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Thursday, March 2,1989 entertainm ent NAU featured in national comic talent competition

By Sonya Ftj far City’s Comic Strip, a comedy club said Dan Ashlock, SUN Entertain­ The Lumberjack where Murphy and other comedians ment coordinator. “We had five Eddie Murph y and Robin Williams began their careers. contestants and over a hundred spec­ may not attend NAU but aspiring The event is sponsored by Certs tators. It was a good turnout for a comedians who do can show their Mints and Doritos Cool Ranch fla­ weeknight.” talents Wednesday during the U.S. vored Tortilla Chips and is produced He said he was pleased the compe­ CMlege Comedy Competition. by U. S. Concepts, Inc., a - tition caused students to try stand-up NAU is one of 100 colleges and based special events agency, and comedy. universities involved in the competi­ Comic Relief III. “It was weird, but after the compe- tion, whic h will take place at 7 p.m. on Comic Relief III is a charitable titin was over, more comics began the University Union stage. organization established by comedi­ coming to such SUN events as Open Each con tesiant ’ s performan ce will ans to help America’s homeless re­ Sun Sets and Night Sides,” Ashlock be videotaped and sent to Jerry Sein­ ceive health care and other services. said. feld, whoisthis year’s national judge. This year, ComicRelief III is trying “We feel that NAU has a chance to A nationally-known comedian, to increase college students’ aware­ get national recognition through our Seinfeld has appeared on “Late Night ness of the poor through co-produc­ up-and-coming comedians,” he said. with ” and “The ing the competition. “I’m hoping the Comedy Competi­ TonightShow "He performedatNAU “The College Comedy Competi­ tion will spark people’s interest and in fall 1986. tion gives grass-roots comedians on get more comedians to perform.” Seinfeld will select four finalists cam pusesallover the country a unique The competition began Jan. 19 at who will be flown to Daytona Beach, opportunity to be discovered at their the University of California at Davis Fla. March 13-24. The finalists will o wn sc bool and national 1 y,” said Brian and will end March 10 at the Univer­ receive a trip for two to Los Angeles Murphy, president of U.S. Concepts. sity of Illinois at Chicago. to see the taping of Comic Relief III, ‘’And it*s a great way for Certs and Each of the campuses in the compe­ in addition to an all-expense paid trip Doritos to reach students — through tition will be el igible to receive a free and VIP treatment to Florida for the their stomachs and funny bones ” concert featuring Seinfeld. Finals. The finalists will compete in Thell. S. College Corned y Compe­ Official entry displays soon will be front of students gathered during tition is expected to attract at least av ailablc for studen ts to deposi t empty Spring Break. 2,000 contestants, based on the num­ Doritos bags and Certs wrappers. The A winner, choscn on Lhe basis of the ber of entries in last year’s search. schooL that collects the most wrap­ crowd’s response and Seinfeld’s opin­ “NAU’s involvement in the com­ pers in a two-week period will win the ion, then will perform at New York petition worked out well last year,” contest for the Seinfeld concert. Faculty to perform ‘Soldier's Tale’ I Getting Ready... American artists, Don Reitz and fludy Autio. Conference members also will By Jill Goodwin Consequently, Stravinsky's enthu­ orchestra, consisting primarily of The Lumberjack siasm for the play and working de­ NAU faculty. Clay Arizona Art, an international be presented with a symposium on NAU faculty members will present creased until he wrote "Pulcinella" in “This play has a classic 19th cen- * ceramics conference, will be hosted Native American ceramics and cul­ their version of Igor Stravinsky’s “A 1934. tury plot,” Krovoza said. “It’s full of Written in French, “L’Histoire du lively dance music, and the story at NAU March 2 to 4. More than 250 ture given by regional artists and Soldier’s Tale"’ Saturday at 8 p.m. in antnropologists.Kimber Hogue, a so­ Ardrev Auditorium. Soldat” was the original title of the unfolds gradually as the soldier is participants from five countries will Russian-born Stravinsky collabo­ text and was based on a theme taken given another chance.” visit the university to compare ce­ phomore arts management major, rated wi th S w iss-bom playwright C.F. from a Russian folk story Stravinsky Krovoza is an NAU student pursu­ ramic