The Daily Tar HeelMonday, February 9, 19875
Horns, antics set Pressure Boys apart
Any band that changes the name
of its drummer to YAMAHA has
got to be unique. And the Pressure
Boys are certainly that.
After all, how many rock V roll
bands have a trumpet, saxophone
and trombone in their arsenal? Not
too many.
No one would ever accuse the
Pressure Boys of copying the sound
of another band; the only group that
sounds like these guys is Weird Al
Yankovic and the Polkaholics.
But what makes the Pressure Boys
so popular is not only their sound
but also their onstage demeanor.
Their antics vary from juggling beer
cans to being just plain goofy.
3 for the show works
"Three Short Plays by David
Mamet, " a presentation by the
Artschool's Actors Co-op, should
satisfy anyone who might feel
deprived of cultural stimulation. The
plays "Prairie du Chien," "Mrs.
Happiness," and "The Shawl"
were written by Pulitzer Prize winner
Mamet. The production opened
Friday evening at Carrboro Elemen
tary School and will continue next
weekend.
"Prairie" focuses on five pas
sengers on a train heading east from
Chicago. Mamet fills the compart
ment with distracting activity: one
passenger traps his neighbor with the
creepy story of a small-town murder,
while across the compartment, two
men drink gin and play cards. The
porter frequently enters the compart
ment to check on the passengers. A
sleeping boy represents the only
stillness on the set. The observer
wants to concentrate on the murder
story but is distracted frequently by
the card players.
Just when the situation becomes
Actress in
Turkish actress Cigdem Onat
gives a superb performance in the
Play Makers Repertory Company's
production of "The Human Voice,"
the second of the three plays per
formed in rotating repertory as
Playfest '87. The play opened Sat
urday night in Paul Green Theatre.
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Concert
The Chapel Hill band (all the
members went to the local high
school) took to the stage at Cat's
Cradle Friday and Saturday nights.
The Pigs from Atlanta, Ga.
opened the show Friday night. This
band has done a demo with Mitch
Easter and sounds like another
R.E.M. clone. Saturday night, Four
Hard Men of Raleigh opened,
sarcastically playing everything from
disco to rap to the "Late Night with
Theater
irritating, the card players argue and
a shot is fired. At the play's climax,
the facial expressions of the porter
and the listener provide comic relief
from the intensity of the drama.
The audience has time to regroup
mentally while the stage is set for
the next play.
A lighter story, "Mrs. Happiness"
is a monologue by an advice-to-the-distressed
radio personality. She
represents the Ann Landers of radio
talk shows. The play humorously
shows how radio personalities may
behave behind the curtains of their
profession.
Mrs. Happiness (Sharon Pigot)
begins the show sitting rigidly behind
the microphone, her hair pinned up
under a hat and reading glasses on
her nose. During the show she
'Voice' dials audience's number
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Theater
The play, by French dramatist
Jean Cocteau, is the story of a five-
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David LettermaiT theme song.
The Boys" set consisted mostly of
originals though they did threaten
the crowd with a Bon Jovi cover.
Later in the evening they fulfilled the
crowd's hard rock desires with "Back
in Black" and "Radar Love."
The Boys' brass section consists
of Stacey Guess on trumpet (that is,
when he plugs his mike in), Greg
"Bird man" Stafford on sax, and
John Plymale, also the lead singer,
on trombone. Vocally, Plymale
sounds like Stan Ridgeway of Wall
of Voodoo.
Coupled with this brass is a steady
back beat from bassist Jack Camp
bell and drummer Rob Ladd. Guit
well for ArtSchool
regresses to adolescence as she sits
cross-legged on her desk, her hair
hanging down and her glasses gone.
She playfully substitutes numerous
stuffed animals for the people she
is advising. The play ends with Mrs.
Happiness seeming as professional
as she did at the beginning.
The drama intensifies again with
the much longer play called "The
Shawl." This play involves three odd
characters. John, a questionable
psychic donning an aqua ascot and
patterned smoking jacket, dominates
the action. The audience watches as
he interacts with his shady compan
ion Charles and his rich customer
Miss A. The odd relationship of
these three characters makes the play
magnificent.
Mamet frustrates the audience
once again by having Charles repeat
edly catch his keys during the psychic
sessions. John confuses viewers
because he reveals his tricks for
mind-reading yet he displays some
psychic talent.
year love affair that has come to an
end. The audience watches as the
main character makes one last,
anguished phone call to her lover.
