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 food. 24 SEPTEMBER, 1998

spectal
Cheap 'n Tasty Series: Part 1

La Casita Restaurant 2755 BROADWAY (AT 106TH) 212.663.2811

by Larry Haber

La Casita Restaurant, located at West
106th Street and Broadway, offers a subtle
mix of traditional Cuban flavors in a homey
atmosphere. Founded in 1990 by Cuban-born
New Yorker Rey Suarez, the restaurant has
attained a steady following of regular cus-
tomers who enjoy its casual, family-style set-
ting.
The variety of foods on the menu is as
eclectic as the room's decorations, from the
stained glass lamps hanging from the ceiling
to the family pictures adorning the walls. The
combination of children playing and locals
bantering fills the air with constant chatter.
On top of this, the juke box plays classic
CASITA
LA
Motown hits and Latin artists such as Julio
OF Iglesias and Carlos Yieves. Anyone looking
vor, reminiscent of plain mashed potatoes, and was surprisingly filling. The sweet plantain
offered a contrast between the subtle flavor of the meat and the sweetness of the fried
fruit.
The beverage selection was decent. Many regular customers come in to sit at the
counter for a cup of coffee (a steal at $.50) or glass of wine. The beer selection, however,
was lacking. They only served Budweiser, Corona or Malta India. The tropical fruit
shakes ($2.50) came in many flavors such as papaya, mango, pineapple and banana. I tried
a "Morir Sonando," ($2.50) which was a mix of orange juice, milk, sugar, and ice. My wait-
ress, Mamita, informed me that the drink was a sure-fire way to prevent a hangover.
The desserts were traditional Latin dishes. La Casita offers flan ($1.10), dulce de leche
(sweet milk $1.25), pan de maiz (corn muffins, $1.00), and my personal favorite, arroz con
leche (rice in a soupy mixture of milk and sugar, $1.25).
The prices at La Casita are generally affordable. Certain seafood dishes, however, such
as the lobster enchilada, can reach as high as $20.00. The paella is expensive as well, for
one person it costs $17.00. ($2B for two.) Bring cash because they do not take credit cards.
Food from the steam tables arrives within a few minutes of ordering. Dishes such as
the lobster or paella, however, can take up to a half hour, according to a regular customer.

COURTESY
for a quiet, romantic dinner might want to try
another restaurant, because La Casita is for
the more outgoing diner.
PHOT The food is traditional Cuban cuisine. The
meat dishes are not heavily spiced, but rather,
the cheflets the natural flavor of the meat take over. The carneguisada (beef stew, $6) was
excellent The meat was tender and juicy and reminiscent of my own mother's cooking.
The rabo (ox tail, $6), tasted similar to the beef stew, but was not quite as flavorful. The
chicken with onions ($6) was so moist that it almost fell off the bone.
Vegetarians, and especially vegans, might have a hard time eating at La Casita because
meat and seafood dishes dominate the menu. There are, however, a variety ofrice and
bean dishes. I found the white rice with beans to be a delicious side dish. Others might
enjoy the more traditional Spanish rice, which unfortunately was not as spicy as usual, but
tasty none the less.
Yucca and sweet plantain add exciting flavors to the dishes. The yucca had a mild fla-
The real treat, however, is not in the arroz con leche, but rather in the service. My wait-
ress, who told me to call her Mamita, greeted the regular customers with a hug and a kiss
on the cheek. Every time she passed by she patted me on the shoulder an asked if every-
thing was all right.
Those looking for a place to practice their Spanish could learn a lot at La Casita. While
I was dining, two older men sat down and ordered in what little Spanish they knew. The
waitress loved it, and every time she came back to their table they conversed a little more.
If you decide to eat at La Casita, and feel particularly adventurous, I suggest trying the
arroz con calamares (rice with squid, $6.00), platano relleno (stuffed plantain, $4.50), or
the escabeche (pickled king fish, $8.00).
La Casita gets my seal of approval. It is worth the walk because it is different than any
of the restaurants found immediately outside of the Columbia gates. The service is lively,
the atmosphere is funky, and the food is tasty and filling. Go there and see for yourself.

Part 2:

by Nazli Parvizi
Spo nbread To 36 WEST 1 0TSHRE T(BETWE N COLUMBUS & MANHAT AN) 21 .865.674
Tucked away between Columbus and Manhattan
Avenues on 110th Street is perhaps the most overlooked
restaurant in the Columbia University area. Miss Mamie's
Spoonbread Too opened last december and offers a vari-
ety of Southern and world cuisine. MisS Mamie was the
fearless mother that inspired her two daughters, Norma
Jean and Carole Darden, to travel to the South and gather
their family recipes into a cookbook, Spoonbread and
Strawberry Wine. Inspired by the book and the recipes,
many of which reflect on her mother's traveling and love
of world cuisine, Norma Jean Darden decided to open up
her own restuarant. What has resulted is a charming
restaurant which serves hearty portions of home-cooked
meals.
The restaurant is small and immaculate, it is made up
of a single dining room area with a front counter where
desserts are displayed and one can order take-out. The
restaurant looks like a country kitchen with a red and
white checkered floor, local folk art, and family pictures
decorating the walls, and a small red piano in one corner.
The voice of Ella Fitzgerald circulating through the room
almost makes one forget that they are still in the city.
Despite the cozy atmosphere, it is the delicious food
that really draws people in here. A tour through the
kitchen can show you why: fresh vegetables everywhere,
cornbread in the oven, and collard greens cooking down
nice and slow.
The menu features classic "soul food" dishes such as
smothered chicken ($8.50) and country fried chicken
($8.50), with a perfectly spiced crust and tender meat
underneath. All entrees come with a choice of two of the
fabulous side dishes; my favorites are the baked macaroni
and cheese, which I like to eat with a few dashes of the hot
pepper sauce provided on the table, and the sweet pota-
toes, baked with a topping of brown sugar and cinnamon.
My companion swore by the authentic taste of the col-
lard greens and the red beans and rice. The side dishes
receives. The service is cheerful and attentive and most
days will find the lovely Ms. Darden behind the counter
greeting her customers.
The restaurant does a lot of take-out and also delivers,
though I think the food is better enjoyed when it comes to
you steaming hot from the kitchen. There are usually
lunch specials such as fried whiting fish sandwich served
with a side of macaroni salad ($4.95). Prices for entrees
range from $7.95 for the meatloaf to $10.95 for the ribs,
though most entrees run about $8.50. Credit cards are not
accepted.
Spoonbread is open seven days a week from 12:00pm
to 11:00pm; live jazz is featured every Monday evening, no
cover charge.
Other possible starters are the changing varieties of
soup of the day ($2.50), Miss Mamie's vegetable gumbo
($3.00), or fresh garden salad ($1.95). I've had the carrot
soup before when I was sick with a cold and it was so
soothing and delicious.
There are also several amazingly good dishes which
deviate from traditional southern food and pay homage to
Miss Mamie's years oftraveling and trying different types
of food. I had the curry chicken which was several juicy
pieces of chicken smothered in a tasty curried gravy. For
those not brave enough to try Uncle CL's "falling of the
bone" short ribs of beef, rest assured that daily specials
such as baked whiting or grilled swordfish with lemon
caper butter are featured to satisfy the calorie counters.
My meal was rounded out with a piece of the coconut
pineapple cake ($2.50); I normally hate icing but this cake
has the best icing, creamy and not too sweet, and is
topped with shaved coconut. The homemade cobbler
($3.00), made with fruit in season, is always a great bet
too. I had the cake with some cold Spoonbread punch
($2.00) which is served in a handled jar and is a brew of
spices and fruit juices. A piece of chocolate cake and the