techniques, glazes and cul­ assembles ID buttons for the confer­ Ram uz in wri ti ng the pla y, which was told Ramuz. ing a master’s of music degree in ence. finished in 1918. The main plot of the story is based conducting. tural styles. In conjunction with the In a book written about Stravinsky on “Faust,” which is about a man who The casts consists of three actor- conference, the NAU Art Gallery will by his son, his son said that immedi­ sells his soul to the devil in exchange dancers, one narrator and sevenmusi - exhibit the works of two well-known Photo by Deborah Thomas. ately after the play came out, an epi­ for ric hes, power, youth and wisdom. cisians. demic hit Europe, affecting the Strav­ The work isa drama with a touch of NAU theatre students Bill Harper insky family, and the majority of ac­ comedy throughout the performance. tors around Europe. John Krovoza will conduct the See FACULTY, Page 12

Puppet show Movie Review The Burbs Symphony Pops Series presents to appear at by Robert Alien Rated PG internationally acclaimed artists

Arts Center By Kristi McDowell Wednesday1 sconceit program will average of five concerts per season. , The Lumberjack • Currently, they perform an average of By Karen Long Tom Hanks has had a great year in films, after the phenomenally include George Chadwick’s “Jubi­ Special to The Lumberjack successful Big and a critically acclaimed performance in Punchline. In his Critically acclaimed violinist lee” from Four Symphonic Sketches, 19 concerts per season. Max Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. Palmer was selected as the director As part of the annual Youth newest effort. The Burbs (which reportedly set a box office receipt record Dylana Jenson and guest conductor 1” and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s and conductor for the Dubuque Sym­ Arts Month exhibition at the in its first week of release), Hanks demonstrates a comic genius that he Nicholas Palmer will perform with “Symphony No. 4 in f minor.” phony after a year-long search by their Coconino Center for the Arts, began with “Bosom Buddies” and mastered with a superb job in Big. the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra 8 Palmer, in his third year of con­ board of directors which consisted of ; the performing arts series will Hanks, whose other film credits include The Man With One Red Shoe, p.m. March 8 in Ardrey Auditorium. ducting the Dubuque Symphony extensive interviews and rehearsals. * sponsor a performance at 7 p. m. Nothing in Common and Splash, plays Ray Peterson, a suburbanite who This is the fourth in a five-part Orchestra in Dubuque, Iowa, is in his Palmer is a graduate of Harvard Uni- - Friday by The Great Arizona finds his idyllic and relaxing vacation jeopardized by the suspicious series of concerts on the classics. first season of guest conducting. versity and received an advanced degree I Puppet Theater Friday. behavior of his new neighbors, the Klopecks, portrayed in appropriately The symphony will perform eight mysterious fashion by , Brother Theodore and Courtney times this season, three of which were He also will appear with the Chi­ from the New England Conservatory of * The group of professional cago Sinfonietta and the Huntsville Music. performers from Phoenix, have Gains. concerts in the Pops Series. The Pops Series concluded last Symphony in Alabama this season. He also has studied conducting at the . been traveling the slate with Ray also must contend with an odd assortment of neighbors, such as Art week with the performance of guest When he arrived in Dubuque in Aspen Music School, the Festival at ‘ their puppets. Weingartner (Rick Ducommun), whose overwhelming desire is food; Rumfield(Bruce Dem), a Vietnam vet and would-besurvivalist; Rumfield’s conductor Jerry Goldsmith. ___ May 1986 the symphony played an Sandpoint, Pierre Monteaux School and ; They will perform two acts, the Academia Chigna in Italy. “Navajo” and ‘The Eagle sexpot wife (Wendy Schaal); Ricky (Corey Feldman>.a teenage surfer and heavy metal fan; and Walter (Gale Gordon). Meanwhile, Ray must deal Jenson recently returned to the inter­ Brother.” national concert stage. “Navajo” is a story about with his hen-pecking, shrewish wife Carol (Came Fisher),-who cannot understand her husband’s anxiety toward the Klopecks. She has received critical acclai m since j Navajo mythology and “The her debut when she was ei ght years o Id j Eagle Brother” is a story At fust, Ray isskeptica 1 of Art ’ s and Rum field ’ s claims that