Copious Notes

Summer Classic: 'Casablanca'

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in one of their few truly happy moments in Casablanca.

This year's Summer Classics series at the Kentucky Theatre has been about as classic as it can be, with all-time hits such as Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind on the big screen. But Wednesday is arguably the biggest classic of them all: Casablanca, the Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman World War II doomed romance.

Why do we love this movie so much?

Is it the great lines: "Here's looking at you, kid?"

Is it As Time Goes By, the song Ilsa wanted to hear and Rick had to force himself to listen to?

Is it that perfect ending, "I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

Last week, we asked Copious Notes readers why Casablanca endures. Here are some responses:

Kathy Walsh-Piper, director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum said, "Casablanca is almost a brand. It’s about the scent of flowers on an EVENING BREEZE. The story is a true romance in an exotic place, in a time when exotic places were truly “foreign,” when they gave you cigarettes on the plane."

Deborah Core, an Eastern Kentucky University English professor writes, "I love Casablanca because, like most great romances, it ties the love story to a war. Rick makes the connection explicit at the end when he says that the problems of two little people don’t matter much in comparison to the problems of the world. But the movie has persuaded us of how much the two little people do matter. In the end, though, history wins, and we’re left with two more great movie conventions: the rise of men to heroic stature (Rick and Louie) and the implicit beginning of a buddy film (again, Rick and Louie).

"The music is magnificent, and Ingrid Bergman makes me want to buy a hat!"

Charles Edward Pogue, a Georgetown resident and screenwriter of films such as D.O.A., wrote:
"I think it works largely because it is a lot of seasoned pros at the top of their game...Bogart, Bergman, Claude Rains, director Mike Curtiz, producer Hal Wallis, and writers the Epstein brothers and Howard Koch. A happy symbosis of great writing, directing, acting, and producing.

BlondeTV: Bailey's a hit!

 Bailey simply sold it.

I don't know if that's what put her over the top in the final episode of Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods. They didn't show the judge's deliberation, so we really didn't hear what Legally Blonde director Jerry Mitchell was thinking. But even this Autumn Hurlbert fan has to admit that in the portions of the audition they showed us, Autumn sang beautifully, but Bailey Hanks (Photo, right, by Justin Borucki for MTV) turned into Elle Woods -- her version of Elle.

Maybe the key was in the one question they showed Mitchell ask Autumn: How do you feel about being a sorority girl?

It's a question that seemed to indicate he was having trouble buying Autumn in the role. Meanwhile, as Bailey performed, the judges were saying things like, "I believe it," and she seemed to channel her excitement through her performances, particularly Omigod You Guys.

So, Wednesday night, the Anderson, S.C. girl -- keeping Elle Woods in the South, y'all -- will take the stage of the Palace Theatre in New York City to succeed Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods. Another key comment Mitchell made was, "Neither of you are really there yet."

Has Bailey gotten there in the months since she actually won this contest? That's question critics will probably start attempting to answer later this week.

One thing that was nice was a reality show finale with a lot to do. So often, we are subjected to finales with tons of filler before we hear the handful of words everyone tuned in for. But since the judges had the last word, and it was all on tape, we got the last competition and then the announcement.

A bravo to MTV for a much better show and series than expected.

UPDATE: Playbill reports that all of the final four have been cast in Legally Blonde. Autumn is Bailey's understudy and will be in the ensemble; Lauren Zakrin is going to understudy the Elle on the first national tour, starring Becky Gulsvig, and Rhiannon Hansen is going to play Margot, Elle's best friend, on tour. I love that casting on Rhiannon. That role should work for her. Gotta say, I could also see Autumn as a Vivienne, Elle's chief nemesis, if she wanted to do that swing thing.

Check back later this week for our exit interview with Laura Bell Bundy, who will be in town early next week for her Take it From the Top workshop at Lexington Catholic along with her Blonde co-star and Search for Elle Woods judge Paul Canaan 

For more on Bailey, USA today has a  good story about her.

Derek Keeling in 'Grease' after all

Speaking of Broadway-casting reality shows and Kentucky, University of Kentucky graduate Derek Keeling is going to make his Broadway debut in Grease as Danny Zuko after all. 

Keeling and Ashley Spencer will go on as Danny and Sandy Tuesday night, succeeding Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, who won the roles on the NBC reality competition series, Grease: You're the One That I Want, in the winter of 2007. Osnes and Crumm debuted in the Broadway revival of Grease last summer. Spencer was the runner up to Osnes. Keeling finished third behind Crumm and Texan Austin Miller. The winners were decided solely by audience votes.

Since the show, Keeling has been involved in a number of projects, including a musical version of A Tale of Two Cities that debuted in Sarasota last fall and opens on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre Aug. 19. Aaron Lazar will play Charles Darnay, the role Keeling had in Sarasota.

Keeling's hometown paper, The Charleston Daily Mail in West Virginia, reports a healthy contingent of family and friends are heading to New York for Keeling's debut. His biography on the Grease website mentions his UK degree. Keeling and Spencer will be sharing the stage with American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, who is playing Teen Angel.

Above: Spencer and Keeling as Sandy and Danny. Photo courtesy of Barlow-Hartman Public Relations.

Handicapping the 'Legally Blonde' finale

Laura Bell Bundy took her final bow as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde -- The Musical on Broadway last night. Tonight at 10 -- really closer to 11 -- her successor will be named on MTV and Wednesday night, the winner will make her Broadway debut.

