CAptAins CApture ChAmpionship flying colors

Captains capture championship
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AE
SPORTS, page B3
movies
reviews
Is “Quantum of Solace,”
the sequel to Daniel
Craig’s first James Bond
film worth the wait?
Local hip-hop artist
Progress has released
his second album,
“Works in Progress.”
A R T S A N D E N T E R T A I N M E N T | w ednesda y, N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 8
Hamlet
the list
in
flying colors
by robert michel
robert.michel .0 8 @ cnu.edu
William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Hamlet” has been played
throughout the centuries by
thousands of actors. It is one of
the human races greatest artistic
creations and a literary goldmine.
As with everything, unfortunately,
someone will hate it. Who would
have ever imagined it would be the
lead actor in a play? This is the basis
for TheaterCNU’s newest main stage
production, “I Hate Hamlet.”
“I Hate Hamlet” focuses on the
dilemma encountered by Andrew
Rally, an actor who has been successful on television and is given
the opportunity to play Hamlet
onstage. His girlfriend, Deirdre
McDavey, agent, Lillian Troy, and
realtor, Felicia Dantine and their
excitement for his being cast in the
role counter his loathing of the play.
His confusion reaches even more
drastic levels when a director named
Gary Peter Lefkowitz visits him with
a proposition for showbiz and the
ghost of John Barrymore, a successful actor famous for his portrayal
of Hamlet in 1922, returns from the
dead to convince him to take the role
Barrymore once held.
From the opening of the curtain,
the audience can immediately tell
that this will not be a boring show.
Each character is distinct and flavorful, lending personality to a brilliantly written play. In fact, every
character is given development and
motivation that speaks volumes for
both the playwright, Paul Rudnick,
and the craft of the actors. Just
when you believe that a character is
“figured out,” they surprise you with
something new, keeping the show
fresh and interesting to watch.
The entire play was very well cast,
with no one actor standing out as
a weak link at any moment in the
performance. Senior John O’Malley,
who plays Andrew Rally, takes
on a complicated balance
between being both the
joke and the straight man.
It is a role that would be
quite easy to flop, but he
excels with flying colors
as he engages all the actors
around him. He works very
well with Junior Caroline Rigby,
who portrays Andrew Rally’s ditzy
and hopeful girlfriend. Every scene
they share is a treat to witness.
Senior Jacob Mills graces the stage
as the charismatic John Barrymore
and almost steals the show away in
his first minute of appearing. John
Barrymore is brought to life in all
his glory through this actor. Mills
connects with both the audience
and the characters around him
while delivering a truly memorable
performance.
Greg Lloyd, a TheaterCNU
professor and director of “I Hate
Hamlet,” likened the preparation
for the performance to giving birth.
He described the weeks of rehearsal
as “messy, with a little yelling and
screaming” and a “wonderful, painful experience.” Rehearsals took five
weeks with six days out of each week
devoted to practice.
When asked why TheaterCNU
elected to do a comedy, Professor
Lloyd said, “Sometimes on a rainy
day, when the economy sucks, it’s
nice to have a few hours to smile.”
Anyone who goes to see this show
will do a lot more than smile. The
hilarity is nonstop and the audience’s laughter was heard throughout the show.
If you want see a play with witty
dialogue, dynamic characters, plenty
to laugh at and a spectacular finale,
you can’t go wrong with TheaterCNU’s “I Hate Hamlet.” You can
catch this fantastic show on Friday
and Saturday, Nov. 21-22 at 8:00 p.m.
and Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m. in
the Music & Theatre Hall. CNU
students are admitted free with a
student ID. n
campus
November 20
Rain: The Beatles Experience, 7:30
p.m., Ferguson Center for the Arts
Concert Hall
CAB presents Homegrown, 7 p.m.,
York River West Lobby
November 21
World Music Concert, 7:30 p.m.,
Ferguson Center for the Arts
Music and Theatre Hall
“I Hate Hamlet, 8 p.m., Ferguson
Center for the Arts Studio Theatre
Movie: “Footloose,” 8 p.m.,
Anderson 105
November 22
“I Hate Hamlet, 8 p.m., Ferguson
Center for the Arts Studio Theatre
Movie: “Footloose,” 8 p.m.,
Anderson 105
Casino Night, 8 p.m., Potomac
River North Lobby
November 23
“I Hate Hamlet, 2 p.m., Ferguson
Center for the Arts Studio Theatre
The Doobie Brothers, 7 p.m.,
Ferguson Center for the Arts
Concert Hall
The Newport Pearls Concert,
2 p.m., David Student Union
Ballroom
November 24
Jazz Combo Concert, 7 p.m.,
Ferguson Center for the Arts
Music and Theatre Hall
local
illustration by paul schmid/mct
November 19
Carlos Mencia, 7:30 p.m., Chrysler
Hall
Gallery Talk: American Chronicles:
The Art of Norman Rockwell,
12:30 p.m., Chrysler Hall
November 23
Celebration of Cultures, 12 p.m.,
Virginia Beach Convention
Center
VA Fashion Week 2008 Day of
Designers, 1 p.m., Ted Constant
Convocation Center
concerts
courtesy of peter adams
Director Greg Lloyd and Assistant Director Jen Bukovsky watch Mills perform.
November 19
Iron & Wine, 8 p.m., The NorVa
YES, 8 p.m., The National
November 20
N*E*R*D, 8 p.m., Ted Constant
Convocation Center
Umphreys McGee, 8 p.m., The
National
November 22
Undercurrent, 7 p.m., The NorVa
November 24
Norfolk Chamber Consort, 7:45
p.m., Chandler Recital Hall Diehn
Fine and Performing Arts Center
Lamb of God, 8 p.m., The National
November 25
Method Man and Redman, 9 p.m.,
The NorVa
movie releases
“Bolt”
Bolt is a super-dog whose days are
filled with danger and intrigue—
at least until the cameras stop
rolling. When the star of a hit TV
show is accidentally shipped
from his Hollywood soundstage
to New York City, he begins his
biggest adventure yet.. Rated PG.
joe fitzpatrick/the captain’s log
Directed by Dr. Sam Dorsey and modeled after the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra, the CNU Guitar Orchestra is the first of its kind at the collegiate level in the United States.
Guitar Orchestra takes audience around the world
by joe fitzpatrick
joseph.fitzpatrick.0 6 @ cnu.edu
As the night grew darker and air got colder,
students and faculty flocked from all over campus
to see the Christopher Newport University Guitar
Orchestra perform in the Ferguson Center Music
and Theater Hall.
Currently the orchestra is under the leadership of
Dr. Sam Dorsey. Dr. Dorsey is an adjunct professor of
guitar studies here at CNU and is professor of music
and humanities at Norfolk State University. He also
founded the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra, which
the current Guitar Orchestra at CNU was modeled
after, making it the first of its kind at the collegiate
level in the United States. It is also used in Europe
and Japan, which has an orchestra of one thousand
members. In addition, Dr. Dorsey recently completed
his Ph.D. in musicology from the Catholic University
of America where he was the recipient of the Paul
Furfey Hanley Scholarship.
Acquired by founder and former director John
Boyles on a trip to Costa Rica, the orchestra guitars
are small guitars called requintos, which are tuned
a fifth up, classical guitars and somewhat larger
guitars called bajas, which are tuned a fourth down.
Together, these musicians create harmonies
and set subtle moods with the help of compositions
arranged especially for guitar ensembles.
Wearing all black, the members of the orchestra
walked out on stage in a single file line with their
guitars in hand. On stage left were the requintos,
which included Sophomore Kevin Poehlmann and
Freshmen David Elliot and Andrew Henson. In the
middle of the stage were the classical guitarists,
Senior Perrell Dawkins and Freshman Floyd Steele.
