The Citizen, 1996-12-11, Page 22MX!
By John Schedler
Leading off this week's new releases is The Rock **1/2 (Touchstone)
the latest dumber than dumb action thriller to waste a good cast, which
includes the likes of Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris. The plot
involves a group of disgruntled military types who take a group of tourists
hostage on Alcatraz Island and threaten San Francisco with chemical
weapons if their demands aren't met. This film has more plot holes than a
block of Swiss cheese and although the direction is credited to Michael
Bay (Bad Boys) I get the feeling that those in charge of blowing things up
were really the ones in control. (Rated R)
And while we are on the subject of dumb and dumber, the star that
exemplifies these traits is Canada's very own Jim Carrey. The fact that I
never really cared for Caney, (except for maybe his role in The Mask)
this latest film The Cable Guy *** (Columbia/Tristar) came as a bit of a
surprise. If you're expecting Ace Ventura, then you'll be disappointed
because this dark comedy has little to laugh about. Carrey plays a
psychotic cable-tv installer who invades the life of a guy (Matthew
Broderick) trying to save his relationship with his girlfriend. This satire,
directed by Ben Stiller about the effects of abandoning children to
languish in front a TV set may hit a bit too close to home for many. While
Carrey may play his character a little too broadly the basic truths of this
type of personality are all too true. (Rated PG)
Other new releases include, The Crow: City of Angels (Alliance) the
sequel to the original film which starred the late Brandon Lee. (Rated R)
Just in time for Christmas shopping is The Land Before Time IV:
Journey Through the Mists (MCA/Universal) - $24.95 or less) yet another
sequel featuring Littlefoot and his Dinosaur buddies. (Rated G)
Music lovers might be interested in several new video releases now
available including, Shania Twain: The Complete Woman in Me
(Polygram - $9.95), a compilation which contains all eight videos from her
million selling CD, The Woman in Me.
Filmed over two nights in Manchester and London, Oasis...Then and
There (Sony $19.95) contains'17 live tracks in addition to exclusive
behind the scenes and interview footage with the band.
From 1968 is The Rolling Stones: Rock and Roll Circus (Polygram -
$24.95) which also features performances from John Lennon, Yoko Ono,
Eric Clapton, The Who, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithful and more.
In Hootie and the Blowfish: A Series of Short Trips (Sony - $19.95) you
will find behind the scenes footage of studio recording sessions as well as
a peek backstage at their national tour.
And finally fans of The Boss will enjoy Bruce Springsteen and the E
Street Band: Blood Brothers (Sony) which chronicles their 1995 reunion
to record a few new songs for a greatest hits album. This special limited
edition also includes a CD which features previously unreleased material.
•
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NEW TITLES TO CHOOSE FROM
Steal Big/Steal Little, White Man's Burden, The Cable Guy,
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COME TRUE IN BLYTH THIS CHRISTMAS
A Village Christmas
sponsored by Blyth Business Association
Saturday December 21, 1996
7 p.m. - Sing-a-long - 7:30 p.m. - Pageant
Blyth Memorial Community Hall
Join us for our annual Christmas Pageant featuring local
talent such as:
• Nasty Habits • Blyth Lions Club • Duncan McGregor
• Legion Ladies Auxiliary • many soloists & musicians
Blyth Business Association Dreams & Wishes Raffle
Winners will be drawn throughout the evening.
Silver Donation - all proceeds to the Huron County Christmas Bureau
after 9 p.m. - Yule Yodel at the Hotel (Blyth Inn)
Ad generously sponsored by Radford Auto, Farm & Industrial Ltd.
PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1996
Review
Drama Guild's performance showcases young talent
Astounding voices
Craig Fair (portraying Marius) of Bluevale and Shannon
Scott (as Cosette) of the Londesboro area, were just two
of the amazing voices heard during F.E. Madill's 5th
Annual Performance Showcase, held Dec. 6 and 7. The
pair performed a piece from Les Mis. As well as musical
numbers, comedy and drama was also displayed.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
The F.E. Madill Secondary
School Drama Guild's 5th annual
Performance Showcase was a
reminder once again of some of
the amazing young people around
here.
In addition to their obvious tal-
ents, the hours of dedication and
hard work were evident in this two-
hours of music, drama, dance and
comedy.
The Showcase featured excerpts
from several theatre productions —
Guys and Dolls, which the Guild
performed last spring, Les Miser-
aides, Phantom of the Opera, and
Joseph and the Amazing Techni-
colour Dreamcoat.
Brother and sisterManny and
Melina Hussey of East Wawanosh
reprised their roles from Guys and
Dolls as did Bluevale's Craig Fair
and Kelly Alexander of Wingham.
In addition to their vocal gifts,
these four are also accomplished
actors, with a confidence and range
that belies their tender years.
