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A Touch of AAogic one
Review by
Jim Gray
Holidays arc for children.
And, appropriately enough, so
is Howell Theatre's holiday
show, A Touch of Magic.
An original musical by UNL
graduate student Royal Eckert,
with music by Steve Bradford,
the show is just what it says a
touch of magic. Casting a spell
over the children in the
audience at a sneak preview
Monday, the play was a far cry
from Howell's last production,
the sex-and-sadism world of
The Balcony.
In Magic, Howell's stage is
transformed into an enchanted
land called Middle Earth,
populated by droves of elves,
gnomes and reformed trolls.
As a children's show, A
Touch of Magic is good. From
the second the two pianos
strike up the melodious, if
non-memorable score, the
audience is bombarded with
images of bright lights, colorful
settings, cheerful choruses,
sterebtyped sinister villians and
heroes of all sizes and
descriptions.
The real hero of the show,
however, is costume designer
Cindy Wallis, whose amazing
designs are so spectacular, no
actor could hope to compete
with them. Seldom have
costume designs for a show at
Howell had such impact.
Even so, the principals do a
superb acting job.
Traditionally, the best parts in
children's shows are allocated
to the archvillian. A Touch of
Magic is no exception. Big
winner in the characterization
category is Chris Stasheff, who
plays Zyxoma, the head-baddie
who snorts, cackles and snarls
his way to one of the most
interesting and perhaps
most-perfect stereotypes ever.
On the hero side are also
several sterling examples of
kiddie-musical heroes. The
all-powerful good King of Fair
Land, Oberon is amply played
by William Szymanski. His
performance is good, if for
nothing else, because of its lack
of variation the perfect
sameness of a good stereotype.
Along with him there are of
course, the usual bunch of
im be cilic-but-well-meaning
helpers, who just happen to be
elves, dwarves, trolls, pixies
and dragons. Though
somewhat lacking in musical
projection, the five supporters
come accross exceedingly well
in the acting department. Jim
Ogden, Robert DeLancey and
Kay Strain all provide agile,
well defined character
backgrounds for the play,
while Bruce Thiel as an
accented dwarf and Wenda
Miller as a women's
lib-supporter ex-troll, provide
interesting sidelights.
The inevitable love-interest
comes into the play in two
forms: the comic (Susan Baer
and Larry Pothest) and the
serious (Lee Rathbun and Bill
Wallis). There is even one
well-rounded character, ' Jim
Waechter as Talisjn the
Thaumaturge, a misguided
magician.
And, of course, no fantasy
play is complete without a
Brooklynese Jewish merchant,
in this case played by Nick
George, In so many words, this
play has everything.
This is, however, where the
play falls down. Even in a
children's fantasy, there can be
too much of a good thing.
While a certain amount of mass
casting is necessary to provide
the spectacular effect of the
Celebrate the Holidays in
Due to cancellations, there are now 8 vacancies for the
Student Activities Interim Flight
round trip Fare on a TWA Boeing 707:
$183
Trip from Dec. 26 until Jan. 17
IMMEDIATE RESERVATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL
STUDENTS, FACULTY, & staff; & immediate families are eligible
STUDENT ACTIVITIES OFFICE
340 UNION
PI
EDM
ONT CHAW1PLIN
foreign car clinic
grand opening friday
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01
0
48th randolph 4889836
see our ad in
today's classifieds
for the children
play, there are far too many
major characters for comfort,
and too few with enough lines
to make a major
characterization.
About halfway through the
first act the adult viewer, not
to mention the child, finds
himself in the position of the
fan who can't tell the players
without a program. Once the
audience figui? whol
who, the show S.72ii over and
the audience a good more
tired. By the end of the
performance one gets the
feeling he's seen enough to fill
three or four fantasy musicals.
The plot, while inventive
and creative, is somewhat
overcomplicated also. There
often seem to be too many
loose ends up in the air for
comfort, which is not helpful
to the fantasy's delivery. The
book and song lyrics are not
bad, although the play seems
to lack memorable lines.
Technically the play came
over fairly well Monday,
especially considering the
sneak preview was actually a
work-out-the-bugs dress
rehersal. The choreography was
for the most part lackluster,
with the exception of a
pantomime sequence with Baer
gracefully fleeing monsters.
Hopefully, most of '" the
bugs will be worked out in
time for the production's
opening night.
The set and lighting designs,
while adequate, are
overshadowed by the
costumes. Some interesting
devices do, however, add to the
set's fantasy orientation.
No fault, however, can be
attributed to a lack of
enthusiasm by the cast, which
obviously loves to play for a
young audience. Leaping off
the front of the stage, the
actors clo wned and joked with
the children in the audience
after Monday's prevue.
Unprofessional as it may be,
this unbridled enthusiasm is
what -Iiildren's fantasy is all
about giving the kids what
they want, a real live, exciting
Christmas present.
Don't come expecting to see
Cabaret or Hello Dolly! Come
to see a children's fantasy, with
its own special Touch of Magic.
Lancaster District Judge
Herbert Ronin Tuesday took
under advisement the request
of four UNL students for a
temporary injunction in a suit
challenging the constitutional
ity of mandatory student fees.
Attorney - La-wren ce
Murphy, representing plaintiff
students Ralph Larson, Bruce
Wimmer, Frederick Otto and
Wayne Stuenkel, asked the
court to enjoin the collection
of seconc semester lees for The
Daily Nebraskan and ASUN.
In deferring decision, Judge
Ronin allowed two weeks for
the submission of briefs by
attorneys Alan Peterson
representing the Board of
Regents, and The Daily
Nebraskan, and Patrick Healcy,
representing ASUN.
There will be a meeting of
the American Federation of
Teachers (AFT) Wednesday at
4 p.m. in the Nebraska Union.
All members and interested
persons are invited to attend.
AH artwork checked out
from the Union Art Lending
Library will be. due Wednesday.
Bring the artwork to the Union
Lounge between 10 a.m. and 5
p.m.
The record lending library
closes Thursday. All records
are due. Return them to Room
237, Nebraska Union.
Students p re-enrolled in
Math 206 (Introduction to
Partial Differential Equations)
will meet at 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday in Room 208
Oldfather to arrange next
semester's schedule.
The Undergraduate Library
will be open extra hours for
finals. The Study area outside
the library will be open until 2
a.m. Dec. 12-1 7, Dec. 19-22.
'tfail j " Tim,
rlL
Girls, go to the Wooden
Nickel and get mom some
thing that won't fit her
(but will fit you).
GIFTS OF THE TIME
OPEN Thursday & Friday nights until 9 pm
Campus Bookstore
PAGE 6
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15. 1971
