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The Barb 5
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Theatre
I have been an admirer
of Phil and Nancy Erickson
and their Wit’s End Players
since I first came to At
lanta. “Tales of Love or
One Dollar Per. Version” is
the first time I have seen
them since they moved
from their own theatre to
the Empire Suite Dinner
Theatre at the Sheraton-
Biltmore. I have always en
joyed their unique variety
of political - sexual -social
satire, and have found them
consistently above average.
I am sorry to say,
though, that while the ma
terial is still as funny as
ever, the Wit’s End show
doesn’t seem to fit in the
rather elegant (I use the
word loosely) atmosphere
of the Empire Suite. Part
of the joy of a Wit’s End
show had always been the
very lack of any particular
elegance. Ah well, enough
said.
Phil and Nancy are, as
ever, wonderful. My fav
orite bit is a song about
the Rockefellers, song,
ironically, “Rockefeller,
cleft for me...” Nancy
stood out in a terribly cute
sketch about beauty
pageants (as Miss Makem),
singing a song about all the
“Misses” she been: Miss
. Connection (for Delta Air
lines),” “Miss Conception
(Planned Parenthood),”
“MissDial (MaBell),” and
loads more.
Sally Street, who has
been with Wit’s End since
its conception, does her
usual bang-up joo in just
about everything; Terry
Turner was good in a
dirty-old-man sketch; Gin-
ny Parker was cute and
perk, but whs required .to
do a straight version* of
“Alice Blue Gown” that
seemed very out of place
in a Wit’s End show.
Other critics in the
media have taken the Wit’s
End Players to task in their
columns for not hitting hard
enough. I find now, as I al
ways have, that Wit’s End
humour is soft; and it needs
to be. They are not Ace
Trucking Company, and to
try to be would be not only
sad, but possibly fatal.
“Tales of Love” runs
Tuesday through Thursday
evenings at- 9:00 p.m., and
Friday and Saturdays at
9:00 and 11:15 p.m. See this
show. I’m sure you will en
joy the whacky exploits of
the Wit’s End Players.
So who am I to criticize.
Those of us in the media
who fashion ourselves
“critics” or “reviewers”
(and there is a difference!)
are often asked to justify
our existences, are dished
for not praising lavishly
enough, or are considered
ignorant, fools for not con
demning everything out of
hand.
I suppose I consider my
self more of an expert on
the things I write about
than the ordinary person. I
have spent years as an ac
tive participant in both
theatre and writing, and
that should count for some
thing. I enjoy my work,
seeing shows and trying to
analyze, as best I can, their
artistic worth. I have to
view the things I see on the
basis of my personal,
opionated artistic vision. I
view criticism as one of
the most constructive out
lets for the Arts, in this
case, Theatre.
So, we come to “the
State of Theatre,” in At
lanta, particularly, but, I
suspect throughout Ameri
ca. Whither Theatre, At
lanta? While Atlanta is far
from a theatrical waste
land, it isn’t exactly para
dise, either. We have
either the over-produced,
slick productions of the
Barbara Eden
right-wing companies (e.g.,
Alliance Theatre Company,
Theatre of the Stars) or
the under-produced, self-
indulgent work of groups
such as Kelly’s Seed and
Feed Theatre.
Perhaps I am not ob
jective enough to write
about Kelly’s. Last spring
they totally destroyed, I
think, and early master
piece of the German poet-
play wright Bertolt Brecht,
who happens to be my fav
orite dramatist. “Baal”
(pronounced in their pro
duction “Ball”) had, up
until that time, been to me
one of Brecht’s most in-
triuging works. After see
ing that production, I think-
ed the Gods that the mas
ter was dead and in his
grave, so that, fortunately,
he was unable to see his
work so vulgarly raped.
On the right side of the
sepctrum, we have last
season’s Alliance Theatre
production of “Dracula,” a
production so pretentiously
encased in huge and stifl
ing trappings that the play
(and there wasn’t much of
one to begin with) never
could burst through. Every -
by Eric Cushman Moore
one, I imagine, has seen
the film once. Perhaps
that is why I so hated the
Alliance production. The
director (note the use of
lower case, and be aware
that I use the term EX
TREMELY loosely) decided
that the truly camp thing
to do would be to try and
make the play look and
sound like a 1930’s film. He
apparently forgot that the
stage has a magic all of its
own, and that (particularly
on the Alliance stage) it is
virtually impossible to
bring a story as close to
an audience as it possible
in films. So we had Phil
Pleasants doing great Bela
lugosi-like close-up
poses, but couldn’t see
them. The result was a
total disaster, the kind of
production I am ashamed
to admit I saw, and that I
was even more ashamed
to take out-of-town guests
too.
So, here we are, at the
beginning of a new Theatre
season. Things don’t look
too hopeful, at least for
the kind of inter-wing (a
melding of the extremes
of the left and right-wing
elements in Atlanta) theatre
I would like to see. Kelly’s
will probably continue to
writhe and moan, and Al
liance will probably con
tinue' to bore us. And, as
ever, the theatre lovers
will put up with it because
it is the only theatre we
have. It is about time, At
lanta for a theatrical rev
olution. When will it hap
pen?
Clubs
ever seen. The whole even
ing *was one helluva trip.
I can’t ever remember be-
ing so transfixed in a
nightclub. He played and
played and played, and the
audience still hadn’t had
enough. And when he
brought out his back-up vo
calists, WOW! I can hardly
describe what happened.
Suffice it to say, that it was
a marvelous show. Special
note to friends Randy and
Erica: Your presence made
it all the better!
Schedule for the next few
weeks at the Venetian Room
includes: Glen Yarborough
through Nov. 5; Sergio
Mendes and Brazil “77,
Nov. 6-16; Patti Page, Nov.
18-26; Miss Peggy Lee,
Nov. 27-Dec 7; and Diana
Trask, Dec. 9-17.
Miss Peggy Lee
Hot on the heels, of their
success with Daphne Davis
(see FFFortissimo, -Oct.
74) SCORE ONE engaged
fabulous “Frisco Follies.”
The “Follies” represent
the art of female im
personation taken to its
most extravagant end. The
costumes were superb.
There was also an ex
cellent balance of solo and
ensemble work. Show di
rector .Jamie Edward’s
opening number, in which
he donned eyes, makeup
and sang “I Enjoy Being A
Girl,” was* great. Froggie’s
Totie Fields was also a
favorite. Atlantans were so
impressed with this group
that they were held over
for two weeks. Thanks
again, SCORE ONE, for
bringing us such fabulous
entertainment-y , ,
Want to rap?
Cali the gay
help-linein
Atlanta: |
874-4400 SI
It has been a hectic
month on the plub scene.
Your very tired, overwork
ed critic had almost more
than he could handle, but
most of what I saw was
great.
Thank God for the open
ing of the Venetian Room at
the Fairmont Colony Square
Hotel. They have had con
sistently good, big-name
entertainment, since open
ing at the beginning of Sep
tember.
Barbara Eden surprised
me. All I could think of
before seeing her act were
those big blinking eyes. “I
Dream of Jeanne” made
her, and to a certain ex
tent is still a great part of
her appeal, but can that
woman sing! There really
wasn’t much else that she
did, but she was excellent.
She knows how to sing, has
breath control that would
make Streisand sit up and
take notice, and a very in
formal style that was quite
disarming. I particularly
enjoyed “Being Green”
from television’s “Sesame
Street,” and also a sexy
version of “I Feel The
Earth Move.”
Mr. Ray Charles, in At
lanta? About time, honey!
His act is one of the best
instrumental acts I have
Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson
And Ray Charles