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_s
THE WRITE STUFF
Love is Nothing (St.
Martin's Press, $29.95)
ThetitleofLeeServer's
bio of gorgeous Gardner
flirts with some irony
-oneofthemostbeautiful
lovegoddessesofthe 20th
centuryneverreallyfound
love. She marriedMickey
Roohey, Artie Shaw and
Frank Sinatra, and she
had affairswithcountless
others -well, in the case
of this book, she counted
others. Server serves up
a dishy, fact-laden, anec-
dote-riddenbookthat recounts,amongotherthings,who
bedded whom in Hollywood -and it's delightful!
Scrupulously researched and related in specific
day-by-day, movie-by-movie, man-by-man chronology,
Gardner'srise and ultimate fade out reads like a faintly
seedy Greek tragedy. Reputedly so beautiful that men
literallystaggeredatfirst sight ofher,sexuallyliberated in
arepressivetimeandrepressiveindustryandrich enough
to buy anythingand anyone she wanted Ava apparently
spent a great deal of time alone-and lonely.Monogamy
wasn'tthe strong suit of any ofher husbands,and loyalty
was not a quality well known in her profession, so she
trusted no one
Without trust,love may have been impossible, but the
sex was easy - until she became bored with that. Too
much of anything becomes excessive, and the saddest
thing about Gardner's life as related by Server is that
though she had everything and was ultimately spoiled
by her successes, there was littlejoy in her life. Towards
the end, living alone and in relative anonymity in Lon-
don, she worked only to support herself. Citing the arc
of Gardiner as a star and woman is the true fascination
with Server's book. By the time she was 35, she had run
through allthree husbands,yet shelived until almost 70.
She acted in movies for nearly 50years, yet towards the
end was forced to do wretched television soaps, such as
Knot's Landing, and execrable European films. Love is
Nothing is another saga of a lonely love goddess, yet a
detailed, fascinating and ultimately saddening read
DVD QUICK PICKS
Queer Duck (Para-
mount Home Video)
This fits the bill:
Queer Duck is a rude,
wry and raunchy view
of gay culture as seen
through the eyes of
Bi-Polar Bear, Oscar
Wildcat, Openly Gator,
and the ever fabulous
Queer Duck. Granted,
the animation is primi-
tive and the material
scattershot - from fall
down hysterical laugh-
terto absolute groaners
- but the breezy,speedy plot situations and one-liners
come sofast that it'shardnot to enjoyit'sinfectious good
humor.It'sblatant setting allowsfor not only outrageous
parody -from Baby Jane to Beethoven, from Ethel Mer-
manto Conan O'Brien-but alsospectacularly taste-free
musical numbers.
All this hangs on a story a bit thin, but the plot is sec-
ondary to the gay animal characters,the singers and the
songs. A cinema masterpiece, it's not, but a hysterical
hoot and holler it certainly is. We won't duck the issue
-get ready for the groan -you'll go "quackers!"
FOR THE RECORD
Beyond the Fringe
(DR G Records)
What has eight legs,
is47-years-old andwill
make you laugh until
you wet your pants?
Hint:It hassomething
to do with fringe . . .
DRGhasreissued the
Broadwayrecordingof
the 1962 comic revue
Beyond the Fringe,
starringfour fab Brit-
ish lads who weren't the Beatles... yet who won almost
as much international fame.
AlanBennett,Peter Cook,Jonathan Millerand Dudley
> Moore, astheywere billed back then,allwent on to great
successinother showbusinessendeavors. Bennett iscur-
rently represented on Broadway with The History Boys
and Miller became one of the great directors of opera in
thelast century.Dudley Moore and Peter Cook both died
tragically young, but both with a number of noteworthy
movies, recordings and television credits.
But it is in these 10brief sketches nearly a half-century
old that their geniusin writingand performingis evident.
From "Bollard," in which four less-than-masculine com-
mercial actors butch it up for the microphone, to "So
That'sthe WayYouLike It,"which savagely parodies bad
British acting, neither the material nor the performances
have dated badly.
.' The satire, parody,wit and humor of these four young
men at the start of their careers and the peak of their
creative power is astounding all these many years later.
KudostoDRGforhavingthebrainsto reissueaveryfunny
revue that continues to influence British and American
comics -and continues to make people howl.
slftMSSto^
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TennesseeWilliam's
r play gets good read
I from good cast
*
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\ By Melora B.North
j M6lora@barnstablepatriot.com
E
very time Cat On A Hot Tin
Roof comes to town this re-
viewer signs on to see it. And
every time we sit there waiting for
the curtain to go up we wonder why.
It's a depressing southern saga
about a family at odds withone an-
other, it's about human frailty and
weaknesses and it's about death,
love and devotion.In short, Cat is a
downer that keeps one on the edge
of the seat, tense at every move,
always waitingfor the other shoe
to drop. And that is probably why
we've seen it a dozen times.
Written by Tennessee Williams,
this play is a masterpiece that ex-
plores the underbelly of mankind's
carriage, and is superbly delivered
[ by the cast at Monomoy.No issue is
i left sacred. All secrets are explored
\ and delved into withfull details
disclosed. Humans are presented
«~-~ ..... . ,.--»»»-.—.„____ .
as such and although thisis a
rather dramatic version of life on
the plantation in the early '50s,
life ispresented in the raw and all
woundsare exposed and teased.
Big Daddy (Alan Rust) isa
plantation owner and today ishis
birthday.Familyhasgathered at
the ol' homestead to celebrate
his anniversary and the facade of
some good news. Meantime, his son
Brick (Shelley Wilson) islyingin
misery upstairs nursing an ankle he
broke the night before while under
the fog of booze, relivinghis glory
days as an athlete.
