The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 6, 1991 - Page 17 He's just Wilde about Oscar... dry Jenie Dahlmann Five years ago, local actor Glenn Allen Pruett portrayed Algernon in a Texas repertory company's pro- duction of Oscar Wilde's The Im- portance of Being Earnest. The re- 4iews were good and repeatedly re- marked on the extraordinary resem- blance between Pruett and Wilde hinself. Critics proclaimed this co- I*hcidence to be an ironic but delight- ful twist to Earnest. Sometimes coincidences lead to bigger and better things. This was one of those times. Pruett says that he thought, "Why not take advan- tage of this genetic wonder by commissioning a one man play with Oscar Wilde as its only character?" Enter Pruett's good friend, play- wright Peter D. Sieruta, who fash- 1oned an "emotional, humorous and very revealing look at the classic au- thor." The work focused on the au- thor at age 27 and dealt mostly with his hopes and aspirations for the fu- ture. It showcased Pruett's talents, and his bone structure. The completed play, however, spent many years on Pruett's book- shelf while the actor continued his "areer - working in over 50 re- ginal theaters and pounding De- troit's pavement looking for work in industrial films to pay his bills. "When I was younger," says Pruett, "my idea of an actor's life consisted of a little apartment in New York with no financial obligations except my own bare necessities. But things change, I have a mortgage, a car, a wife, a child and one on the way. It's important to have steady work." Pruett says, however, that con- stant work in industrial-type spots numbs an actor's talents, and that it is necessary to work on projects that can truly be considered art. Finally, last year, under the direction of fel- low actor Thomas Mahard and with the patient guidance of mentors Booth Coleman and Charles Nolte, Pruett began rehearsing his portrait of Wilde while working at Mead- owbrook Theater in Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. The show opened in Detroit later that year at 15 15 Broadway to splendid reviews of both Pruett's talent and of the author's ability in capturing the essence of a great writer. Pruett will be taking audience members back in time to Oscar Wilde's 27th Birthday Eve this weekend at Ann Arbor's Perfor- mance Network. How often does one get to spend an evening with the Wilde one? A PICTURE OF OSCAR WILDE ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE NOT SO MILD will run tonight and to- morrow at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m. $9, $7 seniors and students at the Performance Network For info, call 663-0681. EATING Continued from page 16 seem more realistic, but the choppy editing and pacing was just distract- ing and tiresome. Elizabeth: You may be right in the dramatic parts. But the shots from the "documentary" that Martine was making about wimmin and food in which she interviewed womyn at the party were some of the most telling and entertaining elements. One of the wimmin spoke painfully about her grandfather's unconditional love. When she lost that, and couldn't get it back from men, she resorted to food. These wimmin's quirks may have been hi- larious, but they were also, sadly, real. Mark: Well, all right, I'll give you that. Jaglom was intenionally being extreme to make a point; that is, if wo-MEN can't even eat what they want to, and eating is a basic human necessity, then imagine how oppressed they still are by our male- dominated society. Hey, wait a minute. What am I saying? Elizabeth: Ha,ha,ha. Mark: All right. Let's continue our discussion at Steve's. Elizabeth: Do they have yogurt there? A few fun facts about Oscar Wilde -full name: Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde; lived from: 1854-1900; alma mater: Oxford; the Smiths wrote a song called: "Oscillate Wildly" (from Louder Than Bombs); accused of: homosexuality; found: guilty; sentenced to: imprisonment (and hard labor); died: underappreciated and miserable. Oh, the guy in the picture above isn't Oscar Wilde, but Glenn Allen Pruett, who'll be playing the man himself in a one-man show at the Performance Network this weekend. EATING is being showni the Michigan Theater. tonight at I I I THE GREAT WALL_____ RESTAURANT r I Ann Arbor Civic Theatre MainStage Productions X PR ESENTS.. Book by , Neil Simon Music by Cy Coleman.,' Lyrics by Dorothy Fields screenplay by Frederico Fellini Tullio Pinelli and Ennio Plaiano Directed and Choreographed by Jim Posante p Musical Direction by Jim Nissen For ticket information For ticket information IC p . With the Support of he Michigan Council for the Arts Specializing in Szechuan, Hunan, and Cantonese 747-7006 1220 S. University at S. Forest Ann Arbor " Dinners and LUnches - Carry-outs Best New Restaurant--1988 --The Michigan Daily Best Oriental Restaurant--1989 - The Michigan Daily Best-Take-Out-- 1990 --The Ann Arbor News WANTED USHERS For Major Events Concerts MASS MEETING Wednesday, Sept. 11, 7:30 pm Pendleton Room, Michigan Union VETERAN USHERS- Those who have ushered Major Events concerts in the past. NEW USHERS- Those who would like to usher Major Events concerts. September 11-14, 1991 at 8 p.m. Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Presented at The Lydia Mendelsshn Theatre until September 8, call 662-7282 after September 8, call 662-7282 Monday-Sunday 11 am-11 pm VIMA I 0 Ji HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW- THAT'S WHAT I THINK ABOUT BOOK RUSH. 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