The Berkshire Eagle from Pittsfield, Massachusetts • 5

Entertainment The Berkshire Eagle, Saturday, July 31, 1993 A5 Actress7 spirit returns to the Berkshires Movies in Brief Theater Review AN AUDIENCE WITH FANNY KEMBLE. A play in two acts by Anne Ludlum. Directed by Kenneth Tigar; set and lighting design by Eugene Warner; costume design by Judith Dolan Through tomorrow. Tonight 8 Tomorrow 2. The miniature theatre of Chester, Chester Town Hall, Middlefield Street, Chester.

Running time: 1 nr. 45 mins. Fanny Kemble Bairbre Dowling tive look at a forgotten period of American history that delves into the mood and temperament of people who lived that history every day. It also provides a grim insight into the realities of slavery. Yet, at the same time, it's a piece that rarely comes alive as a vital piece of theater and that has far more to do with Ludlum's play than it does with the production that has been directed here by Kenneth Tigar.

Despite somewhat uneven pacing the result of some occasional uncertainty over lines Bairbre Dowling provides an ingratiating, inviting presence. Her Fanny Kemble is. by turns, charming, witty, proud, determined, compassionate, angry, confident and, at the same time, a bit amused at her fame and celebrity. For ail that, however, "An Audience With Fanny Kemble" remains littie more than a lecture in the thin guise of a play. By Jeffrey Borak Berkshire Eagle Staff CHESTER Actresswriter horsewoman Fanny Kemble, who spent a considerable amount of time in the Berkshires, died 100 years ago.

Her spirit has returned to the Berkshires, however, in the guise of actress Bairbre Dowling, who is playing Kemble in "An Audience With Fanny Kemble" through tomorrow at The miniature theatre of Chester. Born into a theatrical family, Kemble began her acting career when Covent Garden, the famous London theater that was built by her uncle and managed by her uncle and father, was on the verge of bankruptcy. Her father pressed her into service to play Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet." She learned the role in one day, made her debut three weeks later and became an instant success. For three years, she says in Anne Ludlum's talking head play, she was "the lioness of English theater." But, in 1832, the theater faced declining attendance due in large measure to a cholera epidemic that was sweeping Europe. To raise money for the theater, she set sail for the United States with her father and toured the large Eastern cities from Boston to Baltimore, performing Shakespeare with her father and pickup casts in each city.

During an engagement in Philadelphia, she caught the attention of a young and adoring merchant from the South named Pierce Butler, who followed her to Bos- Twentieth Century Fox Twelve-year-old pitching phenom Henry Rowengartner (Thomas Ian Nicholas) offers support to a former star pitcher, Chet Steadman (Gary Busey), in 'Rookie of the Free Willy' (PG) It was not only slavery that Kemble objected to in her writings. She also believed that marriage should be an equal partnership between husband and wife. After her divorce, Kemble embarked on a highly successful career performing solo readings of Shakespeare's plays. She spent much time in the Berkshires, becoming friends with Hawthorne and Melville, among others, and she gained an admiring fan in Boston in the person of Henry James. She died in 1893 at the age of 84.

This is the stuff of a rich, exciting play but Ludlum's work, drawn in large measure from Kemble's writings isn't it All the vibrant drama inherent in this story has been drained. The setting for Ludlum's play is backstage of a New York theater where Kemble is awaiting the verdict of the New York critics-after her first solo performance. While she, and we. wait for the newspapers to arrive, she tells us her story, often interspersing it with exuberantly performed speeches from Shakespeare. In many ways, this is an evoca- miniature theatre Cheste- Bairbre Dowling Fanny Kemble at Chester ton, courted her and married her.

Not until six years later, after having given birth to two daughters, did Kemble learn that her husband and his family had extensive plantation holdings in the South. A visit to the family's rice plantation on one of the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia proved a rude awakening for Kemble, whose efforts to relieve the miserable living conditions of the plantation's slaves drew the anger of her husband. She defied his orders to have nothing more to do with the slaves. As a result, he divorced her and retained custody of their children. He also tried to interfere with publication of her writings, diaries that laid bare the truth about life in the South for its indentured blacks.

Aston Magna sets music for viola GREAT BARR1NGTON A concert featuring music for viola da gamba by Marin Marais and his teacher, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. is scheduled for tonight at 6 at St. James' Church. Entitled "Marin Marais' Muses." this fourth concert in the 21st Aston Magna Festival series is inspired by the recent popular French film, "Tous les Matins du Monde" (which is being shown tonight and tomorrow night at Images Cinema in Williamstown), a drama about the artistic relationship between Marais and Sainte-Colombe. Laura Jeppesen and Jane Hershey will be joined by Daniel Stepner and Catherine Liddell Movie Schedules Choral Fest slates Dvorak Requiem SHEFFIELD The Berkshire Choral Festival will present Dvorak's Requiem Mass tonight at 8 in the Rovensky Concert Shed at the Berkshire School.

