Page 8 -The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 15, 1993 Speakman speaks out on Hollywood by John R. Rybock While teaching in a West Los Angeles dojo, Jeff Speakman, star of "Perfect Weapon" and "Street Knight," was told that he should try to be in motion pictures. "I resisted for a while," said Speakman in recent interview. "Finally I went, and then I realized that this is what I should be doing." But when Jeff Speakman was entering college, acting did not appear to be in his future. An accom- plished gymnast and springboard diver, Speakman's first interest in the martial arts came with the televi- sion show, "Kung Fu." "They had these scenes in the temple, and I remember there were these men in the back, moving around in space, almost a dance-like series. And because I was so involved in motion, I thought 'God, is that what martial arts is like?' I really wanted to find out." Fortunately for Jeff Speakman, fate was on his side. In college at Missouri Southern State College, Speakman met tenth degree blackbelt Lou Angel, who was retired from martial arts and working as a police officer. "I pursued him, and I started taking karate from him in the old, deserted basement jail cell of the precinct." Speakmanopened adojo with Angel, andcontin- ued to study. "Mr. Angel said if you really want to make martial arts your life, you really should move to California and study Kenpo from Ed Parker, because he's the best in the world," Speakman recalled. Ed Parker was a Grand Master of Kenpo, teacher of Bruce Lee, and an old friend of Lou Angel. "So he gave me a letter, and I sold my car to pay for my U- Haul, and I was there. He sent me to his West LA school, and that's how I got started." After many years of study, Speakman broke down and decided to try his hand at acting. "But I didn't want to just do karate movies. Then I would be another bone-headed martial artist trying to act," Speakman said. So Speakman spent six years study- ing acting and getting small roles on IV shows such as "Hunter." The actor's big break came when Glen Bruce, writer for the movie "Kickboxer," took Speakman to meet the producer of "Kickboxer," Mark DeSalle. "I didn't get the job on 'Kickboxer' because I am nota kickboxerand it wasn'tright forme," Speakman explained. But Bruce kept pursuing DeSalle on Speakman's behalf, telling him, "You've got to see this Kenpo stuff Speakman is doing." DeSalle fi- nally visited the dojo and, Speakman reflected, "that was really the break. The whole thing clicked into place." Now, with a second starring role under his belt, Speakman sees definite differences between himself and the Steven Seagals of the movies. "The genuine nature of where I came from and what I am and how I'm approaching the genre I think is important," Spekamman said. "Second, I took the years to study acting to try to elevate the genre in that sense. And then, quite simply, it is the nature of Kenpo, because the only guy who's everdone anything similar to this was Bruce Lee." Kenpo, Speakman says, is a combination of Chinese styles which were brought together in the Hawaiian islands and brought to the mainland United States by Ed Parker. "Kenpo is very different in the sense that we teach logic, physics, motion, and cause-and-effect relationships," Speakman ex- plained. "Most styles, if not all, are tradition based, and we are the opposite of that. You should only keep those parts of the tradition that are functional and that's why [Parker] and Bruce were considered rebels back then." With his new found stardom, Speakman honors the late Parker."I made a commitment to him to take his art to the world, and also to unite the Kenpo family." Traveling the country, Speakman gives seminars to dojos filled with kids. "I hope that they take home some of the subliminal teachings that I use, and that is how you can achieve whatever you dream, and that the only limitations that you have in your life are the ones that you put there." Speakman also added, "The adults need to learned the same lessons that the kids do." JeffSpeakman' snew film, "Street Knight," opens today. The actor feels it is a better film than his debut, "Perfect Weapon." "Director Albert Magnoli was able to really help me come through much stronger as an actor, which is something that's very, very important to me, especially because this movie has much more of a story to it than 'Perfect Weapon' did,"said Speakman. "'Perfect Weapon' was kind of like, 'Let's give him a simple story and see if he can act."' Hopefully for him, with continued future success in movies, Jeff Speakman will continue to grow and bring Ed Parker's message to increasing 01 Jeff Speakman stars in "Perfect Weapon" and the current "Street Knight." 