The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 3, 1998 - 9
Oscar goes to permanent location
LOS ANGELES (AP) - After 70
years of wandering between hotels,
theaters and auditoriums, the Oscars
are finally getting a permanent
home.
The Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences and the city of
Los Angeles announced plans yes-
terday for a $350 million complex in
Hollywood.
It will include a 3,300-seat theater
that will be the site of the annual
Academy Awards show starting in
2001.
"This is a historic day, the begin-
ning of a new era in Hollywood his-
tory," proclaimed Robert Rehme,
president of the academy.
The project will be on Hollywood
Boulevard next to Mann's Chinese
Theatre - formerly known as
Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the
place where stars have put their
hands and feet in the wet concrete
outside.
Besides the theater, the project
will include a ballroom, multiplex
cinemas, restaurants and stores.
The academy invested no money in
the new theater. The complex will be
owned by the city, and the theater will
be leased to the academy. A parking
garage now stands on the site.
The project's planners hope to
revitalize Hollywood, which has
long been a seedy part of Los
Angeles, full of cut-rate shops,
empty stores, fast-food stands, run-
aways, hookers and drug dealers.
Most of the entertainment indus-
try long ago moved to other parts of
the city, and for decades tourists vis-
iting the boulevard have been disap-
pointed.
The first Oscars were presented at
the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in
1929.
Over the years, the awards have
been given out at such sites as the
Ambassador and Biltmore hotels,
Grauman's and the Santa Monica
Civic Auditorium.
For the past two decades, the cer-
emonies have alternated between the
Shrine Auditorium, which hosted
the 70th Annual Academy Awards
on March 23, the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion and the Los Angeles Music
Center - neither of which is actual-
ly in Hollywood.
AP PHOTO
The Academy Awards ceremony, held this year at the Shrine Auditorium, will
move to a permanent location on Hollywood Boulevard by the year 2001.
Courtesy of Atlantic
.owing in support of "Apartment Life," Adam Schlesinger, Dominique Durand and
Gdy Chase are Ivy and they'll grow on you.
.h
Tno Ivy pays rent
ith 'Apartment'
By Brian Cohen ent textures and sonic details.
Daily Music Editor "We always wanted to use a lot of tex-
Fame and fortune in the music busi- turing in the sound," said the French-born
ness does not come easy. And unfortu- Durand, in her adorable Parisian accent,
nately, the seemingly seamless turn- from a cell phone in Atlanta last week.
over of music's illustrious "next big "We always loved strings and horns and
things" has only made the current state lush arrangements, but for the first
* pop worse, as it continues to sputter record, we really couldn't do it because
along the same old trails, stop at the we really didn't have that much time-
same boring sights and follow the exact only two or three weeks in the studio-
same leads as its innovative and sorely and the budget was really low so we
missed predecessors. couldn't afford to get other musicians in
elcome is the band whose lead to do it. So we ended up with more of an
singer has more on his mind than per- indie-guitar sounding album."
feeling his Eddie Vedder imperson- But now that Ivy has started to turn
atibns. Welcome is the group that can some heads and garner modest atten-
w 'te lyrics with more than a third- tion, the opportunity for additional
grde proficiency. Welcome is the pres- musicians to join the band on tour has
ce of original and inspiring music in become a reality. In attempt to recreate
today's daily reg- the winsome sounds that permeate
iment of regurgi- "Apartment Life," a trumpet and saxo-
tated radio rub- phone player have joined the trio, as
bish. well as a keyboardist and an additional
Ivy W e I c o m e, guitarist borrowed from Boston-based
The Shelter ladies and gen- popsters Gigolo Aunts.
tlemen, to the But regardless of extra hired punch
Tonight at 8 land of Ivy, a on stage, perhaps the most intriguing
charming trio of aspect of Ivy's sound lies in the blended
versatile, hard- vocals of Durand and Chase. And
working upstarts although it is not always easy to com-
with enough bine male and female vocals, Ivy pulls
" adroitness to it off with grace and style. "Our voices
charm the pants do go together really well," said
right off the most Durand. "But sometimes a girl and a
straight-laced sophisticates. guy singing together can clash because
With a gorgeous lead singer and two the tone is very different. But Andy
talent-laden guitarists in tow, Ivy is the actually makes a very good imitation of
epitome of a great band that will never my vocals."
achieve bona-fide household-name sta- Despite having been exposed to
tus, despite the fact that its music is sig- music from a very early age, Durand
ficantly smarter and better-crafted never even intended on being in a band
n virtually all of its contemporaries' herself. "My brother was in bands all
over-cooked offerings. Whereas most his life, my boyfriend was a musician,
of today's groups in the over industrial- and also a lot of my family were rock
ized planet of modern-rock are about as critics back in France," said Durand.
