Lebanon Valley College - Quittapahilla Yearbook (Annville, PA)

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Agatha Christie ' s Murder on the Nile Smith (Ross Hoffman) calms tfie Mostyns fiousekeeper, Nadine Saada. f iss Ffollot-Ffoulkes, (KristI Cfieney), broke up the intensity of the play with her humorous comments. Canon Pennefather, (f ike Steckman), helps Kay t osty n, (Julie t at- thews) down the steps following her encounter with Jacqueline de Severac (Jane Vail). Dr. Bessner, (Kevin Biddle) and Christina (Cathie Wheeler) help Jac- queline de Severac (Jane Vail) following the attempted murder. 18

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The Dally News, Lebanon, Pa., Thursday, October 16, 1986 LVC Actors Do Well With ' Golden Pond ' Review ByMARYLOUKELSEY For The Daily News An Interesting aspect of being In the review- ing business for so many years Is that direc- tors and producers trust me enough to let me review final dress rehearsals. Although I love the feel of a finished produc- tion, I also enjoy using my Imagination to transform the technical rough edges of a pro- duction into perfection. I also enjoy taking a peek behind the scenes and figuring out the time, dedication and fun invested by per- formers, director and technical staff. I had a chance to see all of these aspects work In harmony when I attended the final dress rehearsal of Lebanon Valley College ' s Homecoming production of On Golden Pond. Sitting alone in the audience before the rehearsal began and observing actors, direc- tor and crew tend to the many details involved in producing a play made me nostalgic for my days In college theater — and a little jealous and very appreciative of the solid perfor- mance that followed. On Golden Pond is an effective yet off- times humorous play concentrating on two people facing what is often referred to as the sunset of their lives — a term the oc- togenarian leading character, Norman Thayer, would call hogwash and then some. As Norman ' s slightly younger wife, Ethel, points out, Norman has been talking about death and dying ever since she met him more than 48 years earlier. Norman is no hypochon- driac; he never speaks about his own health. He simply speaks in terms of the Inevitability of the final stroke in the big picture, and Ethel has become used to it. She hardly expects that Norman ' s conver- sation will be any different this season at their summer home on Golden Pond in Maine — but what is different is Norman himself. He still grumps around the house making caustic remarks on every topic from race relations to baseball to the two maiden ladies who live down the road; he ' s still the same self-styled curmudgeon who can be funny and ex- asperating at once. But he seems to be slip- ping. He is becoming more than merely absentminded, and is less able to enjoy all the things he and Ethel used to love about Golden Pond. His heart is losing strength. Ethel, who loves him dearly, is so con- cerned that she asks their daughter, Chelsea, to break an eight-year absence and visit them on Golden Pond. Chelsea ' s absense has not been accidental. She and her father have waged battle royal since she was a little girl. The battle has not simmered down In more than 40 years. To Chelsea, her mother is Mommy, but her father is Norman. She feels that she and her father have never liked each other, and that he has been disappointed in her at every step of her life. She has put a giant chip on her shoulder and won ' t let it go. He responds in kind. But Chelsea comes for his 80th birthday. In tow is her serious boyfriend and his 13-year- old son. After a rather strained reunion, Chelsea and her beau leave the boy behind while they travel to Europe for a month. During that month, Norman grows. The youngster, Billy, is not afraid of disappointing Norman as Chelsea had been. Billy teases and jokes and looks after the old man. He doesn ' t change when he is around Norman, but makes him happy while allowing him his eccentricities. When Chelsea returns, her mother demands that she make peace with her father, and her father is mellow enough to go along with it. Chelsea asks that she and her father love each other. Norman answers, We always loved each other. We just weren ' t sup- posed to like each other. On Golden Pond is a love story between three generations. It is not the easiest piece for a company to do because of the intricacies of the characters. It isn ' t made easier by the fact that Norman and Ethel are immortalized on film by none other than Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, or that at Lebanon Valley College these roles must be played by young people. But Chad Saylor and Kathleen Ryan took on the challenge and proved they are competent performers. Playing age is difficult, and there are many pitfalls that can make a performance seem one-dimensional. But even at the few times these two young actors suc- cumbed physically to those pitfaNs they never wavered vocally or in their characterizations of Norman and Ethel. And never once did the close relationship between the two break down. B. J. Checket played young Billy with the same kind of loving feeling. Jennifer Lord played the troubled Chelsea well; it is only a shame that playwright Mark Rydell didn ' t give the Chelsea and Billy characters as much meat and depth as he did in the screenplay. In fact, the screenplay itself is far better written than the play. Bill Ray was played in solid California style by Ken Homan, and Douglas Nyce played the silly downeasterner Charles Martin with humor and sympathy. Brent Trostle demonstrated both humor and sensitivity at the director ' s helm. Tk. P (Above): The Many Moods of Kathleen Ryan. (Right): Ethel (Kathleen Ryan) and Norman (Chad Saylor) prepare to look for the loons on Golden Pond.