On stage right were the bajas, played by Junior
Vernon “Trey” Hayden and Freshman Ryan Sheldon.
The seven-person ensemble played a collection of
folk music which included pieces such as
see orchestra page b2
“Twilight”
When Bella Swan is sent to live
with her father in the rainy little
town of Forks, Washington, she
doesn’t expect much of anything
to change. Then she meets
the mysterious and dazzlingly
beautiful Edward Cullen, a boy
unlike any she’s ever met.
Rated PG-13.
cd releases
“When The World Comes Down” All American Rejects
“I Am...Sasha Fierce” – Beyonce
“Electric Arguments” – The
Fireman (Sir Paul McCartney)
“The New Game” - Mudvayne
“Dark Horse” - Nickelback
dvd releases
“Priceless”
“The Sisterhood of the Traveling
Pants 2”
“Tropic Thunder”
“WALL-E”
w edne S D A Y, N O V E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 8
PAGE B2 | T H E C A P T A I N ’ S L O G
Craig’s second Bond film shaken and a little stirred
by cole hogan
chogangraphics @ gmail .com
The first thing that any die hard
Bond fanatic will tell you is that no
Bond film is complete without a good
intro and theme song at the beginning. They usually consist of animation with the female body in some
way or another. Jack White and
Alicia Keys performing “Another
Way To Die,” however, doesn’t fit the
bill.
Jack White doesn't belong anywhere near a Bond theme song,
let alone a recording studio. This
opener would have been much
better if they had just let Alicia Keys
perform the song alone.
However, the cinematic animation
in the beginning was well thoughtout and reminiscent of an iPod
commercial, consisting of female
bodies and desert sand.
For those unfamiliar with
"Quantum"'s prequel, “Casino
Royale,” the movie revolves around
British Intelligence Agent James
Bond (Daniel Craig) who has just
reached “double-0” status and is just
starting to get his name out there
amongst the terrorist organizations
orchestra from page B1
“Venezolana” and “A Espana” by
David Garcia, as well as the popular
American folk songs “Wade in the
Water” and “Swing Low Sweet
Chariot,” both of which were
arranged by Jeremy Sparks. Dawkins,
the eldest of the young group and the
only upperclassmen, was an obvious
leader on many of the songs.
In the middle of the scheduled program, Dr. Dorsey came out on stage to
perform a couple original pieces. The
first piece was an Irish Traditional
called “Si Beag, Si More,” which he
claimed to be about “battling fairies.”
The second piece was a song titled
around the around Europe.
Bond is sent to stop Le Chiffre,
a banker to the world's terrorist
organizations, from winning a highstakes poker tournament at Casino
Royale in Montenegro.
Along the way he falls for an absolutely beautiful and pricklish Vesper
Lynd (Eva Green) who sacrifices
herself to save James' life in the end
of the movie.
"Quantum of Solace" starts off
with James taking care of some
unfinished business with Mr. White
(Jesper Christensen), the man
somehow behind Vesper's suicide
from the ending of Casino Royale.
Revenge is the theme of "Quantum." Bond is determined to seek
justice on the organization behind
Vesper's death but on the path to
revenge, he must stop an environmentalist from taking control of a
country's water supply. Evidence
links an MI6 traitor to a bank
account in Haiti where Bond meets
the absolutely beautiful but defensive Camille (Olga Kurylenko).
Camille guides Bond to our new
villain, Dominic Greene, a rather
creepy eyed businessman/environmentalist who actually plays an
enormous role in the criminal
organization known only as
Quantum. Bond's new mission leads him through places
in Austria, Italy and South
America.
While all the ingredients
seem present for an awesome
Bond sequel, something is
just still missing. I think it's
clear to see an impact that the
recent writer's strike had on
the film. Action film lovers
are probably going to leave the
theater a little disappointed,
while the car chases and fight
sequences are well done and
about as raw and brutal as the
"Bourne Identity" series, there
just simply doesn't seem to be
enough of it.
