6 The Daily Tar Heel Monday. April 25. 1977
nee in'aLifetime'iThere's'no limit to where the talkies are going
By MICHAEL McFEE
DTH Contributor
"Wherever you turn, all you hear is
sound." That wry aside on the movies comes
in the first act of Kaufman and Hart's "Once
in a Lifetime." the final Playmakers
Repertory Company production of the
season. But it might just as easily have come
during the just-completed run of Chris
Durang's "History of the American Film," a
more recent comic screening of Hollywood
, and the dream of a nation.
The difference is in the telling. Durang's
"sound" was the track to an uncertain kind
of fury, wandering through years and ideas
and movies with an attitude signifying
something, perhaps, but I know not what. It
was a considerable experiment and a
considerable disappointment. "Once in a
Lifetime." on the other hand, takes a much
more modest and specific approach to studio
insanity, and the achievement of the PRC is
correspondingly less spectacular: it is
pleasant, entertaining, affable enough stuff
and a decent evening out.
If Durang tried to give us "film," Kaufman
and Hart are showing us nothing but good
old "movies" firmly anchored in tacky space
and time. And what a tacky time: the coming
of sound, the revolution of voice. "The Jazz
Singer" Vitaphone talkies are the next
step beyond silent movies and the legitimate
theatre. The play presents a trio who are
swept up in the gold rush to Hollywood in
1927. fired up by prophecies in Variety like,
"There's no limit to where the talkies are
going!"
Jerry (Joseph Cole) has the vision of
Hollywood success after seeing the premier
of Jolson's movie down at the Roxy: he is an
opportunist ready to hop on the train to L. A.
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The Playmakers Repertory Company presents "Once in a Lifetime" at 8 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets are $4.50 weeknights and $4.90 weekends, and
are available at the PRC Box Office in Graham Memorial, the Print Shop and at
Ledbetter-Pickard's.
and cash in on the studio panic. He easily
persuades May (Darrie Lawrence), who
comes up with the idea of opening a "School
of Elocution and Voice Culture" for all those
squeaky-voiced silent stars. Only George
(Gordon Ferguson) is slow to abandon their
old small-time vaudeville act, but his
hesitation is more personality than
intelligent reservation, and he is soon in on
the gamble. After a rapid combination of
lucky breaks and bluffing (chance and
resourcefulness our national self-image),
the three begin the humorous courtship of
The Union Film Committee
Presents
THE BEST OF .
THE
N.C. FILM FESTIVAL
Tuesday April 26 9:00 p.m.
Carroll Hall Free
fortune in the Glogauer studio -which
dominates the rest of the play.
It is not so much the narrative that attracts
a viewer to the play as it is the amazing
cosmos of characters which orbit across the
stage. There are some 55 or 60 people
constantly buzzing at the periphery or in the
background: most of whom are dying to be
introduced to someone who can introduce
them to someone who caYi put them in
pictures. Singing electricians and bellboys, a
country girl and her dad from the sticks,
playwrights from New York, and brain drain
directors from Germany all melt in the
teeming pot of Hollywood some more
successfully than others.
Add to this circus of character types the
felicity of Kaufman and Hart writing. Their
urbane observations of absurdity produce
such comic incongruities as the casting
announcement made by an aide, "Mr.
Glogauer will look at foolish virgins at 2: 1 5!"
Especially entertaining performers were
Ronald Bishop (as Glogauer, the head of the
studio) and Janet Foster (as his secretary
Miss Leighton) two physically perfect jobs
of casting, the former is large and comically
pompous, the latter is the small and
courteous illusion of order. Frank Raiter is
as wonderful as ever as Lawrence Vail, a
displaced playwright-in-waiting who comes
to realize "the most God-awful thing:
nobody ever notices me!" Another refugee,
ex-UFA director Kammerling, as played by
Russell Graves, is also charming in his
acceptance of the ridiculousness of the whole
system.
The three main characters carried the
weight of the play. Darrie Lawrence was
quite convincing as the thin, sardonic May,
and Gordon Ferguson, as George, was
consistently thick, lucky and lovable.
