The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 14, 1994 - 9
They've got the designs on you
Three University students take home prizes for theatrical design
By NIARNI RAITT
Riecently, three University MFA
Theatlre Design students took home
honors from the Region III competi-
tion a t the American College Theater
Festival (ACTF).
Gi eta Fisher received first prize
for heir lighting design in "The Lion
and the Jewel"; Charlotte Pritchard
won I krst prize for her costume de-
signs i "The Rogues Trial"; Jennifer
Snoey nk took an honorable mention
for the" sets she created in "The Lion
and the Jewel."
Th , ACTF is a prestigious organi-
zation that works to promote the work
of student designers in theater. The
competition, which takes place in eight
regions across the United States, is a
five-& y forum where theater students
have at chance to display their own
work and view the work of their peers
from around the country. The Region
III con petition took place in January
at the University of Wisconsin at
Green I day and was attended not only
by students but also by faculty and
acclaim fed administrators who cri-
tiqued the students' work. "This is a
chance for professionals in the the-
ater indiAtry to see what student de-
signers are learning and creating,"
said Fislh;r.
There are several categories in
which the students are judged at the
festival. six schools are selected to
put on in entire production, and
awards are distributed in categories
such as play writing and acting. There
are also two different design catego-
ries: the National Design Competi-
tion in which students display de-
signs used in productions, and the
Design Exposition in which students
produce and exhibit design proposals
communicate our ideas well enough
in a small space so someone with no
sense of the show could understand
exactly what we were trying to do,"
explained Fisher.
Completely independent of the
judging, there were two respondents
who walked around the festival cri-
'It's great to see your own work, as well as other
people's work, critiqued. You get a real sense of
what the professionals are looking for.'
- Jennifer Snoeyink, honorable mention for sets
for "The Lion and The Jewel"
for shows not yet produced. The three
University representatives partici-
pated in the National Design Compe-
tition.
For the first round of competition,
in order to be initially invited to the
festival, the students had to present
their work to a judicator sent earlier in
the school year by the ACTF. Once
approved at this first level, the stu-
dents prepared presentations to be
displayed at the festival.
"We presented a copy of our pho-
tos, research and paperwork, includ-
ing a concept statement which stated
exactly what we were trying to achieve
by our design. It was kind of like a
display at a grade school science fair.
The judges wanted to see if we could
tiquing the students' work. "They
were the most worthwhile part of the
festival, even more so than receiving
an award," remarked Snoeyink. "It's
great to see your own work, as well as
other people's work, critiqued. You
get a real sense of what the profes-
sionals are looking for."
Fisher continued, "The critique is
interactive in front of a whole group,
so we learned from our peers as well
as the respondents."
"It was interesting to see what
other students are working on,"
Pritchard expressed. "We saw'a lot of
fabulous shows and met a lot of excit-
ing people. (The festival) was very
rewarding."
"I think we did well because we
put a lot of time into our presentation.
Because we are just students, people
do not necessarily expect our dis-
plays to be perfect. But none of the us
looked at it that way," said Fisher.
"We were very careful to finish
details and make them look perfect.
You could tell we put a lot of time and
effort into our presentations, and it's
hard to maintain that kind of enthusi-
asm for a show two months after it's
closed," Snoeyink added.
In June, Pritchard and Fisher will
go on to the national competition in
Washington D.C. to compete against
the winners in their categories from
the other seven regions. It will be set
up similarly to the regional competi-
tion with shows, workshops and judg-
ing of displays. Stated Fisher, "We'll
be exposed to a broad range of profes-
sional designers who will be able to
tell us what's strong about our work
and where we need improvement."
"I'm very excited," said Pritchard.
"It's overwhelming in a way to be one
of eight costume designers in the coun-
try to be going. It will be a wonderful
experience."
The winners in each area will re-
ceive a one week trip to New York
City where they will be able to net-
work with professionals in the field.
Fisher, Pritchard, and Snoeyink
all have bright futures in the theatrical
world. Broadway, here they come.
Be prepared for a long run.
