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January 28, 1993 - Image 13

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The Michigan Daily, 1993-01-28

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The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - January 28, 1993 - Page 5

Costuming her way up

by Melissa Rose Bernardo
For years, the University's BFA pro-
grains have been producing many tal-
ented artists and actors. The theatrical
design program is no exception. Senior
Karyl Newman recently took first place
in the costume design category at the
prestigious American College Theater
Festival, and is in contention for a na-
tional honor.
Newman iscurrentlypursuing aBFA
degree in theatrical design, a newly
established program that combines sce-
nic, lighting, and costume design. A
student takes classes in all areas, but
concentrates on one in particular. Cos-
tume design is Newman's concentra-
tion, and she is very happy in the pro-
gram. At present, she is the only student
in the program. "They sort of roped me
into it," she admitted.
"I came here like everyone else -
not knowing what I wanted to do. Then
I took agraduate class called 'History of
Dress,' and figured out that I could get
a degree and make a career out of it."
Why design? "Design is such a great
challenge - when you're working
against a script, you have parameters."
She added, "This is exactly what I want
to do."
Surprisingly, the theater was not her
inspiration foracareer in design; rather,
Newman immersed herself in the his-
tory of design. "Instead of doing a his-

tory paper, I would put together little
exhibits about whatpeople wore during
the war-I thought it was a fascinating
way to look at history."
At the University, Newman has as-
sisted many graduate costume design-
ers and faculty members, besides doing
a few shows of her own. She was the
head costumer for "Lysistrada" and
"Mary ofNimmghen" (for the RC play-
ers), and for the Theater department's
"The Resurrection ofLady Lester." You
may have seen her "U of M Historical
Costume Collection," an exhibit of pe-
riod garments dating back to 1810, on
display at the Power Center during
"Trelawny of the 'Wells."' (There will
be another display at an upcoming
Power Center production.) Newman's
designs for "Lady Lester" won her the
award.
How do they distribute the awards?
Newman explained that adjudicators
from the American College Theater
Festival attend college productions "to
feel out what's going on at University
theaters across the country." For ex-
ample, "The Birthday Party," "Lady
Lester" and "Trelawny of the 'Wells"'
were all judged last term. The adjudica-
tors then invite portions of the produc-
tion (or the entire production) to exhibit
their work at the festival. The costumes
from "Trelawny" went, along with the
costumes and sets from "The Birthday

Party"and "Lady Lester." (Incidentally,
U of M Flint's production of "M. But-
-terfly" also went to the festival.) The
work must be done by graduate or un-
dergraduate students.
On January 6 and 7, the actors and
designers gathered at Southern Illinoit
University in Carbondale, Illinois ("4
party town," Newman joked), the hot
of the Midwest region of the festiva:
Newman's costumes won over 12 othei
designs. She will now compete against
seven other regional winners in the
National Festival at Washington D.C.'s
Kennedy Center, April 18-25. She could
win an all-expense paid trip to New
York City to meet designers and mae'
contacts.
How does Newman feel about this
honor? "I'm thrilled to bits! Most of the
students at the festival are graduate stu-
dents, and I'm just an undergrad." She
is currently in the process of applying to
MFAprograms across the country. "I'm
applying to Yale, NYU, Boston U.,
Brandeis, U-Texas at Austin - all of
the programs are so different." Youmar
wonder why she is not applying to U df
M. "Well, I've already taken alot of thp
graduate classes... the [BFAand MFAf
programs are pretty similar ... I want
more exposure."
Newman's goal is to design profes-
sionally for the theater and film. From
the looks of it, she is well on her way:

Oyam0's "The Resurrection of Lady Lester" was a winner for Karyl Newman and her costume designs.

MTV Sports makes the big screen

,,,

Director Hasburgh can't keep his Tom Cruise fetish a secret in

By Alison Levy
Usually when a film is remade, it is
obvious in the title, such as "Home
Alone 2." Or, like "Cape Fear," the
original title remains and the two are
compared. Even with the upcoming
. Sommersby", the preview is straight-
forward about being a remake of "The
Aspen Extreme
Written and Directed by Patrick
Hasburgh; with Paul Gross, Peter
Berg and Teri Polo.
Return of Martin Guerre." However,
with aname like "Aspen Extreme" and
'apreview that looks like a feature from
* TV Sports, first-time writer/director
Patrick Hasburgh (the genius behind
Fox classic, "21 Jump Street") makes
,no mention of his Tom Cruise fetish.
Nowhere, except when caught in un-

comfortable theater seats, is the audi-
ence warned that "Aspen Extreme" is
the result of three parts "Top Gun," two
parts "Cocktail," a dash of "Days of
Thunder" and a sprinkling of terrible
Michigan jokes.
The familiar story stars Paul Gross
as Maverick, no, TJ. Burke, a Ford
truck autoworker who dreams of leav-
ing Detroit for fame and fortune as a ski
instructor/ gigolo/writer in glitzy As-
pen. But, he has to bring his hapless but
lovable best friend Dexter (Peter Berg)
whose sole purpose is to make all the
jokes. So, after honing their talents on
the challenging cliffs of Mt. Brighton,
the pair leaves for Aspen. Once there,
they easily become ski instructors and
meet Robin Hand (Elisabeth Shue.
Scratch that. Her name is Teri Polo. This
is very confusing). She is a local who is
sick of ski instructors, but falls for TJ.
anyway. But TJ. has another problem,
the rich and beautiful Bryce Kellogg