2
can also be ordered on their own ($1.95) and are a great
option for vegetarians. Before the food came out we were
served a few hunks of hot cornbread though the name-
sake of the restaurant, spoonbread (more of a corn pud-
ding), can be had as well. '
punch are reason alone to come sit alone with a book on a
rainy afternoon.
Spoonbread Too is a fabulous restaurant which
deserves much more attention from the student popula-
tion. The prices are fair, especially for the portions one
24 September, 1998 spectacle

art.
A Soho Afternoon
By

Daniele Sahr

To many, a Saturday afternoon in Soho implies a relaxing few hours filled with some of the usual Soho activities lunch at a small and
unquestionably trendy corner restaurant, careless (yet expensive) strolls in and out of various minimally stocked stores, and an occasional pass-
ing glance into the window of an overly assuming gallery. More often than not we turn our thoughts back out to the street and shuffle onto our
next stop, failing to realize that within the gallery an artist is trying to make his or her place in cultural history.
Soho is known for being a birthplace of up and coming art. When an artist's work makes it to Wooster or Greene Street one might think,
"Wow, they've made it." But the fact is they haven't made it at all. Only one step has been achieved—a gallery owner has seen their work and
considered it worthy of public exposure and potentially profitable. The question that remains is who will actually survive beyond the Soho
gallery? Which of these artists are making bold enough and intriguing enough statements that their art will last beyond our present times?
If you happened to be in the neighborhood this weekend you might have come across a few of the latest art endeavors. Basilico Fine Arts
at 26 Wooster street offers an exhibit called Deep Thought in which most of the works were created in the past year such as Bonnie Collura's
Model for a Quarter Ride. It is difficult to infer from the work's title that the piece is a foam and plaster deformed green head with a key stuck
through it. Hard to imagine that this might last through the coming ages as one of the great works of the 20th century, along with Picasso's
Demoiselles D'Avignon. Then again, many laughed at Picasso when he was still in his "Soho" stages of public renown.
So it seems that those of us living alongside the artist ultimately cannot decide who is making an important contribution to society. Art crit-
ics and connoisseurs perhaps come the closest to telling the future as they analyze and theorize over artists' works, but even they have been
known to make mistakes. And if society as a whole does not accept the art, a few experts' words will mean nothing.
If art depends on later generations to establish its everlasting greatness, then many postmodern artists are in quite a bind. As art has moved
beyond the canvas and beyond marble rock, it has also become less permanent. At the Jack Tilton Gallery, 49 Greene street, this very problem
exists. An artist named Xu Bing has made an installation called Giant Panda. From the street a smell draws you in to find a large cage full of
grass and bamboo plants. He has placed a sign like the ones used at a zoo
in front showing a picture of a giant panda and giving an extensive descrip-
tion of the animal. Naturally, one expects to look inside the cage and see
a panda, but instead the viewer is faced with two black and white pigs. No
matter how great an idea Xu Bing may or may not have, his art is tempo-
rary. Once he dies, what will happen? No one can buy it or auction it off.
In order to experience it again, someone has to recreate the installation. If
the artist must depend on time and further generations to deem his great-
ness, he also has to hope that written records of his work are kept accu-
rately and that people will be willing to make the effort to get themselves
a cage, a sign, and two pigs.
But if we continue on the gallery tour, we find an artist who address-
es this problem and makes the issue an active part ofhis work. At the Pace
Wildenstein Gallery at 142 Greene street, Sol LeWitt exhibits two of his
wall drawings. These are "paintings" which he maps out, like the architect
GIANT PAMDA who draws the plans for a building, and which a different set of people then
Photo courtesy of Jack Tilton Gallery, 49 Greene Street, Mew paint onto the wall according to LeWitt's instructions. Everybody involved gets their
York, MY name acknowledged, and thus, each person plays the role ofartist almost as much as Sol
LeWitt himself. Eventually these wall paintings will have to be painted over white for the
next Pace Wildenstein show. So again, the art lasts a fleeting moment, but this time Sol
LeWitt has incorporated this problem into the work. For in the end, his plans which will
continue to exist are an official part of the art; the wall drawing is not subject to possible
erroneous recreations as a result of badly written descriptions. And when he is no longer
puja butail with us, it will not matter that another's hand painted the wall since that was the whole
point from the beginning.
We viewers now and of future generations do play a crucial role in making some
murnick artists last and others disappear. And now, some of these post modernists are making
the process even trickier. So next time you go for a relaxing Soho afternoon, give the
galleries more than just a glimpse through the window. Somewhere in there sits the
future of our culture.

Xu Bing's installation runs through October 10.

The Deep Thought II exhibit lasts through October 10.

IS. .

SPECTAL ■H

HHttkatie
Pmur harris
Kaplan
homin k. lee
skibinski
Gkcolleen roh jf
Deep Thought II Installation View
Photo courtesy of Basilico Fine Arts, 26 Wooster Street,
Mew York, MY 3
 music. 24 SEPTEMBER, 1998

spectal The Death and

Rebirth of a Few
Minor Rock Stars by
With hooks that rival t lose of the Gallagher brothers and hair-dos that could
kick Jarvis Cocker's butt iny day, the Candyskins are one of Britain's most capa- katie skibinski
ble, energetic, and inexpl cably unknown pop bands.
Just ask your older si )lings, who might remember the college radio expo-
sure the band received f>r 1991's "Space I'm In." After spending a few years
playing the field with a handful of labels (and enduring a particularly difficult
breakup with Geffen), th<: band has finally settled down with New York's Velvel
Records and, with the rel ;ase of Death of a Minor TV Celebrity, they're ready to
check back in with Ameican fans old and new. Here's what singer/guitarist
Nick Cope had to say ab )ut international affairs, business ethics, and playing Spectacle: Which places in the
pop music. U.S. are you looking forward to visit-
ing the most" NC: There's a lot of places where
Spectacle: You guys will be we've done very well, but we haven't
touring America soon, but —
Spectacle: Is it difficult trying to please two different fan bases ever been there. Atlanta is one of those
with the exception of one New (in the states and in the U.K.)? How do fans differ, U.S. vs. U.K.? places, so is Seattle. So I'm interested to
York date last month—you see how we're received there. I dunno,
haven't been here in about NC: We weren't really sure who was When we head back to America, I'll be I want to go anywhere and everywhere,
still out there as far as America was con- interested to see what the turnout is like. really I'm looking forward to spending
four years. What have you

,
been doing back home? cerned. But at the New York show a few We talked to some people in American some serious time in San Francisco.

<
weeks ago, we got there and there were radio who were a little hesitant to hear our 'That's one of the places we've liked, but
NC: We've just been g< tting 50 or 60 people lined up outside the door new record because they thought it we've i never really had more than an
our act together, really. Ret ently just to see us. And it had hardly been wouldn't be as good as our old ones. And hour of free time there.

we've been touring and pr >mot-
ing for the new album. But after
Geffen, which was quite some
time ago now, we were pi tting
out singles on a smaller abel,
and it seems that more and
more people were picking is up
and knew who we were. And
now we've signed to V;lvel.
We've worked really hard ind it
;
]
advertised at all; just one tiny little ad in they then came back and said this one is,
the Voice. So it's nice to see that. I guess in fact, better than the others. So hopeful-
people sort of had us in their record col- ly that feeling will carry across the board
lections from a few years ago and said with other fans.
"Oh, the Candyskins are playing. I Here [in the U.K.], unlike America,
remember them." So that was nice. In bands tend to just get forgotten. It's diffi-
England, it's mainly newer fans, plus a rult to make it in the U.K. because of the
very few who know us from our old press and whatnot, which is so unlike the
records. U.S., where you just have to stay together,
it seems, for people to remember you.

seems to be coming ilong

;

rather nicely now.