Stephanie Fybel in Charlotte Pritchard's costume in "The Rogues Trial." Her
*costumes took first prize at the American College Theater Festival.
RECORDS
Continued from page 8
fluid and comprehensible sound on
the 1992 pieces that lacks the
organicness of Teitelbaum's '87 elec-
tronic sounds. Personally, I prefer the
suspense and ear-bending tumult of
the earlier pieces, but Zingaro is stead-
fastly exuberant and full of surprises
on both dates.
Put aside your own biases toward
acoustic or electronic music and hear
how fluid this confluence can be.
- Chris Wyrod
Eric's Trip
Love Tara
*Sub Pop
For a band that named itself after
a Sonic Youth tune, Eric's Trip sounds
very little like the New York noiseters.
Instead of the waves of dissonance
that characterize Sonic Youth's sound,
Eric's Trip pursues a slightly more
mellow tone. Through the course of
the 15 tracks on its debut, "Love Tara,"
the band waltzes steadily from acous-
tic whisperings and sudden endings
to full-speed rockers, rather as if Rick
White and his partners had sought to
condense the career of Sebadoh into a
single record.
"Behind the Garage," "Follow"
and "Secret for Julie" are quite effec-
tive at setting up the hushed mood
that pervades the first half of "Love
Tara." The songs are desolate and the
bare accompaniment lends them the
necessary weight. As the album
progresses, more instruments are
added and though the band turns up
the amps, the production remains the
same: crude, fuzzy and surprisingly
personal. Eric's Trip's debut is by no
means a perfect record, but it is genu-
ine. Fans of Sebadoh's early work
may wish to check it out.
-- Dirk Schulze
Course of Empire
Initiation
Zoo Entertainment
Basic encapsulation: Course of
Empire .:1arts their album trying to
sound like Therapy? but end up trying
to sound ; wful. The first six songs on
"Initiatioiq" sound fine, if a lot like
Therapy?; "Hiss" is fast and loud and
good, morie or less what modern rock
should be. Course of Empire even
sounds inn ovative on "Infested!" with
drum stic Is sounding like ticking for
the first riinute or so, then descending
into an akiight Nine Inch Nails / Van
Halen mibiture type of thing.
It star t{; getting bad at track seven,
when the vocals and music seem pain-
fully out i f sync. "Minions" is much
worse, hovever, since it is an eight-
minute-lc vg bore-fest of light crap
that can't seem to find its level. Then
there's the title song, which is basi-
cally feedback and bad sound spread
out over se veral tracks on the CD for
no appareit reason. The final song,
"The Chihiahuaphile," would almost
have to be a good song from its title,
but somehow or other the band avoids
graphic p 3rtrayals of bestiality and
fail to me(-t the expectation of a good
song. Maybe if you could just get the
first half ...
-Ted Watts
Seaweed
Four
Sub Pop
Aside from Love Battery and Ha-
zel, Seaweed is producing some of
the finest work for the Sub Pop rock
empire (one nation, under grunge,
with Top 40 hits and heroin for all).
But whereas Love Battery favors
trippy guitar styles and Hazel pop-
grunge, Seaweed turns out some fairly
aggressive punk / hardrock songs.
However, aggression is the key
for Seaweed. The band keeps their
energy up for their faster numbers,
but when their songs are slow, they
drag. Also, most of the tracks on
"Four" have the same medium tempo
which can come dangerously close to
stirring monotony.
Fortunately, the guitar work is di-
verse enough to distinguish each song.
"Losing Skin" pleasantly attacks the
ears with power chords and a buzzing
lead guitar. "Card Tricks" begins
calmly, disguising the fury that's to
come. And "Metal Gazer," a minute
and a half of clever distorto-noise, is
an excellent introduction to the rag-
ing closer "Your Privilege."
Seaweed's singer, Aaron, is quite
possibly the highlight of the band. He
distinguishes a clever knack for
switching easily between contagious
melodies and all-out screams. Over-
all, Seaweed's "Four" is a very good
album of unique guitar-rock with ex-
cellent vocals.
- Matt Carlson
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