PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — OCTOBER 4,1996
Campus Life
‘Chestnut Brass’ shines in Dunn Center
By MIT AN
If you missed the performance
of the Chestnut Brass Company
on Sept. 14 at the Dunn Center
for the Performing Arts, you
missed the best thing that’s come
to Rocky Mount in a long time.
The evening started with the
performance of a lively arrange
ment of the Cole Porter tune Night
and Day and got better as the
night progressed. The Chestnut
Brass Company is, as the name
implies, a brass quintet featuring
two trumpets, a French horn, a
trombone, and a tuba as the pri
mary instruments.
Bruce Barrie is the lead trum
pet player with Jay Lichtman as
the competent second chair.
Marian Hesse on the horn gave a
By JCEN RIPLEY
Paul Rudnick’s “I Hate Ham
let” was an especially spirited
opening to this season’s produc
tions of the Playhouse Commu
nity Theatre in Rocky Mount.
Delayed a week by Tar River
flooding, the two weekends of
performances were a hilarious
look at how the ghost of John
Barrymore helps a reluctant tele
vision star discover a true love of
Shakespeare and the theater.
Wesleyan student and Play
house veteran Kevin Corbett
played Andrew Rally, a somewhat
cynical star of TV “young doctor
shows” and snack commercials
who is given the chance to play
Hamlet in Central Park. Andrew,
not particularly interested in act
ing and who hates “Hamlet,” is
reluctant to accept but is pres
sured into taking the role by his
elderly agent, Lillian, and his
“hopelessly romantic” actress
girlfriend, Dierdre, played by
Wesleyan’s Melinda Harden, also
a Playhouse regular.
Lillian, played by veteran Su
san Reese, in her youth enjoyed
an affair with Barrymore, and
Dierdre is in awe of “the great
plays — Ibscn, Camille, nothing
under four hours.”
Upon moving to New York,
Andrew is set up by a psychic
splendid performance. Larry
Zimmerman on the trombone per
formed a number of outstanding
solos. Finally, Jay Krusch on the
tuba was the most enthusiastic of
the musicians, really rocking to
the music as it was performed.
In the first half of the program,
the group played a number of clas
sical pieces. The most notable of
these was a Bach suite which
demonstrated the quintet’s virtu
osity. The performance of this ar
rangement, especially the Badi-
nerie, made the piece seem as
though it were written for brass
rather than for flute and strings.
During the first half of the pro
gram the group also started to in
troduce various period instru
ments. Marian Hesse also dem
onstrated her expertise on the
Review
real estate agent, Felicia, in an
apartment once owned by famous
Shakespearean actor John
Barrymore. Andrew’s life is then
turned upside town when the
bawdy ghost of Bariymore —
played by popular Play nouse vet
eran Duncan Baker — shows up
to tutor Andrew in the role.
Not everyone is thrilled with
Andrew’s decision to tackle the
role. His cynical and Hollywood-
awed producer, Gary, begs An
drew to accept a million-dollar
television deal instead rather than
bury his talents in Central Park.
“It’s Shakespeare,” he com
plains. “It’s like algebra on stage.”
But Barrymore pricks And
rew’s pride — “What are you to
be, an actor or a lunchbox?” he
asks — and he insists that play
ing Hamlet is within Andrew’s
reach.
“We must never confuse truth
with asthma,” Barrymore ex
claims with his customary theat
rics. The secret of Hamlet?
“Tights,” he proclaims.
Andrew accepts Barrymore’s
challenge and six weeks later per
forms the role. In the process, both
ghost and actor discover truths
Review
natural horn. This instrument is
similar in appearance to the
French horn but has no keys. In
stead, the musician must alter the
pitch of the music by skillful
placement of the hand in the bell
of the horn. The Overture to the
Barber of Seville ended the first
half of the outstanding concert.