It's not quite that breathless. The winner was actually selected before Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods even started. In an interview with Laura last week, we said we were going to refrain from asking her who it was, because we wanted to be surprised, and she made some quip about being sued for $5 million if she told anyone, anyway.

But how much of a surprise will it be? Well, here in Laura's home town, we have a habit of handicapping these sorts of things like horse races. So, here's one reporter's take on the final three:

Bailey Hanks, 15-1

For her: She really looks the part and has shown some spark through the auditions, particularly in dancing, where it seems she would excel in numbers like What You Want and Bend and Snap. She also had exceptional good bad luck -- that's not a misprint -- last week when she was given the wrong hat for What You Want audition but made it work for her. That showed some real stage smarts at handling things when they go wrong, and with eight shows a week, things do go wrong. Just ask Laura.

Against her: She is young, 20, and very green. I believe she said that this was her first time in New York. Her excellence has mostly been in execution too, and the judges have voiced reservations about her ability to connect with some of the emotional depth of her character -- yes, you naysayers, there is emotional depth to Elle. While they like her, the judges and Mitchell may conclude Florence, S.C. to Elle Woods on Broadway is too much of a vertical leap.

Rhiannon Hansen, 50-1

For her: She has the most unique character of anyone in the competition, and may connect with the humor of Elle Woods the best.

Against her: Character is probably what has pulled her through. But there is no part of the triple threat she excels at. In last week's audition, she left serious questions about her stamina to handle a role that requires tremendous stamina. She's also demonstrated some real emotional fragility, which can be devastating in a world like Broadway. When we left the show last week, the judges still had one person to eliminate before the finals in front of director Jerry Mitchell, and it is hard to imagine the scenario in which Rhiannon gets through.

Autumn Hurlbert, 5-1

For her: She has the best voice and acting chops of the remaining competitors, and in areas where she's weak, she has shown an ability to learn. At 27, she's also the oldest of the remaining competitors and, though she's given us a few head-clasping moments, has the most maturity. That maturity also puts her in the best place to handle what will probably be a tough position, being the Broadway lead selected on a reality show.

Against her: Five-to-one are not mortal-lock odds, and there are some questions about Autumn. Is she right for the part? It's easy to see her on Broadway, but not necessarily as Elle Woods. While she's got the singing and acting, Autumn's dancing has been her weak point, and it's a big part of the role. So, if Mitchell is willing to gamble, he may pass on this safe pick.

We'll be watching tonight.

'Hair': No nude scene, but . . .

Click the play button to see photographer Brad Luttrell's audio slide show about SummerFest's Hair. Click here to see a larger version, and here to read about director Mike Thomas' return to the Arboretum.

The announcement that Hair would be one of the SummerFest shows this year provoked a question: Will people be getting naked on The Arboretum stage?

In many productions, the first act of Hair ends with the men burning their draft cards and the cast stripping down as they sing Where Do I Go? Many fans of the show think the nude scene is crucial for Hair, an iconic rock musical that grew out of the 1960s counterculture.

But director Mike Thomas says that nowhere in the script is the nudity mandated. Festival directors took that into consideration when they decided that there will be no nude scene in The Arboretum when Hair runs July 23 to 27.

The optional nude scene, however, is hardly the only R-rated element in Hair, and those other parts are non-negotiable. Thomas says Hair’s creators and rights administrators “want the script to be done as it’s supposed to be done.” So audiences who come out to The Arboretum will hear a colorful array of profanity, sexually suggestive material, including the song Sodomy, blunt discussion of race issues and an extensive portrayal of drug use.

“Caution,” Thomas says. “Is it sexually suggestive? Yes. Does it have adult language and content? Yes. I wouldn’t bring children. Beware.”

So why is SummerFest, which has theater-education programs for elementary and high schoolers and has tried to position itself as a family event, presenting a show that even the director says is not suitable for all ages?

“For our purposes, artistically, that is what it was and what it still is,” Trish Clark, executive director of the Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory, says of the decision to present Hair. “Why hide that fact from our children? It’s not like the children don’t know. They’re hearing, seeing and witnessing all of that.”

'Lord of the Flies' slide show

Lately here at le blog and on LexGo, we've been working to give you a look at local productions beyond the printed word. The latest of these efforts is an audio slide show photographer Emily Spence and I put together about the "band of theatrical brothers," that have put up several superior productions in Lexington over the past couple of years, including this weekend's production of Lord of the Flies.

Click here for a larger version of the Flies slide show.

We've also still got a look at Lexington Stage Company's Smoke on the Mountain up, and watch out over the weekend for photographer Brad Luttrell's sights and sounds from rehearsals for SummerFest's Hair.

Review: Third Day's 'Revelation'

Third Day is (L-R) drummer David Carr, singer and guitarist Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and bassist Tai Anderson. Photo by Kristin Barlowe. Below: Revelation cover art by Tim Parker.

Third Day | Revelation

The latest album from Third Day opens with the relevant track, This is Who I Am.

In one respect, it's a good ol' barn-burning Southern rocker. But it's not a great album opener just because it's a catchy tune that pulls you in with the first phrase. It also states an essential truth about this album, which comes out July 29, the band's ninth offering of new studio material. At 15 years in the business, Third Day is past any attempt to follow formulas or say the right things to please people -- not that they've done much of that in the past.

As much as any of their studio albums, Revelation really is a portrait of who Third Day is, as we have gotten to know the Georgia-based band over the years. First and foremost, they're devout evangelical Christians as songs such as the initial single Call My Name demonstrate. There's also a strong introspective side to that devotion we hear in the title track, which is not an apocalyptic vision, but a plea for answers in a confusing world. It's a very mature statement that we don't have all the answers, and sometimes we "haven't got a clue."