the K lopec ks, or the “neighbors from hell” as they are more commonly known, are killers, in Los Angeles as a soloist in the Men- • adapted from a Hopi legend. delssohn Concerto with Alberto Bolet I Both shows use puppets that but later even tsconvince him otherwise. As Ricky (Corey Feldman) tells his girlfriend at one point, “ ...that Mr. Peterson, he’s a skeptic. He^s grounded and the Long Beach Symphony. are at least half life-size. She performed the Tchaikovsky . The Great Arizona Puppet in reality. He doesn’t want to believe there’s anything wrong with his new neighbors, then he would have to do something about it.” Concerto on tour with the Seattle S y m- _ Theater places special empha­ phony at age 11 and performed on sub- j ses on shows thalce lebrate Ari­ But Ray’s suspicions toward his neighbors get the better of him and he b e c o m e s determined to learn what the Klopecks are doing in their basement. scription concerts with Thomas Schip- zona and its heritage. pers and the Cincinnati Symphony Or­ The center is hoping for a After Walter mysteriously disappears, Art and Rumfield persuade Ray that the Klopecks are the ones responsible for the elderly man’s disappearance chestra at age 12. At that time,The Cin­ large audience from Flagstaff cinnati Enq uirer hailed her “uncom pro- and suspected murder. and other cities around north­ mi sing and deeply musical artistry.” ern Arizona. Director ( Gremlins) and screenwriter Dana Olsen, who also served as the film’s co-producer, have combined to make a funny, freneti­ When she was 13 she substituted for The performance also is part Pinchas Zukerman in the Tchaikovsky of the artist-in-education resi­ cally pacedrcomedy which pokes fun at the attitudes of those who live in contemporary suburbia and the panic demonstrated when new, unknown Concerto in Frankfurt. West . ; dency by Nancy Smith, of the As a “child prodigy” she appeared neighbors move into the neighborhood. theater and is co-sponsored by with the New York Philharmonic at H o w e v e r,the one minor flaw in the film is the conclusion. Dante gives the the Arizona Commission on Lincoln and traveled to Europe and Latin the Arts, the Coconino Center audience a too pat, too tidy an ending, one in which special effects lakes over as the star of The Burbs, rather than letting the stars carry the film to its America for engagements. for the Arts and Flagstaff Pub­ Jenson won the Silver Medal at the lic Schools. logical end. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow The center is hoping for a Dante’s direction gives the film an offbeat quality at times, such as when Ray and Art findabonein thebackyardand then let out a large scream, while when she was 17. large audience from Flagstaff She was the youngest performer ever and other cities around north­ at the same time the camera goes in and out of focus. As for the performances of the stars, The Burbs is Hanks’ show through­ to win the award and the first American ern Arizona. out and it is demonstrated with Hanks’ ability to play subtle comedy and woman violinist in the competition. Tickets are S6in advance, $7 As well as studying in various parts in at the door and S3 for those 18 slapstick with equal ease. Ft\6mm(TheLostBoys,Ucense to Drive )also shows his corned k: talents the , she traveled repeat­ years of age and younger. with an admirable performance as the cynical teenager Ricky, who takes edly to Zurich for graduate classes with They are available at the Russian-bom violinist Nathan Mil- McOaugh s Newsstand, the delight in watching the futile actions of Ray, Art and Rumfield, or “the show” as he likes to call it _ stern. Flagstaff Chamber of Com­ She began coaching with Dorothy merce , Seldom Seen Cards and The other actors in The Burbs unfortunately serve only as window dressing or as a foil for Hanks. The three main male characters also are DeLay at the Julhard School of Music in Ait, The Wine SdSrr id the shown as buffoons, while Fisher’s and Schaal s characters are portrayed as . Coconino O tar oi **** Arts, Tickets range from $17.50 to SI 0 for 2300 N. f ft Valley the more logical, more reasonable members of the neighborhood. Soad the general public and $5 for NAU stu­ behind the oneers Historical All in all. The Burbs is a hilarious, off-beat film about “onenice guy who got pushed’too far” and which serves as a spotlight for the comedic genius dents, with a $4 rush window for all Museum. of one of America’s hottest young comic actors. students 15 minutes before the show.