Bond fans will appreciate the
storyline and all the classic elements that make a Bond movie
Susie Allnutt/MCT
a Bond movie.
Daniel Craig stars in his second film as James Bond in “Quantum of Solace.”
Chances are if you didn't
see "Casino Royale," then you
probably have no interest in seeing
"Casino Royale" and she seemed to
sive male clothing lines, but it will
"Quantum of Solace" in the first
follow "Quantum" alright. Overall,
also bring in a nice big box office
place.
“Quantum” may not satisfy everycheck to Hollywood over the coming
On the other hand, the person
one, but the film is sure to, not only
weeks while it’s still in theaters. n
★★★½★
I saw the film with had not seen
set the Christmas sales for expen-
“Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” which was
written as a dedication to Leo Kotke,
a 12-string guitarist from Milwaukee.
Following Dr. Dorsey’s solo performance, the students closed out
the show with an Irish Folk medley,
arranged by Sparks and Boyles.
Dr. Dorsey was very impressed
with the performance. “They did a
great job,” he said. “Many of them
had never read music before, but they
have improved greatly.”
“It was a nice mix of music,” said
Junior Richard Brown.
“My favorite part was the Irish
stuff,” Freshman Margie Edwards
said. “It made me feel like dancing in
the aisles.” n
Check out A+E’s free, legal music blog at
BLOGS.THECAPTAINSLOG
www.
.org.
joe fitzpatrick/the captain’s log
This week: Songs from two Final Fantasy
EPs and a Matador Records sampler.
The requintos section of the guitar orchestra includes (from left to right) Sophomore Kevin Poehlmann and Freshmen David Elliot and Andrew Henson. To their right were classical guitarists Senior Perrell Dawkins and Freshman
Floyd Steele. On stage right were the bajas, played by Vernon “Trey” Hayden and Freshman Ryan Sheldon. The
seven-piece orchestra played a variety of folk music from around the world.
“Works in Progress” shows,
needs progress
courtesy of reggie holmes
Reggie Holmes, known as Progress, released his second album, “Works in Progress,” this year.
Reggie Holmes, a graphic designer at Christopher Newport
University by day and a hip-hop artist named Progress by night,
released his second album, “Works in Progress,” recently.
review |
by mark newton
mark.newton.0 6 @ cnu.edu
Reggie Holmes, a graphic designer at Christopher Newport University, wrote in an email
that his Christian hip-hop persona, Progress,
"literally gives the listener a glimpse into my
'progress' as a man, artist and person of faith."
His second album, "Works in Progress" will
be released this month, following 2005's "The
Forward Movement."
Listening to Progress is like reading a
book, which, in this case, is a good thing and
his sense of rhythm propels the material
forward nicely.
Where the album stumbles, however, is
the music itself. Unfortunately, the music
rarely deviates from the hip-hop norm, but it
often works well, like on "Spark the Fire" and
"Dream Big."
"Works in Progress" is about just that:
identifying himself and what he has gotten to
this far. "I took a look back for only a second
/ I gotta move forward, that's the meaning of
progression," he raps on "The Portrait."
A large number of the songs end with a
home recording of Holmes expanding upon
who he is and how the song relates to to his
life, which is a really nice touch that brings
the work closer to Holmes, personally.
A major theme in Holmes' work is the role
of Christianity in his life and, at an initial
glance, every song seems to revolve around
the same idea, which, coincidentally, a lot of
Christian rock tends to suffer from.
Closer inspection reveals how auto-biographical "Works" is. And it benefits greatly
from Holmes' lyricism, too. His voice coasts
nicely across the music.
If there's any one thing that Holmes is good
at, it's packing a lot of content and ideas in a
poetic form. If he wants to move forward to
a larger audience, he needs to escape from
the pack with more interesting rhythms and
adept his lyrics to them. He comes close, but
he never fully captures my attention.
He's close, but needs to continue to
progress. n ★★½★★