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by Scott Kirk Another stinking review. Why can ' t newspapers leave poor ac- tors alone? They always gotta be writing critiques that hurt people ' s feel- ings. Where is the sense of justice in this world? Can ' t they just tell us what a good job we did and be done with it? That was the voice of an actor who despises being challenged. It could be any actor, anywhere, but it ' s probably someone from amateur theatre. Somebody who doesn ' t realize that feedback is important to improvement and the future of quality shows. It could be someone right here, on the LVC stage. Hopefully it isn ' t, but it ' s probable. Ok, so you want a pat on the back. I ' ll give you one (with a few critical end- notes to balance it out). Alpha Psi Omega ' s recent prouduction of Christie ' s Murder on The Nile was dynamic, well cast and well-paced. Although mysteries are almost sure to entertain, they can be dry. This pro- duction wasn ' t. Director Chad Saylor made sure the timing was right on, heightening the intensity of scenes with just the right tinges of excitement. For example, when Canon Penn- efather (Mike Steckman) is alone on stage, trying to decipher clues like a bloody hankerchief, a scarf and a hid- den bullet, we saw the thought pro- cesses going through his mind. He became our guidepost, our ticket to confirming or denying suspicions. Saylor kept Steckman ' s character ac- tively searching, luring the audience to follow his every move. Casting? Super. Let ' s take Jane Vail as Jacqueline de Severac. If this woman doesn ' t have stage presence, I don ' t know who does. As the self- assured, spoiled de Severac, Vail was the picture of concentration. In Act I, she caught the audience ' s eye by shouting, I ' m in hell all right! The hurting, vengeful intonation, her posi- tion facing full center, her shaking head and neck, and her tensed figure all Review worked together to show us Severac ' s frustrations. In Act II, she retained this concentra- tion as she sidled up to the table and belted down a few too many drinks. Singing and talking to herself, she was undaunted as Smith (Ross Hoffman) and Christina (Cathie Wheeler) carried on a dialogue only a few feet away from her. It would have been so easy for her to lose it, but she didn ' t. Julie Matthews as Kay Mostyn also gave a formidable performance. Her petting gestures, preciseness to detail and intonation were extremely effective in bringing out the snobbish guarded Kay who isn ' t as sure of herself as she lets on. Again in Matthews we saw the concentration and the congruency bet- ween facial and body gestures that are so vital to a convincing character presentation. Steckman ' s performance as Canon Pennefather was slightly uneven, but still credible. I mentioned previously that his scene alone on the stage spoke to the audience of this thought pro- cesses, as if we were inside his head. If he could have maintained that level of audience-empathy throughout all his scenes, the good Canon would have been a great Canon. But Steckman occasionally alienated the audience, becoming artificial in his scene with Matthews in Act I as he heard her confessions. Next, as he pro- bed de Severac, he was antagonistic and somewhat unfeeling. And yet we are still called to admire his Father- Knows-Best counseling and detective work. The sum of all these is a confus- ing, unsettling after-impression of a character we ' re not sure we knew. A few more kudos: Kristi Cheney as Miss ffoliot-ffoulkes added just the right comic gestures to un-tense the drama every so often. Wheeler as Christina was surprisingly emotive, making the most of her brief dialogue. And Kevin Biddle presented an ex- tremely disciplined, serious Dr. Bessner. Biddle gets my vote for the best use of strong, imaginative characterization in a supporting role. Take-it-or-leave-it Dept: Scott Zieber ' s portrayal of Simon Mostyn was certainly the least impressive of his performances to date. Breaks in his sentences were lacking and needed, especially in his dialogue with Penn- efather in the beginning of Act I. Too many times Zieber was caught in a monotone. To break out of it, he ' d raise his voice when Mostyn was angry or frustrated, but the change would occur too abruptly. In sum. Alpha Psi ' s Murder was more than I expected, thanks to some solid individual performances and a tightly paced exchange of action. Chalk this one under the quality theatre column. 19