Letter:
North Carolina School of the Arts
Student Image Defended
Editorial Review:
Page 5
Dear Editor:
Since February 14, it has been
my privilege to supervise the
ticket sales of the coming “aU-
sdiool production” of “The King
And I.” Today has been a red-
letter day for us who have been
manning the “King & I” box
office out at the Arts Council
Building. We have now passed
the $9,000 figure in ticket sales!
I have enjoyed the work for
purely selfi^ reasons. It has
enabled me to meet faculty wives
I might otherwise never have
gotten to know. The box office
volunteer help - which has in
cluded members of the com
munity as well as NCSA faculty
wives - has been superb.
I am writing to the ESSAY for a
very special reason. I think our
NCSA students tend to feel
almost paranoid about their
“image” in this relatively smnii
community. I hope that by
relating the experiences of the
box office staff for “The King
And I” we can help dispel that
feeling once and for all.
Please know that you are all
aK)reciated and thought of with
great pride by an overwhelming
number of fte community at
large in this town! We have been
literally overwhelmed and
astonished by the number of
ticket-buyers who take the time
to say things like: “I know I will
enjoy this production as I have
every production I have seen this
school do.” “We are expecting a
totally professional performance,
you know!” And the typically
Southern phrase “Why, I
wouldn’t have my family miss
Record Review:
this for the WORLD!” has been
heard over and over.
Froma father: “I used to make
a special effort to take my kids to
New York at least once a year,
just so they could be exposed to
something really professional in
the arts. Since Winston-Salem
has this Arts School, these ex
pensive trips are no longer
necessary.” This particular man
arrived without his checkbook
and returned the following day to
purchase his tickets; worried the
whole time that we might sell-out
in the interim.
Then there was the rather
touching call from a senior
citizen who was packing her
things to move to a rest home and
had just heard a radio interview
with William Dreyer. She called
while I was alone at the desk,
with five or six customers in line,
waiting with cash in hand to
purchase tickets. She said, “I’ve
just heard Mr. Dreyer talking
about how his “king” is going to
shave his head. PLEASE tell him
that when my nephew did this in
Texas (my, this has brought back
so many memories to me!) they
were able to fix him up with a
skull cap so that he looked just
like “Yuled Brinnert” - and my
dear, he didn’t have to cut a
strand of hair. Pease tell that
attractive young man not to cut
off all that WONDERFUL LONG
HAIR! I really only called to say
this, and that I am just hearts
broken that I am too old and ill to
attend one of your per
formances!”
Giving credit where it is due;
there’s no doubt that the suc-
Continued on Page 8
Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass”
It is never easy to review a
theatre piece on the basis of the
music alone, and this is par
ticularly so in the case of Leonard
Berstein’s “Mass,” which was
apparently brilliantly staged and
choreographed by some of the
finest people in the American
theatre. The music has the same
characteristics as Bernstein’s
earlier music, with an additive of
rock and roll. His musical
parents are Stravinsky, Copland,
Mahler, Shostakovich, and jazz.
The handling of the orchestra is
iH-illiant and far beyond being
just surefire. Perhaps the other
element of the work which is
outstanding is the rhythm, which
is a constant propelling force.
Bernstein, unlike some of the
more fashionable contemporary
composers, does not “cop out” at
the prospect of writing a singnMp
and memorable melody. What he
Record Review:
comes up with is not always first-
rate. On the other hand, it does
always reflect his fine craft
smanship.
Unfortunately, the philosophic
point of view of the text is a real
“cop out.” God is apparently
wholly responsible for the messes
which mortal men make. Those
who are fundamentally
irresponsible may find comfort in
this as a religious attitude, but I
personally cannot. In any case,
the grand universal embrace and
“Laude” which ends the “Mass”
seems totally illogical, even if
pleasant enough as a piece of
music.
The performance and recor
ding is excellent, and I would
urge all to spend several hours in
Mr. Bernstein’s church,
discovering their own reaction to
this interesting work.
Robert Ward
King and I” Revisited
“The King and I”, NCSA’s first
all school production opened last
month to a total crowd of over
10,000 people, which speaks well
of its audience appeal and overall
execution. It was quite elegant,
an extravaganza of scenery,
costumes, and talent. Under the
direction of William Dreyer the
show comprised the efforts and
budgets of all four departments.
All of these artistic areas
crowded together in Reynolds
Auditorium for opening ni^t to
present in living color a royal
pageant straight from the S of
Broadway 1951.