Spectacle: The first sentence of
the bio on your Web Site mentions
the Candyskins' "escape from clutch-
es of Geffen records" in 1993. What
does a record company have to do to
develop "clutches"?
NC: [laughs] Oh, many, many things, really. It was a really strange time. We were supposed to record our third album
for them, and they had committed to that. But then they decided they wanted to back out, and according to the contract
they had to use the money on us somehow. So they took our record and stuck it on a shelf somewhere. Basically they gave
us the money and we walked away. It's so strange when lawyers and the like get involved in your music because they're
such hard-nosed businessmen.

Spectacle: You've worked with a bunch

of different labels in the past seven or so
years, indie and major, American and
British. Has jumping from label to label
affected your record-making process?

NC: After the Geffen thing, we could

do what we wanted to do, which was
great. We recorded 15 songs and
released them. Now, we're signed to
Velvel, and we sort of decided to do
something that would really please us.
And Velvel has been really great. It's
good to feel like we're a priority again.
They seemed to have faith in us and
signed us without really hearing rr> ch in
the way of songs ahead of time. 1 .ey're
an indie label, but they seem to have the
resources and the mechanics to carry it
out.

Spectacle: You're from Oxford, along

with Supergrass and Radiohead. How
coherent is the music scene there? Would
you lump the Candyskins in the same cat-
egory as those bands, stylistically, whatev-
er?
NC: There's not much of a "scene"
because there are so many different
styles of music. It seems that if you
become successful, you get lumped
into the "Oxford scene." It's strange,
because it's a very small place, but
there are actually lots of bands mov-
ing here because they hear that
Spectacle: Like a British Seattle.
NC: Sort of, yes. They just come here
looking for the A&R guys. And because
Radiohead is here, there are a lot of
bands that sound like Radiohead, but I
don't think that's too different from
Liverpool or anywhere else.
Spectacle: The Candyskins are quite a
poppy band. There are lots of great pop
bands out these days, like Superdrag and the Spectacle: Yeah, their last
Posies. Are you guys fans of bands in that show was this past week.
genre? Do you consider yourselves part of
NC: That's sad. I dunno, we do
it? like those bands, but we try to do
NC: We're big fans of the
things that sound more like Sonic
Posies. They just split up, didn't Youth. Maybe it turns out a bit pop-
they?
pier than I'd intended, but I guess

4
there's this great scene and they
want to get signed. that's a good thing.
24 September, 1998 spectacle

RRCAECODS
OF

COURTESY
PHOT
This Babe's No
(It's a Blue Ox)
Sheepdog.

The sound of Babe the Blue Ox's newest CD, The

Way We Were (RCA), combines the skittish, new-wave
funk of Pylon and the bland, alterna-rock, distorted
strumming of just about any band on k-rock that
declares: yes, I am a rock'n'roll musician. It's nothing
to write home about, but the Way We Were isn't without
its charms.
The CD doesn't pick up until the third track,
"Heartbreak #l." Tim Thomas and Rose Thompson's
voices mingle with the soft guitars to wistfully memo-
rialize a past relationship. It's really quite pretty. "Lotto
Train," the next track, voices the CD's only clever crit-
icism, pointed at manipulative lottery games: "New
York could be Reno keno flashes like casinos for a /
dream and a buck and a truck of fuckin luck." It is one
of the two faster tracks on this mid-tempo CD, but
lacks the catchy bitterness that the Posies or Alex
by Julie Bissell
nomenon of the slant rhyme, use awkward words,
sometimes repeatedly, to craft neatly rhymiig cou-
plets. The worst offender on this CD is "'m Not
music.
Listening." Thomas stretches to find a word in each
verse to rhyme with listening: "but now she's g )t it she
can see beyond the glistening/ and learned to stop lis-
tening." It is awful.
Aside from this problem, several of the sor gs con-
tain messages so trite that you wonder if they are jok-
ing. For example, "T.G.1.F.U." audaciously poin s out to
us, the unknowing listeners, that the same f; st food
restaurants are present in just about every tow 1 in this
here union of states! Even if you drive far aw ly from
you hometown! On a scale of one to ten (on; being
Gavin Rossdale-meaningful elocution and ill, ten
being Ray Davies) I'd say they deserve about;. four.
However, "Basketball" sweetly and accurat ;ly por-

Gilds Chilton have cultivated.

"F-Train" is the funkiest song on the CD, and you
might catch yourself dancing a bit if you can withstand
trays the exhilaration of the game and the long ng that
unathletic people can have to soar like the pr( s: "Just
once in a lifetime/ I'd love to leave the groun 1/ Give

VS Boys
the embarrassing first twenty-or-so seconds: "I take, my love to everyone/ cause I won't be comin.; down,
take the F-train/ it's my train, in my world." anymore/ High fives all around." Funky bass ; nd per-
Immediately following is "Monday After," a slow piece cussion alternate with simply strummed guitars to
sung entirely by Rose whose soft vocals lend a beauti- echo the content of the lyrics. It made me wish I still
fully plaintive quality to the lament of a lover gone had the old high school high tops.
away. During songs like this one,7Tie Way We Yt '.re is at
Lyrically, this CD is a bit of a mess. Tim Thomas its best. Sadly, they are few, and the CD generally
by Tania Biswas has fallen into the trap in which songwriters with lim- plugs away without impressing itself into the ears of
ited vocabularies, and who have not read enough the listener. Buy it if you are a big fan. If not,; ust buy
The face of the U.K. indie music scene has been overrun Emily Dickinson, thereby missing entirely the phe- an old Pylon album.
by frontmen, be they laddish or androgynous. More often
than not, these are the bands that gain the praise of the
music journals and the heads of the industry. Women-front-
ed bands that stand out in memory have all but vanished.
Sleeper, Lush, and Elastica are just a few of the ones that
A Day in the
come to mind. Coincidence? Perhaps not It could be a con-
spiracy, you know-
Then again, perhaps it's the age-old "girls against boys"
battle, with the men cornering the pop market. It's that male-
dominated pop hierarchy that Sonya Aurora Madan,
Li fe of... MAXIMUM
Echobelly's Asian, kick-boxing frontwoman, would like to
fcefiSy Uek in lis collective balls. There are seafe who do
and some do not. there are
other ones* With her newest
PENALTY
by Mara McLaughlin