Then we go back to the opening track and others like it such as the distortion drenched Otherside, showing the most enjoyable aspect of Third Day: Southern rockers, at heart.

That the album is a complete picture of Third Day, is not surprising.  Recent studio recording such as Come Together in 2001 and Wherever You Are in 2005 were showing us these well-rounded representations. But here, we also see growth, largely driven by producer Howard Benson, who's known for his work with Daughtry and P.O.D., to name a few. He helps 3D rough up its edges while seamlessly rounding out its sound. He also brings in some great guests, particularly Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley who practically takes over Run to You with a climactic wail at the end of the song.

Revelation marks a few signposts in Third Day's career, including its final effort with guitarist Brad Avery, who left the group after the disc was completed, and the first album after the band's thorough Chronology discs of last year that seemed to close a chapter in the 3D's career. Chapter is the key word there, because the book is still very much a work in progress. Revelation is a quintessential Third Day album that shows these men still growing in their faith and their art.

Summer classic: 'Spartacus'

Kirk Douglas stars as the rebellious Roman slave, Spartacus, in Stanley Kubrick's 1960 classic.

It's always fun when a classic and contemporary pop culture collide. Such is the case with the 1960 Stanley Kubrick classic, Spartacus, which the Kentucky Theater shows at 1:30 and 7:15 p.m.  Wednesday as part of its Summer Classics series.

In one of the iconic scenes, when Roman soldier Crassus, played by Laurence Olivier, promises the survivors in a defeated rebel army they will be spared if they identify Spartacus, played by Kirk Douglas, each soldier rises one by one by one and says, "I'm Spartacus."

The scene has been recently cited as one of the inspirations for supporters of presumptive Democratic Party Presidential nominee Barack Obama who have taken Obama's middle name of Hussein as their own to protest people who have used the name to demonize the candidate.

Spartacus screenwriter Dalton Trumbo has also been back in popular consciousness lately with the documentary Trumbo. The film recalls how Trumbo was one of Hollywood's premier screenwriters before he was blacklisted in the mid-20th Century communist witch hunts. Trumbo, who was a member of the Communist Party, was arrested for contempt of Congress for refusing cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee when he and nine other writers and directors were called to testify about communist influence in Hollywood. He served an 11-month sentence at the federal penitentiary in Ashland in 1950.

In 1960, Trumbo became the writer who broke the blacklist by receiving screen credit for penning the scripts to Exodus and Spartacus. The "I'm Spartacus" scene was regarded as a comment on people who named names during the communist witch hunts.

That is one of several memorable scenes in the classic, including Spartacus' first brush with trouble while trying to rescue a fellow slave and a great gladiator scene.

Last call: Please weigh in on our question about next weekend's classic: Why do you love Casablanca?

BlondeTV 7: Where's Frankenstein?

On last night's Legally Blonde the Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods, the final four competitors got a little cheerleading training. In this photo from August 2006, Laura Bell Bundy took a tumble into the world of cheerleading with Robert Eskridge at Town & Village School of Dance in Paris, Ky., in preparation for originating the role of Elle Woods on Broadway. Copyrighted Herald-Leader photo by Matt Goins.

At the end of last night's audition on Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for a more reasonable title, judge and writer Heather Hach said, "I completely want to do a Frankenstein and combine the comedy of Rhiannon, Bailey’s professionalism and star quality, the freshness of Lauren and Autumn’s voice."

Well, that sort of takes us back to our original misgiving about this reality TV as Broadway audition thing: They've ended up with a field where no one is a complete picture of Elle Woods, so there's going to be some settling to do to fill this role.

Yes, this blog is a bit of Autumn rooting section, but she is not the dancer Bailey is, doesn't have the charisma of Rhiannon and lacks Lauren's youthfulness.

Ultimately, the judges decided Lauren was a bit too youthful and sent her on home before the show ended. The other shoe will drop next week when another finalist is sent packing at the beginning of the episode before the last audition. The final show down will be in the Palace Theatre in front of director Jerry Mitchell, who has the last call.

It's hard to imagine Rhiannon will make it, because she wound up very winded in the audition with What You Want last night, and her vocals were a horror show. That would create a Bailey-Autumn finale and they're not two really friendly competitors. Bailey was relishing Autumn's tribulations with tap dancing last night, and Autumn doesn't believe any of the final four have earned their shot at Broadway the way she has.

I'm going to stick with my Autumn prediction, maybe not quite as confidently as last week. A key to me was when Bernie Telsey talked to Autumn about her dancing and said, "when it’s in your body, you're Elle, 100 percent." Autumn's been straight up about not being a great auditioner. But it is much easier to believe that she can get that character in her body in the few weeks between the end of the competition and her first performance, which is actually next Wednesday, than it is to believe Bailey could develop the depth or Rhiannon could develop the vocal chops and  to play Elle. All that said, I can't help thinking Autumn may be a better Elphaba or Millie.

And you know, the Southern pride side of us may like to see the role already played by Louisianan Reese Witherspoon and Kentuckian Laura Bell Bundy go to South Carolinian Bailey. We'll see, next week.

Why do you love 'Casablanca'?

Dooley Wilson and Humphrey Bogart in one of Casablanca's classic scenes. 

A few weeks ago, we got into a big, fun chat about movies of the 1980s. In the midst of that conversation, screenwriter and University of Southern California film professor Jack Epps Jr. made the great observation that most movies are a product of the era they were made in, even the ones we see as timeless. As an example. he cited Casablanca which is a great one.

