Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 26, 2000, edition 1 / Page 6
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Pages The Blue Banner October26,2000 Features Savoy’s menu excellent PHOTO BY PATRICK BRASWELL Savoy on Merrimon Avenue offers a great Italian menu, but due to construction, it is wanting in atmosphere. Rebecca Trauers staff IMriter when looking for a relatively in expensive Italian restaurant, keep Savoy in mind. The prices range approximately from five-dollar appetizers to 15- dollar meals. Savoy is located on Merrimon Avenue, only a few minutes from the UNCA campus. The atmosphere is not aestheti cally pleasing, but the food is tasty. Everything I ordered, except the Caesar salad, which contained too much anchovy flavor, was delicious. The portabello mushroom appe tizer was the best I have ever had. First, it is marinated in apomodoro sauce, then stuffed with fresh moz zarella cheese and topped with a balsamic vinegar reduction. The entree I ordered, al la fungi, was simple yet pleasing. The cook mixed together various sauteed veg etables, such as spinach, wild mush rooms and diced tomatoes. The vegetables were laid over penne pasta, which was covered with feta cheese. A mushroom based sauce brought together the entire dish. Savoy is generous in their por tions. The appetizer, salad and entree were all large enough for two. The atmosphere did not fUfill my expectations. It contains many ofthe elements that constimte a high-class restaurant, such as candles, limited seating and profes sionally dressed wait staff. Other haphazard decorating deci sions shadow the refined, ar tistic choices. For example, piecesofwhite paper served as over sized table bibs. Granted, real tablecloths lay un derneath the tacky paper ones, but sophisticated restaurants should stay clear of imitations. The walls are painted a pretty or- ange-pink color, givingSavoy awarm glow. Still, not one work of art decorated the entire place. Savoy makes the biggest decorat ing mistake by exposing its interior Reuiew renovation. I understand the need for change, especially when it comes to upgrad ing, but the construction work could have easily been concealed. I felt as if I had taken a really good meal, along with my paper table cloth, to a construction site. Along with the appetizer and entree, the service was exemplary. The server was polite and efficient, and the food was delivered to my table in due time. As soon as my appetizer arrived, the manager person ally came over and handed me a per forated knife be cause I was hav ing trouble cut ting with the but ter knife. The manager displayed concern for his customers by paying attention to how I was enjoying my meal. Despite my criticism about the at mosphere, I do recommend you give Savoy a try. Perhaps the current reno vation will curtail this problem any way. After all, the most important thing about a dining experience is indeed the food. "Taming of the Shrew” a bore Casey Blankenship staff Uinter The N.C. .Shakespeare Festival gave a dull and arduous perfor mance of the “Taming of the Shrew” at the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville Oct 21. With a running time of close to three hours, I was sorely tempted to flee from the scene of the crime of the awful performances of the play ers. The only saving grace was that the seats were comfortable. Shakespeare’s comedy about mis matched lovers was set in Padua, Italy in the 1900s. Baptista, a Mer chant of Padua, has a beautiful daughter who it seems everyone wants to marry. Unfortunately, to get to the lovely Bianca, someone has to be fool enough to marry her sister, the cantankerous Katherine. Park Krausen plays the character of Bianca to perfection, if her in tention was to create a whining, irritating, empty-headed girl whose sole purpose is to flounce around in her pink dresses and pout through out the entire pla^. After having been introduced to the character of Bianca, it was with great hope that I watched ' Katherine’s entrance, as she was sure to at least be witty and enter taining due to her spitefulness. In stead, Courtney Peterson as Katherine mumbles through her lines so much that I could not un derstand any of her dialogue and had to rely on her clumsy physical movements to comprehend her act- ing. She is called “Katherine the cursed” and I believe it with her constantly clomping around the stage snarling at the townspeople or throwing punches at her sister’s suitors. The slapstick comedy used in many of the scenes was not choreo graphed and the actors’ timing was off It made me wonder if they had rehearsed enough for their scenes. I would certainly have hoped they put some time into it since, even with a student discount, my ticket was expensive. The setting was interesting, with the theme of water everywhere. A sun and moon motif lit up the stage and it was quite stunning. There was a waterfall in the background and the set resembled a beautiful, sunny courtyard in Italy. It was much more entertain ing to watch the sweat pouring down the ac tors’ faces as they struggled against burst ing and ripping their overly tight trousers than to follow their skills as performers. I wonder how anyone could find sympathy with all of the screaming and huffing and man- glingofwords. I foundmyselfwish- Reuiew Sister City forum creates ideas Bridgette Odom staff UJrlter The environment and culture fo rum about topics concerning Asheville and its sister city, San Cristobal, Mexico was an informal discussion in Owen Conference Center designed to address issues relevant to both cities. The evening featured speakers and workers from San Cristobal and the state of