and her band members may bfflSSg
that. "Welcome to the new dictff
Echobelly's third album is la j<F
going to whack you with an appßjfflfß
this into account. Lustra's
hour, may seem intimidating,
white to brave the soundscape i|Sfi
pop to get to the essence of
phonic ambiance, and sultry
edgy versatility. ■ album fSuperlife,) ?
Several key songs make «Myl
which in torn make up for the HP
as memorable. "Bulldog
dramatic set of aloof recitation
string-accompanied chorus. Subsequently, razor-edged g«i-
tar melodies erupt like a Butler-era Suede tune eventually
colliding with a gorgeous melody and Madan's sprighdy jubi-
lation in "I'm Not a Saint".
One thing to keep in mind while listening to Lustra is that
each of the strongest tracks is different, with Madan's voice
being the common, albeit versatile, thread. Typifying this is
another of the essential tracks on the album, entitled "Here
Comes the Big Rush" which boasts clear, sparse, almost sin-
ister vocals along with a minimalist melody. The vocals carry
the song, which fills out during the chorus, where chugging
guitars compliment Madan's impassioned vocals.
In songs such as "Wired On" and "0", Johansson and his
guitar take on the same degree of versatility as Madan's
voice, respectively lumbering, skipping and sometimes
deciding on semi-acoustic licks. "Wired On" threatens to spi-
ral out of control before catching itself in a dramatic, orches-
tral break and concluding with a fervent chorus of "I wanna
get high on something." It's a track that brings to mind the
glory of Pulp's "Sorted for E's and Wizz," a fists-in-the-air
sort of tune. "Iris Art" boasts a perky rhythm track with a
punk-edged melody, while the title track lays Madan's airy
vocals with an almost industrial sound.
With this ostensible amount of difference between each
track on Lustra, there's no way to put a finger on the
Echobelly sound because it changes with every track. With
every listen, Echobelly remove layer upon layer and reveal
the essence of their music. Every listen brings different
influences to mind and then erases them by building on the
innate individuality of Echobelly themselves.
I have to tell you honestly, when I heard the opening song off of Maximum Penalty's latest
release, Superlife (Gypsy/Velvel), I wasn't too excited. I've grown to expect hardcore music to be
hard, and the concept of melodic hardcore sort of confused me. Yet, the more I listened to
Superlife, the more I realized I was wrong. Superlife plays around with several sounds and pretty
much masters them all. Spectacle was lucky enough to catch the lead vocalist, Jim Williams, and
the bassist Rich McLoughlin, last week when they were playing the Unity Festival at the
Wetlands.
Spectacle: How would you yourself describe your music and how would you describe your latest
JW: The album that just came out is very eclectic. Its got some hardcore, its got some rock,
its got some ska... (laughter) That was a joke to prove to people that we were able to do it.
Everyone is jumping on this ska thing now and the swing thing as well, and it was like, "Oh, let's
do a ska song, for the hell ofit," and it got taken seriously. We consider ourselves just a rock band,
you know, the newer material that we're starting to write now, is very heavily influenced by the
Bad Brains and that's our schtick.
Spectacle: What about the lyrics? I've noticed that they're really heartfelt and they're really about
making statements?
JW: The big thing about Maximum
Penalty is that we're not the kind of band
that wants to be tough guys. I've been there,
done that, I did some time and I learned a
lot. The lyrics are spiritual, the lyrics deal
with today's issues, people and life, and are
not some tough guy bullshit, you know what
I mean? 'Cause there's plenty of bands out
there doing that and that's not what we're
about. We're trying to create a message of
positivity and create a message of revolu-
tion.
Spectacle: What CD or album, should
every kid have in their dorm room?
JW: Mahavishna Orchestra, In a
Mounting Flame. That's a fuckin good
record man
RM: I got some John McLaughlin. That's
the mother of Mahavishnu.
JW: We're into fusion jazz, and funk and
stuff. We don't only listen to hardcore. I JW: We're working on some new songs, and we're
think one ofthe things that's really blessed Maximum do ng this tour with Agnostic Front, and it's going to be
Penalty is that we have a very eclectic listening. th< ■ bomb. You know, touring this record, it's been re-
Spectacle: Is that why you write so eclectic too? -7e eased on BMG. Look out for the new record, it's
JW: Yeah, (laughter) Mahavishna Orchestra, In a go ma be big, big rock.

Put Blur, Strangelove, and the indie boys away for today,
and pick up Echobelly's Lustra. As "the New Dictators,"
Sonya Aurora Madan and Echobelly are apparently more
than ready to revive the rather limp state of women-fronted
bands in U.K. indie today.
5
Mounting Flame, and Diary of a Madman, Ozzy Spectacle: Any last words about anything?
Ozbourne (Rich starts laughing) JW: Go out and buy the new record please and sup-
RM: I was much more for Blizzard of Ozz, I think port Maximum Penalty. You might enjoy what you hear.
Blizzard of Ozz is better RW: Check it out, if you don't like it, scratch it and
Spectacle: What are your plans in the future as a return it. (laughter)
 film. 24 SEPTEMBER, 1998 seer .naaNßTqae specta

spectal
■h

Clay Pigeons
...vince, joaquin, and
...many floating bodies,
some nasty Montana janeane
i
twang, and one crazy tell a 11...
nympho... by arthur harris

REVIEW of CLAY PIGEONS INTERVIEW with the ACTORS

are hanging off a tree. Immediately,

Many, many films try to be original and entertaining
but few succeed as well as Clay Pigeons, starring Vince
Vaughn, Joaquin Phoenix and Janeane Garafolo. This
intelligendy directed, superbly acted, and well written
thriller tells the classic Hitchcockian story of Clay
(Phoenix), an innocent man surrounded on all sides by
malicious or indifferent foes including a serial killer, a
fanatically jealous ex-girlfriend and the law.
Perhaps the most instantly striking aspect Clay
Pigeons is that these nefarious manipulations of plot and
circumstance do not take place in the oft used backdrop
of the city with its smoky rooms, anonymous interroga-
tion chambers and other likewise confined spaces. The
backdrop for this film is the tiny town of Mercer,
Montana and the vast landscape of the American West. It
is as if all of Hitchcock's North By Northwest was filmed
in the context of the magnificent cornfield scene. That
this empty landscape is as confined as any city goes with-
out saying, but placing these quick, manipulative charac-
ters against the stereotype of small town hillbillism, as
well as a beautifully serene landscape, creates the set up
for an interesting film.
Of course, nothing would work without either a good
script or good acting. Clay Pigeons begins with Clay and
his best friend Earl in a field shooting beer bottles that
Earl confronts Clay about Clay's affair
with Earl's wife Amanda (Georgina
Cates). Earl then shoots himself in
such a way as to frame Clay for the
death. Clay proceeds to get his way out
of that jam, but not before the pyschot-
ic Amanda stalks him and sets him up
for the murder of Clay's new girlfriend.
Enter Lester Long (Vince Vaughn), a
charismatic truck driver who befriends
both Clay and Amanda, and a series of
unexplained stabbings. FBI agent Dale
Shelby (Janeane Garafolo) then comes
to town to get to the bottom of things.
The plot is too complex to reveal, but
each twist is unexpected and integral to
the next.
While the plot surprises, the acting
delights. Vince Vaughn (Swingers),
establishes himself as a genius at play-
ing threatening but oh-so-charming
characters. Vaughn's Lester Long is
one of the most complex, not to men-
tion hilarious, film villains in recent
memory repelete with quasi-Western
twang and blue suede vest. Vaughn will
next play Norman Bates in Gus Van
Sant's (Good Will Hunting, My Own
Private Idaho) Psycho remake, and if this
performance is any indication, he will pull it off with an
element of pizzazz that no one else could muster. It
would be unfair, however, to focus on Vaughn, when
Phoenix delivers a haunting performance as the every-
man in too deep. Phoenix, (Oliver Stone's U Turn) is the
antithesis of Vaughn and the two play off each other's
every word and gesture with a chemistry so precise,
their scenes together seem almost choreographed. It is
Pigeons a decent but disparate film lacking any kind of
consistency. However, the renowned music video and
commercial director emphatically proves that his talent
extends to features as well. Within the first five minutes
Dobkin shows he is too intelligent to be trapped by the
popular notion that perpetual close ups equal good cine-
matography. Throughout the film the shots and lighting
belie an informed knowledge of the camera's potential as
Vince Vaughn is more man money, it's hard to
believe such slickness exists anywhere except on
screen, but it does: in Vince the guy. In Swingers,
Vaughn's Trent not only coined "You're the money,
baby" as the term for contemporary cool, but his char-
acter also defined the meaning of 90s slick. In their
drunkest hour, many males of my generation think
they're Trent. And the funny thing is that Vince, in his
most hungover hour, is cooler than he is on screen.
At the press junket for Clay Pigeons (see review), I sat
with other members ofthe college press and spoke with
Vaughn, Janeane Garafolo, Joaquin Phoenix, and direc-
tor David Dobkin.
Vince was first. You see that's the nature of Vince,
you meet him and immediately start referring to him as
Vince. After literally 30 seconds, he had told us he had a
rough night, whipped out cigarettes and said, "All right
the smoking room, you college kids," and proceeded to
tell this hilarious story at 100 mph about how he and
Joaquin got on stage to sing at the Clay Pigeons premiere
but Joaquin didn't know the words and he [Vince] was a
little drunk and fell, and then he lifted his long leg on the
table showed us the scar and quipped "Hey, this is cool
it's like rehab, do you guys wanna talk about the movie
or just hang out, hanging out is cool with me."
He then launched into rapid, detailed, and articulate
answers to queries. Shockingly, he told us that he "is
highly improvisational and likes to play with a true sense
of abandonment because it is more interesting... I mean
life is improv, you gotta be like water so when things pre-
sent themselves you f10w... The scripts are often written
by older guys so I like to personalize it a little." Vince
revealed that "You're the money, baby" was, well, his
baby, because "it just sounds better than 'you're a really
good guy and you should get a lot of girls."'
Next up was director David Dobkin whom Vince
referred to as "a genius." After the Vince train left our
station in hysterical laughter, Dobkin's low key, intro-
verted attitude was welcome. Dobkin discussed his
advertising and commercial career that included videos
with Tupac Shakur, Elton John, and Coolio. He
described that as "dreamlike and fun, whereas filmmak-
ing is more like real life... It's something that I expected
and always wanted to do." He defined the director'srole
as "enunciating the film."
With reference to Clay Pigeons, Dobkin said,
"Edward Hopper's work was a major influence in that
the lighting in his paintings are from the outside in and
he uses that to create a frame... Also, there is a lot of iso-
lation in Hopper's work and I wanted to convey that."
In terms of literary influence, Dobkin cited
Hemingway in giving him a sense of how to paint Clay
(Phoenix) because "[Hemingway's] characters always
try, though they usually don't succeed... Clay is an anti-
hero in the classic Hemingway sense because he does-
n't drive the story, the story drives around him and he
has to react."
Among Janeane Garafolo's first comments were that
Dobkin, as a first time director, "didn't know he could be
an asshole and that he doesn't have to let actors have
free range." However, she cited Dobkin's kind and fair
attitude towards everyone on the set as a reason there
was "not one bad day... and when someone is as nice as
David you want to be nice back. All of which contributed
to the success of the film."
After ordering a vegetarian sandwich with no cheese
and whipping out a pack of additive free American
Spirits, the quirky, somewhat reserved Joaquin Phoenix
praised Dobkin as well. Phoenix mentioned that he
works best with "a lot of preparation. David and I drove
around town, and created a backstory of Clay's child-
hood and daily life." Phoenix described his character as
"the anti-thesis of Vinny's." Interestingly, Phoenix
comes off that way in real life. He even asked yours
truly, after I'd put down my pen for a few minutes, if "you
are at all interested in anything I have to say."
On the other hand, Vinny was too busy charming to
notice whether or not anyone was writing -which we
weren't because we were too busy laughing.