Many of the principals were
double-casted for both the
evening and matinee per
formances. So in order to get a
total picture this reviewer saw
the opening and closing night
performances and the matinee
performances. Mona Hanes
played the part of the strong
willed English woman, Anna
Leonowens for the evening show
and Marilyn McIntyre for the
morning performances. Miss
Hanes was extremely pleasant
as Anna, giving graceful
movement with her substantially
hooped dress. Her two best
numbers were “Getting to Know
You” and “Shall We Dance”.
These two numbers were
delightful and fun to watch.
Al&ough I found Miss Hanes’
voice pleasing, I lost many of the
last words to her songs; this may
be because the music is ra&er
low for a soprano. She also relied
too heavily on facial and
exaggerated expressions to
convey her character. Marilyn
McIntyre may not have had quite
toe vocal qu^ty, but her acting
in the part of Anna was excellent.
The elimination of “Hello, Young
Lovers” from the matinee per
formance was a good idea
because Miss McIntyre has
difficulty holding notes for a long
period of time, ^spite this I was
awed by her performance
especially under the conditions of
a loud and unruly (and I do mean
unruly) high school audience.
Her best moments were the
“Shall I Tell You What I Think of
You?” soliloquy, her scenes with
the Krahahome, the King’s letter
scene, and the death scene.
For the evening and the
matinee performances Chris
Coan and Fred Serino played the
part of the King respectively.
Coan indeed has the stage
presence of a king and the
speaking voice to match, but I
kept seeing Yul Brynner appear
now and then. He very cleverly
executed the comedy and gave
the death scene Oie correct
amount of tenderness for toe
salty-eyed outcome. He aided
Miss Hanes in toe “Shall We
Dance” number to make it one of
toe best scenes in toe musical,
^otoer fine moment is toe scene
in his chamber when he an
nounces his (and Anna’s) plans
for toe English visitors and
finally relents and decides to give
Anna her own “home sweet
house.” Coan’s dialect caused
last words and even one song, “A
Puzzlement,” to not be un
derstood. I managed to see the
show several nights and Coan’s
performances became constantly
better. The last night he was very
much toe King of Siam.
Fred Serino handled toe king’s
role in the matinee per
formances. He added a newly
different insight into the
^aracter of toe monarch, an
interpretation that was both
pleasing and refreshing.
One of toe best things in toe
evening show was Deborah
Gordon’s Lady Thiang. Her song,
“Something Wonderful” couldn’t
have been better—it was as if
Rodgers and Hammerstein
toought of toe words just for her.
She developed her character
tooroughly, proving first rate in
her voice and acting. Dianne
Carriker played Lady Thiang for
toe day showings. She looked
beautiful on stage and was a
younger contrast to Miss Gor
don’s Lady Thiang. Her voice
was very good but toere were
moments when I could not hear
her-perhaps due to her head
being humbly lowered most of toe
time. Michael Reeder did a
marvelous job as toe Prince
Chulalongkorn. Steve Henderson
was superb (as usual) as toe
Kralahome, combing ferocity
and humor in toe part of toe
King’s right-hand man. The voice
or Michael Williams in toe part of
Lun Tha has to be one of toe finest
male voices I have ever heard,
and combined wito toe two girls
as Tuptim, it provided toe best
vocal moments in toe show.
Marcia Epps as Tuptim for toe
evening show was very good and
her voice was a good match to
Williams’. She looked beautiful
throughout toe show and it was
easy to see why someone would
risk toeir live for her. Marilyn
Griffito was Tuptim for toe
matinee and like Miss Epps she,
too, has a lovely voice.
It is important now that I
comment on toe dancing. It was
excellent. Miss Nelle FSher and
Matteo boto deserve applauding
credit for superb choreography.
The ballet was indeed the
highspot of toe entire show. It is
difficult to pinpoint any one
outstanding performance in toe
ballet, but Katie Straubel and
Mel Tomlinson were particularly
good as Eliza and King Simon.
The orchestra likewise
deserves commendation. Led by
Norman Johnson, it was com
posed of students from toe school.
For toe most part, toey were
quite good, but I noticed a lack of
excitement from toe pit that
occasionally appeared in toe
music.
