^March 3, 1970
The N. C. Essay
Page 3
MUSIC PLAYING IN MY
HEAD
Five Plays They'd Like To
See Revived
With revivals probing unusally
popular this season, the N. I. Times
asked some prominent people to name
plays they would like to see stage
again:
Norman Mailer: Awake and Sing; The
Connection; The Autiom Garden; The
Glass Menagerie; A detiaate Balance
James Coco: Sex; Once In A Lifetime;
Amphitryon 28; Key Largo; Cabin In
The Sky
Jerry Orbach: Room Sevvice; A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn; Light Up The Sky;
Candide; The Entertainer
Ruth Gordon: I4rs. Viggs of the
Cabbage Patch; Peter Pan; The Pink
Lady; Oh Boy; Ethan Frome
Agnes De Mille: Spread Eagle; Both
Your Houses; The Late Cnristophev
Bern; Tobacco Road; Salvation
William Daniels: Long Days Joiamey
Into Night; Rosmersholm; The Autwm
Garden; He Who Gets Slapped; Juno
and the Peacock
"Believe in the magic of a young
girl ^s soul/believe in the magic of
rock and roll, believe in the magic
that will set you free" - "Do You
Believe in Magic"/John Sebastian
Music, rock in particular, effects
me in peculiar ways. I often find
myself in "different" musical moods
simply because of (physical or head)
location and environment or past
associations with the music. Blind
Faith's LP sounds much better now
than it did in Philadelphia last
summer. James Taylor’s first was of
greater import once I was removed
from Carolina. Guess ^Jho's current
Top Forty Hit, Time Left For You^
sure sounds good on the car radio.
It's crazy, but that's how it works.
I'll always associate Simon &
Gar funkel's new LP, Bridge Over
Troubled Water^ with this month,
this town, and the people who are
sharing it with me. I tend to use
music as a means for getting to know
people better. This record is one
of the most pleasant ways I can
imagine to get closer to someone.
Bridge Over Troubled Water is
the kind of experience that is best
when shared. The music evokes a
'HHAT BUFFALO"
(Cont. from page I)
audience a true and meaningful ex
change. The challenge was more
than met.
After about three nights ex
ploring different ideas through
improvisation and theatre games, the
troop gave birth to "Huh?, What?,
What Buffalo!? "Buffalo" was a
three step experiment in communica
tion and/or non-communication. The
experience is one of total group
relation, both spontaneously and
complete.. The experience occurs with
in a structure free of set, dialogue,
or movement.
In stage one, the actors attempt
to communicate to an object, arbitrar
ily selected - a trash can. In the
trash can lives one actor who is
master of its domain. The other
actors discover the object, which to
them is any object with which they
desire to communicate, and then pro
ceed to stimulate reaction from the
object. Often they do, yet often
they don't.
In stage two we see tx>?o indi
viduals trying to break through
their own defenses and anxieties
to reach each other. This dramatic
experiment is a silent slow motion
struggle of two actors to reach their
objective of communicating with
each other by fighting-off physically
their obstructing walk characterized
by the other actors.
warm and honest response that draws
people out and allows friendships to
grow. Rock can be an incredible
catalyst (play Hey Jude loudly some
time for a group of friends and feel
the vibrations). Something
special happens when people hear
this music together. It's an invi
tation for some magic to happen,
something John Sebastian told us
about a long time ago. And you
really don't have to worry about why
or how you're responding, you just
do because it's the natural thing.
The album is a pristine collage
of moods and feelings, all of which
illicit something from the listener.
The performances are even and compact,
almost slick, but always tasteful
and refined. Paul Simon and Art
Garfunkel have two of the best voices
in all of rock. Beach Boy angelic and
Beatle grit.
Songs like Cecilia^ Why Don't
You Write Me, and the old Everley Bros.'
standard, Bye Bye Love, are pure
examples of the joy of rock. You just
have to move, skip along, when they
play. They have the same infectious
quality, especially Cecilia, that made
Lennon & McCartney's Ob-La-Di and
Bungaloo Bill so good-timey.
El Condor Pasa is a mellow trip.
A blissful Bolivian folk melody is
lent to Simon's playful riddle-like
lyrics; "I'd rather be a forest
than a street/yes, I would/if I
could/l. surely would." A lovely
song that glides up past the clouds.
Only Living Boy In New York is
almost a period piece and it is
Simon's most lyrically ambigious work.
But he has a tendency to be too
consciously poetic at times and
the fault is evident here.
The final stage is an attempt
by the actors to make silent sensual
communication with the audience
seated around the stage area. In
total blackout they try to relate
trust and feeling and link the
audience together as a part of the
total experience.
The program has been performed
at the School of the Arts in Winston-
Salem, for a regional Liberal Religious
Youth Seminar in Raleigh, and for a
high school Thespian society in Greens
boro. It was performed again in Greens
boro last Sunday (3-1-70) for Page
High School. It will be presented
later in the spring for the Indepen
dent School in Chapel Hill, and for
a convention of 160 social scientists
meeting at the Robert E. Lee Hotel
in Winston-Salem in late April.
The music, however, is glorious and
you can forget about the words. Like
seeing New York from a cruising cloud
(probably the one you latched onto
during El Condor Pasa.)
Song For The Asking is the final
song on the Lp, gently bidding us a
fond farewell and hello. Such a nice
frame of mind to leave us all in.
These songs, when heard in the
quiet of a candle lit room, are rea
sons for holding hands. And when
you've heard the whole album,
chances are you'll go back to hear
track 1, side 1 again. It's a song
that stays.
^iJhen you're weary, feeling small,
T\Taen tears are in your eyes, I
will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times
get rough and friends just can't
be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.
When you're down and out.
When you're on the street.
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around.
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.
(Cont. on page 4)