The World War II unrequited love story is practically a dictionary definition of classic.

The Kentucky Theatre has shown it numerous times since I moved here 10 years ago, and it always draws huge crowds. It's constantly referenced in pop culture -- juts saw a Simpsons allusion the other night -- and would probably be on many, many Top 10 lists of classics, including mine.

But with another showing of Casablanca coming up on July 23, as part of the Kentucky's Summer Classics Series, I'm asking you: What is it you love about Casablanca?

Is it Bogie and Bergman. Is it the great lines? The story? That song? The fact they don't make 'em like that anymore? Post a comment here or send me an e-mail, and I'll try to put together a little something before the movie shows next week.

Elizabeth Orndorff's mysterious career boost

Elizabeth Orndorff doesn’t own a cell phone.

That alone made her feel unqualified to tackle a high-tech mystery plot, which is all the rage these days on shows like CSI and Numb3rs.

But she wanted to enter a script into the first ­International Mystery Writers’ Festival last year at Owensboro’s RiverPark Center. Who’d want to pass up a shot at a $10,000 prize?

So, she went decidedly low tech, and stayed close to home.

“I wanted to set it in Kentucky, because the theater and the festival were in Kentucky,” Orndorff said. “So, I checked into places and stories around here.”

The mystery that intrigued her was a widely held rumor that Charles Dickens once visited Mammoth Cave. But there was no record of it. If the great author did visit, he never wrote about it.

Why?

She had the framework for a mystery.

“Charles Dickens had this soap-opera life,” Orndorff said. “He hated America, and he hated slavery.”

The Danville writer’s attempt to answer the question of what might have happened to Dickens in the cave became Death by Darkness, a mystery set in Mammoth Cave’s famous Star Chamber, where, if you turn off your lights, the glow of gypsum deposits dot the ceiling.

It was a hit, winning the top prize at the ­festival, where the competition ­included mystery legends such as Ed McBain and ­William Link.

“I kinda backed into it, which is why I think people liked it,” Orndorff says. “It was more about how these personalities rubbed up against each other in that cave. But there is a dead body. It’s a mystery, so you have to have a dead body.”

A summer later, Central Kentucky audiences are getting to see the play at the ­Pioneer Playhouse, where Death by ­Darkness runs through Saturday. In addition to bringing Orndorff’s award-winning script to Danville, the Playhouse brought in John Nyrere Frazier, who won the award for best actor at the ­Mystery Festival for playing ­Darkness’s lead character, ­Stephen Bishop, a slave who has ­developed a deep connection with the cave.

The new production takes Orndorff back to the ­summer of 2007 and her trip to Owensboro to see the world premiere of her show.

“That was fun,” she recalls. “We got to Owensboro, and there were baskets of flowers in our hotel room, wishing us well.”

Before she got to the festival, ­Orndorff was getting hints that things might go well from the daughter of a friend who was working on the festival. She kept calling saying she’d seen other plays there, “but they aren’t as good as Death by Darkness,” Orndorff said.

Obviously, the festival judges agreed.

Since then, Orndorff has been at work getting the show out there, entering it in contests and sending it to other theaters.

“Having that kind of validation is motivating,” Orndorff says. “You think, ‘I’ve done this once, I can do it again.’”

She’s had other validation, such as her one-act play The Bathroom Cleaner, being performed at the Wonderland One-Act Play Festival in New York City and productions of several of her scripts at Danville’s West T. Hill Community ­Theatre, ­including The Spring ­Cleaning, slated for next April.

She acknowledges she wants to get back to writing, to use the momentum from Death by Darkness to create another attention-grabbing script. And she just might draw some inspiration from the current production.

“It’s wonderful to have it so close to home,” she says. “I’ll be out there several times.”

Copyrighted photo of Elizabeth Orndorff, above, by Mary Robin Spoonamore.

'Smoke on the Mountain' slide show

Studio Players and the Lexington Stage Company are bringing a heaping helping of Bluegrass gospel music to the stage of the Carriage House Theatre with Smoke on the Mountain, July 10-27. It's set at rural Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in 1930s North Carolina. Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe has invited the Sanders Family Singers to help introduce his congregation to some contemporary worship styles. That creates some friction, but the main point of the musical is hearing gospel classics such as I'll Fly Away and Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.

Click the play button above to watch the slide show.

Click here for a larger version of the slide show.

Click here to read our preview of Smoke on the Mountain.

And click here to read our review.

Theater review: 'Death by Darkness'

Farmer Squire Calloway (Mike McRee) and preacher Horace Mallory (Robert G. Hess) discover the mysterious Ophelia Entry (Maggie Robbins) in Pioneer Playhouse's production of Elizabeth Orndorff's Death by Darkness. Below: John Nyrere Frazier. Photos courtesy of Pioneer Playhouse.

DANVILLE -- Last summer, Danville’s Elizabeth Orndorff found herself toe-to-toe with whodunit giants such as Ed McBain and Columbo creator William Link.

And she killed ‘em -- literarily.

Orndorff walked away from the first annual International Mystery Writer’s Festival in Owensboro not only with the prize for best new playwright, but also best new play for her Death by Darkness.

So what was the mysterious rock of Kryptonite in Orndorff’s slingshot to help her knock off the Goliaths?

Was it a shocker worthy of Shyamalan?

Was it a web woven like Christie?

Back home in Danville, the Pioneer Playhouse stepped up as the first Central Kentucky theater to let us see the play and unravel the mystery. The answer is none of the above.