'Slaughterhouse by Kim Gaines You've heard the story of the overprotective mother, I'm sure. The onewho won' tletherkid goout, talk to the opposite sex, have fun or basically have any kind of life whatsoever. Well, last weekend the Residential College Players acted out that same old scenario with a few (slight understatement) added twists. The Slaughterhouse Residential College Auditorium March 13, 1993 The Polish play "The Slaughterhouse," written by Slawomir Mrozek and recently translated by Rob Sulewski (who coincidentally also directed the RC's production) was a bit too long and a bit too philosophical, but worth seeing. With only six actors on stage, the curtain call was simple enough, although nothing else about the play was. The four- act comedy/drama/philosophy course focused on the life of the Violinist, although it also focused on the meaning of art, culture and civilization (it covered a lot of ground in two and ahalfhours). "The Slaughterhouse" commented on all of the human race, and the actors' generic names like Violinist, Flutist and Mother emphasized this generality. enlightens Although it sounds like a real downer, "The Slaughter- house" was actually incredibly funny at times. Anthony Bedwell, in particular, as the renowned violinist Paganini brought laughs with his outrageous sneezes when he was transformed from a statue to life. Another noticeable performer was Nancy Skinner- Oclander as the Mother. Purposely over-acting (and we're talking serious over-kill here), the Mother was hysterical with her melodramatic dialogues. Mary Hannah as the Flutist was perfectly charming, yet conniving and manipulative of the Violinist at the same time. James Ingagiola as the Violinist, however commanded the stage at all times. Constantly changing his outer beliefs and convictions, the same insecure and searching boy always showed through in his character. The setting was simple and in the small auditorium, everyone felt like they had great seats. The actors were all convincing, however, a few slips of the tongue and stumbles over unsure lines were evident, and this lack of profession- alism disrupted from the flow of the play. Overall, "The Slaughterhouse" was entertaining, if not realistic. One man's view of truth, of humankind's civilized (or not) nature, and the importance (or not) of art was enlightening, if not convincing "The Slaughterhouse," to sum it up, was art. RECORDS Continued from page 5 are undercut by sophomoric lyrics (Greg Brown's "Who Woulda Thunk It") or the music doesn't support the lyrics (Heidi Beny's "Gloria"). Still, there is no denying there's some fun in separat- ing the chaff from the wheat. Who knows? Perhaps a major talent is lurk- ing somewhere on "Legacy." Then again, perhaps not. -Tom Erlewine Jimmy Noone New Orleans Milan/BMG Although Jimmy Noone grew up in Cut Off, La., in the sleepy outskirts of New Orleans, his clarinet hungrily sucked up N.O.'s regional flavor. Mov- ing north to Chicago's prohibition era speak-easy, the Apex Club, Noone quickly became a principle importer of N.O. jazz. While Noone and his amount of Apex Club Orchestra often indulged in the "get hot or go home" approach to jazz, Noone could just as easily halt the hot with the fine texture and clarity of his horn, as these recordings show. Here in his first recordings as a leader, both the sweet and the sweaty numbers highlight Noone'scomfortable agility and relaxed fluidity. The melancholic sympathy between Noone's clarinet and Doc Potson's alto sax on "Sweet You Just You" is counterbalanced by the bright- ness of Earl I-lines piano tinkling and the solid backbeat of Bud Scott's banjo and Johnny Wells's skins. Noone's clarinet moves from coy flutters to rapid- fire arpeggios, from barging into the conversation with trill squeals to subtly tapering off with softly vibrating cries. Yet, the musicianship of the scanty other members of Noone's "orchestra" is an indispensable part of the effect. Still green in his career, Hines caries the middle breaks in "I Know the You people. Know" and "Apex Blues" with an assurity that beguiles his experience. With only the drum kit for support, Hines creates an orchestra from two hands. Scott's rather unconventional guitar solo in "King Joe" totally changes the for a few bars. In "My Daddy Rocks Me", Noone also brings in the cabaret- schooled, tell-it-like-it-is vocals of the Queen of the Splits, Mae Alix, a favorite ofLouis Armstrong. Speaking of which, the final number goes back to Noone's early days in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. The stellar cast fires up a wacky frolic complete with trombone slides. Yet, the whole historic batch is ru- ined by corporate numskullness. The energy of these recordings is dampened and made opaque from production enameling. Trying to hide the age of these recordings for the casual con- sumer, the canned reverb only muddies the ensemble and obscures their deli- cate raucous. Besides, a little acetate hiss never hurt anyone's ears. -Chris Wyrod 0 WED KROL, al Tiio WHOLE 4VOO PM, MARL 0 S