Beethoven Brought to Life
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' 16 A&E KUSHNER FROM PAGE 15 Beethoven brought to life Lindsey Young can test the range and endurance of performers. Against her will, Shen Te takes on the disguise of her The Concordian "The range gets near the top of what we can "cousin" Shui Ta who is a harsh and unyielding businessman, sing," he says. Clausen said that often in order to regain control of her money and reputation. The Concordia Orchestra and mass choirs Beethoven treated voices in his music the same Without a real ending, the play left the audience hanging with will perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on way he treated instruments, giving them an the question: is it really possible to be a good person in this Sunday, April 28. This Oratorio concert is an expansive range and dramatic dynamic world of anguish and lies? annual tradition at Concordia. changes. Along with the four performances of "The good person of The orchestra and five choirs have been "The range can be technically difficult," he Setzuan" on Saturday, Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Tony working under the direction of Bruce Houglum said, "and the very dramatic changes in dynam- Kushner was present for a symposium. Kushner allowed and Rene Clausen. The choir has been prepar- ics is hard for voice at times." NDSU artistic freedom to his adapted script of "The Good ing since before Easter break, and the orchestra Another challenge faced by the singers was Person of Setzuan." has been rehearsing since January. the language barrier. The day began with a panel symposium about the use of Beethoven's Ninth, a standard repertoire for "The difficult part is learning the German," theater as a sociopolitical tool. A discussion including profes- large groups, consists of four movements. The said Sophomore Adam Bueling. For most of the sors of the departments of sociology, theatre and English from first through third movements are only orches- students, just being able to pronounce the words NDSU, Bismarck State College and Concordia joined in, tra, and the fourth movement, known as the was not enough. They needed to be able to sing along with Kushner himself. "Ode to Joy," adds soloists and choir to the every word correctly. Several issues were discussed about how to use theater for orchestra. This work was the first to add vocal- "Even with a German international student political and artistic purposes. Kushner disagreed with some ists to a symphonic piece. The work, while stan- helping us (with the language), it is still hard to of the panelists by admitting that sometimes theatre just gives dard to many groups, is quite a challenge. learn," said first-year student Danielle Daigle, pleasure and does nothing nobler than that. Kushner did sug- "Beethoven often makes unreasonable "I hope this presentation of a serious, but gest that complex theatre, when used as a political tool is most demands on performers," said Dr. Robert well known, work will draw in both regular effective when the audience has no idea that they should be Chabora, professor and chair of music. "It can concert goers and maybe some others who "affected" by the performance. He expressed his admiration be an ultimate challenge for a group. It's rare wouldn't often go to concerts," Clausen said. towards Brecht, a playwright who acknowledged theatre as that an undergraduate department could do a The concert will be held in Memorial "tacky and false" but played on that, using theater as a way to work of this scale." Auditorium at'4 p.m. and admission is free. convey messages instead of mere stories. The performance is over an hour long and Later Saturday, Kushner gave an on-stage interview about his adaptation of "The good person of Setzuan," his other works and advice for those aspiring for careers in the theater. Romance rules 'Crossroads' • STALEY Jessica Crane The three girls share their prob- job in a role that is very similar FROM PAGE 15 lems with one another, sing to the role he played in the A&E Editor karaoke for money and eventu- movie "My Girl" several years "Crossroads," the new movie ally reach the California coast. ago. "They had huge commercial aspirations from the begin- starring Britney Spears, is a Consistent with Britney's The coming-of-age issues in ning. They fulfilled that, and so much of that was Layne's film that attempts to tackle sev- style, the movie is chalked full this movie include teen preg- voice/* Cross said. eral coming-of-age issues of small t-shirts, omnipresent nancy, parent-child relation- His voice ranged from a low, growly monotone to a through the story of three girls nipples, heavy Pepsi advertise- ships, independence and nontra- pained, piercing wail; many a bar-bari*d singer frayed vocal who were childhood friends ment, sexual innuendos and big ditional families. Though the cords in the early 1990s trying to imitate it. Staley also that reunite on their graduation earings. movie brings all of these to the played some guitar for the group. night. With a guitar player driv- One of the best features of forefront at some point, the Alice in Chains stopped touring in the mid-*90s, when ing, the girls leave their home- the movie was that there was a issues are dealt with only super- Staley's drug use proved too great an obstacle. He began a town and take off across coun- wide variety of music. There ficially and are not as important number of stints in rehab. try in a yellow 1973 Buick were two or three songs in the to the movie as the romance In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Staley Skylark. movie that are distinctly that develops. spoke of how his drug use influenced his lyrics. Along the way, their friend- Britney's, but also songs from a Overall, the movie keeps the "I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being ship rebirths and a romance variety of other sources. attention of eight-year-olds and unsafe or careless by writing about them," he told the mag: develops between Britney's Dan Akroyd, who plays twenty-somethings alike and is azine. "Here's how my thinking pattern went: When I tried character and the guitar player. Britney's father, does a good neither trite nor trashy. drugs, they were (expletive) great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me _ and now I'm walking through hell, and this sucks." The group's first album, "Facelift," was released in 1990. 'Transformers' storm market It later released "Dirt" and "Alice in Chains." The group's hits included "Man in the Box," "Them Bones," "Rooster," LOS ANGELES (AP) _,The Transformers, a moving again. and "Would?" race of gigantic, shape-shifting robots, invaded While cleaning out his room, he started play- The latter song was partly inspired by the 1990 heroin planet Earth two decades ago, desperate to find ing with the Transformers one last time. Then he overdose death of Andrew Wood, singer of the seminal life-giving fuel for their ailing civilization. packed them up in a bag and carried them out to grunge group Mother Love Bone. Now they're back, this time fueled by the nos- the trash. Staley's body was found just over 8 years after Cobain talgia of Generation X. More than a decade would pass before he real- was found dead in his Seattle home of a self-inflicted gun- So-named because they could change shape ized he'd made a mistake. shot wound. Heroin was found in Cobain's bloodstream and into cars, trucks aqd jet fighters, Transformers Until relatively recently, Peter Cullen didn't his head had been so mutilated that he could not be imme- came in the form of die-cast toys, comic books know people like Weiner existed. diately identified. and an after-school cartoon series that ... well, But now the veteran voice-over actor, who In the 1996 interview, Staley reflected on Cobain's transformed them into a billion-dollar pop culture supplied the voice of heroic Optimus Prime in death: "I saw all the suffering that Kurt Cobain went phenomenon. "The Transformers"cartoon, has met hundreds of through. I didn't know him real well, but I just saw this real Over the years, the toys were tossed away or admirers and attended a fan convention. vibrant person turn into a real shy, timid, withdrawn person vanished into attic corners while the cartoon Prime, who transformed into a big-rig truck, who could hardly get a 'hello' out. ... At the end of the day show was canceled and forgotten. led the good-guy Autobot robots in war against or at the end of the party, when everyone goes home, you're But as the children of the 1980s have become ' the resource-depleting Deceptions, led by the stuck with yourself." financially independent adults, . collecting sinister Megatron, who changed into a massive Transformers memorabilia has become a passion. silver handgun. "They take you back to fourth grade, when you "I wanted Optimus Prime to be strong and just Attention College Students!! didn't have any problems," said collector Angie and fair," said Cullen, who now plays Eeyore in Looking for Summer Employment? Get a Great Job Hung, a 25-year-old manager at an Internet serv- Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" cartoons. "I saw him with Great Pay at Performance Centers, Inc. ice confpany in Calgary, Canada. like John Wayne, and did a little of that voice.