dailywildcat.com/wildlife
B section
wednesday, april 14, 2010
Wildlife
Steven Kwan Arts Editor 520•621•3106 arts@wildcat.arizona.edu
Not quite enough ‘Razzle Dazzle’
Paul Kolnik/Courtesy of Broadway in Tucson
Brenda Braxton as Velma Kelly and company in a performance of “All That Jazz.”
All-star cast makes a trip to ‘Chicago’ rewarding; minimal staging disappoints By Emily Moore Arizona Daily Wildcat
would make Fosse proud. Some of the numbers were extremely entertaining.“Cell Block Tango”had the audience roaring with laughter as each woman on murderess row kept adding their comical, sexually suggestive tweaks to their monologues, from squeaky voices to hip thrusts to high kicks. MacLeod brought a lot of energy to“I Can’t Do It Alone”with her authentic, sassy vaudevillian dancing. O’Hurley’s Flynn was as snarky as ever. His windpipes were polished and impressive. The sound that came out of O’Hurley was very unexpected because he conveyed a sense of experience with his controlled vocals. He greatly embodied Flynn. Carol Woods played Matron“Mama” Morton and had a stage presence that was larger than life. Her chops would make anyone jealous. In the song“Class,”Woods and MacLeod kept the audience laughing with their tidbits of profanity. Amos Hart, played by Tom Riis Farrell,
Greed, treachery, adultery and murder. All appeared on the Tucson Community Center stage last night for the opening of “Chicago the Musical.” “Chicago”follows Roxie Hart, the wife of an auto mechanic and played by Bonnie Langford, who fools around with furniture seller Fred Casely (Brent Heuser), and murders him when he tries to leave the relationship. Roxie then enters“murderess row,”where the prisoners are known for killing their husbands and lovers. There she meets Velma Kelly (Terra C. MacLeod) who then introduces Roxie to the smarmy lawyer Billy Flynn (John O’Hurley). He plans to spin Roxie’s upcoming trial in her favor, but Roxie has other ideas in mind. The musical opened with MacLeod performing the number“All That Jazz,” one of the show’s most memorable songs. Kelly was joined by other scantily clad vaudeville dancers moving in a way that
thick with Canadian accent, elicited more sympathy than his movie counterpart. He won over the audience’s“Harts”with his lonely act and jazz-handed“Mister Cellophane.” Unfortunately, the cast was not helped with the staging, which was bland and monochromatic. There were few props and no set changes. Lighting was used to dramatize the actors, and the stage occasionally adding fuchsia and red into the dark theatre. With only lighting and a few props, it was difficult to keep track of the scene changes. The show moved too fast and the set changes led to some confusion. It was hard to tell when the scenes changed or where certain acts took place. When Roxie shoots Fred, it appeared to happen in the nightclub during“All that Jazz,”when in reality it happened at Hart’s place. There were also no costume changes. All the chorus members who played characters from reporters to judges, stayed in their mesh tops and fishnets. It was
difficult to take them seriously. When an actress was killed from the 18-member cast, she would reappear onstage minutes later. The overlap became distracting. Overall the dancing was quite impressive, from the man-splits to the renditions of the Charleston. Confetti and disco balls also helped top off the“razzledazzle”show. Although the dancing was impressive throughout the show, it got a little sloppy toward the end. When Kelly and Hart performed“Hot Honey Rag,”the two seemed a little off synch. The orchestra stuck out like a sore thumb since it was placed dead center in the only“set”of the show. Occasionally the actors would interact with the orchestra incorporating them into the scene. The show was entertaining, but not quite convincing. The all-star cast made it worthwhile, yet without the support of the sets and costumes, the show fell a little flat. In the words of Billy Flynn,“That’s Chicago.”
Photo courtesy of Broadway in Tucson
John O’Hurley as Billy Flynn in “Chicago the Musical.”
IF YOU GO
Chicago the Musical Runs until Sunday Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Visit www.broadwayintucson.com or call 1-800-745-3000 for tickets
Free zombie games to spice up your life By Jason Krell Arizona Daily Wildcat
INSIDE
Illustration by Ken Wright/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Zombies love to eat our brains, and we sure love to kill them, but what can you do when you have a“kill zombies” itch that must be scratched? Well, the answer is simple — and lecturefriendly — for those who don’t feel like paying attention to their professors. Armorgames.com has one of the biggest collections of free zombie games, which span across many genres. There are shooter, arcade, role-playing and strategy games to choose from. But, with so many options available, how do you know which ones are worth your time? That’s what I’m here for. “The Last Stand 2” is an excellent game for anyone who wants a simple yet entertaining shooter. Your overall goal is to travel from your home city — which has been overrun by zombies — to a safe stronghold. The controls are simply to point and click to shoot, but you can customize each game. Usable weapons, range from a classic shotgun to a chainsaw, each change the way you play. As you catch your breath between each wave of zombies, you can search for other survivors to fight with you. It isn’t too difficult at first, but if you
don’t get the hang of it early, the zombies will overwhelm you in the later rounds. “Infectonator! World Dominator”is probably the simplest game on the list, but it’s also one of the most entertaining. You must infect the inhabitants of various cities around the globe until zombies are able to overrun the world. To do this, you pick your city, and a handful of 8-bit people will scurry around the screen as representatives of that city’s population. Then, you click on a spot to drop a bomb that will turn them into zombies. These zombies will then chase down healthy people and try to infect them before decaying into nothing. If you manage to infect or kill the entire city, you can move to the next one. If not, you have to try again. It sounds tedious, but each city is harder than the last, and there are upgrades to make things more interesting. Surprisingly, this game could last the longest since there are plenty of cities and a good part of the game is based on luck. “Boxhead More Rooms”is another straightforward game, but it is actually pretty tough.You are a simple man facing zombies, who pour slowly through doorways and try to kill you. In the beginning, you are only armed with a pistol, but there aren’t many zombies. You have to build high combos by
Lights, camera, action
killing zombies quickly in order to unlock more weapons. That way, when hordes of zombies attack later, you can mow them down without too much trouble. It sounds easy, right? Well, it’s not so easy to unlock the high-tier weapons, and that’s the only way to survive. If you can live long enough to get some of them, you might actually beat it. To be honest, I don’t even know if there is a final level, since I certainly haven’t gotten close. “Sonny”and“Sonny 2”are probably the most complex but best zombie flash games available. It’s a turn-based role playing game about a man who wakes up as a zombie without any recollection of how it happened. While the story doesn’t sound too original, the main focus of the game is the fighting, which includes a complex and diverse ability system that can make each playthrough radically different. The sequel takes it even further and adds three class options to customize the game. It does get a little hard and takes some“grinding”to level-up your characters, but even real RPGs have that quality. In the end, beating this game will probably leave gamers the most satisfied because it actually has a compelling story and the most interesting game play.
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International film festival returns to Tucson
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