Monday, August 23, 1982The Daily Tar Heel3D
On tike lnelf
Boyd tells
liililiif 'lis
of Southern .
experience j
by LEAH TALLEY
Arte Editor
Growing up in the South has its
blessings. Mint juleps, watermelon
and pond fishing anecdotes make
living below the Mason-Dixon
somehow mythically superior.
But life isn't all roses and home
made, hand-turned ice cream. In
The Redneck Way of Knowledge,
Blanche McCrary Boyd wrestles
with her Southern heritage and its
conflict with her more enlightened,
liberal "Northern" mind.
There's something bewildering
about being a SOUTHERNER be
sides the often unintelligible (to
Yankees, that is) accent. As Boyd
puts it, "A dreadful truth came to
me: Southerners were not normal
people."
This relcvation came to Boyd
when she was young, while watch
ing television. The people on her
screen walked, talked, and did
everything differently from the
people of Charleston, S.C., her
hometown. After this discovery,
Boyd had but one purpose in life:
to escape the South.
This escape came in many dif
ferent ways. First, Boyd got mar
.ried, then moved to California
where she got into Esalen. She at
tended a class where she learned
that humans have only two legiti
mate fears, fear of falling and fear
of noise. So we went outside on the
grass in front of the Stanford
library, the instructor said "Fall!"
and we all flopped down in simul
taneous spontaniety. I was hoping
that nobody I knew would see me
behaving like this.
But even flopping and flounder
ing in California was not enough to
release Boyd from her past. She
then moved to a Vermont commune
and made it all the way to New
York where she lived the high life
V
Blanche Boyd
for several years. Boyd eventually
returned to Charleston to wrestle
with what she could not'escape: her
self, her Southern self.
The Redneck Way of Knowledge
is composed of 11 tales. In each,
Boyd explores the southern heri
tage's conflict with her liberal
mind. Her. writing is clean and
honest. In "Growing Up Racist,"
the last chapter, Boyd is honestly
mystified about her prejudice. Like
every white American I've encoun
tered, I am a racist. During the six
ties, I disavowed and tried to dis
own racism. Many young whites
took up this cause. Yankee
students came South on their sum
mer vacations to convince he dis
possessed to register. White South
erners like me turned against their
families. Some risked or lost their
lives. All I chanced was my heri
tage. There is Boyd's dilemma. As
Boyd says, the essence of the
South, whatever it means to be
Southern, is built in her character
like the way she holds her should
ers. .
The Redneck Way of Knowledge
grabs your imagination with capti
vating stories of wild, four-day
parties, alligator stampedes and
stock car racing. Even more impor
tantly, Redneck challenges the lib
eral Southern mind. If you've ever
felt ill-at-ease with your heritage,
Blanche Boyd's account of her re
cognition of her Southern self can
enlighten one coming to grips with
his or her past.
Re j ectecl plays
try again ill print
By MARC ROUTH
Staff Writer
Neil Simon and Woody Allen both have long-standing
reputations for their comic plays and movies, yet they
are not without their failures. Two recent book releases,
Woody Allen's The Floating Light Bulb and Neil
Simon's Fools (both Random House, $10.50), are plays
which failed to attract a significant audience in their
original New York productions when they were produc
ed in April 1981.
Each of the two plays is a departure by-the playwrights
from their commercial successes. The Floating Light
Bulb is a contemporary drama which is more of a social
statement than many of Allen's earlier works. Although
the films Stardust Memories and Interiors were equally
strong in social comment, this play lacks the humor
elements of incongruity and verbal word play that are
characteristic of many Allen works.
Fools is surprising from the beginning due to its set
ting. Simon has succeeded throughout his career with
comedies set in apartments or hotels that depend largely
on their contemporary nature. Yet in Fools, Simon
chooses to set the play in the village of Kulyenchikov in a
"time long ago." His style is similar to other plays he has
written, but he seems handicapped by his inability to use
contemporary references.
It is unfortunate that each of the playwrights suffered
because they dared to depart from their more commer
cial products. Although it would be easy to pass off their
failures as proof of the inability of the commercial artist
to offer a quality artistic product, their attempts to
broaden their scope deserve analysis.
In The Floating Light Bulb, Enid and Max Pollack are
victims of poverty, apathy and selfishness as they and
their two children, Paul and Steve, attempt to survive in
a dilapidated $30-a-month apartment.
- The play places Paul in the position of the gifted child
who has not been exposed to a proper childhood and
thus cannot succeed in front of a stranger when he tries
to do his magic tricks. Paul is much like the character of
Tillie in Paul Zindel's The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon-Marigolds, a metaphor for the results
of an unfeeling society.
Leon Tolchinsky is the young schoolteacher in Neil
Simon's play who falls in love with his student. But there
is one problem. Everyone in the village is completely
stupid due to a curse which has left all the inhabitants
foolish for the last two hundred years. After two acts of
madness, the curse is lifted.