subtle as a French kiss with Mike "So I used to see rock concerts when I
Tyson, the Ivy alternative is deeply was three or four years old.' It is no
rooted in a much different garden of wonder that such longtime involvement
influences, spanning Prefab Sprout and and dedication with music has led
The Smiths, among others. directly to the band's in depth under-
As a result, tactful experimentation standing of the many-faceted world of
d genuine pop instinct remain the pop. This characteristic is certainly
,and's strong suits. Guitarist Andy another underlying Ivy strength, con-
Chase's chord progressions are as crisp sidering that Chase and Schlesinger are
and they are unexpected, bassist Adam also proficient in a variety of other
Schlesinger's musical prowess is instruments and have been for most of
impressively vast and varied (he's half their lives.
of Fountains of Wayne as well as the But since Schlesinger, especially, is
guy who wrote the Oscar-nominated so marvelously gifted, he has found the
title song to the Tom Hanks movie need to indulge in a host of other musi-
"That Thing You Do!"), and Dominique cal projects, including adding piano
Durand's smoldering vocals can melt tracks to Smashing Pumpkins guitarist
steel. 'In short, Ivy's music is too good James Iha's new solo album. Although
be spoiled by the radio. Ivy was formed first, Schlesinger splits
Currently in support of its second duty with Fountains of Wayne in a
full length album "Apartment life" schedule that doesn't seem to hinder
(Atlantic), Ivy is on the road for the either group in the least. "The only
first time as an official major label problem that I could see' Durand said,
group. Before signing to Atlantic last "was that, for Ivy, we had to wait to
year, the band released a five song E.P. release a second album until Fountains
in 1994 called "Lately" and followed of Wayne was done touring. But in
shortly thereafter with its debut album terms of Adam being in two bands -
"Realistic," both on the now defunct it's totally fine. I think sometimes being
el Seed. in a band feels like a marriage. I think
Since those earlier recordings, Ivy it's very healthy to do other things, oth-
has succeeded in filling out its already erwise you get upset with too much
ftching sound with a variety of differ- pressure and tension."
Basement Arts makes comedy of 'Chaos'
By Maicie Jones
Daily Arts Writer
Have you ever experienced total sexual frustration?
Completely given up on the opposite sex? If you have
you will probably be able to relate to the characters in
Basement Arts newest production "A Girl's Guide To
Chaos."
The play was written by Cynthia Heimel and was
adapted from her book "Sex Tips for Girls." It is being
directed by Music senior Lauren Miller. "Cynthia
Heimel writes very well, the play is funny. It's inter-
esting and about women, without being political or
particularly feminist," Miller commented.
This comedy tells the story of three women in their
'20s who live in New York and are searching for a the
perfect men. They all have difficulty understanding
how men and women react to one another, and unfor-
tunately, all of them are mixed up in circumstances
that make manhunting a little bit tricky.
Cynthia is a neurotic who has a tendency to over-
analyze. She is living with a "sex object" who every-
one says is too young for her and not exactly faithful.
Within the play, the character of Cynthia complains
after finding a letter proving her lover's affair. "I
refuse to believe that my lover left that bombshell
around by mistake. I think things were gong too
smoothly. I think he wanted to stir things up. The pas-
sive-aggressive weasel. And what kind of moronic
impulse made me read it? I think things were going
too smoothly. I think I wanted to stir things up. I am
a masochistic nit," wrote Cynthia Heimel.
Cleo is a talented, beautiful scientist who is very
insecure about herself. She has never been married
and is seldom in a relationship, but she observes other
people and their relationships and is trying to get
together with Cynthia's ex-boyfriend Jake. Her emo-
tions generally get between Cleo and the man she
loves because she's afraid of
g |<|' "being rejected.
Jr,: "I'm afraid! What if he does-
A Girl's Guide n't love me anymore in a
to Chaos month, two months, a year, a
decade? What if he leaves me
Arena Theater all alone so that I dry up like a
Tonight dead leaf? I want love insur-
and Tomorrow ance!" Cleo screams as she
tries to decide whether or not to
ask Jake out.
Rita is from Texas and has
been married multiple times.
She is bold and brash and tries
to date, but it never seems to
work out quite right for her.
"Sure, I have dates. Attractive, although skittish
dates who are entertaining and charming and invari-
ably fade into a taxi at the end of an evening. I thought
maybe I was just putting out weird vibes, you know,
intimidating these sweet and precious little New Your
heterosexuals," Rita says, trying to explain her lack of
success in the dating world.
All three of the women try to learn to deal with
men, singleness and sexuality as they come to terms
with their fears and insecurities. The script is full of
laughter and tears; it is very much tuned to a college-
aged crowd.
"People will like the play because it has lots of talk
about sex, a sexy, sexy cast and great music (jazz and
Motown accompany the show)," explained Miller.
The cast is entirely comprised of theater and drama
students. "They are all smashing individuals, superb
actors and talented and precocious young things
whose time has come. Also, they are very well
dressed," raves Miller. She believes that her cast will
work together "famously" on the play's opening night.
The script was originally intended for an audience
of the '80s, but Miller made some changes to pop cul-
ture references and pulled the play into a '90s setting.
She also made the cast younger than the original script
prescribed so college students will be better able to
relate.
- 'A Girl's Guide to Chaos "runs today at 8 & 11
p.m. and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. The Arena
Theater is located in the basement of the Frieze
Building. Admission is free.
U
- I .wt' ""
III