There are mysteries in Death by Darkness, which runs through July 20, and even a genuine, “Whoa! Didn’t see that coming.” And Orndorff, writing her first mystery, deftly executed that puzzle-like structure most mysteries have, where everything falls together in the end.

But Death doesn’t succeed in keeping us guessing as much as it makes us think about ourselves and the forces that mold us like water molds a cave.

Kentucky’s own Mammoth Cave, it’s “Star Chamber” or gypsum crystals, specifically, is the setting for a  journey in 1842.

Slave Stephen Bishop first greets us, telling us about the cave in increasingly spiritual and foreboding tones:

“You don’t know yourself until you’ve been in the dark for a period of time.”

“No use in asking God, because this here is my cave, and I’m the only one who knows the way out.”

Next time we see Stephen, he’s leading a group of tourists into the cave, including a writer and his wife from England, a Harvard geology student and a local preacher and farmer. Or, that’s who they say they are. Over the next two hours, identities are revealed, lines are crossed, arguments ensue, a few other characters show up, and someone ends up dead.

Whodunit isn’t much of a mystery here. Whydunit is the bigger question among several that are raised, including ones about relationships and justice. In many ways, it’s more of a character study than a mystery.

Pioneer Playhouse gives the show a good ride, particularly by bringing in John Nyrere Frazier to reprise his Mystery Fest award-winning turn as Stephen. There are also numerous strong performances from the playhouse’s repertory ensemble. Director Lawrence Lesher gives the show a quick pace, never letting the action seem as stagnant as half-a-dozen people in a room in a cave could be.

Yes, tighter webs could have been woven, bigger surprises could have burst from the Mystery Fest stage last summer. But Pioneer Playhouse reveals that it’s unlikely any of the other plays in Owensboro were as satisfying as Death by Darkness.

Summer classic: Lost Horizon

Frank Capra talks about the first screenings of Lost Horizon on Dick Cavett's show.

I was working in a video store when it came out on tape: a movie that should have been a classic, but never quite achieved that potential.

It was Frank Capra's Lost Horizon, based on the James Hilton novel about the the mysterious land of Shangri-la.

The Internet Movie Database has one of its original taglines as: "Millions to make it! . . . Two years in production! . . . The best seller that set a new style in romance floods the screen with splendor and drama surpassing Frank Capra's greatest past achievements, Mr Deeds and It Happened One Night.

It's not hard to believe some ad copy writer penned that in the world of breathless hyperbole that was 1930s film promotion.

"The Masterpiece Of America's Foremost Film Genius Blazes To The Screen!"

It was Capra who ended up setting the first two reels ablaze after a horrendous first screening of the movie that, despite seven Oscar nominations including best picture, has had a turbulent life. That video version that floated into our shop in the late 1980s included numerous scenes where the soundtrack played while stills stood on the screen and there were other signs that a completed copy could not be cobbled together.

But it was still a fascinating movie to look at, a mesmerizing portrait of people entering an icy, mythical land where the residents don't age and all is peaceful. It's a film that sticks in you memory as much for its art deco imagery as much as its story.

We get the rare treat of seeing it Wednesday on the big screen as part of the Kentucky Theatre's Summer Classics series, and we can decide for ourselves whether it's indeed a lost classic. Showtimes are 1:30 and 7:15 p.m. Admission is $3.

BlondeTV 6: 'Just let me be legally blonde.'

It was an up and down night for Natalie on Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods. She won the first competition, a photo shoot in which the idea of standing on a bunch of law books apparently put her over the top. But ultimately she was sent packing because the judges just couldn't see her as Elle Woods.

This episode, in which the contestants got their hair styled blonde to put them all on equal footing in the looks department, was the big redemption for Autumn. After a horrible week in which she bombed in the dance audition, got sick on stage -- reportedly from eating bad yogurt, not nerves -- and wound up in the casting office for the second straight week, she needed a big night to reclaim her front-runner status. And she made a big move with a vocal audition that, from what we were shown, was miles ahead of the competition in maturity, confidence and interpretation.

Autumn was buoyed by a coaching session with Seth Rudetsky, in which he talked to her about having a tough time in auditions and advised: “Say, ‘I’m doing an amazing-few-minutes show.’ It’s not about getting to the next level. It’s about, ‘I’m getting a few minutes to perform on stage.’”

She also seemed to get a lot out of the final five's audience with the current Elle Woods, Lexington's Laura Bell Bundy. Autumn asked Laura what she took from the role, creating a very authentic moment from the Tony nominee who choked up answering:

"Spirit is the word – inspired. I became more true to myself . . . I get emotional thinking about it . . . it’s been the best experience of my life, because I grew as a human being, because of my character, because of my connection to her and my openness. And the fact that I got to express emotion and not hold things in was good therapy for me and I grew as I was finding her.”

It was neat to see Laura still retains a lot of the same emotions she had about this part and this show nearly two years ago, when she was just grasping the reality that she would originate the role of Elle Woods on Broadway. Though she's now been playing the part for well over a year, last night gave you the impression it must be tough for her to walk away.

Autumn seemed to appreciate that, which felt somewhat appropriate, because she definitely walked away from last night's show as an heir apparent.

Now, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Afterall, two weeks ago, Emma seemed to right her ship, and then she was sent packing last week. But this week was different. Autumn's only rival was 18-year-old Lauren, and while the judges liked her, they seemed to feel she probably needed a few more years of work.