Whether the small but distinct lack of
credibility created by Joseph Cole's Jerry
arises from the distasteful, reptilian nature of
the character or from some flaw in his
portrayal of the character. Cole remained
. the least appealing of the three.
Director Tom" Haas came up with an
inventive way to cover the rather
considerable and frequent scene changes of
"Once in a Lifetime." During these
transitions and at the open and close of acts,
a cabaret team of four David Shepherd,
Henry O. Arnold, Sandra Geiss and Mamie
Carmichael would . croon tunes in a
spotlight at the edge of the stage. They sang
such fun numbers as "Hooray for
Hollywood," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo,"
"Thanks for the Memories" and others.
Haas also managed an elaborate and
dramatically consistent curtain call for all
the players in the vast acts, cleverly turning
the lights, camera and action toward the
naturally pleased audience at the last. No
better guarantee of applause than to allow us
to clap for ourselves.
The shoebox of a stage in the Playmakers
Theatre was pretty obvious at times during
the production. With sets folding and
unfolding, equipment like cameras and
mikes piling up and the heavenly host of
Hollywood flitting about, things got pretty
crowded between the wings. It would be nice
to have a theatre where the players don't
have to lounge on cars out back between
scenes.
Whatever the facilities, the PRC tried its
utmost to please with its last show of the
semester. The unquestioned coup of the
evening was the addition of dogs in a couple
of scenes, which tickled the crowd as much as
it fascinated the canines. Such winning,
slightly audacious moments raise hopes of a
really ambitious season next fall, ne where
every production makes the cla.im, "This
could only happen once in a lifetime."
MlkifiiillBIPl
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Don't miss our dazzling new show!
Literature and
literary criticism.
The Old Dook Corner
137 A EAST ROSEMARY STREET
OPPOSITE CCNB BUILDING
CHAPEL HILL N.C. 27514
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; CINEMA
Campus
Cape Fear A brutal, terrifying thriller
about an ex-con (Robert Mitchum) out to
terrorize the man who sent him to jail
(Gregory Peck) and the man's family.
Mitchum's large, powerful presence makes
his character more believable and the film
more frightening. With Polly Bergen. At 8
; p.m. Wednesday in Carroll Hall. Free with a
student ID.
Chapel Hill
For local theatres see advertisements on p.
TELEVISION
Six American Families This series'
fourth installment examines the George
family, upwardly mobile blacks from
Queens, N.Y. Both Bob and Peggy were
children of the ghetto but vowed to escape its
grinding poverty. Now, with their three
children, a suburban home and a combined
income of more than $30,000, the Georges
are solidly entrenched in the middle class. At
8 tonight on Channel 4.
Patiisers In Part 13, Glencora dabbles
in politics to block the appointment of the
disagreeable Mr. Bonteen as Chancellor of
the Exchequer. At 9 tonight on Channel 4.
Best Sellers Rory accedes to his
father's wishes and opens a campaign for the
1912 Presidential nomination in the
conclusion of Captains and the Kings. At 9
tonight on Channel 28.
Soundstage Soul group the Spinners
are seen in concert, on a basketball court
with the Chicago Bulls and talking with
ghetto youngsters. At 10 tonight on Channel
4. ,
American Short Story Stories by
Ernest Hemingway and Richard
W right . . . H emingway's Soldier's Home
focuses on a troubled World War I veteran
unable to adapt to his placid rural
hometown. In Wright's Almost A Man,
Levar Burton plays a teen-age field hand
who impulsively decides to prove his
manhood by buying a gun. At 8 p.m.
Tuesday on Channel 4.
Ann-Margret Special On stage at
Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Ann-Margret
plays host to Bob Hope, Perry Como,
Minnie Pearl and Chet Atkins. In a highlight
of the show, Ann-Margret and a chorus
dance to excerpts from Aaron Copland's
Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Appalachian
Spring. At 9 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 28.
. CBS Reports Baseball's new era the
era of free agents, player agents, million
dollar bonuses and long term contracts is
the subject of The Baseball Business. Host
Bill Moyers focuses his attention on the New
York Yankees, following them from spring
training through opening day. At 10 p.m.
