8
THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2007
Theater hosts
young actors
‘Oliver!’ sells out
all three shows
BY CHRISTINA STRAUCH
STAFF WRITER
While Chapel Hill is no New
York City, UNC’s Paul Green
Theatre became a Broadway play
house for a group of 43 regional
youngsters this past weekend who
put on three sold-out performances
of the musical “Oliver!”
The Arts Center of Carrboro and
Play Makers Repertory Company
created a unique summer pro
gram which allowed these kids to
rehearse and perform in a profes
sional theater setting.
“The director’s aim was to treat
the kids as professionals,” said
Elizabeth Phillips, a UNC sopho
more who was in attendance open
ing night.
“(‘Oliver!’) had a really good
energy because it’s kids perform
ing,” she said.
Asa dramatic art major, Phillips
is no stranger to the theater
space and the productions that
Play Makers puts on during the
school year.
And she was duly impressed by
the kids’ showmanship.
“It’s a whole different type of
acting and musical theater to
play to three sides,” she said of the
thrust style stage at the Paul Green
Theatre.
“It’s not like going to see a school
play.”
Her friend, sophomore English
major William Hackney, agreed.
“My co-worker is involved with
the show so I came to see it because
she was so involved; I had no idea
it was kids,” he said.
“It gives the space a good fam
ily vibe.”
Lisa Gramann, the mother of 15-
year-old ensemble member Beth
Gramann, was one of the many
parents ih the house.
“It has been a phenomenal expe
rience for my daughter,” she said.
“She couldn’t wait to come back to
the theater everyday.”
Lisa Gramann’s mother, Paula
Slagle, traveled all the way from
Chesapeake, Va. to see her grand
daughter perform.
“This is one of the childrens’
most special moments,” Slagle
said.
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“It’s a gift from the Conservatory
and Play Makers to offer this oppor
tunity.”
And seeing the youngsters per
form was another gift in itself.
“The best part is just watching
the kids really enjoy themselves,”
Gramann said.
Matthew Baldiga, a University
senior who played Fagin, wit
nessed the kids’ excitement first
hand.
“The kids all had a blast, and
that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
But Baldiga’s involvement did
not go unnoticed.
“Matt is pretty spectacular,”
Phillips said of the only actor
older than 18 to participate in the
show.
But the wonder was not limited
to what was happening on stage.
“The band did a great job of fill
ing out the sound with very few
instruments,” Hackney said.
The adult orchestra was com
prised of a pianist, a violinist, a
flautist and a percussionist.
“Backstage after the show,
everyone was so excited,” said 16-
year-old actor Alexander Daly,
a senior who attends Durham
Academy.
“The best part was seeing all of
these really young kids progressing
as actors and taking on so much
responsibility.”
Audiences will get a sec
ond chance to see director Tom
Quaintance’s work with anoth
er family-oriented show in
PlayMakers’ production of “The
Little Prince,” which will open this
winter.
“It’s a fulfilling thing to tell a
story to people and really affect
them,” Daly said.
And believe it or not, Daly start
ed out only playing sports in high
school.
“I would encourage anyone who
has even the smallest urge to act to
try it.”
Contact theAdE Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
DROWNING
FROM PAGE 3
“I felt very close to lan while I
was there,” she said.
She added that she was glad to
have a place where she could go to
remember her son.
Shawn Bailey said she plans to
have a birthday celebration for
Creath on July 31st what would
have been his 19th Birthday.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
X 967-8665
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From Page Three
Spoon feeds tasty indie pop
BY HARRY KAPLOWITZ
SENIOR WRITER
Fans of the Austin band Spoon
could make an argument for divid
ing the career of Britt Daniel and
his indie rock outfit into two dis
tinct periods.
First comes the time prior to
their signing with Durham-based
Merge Records, which gave way
to two respectable albums and a
triumvirate of good EPs.
Then there are the four years
that followed, which saw the band
release three acclaimed and (rela
tively) popular LPs: 2001’s Girls
Can Tell, 2002’s Kill the Moonlight
and 2005’s Gimme Fiction.
With that consistent acclaim and
a growing fan base came a great
amount of buzz surrounding the
release of their fourth Merge record,
the oddly titled GaGaGaGa Ga.