Bailey and Rhiannon came up a few steps behind her. Last night, they were auditioning with the title song at the moment Elle feels like she's lost everything she thought she'd achieved. Autumn grasped the complexities of that in a difficult and emotional song. If they can get the dances in Autumn's legs, at this point, it's hard to not see her as the next Elle Woods on Broadway.

Above: Laura Bell Bundy in the first promotional photo for Legally Blonde -- The Musical. Photo courtesy of Barlow Hartman.

As always, check out Seth's breakdown of last night's show.

Franklin & Kutless headline Questapalooza

Kirk Franklin will headline the third annual Questapalooza at Quest Community Church.

Urban gospel star Kirk Franklin will headline Questapalooza 2008, which is moving to Labor Day weekend.

Questapalooza, which is in its third year, is an outreach event presented by Quest Community Church that is also becoming one of Central Kentucky's highest profile Christian pop music events outside of the Ichthus Festival. This year's Questapalooza, Aug. 31, will actually give attendees a chance to see an act they missed at this year's Ichthus. Kutless, whose June 13 Ichthus performance was scuttled by thunderstorms, will also be playing on a bill that will be filled out by needtobreathe.

But topping the bill will be Franklin, an artist Quest associate pastor Justin McCarty says the church was so eager to get, they moved the Questapalooza date to book him before he heads off on a European tour. The first two Questapaloozas were the second full weekend in September.

"We got to meet him at a meeting of churches in the Willow Creek Association," McCarty says of Franklin, "and we were really impressed with him."

The 3,000-member Quest congregation has also been hearing and singing music by Franklin, one of the most successful artists at crossing over from the gospel to Christian pop music markets in the past decade.

In its first two editions, Questapalooza has been a successful tool for recruiting new members to the church off of Reynolds Road.

"Last year, we had 6,000 people show up," McCarty says. "That means there were a lot of people here who had never been on the Quest campus before."

He said there were no formal attendance goals for this year's event, but hopes are that the combination of Franklin's broad popularity and being on a holiday weekend will help the event top itself once again.

"We're sort of hoping to make this a destination event for the Holiday weekend," McCarty said. "People can come out and enjoy the rides and food and fellowship and music and there's no school the next day."

McCarty said tickets should go on sale in late July or early August. Watch the festival website and Copious Notes for more information.

rctalk: Kutless' 'To Know that You're Alive'

Portland, Ore.-based Kutless are bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter, drummer Jeffrey Gilbert, singer Jon Micah Sumrall, guitarist Nick DePartee, and guitarist James Mead. Photo courtesy of BEC Recordings. 

No one will ever accuse Kutless of being an innovative band. There's probably nothing on the band's new album, To Know That You're Alive, or any of their  other releases that wasn't already done 20-or-more years ago. You hear echoes of Bon Jovi or Whiteheart, if you're older, or, say, Skillet if you're younger. It's emotionally-charged arena, anthem rock. Everybody sing along.

So it would be easy to slag Kutless for not doing anything new. But what they do is pretty inspired, employs a classic rock structure to speak to modern audiences, and hey, this is Christian rock -- don't we need anthems?

Things get started right away on To Know with The Feeling, a "We come into your town, we help you party down," raver with a little spirituality thrown in. The title track is power rock tune that makes being a Christian sound like a James Bond movie or a horror flick the way it portrays confronting the darkness of the world. Call it histrionic or dramatic, it's a theme that runs through several songs, including The Rescue and most effectively in Promise You, a chronicle of overcoming abuse. Kutless also effectively writes  for worship audiences, where its Strong Tower album was directed, with tunes like Complete and You.

No, none of it is terribly original for Christian or mainstream rock. But the guys in the band have grown as focused songwriters, able to carry even the most dismissive listener through three verses, chorus and bridge; guitarists James Mead and Nick DePartee have developed their voices; and bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter and drummer Jeffrey Gilbert are a full-throttle rhythm section.

The new album makes you kind of sorry we missed Kutless when its Ichthus Festival set was rained out last month. And that may be the biggest sign the Oregonians are doing things right. They may not be making rock history, but they're making solid rock.

Stay tuned: Apparently another shot at seeing Kutless locally is coming soon. Check back a little later to find out where.

Antony & Cleo: Sexy, absurd tragedy

Longtime collaborators Walter Tunis, Adam Luckey and Joe Ferrell share a light moment during rehearsal at the University of Kentucky's Guignol Theatre for SummerFest's Antony and Cleopatra, which opens Wednesday in the Arboretum. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Rich Copley.

If the words “Shakespeare history play” don’t make you think funny and sexy, SummerFest has a production that aims to change your mind.

Director Joe Ferrell sees a Bonnie and Clyde type of humor and steamy sexiness in that whacky Mediterranean couple, Antony and Cleopatra.

But Ferrell says the cast he has is a key to bringing that out in his production for SummerFest, which opens Wednesday at the Arboretum on Alumni Drive.

“All of these folks have done major roles for years, and there are so many ages and types represented here,” Ferrell says, acknowledging the all-star cast seated around the lounge area outside the Guignol Theatre in the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Building.

That ensemble includes Sidney Shaw, who played Julius Caesar and King Lear for the Lexington Shakespeare Festival; Paul Carelli, who played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing for LSF; Eric Johnson, whose leads have included one of the Three Musketeers and Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind; Walter Tunis, whose many turns include Macbeth and Adam Luckey, who plays leading roles like postmen deliver mail.

“There’s a great deal of comfort here, and that gives you an ability to try different things and serve Joe’s vision of the play,” Shaw says. 