Technically, the show was
excellent. The amount of time
(and lack of it) and equipment
needed for a show of this nature is
unbelievable. For this effort we
toank our technical department
for they certainly deserve toe
credit. The costumes were
rented, so any criticism should go
to toe original designer (if he is
still alive). The props (and toere
were many) were not rented but
ratoer beautifully crafted by our
Design and Production Depart
ment. When members of toe cast
constantly comment on toe ex
cellence of toe props (especially
on a Proscenium Stage), toen you
know toey are good. I personally
found toe set (designed by guest
designer John Dwpp) of toe
King’s Palace too la^sh and too
elaborate. It seemed to over
power toe actors and toeir ac
tions. It also seems too much like
toe first Broadway production of
“The King and I,” done some 21
years ago. However, toe set wito
toe boat in toe first scene was
Continued on Page 8
Patron Saint of Anguish” - Neil Young’s Harvest
Neil Young is toe patron saint
of anguish. His songs ache wito
passion, compassion, and waning
hope. The painful sensitivity of
his lyrics and toe urgent intensity
of his music leave toe listener
exhausted and awed. The
nameless longing that inspires
him haunts his audience to toe
very depths of toeir emotionfd
capacities; all are caught
somewhere between the
recognition of toeir own mor
tality and the achieving of its
limited potential, wito Young, a
spiritual essence, hovering at toe
brink of release.
There is a strengto here toat
defies categorization. The music
is so intricate and so full toat it
envelopes toe listener in its
power, its _ ravages of wrung
emotion. It is built on a powerful
bass undercurrent, evocative of a
tribal war dance. Drummer
Kenny Buttrey relies largely on
relentless tom-toms and a for
ceful dirge-solemn bass drum,
pounding wito primitive urgency.
Tim Dnunmond strengtoens this
backbone bass line with
unyielding yet unobtrusive bass
guitar. Ben Keito on steel guitar
and Jack Nitzsche on slide guitar
maintain clear rhythms and
controlled wails, firm, smoothly
flowing melodic sketches. Neil
Young’s guitar puts out its
characteristic moaning twang,
interspersed with traditional
chording and smooto strumming.
Harmonica intermittently
croons, wistful and resigned.
John Harris’ piano on toe title
song and Jack Nitzsche’s
eloquent keyboards on toe rest of
toe album ease toe heaviness of
bass and drums wito strong
chording and treble flourishes,
always consistent with the
solemnity of mood of toe music’s
intent. Vocal assistance on a
couple of songs by James Taylor
and Linda Ronstadt fills out toe
album to toe limits of dramatic
impact.
It’s Young’s own consistency of
excellence that marks his genius.
^ aloof as an Olympian god, he
is at toe same time as private and
as vulnerable as any sensitive
man aware of his mortality and
his subservience to fate. He
expresses toe archetypal search,
toe agonizing search for toe
elusive, the precious, the
unreachable. In “Heart of Gold”,
he establishes toe core of his
situation, of toe en^e album:
that admittedly futile, yet
nevertoeless once entousiastic,
once hopeful, constant search,
and finally, toe certainty of toe
abandonment of toat search.
Incorporated is the uniquely
Youngian motif “running dry,”
both metaphorically and ac
tually. Always that hunted
animal desperation, evidenced in
a phrase like this one from “Are
You Ready For The Country?”:
“I was talkin to toe preacher-said
God was on my side. Then I ran
into toe hangman - he said it’s
time to die.” Or toere comes a
line like “I don’t know who to
trust any more”, and you know
toere can be no more grievous
isloation. It’s toe quality of
Young’s voice, disciplined to a
smootoer, more poignant ex
pressiveness, filled wito gut-deep
experience, supported by
solemn musical tendencies, that
creates this mood of somber
meditation, of intense and nearly
exhausted emotion, sinking at
times into bitter cynicism. No
voice but Young’s could convey
toe visceral immediacy of the
songs.
“A Man Needs A Maid” by its
title seems to imply a ballad of
knights and maidens and gentle
love. Not so. At first listen, it
seems a joke: pounding piano,
profuse orchestration by the
London Symphony Orchestra,
even chimes and a pealing
church bell, belying lyrics toat
renounce toe love relationship
between a man and a woman for
a dispassionate, merely func
tional one; a man needs a maid to
clean his house and toen stay out
of his way. Despite its apparent
comedy, it becomes a very sad,
very lonely song, not even
necessarily cynical.
“The Needle and The Damage
Done” eulogizes toe junkie wito
compassionate reverence:
“I’ve seen toe needle and toe
damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie’s like a setting
sun. . .”
And “Harvest” embodies all
toe pain-filled questioning, toe
exquisite tenderness of feeling
and elusive metaphor that
characterize Young’s style.
Neil Young’s penetrating
talent, along wito toe meticulous
musicianship of toe band, puUs
together a wholeness of sound, a
purity of expression and a
richness of effect toat justifies
toe conception of it.
Tony Angevine