It’s actually named for the frag
mented and circular wind melody
heard on the album’s second track,
“The Ghost of You Lingers” it’ll
make sense when you hear it.
And as far as the band’s Merge
years are concerned, Ga Ga Ga
Ga Ga is Spoon’s best album since
Girls Can Tell.
In some ways, it’s even better.
Its opening track (“Don’t Make
Me a Target”) is a more mature,
alluring introduction to the album
than Girls Can Tell’s “Everything
‘Phantom Limb’ exorcises its emotions
BY BRYAN REED
SENIOR WRITER
Grindcore tends to be an exclu
sive, unapproachable genre.
Even its very name scares off
plenty of listeners, and those brave
enough to experiment usually find
themselves repelled by the con
stant blast beats, insane tempos
and growled vocals that sound as
if they were ripped directly out of
the singer’s throat.
And Pig Destroyer does pretty
much all of that on its latest album,
Phantom Limb, the follow-up to
2004’s acclaimed Terrifyer.
The album’s 14 songs are all
brutal artillery blasts of pure and
absolute death metal fury without
all those wanky melodic guitar
solos. The band’s own description
of its style as “deathgrind” seems
perfectly suited.
In fact, Phantom Limb is such
a grinding, rhythmic album, it
DOMAIN
FROM PAGE 3
proposed constitutional amend
ment. It passed by a vote of 104-15,
far more than the necessary three
fifths needed for such a measure.
Senate leaders sent the bill to
the Ways and Means Committee
on May 29, but no action has been
taken. The session is winding
down as final budget negotiations
near a close.
“Unfortunately, the Ways and
Means Committee has acquired
a reputation for being the place
where bills go to die,” Berger wrote
in a letter to Sen. Charlie Dannelly,
the committee chairman.
Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg, said
Tuesday he wouldn’t know the bill’s
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Hits at Once,” and Ga Ga Ga Ga
Ga boasts a cheery consistency
while Girls Can Tell felt more dis
jointed than cohesive in sound.
That being said, what Spoon
album hasn’t been compared to
Girls Can Tell ? It set the frame
work for their future albums,
and Spoon has stuck to that same
musical formula ever since. And
that’s left Daniel with little to
improve upon since Girls Can Tell
was a phenomenal album that
showcased a mastery of indie rock
craftsmanship and pop sensibili
ties.
So, by that account, it seems that
Daniel and company are merely
competing with themselves on Ga
Ga Ga Ga Ga, essentially asking
each other, “Can we do better this
time around? Is there even room
for anew take on what we already
know works well?”
The answer to both of those
questions is a resounding “yes.”
Daniel, with his unmistakable
voice, succeeds rather brilliantly in
his efforts to make an album that
is both outstanding on a technical
scale and catchy as all get-out.
It’s a rare thing to find an album
that’s able to meet both the hip
ster’s definition of what indie rock
should be and the mainstream’s
expectations of what pop/rock is
supposed to sound like.
almost feels more like an aural
beatdown than a collection of
songs.
So basically, the band got
exactly what it was going for.
But what makes Pig Destroyer
and its album better than any run
of-the-mill death or grind record is
that the songs actually do carry a
sense of implied tunefulness and
real emotional weight.
Pig Destroyer’s riffs are as pum
meling as they are impossible not
to headbang to.
The sludge-drenched guitars
are battered to hellacious levels
of texture, warping and distorting
the tone with false harmonics and
squalls.
The low end keeps everything
running at Armageddon pace with
hairpin twists and turns in rhythm
and time. V
But most remarkable are the
lyrics hidden under J.R. Hayes’
fate until the committee meets.
Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland,
who as Senate Rules Committee
chairman controls the flow of leg
islation in the chamber, questioned
whether the amendment was nec
essary: “I’m not aware that emi
nent domain has ever been abused
in North Carolina.”
Opponents argue that the
amendment could discourage local
governments from courting new
businesses because it will be harder
to accumulate large tracts of land.
Stam, a primary sponsor of the
bill, wants the amendment ques
tion considered this year to allay
suspicions that Republicans want
it on the 2008 ballot to boost voter
turnout during an election year for
legislative candidates.