Robert De Cormier will make his first Festival appearance on the podium. While there have certainly been better family films than "Free Willy," there also have been worse. This is the story of a tough 12-year-old boy named Jesse (Jason James Richter), who lives in the streets of Portland, Ore. When he gets into trouble after an act of vandalism at the local aquarium, he is put in the care of a prospective adoptive couple (Jane Atkinson and Michael Madsen) and assigned to clean up the mess at the aquarium. It is there that he befriends a killer orca whale named Willy, who wants only to be returned to the open sea.

But he responds to Jesse and the two form a tight bond that the greedy owner of the aquarium seeks to capitalize upon. Looming over Willy and the boy is the threat that if Willy doesn't perform to expectations, he will be fodder for the perfume factory. The messages here are obvious; so are the turns the story takes. The whale performs admirably and there is a particularly good performance from August Schellenberg as a savvy handyman at the aquarium. Everything else is routine.

RATING: (Fair) Jeffrey Borak Rookie of the Year' (PG) If you've imagined Oz to be floating somewhere above the plains of Kansas, guess again. In the clever and ingratiating "Rookie of the Year," Oz is Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Actor Daniel Stern's first outing as a director is a charming fable about a 12-year-old boy named Henry Rowengartner (newcomer Thomas Ian Nicholas) who finds himself in the odd position of pitching for the Chicago Cubs when, in the wake of a clumsy accident, he is left with a super arm. What makes "Rookie of the Year" work as well as it does is that it has a sense of itself. Stern and screenwriter Sam Harper set out the ground rules early and then play by them, unlike a number of other films of-this genre that seem to want to have their cake and eat it too.

Like Oz an image Stern conjures up when young Henry reports for work at the players' gate at Wrigley the world of "Rookie of the Year" is one in which the unusual becomes the usual. Even when Henry gets into trouble which you know he will Stern and Harper work things out in a way that never forgets that Henry is, after all, a boy in a big man's world. "Rookie of the Year" not only has affection for the game, it has a knowing affection for the joys of boyhood. One of the film's great moments is one in which Henry and his two best friends romp on the infield diamond at Wrigley after a game. The movie does get silly in places, even for its own style.

Stern is the silliest and most self-indulgent as the team's pitching coach. Gary Busey turns in a fine job as a pitcher in the twilight of his career and the rest of the cast, for the most part, performs admirably. A pleasant summer surprise. RATING: (between fair and good) Jeffrey Borak Murde-er (PG131 1:45, 6 45 Rising Sun (R) 1:30, 6:30 9.30: Free Willy (PG) 1:45 The Firm (R) 1.30, 6:30 Poetic Justice (R) 9.30 only; Hocus Pocus (PG13) 2. 7 Robin Hodd Men in Tights (PG13) 2, 7 9:30.

Mahaiwe Theatre (Great' Barringlon:) Much Ado About Nothing (PG13) 4, 7 9:15. Crandell Theatre (Chatham, N.Y.:) Robin Hood: Men In Tights (PG13) 7 9. Images Cinema (Williamstown): Tous Les Matins Du Monde (All The Mornings ot the World) at 7 9. Little Cinema (The Berkshire Museum): The Story ot Qui Ju (PG) 6 3. JULi ANNE BOYD, Artistic Director CHUCK STILL, Managing Director Berkshire Mall Cinema 10 (Unesboro): Rising Sun (R) 12:45, 3:45, 6:35 RODin Hood' Men in Tights (PG13) 12:55.

3:55. 7:25 Tom Jerry The Movie (G) 11:40 a.m. only; Coneheads (PG) 1:25, 3:30, 7 10; Another Stakeout (PG13) 1:30, 4, 6:55 Poetic Justice (R) 11:45 a.m. only: Hocus Pocus (PG13) 2, 4:10, 7:15 Free Willy (PG) 12:50, 3:50. 7:05 9:25: Jurassic Park (PG13) 12:35, 3:35, 6:40 10, The Firm (R) 12:25, 3:25, 6:25 In the Line ol Fire (R) 12:40, 3:40, 6:45 Sleepless in Seattle (R) 7:20 Rookie ol the Year (PG) 12:30 Snow White the Seven Dwarfs (G) 11:30 a.m.

only. Pittslield Cinema Center: So I Married an Axe Murderer (PG13p, 3:10, 7:15 Rising Sun (R) 12:45, 3:10, 6:45 Robin Hood: Men in Tights (PG13) 12:45, 3:10, 7 Another Stakeout (PG13) 12:45, 3:10, 7 Poetic Justice (R) 7 Coneheads (PG) 1, 3:10, 7:15 Hocus Pocus (PG13) 1 Free Willy (PG) 12:45, 3:10, 7 The Firm (R) 1:15, 6:30 9:15: Jurassic Park (PG13) 12:45, 3:10, 6:45 Sleepless Seattle (R) 7 In the Line ot Fire (R) 12.45, 3:10. 6:45 Rook of the Year (PG) 1 3:10. North Adams Cinemas: So I Married an Axe 75th Season -a A In 1921, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Warren G. Harding went camping together to escape civilization.