Tunis says that having a cast of high-caliber players, “illuminates some of the smaller roles,” and thereby illuminates the play. Ferrell cites Shaw’s role as Alexas as an example. In Shaw’s performance, he becomes a character who sees through a lot of Cleopatra’s facades.

“It’s an Alexas that I have not seen before,” Ferrell says.

One of the keys to bringing new colors to the characters is for the actors to make sure they are acting and not reciting.

“The language is so beautiful, you just want to stand there and proclaim it,” Shaw says. “But it has to be done with action and intent.”

Intent is a particular key with Antony, a character who essentially gives away a nation for one woman.
Antony and Cleopatra can be a long play, running as long as four hours in some productions. For SummeFest, where two-to-two-and-a-half hours is the target time, Ferrell has had to cut quite a bit.
“We decided that the focus of the audience is on the title characters,” Ferrell says. “So we stuck to telling that story.”

Therefore, Johnson and Ellie Clark, who play the title pair, have been encouraged to make their relationship very physical, driving home the point to the audience that they can’t keep their hands off each other, which sets the play’s events in motion.

That’s kind of obvious when you think about it. What may not be so apparent if you haven’t studied the script is a juxtaposition of absurdity and tragedy. Ferrell likens that to a scene in Bonnie and Clyde where a getaway driver struggles to park a car while the title couple engages in what becomes a bloody bank robbery.

In Antony and Cleopatra, he sees the same humor in the couple’s death scenes, where Antony’s ineptitude has him bleeding to death for quite a while and where a servant brings Cleopatra asps to do her in saying, “Enjoy the worm.”

Tunis observes, “There hasn’t been a night of rehearsal we haven’t cracked up.”

Terry Withers, who plays Maecenas, says, “The play doesn’t easily fit any category.”

But for them, this production is easily filed under rewarding and enjoyable, which is why they’re all more than happy to come fill even minor roles.

“We all know each other,” says Kim Dixon, who plays Iras. “We love acting together, and we love acting for Joe.”

Backsoon

Copious Notes is going to take a few days off to celebrate the Fourth of July, and I hope you do the same. See you, Sunday.

Hawk Nelson in Winchester July 5

Jason Dunn performs with Hawk Nelson at the Ichthus Festival last month. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Click the play button to hear excerpts of our interview with Jason Dunn:

Hawk Nelson is my Friend might sound like a goofball title for an album, unless you’re on myspace, Facebook or one of the other social networking Internet sites out there.

If you are, you’ve probably snickered at a message saying someone you’ve known for life, “. . . is your friend.” Heck, it may even say, “Hawk Nelson is your friend,” which is fine with the band’s frontman, Jason Dunn.

“Today with myspace and Facebook, everyone is looking for friends and to see how many friends you can obtain,” the singer said backstage at last month’s Ichthus Festival. “The whole friendship theme is something we’ve always believed in, since day one. It’s never been about putting us on a pedestal above our audience. It’s all about being on the same level.”

Dunn said that level is under God, and looking to God for hope.

“Kids are looking for friends,” Dunn said. “Jesus was a friend to sinners . . . he was the greatest friend of all.”

Using the social networking phrase as an album title is also a good reminder to the band, Dunn says, not to view themselves as superior to their audience, even though, “We have a cool job. Some kids regard that a stardom, or whatever. But we have sweet jobs, and we feel very blessed to be able to do this.”

Hawk Nelson, which swings back through Central Kentucky to play George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester Saturday night, has been doing that job for three albums now and finds itself settling into a career as recording and touring artists.

“It feels like a career now,” Dunn says. “This is what I do for a living, and it feels weird to say that, because this is what I dreamed of doing since I was a kid.”

Growing up in Canada, Dunn says he didn’t necessarily tune his ear to Christian rock.

“We grew up listening to bands like Blink 182 and Good Charlotte,” Dunn says. “Christianity wasn’t a genre of music in Canada. That’s just what we believed in, we believed in God, and we played clubs, and that’s just how we did it.

“But here in the U.S., Christianity is like its own genre of music, and I’m still getting used to that. We all believe in Jesus, and that reflects in our lyrics, but our music sounds more like what we grew up listening to.”

BlondeTV 5: That's TRIPLE threat

Vocal coach Seth Rudetsky breaks down this week's episode.

Last week on Leagally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods, we saw Emma, the competitor who came to the competition with Reese Witherspoon looks and Broadway in her veins, finally rally and live up to her promise.

This week, we saw her go home.

It was a somewhat stunning turn of fortune because, despite battling bronchitis, she seemed to turn in a good dance audition with the lightning fast "shake your junk" sequence from Positive.

But three other competitors turned in great auditions, and this week really emphasized the point that all three elements of the triple threat are essential to make it on Broadway. That's why we had two of the most talented actors and singers, Emma and Autumn, standing in the casting office: They were not that great on their toes -- or in four-inch stiletto heels, as the case was.

Natalie, Bailey and Lauren were the standouts with Rhiannon doing just well enough to avoid a private audience with the judges.

In the course of the show, Emma allowed that she had not taken a dance class in five years, and that is probably the key to why she didn't make the final five. For all her self-awareness, for her maturity and for her savvy, it's kind of strange that she did not prepare better prior to the competition for the dance auditions that were sure to come.

So yes, in her bitter closing comments, Emma is right: Bailey, 20; Lauren, 19; and Rhiannon, 19, are "children," under-aged for the role. But they and 24-year-old Natalie kicked her butt on the dance floor. And yes, she was sick. But we're at a juncture in this competition where one bad day alone will not kill you if the judges think you have a shot. So sending home Emma, who looked like a front runner out of the gate, was a statement that she was not working for them. And while it is understandable that she's frustrated, she bears a great deal of responsibility for her early departure because she neglected one of the three pillars of the triple threat.