PERMANENT MIDINGHT
impossible not to mention tough-girl Garafolo who deliv- well as providing beautiful panoramas of the empty land-
ers a deadpan performance in her role as a full speed, scapes.
straight ahead, hard drinking FBI agent. Georgina Cates Clay Pigeons. It's intense, wacky, and memorable. If
delivers a wickedly evil performance as a heartless, you want a fun movie to see on a Friday that won't dumb
manipulative bitch sure to haunt men in the audience you out of your head, this is the one.
well into the night. Finally, Scott Wilson perfectly por-
trays the John-Wayne-grows-old-Sheriff of the '9os who
treats each new criminal development with a mixture of Clay Pigeons opens Friday September 25.
stoicism and suspicion.
Without the direction of David Dobkin all of these
wonderful elements may have proved to make Clay
BEN STILLER ON CRACK (ACTUALLY HEROIN)

looking large at the natural history museum: IMAX by sarah weintraub

The magic of IMAX is size: bigger is better. Africa's
Elephant Kingdom, which opens this Saturday at the
Museum of Natural History, achieves the marriage
between the world's largest film format and the world's
largest land mammal. It's a humbling experience.
With a stunning view of Mount Kilimanjaero, Kenya's
Amboseli National Park provides the backdrop for a movie
where "elephants are the actors and nature is the script."
Visually, the IMAX medium captures this dazzling imagery
while practically immersing its viewers in the picture. At
75mm, IMAX looks better than reality.
Opening with a stomach churning sequence of aerial
photography, the camera zooms from a panorama of the
African savanna to a close-up of our star: a 58-year-old ele-
phant named Old Bull who will narrate the tale of his clan.
Majestically welcoming us to his kingdom, this venerable
creature's voice is played by Avery Brooks and its reso-
nant baritone is immediately reminiscent of Earl Jones'
role as Mufasa in The Lion King.
Unsurprisingly, the similarities between Africa's
Elephant Kingdom and The Lion King are numerous. Both
films narrate the story of an animal family as it Struggles
and eventually overcomes the challenges of survival. Both
The phrase "No more Mr. Nice Guy," takes on as two dimensional, but the other characters do not.
music is already ringing.
by jesse prupas new meaning in Permanent Midnight. Ben Stiller Developments such as Hurley's character suddenly
From a cynic's viewpoint, the whole concept of impos- takes off his awkwardly sweet hat to don the role of falling deeply in love and the more immediate love
ing human narrative onto the lives of animals is contrived. Jerry Stahl, sitcom writer and heroin addict extraor- between Kitty and Stahl both seem unnatural. In
However, movies are about the suspension of disbelief and dinaire. addition, while Stahl's need to escape is all too well
for this short feature, (only 40 minutes), it's easy to buy This humorously dark flick opens in a slimy fast- elaborated, his recovery seems as magical as any
Old Bull's story. As the plot unravels we accept the excite- food restaurant where Stahl is working on a release other Cinderella story. Arrows point at the scene in
ment of a baby elephant's first romp in a swamp, we gape program from rehab. He meets former addict, Kitty which Stahl shoots up through his neck in front ofhis
at the exploits of mating season and eventually we despair (Maria Bello), and the bond of two ex-addicts is real- baby after running out of usable arm veins as his rea-
when the crisis of a drought threatens the livelihood of our ized as quickly as you can say "Motel 6." As the two son for dropping his addiction. Still though, if Stahl's
elephant clan. fall in love in a nearby motel room, Stahl recaps his reason for addiction was his snowballing feelings of
A high point of tension is hit when the matriarch of an downward spiral of addiction and eventual return to self-loathing, then committing an unforgivable act
elephant clan leads a charge against the imposing film sanity. would seem to only further his self-hatred.
crew. Captured brilliantly as the crews'jeep peels away, the A stroke of luck finds Stahl in a marriage of However, breathtaking visuals and incredible edit-
rumbling and screaming of an elephant in hot pursuit is convenience to a British TV executive (Elizabeth ing redeem the movie's patchy story line. In spots
enough to give anyone an irregular heartbeat. Unknown to Hurley). She gets a green card, he gets a power agent the editing is brilliant, such as the scene where
the viewer, this sequence was actually filmed at another Qaneane Garofalo) and writing gigs for L.A.'s top stu- Stahl's high drives him to ram his body against a high
park where a poaching holocaust in the 1970s had left the dios. This would all be nice and cozy except for One rise glass window. The combination of music and
surviving elephants with an unquenchable hatred for little drug called heroin. visuals at certain peak moments gave the film a defi-
mankind. The film disappointingly skips over the explana- While this is very similar to most junkie movies nite rhythm, intensely mimicking the adrenalized
tion for such behavior, while opting instead to construct such as Basketball Diaries and Trainspotting, highs and near-fatal lows of Stahl's addiction.
dramatic tension. Action, I suppose, sells more tickets than Permanent Midnight does not have the guts to expose Permanent Midnight can't be defined as comedy,
science. at the level of these other films. The tameness might but Stiller's self-deprecating witticisms prove essen-
Plot criticisms aside, Africa's Elephant Kingdom is a be blamed on Stiller. He still gives off the impression tial in giving the film numerous sardonic laughs.
Stiller's comic abilities, in even the most horrifying of