There are many traps for an
actress to fall into in preparing a one
woman show such as this one. First,
she must have the charisma and
presence to command an audience's
attention for the 65 minutes of the
performance. Secondly, given the
emotional state of the heroine at the
beginning of the play, the piece could
easily degenerate into an over
wrought, melodramatic
extravaganza. . . . ...
I But under the capable direction of
her husband Arthur Housman, Onat
successfully avoids all these pitfalls.
She suffuses the work with a great
variety of emotions, showing a
thousand different sides of the
woman. By turns, she is desperate,
coquettish, beaten, courageous, and
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arist Bryon Settle seems content to
play in the background until he is
called upon.
These home boys are not only
loved by Chapel Hill but also by the
corporate world. Miller Beer decided
last year to sponsor them with lots
of freebies and press coverage.
Will the Boys handle the pressure
of a Miller sponsorship or will they
sell themselves out to the top
corporate cats? This band seems the
type that will stick with what has
made it popular a sense of humor
and brand of music that blows away
audiences at every performance. But
please. Boys, no Bon Jovi.
The greater length of this play
compared to the first two invites the
viewer's mind to wander occasion
ally. Luckily, the powerful acting of
the male performers, Euan Bag
shawe as John and Solomon Gibson
III as Charles, keeps the viewers'
attention.
The play settings are small but
complete, and the transitions
between plays are remarkably
smooth. An intimate atmosphere
develops from the limited space.
All the actors work well with their
surroundings. Gibson demonstrates
great acting versatility by playing the
porter in "Prairie" and Charles in
"Shawl." Steve Clark, the storyteller
in "Prairie," also directs "Mrs.
Happiness."
This multiple production reflects
the skill and hard work of the Actors
Co-op. The variation of acting and
subject matter found in these plays
make seeing three short plays more
enlightening than one long
production.
(as she recalls the details of a
forgotten weekend spent with her
lover) achingly poignant.
Onat submerges herself so com
pletely into her character's emotions
that she seems to no longer be acting,
yet she never loses control of the
performance. She doesn't allow
herself to indulge in gratuitous
histrionics.
The technical aspects of the
performance are up to the usual high
standards of PRC. Costumer Mari
anne Custer has designed a lovely
nightgown for "the woman." Robert
Wierzel's lighting design is effective,
asis" Linwbcwd Taylor's Avbrk or the
set.
The Cocteau work certainly adds
an interesting dimension to the
"about women" theme of Playfest
"87. But even if it is impossible to
see the other plays in the series, come
to "The Human Voice" for Onat's
haunting performance.
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DTHDan Charlson
J.R. Reid shot over and around Cavalier defenders for 21 points
J.R.'s college boards
By JAMES SUROWIECKI
Assistant Sports Editor
Sunday's 74-73 overtime win
against Virginia was certainly not
one of UNC's more impressive
victories of the season. The numbers
which demonstrate that will no
doubt be bandied about often today
thrown into every game story and
every sidebar. Numbers like 32.6
percent from the field in the second
half, 3-15 from three-point range,
Kenny Smith's 4-of-14 performance.
But the most important number
in the boxscore, aside from the final
score, is the 14 next to J.R. Reid's
name under the category of
rebounds. Those 14 boards, includ
ing five off the offensive glass, were
instrumental in,-the Tar Heel win.
When Joe Wolf fouled ,Qut, Reid !
took over, wreaking 'havoo inside
among the Wahoo saplings.' - - -
"When it's crunch time, I just try
to get all the rebounds I can," Reid
said. "I like to rebound, and I think
that's my job on this team, especially
when the game is close. I like to bang
inside."
The banging got Reid into foul
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trouble. He played from the 7:02
mark of the second half through
overtime with four fouls, but was if
anything more aggressive as time
wore down. With UNC down three,
Reid fought for position along the
baseline and hit a little turnaround.
He later calmly canned both ends
of a one-and-one to put UNC up
by two. Then, of course, in overtime
he made the play of the game.
This was not, however, Reid's best
game of the year. He had 21 points,
but was just 7-of-14 from the field.
Dean Smith mentioned that Reid
had missed some shots he should
have hit. But still, one returns to
those rebounds, eight after intermis
sion. And he did have the shot.
With less than tw,o minutes left in
overtime and the scoce tied, Reid cut
into the lane and putfip a jump hook
that dropped in. He was fouled by
Mel Kennedy and hit the free throw.
To be sure, that wasn't the usual
freshman play. But then, Reid isn't
the usual freshman. When the heat
was on, he stayed in the kitchen and
cooked up a three-point souffle. No
surprise there.
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