(Finola Hughes) is after him too. So he
must decide between them while trying
to win the Powder Eight contest to
prove he is the best skier on the moun-
tain.
Hmm. Where to begin. Well, the
acting is as flat as the back of the moun-
tains. After TJ. makes it big, they put
him on a poster. He should stay there,
because Gross can't seem to act himself
out of a box. However, his looks are
perfect for the part and should serve him
well as fodder for pre-pubescent fanta-
sies between the pages of Tiger Beat.
Finola Hughes ("General Hospital") is
His looks are perfect for
the part and should
serve him well as
fodder for pre-
pubescent fantasies
between the pages of
Tiger Beat.
laughable as Bryce Kellogg. Her ice-
princess routine is way over the top and
not very convincing. Even Teri Polo
("Mystery Date") hands in a bland per-
formance as the tough-but-sweet love
interest who serves as the town DJ.,
surgeon and rehab therapist. With all
these activities one would assume she
had a personality, but she doesn't. The
only praises go to Berg ("Late for Din-

Aspen Extreme'
ner"). His portrayal of the little buddy
could be sappy and contrived, butDexter
manages to stretch the boundaries by
handling himself with grace and a cer-
tain amount of dignity.
Some of Berg's success must be due
to the script, but very little. There is one
interesting scene where Dexter must
deliver some drugs. The experimental
camera angles and Godard-style jump-
cutting effectively depict the paranoia
feltby Dexter. Unfortunately, whenjux-
taposed with the static mainstream shots
that compose the rest of the film, it is so
blaringly out of place that it's annoying.
Even the ski scenes aren' thandled well.
With the potential to be the most excit-
ing element of the film, Hasburgh ne-
glects toexploitthe location, the beauty,
the athleticism and the pace of the sport.
On the other hand, Hasburgh does a
truly remarkable job of ignoring the
pace of the story. Characters leave for
unspecified time periods. Bryce takes
off and comes back frequently. Some-
how, Dexter develops a drug habit that
Robin easily cures with a cold shower,
morning jog and afternoon of skiing.
All the while, TJ. has been sleeping
with Bryce, but she may or may not be
in town. Dexter gets a two-week sus-
pension, but never goes back. And the
guys are trying to win an annual contest
but, at the end, they talk about their two
years in Aspen.
ASPEN EXTREME is playing at
Showcase.

Theatre reflects
by Jenny McKee
The Diversability Theatre is back on stage in their second and newest
production, "Reflectuation." Composed ofeightpeople with varying disabilities
and four able-bodied members, the cast writes all of the sketches that compoe
the troupe's plays.
"Basically, it's a series of vignettes which explore personal experiences of
people with disabilities," said director Hilary Hamsden. "We've kind of sewn it
loosely together, trying to depict the extremes of the reaction and attitude of tle
able-bodied community."
"I'm always interested in exploring movement before I do text," Hamsden
added. "I started being intrigued by the fact that people with disabilitie
supposedly don't move normally, so I started doing physical theater workshop
with them, partly because I was interested in integrating the kind of movem.'
that is in that community into our so-called normal theatrical movem
vocabul"y.
Last year's company debut production, "The Invisible Elephant," was an
eye-opening body of work that was thought-provoking. While light-hearted aci
very funny at times, other moments were horrifyingly honest, frustrating and
real. The skits attempted to show able-bodied people what it's like to have a
disability and how we, as a society, treat the handicapped. They stressed that we
shouldn't focus on the wheelchair of one with an impairment, or the way on
walks or speaks. Rather, we should see a person that has the same wants and
needs that we also have.
"Obviously," said Hamsden, "there are differences, but I think the able-
bodied community has always had a kind of aesthetic problem with the w$y
people with disabilities move."
For this reason, the disabled community often feels self-conscious about
their body movement; people look at them as freaks because it is different from
the accepted norm. With this in mind, Hamsden made a special point of closely
integrating all aspects of the play, with special attention paid to physical action.
"That's what we've done with this piece," Hamsden concluded. "We've tried
to bring together movement, physical expression of feelings, verbal expression
and the text itself."
REFLECTUATION will be performed at the Performance Network Januarys
28-30 at 8p.m. and January 30 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $9, $7 students/
seniors. Call 663-0681.
HERE'S WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT CROW
" Crow needed me full-time" - Faye Vincent
"Trendsetters. Soon everyone will be sporting the letters AXP" - G.Q.
"Eye luv da Crowes" - Dan Quail
"Look what those *?!* did to my hair!" - Snide O'Connor
"Too many late nights at the Crow house." - Dan & Dave
"I had a drink but didn't swallow it at the Crow house." - Bill Klinton
"Those guys really know how to wreak havoc." - Hurricane Andrew
"I met her at a Crow party." - Woodie Allens
"f I could do it all over, I'd be a Crow instead of a cardinal." - the Pope
"Party on Crows!" - Wayne & Garth
"I'm alive and well and living in the Crow house." - Elvis Presly
RUSH CROW
For More Information, Call 995-8750

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Jan. 28, 1993

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