary as Senator Geoffrey Maddox, Chad Eversgerd as
Tommy/Reporter 2, Corey Morrison as Lance/David/Reporter 1, and
Jim Hepworth as Governor/Rush/Richard. Jeff DiScala rounds out
the cast as Arthur/Leonard/August/Senator B.
Tickets can currently
be purchased at the UIS Ticket Office on the second level of the
PAC. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $6 for UIS faculty
and staff, and $4 for UIS students with valid i-cards. You can
contact the ticket office at 206-6160 or 800/207-6960. There
will also be a limited number of tickets available at the door
for cash only, one hour before the show starts. This show is
intended for mature audiences.
For more information
on “View of the Dome” or the UIS Theater Department, contact
Thibodeaux-Thompson by phone at 206-6613 or by e-mail at
ethib1@uis.edu. |
