The Daily Tar HeelThursday, April 16, 19875
Group will pay tribute
to 'Prairie' radio program
By ALSTON RUSSELL
Staff Writer
Tonight listeners can travel to
the sounds of mystical Lake
Wobegone with Peter Otroushko
and The Mando Boys as they pay
tribute to the celebrated radio
program, "A Prairie Home Com
panion," from Minnesota Public
Radio. The performance at Dur
ham's Carolina Theatre will
feature music and storytelling
from this popular radio show and
will transport its audience to the
fabricated banks of Lake
Wobegone.
The event is co-sponsored by
Blue Quail Productions and
WUNC radio.
"They (Peter and The Mando
Boys) mix a lot of humor into
what they do," said Doug Guild,
president of Blue Quail Produc
tions. The costumes they wear
foretell this comical aura, since
they sport plastic decorator sun
glasses and hats with tassels that
resemble the formal ones worn at
a Shriner's meeting.
Songwriter Pierce Pettis will
open the show with songs and
music for both the acoustic guitar
and the harmonica. Pettis, who
formerly lived in Chapel Hill, has
written songs for famous artists
such as Joan Baez and Alex
Taylor Guild said.
The performance tonight is a
"tribute to that show ('Prairie')
featuring people who have
appeared on the show," Guild
said. One of the radio personal
ities featured is Peter Otroushko.
According to Guild, Otroushko
has the closest ties to "Prairie."
Greg Brown, the other featured
personality tonight, has also
appeared on the radio show.
Guild said that Brown has
produced more than four albums,
with his latest one entitled "Bath
tub Blues." Otroushko has also
produced several albums, and
helped with Bob Dylan's album,
"Blood on the Tracks," Guild
said.
WUNC's promotion coordina
tor Lee Hansley said that
"Prairie" is one of the most
popular programs at WUNC. The
radio station has carried this
Minnesota-based national pro
gram for many years. Hansley
said.
The show is "a satire of Amer
ican lifestyles," Hansley said. He
said it features mostly traditional
music with Garrison Keillor as the
show's storyteller. Everything
from the place of action in the
stories (Lake Wobegone) to the
sponsors of the show (Powder
milk Biscuits) are spoofs, he said.
The show tonight will also
feature the winner of a storytell
ing contest held by WUNC and
Blue Quail. Guild said that the
contest was held expressly for this
show. Louise Taylor, from Buie's
Corner, will get to tell her story
at the show after she successfully
boxed out the other Triangle area
contestants.
As clearly implied by the band's
name. The Mando Boys play
mandolins as well as other instru
ments. The Boys" Maxim,
Habib, Maurice and Sonny
play everything from Bach to
Benny Goodman, from ragtime
to rhumba.
Guild said that their musical
professionalism accounts for
Otroushko and The Mando Boys'
respectability in the world of
acoustic music. "They're
extremely good musicians," he
said.
Tonight's performance should
be intermixed with stories, music
and jokes that satisfy all fans and
inquisitive newcomers to the
world of Lake Wobegone.
"A Tribute to 'A Prairie Home
Companion ' " will begin tonight
at 8 p.m. at the Carolina Theatre
in Durham. Call 942-2023 or 688
1 939 for ticket information.
PlayMakers produce magical
'Midsummer Night's Dream'
By ANDREW EDMONSON
Staff Writer
" 4 A Midsummer Night's Dream'
is a celebration of the most positive
strivings of the human spirit," said
director David Hammond of the
latest production by PlayMakers
Repertory Company. "It celebrates
the desire of man to find meaning
and order in the universe. Finally it
celebrates the theater as the place the
community joins together in sharing,
revelation, and knowledge."
The play, which opens Saturday
night in Paul Green Theatre, is
Shakespeare's classic comedy about
four lovers who run away to the
forest. Interwoven into the plot are
the story of a fairy world and the
comic mishaps of a group of laborers
who are attempting to stage a
production of ' "Pyramus and
Thisbe."
PRC's aim is to create "a magical
experience," according to Ham
mond. The production is very phys
ical; the actors take full advantage
of acrobatic and gymnastic tech
niques. "We are at the point where
we hope that the audience will see
actors flying," Hammond said. Also,
people on the stage suddenly trans
form themselves into animals, spirits
and psyches.
The technical aspects of the show
reflect this element of the fantastic
also. Costumer Bobbi Owen has
designed clothes that are alive with
flashy color. The performance space
in Paul Green Theatre is being used
in a new and different way. The stage
is dominated by the color purple, and
there are many different ramps and
levels for the players to act on.
Doug Wagner, a junior from High
Point, has composed an original
score for the production. "The play
only runs two hours," says graduate
student Derek Gagnier, who plays
the role of Puck. "But it's not a
sociology lecture; it's two hours of
fun."
Hammond views the production ,
as the culmination of the graduate
students' two years of experience in
acting together. No professional
actors have been brought in for this
presentation. The play was chosen
for this season because it had
numerous strong roles that would
afford acting challenges to a large
number of the theatre graduate
students.
"Striking the proper balance
between the text and the movement
has been very challenging," Gagnier
said. "I've learned how very impor
tant it is to be really, really
prepared." j
Hammond, who has directed
"Dream" three times previously, said
that the play is especially suited tcj
fill the last slot of PRC's season. "It's;
a very affirming experience," he saidj
"A great antidote to exams."
