[email protected] Technique Entertainment Editor: Zheng Zheng 15 Assistant Entertainment Editor: Friday, Entertainment Patricia Uceda October 1, 2010 Performing Arts in Atlanta The Alliance and The Fox show off Atlanta’s theater talents SHOWS vious American Idol contestant Diana De- 9 to 5 Garmo. DeGarmo fills out Dolly’s music with a comical accent and a rambunctious 9 to 5 TICKETS: $40 - $80 energy. LOCATION: Fox Theatre Finally, a moment of fame for Roz, played by Kristine Zbornik, who provides DATE: Till Oct. 3, 2010 endless comedic relief through her general ungainliness and her awkward devotion to OUR TAKE: ««««« Mr. Hart, the CEO of the company. 9 to 5 doesn’t necessarily break new ground. I By Victoria Prince wouldn’t call it life-changing or revolution- Contributing Writer ary, but that is not the point. What the show provides is a pithy overlook of the everyday The Fox is known for having a packed struggle of women in the workplace. house and a brilliant cast of stars and 9 to 5 There is an admirable balance in opinion was nothing short of brilliant. Our heroine, however; the focus is not on total injustice Judy Bernley, played by Mamie Parris, be- and “man-bashing.” For every “sexist, ego- gins by openly admitting her disappointing tistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” there is life story. A soon-to-be divorcee who’s never another reasonable character to balance it worked a day in her life, she now suddenly has out. to make her own way after her husband leaves This balance with real world possibili- here for a 19 year-old secretary. ties and comedic extremes comes rapidly Her manager, Violet Newstead, played by unhinged when the CEO of the women’s Dee Hoty from Footloose, struggles to raise company, Mr. Franklin M. Hart Jr. is ac- her son alone while fighting the glass ceiling cidently poisoned by Violet, who has shown in her company as no-name men leap frog open resentment for Hart since his promo- Image courtesy of Joan Marcus ahead of her to her deserved promotions. tion over her head. Finally, there is Doralee Rhodes, a beauti- This escalates until all three women have ful, over-the-top Texan spit-fire. Her blonde found themselves enacting their fanatical hair is too big, her lips are too red and her ideas for revenge. handgun barely fits in her tote purse. While Bizarrely and rapidly, the tides have been in the film version Doralee is played by Dolly Parton, the role loses no character with pre- See Musical, Page 17 SHOWS Push” and “Just Like Me/Why?”), Roos- Twist evelt is murdered and Angela dies giving birth to their baby boy named Twist. TICKETS: $45 - $60 The next scene opens up nine years lat- LOCATION: Alliance Theatre er with the number “Between White and Black”. Twist is an orphan who knows DATE: Till Oct. 3, 2010 nothing more of his past. He is sold for a Twist OUR TAKE: «««« « measly two dollars from the orphanage to an undertaker, Crazah Chesterfield. Mr. Chesterfield wants Twist to dance at a fu- By Kristina Sharifi neral he is speaking at. Contributing Writer One of my favorite scenes of the play is when Mr. Chesterfield leaves Twist to sleep Set in New Orleans in 1919, Twist: An in the Coffin Room alone with the dead American Musical tells the tale of “Oliver man. There are no words or lyrics but just Twist” by Charles Dickens in a modern fash- rhythmic music and incredible dancing. ion. This past Sunday, I visited the Alliance The dancers represented ghosts in Twist’s Theater on Peachtree to see the play and was nightmare. The black lights and intricate pleasantly pleased. costumes were unbelievable. The play started promptly at 7:30 p.m. The next day at the funeral, Twist man- with an introduction piece that had the audi- ages to escape. Meanwhile, Lucius is in- ence begging for more. The opening number troduced to the audience. Lucius is Twist’s was “Back by Demand” and in it was two uncle, Angela’s brother. main characters, Boston and Roosevelt. In He goes to see Mr. Prudhomme, Angela’s the next scene, “Love Lives in Everyone,” the lawyer. Lucius is after Angela’s half of the plot of the musical is presented. Roosevelt is inheritance they both received from their known as the “King”. He is the King of Jazz deceased father. Mr. Prudhomme informs and has the moves to prove it. Lucius that Angela’s half of the inheritance In the next scene, we have Roosevelt and (which has tripled) is waiting to be claimed Angela, two lovers. The only problem here is by her son. that Angela is a wealthy white woman, the On the other side of town, Twist runs