Tuesday on Channels 2 and 11.
Carolina Quiz Bowl Teams of students
from North Carolina State, UNC Chapel
Hill, Eastern Carolina and Davidson
compete in a three-round elimination
contest. At 10 p.m. Tuesday on Channel 4.
El Condor Jim Brown, Lee Van Cleef
and a band of Apaches assault this Mexican
fortress believed to contain a fortune in gold.
At 9 p.m. Wednesday on Channels 2 and II.
Theatre In America Dreams and
reality are interwoven in The Prince of
Homburg, Heinrich von Kleist's 1811 play.
Frank Langelia has the title role in this
drama about an impetuous general who is
condemned to death for leading an
unauthorized though victorious cavalry
charge. At 9 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 4.
THEATRE
Playmaker Repertory Company
. presents Once In a Lifetime, an uproarious
comic romp through the early days of.
Hollywood at 8 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday. Tickets are available at the PRC
Box Office in Graham Memorial, The Print
Shop and Ledbetter-Pickard's. Tickets are
$4.50 on the weeknights and $4.95 on the
weekend.
Laboratory Theatre presents The
Vacation, a new play by Adam Bergmann at
8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and 5 p.m.
Thursday in 06 Graham Memorial. Tickets
are free and are available in front of the
business office in Graham Memorial.
Carolina Readers present To Kill A
Mockingbird at 8 p.m. Wednesday in
Bingham 103. Admission is free.
History of Blacks at UNC A narrative
artistic presentation will be performed at
7:15 p.m. Thursday in Memorial Hall. Free
admission.
MU5IG
Hill Hall Tuesday Evening Series
University Symphony Orchestra with David
Serrins as director will perform at 8 p.m.
Tuesday in Hill Hall.
Loudon Walnwrlght III will perform
at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Wednesday in Stewart
Theatre on the NCSU campus. Tickets are
$2 and are available at the NSCU Student
Center, the Union and School Kids Records.
GALLERY
Planetarium North Gallery Exhibit
Watercolors by Nadine Vartainan of
Durham will be showing during the month
of April. Hours are 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7:30
to 10 p.m. on weekdays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and 7:30 to 10 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 to 5
p.m. and 7:30 to 10 p.m. Sundays.
Photography Exhibit Ho Silver, a
photography exhibit by Cliff Haac &
Richard Lewison, will be showing through
May 7 at the art school in Carrboro.
RADIO
WUNC (91.5 FM)
Today At 9 p.m. The Cleveland
Orchestra performs the Oberlin Concert,
conducted by Matthias Bamert. Works of
Mozart and Tchaikovsky will be performed.
Tuesday At 9 p.m. The Philadelphia
Orchestra. Dmitri Kitaienko conducts
works of Moussorgsky, Shostakovich and
Scriabin.
THE Daily Crossword
by Lois H. Jones
ACROSS
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10 Loot
14 Convex
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15 Indian
16 Cotton
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17 Conduct
19 Butter sub
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24 impetuous
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27 Cost fixer
30 Coiffure
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31 IRS threat
32 Tango is
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33 Seize
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40 One of
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41 "Marry
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milieu
47 Evening: Fr.
48 Blabs
49 Aviv
50 pinch
53 Pain
54 Endanger
58 Cooking
instruction
59 Diva's song
60 Hackneyed
61 Soft shoes,
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62 Holler
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2 Say it's so cause, as a
3 Hoist a few disease
4 Baldness 30 Like some
5 And not women
6 Evil spirit 32 Mother of
7 War god Perseus
8 Haif a 34 Johnson
sawbuck 35 Sugar
9 Subordinate source
ruler 37 Fop
10 Free-load 38 Hag
11 Desolate 40 Fish of
tract warm seas
12 Moslem 41 polloi
prince 43 Stair parts
13 British 44 Soft drink
pokeys 45 Blood part:
18 Ivan was a comb, form
terrible 46 Right-hand
one page
23 Give the 47 Flower part
eye to 49 Labor
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