7
focus on playful newborns as they grow and learn the thrilling look at an endangered animal that few can ever of being an accident prone geek, (as in Something
harsh realities of the jungle. And, most of all, both flicks get close to. The use of IMAX only brings us closer. At About Mary) only now he's dressed in leather. It is situations, are this film's saving graces. Fortunately,
the sarcasm and self-deprecating attitude, (apparent

6
remind us of the cycle of life where death blends into
rebirth eternally. All you've got to do is substitute the ele-
phants for the lions. Aside from that, the African tribal
$9.00 the cost of admission is steep but the opportunity to hard to feel shock and horror when you are too busy
also visit the Museum of Natural History makes for a great dealing with empathetic embarrassment. I found the
outing. film's few addiction episodes to be fairly innocuous.
Additionally, the characters are not very well
developed. Stahl may safely escape being portrayed
in lines such as describing a sexual experience with
himself as "the Kosher joyride") prevent the movie
from being completely stale and justify another
junkie movie.
 theater. 24 Septemmber, 1998

spectal
by what happens when you combine andy warhol
Kathleen dante's inferno in a....
&

O'Shea
CULTURE OF DESIRE
A figure clad in black and wearing a am happy. In the play, Warhol says, lighting designer Mimi Jordan Sherin
short mop of a blond wig enters the "There are two tragedies: one is not to accentuates the jagged feel of this
I stage carrying a huge cardboard box get your heart's desire. The other is to acount ofWarhol's life. Rows upon rows
and very slowly places it on one side of get it." of lidded cardboard boxes literally rep-
several metal shelves alongside 40 or so Visitors from the popular culture of resent the artist's "time capsules"- col-
identical boxes, to the sound of a frail the 'so's and '6o's such as Marilyn lections of both meaningful and coinci-
voice reading the opening passage to Monroe, Jackie Onassis, and the fashion dental objects from his day-to-day life
Dante Alighieri's "Inferno." Such is the editor Diana Vreeland appear to prompt starting in 1974. They simultaneously
opening scene of Culture of Desire, an and respond to Warhol's work and to represent that even Warhol himself was
off-Broadway play presented by the question him about his choices in life. not free from the need to possess and
Saratoga International Theater Institute, Every sphere of fame and excess here gather. The set, by Neil Patel, is other-
or SITI Company. represents another layer of Hell in the wise spare, except for the backdrop.
Presented in a performance-art style, Inferno, from daily K-Mart shopper's Reproduced three times,side-by-side, is
with little linear plot and such antics as discoveries of "needs" that can only be William Blake's Expulsion from the
speeches delivered from atop shopping fulfilled by loading up a little red hand- Garden of Eden. The painting, eerie in
carts, this play is not for everyone. basket, to the celebrity's urge to buy it's own right, alternately glowed and
Those familiar with the life and art of and own mansions, towers, and public faded with the waxing and waning fren-
Andy Warhol and a basic knowledge of spaces with their names on them. No zy of Warhol's hell.
Dante's Inferno will get a kick out of the one is safe from criticism. Culture of Desire is an hilarious play.
many allusions and character refer- Some of the cast barrages the audi- Audience members could not restrain
ences. A younger crowd with less liter- ence with perfectly timed machine-gun- themselves from outbursts of laughter
ary and art history background may fire advertising slogans. Particularly and gasps of surprise. But, like the
miss many of the jokes. Nonetheless, it exact in their timing are character Blake painting, it also is rather disturb-
is worth the trip downtown if only to see actors Steven Webber and Ellen Lauren. ing. It may make you feel guilty about
Kelly Maurer's spot-on interpretation of It is as though these two listen to every buying things—anything—for the next
the tepid, solitude-seeking Warhol. conversation only with the aim to insert couple ofweeks. But the theatrical expe-
The play uses six character actors their personal campaigns. After a very rience may be worth a temporary lull in
clothed entirely in black and a feeble, short while, this can be hard to take, but material acquisitions.
pasty-white woman in the role of Andy the goal here is to annoy, and they do so
Warhol. It follows the pop artist's career exceptionally well. Another stand out is
after the attempt on his life by Valerie Jefferson Mays, as the simultaneously
Solanas and his ensuing fascination with over-the-top and sublime Diana Culure of Desire is playing at The
the culture of consumerism. Loosely fol- Vreeland. He is the epitome of the fash- New York Theater Workshop on 79 East
lowing the plot of Dante's Inferno, it ion diva as she led the lost Warhol 4 Street. Tickets are $35 regularly, but
explores Warhol's abhorrence of the through his hell. only $l2 for fulltime students. For
consumerist ideal: I am missing some- Using piercing rays of light from the information, call the box office at 460-
thing in life therefore I buy, therefore I sides of the stage and square spotiights, 5475.

Just your typical

Witch-Boy
The T. Schreiber studio is located
on the seventh floor of a large,
rather gloomy office building. From
this location the studio has been
training actors for nearly 30 years,
combining classes and workshops
with professional productions. I had
the good fortune to attend the stu-
dio's first production of the season, a
staging of the Howard Richardson
and William Berney play Dark of the
Moon.
One thing that is immediately
obvious as you leave the elevator is
that you're a long way from
Broadway. There are no pushy ush-
ers, senile octogenarians, or preten-
tious yuppies pushing you around as
they sip decaf cafe lattes. The direc-
meets
In the course of the play, the Witch-
Boy turns into a human so he can
marry the girl, only to lose her in the
end due to the town's intolerance.
Along the way you are bombarded
with witches, conjurers, and small-
town yokels. As you may have
guessed, it's a pretty kooky tale, and
the love affair is rather insipid and
unbelievable.
There are deeper issues to the
play, however, which are brought to
the forefront by Marc Geller's excel-
lent production. John (the Witch-
Boy) is not a love-sick Romeo: He is
someone coming to grips with what
it means to be human. This would
have come out even more if the
actor playing John -
girl by
Milan Markoovic
would have resorted to cheap
Hollywood antics (see The Apostle)
or to just crying and tearing out hair
(a la Jimmy Swaggert); instead,
Christian hymns are belted out with
vigor and seemingly genuine
Christian fervor. As the townspeople
sing and chant, the scene becomes
surreal, gathering steam as it reach-
es a horrific, yet all too believable,
conclusion.
In fact, the whole production
flows seamlessly. Geller's vision is
both beautiful and horrific, preserv-
ing the pagan sensuality of the play
without lapsing into vulgarity. His
stylish staging in the intimate Gloria
Maddux Theatre makes this play Witch-Boy

Charlie into something more than a hillbilly

tor greets you at the door, and Romanelli -

had given a slightly Crucible. Everything from the

notices about classes are
unabashedly displayed side by side
photographs of scenes from past
productions. All in all, you feel like
you're in a place where people care
about acting, not about selling tick-
ets. No wonder several Schreiber
Studio alumni have gone on to have
successful careers in theatre, film,
and television, Academy Award
nominee Edward Norton being just
one example.
The plot of Dark ofthe Moon cen-
ters around the love affair of a fallen
more consistent performance. On
with the other hand, Barbara, John's
wife, is played masterfully by
Christina Lynne Smith. In her deft
hands Barbara turns into a martyr, a
character doomed by the moral
hypocrisy of her epoque. The play
ends up focusing on Barbara's strug-
gle to gain the town's approval while
staying true to her heart.
Although Ms. Smith almost suc-
ceeds in stealing the show, it is the
timing and cohesion of the cast that
make the play a success. This is par-
accents to the costumes is right on
money. Dark of the Moon is an
exemplary production that definitely
merits a look. The members of the T.
Schreiber Studio take their craft
very seriously, reminding us that the
best theatre is often not found on
Broadway.
Dark of the Moon is playing at the
T. Schreiber Studio in the Gloria
Maddox Theater at 151 West 26th
Street, 7th Floor. For information call

