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wednesday, october ,
New Wave classics crash into The Loft By Alex Gendreau Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Justyn Dillingham Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
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‘Anne Frank’ a winner INSIDE Local band makes debut Moore a chore in new flick
Photo courtesy of fan-de-cinema.com
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The French are invading Tucson this month at the Loft Cinema with four must-see French New Wave films every week. “New Wave a Go-Go,” the Loft’s French film series, encompasses 50 years of “quasi-experimental French films,” Loft representative Jeff Yanc said. Four diverse films will adorn the Loft’s screen every Wednesday during the month of October, as a tribute to the zany genre. The New Wave film movement became a blanket term among critics describing certain French filmmakers’ characteristics in the 1950s and ’60s. “New Wave is a lot different than what was happening in Hollywood in the ’50s and ’60s,”Yanc said.“They have a lot of jazz influence, really interesting editing and weird songs that pop up throughout the films.” The first of the series, “The 400 Blows,” is marking its 50th anniversary this year, giving film aficionados and The Loft a reason to celebrate. Directed by Francois Truffaut, “The 400 Blows” is considered ground zero of the genre. The semi-autobiographical film tells the story of Antoine Doinel, a troublemaker NEW WAVE, page B8
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From left to right: Esau Hislope, Sarah K. Smith, Celia Madeoy, Brad Kula, Ryan DeLuca, David Yarnelle, Tim Fitzsimmons, Nikisha McFall, Trish Everett and Claire Buchignan run through a rehearsal on Monday in Centennial Hall of ‘The Laramie Project,’ a play by Moisés Kaufman about the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo. The play will show on Monday, Oct. 12, in Centennial Hall at the UA.
Community members aim for social change in ‘Laramie Project’ By Alex Gendreau Arizona Daily Wildcat
On Oct. 12, Centennial Hall will open its doors to the public as a call to meet and deal with the issues of our time through the art of theater. “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,” is a play that reflects on the repercussions of the hate crime against Matthew Shepard and will have its international premiere on Monday evening. For one night, members of the UA community are encouraged to crowd into Centennial Hall to honor Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old, gay student who was killed in Laramie, Wyo., on Oct. 12, 1998. “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” is the brainchild of the Tectonic Theatre Company in New York City, who also wrote and produced the original Laramie Project. UApresents immediately latched on to the
idea when the Tectonic Theatre Company released a call for other theatres to partner with them. Several hundred theaters around the world also decided to jump on the bandwagon. However, unlike other theaters, UApresents required that “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later”be kept free and open to the Tucson community. Yet they had another hurdle, trying to find someone to direct and cast a show. But, when it came down to finding someone who could help them achieve their goal they could only think of one department. “Yes, we want to do it. We want to be on board,” said Bobbi McKean, associate director for the School of Theatre Arts and the director of “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.”“They were the ones who called us which was fabulous.” McKean said this is the first time the School of Theatre Arts has teamed with
UApresents to put on a production. “We love to collaborate with UApresents as often as we can,” McKean said. “But usually it is with bringing a guest speaker to our students. This is the first time we actually collaborated on a show.” As soon as the plans were solidified, McKean hit the ground running. “It’s been a work in progress,” McKean said. And she isn’t kidding. The stakes were high, with 10 cast members playing a multitude of roles and a revised script from the Tectonic Theatre Company that arrived only a week before the show, combined with the hope of bringing about a social transformation for all who come to see it. Tim Fitzsimmons, interdisciplinary studies senior and cast member of “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later,” says he read the LARAMIE, page B8
was born in ’88, which hardly qualifies me as an“‘80s Man,”but because I have parents I was necessarily raised on classic rock. It was thus that I entered the 30th Anniversary KLPX Fest with optimism this Sunday at the Pima County Fairgrounds and, despite a lackluster start, left with a sufficiently melted face. First to take the stage — around 1:30 p.m. — was Great White, a hair-metal and blues rock band notorious for playing Zeppelin covers and belting out quintessentially ’80s make-out ballads. Perhaps it was the fact that the crowd at the Fairgrounds was either too slim or too sober, but Great White’s array of power chords and drug references were met with only mild enthusiasm, even when playing their smash hit“Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” Pockets of the crowd were noticeably affected by that ballad of ballads “Save Your Love,” specifically the peppy cowboy in front of me who did the boot-scoot boogie while volunteering unintelligible tidbits about marijuana brownies, but overall the crowd remained COMMENTARY docile through the introductory set. By Brandon Specktor “Round and Round” arts writer composers Ratt were slated to perform next, but the band canceled, citing an illness, and Eddie Money picked up the slack. Again, being born only on the cusp of the ’80s, it would be disingenuous for me to say that Eddie Money isn’t what he used to be — but judging by the singer’s offhand references to serving DUI sentences,“standing on (his) head” and hanging out with the boys from Great White“three rehabs ago”during inter-song banter, I needn’t say more. Money opened unexpectedly with one of his biggest hits,“Two Tickets to Paradise,” throwing the crowd off and inspiring a half-hearted sing-along while doing labored heel spins and parodic pelvic gyrations. The crowd became progressively more engaged as the set dug into his catalog with hits like “Take Me Home Tonight” and“Shakin’,” finally getting a huge ovation for “Baby Hold On.” As the aggregate substance abuse of the crowd intensified, so did their enthusiasm. By the time War took the stage at sunset, patrons were swaying to “The Cisco Kid,” singing ebulliently along to a heavily ad-libbed version of “Spill the Wine”and initiating impromptu dance parties over a hyper-extended, solo-laden version of“Low Rider”that included covers of Black Sabbath’s“Iron Man”and Santana’s“Black Magic Woman.”The seven musicians delivered a groovy mesh of soul, jazz and blues instrumentation while singer Lonnie Jordan painted stoner-y retrospectives of the ’70s, eliciting boisterous cheers at every mention of drugs, Vietnam, or pop culture in general. The final set I stuck around for was Styx, who I had seen once before at the AVA amphitheater with marked satisfaction. When they charged the stage and opened with a blaring, distorted rendition of“Miss America,”the crowd around me erupted and I instantly appreciated the merits of the fairgrounds as a venue over the regimented seating chart of the casino. With golden locks dancing in the wind, trickedout synth spinning on a 360-degree pedestal and a full moon rising triumphantly behind the stage while the band kicked out hits like“Fooling Yourself,”“Suite Madame Blue”and even an epic cover of“I Am the Walrus,”the set was an ethereal, unstoppable, rocker’s fantasy. Keyboardist Lawrence Gowan demanded full audience participation during“Come Sail Away,”and the crowd gladly obliged. After the encore of“Blue Collar Man”and the incendiary“Renegade,”Styx sailed away to ongoing cheers from the ecstatic audience. Despite the slow start, KLPX Fest was an anniversary celebration like no other — enough to make this non-eighties boy dream of a time not too long passed, if only for a few hours.