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Entertainment

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Famous duo comes to town

Leslie Escobar
February 23, 2001

Actor Gary Riggs said he’s surprised the play “The Odd Couple” is still funny after so many years. Riggs plays Oscar in The Bath Community Theatre Guild’s presentation of “The Odd Couple” on Friday and Saturday at the James Couzens Memorial Auditorium at Bath Middle School, 13675 Webster Rd. “There’s Oscar, the biggest slob in the world, and Felix, the neatest person in the world, and they live together for about two weeks before they try to kill each other,” director Andy Houghton said of the play. “It’s going to be fun,” he added. Lamont Clegg, information officer for the MSU Department of Theatre and Kresge Art Museum, plays Felix in the show.

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Festival showcases six area high school playwrights

Juliana Keeping
February 23, 2001

The Young Playwrights Festival will commence this Sunday in the Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre, where the creative works of six high school students will be acted out by MSU students.“The plays came to us blind, with just numbers on them,” said theater professor Frank Rutledge, who helped select the plays.

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Student designers bring fashion onto catwalk

Juliana Keeping
February 23, 2001

They just couldn’t let go. Madonna’s decade-spanning fashion grips glued the design duo of Joe Berean and Katie Wiberg together, as the pair re-funktified Madonna-inspired, early 1980s looks for Savoir Faire, the sold-out fashion show put on by the Student Apparel Design Association on Wednesday night. “We tried to make the outfits more progressive, modernized them, and used a lot of inspiration of Dolce & Gabbana,” Wiberg said.

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Play Me a Song

Vince Estes
February 23, 2001

Lansing - If the beer signs, bar stools and clouds of cigarette smoke were the only things inside, this would be like any other bar. But upstairs, Christmas lights are strewn across the walls and the ceiling highlights the straw hut awning, wildlife art and a lonely stuffed parrot. And with the sounds of fast-paced pop songs sung to a piano accompaniment, one gets the feeling this must be the place they call “Margaritaville.” “It’s fun to go with a bunch of guys from work,” said family communication services senior Toby Wollam.

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Film looks at segregation in Hollywood

Vince Estes
February 22, 2001

The Department Of American Thought and Language will present a slice of Hollywood’s past today with a free showing of Otto Preminger’s musical “Carmen Jones.” The film is being shown as part of the department’s African American Film Classics series, which in honor of Black History Month, will continue throughout this semester. “Two years ago I decided it would be good to have a theme,” said Kay Rout, professor of American Thought and Language and chairperson of its media committee. “We want to bring classic films,” she said.

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Accafellas hit perfect note at performance

Dan Woike
February 22, 2001

A near-capacity crowd at the Music Building Auditorium comprised mainly of MSU students, area residents and family members witnessed a display of vocal prowess Tuesday evening. The Accafellas and Capital Green, using their voices for lyrics and instruments, sang eight songs each and provided the audience with an excellent show. The proceeds from the $5 admission charge will help the Accafellas pay for an upcoming trip to Bloomington, Ind., where they will compete in the semifinal round of the International Championships of Collegiate A cappella. The 11-member coed vocal ensemble, Capital Green, opened the show with En Vogue’s harmonious “My Lovin (You’re Never Gonna Get It),” showcasing the range of all six female voices, moving from aggressive, soulful tones to a passive, harmony-driven chorus. Group member and zoology sophomore Angela Brabant said the three-year-old group provides a good way to stay involved with music. “The group gives me a fun way to keep me singing and performing,” Brabant said.

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All the right moves

Aaron M. Miller
February 22, 2001

It’s like a scene from “Dirty Dancing.” She’s across the crowded dance floor when your eyes meet and a tingle runs down your spine. Everyone else seems to disappear as she looks at you, holding you captive with her gaze.

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New all ages venue for local, national bands to display talent

Dan Julian
February 22, 2001

As both a music lover and musician herself, Leslie Donaldson recently decided to do something about the lack of venues in the East Lansing area - promote a music series for both local and national acts.The MSU alumna and fine arts coordinator at the East Lansing Recreation & Arts facility at the Bailey Community Center, 300 Bailey St., will kick off the series at 7 p.m.