8
woman and "Witch-Boy" in a Smoky ticularly evident in one of the final 741-0209
Mountain town, where everybody scenes, when the town is assembled
knows everybody else's business. in church for a revival. A lesser cast PHOTOS COURTESY OF T. SCHREIBER STUFIO
His Lovely Lady
24 September, 1998 spectacle

thea r.
Shakespeare on

ESTROGEN Gaines Dixon

by

The gimmick's failure is unfortunate, since

some wonderful performances are almost lost.
Lee Etta Sutton, in the role of Rivers, commands
the stage with great presence each time she
speaks. She is feminine and strong, giving the
viewer just a hint of what the production could
have been. In addition, Melissa Bell and Jean
Levitt in the roles of the murderers show superb
timing, giving some much needed comic relief.
However, Jodi Torftasso.in the titular role of
Richard 111, is much more of a cipher than any of
her fellow performers. Her performance ranges
from the utterly spectacular to the utterly obnox-
ious. In one moment, she is channeling the full
extent of the emotions of Richard III: scheming,
conniving, malicious, and yet vulnerable. She
becomes p rhard 111, and, quite frankly, scares the
"'

heck out le audience. In the next moment,

With so many plays to see in the Manhattan
area, local playhouses often resort to gimmicks to
reel in the customers; a catchy gambit to grab the
playgoers attention. And if you've got to have a
gimmick, The Looking GlassTheatre's gimmick of
an all-woman Richard 111is a pretty darn good one.
Who wouldn't be intrigued to see one of the Bard's
most ruthless villain-heroes as portrayed by a
woman? And wouldn't it be refreshing to see a
feminine take on the vicious war that occurs with-
in the play? What a shame then that the produc-
tion becomes too wrapped up in its own con-
trivance to properly give Richard 111 its due.
From the opening scene of the female court of
Queen Edward IV frolicking gaily with each other,
it's clear that the director, Ms. Justine Lambert,
wanted to make this production an overtly sexual
one, to have a production that is, according to their
own press release, "explicitly erotic and de facto
lesbian". This desire to sexualize Shakespeare
where no sexuality is present is what brings down
a play that could have been exotic and interesting
to watch to a play that becomes a clear platform for
the director.
In adapting Shakespeare, one should never
value one's own tricks and stunts over the text of
Shakespeare himself. This would be a lesson well
learned by Ms. Lambert. You cannot have Richard
111 declare "since I cannot prove a lover, I am deter-
mined to prove a villain." and then have him bed
every Duchess and Lady available.
The fact is that Richard 111 is simply not a sexu-
al play along the lines of Othello or Much Ado About
Nothing. The characters within the play are self-
ish, callous, indifferent, and immoral. It doesn't
make sense then, to have the characters constant-
ly cuddle, kiss, caress, and stroke. There is hardly
a moment when a character doesn't have her arm
draped sensually over another character's body.
The lesbianism isn't what's wrong with the play. I
would feel exactly the same if it was an all-male
cast, or even a traditional mixed-sex cast. The
misplaced sexuality would mar the production, no
matter what gender was used.
however, she lapses into shallow, wide-eyed melo-
dramatics. And worst of all, she sometimes dis-
plays the attributes of a lazy actor.
Richard's characteristic deformed hunchback
has been reduced to a petite lump that is barely vis-
ible. Furthermore, Richard's limp comes and goes
with Ms. Tomasso's inclination, which only serves
to distract from the play.
The experiment had noble intent: explore
Shakespeare from a normally under-represented
female perspective, and thereby, explore tradition-
ally masculine attributes from a feminine point of
view. However, the production simply becomes an
exercise of "Wow! Look what we did with
Shakespeare! Aren't we clever?!" without paying
attention to the text and instructions of the bard
himself. Excessive sexuality where it doesn't fit
causes this masturbatory venture to lose any
degree of canniness or originality it may have had
at the onset.
Richard 111 is playing at The Looking Glass
Theatre at 422 West 57 Street. For information
call 307-9467.

jokes everyone's heard...

Stories everyone's told &

Emily SecretsNo one Wants to Know

Flyn

by
Thirteen writers compiled all the bad one-lin-
ers that anyone has ever told about the hassles of
travel and then put this dreadful compilation on
stage. The result is an unceasingly campy,
painful, and brain dead musical review. Melrose
Place is more subtle than the off-Broadway dis-
aster Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know.
In fact, according to their biographies, the
aforementioned writers have done a lot for tele-
vision. Blumenthal, one of the revue's lyricists,
wrote the song that was the "romantic climax" of
a CBS movie-of-the-week, and one of the sketch
writers starred in an English TV series.
Correspondingly, the level of humor that one
would expect ofbad TV came across in the Triad
theater. This depressed level is first apparent in
the program where acts and scenes are listed
about how his clothing had been lost by the air-
line. Later, a woman ripped off her sweater to
reveal a tight body suit, castanets were stuffed
into this body suit beside her breasts so when
she shook her chest, it rattled. She sang a song
about having sex with her tour guide. The TV-
accustomed audience giggled like a group of
middle schoolers. It was pathetic.
The worst of the mundane, topical humor
though was the punch line of the song Please, Mr.
Trailways, Take Me Away. In this, a waitress
sings about how a man came through her restau-
rant, seduced her, slept with her, and then left.
She's holding a picture of him throughout the
song. At the end, she turns the picture toward
the audience—it's Bill Clinton. The audience
actually cneerea.
expressions than the actors themselves.
All in, this musical revue would have been
more appropriately titled Jokes Every Annoying
Traveler Already Told, and not Secrets Every
Smart Traveler Should Know. But the humor
exhibited in the former tide would not be repre-
sentative ofthe blatant lack thereof in the rest of
the revue. Oh well. Don't go.
Secrets Every Smart Traveller Should Know
is playing at The Triad Theater, 158 West 72nd
Street. For information call 799-4599

under the heading "Arrivals & Departures (flight
plan subject to change)," and the understudies
are listed under the heading "standbys." It just
got worse when the lights went down and the
revue itself began.
The humor of the revue was based on the
cute jokes that upper-middle class Americans
make about their travel problems. The revue's
running joke was a guy trying to make reserva-
tions through an automated phone service.
"Why can't I just talk to a real operator?" he asks.
"Ha, Ha," the audience laughs because they've
all had that thought too. He's put on hold, black-
out, a few scenes later: he's back... still on hold
(Ha, Ha)! Then this happens again and he talks
to another machine that he at first thinks is a real
The technical components of
the production were almost as
bad. The director, Patrick Quinn,
directed his performers to sing
off key at times in order to rein-
force the characters they were
portraying. It was painful listen-
ing. The set was simple, but not
simple enough. There was an
off-center screen backdrop
where pictures were flashed
every so often. It was nauseat-
ing. The costuming was boring
and cheap.
The only redeeming aspect of
the entire show were the musi-