Program notes: That "vote for the worst" challenge was a provocative little device that went nowhere. If you didn't see it, the competitors were told late night, in the midst of prepping for their demanding audition, to pick the worst actor, singer, dancer, etc. Autumn took charge, turning it into a best list, but we never heard about it again. Reality TV.

A fun note of Broadway reality was that the Legally Blonde set is full of stairs and tracks for set pieces that, "eat stiletto heels," according associate choreographer Denis Jones. We also learned that Laura Bell Bundy dances in higher heels than the four-inch "Pepto-Bismol" numbers the competitors wore last night.

rctalk: Jon Foreman's 'Spring' and 'Summer'

Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman has just completed a series of four seasonal EPs.

Jon Foreman | Spring and Summer EPs

The Fourth of July week seems to be an appropriate time to to praise a great American songwriter. With his Spring and Summer EPs, Jon Foreman has cemented himself as just that. We should add that the Swithfoot frontman is a brave songwriter, as some of the lyrics on these recordings will land him in Dutch with some of the Christian music community that has made him a star, and an exquisite craftsman.

Like on the first two EPs, Fall and Winter, Foreman is freed from any constraints or obligations the band format holds, and he uses that space to perfectly augment songs with what they need. I do not know if Foreman recorded these six-song sets sequentially, but the last two -- which have just been released on one CD,  same as the first pair -- show growth over the intitial efforts.

The closest thing to Switchfoot is Summer's Resurrect Me, which sounds like Switchfoot gone to seed, in a good way -- a great little cacophony of clangy steely guitars over a steady4-4 beat. Seriously, it could slip into a Switchfoot set with no problem.

But there are numerous songs that couldn't, their string and wind accompaniments perfectly accenting the songs, but also making them distinctively Foreman's.

Foreman is also a much more blunt songwriter on his own. The rap on Switchfoot's songs have often been that they are brilliant, but so couched in metaphor and cleverness that the listener could easily miss the point -- and this is a point of concern to some who question Switchfoot's commitment to Christianity.

There is no missing the point here. Some faith-community listeners may wish Foreman was murkier when they hear Instead of a Show, a tune as incendiary as anything Derek Webb has written. In the song, Foreman lambastes the church for putting on shows while ignoring the hurting world around it.

Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stop up my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show
Instead, let there be a flood of justice

Some will be angry with  Foreman for saying it. Some will say it needed to be said. Either way, Foreman grows as a challenging songwriter. But lest anyone use Show to question Foreman's faith, these EPs have some of his most spiritual writing to date, such as Spring's Your Love is Strong and Summer's House of God, Forever, an interpretation of Psalm 23 that ranks with 24 as one of the loveliest things Foreman has written.

As far as we know, things are good in the Switchfoot camp. They released a track for the Prince Caspian soundtrack last month, and have a tour in the offing with Third Day and Jars of Clay. But this solo voice Foreman has started using is quite compelling. Let's hear more.

Concert alert: Hawk Nelson is in Winchester at 6 p.m. July 5. We'll have more on Hawk later this week, but click here to buy tickets.

Elaborating on '80s movies

Several of the contributors to our celebrity lists of '80s classics commented on their choices. While the Gutenberg edition of the paper has its space limitations, we're in the blogosphere, baby, where word counts are not an object. So, here are the lists from some of our pickers with a little elaboration. Yes, it goes a while, but let's get you started on '80s movies and see if you're overcome with brevity. After Chuck, we have Anne Deck, Brad Riddell and a list from Top Gun scribe Jack Epps, Jr., whose comments are featured in our '80s movies story.

Charles Edward Pogue, screenwriter
The Georgetown resident’s screenplays include 1980s hits Psycho III, D.O.A. and The Fly.

1. Those Lips, Those Eyes -- The story of my life...I'm the starry-eyed kid (Thomas Hulce) and the jaded,cynical pro (Frank  Langella). A story about the seduction of theatre.  I watch this movie whenever I get depressed about the drama game to remind myself why I got in it.

 

2. Barbarosa -- Best western of the 80's. Willie Nelson & Gary Busey. Western legend transcends to western myth.

 

3. Excalibur -- King Arthur's story will always a dying fall. John Boorman's depiction is the best yet.

 

4. Flesh+Blood -- Paul Verhoeven's quirky epic about the Middle Ages slamming into the Renaissance.

 

5. Body Heat -- Kasdan's brings back Film Noir and gives us Kathleen Turner.

 

6. My Favorite Year -- Peter O'Toole ... another great performance; another missed Oscar. (Rich comments: Hard to compete with Gandhi.)

 

7. Bull Durham -- For my money, not a better baseball movie.

 

8. Blood Simple - just edges out Raising Arizona; but the Coen Bros. had to be on the list.

 

9. Crimes of Passion -- Enfant terrible Ken Russell at his mind-boggling loopiest with Tony Perkins and Kathleen Turner along for the outlandish ride.

 

10. The Fly -- A purely selfish choice, I know, but it would probably be on there anyway ... even if I hadn't co-written the screenplay with David Cronenberg.

 

A few near-misses: The Dead, The Dresser, Matewan, Blue Velvet and Airplane.

Movies of the 1980s

Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox and the DeLorean in Back to the Future, which apparently has become a classic. Below: Tom Cruise in Top Gun, which reflected a positive attitude toward the military in the 1980s.