Chiapas. They each shared their experiences from Mexico and related them to our lives in Asheville. The program was divided in two sections. The first hour was de voted to three groups of speakers talking about preservation of Mayan culture, environmental concerns and Mayan women weavers. The second hour was less formal with open discussion with the speakers andweavers. There was also a photo exhibit showing parts of San Cristobal. The information provided by the speakers was educational; however, the speakers did not have enough time to explain their topics ad equately. The forum, sponsored by San Cristobal Committee of Asheville Sister Cities, Inc., UNCA and UNCA’s Multicultural Student Program, provided an opportu nity for UNCA and Asheville community members to interact with people from other countries. It gave attendees a way to discover the commonalities among all people. According to the promotional bro chure, Asheville and San Cristobal have many similarities. They in clude mountainous terrain and waterfalls; concerns about water sys tems, forests and wildlife; diverse cities; similiar indigenous popula tions, the Maya and the Cherokee; and tourism-dependent economies and handmade crafts, especially weaving, that reflect the culture. This meeting grew out of the En- vironment-Culture Project estab lished by the San Cristobal Com mittee of Asheville Sister Cities, Inc. this year to create partnerships from Asheville and San Cristobal residents. “The project’s distinc tive feature is its focus on the hu man interaction with the environ ment in regions surrounding San Cristobal and Asheville,” and to seek solutions with respect to the culture, ac cording the promotional bro chure. “Siste.r Cities International Inc. was created in 1956 by the Eisenhower administration to im prove global understanding and cooperation. Since that time, more than 1,200 communities in the United States have been linked with more than 2,100 partners in 117 countries and involving hundreds of thousands of volunteers,” ac cording to the Sister Cities Interna tional Web site. In addition to San Cristobal, Asheville has two other sister cit ies. In 1990, Vladikavkaz, located in the Caucasus Mountains of Southern Russia, became the first sister city; San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, became the second city to sign the Sister City declaration with Asheville in 1994; and Saumur, located in the Loire Valley of Central France, af filiated with Asheville in 1996, ac cording to the Web site. It was eye opening to learn about the challenges facing the people in San Cristobal and to see how they deal with the same issues that people in Asheville do. Both cities are culturally diverse and can share ways with each other about how to effec tively cope with and benefit from such diversity. The Mexican women face many ofthe struggles of American women, such as financial in dependence and integrat ing into the workforce. One of the presenters, Claudia Rovelo, worked for an or ganization that provided small bank loans to help San Cristobal women start their own businesses. This forum was not just a chance for people of another country to come and observe how we do things and then retreat back to their own environment. This program and forum established a discourse be tween similar lands with an even exchange of ideas and solutions. Reuiew estmg work; had tl I was betw£ displa ages” I you r lEcom ; A s I “Wis( Jgrouf tures Ijjects, II conte I Pen r Turd tion ;'i myth ^ peopi . storie Ijtory, as eni 1 tot ties w engaj said, spent See FORUM page 7 ing that this were a new inrerprera- tion of Shakespeare’s classic where blond Bianca meets an untimely demise, therefore sparing the audi ence any more of her presence. Somewhat making up for the bad acting of the ladies were some ad equate performances from the male characters. Petruchio, as the suitor to Katherine, mimics a strutting peacock, while at the same time sharing an uncanny resemblance to Chef Boyardee and the Red Baron with a white hat and coat and old- fashioned goggles. He has come to Padua “to wive and thrive” and sets his sights on the dowry of Katherine. Petruchio, as played by Harrison Long, at least gives some much- needed energy to the play even if it relies mostly on falling down and potty-humor jokes. His servant’s characters must believe shouting is the key to good acting, because the more they talked, the louder they shouted. Better yet was Petruchio’s servant Grumio, who played the long- suffering atten dant with sar casm and witty speeches which could actually be understood. But the reason I stayed in my seat in the freezing cold theatre, which smelled of moldy cheese, was the See SHREW page 7 Oiimoii Sangare Habib Koite & Bamada Songwriter, social commentator, champion of women’s rights, spokesperson for her generation and sex, Sangare is a world-class musical sensation. Guitarist Habib Koite and his band Bamada draw on rich traditions of Malian music mixed with their own modern sound. Tuesday, Oct. 31 • 8 p.m. UNCA Lipinsky Auditorium Co-sponsored by the UNCA International Student Association PUBLIC RADIO NPR NEWS, CLASSICAL MUSICS MORE Tickets $5 UNCA students, (one ticket per student ID) $15 UNCA Faculty/Staff/Alumni/College for Seniors mennbers UNCA Ticket Office, 27 Highsmith Center For information and to cfiarge tickets by pfione, call 828/251-6584. >^UNCA Cultural and Special Events Committee The University of North Carouna ASHEVILLE
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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Oct. 26, 2000, edition 1
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