9
person (Ha, Ha, Ha). A threefold one-liner -

cians: a bassist and a pianist were

even better than a three-headed monkey! located on the left side of the
Then there was the obligatory naked humor. small stage. They played well,
A buck naked man opened the show by singing and had more interesting facial
 books. 24 September, 1998

spectal POETRY in the fall

BOOKS
IN BRIEF
THE EXES
a reading of the late
pablo neruda
If the punk rock novel can
be deemed a literary sub-
genre, its model is most cer-
When I first stepped inside the doors of Westbeth Community Center tainty Don DeliUo's Great Jones
in Greenwich Village last Sunday, the atmosphere surprised me. I had Street. Set in the Soho neigh-
expected, perhaps naively, to find a pack of espresso-drinking, goatee- borhood of the book's title,
wearing college kids waiting for a reading of Pablo Neruda's poetry Delillo's characters created
Instead, 1 found a quaint, antique-smelling banquet hall, at the end of the archetype for the depiction
which sat a semicircle-shaped row of chairs, with two lone chairs at of the New York music scene of
its focus. There were 10 people in the audience, ai most, and I was the early 80's.
the youngest by 20 years at least. I was disappointed, I admit With just as much angst
My feeling turned out to be superficial. As soon as the full and and nihilism, Pagan Kennedy's
sensual voice of Ana Ramos (one of the two readers) saturated the The Exes, offers a glimpse into
acoustically-challenged room in her recital of "Final," a poem Boston's punk scene of the pre-
addressed to has wife Mathilde found on Neruda's desk after his sent day Kennedy follows four
death, I was spellbound. And I continued to be throughout the characters who form a band
program of Neruda: A Bilingual Reading of Late and based on the premise that all
Posthumous Work. the members be ex-lovers of
Neruda (1904-1973), the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean mae- one another, hence the name
stro who has been hailed as one of the finest poets in the 20th "The Exes." With fresh and original prose, Kennedy divides the novel
century in any language, describes himself and his poetry as into four sections, each written from the point of view of a different band
"anti-intellectual," and as a communist, he sought to make his member. The Exes is sharp and realistic with distinct character develop-
poetry accessible to the exploited classes of people about ment, commenting not only on the sometimes uncomfortable relation-
whom he always wrote. ships between former intimates, but also on the ways in which one can
I felt as though Neruda himself would be proud of the pro- be part of a unified whole without sacrificing personal identity.
duction by Norman Taffel and his aptly named company,
Common Ground Theatre. The members of the audience
were all regular people, not part of the elite New York
literati, but fellow comrades. Neruda's words touched them
all. Whether they spoke English or Spanish, they found
"common ground."
The two performers—Ramos, a Puerto Rican woman
who read the poems in their original Spanish, and Taffel,
who read the translations by Ben Belitt—recited the poems
in an exciting and powerful presentation: for some
poems, like "El Peligro/The Danger" they alternated, line
GETTING IN I
by line, between Spanish and English; in others, Ramos
whispered the words of the poem in Spanish into Taffel's ear,
as he translated for the audience. Sometimes they recited a
poem in both languages simultaneously. And at the end, the
readers switched roles, Taffel read the Spanish and Ramos
the English. The beauty of Neruda's last poem, "Final," is
revealed in all its splendor.
I felt, as someone who does not understand Spanish, like I
was getting as close to the original text as I could without actu-
ally learning the language. 1 could understand Neruda's mes-
sage without losing the vibrations of his words. I could feel Getting In definitely sounds like a good book, as evidenced by
Neruda's passion on the tongue and lips of Ramos. And I could
its back-cover summary calling it a look at, "our universal fear that we're
feel Neruda's power in the lungs ofTaffel.
not good enough—to go to college, to find a mate, lo meet life's chal-
The selection of poems covered a broad spectrum of lenges," though unfortunately, author James Finney Boylan's novel
Neruda's late work, from the sexual and provocative
:

never seems to live up to its laudatory

("Fisica/Physics", 1969) to the elegiac ("Oliverio Girondo," 1969)
blurbs. Getting In tells the story of
to the political ("Espermos/ Let's Wait," 1973) to the heartbreak-
four high-school seniors piled into a
ing ("Fina1,"1973).
motor home along with a disjointed
Later that night I watched the movie II Postino, which follows and dysfunctional family in a whirl-
the story ofa postman who delivers mail to Neruda while he is
wind tour of the well-known east coast
exiled in Italy. I read his poems into the wee hours, when I
colleges (with the exception of
should have been reading Edith Wharton. I had fallen in love with Columbia). The book is divided into
Neruda all over again after hearing the poems read aloud. nine equai sections chronicling the
All in all, Neruda: A Bilingual Reading of Late and Posthumoi-
trip to each college and culminating in
Work is a very worthwhile experience. Plus, it's free. Sure, he
the fateful admissions interview.
acoustics might be sub-par, the turnout might be low, and the com-
Getting In' s dialogue is choppy and
munity center might be a little dingy, but then, that's probably how
Neruda would nave wanted it. unrealistic and its narrative often
sounds trite and obvious. Boyian
seems to have forgotten that while his
Ramos and Taffel will perform readings again during the next novel's characters may be young
five Sundays, Sept. 27 through Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Westbeth
Community Center, 155 Bank St
adults, his work need not read like
young adult fiction.
For information and directions call 946-5602.

10 by noah strote by carolyn murnick

24 September, 1998 SPECTACLE
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COMING SOON TO THEATRES EVERYWHERE

 a e in and aroud columbia
listings. 24 SEPTEMBER, 1998

spectal Back Page

09.24.98 through 09.28.98

&
Today:
•Musical Performance and Installation: Suspended Music
Low Rotunda at 4:oopm With Deep Listening Band, a hun-
dred foot-long string instrument and the Expanded Instrument
System, and a compuer-driven musical machine. With guest
I ■
musician: DJ Spooky.
The series will run through Saturday, September 26. Call
334.0237 for more information.
•Italian Academy for Advanced Studies: L'isola degli Schiavi
Teatro, Casa Italiana at 6:00 p.m. —Documentary film by
Giorgio Strehler, in Italian.
Part of the RAI Documentary Film Series
•Ferris Reel Weekly Screening in Aultshul Auditorium 9:15
p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
•Anime Club Weekly screening in 717 Hamilton 8:00 p.m. to
12 a.m.
Friday:
•Poetry Evening at Altshul Auditorium, s:oopm to 12:00am.
With Sekou Sundiata, Beau Sia, Bonz Malone,
Maggie Estep, Mums the Schemer, and Amanda Nazario. For
more information call 531-3550.
Admission: $3.00 With CUID/ $5.00 Without
By Roots and Culture magazine, the United Students of Color
Council in conjunction with Mouth Almighty Records.
•Van Am Jams Van Am Quad s:oopm to 8:00pm.
Come and enjoy an evening of free food and music. All are wel-
come to attend.
By The Office of Student Activities
With music from Basy, Armor & Sturtevant, among others.
Admission is free.
•United Students of Color Council: Poetry Evening
8:00pm to 12:00am, Altschul Auditorium.
•Surge-O-War 8-by-8 tug of war competition, South Field at
4:00p.m. The event will culminate in a day-long championship
extravaganza in New York. Teams can register at the event itself,
or can call Bill Ebner at 854-5911.
1 Saturday:
•Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory: Open House LDEO,
Palisades, NYat 11:00 a.m.
During the day, scientists and staff will explain the Observatory's
research, display equipment and answer questions on current cli-
mactic phenomena. Shuttle buses are available between
Morningside campus and LDEO.
RSVP and info: call (914) 359-2900.
•Adventure on a Shoestring's walking tour in honor of George
Gershwin's birthday at 9 a.m.. The tour will walk by the former
site of Aeolian Hall, the old Alvin Theater, and Carnegie Hall. The
tour will include anecdotes and music. Fee is $5 per person. For
meeting place and more information call 265.2663.
Sunday:
•Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's Annual Walk for a Cure
9:ooam, Battery Park 12K walk to raise money for diabetes
research
Registration: contact Lisa Wolf, 305.3788
•Columbia Review: Weekly Meeting
6:oopm to 7:oopm, Schapiro Lounge

•Postscrypt Coffee House in the basement of St. Paul's Chapel Submit all Listings to SpectatorQcolumbia.edu
9:oopm to 12:30am. Attention: Spectacle.

spotlight.

spectal WORD PLAY...

An Evening of Poetry

The literary magazine Hoots

and Culture is one of the
sponsors of Friday's poetry
reading in Rultshul
Auditorium. The event, fea-
turing Sekou Sundiata,
begins at 5:00 p.m. Contact
the other sponsors, The
United Students of Color
Council and Mouth Rlmightu
Records for more

12 information.