What ttwy couldn't escape was each other. A World Premiere CAMPING The Berkshire Museum Pittslield 443-7171 LITTLE CINEMA NEW! RELAX ENJOY OUR NEW AUTOMATED STATE-OF-THE-ART "CINEMA EQUIPMENT COMPLETE WITH DOLBY SURROUND SOUND- July 30 August 5 Nightly 8:15 Saturday at 6 Mon. Mat, 2 p.m. $4.00 SENIORS: S4.00 Thurs. Night lllf Saturday Company 10:30 am Memory of Splendor Noon Twelfth Night 3:00 p.m.

Mothers and Daughters 4:00 pm Duet for One 5:00 p.m. The Landscape Painter 8:00 p.m. A Midsummer Night's Dream 8:30 p.m. Virginia BOX OFFICE: (413)637-3353 Hocus Pocus' (PG) by MARK ST. GERMAIN Directed by PAUL LAZARUS Starring JOHN ROBERT CUNNINGHAM PROSKY JOHN RALPH PROSKY WAITE MOUNB1N Sunday, September 1 2 BEAUX ARTS TRIO Sunday, September 19 JUILLIARD STRING QUARTET Sunday, September 26 CLEVELAND STRING QUARTET YING STRING QUARTET Sunday, October 3 EMERSON STRING QUARTET Sunday, October 10 GUARNERI STRING QUARTET Concerts at 3 p.m.

Tickets $20 each event Brochure and Ticket Information, Write SOUTH MOUNTAIN "SUPERB" -Janet Moslin, THE NEW YORK TIMES "AN AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT" -Andrew Sorm, THE NEW YCWK OBSERVER "MESMERIZING" -Lawrence FraKeJIo. US MAGAZINE "ENCHANTING AND STIRRING" -Bruce WiHiarmOfi PLAYBOY MAGAZINE BREAKING THE CODE by Hush Whitemore Directed by Melvin Bernhardt "Hocus Pocus" is about what happens when some modern-day teenagers in Salem, Mass. accidentally conjure up three witches who were hung in 17th century Salem and who use their newfound opportunity to secure life everlasting. This mess has been directed by Kenny Ortega, who directed last year's "Newsies," which, in itself, says a lot. As the senior witch, Bette Midler runs around booking like a jaundiced beaver.

As one of Midler's cohorts, Kathy Najimy shows none of the spark that propelled her to public attention in "Sister Act." As the most fetching of the three witches, Sarah Jessica Parker actually injects some charm into this otherwise desultory, self-indulgent affair. Maybe some magician will come along and make this movie disappear. Now that would be a trick. RATING: (poor) Jeffrey Borak LOVE AND ANGER byGeorse F. Walker Directed by Sizabeth Mar3id A Revenge Comedy THE STORY OF CONCERTS QIU JU Box 23, Pittsfield, MA 01 1 I Mi Phone 41 3-442j3T)6 TICX.

Ipjj. iii rjrn hi Season Passes Available -COMING- August 6 August 12 OftMNDO EVES. AT PRICES YOU CAN AFFORD! ADULT: $5.00 CHILD SENIORS $3.00 MarinMarais' Muses Where the Stars Shine Brightest! The Berkshire's Longest Running Supper Club Friday and Saturday dinner al 7:00. show at 8:30 Saturday fale show at 1 1 00 tor 12 hour after Tanglewood). Sat.

IulvSlat6om iHWIllAUKI ua7) THE FIRM 1,15 i ts JURASSIC PARK pg-13 IN THE LINE OF FIRE ROBIN HOOD pg-13 ANOTHER STAKEOUT II pg-is 'I," POETIC JUSTICE 7 op? FREE WILLY "SUSo SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE pg 7,00 HOCUS POCUS SHOWS ONLYpg 1,00.10 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR pg i qq 310 CONEHEADSpg RISING SUN St James Church Great Harrington. MA all: 4 July 30 31 Charles Thomas A veteran of Jazz and nightclubs in Paris. Boston, and New York. Charles Thomas makes his headline debut in a pm cabaret of Cole Porter songs. The surprise sensation from last season, when he stunned the audience in a featured performance.

A Take A Summer Break At The Oak n' Spruce Summerfest! Sunday Auiust 1st from 4pm to 7 pm Everyone is Welcome to The Just Off Rt. 102, South Lee Berkshire's Biggest Pool Party August 7 Tovafa Feldshuh "Tovah's back with new friends Entertainment by Crazy Ed Barnaby "TOTALLY REMOTE" The Incredible One Man Show. DINNER THEATRE AT THE MANSION EVERY TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AT 7:00 p.m. "OVER THE RAINBOW" sparkling review of songs and scenes featuring the music of Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter. Richard Kodgers, Harry Warren and others.

RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION 413-298-4032 Bar-B-Que At The Poolside Bar Exotic Tropical Drinks Door prize ADMISSION IS ON US! Just Com And Enjoy! Rain or Shin The Party Is On! V'o Resemliom Required For Mormtlion, till: 243-3S00.