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Thursday, February 17, 2000
Lab! to Take Stage With
Musical Make-Believe
By Ferris Morrison
Staff Writer
When the reality of college life
becomes too much to handle, it helps to
escape the husde and bustle by delving
into a land of make-believe, where fairy
tales swirl together in a story of ever
after.
“Into the Woods,” the first musical
produced by Lab! Theatre since 1997,
unfolds when Little Red Riding Hood,
Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack and the
Beanstalk are thrown together in the
woods.
Labi’s production of “Company” in
1997 was the last time the group had a
chance to display its musical talents.
Director Beau Tidwell said the play
presents the original stories we remem
ber from our youth and then contorts
those stories to show the dark side of the
fantasy.
“As much positive potential as (fairy
tales) have, there is also a very dark ele
ment to it,” Tidwell said. “The fantasy
world is where there are no rules, so it
works both ways, and you have to be
careful of it.”
The characters’ lives become inter
twined like people in a soap opera. The
characters meet a witch in the forest and
a baker and his wife on a quest to have
a child. Snow White and Sleeping
Beauty even make cameo appearances
in this twisted interpretation of Disney’s
beloved characters.
Kate Middleton, a senior communi
cations major who plays the witch, said
what audiences remember from the
fairy tales is deconstructed in “Into the
Woods.”
'A Night in Paradise': Jazz Divas Jam to Benefit Black Cultural Center Fund Raising
By Russ Lane
Staff Writer
On Saturday, three gifted jazz musi
cians will lift their voices to benefit
future programs for the Sonja H. Stone
Black Cultural Center.
Titled “A Night in Paradise,” the con
cert features three locally based but
world-renowned jazz divas - Nnenna
Freelon, Eve Cornelius and Lois
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“Everyone’s part is very stereotypi
cal,” Kate Middleton said. “Because of
the changes within the second act, it
turns (the characters) into real people.
It’s just a live-and-leam kind of play.”
Almost all of the conversation in the
play is done in song, so audiences
should expect a fast-paced and fun
show, Middleton said.
Tidwell said directing a musical has
been quite a challenge, but most of the
credit is due to the cast of veteran per
formers and Lab! newcomers. He also
said Stage Manager Danny Green
worked within a small budget to create
the set’s backdrop.
“In the tradition of ‘Peter Pan,’
‘Midsummer’s’ and very poor student
theater, the set is going to have to be pri
marily out of the audience’s imagina
tion,” Tidwell said. “We’ll have sugges
tions of place. If we can get the audience
to play pretend with us, then it will
work.”
Lee Chaix Katz, a senior and veteran
of Lab! Theatre, encouraged audiences
to be prepared for an entertaining show,
but also to look out for subtext under
neath the stories presented in the play.
“Yes, it’s about fairy tales, but that
doesn’t mean its fluff,” Katz said. “It gets
quite dark.”
“Into the Woods” will be performed
at 8:15 p.m. Friday through Monday.
Matinees will run at 4 p.m. Monday and
5 p.m. Tuesday. All shows will be per
formed at Playmakers Theatre on
Cameron Avenue and are free to the
public.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
Dawson - performing together at
Memorial Hall for the first time.
All three of the artists are headliners
in their own right. Freelon received
three Grammy nominations. Cornelius
is the recipient of the BET Jazz
Showcase. Dawson, a runner-up for the
BET Jazz Showcase, is a 1981 UNC
alumna and former BSM Gospel Choir
soloist who balances her burgeoning
jazz career with a full time job.
DIVERSIONS Music
Show Delivers
Broadway's
Best Snippets
Pauper Players' will present
samples of music, dance
and drama from Broadway
shows with similar themes.
By Robin Clemow
Staff Writer
For theatergoers with short attention
spans, Pauper Players will take to the
stage tonight with a smorgasbord of
songs and dances.
The group’s annual Broadway
Melodies production gives audiences
samples of moments from all-time
favorite shows as well as scenes from
the more obscure.
The performance is divided into four
sets, each about 30 minutes in length,
which mingle songs from various musi
cals that center on a theme.
