Thursday. November 29, 1979 The Daily Ter Heel 3
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By BOBBY PARKER
Suff Writer
Who is Stephen Sondheim and why is everyone
singing his praises?
Playmakers Repertory Company is trying to answer
that question in its current run of Side by Side by
Sondheim, the musical revue featuring some of the most
brilliant numbers from Sondheim's impressive string of
Broadway successes. .
Okay, so Sondheim is the premier lyricist-composer
of the American stage over the last couple of decades.
But let's not assume that his claim to that position has
anything to do with this shoddy piece of, if I may,
theater.
Side by Side plucks Sondheim gems from a dozen of
his shows, stripping them of all dramatic context and
robbing them of their original fullness of meaning.
What's left is a purposeless and embarrassing display of
sugary affection for Sondheim the "greatest thing
since popcorn," as the narrator would have us believe.
Combine this conceptually weak show with the
muddy production of director Errol Selsby, and you
may wonder just how much you liked popcorn in the
first place.
For all its weakness, the show is destined to be with us
for some time to come because it is effortless
entertainment for both the audience and the players. The
narrator (Frank Raiter) warns us from the start that Side
by Side is more of a show than a play, which means that
its purpose is pure entertainment.
Why, then, is it so dull and so boring? Because here the
songs lack the strength of human emotions with which
dramatic characters are identifiable.
The show, the first musical for the Playmakers, has
three vocalists (Kenneth Garner, Marina MacNeal and
Nancy Piccione) who alternately perform solos, duets
and trios from Sondheim's most successful shows. The
narrator has the impossible task of linking this together
by explaining Sondheim's themes and giving quaint
anecdotes about the dramatist's career.
The strength of Sondheim has to be his genius as a
lyricist. He captures just the right feeling in concise and
complete rhymes. He is a master of the .double
entendre witness the multiple sexual connotations in
I Never Do Anything Twice" from The Seven Percent
Solution, one of his few ventures into film.
It is difficult to choose an 'ultimate' Sondheim,
although the narrator tells us it is "Send in the Clowns"
from A Little Night Music, the quiet sound of passion
that is his most recognized. Equally brilliant candidates
would be the poignant "Anyone Can Whistle" from the
show of the same name, or the pulsating "Another
Hundred People" (Company).
But despite some good material, director Selsby
allows the show to become a stagnant parade of musical
numbers, in the tradition of those salutes to Broadway
that Carol Burnett once did on television. The show
becomes stale because of the sirriilairty of many of the
numbers and. more importantly, the lack of originality
in the staging. There are far too many instances when the
vocalists simply stand under the spotlight and sing.
If anyone finds the choreography for which Joy Javits
takes credit, please tell her where it is. One, feels the urge
to move for the static cast, whose bodies remain
inflexible while their arms fly in disconcerted rowing
motions. "You Gotta Get a Gimmick" (Gypsy) is a
lesson in how to succeed as a stripper which calls for a
rousing presentation, but it was a humiliation in all its
sluggishness'.
Human compassion might allow us to forgive
Kenneth Garner for being as bored as he appears
throughout the show. His "Anyone Can Whistle" is one
of the evening's highlights, but in the other songs he
seems preoccupied.
When the narrator says, "Thank you, Stephen
Sondheim, for being alive and sharing with us your
special genius," no one believes it. This revue has
destroyed much of the life of Sondheim's music, and this
particular production has dealt further blows.
Perhaps the greatest insult comes near the end in
"Conversation Piece " a medley of all those Sondheims
we didn't have time to hear and old favorites we heard
earlier. In cruel, teasing fashion, this number says,See,
we could have done all this in five minutes, and aren't
you the fools for sitting here these past two and a half
hours?'
Fools indeed.
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Frank Raiter, Marina MacNeil, Ken Garner and Nancy Piceione
...cast of 'Side by Side by Sondheim rehearses
Views mixed
on report
By GEORGE JETER
Staff Writer
UNC faculty members showed mixed
support Wednesday for requiring
undergraduates to take both foreign
language and mathematical science
courses as recommended in the Thornton
report,
The Thornton report, which proposes
an overhaul of General College
requirements, was discussed at a meeting
of the faculty of the College of Arts and
Sciences. If the report is approved, its
recommendations could be implemented
as early as fall, 1981.
