The Michigan D
TV REVIEW
Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October3, 2011 - 7A
Dinosaurs rule in 'Terra'
Behind the curtain
New FOX sci-fi drama series takes
a family back to a land before time
By Kavi Shekhar Pandey I Senior Arts Editor
The .new FOX series "Terra
Nova" is an adventure 65 million
years in the making - scratch
that, 18 years
in the making,*
with over a year
of actual pro- Terra Nova
duction, contin-
uously delayed Pilot
to perfect its
very expen- Mondaysat 9p.m.
sive pilot. Since
the release
of "Jurassic Park" in 1993, no
medium has been able to success-
fully capture the majesty of the
digitally rendered dinosaur (see
"Jurassic" sequels, "Dinotopia"
and that lame Disney CGI movie).
Now comes "Terra Nova," a show
with incredible, Brontosaurus-
sized ambition and promise, to
rekindle the dinosaur love and
provide audiences with a soaring
adventure series that network TV
has been sorely missing.
The series begins in the year
2149, as Earth has become unin-
habitable due to rampant pol-
lution, where a mere orange is
a prized possession (as Al Gore
would say, "Told you so"). After
some narrative fluffs to fill out
the two-hour pilot, Jim Shannon
(Jason O'Mara, "Life on Mars"),
his wife Elisabeth (Shelley Conn,
"Casualty") and their kids are
sent through a portal to join the
human race's second shot, a soci-
ety called Terra Nova - in the
Cretaceous period.
Dinosaurs are the draw of
"Terra Nova," and no disrespect
to O'Mara, but they are the clear
stars of the show. Although their
appearances are limited, the stun-
ning Brachiosauruses, frenzied
Carnotauruses and gnarling velo-
ciraptor-esque "slashers" are all
spectacular - if onlythere was an
Emmy category for Best Support-
ing Dinosaur in a Drama Series.
The unspeakably terrifying car-
nivorous dinosaurs are in top
human-devouring form, creating
some remarkably exciting action
sequences that match the scale
and delights of Spielberg's finest.
The only actor that manages to
meet the grandiosity of the crea-
tures is Stephen Lang ("Avatar")
as Commander Nathaniel Tay-
lor, the leader of the new society.
Lang channels the intimidation
and fervor of his wicked charac-
ter in the James Cameron block-
buster, substituting the villainy
for sagacity and awarm presence.
Though the concept of "Terra
Nova" is clearly cribbed from
"Jurassic Park," there are a lot of
nods to "Lost" that will brighten
many an Island-deprived soul's
day. Beyond the threat of the
dinosaurs is a splinter society
known as the "Sixers" (The Oth-
ers?) that are carefully plotting an
insurrection in Terra Nova. Then
COURTESY OF FOX
"Shoot shoot shoot, fast as you can, you can't hit me, I'm the gingerbread man!,
there are the carefully laid-out
mysteries - enigmatic symbols
on hidden rocks and the disap-
pearance of Taylor's son years
ago - that will surely pan out as
the series progresses (though the
level of satisfaction is unsure).
Even the setting is reminiscent
of Hawaiian jungles, with lush
landscapes calling back to the
splendor of the Island's gorgeous
greenery. Throw in a tremendous
twist involving time travel, and
this is clearly the high-concept
science-fiction drama everyone
has been pining for to fill the gap-
ing "Lost" void.
"Terra Nova" balances out the
rollicking action with the con-
ventions of a family drama - a
necessary evil, but still a mild
drag on the show's quality. The
show tries to shake up the formu-
la - the family is strained after
Jim went to prison for having a
third child in a population-con-
trolled future - but ends up with
the same results (see Jim'A rebel-
lious, super-emo son)..
The non-action elements need
to be tweaked, but "Terra Nova"
has already laid the seeds for
the Next Great Network Drama
Series. Of course, there's every
chance it'll grow into an obnox-
ious, garden-destroying weed.
But so far, it's absolutely worth
the risk to watch and find out.
The descent of the stage
curtain has longsignaled
a traditional end to the
careful artistic faade of a play,
opera or ballet. But while the
actors can
pause and
emerge from
the wood-
work to take
their bows
and soak up
the applause
of the audi- LAUREN
ence, a veri- CASERTA
table army of -
highlytrained
crewmembers continue their
covert performances without
missing a beat.
And if you think the only intri-
cately choreographed show of
the night took place on stage, you
haven't seen half of it.
Audiences rarely think about
the inner workings of the place
we refer to as "backstage." And
why would they? After all, a good
performance should keep you so
entranced by the onstage action
that you forget about the people
behind the scenes who keep the
well-oiled machine running
smoothly.
Ina binary world of orga-
nized chaos where audience and
mechanics are divided by a few
sheets of canvas and a few planks
of wood, the actors can only
contribute so much to a show's
success. Would anyone marvel at
Glinda's graceful wisdom if she
were wearing yoga pants? Would
anyone swoon over R and J's bal-
cony scene if Juliet were standing
on a milk crate?
Enter "the crew." It's not
uncommon for the crewmember
population to far outnumberthe
show's "cast." Beyond a direc-
tor and producer, a show needs
designers for the sets, lighting,
costumes and sound as well as
publicists, stage managers, car-
penters, painters, props masters,
sound and light board operators,
deck electricians, a fly team,
dressers, stagehands ... the list of
crews and suberews goes on, and
on, and on.
And these aren't just a bunch
of construction workers who got
gold stars in their high school
shop classes.