The audience this year also got to
Reporters Melissa Snell,
Tiffany Reinhart, Matt Anderson
and Beki Brandon
Mr. Talbot's Grade 8 class has
been busy working on a study of
our native people. The unit began
with some whole class teaching and
then the class was divided into
groups. Each group studied a
particular tribe and made a factual
based display dealing with their,
culture. Each group will then make
a presentation to the rest of the
class. As part of this unit, they had
previously taken a field trip to Ste.
Marie Among the Hurons near
Midland.
The class is also inv61Ved in
making large Christmas murals.
Small groups work co-operatively
in painting these murals which will
be put on display in the gym for
our Christmas concert on Dec. 12.
In English, the students are
writing some illustrated Christmas
stories and poems. The class is also
working in an individualized short
story unit.
In our Quest program, the class is
doing a unit on friendship. Each
student is doing a friendship
booklet.
Grade 6 is just starting a
"Dickens of a Christmas" unit. We
are referring of course to Charles
Dickens the famous English author
of a Christmas Carol. It's fun
working at a Victorian Christmas
from their customs to their toys,
food to Charles Dickens himself.
We wish you a merry old-fashioned
Christmas.
Kindergarten has been learning
about vegetables. Everyone brought
a vegetable to school and after we
sorted, named and tallied them, we
cut them up and made delicious
vegetable soup. We also made
interesting designs by dipping the
halved vegetables in paint and
printing with them.
Mr. Livermore's Grade 4 class is
currently doing a Christmas Unit in
Language Arts. They are working
on many activities such as creative
writing topics related to Christmas;
crossword puzzles, jingle rhyme
hear the crystal clear soprano of
Shannon Scott of Lordesboro as
Cosette from Les Mis.
Other soloists were Heather Bal-
lagh, Darryl Mangen and Angela
Chippa.
But, while the focus of tnb Show-
case might still have been on the
power of musical theatre, the comic
sketches and dance dramas allowed
the diverse talents of the Guild's
members to share the stage. Local
students, Jay Sanders of Belgrave,
and Ashley Gropp and Mandy Sell-
ers of Brussels appeared in the
delightful Monty Phython Who-
Dunnit?. Sellers and Gropp did a
take as Gilda Radner and Jane-Cur-
tain respectively in aRosannadanna
routine, which was a lot of fun for
faithful fans of Sait,rday Night
Live.
Sanders was also one of the ship-
wrecked crew Python's Cannibals,
some perfect silliness, which
delighted the audience.
All the young comediens dis-
played a sense of timing, and car-
ried off much of the over-the-wall
nonsense with a tongue-in-cheek
laissez faire.
Rachel McQuail of West
Wawanosh and Justin Ruttan, lent
their voices to the chorus of several
numbers, as did Gropp, Sanders
and Scott.
With the exception of Ruttan,
these local youths were also part of
the troupe gracefully performing in
the dance drama Kissed by a Rose.
All the musical numbers were
ably backed by the Madill stage
band, under the direction of John
Matthews. The band also played
several musical selections.
Attendance at this year's Show-
case, held Friday and Saturday
evening and Sunday afternoon was
down from last year's sold out per-
formances, due I'm sure only to the
busy Christmas season. For anyone
who didn't get the chance to see it
this year, I extend my regrets. For
two hours the Guild members treat-
ed the audience to some excellent
entertainment.
But they also demonstrated how
special young people are, full of
vitality and creativity. Director
Louanna Alexander, who with assi-
tance from Wendy Brewster and
vocal coach Vick Gerth, success-
fully channeled all that energy and
produced a polished showcase with
poised, professional performances.
the Grade 8s travelled to Central
Huron S.S. on Tuesday, Nov. 12
for Peacemaker training. Some of
the Peer Mediators from CHSS met
us and first taught us about the
different ways in which we
communicate. They led us through
a series of skits and activities to
demonstrate positive and negative
communication, through verbal and
non-verbal manners.
After a delicious pizza lunch, we
went back to work. We learned
about the process of doing
mediation with our peers. We were
led through some role-plays, and
participated in several skits which
were enacted in order that we could
take on the role of peacemaker in
dealing with realistic problems..We
Continued on page 23
activities, word searches, math
related shopping activities and
• many more Christmas messages
related to the skills of reading and
writing.
In art they have enjoyed lessons
on making mobile Christmas
wreaths, fireplace stockings and a
placemat made of old Christmas
catds. -
_ In math, the class really enjoys
Mr. Livermore's drill games. They
say, "It makes us learn our tables
much better!"
In social studies the students are
working on map and globe skills.
They are currently putting these
skills into better understanding of
the map of the world, continents,
countries, and of course, Canada.
PEACEMAKER TRAINING
All of the Grade 6 class and 21 of
Hullett Happenings
Students rehearse concert