Tsssk, tssking over himin a
most unconventionalwayis -
his devoted but hurt wife Mag- \
gie (Beth Brown), who can't \
stop delivering a monologue
on the family,his brother's "no
neck monster" children, Brick's
weaknesses and the state of
their marriage, while constantly
interruptingherself with asides
about Brick's enormous alcohol
consumption.It's a sultryscene
played out to a brick wall,perhaps
the root of hisname, housed by an
aloof man on the verge of throwing
in the towel, if only he could gather
the strength to do so.
Meantime, Brick'sbrother Goop- j
er (Matthew Archambault) and his
fertile wife Mae (Aline Elasmat),
are playing a dance to compete
with the affections of Big Daddy
and Big Mama (Nora Chester),
who are both in the dark as to the
state of Big Daddy's health. It is
CONTINUED ON PAGE C:2
Monomoy's Cat a worthwhile belly eiawl
By Britt Beedenbender
arts@barnstablepatriot.com
BRITT BEEDENBENDER PHOTOS
PEARED DOWN - Erica von Schilgen ,
Pulling Pears from the Lake, mixed
media
WHAT A CRANK - A young visitor turns
crank on Chris Fitch's TantalusMackerel,
which combines the artist's interest in
set design, puppetry, stop animation and
mechanics.
Withthe earlyRenaissancearevolu-
tion in art was born as artists began
incorporating scientific theory and
discoveries in their work.
In the 15th century Brunelleschi
employed geometryand physicsinthe
creation of hisdome for the cathedral
in Florence,whileDaVinciinvestigat-
ed everythingfrom perspective to the
anatomy of man. In the 18th century
Piranesi exhaustively explored the
structure and layering of space. Post-
Impressionist painter Georges Seurat
studied 19th century color theory and
pioneered pointillism.
In acontinuum of that relationship
between art and science, the Cape
Cod Museum of Art is hosting the
first exhibition on the Cape of work
created by modern artists/scientists
known as the Collision Collective.
Formed in 2002,the CollisionCollec-
tive is agroup of MIT and Boston area
artistswhoseworksemploytechnology
to giveshape, movement and function
to aesthetic objects. The interactive
display,which showcases seven works
by sixartists, is an avant-garde depar-
turefor theCCMAandhasthepotential
to be remarkable. Unfortunately, it is
overall, mediocre in its realization.
The success ofthe works asawhole
ranges from highly compelling and
original, to one that was completely
non-functioning on the day this re-
viewersawit,to anotherthat revealed
a complete lack of imagination and
sophistication.
Despite the unevenness of the
exhibition it is a worthwhile stop if
not for the works that do merit close
attention.
Themechanicalsculpture Tantalus
Mackerel , created by Chris Fitch,
combines his interest in set design,
puppetry, stop animation and me-
chanics.It is aphysicallyand visually
engaging device that will have every
visitor taking turns at the crank to
generate the mini-drama.
Drawing upon the sentimentality
of toy machines of the Victorian era,
ayoung girl and her woodland friends
are given amacabre twist inthe hand-
cranked-powered collagePullingPears
from the Pond, created by Erica von
Schilgen. The abstraction of Fran
Trainor's drawing invites visitors to
explore the beauty ofcellularpatterns
ofthehumanbodyandtoexaminetheir
relationship to man-made patterns.
The exhibition, sponsored by the
Highlands Center, Inc., proves that
both sides of the brain can work in
tandem.
History has shownthat some of the
most profound creationsemergewhen
the worlds of art and science merged.
This show also reveals that technol-
ogy is not always dependable.
The exhibition runs through Sept. 3.
Technology & art: interesting & unreliable
Rollicking 'reunion'
keeps Playhouse hot
By Melora B. North
melora@barnstablepatriot.com
If
you're up for a night of pure
entertainment with no think-
ing involved we have an idea for
you. Spring for a couple of tickets
to Pete 'n' Keely, now playing at the
Cape Playhouse in Dennis.
It's a no brainer with lots of color-
ful costumes and a long list of song
and dance numbers that are sure
to keep you giddily delighted while
flirting with your funny bone.
Back in the late '60s Pete Bar-
tel (George Dvorsky) and Keely
Stevens (Sally Mayes) used to be
ROBERT TUCKER STUDIOS PHOTO
REUNITED - Back in the late '60s Pete
Bartel (George Dvorsky) and Keely i
Stevens (Sally Mayes) used to be a I
team, and they reunite on the Cape 1
Playhouse stage to give fans a dose ol
the old magic.
a team, both on stage, where they
hoofed and sang it up, and in the
home where they loved, fought and
eventually lost the game of amore.
Ditching their marriage and leaving
behind their careers as variety show
icons and record label winners, they
set off down
their own
paths to
create
lackluster
records
and for-
gettable
impres-
sions on their devoted hangers-on.
The reality being that Pete and
Keely needed one another, and
their adoring fans, after many years,
still needed and wanted them. A re-
union with a live studio audience at
the NBC television studios in New
York City is planned, where the pair
will act and sing out the story of
their lives, careers and relationship.
It is at this point that we join
them as audience members for their
live telecast of an abbreviated ver-
sion of This is Your Life , performed
in effusive song and dance. From
Keely's birth to her unexpected
neeting with Pete in the
Italian restaurant where
they made their debut for
i Uncle Miltie, the audi-
ence is pulled along on
a ride that does nothing
but entertain, entertain,
entertain.
tahi T\: i
. i i
mreciea Dy
Mark Martino,
this couple
is perfectly
i
cast. They
play off one
another as
smoothly as
butter on a
fresh ear of
corn, and,
CONTINUED ON
PAGE C:2
Pete V Keely provide silly,
light and wonderful fare