The more experience you have,
the more likely you'll be chosen
for a show, and many people
have decades of specialized work
under their belts. Unions exist
for every conceivable backstage
occupation, and competition for
jobs is just as tough for the people
behind, underneath and over the
curtain as it is for the actors in
front of it.
Technical prowess isn't the
only skill valued on the job. Flex-
ibility and a knack for improvi-
sation is a must. Depending on
how they want to interpret and
present the script, you could
end up doingtwo nearly unrec-
ognizable versions of the same
show for two different directors
- the choice between takinga
minimalist and traditionalist
approach could mean weeks of
extra design and construction
for every crewmember.
Requirements for each per-
formance title vary greatly.
Are you the Props Master for a
production of "Our Town?" You
got lucky! Most directors choose
to have their actors pantomime
their props in this show, leaving
you in charge of a lamp and a few
chairs.
But are you the Props Master
for "You Can't Take It With You?"
I naively took this unfortunate
job in high school as a wayto stay
close to my theater friends, and
ended up calling nearly 40 sur-
rounding businesses asking for
outlandish donations, including
a printing press, a xylophone, a
half-finished painting of a man in
a toga, an erector set, a live snake,
real kittens, nonlethal fireworks
and nearly 60 more completely
random items which were then
tagged and organized for every
rehearsal and performance.
Give a hand for
the stage hands.
Think running a ballet or
opera is any easier? Think again.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2009
performance of "La Cenerentola"
(Cinderella) required a stunningly
complicated set that broke apart
to form multiple corridors and
ballrooms while performers were
still on stage, allowing for a seam-
less flow between scenes without
havingto wait until intermission
for large-scale changes.
As if that wasn't complicated
enough, the set also had to "catch
fire" when struck by lightning in
Act II. Instead of using a lighting
trick or fluttering red stream-
ers, the set designer used actual
pyrotechnics to light (and safely
extinguish) not only the walls,
but also a character's entire
umbrella.
So what's in it for them?
While it's certainly not the most
glamorous occupation, there's
something about contributing to
a greater success that feels just as
rewarding as a bouquet thrown
to a lead soprano. To know you
are an indispensable part of a
human machine that can speak,
winch, shift, dance and operate
in synchronized perfection night
after night makes listening to the
applause from afar more than
worth it, keeping you going until
that last light is turned off and
the last door is locked.
Just think: The maxim may
say that "the show must go on,"
but how would it begin if no one
was there to raise the curtain?
Caserta is looking for a wolf mask
and a can of New Coke. To deliver,
e-mail her at caserta@umich.edu.
EXHIBIT PgR E VFIlE Wv
Hide ln gem fFuknrrvae
By LAURA KAYE explains the exhibit's focus on
For the Daily how "inconsistency and idiosyn-
crasy" can help us to understand
By venturing to the highest Faulkner.
floor of the Hatcher Graduate Instead of focusing on his
Library, you can find the Spe- works as completed novels, the
cial Collec- collection is centered on the
tions Library William progress of his works. Many of
showcasing an Faulrs the novels Faulkner would later
alternate look write were based on the short
at the liter- ARtifaCtS Of stories he wrote as a young man.
ary icon Wil- A ps The exhibit displays several
liam Faulkner. magazines in which these stories
When reading Through appeared, putting a new perspec-
Faulkner's cele- Oct.15 tive on Faulkner's early works
brated novels, it and providing a sense of his cul-
is easy to over- HaLcherGradate cural times.
look the pro- Library "They are fairly rare because
gression of his Free magazines are hard to take care
works over the of and most people throw them
years. "William Faulkner's Arti- out," said Aaron McCollough,
facts of Authorships," currently librarian of the special collec-
on exhibit at Hatcher, highlights tions for English and compara-
the evolution of his writings, tive literature.
and explores the development McCollough expressed one
of Faulkner's characters and the of the advantages of putting the
works he created. magazines on display.
Several glass cases are scat- "You can look at the first edi-
tered throughout the room, hold- tion and compare it to the sec-
ing rare copies of his short stories and edition and see significant
and novels. A poster outside changes between them, some-
thing you cannot usually do in a his most successful works, "The
regular library setting," he said. Sound and the Fury."
The brief descriptions in each An interesting feature to the
display case draw attention to showroom are the two maps
Faulkner's writings that have of the fictional Yoknapataw-
evolved over time. For example, pha County, where many of
his original short story, "Sanctu- Faulkner's stories took place.
ary," is much more vehement and This county corresponds to
grim than the novel of the same Faulkner's native Lafayette
County in northern Mississippi
and reflects a realistic image of
All the sound southern life and stigmas at this
afThis exhibit not only pres-
ents Faulkner as a novelist, but
his earlyJyears. it also displays his involvement
s a e in reshaping screenplays and
dabbling in art. He made many
drawings for the University of
name it later became. There's also Mississippi yearbooks and he
a reference to Faulkner's intention created a successful screenplay
to remove the preface from later from Hemingway's novel, "To
editions in order to make the older Have and Have Not."
prints more valuable. From the many editions of his
The exhibit also highlights novels to even his name (original-
how Faulkner received a disap- ly Falkner), this exhibit empha-
pointing rejection from a pub- sizes the progression of Faulkner
lisher early in his career. Instead and his works over time. Don't
of distressing over the publish- get discouraged over your next
er's opinions, he started writing essay; take pride that you are fol-
for himself. This led to one of lowing in Faulkner's footsteps.
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The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and
the Arts presents a public lecture and reception
Richard A. Musgrave
Collegiate Professor
of Economics
LSA
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Rackham Amphitheater
4:10pm
t
A