THE N. C. ESSAY
VOLUME V, NO. XIII
NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
March 1, 1971
Schedule Change
Previn Here In March
Due to last minute com
mitments for the composition of
film scores, Andre I^evin has
been forced to postpone the Jazz
Workshop scheduled to be held on
the campus March 1 through 6.
However, during the month of
March he will be in the U.S. to
fulfill an engagement as guest
conductor of the Philadelphia
Orchestra. Diu'ing the course of
that engagement, he will make
two trips to the school: the first
on Sunday, March 14, and the
second on Thursday, March 18.
The activities scheduled for those two periods are on Sunday, March
14, from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., a session in the Main Auditorium which will
encompass jazz performance, improvisation techniques, and a review
of jazz styles. This will be a combination lecture-recital, conducted in
an informal atmosphere. Also, on Sunday, March 14, at 7:30 P.M.
there will be a reception in Mr. Previn’s honor at the student center.
On Thursday, March 18, from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon an informal
lecture-discussion will be conducted by Mr. Previn in Room 113.
College students will be excused from classes from 9:30 to 10:20 and
high school students from 10:20 to 11:30.
This session will be a relatively free-wheeling affair during which
Mr. Previn will discuss symphony orchestra conducting, film sound-
stage conducting, film score composing and arranging, chamber
music, composing for Broadway shows, music on TV, etc.
At 3:30, Mr. Previn will conduct the student orchestra. The reper
toire will consist of one major work chosen by Dr. Mennini and Marc
Gottleib.
Drama Workshop
“Endgame,” by Samuel
Beckett, and “Landscape,” by
Harold Pinter, will be presented
as workshop productions, under
the direction of Barry Boys, in
the Drama Theatre of the North
Carolina School of the Arts,
March 2 through 5 at 8:15.
Worshop productions are open to
the public at no charge, but
reservations are advised.
Beckett, who has been called
the greatest living European
playwright, is also the author of
“Waiting for Godot,” the classic
absurdist theater piece. Now in
its 18th printing in the English
language, “Endgame” was first
performed at the Royal Court
Theatre in I^ondon in 1957. Harold
Hobson, writing in The Sunday
Times, said of it that Beckett is a
poet and that as such, it is his
business to suggest or imply
rather than to clarify.
Both “Endgame” and “Land
scape” belong to the school of
theater that does just that-
suggest or imply rather than to
clarify.
Both “Endgame” and “Land
scape” belong to the school of
theatre that does just that-
suggest, rather than clarify.
Traditional plot and charac
terization give way to the
development of an aura, a probe
of emotion, an exposition of a
mystery.
“Landscape” was produced in
England by the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1969
and at Lincoln Center in New
York in 1970. In this short play,
Pinter explores the kind of
silence that can exist amid a
torrent of words. The British
playwright has received
numerous awards for his
full-length plays, “Caretaker”
and “Homecoming.”
The cast for “Endgame” is
Delle Chatman, Frederick
Avery, Gregg Wilson, and Carol
Walker. Boys will appear in
“Landscape” with Carol Rogers.
Notice: On March 7, at 6:00
P.M., WSJS-TV Channel 12, will
present a % hour special
“Kalidescope For Sound and
Sound.” The program will
feature poetry, music and im
provisations with Alton Buzbee,
Clarence Stephens, Alan
Smallwood, Randy Powell, and
Rich Schoenberger.
Notice: Every Sunday
from now until the end of
school, a feature film (and
selected shorts) will be
presented in 5!eminar B in
the Commons Building at 2
P.M. Admission will range
from $.25 to $1.00 to cover
film costs. On March 7,
WHITE ZOMBIES (1932),
with Bela Lugosi, will be
shown. $.50 admission will
be charged. Notices of film
titles will be posted on
campus and appear in the
Essay. If you are unable to
attend any showing and
can guarantee an audience
of twenty, another showing
will be arranged. For
further information, see
Mr. Willi^ Sugg.
Opera Presented
Two comic one-act operas,
“The Old Maid and the Thief,” by
Gian-Carlo Menotti and “Sunday
Excursion,” by Alec Wilder were
presented by the School of Music
in the Main Auditorium on
February 26 and 27. The
production was under the
direction of William Beck, with
costumes by Deborah Dale and
Cam Baird, who also designed
the sets. The cast and the NCSA
orchestra was conducted by
Norman Johnson, the music
director for the production.