Immediate examples that come
to mind are Saturday Looks Good
To Me’s Every Night, The Shins’
Chutes Too Narrow or anything by
The New Pomographers.
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga most certainly
is one of those types of albums,
and, if you had to pick just one, it’s
probably the only Spoon release
that fits the bill. It’s focused, spirit
ed and, perhaps most importantly,
imbued with a sense of history.
It somehow manages to experi
ment with new sounds while also
sounding like every other Spoon
LP that’s preceded it, particularly
Kill the Moonlight, which, up until
now, was Daniel’s poppiest affair
to date.
If “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
and its lulling tambourine is
Daniel’s nod to Motown-inspired
soul, then it’s also an homage to the
kinetic pop energy heard on Kill the
Moonlight’s “The Way We Get By.”
And if middle track “Rhythm &
Soul,” in all its piano-and-drum
goodness, is at all reminiscent of
“All the Pretty Girls Go to the City,”
it’s fair to say that Daniel saw some
thing worth holding on to in his
previous effort.
“You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” eas
ily is the album’s strongest offer
ing, with the ska-influenced “The
Underdog” coming in a close sec
ond. “Black Like Me,” the only song
barely comprehensible screams
and growls.
“Girl In The Slayer Jacket” is
an emotionally devastating tale
of teen suicide that is both bleak
and horrifying while still being
emotionally sincere and excru
tiating.
Yes, the band revels in the
genre’s typical use of gory b
movie imagery, most noted
in “Deathtripper” and “The
Machete Twins,” but those nug
gets of heartfelt honesty, and
even a twisted sweetness as on
“Fourth Degree Burns,” where
Hayes spews, “She’ll step on that
plane and disappear, but tonight
her lips are real and kissing like
a head on collision.”
Seeing a glimpse of humanity in
an often cartoonish genre makes
Pig Destroyer the type of grindcore
band that won’t disappoint fans of
extreme metal, but might also have
BAR EXAM
FROM PAGE 3
“The essays are what I’m wor
ried about the most,” Abruzzini
said.
Podger said there is no limit to
the number of times a student can
take the test.
“It is an expensive test costing
$600.00 and an extra SIOO.OO
if they want to use a laptop,” she
said.
“And not just students take it.
People from outside the state who
are wanting to move and practice
here can take it also.”
Students have plenty of options
when it comes to preparing for the
exam.
“Most students take commer
cial review classes known as the
BARBRI and PNBR. They are like
Kaplan or the Princeton Review,”
Podger said.
“We offer a program called
SOAR; it’s a supplemental review
session taught by one of the faculty
TAs,” she said.
The BARBRI class was offered
in Chapel Hill from May 24th
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SPOON
GA GAGA GAGA
on Ga GaGaGaGa that comes close
to being called a ballad, proves to be
a solid effort, as well, as does the
downbeat “Don’t You Evah”
Daniel knows what jnakes a
great record he’s proved that four
times over —and he alsb knows
what his fans want to hear.
That’s what makes Spoon one
of the most reliable indie rock acts
currently recording, and it’s what
makes Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, without
question, one of the best records of
the year. i
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
Contact the AOE Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
PIG DESTROYER
PHANTOM LIMB
irkirtru:
something special in store for that
adventurous listener who might
otherwise be turned off.
11 %■%%,* *
Contact theAdE Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
through July 11th.
The course comes with about
eight volumes of materials to help
cover all the topics tested in both
portions of the test.
Abruzzini said he took advan
tage of these classes to jet ready
for the exam.
“I’ve taken the BARBRI and the
three day PNBR class. I’ve pretty
much been going over my BARBRI
materials and making flashcards,”
Abruzzini said.
He added that he has been
devoting a lot of time to studying
as the exam date approaches.
“At this point I would say I’m
studying about 10 to 12 hours a
day,” he said.
He said he will be relieved
when the exam is behind him
and he can finally put his books
down.
“I’ll be happy next Wednesday
when it will be over,” Abruzzini
said.
“I’ll probably get together v ith
some friends and celebrate.”
Contact the University Editor
at udeskfa unc.edu.