Chris Hudson, publicity co-chairman
and director of one of the sets, said the
large number of tunes gives more per
formers a shot a being on stage.
“It’s a great opportunity to do theater
because it does have such a large cast,”
he said. “And it’s a good way to get start
ed in theater.”
More freshmen and first-time per
formers are cast in Broadway Melodies
than in Pauper Players’ full shows,
Hudson said.
Broadway Melodies has given fresh
man Carl Fisher the chance to dive into
the UNC theater scene headfirst,
singing three solos, including “Being
Each musician will perform individ
ual sets before joining each other to sing
a special version of “Lift Every Voice
and Sing,” the Negro National Anthem.
For local jazz afficionados, the con
cert is a dream come true. Acting BCC
Director Harry Amana said the idea for
the concert was entertained for years
before the BCC organized the event.
“While this is a fund-raiser (for BCC
programs), this concert was organized
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Members of Paupers Players rehearse the group’s annual production of Broadway Melodies in the Hanes Art
Center to prepare for their performance tonight. Freshman Carl Fisher (left) will sing three solos.
Alive” from “Company.”
Fisher and sophomore Erin Frye,
who will sing her first solo in the show
tonight, explained how the directors of
each set unified performances that
included such a wide array of songs.
In one set, based on a theme of dating
and relationships, Fisher said, Director
Ivan Canada created a plot that incor
porated all the tunes.
Frye’s solo comes in a set about
dreams, and Director Adam Kuykendal
merges the pieces of this set together by
juxtaposing the different angles of the
theme.
As Frye sings “I Dreamed a Dream”
from “Les Miserables,” for example, her
lines counter those of “Somewhere
That’s Green” from “Little Shop of
Horrors.” The two women both dream
more out of a desire to present these
three artists together.”
Dawson said she was happy to help
raise programming funds for the BCC.
“This benefit is very special. There
was talk about a freestanding BCC 20
years ago, so I’m very pleased and
proud that people have kept this on the
forefront of their minds,” she said.
BCC Program Coordinator Lorie L.
Clark said she was thrilled about the
The 2000 ~ „ . “Jazz: A
CAROLINA ”
Living and
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FESTIVAL MUSiC”
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Friday, February 25, Bpm M Saturday, February 26, Bpm I
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of love, but one has the desires of a
1950s housewife and the other of a love
starved young woman.
Director and publicity co-chairman
for Pauper Players David Lorenc said
this year’s show would display more
diversity than those of the past.
“I remember last year there were two
sets that had a love-related theme,” he
said. “This year is the first year we have
done a dance set and one with a darker
theme.”
The latter, titled “A Shade Darker,”
includes “Morphine Tango” from “Kiss
of the Spiderwoman” and other num
bers about drugs, sex or violence.
Hudson directs the dance set, which
will end the evening’s performance, and
he said it will leave the audience
enlivened by tunes they might be famil
concert. “It’s exciting to have Nnenna,
Eve and Lois come together for this con
cert. It says a lot for these world-travel
ing women to come back to their com
munity for a concert that will benefit it.”
This showcase is indicative of the
BCC’s mission. Clark said the benefit
truly honors Dr. Stone’s desire to pro
mote positive change in the community.
“Dr. Stone was about the empower
ment of all people, and music is one ele
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iar with.
“It explores the dance themes of the
’Bos - footloose, flashdance and fame,”
he said, “and includes some of the big
dances from broadway.”
Though it ends with these popular
numbers, Hudson said the show’s main
purpose was to give the actors and the
audience a chance to get to know more
about Broadway.
“It’s mainly about the singing and
introducing people to shows they may
not know about.”
Broadway Melodies opens with
shows at 8 p.m. today through Saturday
and a 3 p.m. Sunday show in the
Student Union Cabaret.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
ment that crosses the color line. That’s
what we want to do (with this concert) -
to reach out and touch the lives of other
people.”
“A Night in Paradise” will be held at
7 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Hall.
Tickets are available at the Carolina
Union Box Office.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.