See “Lily Tomlin” This Sunday
U. s. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 217
Rocky Mount, N. C.
Non-Profit Organization
VOLUME XVI, NUMBER 5
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C.
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1975
i
SPEU
NCWC
Smash Hit
Recently North Carolina
Wesleyan experienced its’ first
of the school year 1974-75.
Other clubs had tried, frater
nities had tried and even the
athletic department had tried,
but it took the Theatre De
partment with Richard Kagey
as their leader to bring Wes
leyan what it had waited oh so
long for, A WINNER!!! That
winner was Godspell. Coltraine
Theatre has never been packed
so many times for a production.
It was a complete sellout a
week in advance of its last
three nights with a waiting list
of about sixty trying to get at
least a look at Kagey’s mas
terpiece. This may sound a
little candy-striped to some, but
if it does then you probably
didn’t see the show. Below are
three different reviews written
during various performances of
the shows two-week run. If you
missed it, don’t try and make it
up by seeing the movie, a
winner it wasn’t.
Good News About
Godspell
By DAVID JONES
Richard Kagey has scored a
triumph with his production of
“Godspell” at North Carolina
Wesleyan College. His direction
demonstrates that indeed “the
show’s the thing,” for “God-
spell” achieves with a bare
naked simplicity of set design
what a more elaborate staging
would surely have lost: an im
mediate theatre experience.
The show is presented “in the
middle,” and I do not mean “as
it were.” The company per
forms squarely between (and
now and then among) the
divided audience, a consum
mate conception. You are there,
and unless you are an emotional
cretin, you are “in there” with
the players.
Ah, the players. The show is
nicely balanced by splendid
acting and sweet naturalness,
Sandy Saunders, in the role of
Jesus, simply looks innocent
and vulnerable in his own
joyous way, the more so as the
performance moves along. De
spite a pronounced Virginia
accent on “ou” vowel combin
ations, (by its end he is
throughly convincing) and the
audience must ask itself once
more “why must a good man
die?”
You are not likely to see
more winsome naturalness on
stage than in the performance
of Sharon Lockwood. When she
sang “Where Are You Going?!
one could only wait for the
answer, so captivating was the
question as she sang it.
Tim Hill belongs in this kind
of production. He is perfectly at
home in song and dance num
bers, and “Godspell” gives him
another chance to do what he
does best. In a pinch, and there
were only one or two, he can
carry a group number. He is
complemented nicely by Sandy
Evans. Her performance was
delightful and superbly timed.
A good production can become
exceptional if the players insist
rigorously on doing the little
things that support a big scene.
Miss Evans never forgot this.
Something of the same can be
said for Lynn Parker, and she
deserves an accolade for pos
session, far and away, the best
female singing voice in the cast.
Betsy Massey obviously en
joyed performing, but her “Day
by Day,” a winner of a song,
was too undefined to be suc
cessful. Miss Massey performed
well in ensemble numbers.
Mike McCoy was challenged
to portray both John the
Baptist and Judas, no small
task, and to my mind he was
perfectly cast for the brief
Judas role, but rather less
persuasive as he herald of the
Son of God. He too performed
well in ensemble.
Gail Shearer sparkled. She
blended perfectly with the
company, and she sang “Turn
Back 0 Man” like a true
professional. It was the musical
hit of the night.
For the past three and a half
years, Doug Elder has reigned
as the king of the Wesleyan
players. He is a talented actor
and a better than average
singer. He has a performer’s
sense of timing, and is blessed
with that instinct that separ
ates those who walk through
their lines from real actors: a
feeling for the audience. Mr.
Elder never stops acting, and
he has proved again that he can
create a character. Along with
Tim Hill and Sandy Evans, he
never allowed the company to
forget it was on stage, even
when it enjoyed itself most
spontaneously.
Perhaps the chief delight of a
theatre-goer is the discovery of
a new talent. This reviewer was
captivated by Richard New
man, and only superlatives can
describe his performance. Mr.
Newman is a gifted actor, and
he dominated the show (on
Friday, February 14). It is to
his credit that he did not steal
it, but it must be said that he
paced it. He is the best actor to
appear on the Wesleyan stage
in some time. At least one
member of the audience won
dered whether “Godspell”
might not have achieved even
greater balance and symmetry
by an exchange of roles
between Mr. Newman and Mr.
Saunders.
Kagey had at his disposal,
besides his own obvious direc-
toral talent and a fine cast, a
first-rate show. Stephen Sch
wartz and John-Michael Te-
belak gave him a running start,
and he and his players, with
solid support from John Davis’
musical direction and Cheri
Caudill’s choreography, trans
lated it into a delightful
experience. Nobody can finally
save a bad play, but too many
can spoil a good one. Here the
essentials—the play, the direc
tor, and the cast—blended into
a unity which far transcended
minor flaws in casting and per
forming, a unity that was
breathtaking in the .scene of
parting between Jesus and his
disciplines. Kagey deserves
every decibel of applause he
will receive. For myself, I am
exceedingly glad that I do not
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