Bringing some Blue Collar comedy to UIS
Bill Engvall packs Sangamon Auditorium

By Stephanie Orr - Assistant Editor

I've never seen a crowed at Sangamon Auditorium that was as diverse, relaxed and casual as the one that showed up on Saturday night. People of all ages showed up in flannel, t-shirts and jeans. I even think I saw someone wearing sweatpants! This was new to me, since prior to heading to the auditorium I had a serious discussion with my mother on the proper attire for the evening.

In case you were wondering, the casual masses were converging on the auditorium in order to see Bill Engvall live and in person.

If you don't know who Engvall is you've missed the blue-collar revolution that's been sweeping the nation since the year 2000. I am referring, of course, to The Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a vastly popular comedy show which featured Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White and Jeff Foxworthy.

Touring without his blue-collar comrades, Engvall performed to a sold-out crowed at the Sangamon Auditorium. With an act that focused on the funny side of marriage, Engvall had the audience roaring with laughter from the moment he walked on stage.

Opening for Engvall was Pat Dixon who won HBO's Aspen Comedy Arts Open in 1998, and most recently appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend.

Dixon also focused on marriage and dating, specifically the difference between married life and divorced life.

The two comics had very different deliveries. Dixon was sarcastic and terse and Engvall played to the crowed with a more friendly and intimate style. It was like watching the stereotypical city boy followed by an equally stereotypical country boy. Even their clothes spoke volumes, Dixon in a full suit and Engvall in jeans and boots.

Despite their differences, or maybe because of them, the two worked well together. Though they spoke on the same subject their jokes were completely different.

They both used the traditional comedy stage setting, black background with only a microphone, stool and bottles of water for decoration. A single spotlight was employed to highlight the performers on stage. The simplicity worked well being as the crowed wasn't there for spectacle but for humor instead.

The Illini fans in the crowed were given a special treat as well because Engvall announced the Illinois victory during the show and gave a condensed summary of the final minutes.

Maybe it was jus my impression, but that announcement seemed to get the loudest response of the night from the crowed, which went completely crazy with the cheering.

Even someone who isn't particularly fond of sports, like myself, couldn't help but feel elated at that news.

Engvall even confessed to being an Illini fan and said the men on the team were real “scrappers.”

After the game result had been announced the crowed seemed even more relaxed and the laughter kept coming.

Theatre program gearing up for Spring production
'Fifth of July' coming to Studio Theatre

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

Lanford Wilson 's acclaimed “Fifth of July” will be presented at the University of Illinois at Springfield in the Studio Theater. The Theater Program's spring production will be April 1-2 and 8-9 at 8 p.m. and April 3 and 10 at 2 p.m.

“Fifth of July” is set in 1977 and centers on a group of old college friends and former antiwar activists as they deal with the changes that have altered their lives and their attitudes since they were in college.

At a farmhouse in rural Missouri , a legless Vietnam veteran named Ken lives with his lover Jed, a horticulturist. Ken's sister, June, and June's teenage daughter Shirley come for a visit. They are accompanied by Gwen, an heiress and aspiring rock star, and Gwen's husband and manager, John. Gwen wants to buy the farmhouse and turn it into a recording studio. The story is rounded out with Ken's Aunt Sally who returns to the family farm to scatter the ashes of her dead husband.

“Fifth of July” is part of a trilogy by Wilson that also includes “Talley's Folly” (1980) and “A Tale Told” (1981). Some other of Wilson's plays are “Angels Fall” (1982), “Burn This” (1987), “Redwood Curtain” (1993), “Book of Days” (1998) and “Rain Dance” (2002).

John McAdams will play Ken in the UIS Theater production. Anthony Wanless is John, Shirene Thomas plays the part of Gwen, Brad Hammond as Jed, Marie Pignon is June, Molly Sullivan will play Shirley, Shirley McConnaughay is Sally and rounding out the cast is Christopher Wyant as Weston. Wanless, Pignon, Sullivan, and Wyant are UIS students. Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson, an assistant professor and director of theater at UIS, will direct “Fifth of July.”

Tickets are currently available at the UIS Ticket Office. They may be purchased in person by phone at 217/206-6160 or 800/207-6960 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or online at www.sangamonauditorium.org/ . Tickets are $10 for general admission, $6 for UIS faculty/staff, or $4 for UIS students with an I-card. There will also be a limited number of tickets available at the ticket office beginning 90 minutes before curtain time. For more information about this play or about the UIS Theatre program, contact Thibodeaux-Thompson by phone at 206-6613 or by e-mail at ethib1@uis.edu , or go to www.uis.edu/theatre .