The plays are both promising attempts for each of the
writers to expand their craft. Perhaps with more forays
into new areas they will find greater success. Until then,
the countless productions of more successful Simon and
Allen plays and movies will keep fans content.
Popular Clef Mangers, Loreleis
hit a responsive Tar Heel chord,
carve own; special niche at UNC
By MONT ROGERS
Staff Writer
Within five years, the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill has added two a capella singing groups
to its already abundant list of musical attractions. But
these groups are special in that they are hot under the
guidance of the music department or any other full
time instructor.
The Clef Hangers and the Loreleis are both singing
groups organized and run by students here at UNC,
many of whom have no professional interest in music,
but just find the activity enjoyable.
The Clef Hangers is a men's vocal group started by
Barry Saunders in 1977. Saunders had the notion that
UNC, being one of the nation's larger universities,
should have some sort of a capella group comparable
to the Ivy League schools where this type of singing
originated and has become a tradition.
With four, men and four-part harmony, Saunders
entered the group in a talent show at Morrison
residence hall. The group had a mixed reception, but
with a lot of work, eventually established itself as a
worthy addition to campus life. The group now has 12
members and gives concerts in Memorial Hall.
Since the beginning, the responsibility for the opera
tion of the Clef Hangers has fallen to members them
selves. Different members of the group do the jobs of
booking tours, keeping track of the money, taking
care of business and directing the music. The members
have worked together tor make the Clef Hangers a
highly successful organization.
The success of the Clefs is evident from their many
accomplishments. They have sung in the Great Hall of
the Carolina Union, the auditorium of Hill Hall and in
Memorial Hall. They have traveled as far north as
Maine and as far south as Louisiana. Just last spring
the Clefs sang in the Salisbury and Kannapolis areas of
North Carolina.
Recently the Clef Hangers reached another mile
stone by cutting an album. The album is a mix of live
material from last spring's concert in Memorial Hall
and songs recorded in the studio.
The business manager for last year's group, Miles
Lackey, said the album will help the Clefs in many
ways. "It will be easier to book tours now that we have
an album to send to different places. At first we could
only write letters telling them what we did Lackey
said. The album, if successful, could also generate
revenue for the group and increase the group's popu-
The Clef Hangers' popularity stems from the diver
sity of their music and the diversity of their per
sonalities. Last year's music director, Tim Smith,
pointed out that "you can't look for the best voices,
you have to look at the personalities as well."
The Clef Hangers are quick to say that their music is
not limited to barbershop quartet-type music, but in
cludes songs from quite a few different musical eras.
In their latest repetoire, the Clefs sing the music of the
Beach Boys and Elvis Presley. There are ballads like
"Loch Lomond" and up-beat numbers like "Come
Go With Me," and many humorous songs as well.
With the budding men's group on campus, a few
women decided it was time to take the initiative and
start a ladies' a capella group. Lead by Sarah Klem
mer, eight female students blended their voices only
last fall to form the Loreleis.
Some of the music of the Loreleis is based on
madrigals, vocal pieces developed in the 16th and 17th
centuries. Other songs are from the swing era of the
30s and 40s, not unlike some of the songs of the
Manhattan Transfer.
Considering that the Loreleis have only existed one
year, they have made tremendous progress. They have
made their way to various banquets and functions in
the area and have become quite popular. They have
also accompanied , the Clef Hangers in two of their
concerts.
Klemmer said the- Loreleis strive for diversity. Like
the Clef Hangers, the Loreleis do not require that each
member be a music major. Klemmer said, "I hope the
group stays diverse because there are few groups on
campus for people who just like to sing."
The Clef Hangers and Loreleis audition new people
in the spring to replace their members who have
graduated, but the Clef Hangers say they keep spaces
open for talented freshmen who may come in in the
fall. Information about auditions can be obtained by
contacting Sarah Klemmer of the Loreleis or Mark
Jacobson of the Clef Hangers.
The members of the Loreleis for 1981-82 were Joni
Hanna, Janet Nickelston, Jan Jaynes, Sarah Klem
mer, Karen Gray, Gretchen Steiger, Mary Camp,
Helen Little and Meredith Banner. The members of
the Clef Hangers 1981-82 were Chan Carter, Wiley
Lowry, Jerry Blackweil, Thane Kerner, Mark Jacob
son, Todd Johnson, Miles Lackey, Tim Smith, Bill
Schaw, Andy Baker, Alan Denning and Billy
Vonschriltz.
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V Well, let everybody know how you feel! Tell
them with a Daily Tar Heel personal.
9
CCKDC
Barbershop quartet suppaHers
perform, hold open house
The Research Triangle Park chapter of
the Society for the Preservation and En
couragement of Barber Shop Quartet
Singing in America will hold an open
house tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the fellow
ship hall of University United Methodist
Church.
. Several barbershop quartets will per
form, and guests will be invited to join in
the singing. Refreshments will be served.
Men of all ages are welcome, and stu
dents are especially encouraged to attend.
For more information, call 942-7035,
929-2212, or 942-3485.
Welcome freshmen!
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