daughter of a prominent plantation owner, into a boy named Pistol on the streets of and Roosevelt is a black Jazz singer. In the See Twist, Page 16 next three scenes (“Why”, “Breathe and Image courtesy of Alliance Theater 16 • October 1, 2010 • Technique ENTERTAINMENT Twist from page 15 New Orleans. Alice in Chains relives former glory Pistol brings back Twist with CONCERT him to live and work for Boston. Alice in Chains Boston is a bootlegger; it is the 1920’s and Prohibition is intact. PERFORMER: Alice in Chains Act two begins with Twist in LOCATION: Aaron’s court because he was caught with Amphitheatre at Lakewood Boston’s illegal alcohol. Mr. Prud- homme saves Twist and brings DATE: Sept. 28, 2010 him into his own home. While Twist is enjoying his OUR TAKE: «««« « time with wealthy Mr. Prudhom- me, Lucius and Boston are schem- By Alex Kessler ing. Contributing Writer In their musical number “Part- ners in Crime,” they scheme and Since the passing of Layne plot so that Lucius can buy Twist Staley in April 2002, some from Boston and use Twist to get thought that Alice in Chains his sister’s inheritance. would never regain its former glo- In another of my favorite num- ry. On Wednesday, Sept. 28 this bers, “High Cotton,” the whole myth was shattered in a resound- company performs during Mardi ing shockwave of rock and roll Gras in New Orleans. The num- grandeur. ber is very high energy and repre- It was a cool autumn night in sents the climax of the show. the Amphitheater as throngs of As a whole, Twist: An Ameri- grunge rockers filled the air with Photos by Adebola Adedire / Student Publications can Musical was nothing less than cigarette smoke and talk of antici- 15,000 people cheered in unison; er”, “Man in the Box”, “We Die ing consisted of the basic assort- incredible. Director and choreog- pation. Alice in Chains visited At- this is the closest I have ever been Young”, “Again” and “Would?”. ment of spotlights and fog that rapher Debbie Allen did an excel- lanta just a few months ago at the to hearing something as loud as a However, Alice’s current tour usually accompany all concerts. lent job on the musical numbers, Tabernacle but still completely jet taking off. It was most likely is mainly to promote their current However, during one of Deftones’ casting and her rendition of the sold out for the this concert with- the loudest thing I have ever heard album Black Gives Way to Blue. songs the lights flashed on and classic. in days. Aaron’s Amphitheatre at in my life. The new album, the only one thus off fast enough to give someone a Every single one of the musical Lakewood was no different; bod- The curtain collapsed to the far recorded without Layne Staley, small seizure, and it was a bit un- numbers was fantastic, every mu- ies were packed on the lawn all the ground and the grinding guitar remained the focus of their musi- necessary. sical note on key and every dance way to the walls. riff from Alice in Chains’ “Them cal set. I was somewhat disappointed step on beat. Despite the enormous expec- Bones” consumed the amphithe- The new Alice in Chains sound by the lack of stage lasers and The casting of the show was tation for Alice in Chains, open- ater. Everyone went wild. The is just like the old sound, but per- flames, but Alice in Chains’ song also perfectly cast. Mr. Prud- ing act Deftones still managed to electrifying sound could probably haps with a just little more ‘pop’ list more than made up for it. homme’s character is what I imag- draw considerable energy from be heard from miles away. The than gritty ‘grunge’. This change The only thing I could truly ine when I think of a Southern, the crowd. roar of the guitars was so loud is understandable as the age of complain about is that they did wealthy lawyer living in New Or- Even in the lawn section, peo- and saturated that every strum Nirvana and Soundgarden has not play enough of their old songs, leans. ple were jumping and screaming became a physical tremor in your given way to a new decade with which the fans continuously Not only was the casting and for each and every high impact own body. lighter, more melodic music. screamed for. Otherwise the over- music flawless but the back drops song. The concert was already William DuVall sounded al- On the other hand, Alice in all experience was mind-blowing. and stage set up were also perfect- off to a great start as excitement most exactly like the studio al- Chains has made such a signifi- Truly, it felt as though Alice in ly on cue with what was going on pulsated throughout the crowd.