Chemistry department Chairman
Thomas L. Isenhour disagreed with the
report's recommendation that special
math courses for non-math majors
should be developed to meet the
proposed two-semester math
requirement. Isenhour pointed out that
few other fields have special curriculums
for non-majors.
"We have this concept that everyone
can learn Portuguese but not everyone
can learn calculus," another professor
said.
A few faculty members spoke against
requiring even remedial math courses.
"To some students who come here
already knowing they want to be
professional artists, musicians or such,
the math requirement is absolute
torture," one professor said:
English professor Weldon Thornton,
chairperson of the committee which
wrote ' the report, said the math
requirement was not meant to be a
remedial high school program but instead
should be something to help students in
today's world.
Thornton added he found the non
major math courses in the present option,
where a student can choose between math
or foreign language, to be appalling.
"If the new requirements become just
remedial courses over the next few years
then I - would ask to change the
requirement," Thornton said.
The Thornton report also would
require students to pass the equivalent of
four semesters of foreign language by
taking a placement test, two semesters of
an intensified five-hour-per-semester
course or four semesters of foreign
language.
fa IT P-
Q. I saw an advertisement in The Daily Tar
Heel concerning PentaxCorp. in Middletown,
Ohio. According to the ad, you could make
large sums of money through their homework
scheme. When I wrote off for the information,
I got a letter informing me that in order to
participate in their program I would have to
send them $15. Are they above board and
legal?
A. No, according to the Ohio Better
Business Bureau, the Pentax ad is false
There is no homework scheme. They have had
several complaints that the company took SIS
from customers and provided no job.
Anytime you are dealing with an out-of-state
company, be very cautious, especially if
the company requires any initial deposit for
homework or summer job schemes.
Always check to see if the company is
reputable. Even in out-of-state mail 'order
cases involving large sums of money, it is
virtually impossible to obtain refunds for
undelivered or defective merchandise.
Q. Which hair dryers contain asbestos?
A. The latest list of hair dryers with asbestos,
which may cause cancer, includes:
Clairol's Son-of-Gun TD-1 and TD-2 and
Supef Zap SZ-h Conair Corp.'s Style Stream
070, Junior Pro 066 and Thermo Styler 067;
Hamilton Beach Division of Scovill's Models
480, 3830, 479, 423, 3850, 1858, 434, 432, 477,
478, 480, 481, and 425; Korvettes' Models 23A
and E-2100; Sperry Rand's Models HW-1, 2,
3, 4, 6 and PD-600, 750, 850, and 900;
Sunbeam's Northern 1821, 320.6350, Oster
202, 301, 302, and 370 and Sunbeam D-CW
Professional, 52-9C, 52-9K, 52-9H, 52-9P,
52-12J and 52-9R, all Professionaire.
' For information on other hair dryers, you
can call any of the following major
manufacturers toll free:
Clairol, Inc. 800-223-5800; Conair
Corp. 800-63 1-539 1 ; Gillette 800-328-9208;
General Electric 800-241-9992 or 800-241-5822;
and Norel Co. 800-223-1828.
All companies have stopped distributing
models with asbestos. Most companies will
replace or repair hairdryers with asbestos. For
a complete list of hair dryers with asbestos and
manufacturers positions on replacing or
repairing dryers, write to: Hair Dryers,
Consumer Product Safety Commission,
Washington, D.C. 20207.
If you have consumer questions or
information on merchants, please call, write or
come by the Student Consumer Action Union
office in Suite B of the Carolina Union.
Consumer line is researched hv Debbie Gray
ofSCAU.
Assaults in area
Attacks on women increase
By ANNE-MARIE DOWNEY
0 Staff Writer
The number of reported attacks on women in Orange County
this fall has risen to eight, with one attempted rape reported in
Chapel Hill and another assault occurring in northern Orange
County.
Earlier in November, local police and law enforcement
officials reported an increase in the incidence o rapes, attempted
rapes and assaults on women in the last three months. At that
time there were two reported sexual assaults in Chapel Hill, two
in Orange County and two on campus.