“The Old Maid and the thief”
was commissioned for presen
tation on radio by the NBC
Symphony Orchestra in April,
1937. It is a whimsical story of an
old maid who invites a wandering
beggar, named Bob, to stay wito
her for a time. When the old maid
realizes that Bob fits the
description of an escaped thief,
she accepts the advice of her
servant, Laeticia, to keep Bob
happy by providing him with
enough to steal from her so that
he won’t harm them. Thus the old
maid herself becomes a thief and
one misadventure follows
another until the end when Bob
runs off with Laeticia in the
ultimate theft.
Sunday Excursion
“Sunday Excursion,” which
had its premier performance
with the National Opera Com
pany, in Raleigh, N.C., takes
place during a train ride from
New York City to New Haven
after a dreary afternoon in the
city. Two girls and two boys turn
a wasted day into a wonderful one
as they manage to get together
and pair off on the way to the
water cooler.
The cast for “The Old Maid and
the Thief” was Don Cranfill as
Bob; Debbie Smith as Laeticia;
Elizabeth Herrick as Miss Todd,
the old maid; and Ellen McLain
as Miss Pinkerton, a friend.
The two girls out for a “Sunday
Excursion” were Kay I^owe and
Dianne Carriker. The boys they
meet on the train were John
Wilson and Steve Woodbury.
Charles Eanes completed the
cast.
AARON COPLAND, ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RENOWNED
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS AND CONDUCTORS, AT WORK.
Copland will visit NCSA from March 11 to 13 as the guest of honor at
the schoors Copland Festival, which will help celebrate his 70th bir
thday. The festival will feature chamber and choral music, four new
ballets, and Copland guest conducting the school orchestra.
Technicians Seek
Professional Approach
On Wednesday, February 16, the Design and Production Depart
ment held the first in a series of meetings regarding certain problems
in that school and possible solutions. The intent (or nature) of the
meeting was similiar to that of the Drama Department’s meetings in
December: to get at the root of difficulties and try to work from there.
Several areas of discontent were discussed.
This first meeting was presided over by Tonuny Williams, President
of the SCA, and Alton Buzbee, educational counselor. Their function
was primarily to direct questioning and recognize speakers from the
department. Williams opened the meeting by presenting discussion
topics, general questions which the department felt should be ad
dressed.
The listed topics were:
1.) Overall goals of the department
2.) Ways to establish “better dialogue between students and members
of the administration.”
3.) An attempt to find the source of decisions and policies.
After a period of general discussion, the meeting went on to the more
hard-core realities of needs within the department.
With students and faculty member Agnes I^ttick and department
head John Sneden leading the session with statements and questions,
the real problems were addressed.
What is the main concern of the department?
Essentially, that students receive the kind of professional training
they are supposed to be getting and apparently aren’t. Numerous
reasons were offered as to why, the most important being that
students simply haven’t the time to work on performances and keep up
their other artistic and academic work. It was thought that because of
this situation, the school is not maintained in a professional manner.
(The hassles which surrounded the recent production of “John
Brown’s Body” were cited as exemplary.)
Sneden pointed out that it has been very difficult for teachers to
teach because of the extreme amount of time spent on productions,
lack of space, and the fact that students simply haven’t l3een able to
receive necessary training (because of the rigid production schedule
the students have been pretty much learning on the job, a percarious
method of operation, to say the least).
The scheduling of productions is the greatest of all concerns,
because, if solved, it would eliminate others. Because of confused, co
inciding and often previously unannounced production assignments,
the department has been in virtual chaos all year. The entire body
seemed unanimous on the declaration that a “calander of events must
be approved so that it can be decided if it is feasible.”
Perhaps the major question of the afternoon was raised by Bill
Parrish, who explained the dichotomy in the department by asking;
“Are we trying to be a school or trying to run a production service?”
As the situation stands, the department is apparently somewhere in
the hazy, uncertain middle. It was concluded that such a situation “is
not a learning situation.”
Another area of contention was that the students should be provided
with materials which are functional.
While the discussion kept shifting in emphasis, the main points
stressed were conflicts between D & P duties and academic respon
sibilities, lack of sufficient manpower to handle various assignments,
and serious “unrealistic concepts” on the part of the administration
and staff as to what the department is and what is can and should be,
all of which are impairing professional attitudes within the
department and the school itself.
Finally, a committee was selected to further investigate the
problems and try to come up with workable recommendations and
solutions. The committees have been holding meetings and will report
to the larger body on Wedne.sday, March 3, at 1:00 in Room 113.
Photo by Shyvers
beginning and yet you go on.” Frederick Avery and
Delle Chatman m a scene from ENDGAME.
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