Trinity Irish Dance to perform at Sangamon Auditorium

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

Before such productions like “Riverdance” made Irish step dancing popular with the masses, the Trinity Irish Dance Company preserved the art of Irish dance with passion and flair.

This Irish American company was founded in 1990 by Mark Howard. According to their website, Howard started the company “as a means of providing professional career opportunities to students who formerly had no outlet for their dance training beyond the competitive circuit.”

The company's repertoire is a mix of Celtic inspiration and the work of contemporary, cutting edge choreographers. Great attention is paid to the speed and accuracy of the dancers' footwork as well as the spacing of the ensemble and the precision of the dancers' movements.

Dances done in hard shoes or jig shoes are identified by their thunderous beat of the tap-like shoes. Soft shoe dances are noted for small jumps, quick beats and ankle-twisting crossover steps.

Through the use of Irish dance, “Trinity crosses dance and cultural boundaries in artistically important ways, transcending craft to art and creating a new vocabulary for Irish step dancing.” This results in a contemporary spin to a centuries old dance.

The company is comprised of 22 dancers between the ages of 18 and 24, some of whom are repeated world champions of Irish dance. Most of the dancers come to the company from the prestigious Trinity Academy of Irish dance, a Chicago/Milwaukee-based school.

They have entertained audiences around the world and have performed on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "CBS This Morning" and "Good Morning America." The Trinity Irish Dance Company has also entertained such dignitaries as the Royal Family in Monaco , Ireland 's President Mary Robinson and Indian meditation master Gurumayi Chidvilasananda.

Trinity Irish Dance will be at Sangamon Auditorium April 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $27 to $40. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Sangamon Auditorium Box Office at 217.206.6160 or www.sangamonauditorium.org .

Denzel Washington dominates in 'The Hurricane'

By Gabrielle Wiegand - Feature Writer

“The Hurricane” is the poignant and moving real life tale of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a middleweight boxer from the 1960s who was wrongly incarcerated for the murder of three people.

Denzel Washington gives an overwhelmingly powerful performance as the Hurricane. He was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award in 2000 and won the 2000 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor. The film also received Golden Globe nominations for Best Director and Best Motion Picture.

Carter is a successful black boxer raising a happy family in the 1960s when a corrupt and racist police force accuses him of killing three white people at a New Jersey bar. Carter and a friend are convicted of the killings and sentenced to three life sentences.

In prison, Carter loses all hope and is consumed by hatred and prejudice. His acquittal attempts are all denied.

Eventually, he decides to write his story and smuggles it out of prison to be published. In it, he pours out his story, telling about the injustice that put him in prison. His autobiography, “The 16 th Round,” becomes a bestseller but is soon forgotten.

Years later, a young black boy, Lesra Martin (played by Vicellous Reon Shannon), picks up a copy at a used book sale. Inspired by the Hurricane's tale, he attempts to liberate Carter. With the help of his white mentors and guardians, Sam Chaiton (Liev Schreiber), Terry Swinton (John Hannah) and Lisa Peters (Deborah Kara Unger), Lesra helps restore Carter's hope and faith in mankind.

“Hate put me in prison. Love's gonna bust me out,” says Carter. Finally in 1985, after 22 years behind bars, Carter was freed after the court determined his incarceration was a result of racial prejudice.

“The Hurricane” is nothing without the performance of Denzel Washington. Washington trained extensively for the role. He portrays the boxing legend at age 20 and after his release from prison at the age of 50.

Some of the other characters are vague and underdeveloped. The “villain” throughout the film is Detective Sgt. Della Pesca Paterson (played by Dan Hedaya) the policeman who tortured Carter since adolescence and ultimately is the one to send him to prison. Unfortunately, the character comes across the screen as a caricature of all that is evil and not a real person.

Overall, the film is very beautiful and sad. I would encourage everyone to watch it.

“The Hurricane” is 145 minutes long and rated R for language and violence.

“The Hurricane” will be shown tomorrow, March 31, in Brookens Auditorium at noon, 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The showings are free and open to the public. The Hurricane himself, Dr. Rubin Carter, will be on campus April 13 to speak on “The Fight for Justice” at 7:15 p.m. in the Studio Theatre.

Bringing some 'Blue Collar Comedy' to UIS

Theatre program gearing up for Spring production

Trinity Irish Dance to perform at Sangamon Auditorium

Denzel Washington dominates in 'The Hurricane'