University Police Lt. Charles E. Mauer said no more incidents
had been reported since the Nov. 14 assault in the Bell Tower
parking lot.
But Ben Callahan, administrative assistant with the Chapel
Hill Police Department, said police were investigating a Nov. 14
attempted rape at Pinegate Apartments. The woman was
emptying her trash at night when a tall man grabbed her,
Callahan said. The woman was assaulted but was not raped, he
said.
A sexual assault in northern Orange County, which Orange
County Assistant District Attorney Carl Fox said was not similar
to other recent attacks, occurred when a woman left a Mebane
bar in the com pany of two men and another woman. The woman
was assaulted and her clothes were torn, but she was not raped,
Fox said.
The two men involved were arrested and charged with
attempted rape. Fox said. The case now is pending before Orange
County Superior Court.
No arrests have been made in any of the three Chapel Hill
cases, Callahan said. He said he believed none of the cases were
related.
Janet Colm, coordinator of the Rape Crisis Center, said the
number of calls coming in on the center's crisis line has leveled off
since the rise earlier in the month. She said the center received an
average of one or two calls a week.
The two earlier attacks on women on campus were assaults
rather than rapes, Mauer said. In the first week of November a
woman student was grabbed by a man who jumped from the
bushes near Cobb Dormitory. The man had a gun, but the
woman escaped. Two weeks later another woman student was
assaulted by a man in the Bell Tower parking lot. She was not
raped.
Lt. Mauer said he was disturbed by the rash of rumors
circulating on campus about a dramatic rise in sexual attacks.
While a potential danger always exists, there has been no great
increase in the danger this year, he said.
Mauer said the alarm that some people had expressed was not
substantiated and emphasized the fact that there have been no
rapes reported on campus. The Cobb assault was the first such
incident on campus in five years, he added. A suspect has been
arrested in the Cobb case.
"I'm going on what has been reported. That's all I can go on,"
he said. "But if there's that many going on I think someone would
report it to us."
Mauer said it was wise for women always to take precautions,
but he said there was no need for extreme measures. There are no
plans to institute a police escort service because there is not
enough manpower to do so, he said.
Faculty to be liable for library fines
Oik
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A local Latin ana sort roc uanu ptoys
tonight at 8 in Chase Cafeteria as part of
the "Southern Comfort" coffeehouse.
By MELODEE ALVES
Staff Writer
The UNC faculty has been granted a
temporary reprieve from the loss of its
long-enjoyed privilege of immunity from
overdue book fines imposed be
University libraries.
But as of Jan. 9, faculty members will
have to join students in the line to pay up
for every day books are late, said A.R.
Fields, head of the circulation
department for Wilson Library. The
faculty fines had been scheduled to begin
Oct. 1 but several professors claimed they
were not notified in time, he said.
Many faculty members complained
that they didn't know they were going to
be fined because they didn't read or
receive the notices," Fields said. "We
have changed the date to start collecting
so right now we're in limbo."
Duke University has been the only
school in the state to charge overdue fines
to faculty members in the past, Fields
said, But UNC officials felt a similar
policy was needed here after many
students complained that they could not
find needed books which were sitting in
professors' offices, he said.
"Without the fines, there is no way to
compel faculty members to return
books," Fields said.
When the new policy is implemented,
faculty members will have a 10-day grace
after receiving an overdue notice in which
to return the book. Students are granted a
three-day grace period. After 10 days
elapse, faculty members will be billed at
25 cents per day. Fields said.
If the total bill exceeds $ 15, the faculty
member's borrowing privileges will be
suspended until the bill is paid, he said.
"Some people are dismayed," Fields
said. "Other faculty members say they
like it fines are long overdue."
Because faculty members can check
books out on a six-month basis. Fields
said many professors tend to forget the
dates when the books are due. Faculty
members should return books as soon as
they have finished with them, he said.
Notices of the change have already
been mailed to the faculty, Fields said.
"Some faculty members say they just
don't open mail from the library," he said.
"This is a luxury they cannot afford in the
future."
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