's
'Butterfingers'
By JESSIE HALLADAY ~ johns, kept the laughs coming with
When you go to see a play based the only part which seemed to have
on the nativity story, you usually get been fully developed.
frankincense and myrrh with a quiet James Cooper (Joseph) and
angel presiding over it all. But not Miriam Shor (Mary) both gave solid
with"TheButterfingers Angel, Mary performances which kept the play
and Joseph, Herod the Nut and the running smoothly. Anthony
PERFOMANCEGiangrande (Man in Grey, Herod)
also gave a strong performance but
Butterfingers Angel his part was not written well enough
Power Center to sustain his talent.
The real scene stealers were
Deember 2, 1993 Cecilia Grinwald (Tree) and Mark
Alhadeff (Donkey). Grinwald's fa-
Slaughter of 12 Hit Carols in a Pear cial expressions and sense of comic
Tree." Instead, this University pro- timing were sure to bring a laugh
fumbles the proverbial ball
duction, playing at the Power Center
this weekend, presented a quirky an-
gel in a play which leaves you feeling
only mildly amused.
This was not a play that was trying
to do the traditional Christmas story,
*however, putting a spin on the story
which has done hundreds of times
before didn't help make it any better.
The play was filled with scenes
that dragged on with, at times, un-
bearable slowness. There were a few
funny lines, although there were more
intended, but they couldn't pick up
the pace enough to save the show.
While the play left much to be
desired, it was through no fault of the
*ctors. Just when the actors seemed
ready to embrace the potential of the
play, the writing fell flat with no boost
from the direction. It was the stellar
performances from much of the cast
which made the play watchable.
Eric Black was the cornerstone of
the show as the clumsy, boy-angel
Gabriel. His portrayal of the innocent
angel, sporting orange hair, socks and
*neakers running around in his long-
'Just when the actors
seemed ready to
embrace the potential
of the play, the writing
fell flat with no boost
from the direction.'
from the audience. Alhadeff's strung-
out peacenik donkey brought laughs
by just his mere appearance on stage.
It's almost worth seeing the show just
to see him saunter across the stage.
It was hard not to feel that the
talents of these actors was being
wasted on a mediocre script which
was given no help from the director.
Director John Neville-Andrews didn't
provide the kind of guidance needed
to help this play along. With an added
push this play could have been a lot
more than it was but as it was it left the
audience wondering what happened
to the comedy they had come to see.
The sets, by Gary Decker, were
Eric Black (Angel) encourages Miriam Shor (Mary) to bring the baby Jesus into this disappointing play.
terrific. Houses, signs and banners
dropped from above as furniture,
drums and palm trees slid out from
the wings of the stage forming the
perfect combination with the lights,
by Victor Tan.
On the whole this show will not
put you in the holiday spirit. You'd be
better off using your money to buy
someone an extra gift.
"THE BUTTERFINGERS ANGEL,
MARY AND JOSEPH, HEROD
THE NUT AND THE SLA UGHTER
OF 12 HIT CAROLS IN A PEAR
TREE" plays the Power Center
Friday and Saturday nights at 8
p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets
are $14 and $10 reserved seating
with $6 student tickets available
with LD.
Front 242 continue
to expand horizons
By ANDY DOLAN
Over their l2yearexistence, Front
242 have been recognized as leaders
of what has become commonly known
as industrial dance music. After a
long period of success in Europe, es-
pecially in their home country of Bel-
gium, Front 242 finally smashed into
the American dance music market in
1988 with two singles, the driving
"Headhunter" and the televangelist-
sampled anthem, "Welcome To Para-
dise." Five years later, these songs are
still instantly recognizable dance club
favorites.
After the energetic but somewhat
disappointing "Tyranny For You" al-
bum, Front 242 have come back strong
in 1993 with two full length records,
the aggressive "06:21:03:11 Up Evil"
and the surprising "05:22:09:12 Off,"
which finds Front 242 bridging the
gap between fierce electronic noises
and ambient soundscapes.
As 242's Patrick Codenys ex-
plained, "Our main concern [on the
new album] was to try to go out of the
traditional Front 242 frontiers and
limits. We really needed to take some
risks at some level.
"We already had a mostly conven-
tional 242 album with 'Up Evil,' and
we felt we needed to go even further
in some direction. We wanted to work
with some different people, and maybe
not stick with the same type of music
and image around the band."
Despite claims that the new al-
bums might be more accessible than
previous releases, neither album has
received the commercial success or
radio play of "Headhunter" or "Wel-
come To Paradise." However, this
doesn't bother the band in the least. "I
don't care about the market. What is
important to me is to be able to deal
with a total vision of what we're do-
ing. We don't want to sell millions of
records, we just want to sell enough
records to be able to achieve the next
project," he explained.
"'Welcome To Paradise' is a good
song for what it is, but I don't feel like
we have to put samples on music like
we did on that song. We touched on
that kind of song, and now we'll leave
it," Codenys said of the band's club
hit.
"We're just always trying other
things. I'd never say that what we try
to do now is more mature than what
we've done before, it's just that
[there's] different landscapes and dif-
ferent areas to explore ... it's very
exciting that way. There are people
who have a certain type of success
who just want to repeat it and they
'We're just always
trying other things. I'd
never say that what we
try to do now is more
mature than what
we've done before, it's
just that [there's]
different landscapes
and different areas to
explore ...'
- Patrick Codenys of
Front 242
become a caricature of what they did.
I'd much rather have less success and
keep a genuine relation with the mu-
sic!"
Front 242 are just beginning their
first headlining North American tour
in over two years, but were last seen
in the Detroit area for the Lollapalooza
3 tour, where their impressive set was
overshadowed by the overall disap-
.
Industrial gods Front 242 bring their music to St. Andrew's on Sunday.
pointment of the entire event. "[This
tour] is much better drilled than
Lollapalooza," said Codenys. "We
have our whole production, our lights
and some extra songs."
In general, though, the band pre-
fer to look to the future rather than
dwell on past achievements, and it is
this attitude that has allowed them to
remain as important figures in elec-
tronic music. "I think 242 was a part
of the industrial movement and we
have probably broken a lot of rules,"
Codenys observed. "But as people
working in music we're always look-
ing for new things happening, new
walls we can break down, new rules
we can break ... I'm very excited
about the future and all of its possi-
bilities."
FRONT 242 will be appearing at St.
Andrews Hall on Sunday, December
5 with Ethyl Meat Plow and
Stabbing Westward. Tickets are
$14.50 plus service charge in
advance. Doors open at 8:00, 18
and over are welcome. Call 961-
6358 for more information.
itvites you to stop by our
newly epand store and
check out our miffion-dolar inventory, incfuding...
Those wild 8 wacky 90s television folks
TiPARTRIDGE FAIL
Wow!! The whole
Partridge Family
catalog is now
aavailable on CD
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-' A kr
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