The second half began with a
transcription of the Grainger
Suite. More antique instruments
were introduced, including the B
flat cornopean, played by Jay
Lichtman, and various sizes of
over-the-shoulder-saxhorns
played by the remainder of the
about themselves and their pro
fession.
“I Hate Hamlet” was thin
drama, but it laid on both physi
cal and verbal comedy thickly.
Corbett and Baker shined in their
roles, moving easily and believ
ably on stage. Mentor ghost and
apprentice Hamlet played off
each other as one-liners —and
laughs — fly back and forth.
Harden and Reese handled
their brief supporting moments in
the spodight with customary skill,
and Playhouse newcomer Niki
Rowe held her own as Felicia.
The real standout among the sup
porting cast, however, was Play
house newcomer Drew Davis,
whose producer almost stole
scenes with his considerable en
ergy, sharp timing, and ease on
stage. He’s a comedy find for the
future.
Director Jerry Sipps kept the
action moving briskly, and David
Blakely’s sets and special effects
fitted nicely into a total package.
Upcoming Playhouse produc
tions are ambitious and exciting,
including “The Diary of Anne
Frank,” Guys and Dolls,” the
Christmas Chorus, and “Driving
Miss Daisy.” Season tickets are
still available and a great bargain.
And while “I Hate Hamlet” is
not as well known, it was a great
start to a great season ahead.
group. These instruments are
similar in appearance to the up
right tuba but are designed to al
low more comfortable playing
while marching by having the in
strument held horizontally with
bell pointing to the rear.
The company displayed their
mastery of the instruments, play
ing a medley of tunes from the
Civil War era. They play music
written for them by a number of
modem composers, most notably
Peter Schickele aka P.D.Q. Bach.
One of the numbers was Brass
Calendar by Schickele. This lively
and humorous work lets you ex
perience the months of the year,
especially the chaos and final re
lief of tax time.
The second half of the perfor
mance ended with the 1932 Duke
Ellington tune. It Don’t Mean a
Thing (If It Ain 7 Got That Swing),
and an invitation to come up on
stage after the performance to the
antique instruments firsthand and
talk to the musicians. The encore
was another Cole Porter piece.
Creole Love Song.
The Dunn Center’s 1,200-seat
Minges Auditorium is spacious,
well-lighted, and has excellent
acoustics for concerts such as this
From time to time (not guar
anteed for every event), there may
be a limited number of tickets for
events at the Dunn Center that
will be available to students at a
discounted price.
The center has a limited num
ber of Student discounted tickets
for the North Carolina Dance
as well as for plays and other per
formances planned for the sea
son. If you’ve never seen a play,
this is definitely the place to go,
but leave the kids at home. The
only detriment to the evening was
the large number of “not ready
for culture’ children of what ap--
peared to be primarily school staff
members. While this did not cause
too much of a problem, unless
you were unfortunate enough to
be seated in the next row, it was
distracting at times.
Be sure to see some of the
coming attractions including: The
North Carolina Dance Theatre of
Oct. 4 featuring dance pieces by
Salvator Aiello: The “1940s Ra
dio Hour” Oct. 24-26, and Oct.
31-Nov. 2 a Wesleyan Theatre
production: and “Always Patsy
Cline” a musical production of
the Arkansas Repertory Theatre
on Nov. 19.
Tickets for these and numer
ous other productions can be pur
chased at the Dunn Center box
office from 12 to 5 p.m., Tuesday
through Friday.
Don’t miss another opportu
nity to experience live, quality
productions at reasonable prices
and close to home.
Theatre’s Friday night perfor
mance at 8 p.m. for $4 each. Stu
dents were able to purchase tick
ets at the Dunn Center Box Of
fice, and in front of Doc’s be
tween 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Thurs
day. (These discounted tickets are
normally priced at $10, student
rate.)
Reporters
wanted!
Anyone interested in writ
ing for The Decree, please
contact Editor Jessica Brown
at 5328.
No experience necessary.
7 Hate Hamlet^ successful
as Playhouse season opener
Discount seats available