Culture

Wang Dang Doodle

Jones

 

venues like the Arts Club
were to gleefully toss these
headache mongers back to
the over-amplified world of
guitar glitz, and once
again let the vocal training
of good actors carry their
lines to the back row. Call
me aurally annoyed, but
when an acclaimed singer
like Dee Daniels seems to
fade a little next to Andre
Benjamin's not-fully-
warmed-up-and-flapjack-
flat Sam “Sneeze” Price,
I've just gotta wonder
about the ‘wires’. I’m
downright riled about the
squashing of Candus
Churchill's voice. When a
high or low note was able
to squeeze through her
lethargic mic, it sounded
appetizing, but these
moments were rare in the
ne first act, and not consist-
To make a caption for this photo, think ... ‘Pointing’ ent enough in the second.

 

Remember riding the Tilt-A-
Whirl at the fair? All that
crazy spinning around and
shuddery lurching up and
down in a big, giddy circle?
Gads, I loved that thing, even
with the low-level whiplash
sensations it caused.

Also uneven but fun,
Wang.Dang Doodle, the
current musical revue at the
Arts Club, bears a fine
metaphorical resemblance to
that old carnival fanny-
shaker (albeit with a much
better soundtrack). Techni-
cally creaky, but worth the
distractions of finicky
headset microphones, the
show shimmies enthusiasti-
cally through nearly thirty
great depression-era jazz
tunes. And, in keeping with
the entertainment of the
period, the plot is a light-

 

 

eine Re soca tee tof a Sometimes, headsets make
sang anh dahee from. Not Hosting arent raising to keep things lively and as Shopping Bag Mary for the, me crazy.

eaveroks nities style d self- party in 1930s Harlem, Tom personal. His voice, by the um, tacitly educational song Luckily, the set wasn’t
raferghaial cynidietn, the Pickett's Ellsworth King way, is a tasty treat (Ithink ‘Handyman: Although the ‘Dr. miked. It just looked... it
Sick ect adacioutinns immediately engages the I'd choose it even over the Long John’ number by Candus_ looked... Go look at it. It’s
played (eth all the alll audience directly with his hog's feet). Churchill as Grace was a good purty. The glowing eyes are
enjéssnelt the: wasd-tmplies) hand-shaking chumminess Speaking of voices, Dee jumper too. Hm. Maybe silly, but I liked ‘em anyhow.
b een siets seo and his jingling donations jar. Daniels as Minnie is a fine hormonal imbalance can It frolics. It jitters. It

y famili y afl g Front row members beware: thing to hear, but Dee Daniels influence a person’s climbs through windows. And
[ f aoe pha d a = you may be forced to dance. _as God is even better. And judement... it sings. Not bad for a

a z = d = nee ak Pickett’s warm-hearted, fast- God has a damn fine costume Right, well, time to euphamism.
: ia 1 pra _ er talking Ellsworth draws the designer. bitch. Now, about those At the Arts Club Theatre,

eS eee viewer in, declaring everyone The best, the most headsets. Inconsistent pick- Granville Island Stage

movies with top-hats and
tap-dancing. And my sweet
tooth is enormous.

welcome guests in his home, pungently suggestive, and the ups, static, and muddying of Runs to Feb. 6/99
and breaking the performer/ most clownlike number was notes could all be possibly
audience barrier several times performed by Laurie Murdoch avoided if companies in small

Lessons about life

Jen Swanston

 

Last Friday Playing by Heart
opened in cinemas across the
country. The story takes place
over eight days and two
coasts, following a dozen
people as they play out the
roles that are their lives.
From a glitter-dusted,
disillusioned club girl to an
acclaimed television producer
who just found out he has a
brain tumour, to a beautiful
theatre director who is
terrified of relationships and
a man telling his life ‘stories;
the film covers as many
people as possible.

Willard Carroll, who
wrote and directed Playing by
Heart, presents Los Angeles as
a city of possibility with just
a bit of tarnish. The charac-
ters are equally real, filled
with their own flaws and
insecurities.

The actors were per-
fectly picked for their roles
and truly bought their
characters to life. Joan
(Angelina Jolie) is hopefully
looking for love on the Los é
Angeles club scene. Keenan Is this guy really great or is he
(Ryan Phillipe) is happy

   

‘a E ak : 5

going to turn into an alien when! sleep with him?! wish Mulder was here.

dancing by himself, yet times to want a relationship. life stories, his changes. And _least expect it to be. The This is the perfect date
despite all his defenses Not discouraged, Trent (Jon __ the list goes on. threads of the stories come movie.

Keenan falls for Joan. Happy = Stewart) lays siege and finally While Playing by Heart _ together in the end witha eer (2

with the way her life is, convinces Meredith to let him is a light movie, its message wedding and a death. Not all

Meredith (Gillian Anderson) in. Every time Hugh (Dennis __is we can all still keep going _ of the issues are resolved, but
has been burnt one too many Quaid) goes to aclub to trade and find happiness where we __ then that’s how life is.

6 January 27 1999 the Other Press