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Music critic chooses Grammy favorites

Dan Julian
February 21, 2001

It is time.And in order to mark the special occasion of the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, here are some of my picks for only a few of the 50 awards slated to be given to artists with open arms and teary eyes.I’ve always been a huge supporter of Beck, and really respect how he has progressed as an artist.

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Chili Peppers guitarist solo album offers surprises

Dan Julian
February 21, 2001

John Frusciante To Record Only Water For Ten Days Warner Brothers Recordings When an artist records a solo album, one has to wonder why. Is he looking for a way out of his current band, or is he interested more in simply exploring the boundaries outside of his regular efforts? In John Frusciante’s case, it’s definitely about creating something different than the norm on his third solo effort entitled “To Record Only Water For Ten Days.” The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist does an incredible job with very little on the album, recording his vocals a bit distorted while showing his prowess as a complex and talented songwriter, especially on the epic ballad “The First Season.” Compared to his first two solo albums, 1995’s “Niandra La’Des and Usually Just a T-Shirt” and 1997’s “Smile from the streets you hold,” this album shows a more positive and optimistic Frusciante, exploring more diverse subjects in his intimidating world of immense creativity.

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Get the runway ready

Juliana Keeping
February 21, 2001

MSU’s future trendsetters will showcase their creative talents tonight in “Savoir Faire,” a fashion show designers say is more than the traditional catwalk strut. “Around my models, I’ll have about eight people that will watch them and act really weird, because they’re going to be monkeys wearing masks and throw T-shirts at the audience,” said Melanie Cumming, an apparel and textile design senior said. “I just have them go crazy, and it’s funny.” The MSU Student Apparel Design Association has worked at piecing “Savoir Faire” together since August, and students have acted as creative and promotion artists. “Everyone participated,” Robin Wallace, an apparel textile design senior and SADA president said.

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A capella groups team up for local performace

Aaron M. Miller
February 20, 2001

“I want everybody to look for the vowels,” Phil Johnson told the seven guys standing around him Sunday evening. They began again, each guy’s face showing intense concentration on his task. But it wasn’t an exercise in second-grade grammar - it was rehearsal. “I’m not getting enough first tenor.

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Duo aims to please crowd at E.L. gig

Dan Julian
February 20, 2001

Telecommunication sophomore Jesse Frasure was frustrated back in late 1999 when he was having difficulty finding bandmates who were as focused as him. Then soon after, he found a flier nursing junior Joe Nelson had put up about starting a band.

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Reeves, Theron are semi-sweet in film

Vince Estes
February 19, 2001

It just wouldn’t be February, or any other month, without the obligatory romantic team-up of two hot stars - a movie event that’s actors are enough to cause swooning. Too bad we have to wait a month for Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts in “The Mexican.” For now, we’re stuck with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron in “Sweet November.” Those wondering exactly who this “Reeves” person is should know he is an actor with particularly granite-faced and emotionless features, a method actor with sizable pecks and an impressive ability to stand up straight.

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Barenaked Ladies are back at U

Dan Julian
February 19, 2001

Meshing together alternative, pop and folk in a unique way is something Toronto-based rockers the Barenaked Ladies know how to do quite well.The Canadian rockers will invade Breslin Student Events Center at 7:30 p.m.

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Black silent films restored for festival

By BEN DOBBINS The Associated Press ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Most of the scenes in “A Black Sherlock Holmes,” a silent-film farce made mainly for black audiences in 1918, are obscured by a psychedelic collage of swirls, flashes and bubbles of light. The culprit: nitric acid, a volatile ingredient in movies made before 1951 that corrodes rapidly when exposed to warmth or moistness for years on end. It has left few surviving films from a flourishing period in black cinematography.

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Reporter asks for help to cover issues better

Aaron M. Miller
February 19, 2001

It’s a strange world back here on the MS&U desk: My fingers are fumbling on this ergonomical keyboard, my computer wallpaper displays a magnificent city I don’t even know the name of and when I sit in my chair I face west, which feels very different than the east or south I’m used to.