"A Midsummer Night's Dream':
will be performed by PlayMakers
Repertory Company through Ma
3 in Paul Green Theatre. Call 962
1121 for ticket information.
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Seasoned j azz musicians j am
J
m last concert of UNC series
Thb Al Grey-Buddy Tate Quintet,
a ja. group consisting ot tive
veteran performers, played a mar
velous concert to an appreciative but
smal) crowd of about 200 in Memor
ial rjjill Tuesday night.
Trie concert, the third and final
eveii of the popular UNC Jazz Artist
Series, featured nearly three hours
ot dssical jazz music. The Quintet
mepbers played for the first half,
andj were then joined in varying
combinations by the UNC Jazz
Bafcd.
Roth Grey and Tate are extraor
dinary performers, men from the
eatfiest traditions of jazz music. They
wefe both members and soloists of
thfclate Count Basie's band, and have
p$yed extensively throughout
Ekrope and in Japan.
musician and personality oi the
pw, though Tate had his moments
o. Grey is famous for his trombone
d the plunger-style technique he
es. He is very gregarious on stage,
d appears comfortable and
ilaxed, as if he were performing for
small group of friends rather than
In auditorium of paying listeners.
He often broke into a broad smile
jvnue tne otner memoers were
working with their solos. And he
would dance a little, and almost seem
f(o mimic the music, jumping at each
!foud dymanic change as if he were
startled.
k The sounds Grey can produce
from his trombone are even more
noteworthy than his stage presence.
X
Rob ShsmtEJi
Concert
He can make sounds as soft as a
gentle hum, but then from nowhere
will emanate a wonderful brassy
blare.
Other times he builds the conflict
of the music with long slides and
intense vibratos so slow and thought
ful it is almost possible to count the
pulses.
Tate is a great contrast to Grey,
both in playing style and character.
Tate is a quiet, brooding stage
performer, and his music is equally
so.
His instruments are the saxo
phone and the clarinet, and he too
is amazing. Sometimes the sounds
of Grey's trombone and Tate's sax
mesh with clarity and sweetness that
can lull the listener gently to sleep.
But Tate is also capable of speaking
his own language with the sax, and
can produce sounds like tragic wails
or peals c ' laughters.
Perhaps the highlight of the show
was when Tate performed on the
clarinet. He only played it once for
a piece he wrote titled "Blue Creek."
It was classic blues, and brought
visions and sensations like a hot
night in Harlem in the 1920s. Tate
was bathed in a purple spot light,
and Grey muted his trombone. The
effect was perfect.
The supporting members of the
Quintet were also very good. Each
got to demonstrate his ability in
many solos, and it seemed that each;
member was given one piece in whiclt'
his particular talent would shine.
Eddie Green played a long piano .
solo, and Tate and Grey left the;'
stage. He proved himself very flex--'-ible
and remarkably able to produce,
different moods from the keys.
J.J. Wiggins was liiv, bassist, and'
his articulation, especially in the;'
upper ranges, was excellent ' u-
And the drummer, Bobby Dur--ham,
could play long near-frantic
drum solos, solos that sounded like i'
an avalanche with a beat. He also y
has a wonderful voice, though a bit
nasal in the higher registers, and sang
"My Romance."
The Quintet's music selection was -'
song after song of classic swing-style:
jazz. They included Henry Mancini's.,
"Days of Wine and Roses," Basie's
"Jumping at the Woodside," Duke'-.
Ellington's "Things Ain't What They V
Used to Be," and "Green Dolphin'
Street."
The UNC Jazz Band was also very '
good, but there was a comparison;?
problem, and many of the audience ,'
members left early during this part ',
of the show. ;-
The band added to the Quintet's -music
some drama and intensity that
only a big band can add, and did-',
a fine job as a student band. But-'
they don't have the captivating
power or the technique of the
musicians who have been playing for, 1
decades.
sbi s
M THE AMY.
And they're both repre
sented by the insignia you wear
as a member of the Army Nurse
Corps. The caduceus on the left
means you re part of a health care
system in which educational and
career advancement are the rule,
not the exceotion. The pnld bar
on the right means you command respect as an Army officer. If you Ye
earning a doIn, write: Army Nurse Opportunities, P.O. Box 7713,
Clifton, NJ 07015: Or call toll free 1-800-US A-ARMY.
Mim NURSE CORPS-BE! ALIYOU CAN BE.
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In the bicentennial year of the United States
Constitution, Bill Moyers takes the pulse of the
nation's celebration in the weekly series, Moyers:
In Search of the Constitution.
Ten one-hour programs present one of
America's most respected journalists with
Supreme Court Justices, historians, educators,
scholars, and citizens who have taken petitions of
their constitutional rights all the way to the high
est court in the land.
"The series is about ideas," Moyers says.
"The people you will meet have spent their lives
wrestling with interpretations of the Constitution.
They remind us this document is alive in our
times. . .requiring us to make up our minds about
what happens if we ignore or misuse it."
General Motors is presenting this series of programs
tu tu r a : i: i !
standing our freedoms and responsibilities
as citizens.
Presented on PBS by WNET-New York and WTVS-Detroit.
Check local listings for time and channel. ,
A General Motors
Mark of Excellence Presentation
US
km i.ii. .,r mi i
MARK OF EXCELLENCE
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