The Atlanta Journal from Atlanta, Georgia • 167

Stye Atlanta Journal the Atlanta constitution SECTION What effect will i' video shows? Staking out her independence 4H See MTV See SOKOL See GEISER By Bill King Staff Writer ALLIANCES: Chuck Abbott the former associate director of the Alliance Theatre and the emcee in its 1982 hit is directing Theater of the Juliet Prowee stars in the touring production opening Tuesday at the Atlanta Civic Cen ter Abbott now lives in New York Iric Roberts His wedding date a secret IRST DAUGHTER: While her father works the campaign trail Patti Davis is working the straw hat trail Miss Davis the 31 year old daughter of President and Mrs Ronald Reagan has just co starred with Ri chard Kline in Pajama at Summerfest in Birmingham Ala a very talented and hard working says James Hatcher producer of the summer theater series which opens Monday By Linda Sherbert Staff Writer By Linda Sherbert Start Writer By Eleanor Ringel Start Writer think about visas and going to an East ern bloc In Atlanta performances of and revivals of three of her other puppet shows are under way at the Cen ter for Puppetry Arts through Aug 11 The Arts entertainment really think about it that says the Louisiana born artist a slight blond woman who earned a general arts degree at the University of Georgia been too busy getting ready to go to East Germany making the other three shows portable for traveling overseas and creating Indeed Ms Geiser is practi cally a blur at this point is her most consuming project at the moment story takes place after a future she explains Puppeteers of America National esti val held that year at Emory University Now only two years later Jottay Theatre is the one and only US ensem ble invited to perform at the prestigious World Puppetry estival The festival is held every four years The only other American born participants in 1984 are Eric Bass now living in Munich and Roman Paska of New York Each gave one man shows last season at the Center for Puppetry Arts Ms Geiser who has lived in Atlanta for 10 years is clearly establishing her self as a force in the world of puppetry The title is taken from the opera term for the text which as she puts it a listener through reference points for a story sung in a different language using it as a metaphor for sex uality as something people are always searching for guidelines for about the way people develop pictures of themselves and fulfill their sexual roles in society How you can learn to put on your sexuality like According to the proposal she sent to the AI focuses on an ex female impersonator reminiscing about the years he spent performing in New Orleans But as in her three previous films Ms approach is a multi layered kaleidoscope of images and ideas will interweave her central story with larger questions about men and women translate her nocturnal vision into some thing for other people to see and ponder That dream crystallized into Ms half fantasy half nightmare puppet play for adults It tells the story of two lovers reunited in a city surrounded by a surreal ultrama rine light after a devastating war perhaps a nuclear war To tell the tale Ms Geiser made a collection of highly stylized puppets and a series of diorama type sets a minia ture cityscape of buildings and the cou apartment Despite its small physi cal scale is making a major impact in the puppetry world Its performance schedule reads like today Atlanta tomorrow the world never even performed out side of says Ms Geiser a 33 year old artist who began giving puppet shows four years ago at the Atlanta Cen ter for Puppetry Arts we are beginning our touring not in the South east but in Germany having to Eric Roberts enjoying his new romantic role MTV have on music No wonder since who he was and began work on last ebruary is called what he had to say was a dream come true for any filmmaker The caller was an official with the Melbourne ilm estival in Australia and Ms film an avant garde film about love and obsession Se Lo had just won the $5000 first prize the 33 year old filmmaker quickly points out about 85 cents to the American dollar that means about And what does she plan to do with her newly earned $39500 from the AI the NEA and Australia? spending it all on major she jokes Actually she has no choice in the matter get the money in install ments as I need it but I spend it on she explains basically have a one year contract with both the AI and the NEA I stick to my end of the bargain by producing a The film in question which she THE HUNCH BUNCH: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theater veterans of the unpredictable Southern Theater Conspiracy resurface with a new show The talented Atlanta acting company supposedly folded this spring after being denied government grant money The zanies will open their own version of Victor Hunchback of Notre at Onstage Atlanta Aug 8 The writers and stars are Eddie Lee Larry Larson Rebecca Alworth and Jon Kohler updated the story and done some strange and funny things with says Lee we are trying to retain the spirit and the message of the original story whatever that Miss Alworth adds ex pect lots of audience participation because the audi ence will have to do all the crowd We can only hope that mean kettles of burning oil will be poured on theatergoers OPERAGOERS SURPRISED: The audience at the Atlanta Civic Opera Great est at the Robert Woodruff Arts Center heard an unexpected performance last Saturday the intermission Atlanta Symphony Orchestra violinist Tom and his string quartet played for our audience of says Martha Hagan company man ager quartet got a rousing round of She expects no such impromptu performances at the opera next production Barber of Se starring Atlanta native and Metropolitan Opera mezzo Brenda Boozer Aug 17 and 19 RICH ADDICKSStart LEE SOKOL: 'ilmmaking starts from a place of commitment My films are like intimate MTV is supposed to stand for Music Television an apt de scription of the cable TV 24 hour a day program ming of music video clips But some people in the video music industry fear that soon might stand for Monopoly The channel which will mark its third birthday Wednesday recently signed deals with four major record companies calling for MTV to pay for promotional videos in exchange for receiving exclusivity for up to a month on certain clips Some say the agreements do little but reinforce the way the video music industry already works since many labels have been providing MTV with videos first in recognition of its 24 hour commitment to the form But the fear among other video music outlets is that not only will the exclusivity deals give MTV an insurmountable competitive edge but that the labels might decide to begin charging everyone for clips making video music programming too expensive for many local and cable programs something that concerns me" said John Weatherford execu tive producer of WAGA TVChannel "Atlanta Rock may have a real impact on the smaller local am astonished that the record industry is willing to enter into such agreements with MTV and essen tially license them to be a mono said Mike Cooper of Atlanta based Music Video Services (MVS) a video distributor it has the ef feet a lot of people fear then a lot of shows would not be able to sur vive I think the agreements signed so far are cautious enough that that likely to happen But the risk they run giving some one the power to be a Up to now MTV currently reaching 218 million cable house holds has been seen more as a blessing than a monster with many crediting the channel with helping to pull the record industry out of its late sales slump Since its launch in August 1981 MTV and the 200 to 300 other broadcast and cable video music or struggling Atlanta artist Lee Sokol the struggle has gotten a little easier The independent filmmaker has won two prestigious orant in the last six months one from the American ilm Institute thousand Australian which awarded her $20000 back in January and a second just a few weeks ago from the National Endow ment for the Humanities which coughed up another $15000 And like they say on late night TV commercials more Last month Ms Sokol was awak ened at 2 am by a crisply accented voice asking time is it thought it was a friend from Eng land who never knows what time it is here when he she says during a recent interview at the IMAGE ilm and Video Center when he told me who he was and why he was call ing I thought I was About a year ago Atlanta artist Janie Geiser had a frightening dream about a oost war future When she awoke she knew she would They are being presented by her Jottay Theatre a local group ot artists tnat in cludes Ms Geiser other puppeteers and musicians On Aug 16 Ms Geiser and six other members of Jottay Theatre will fly to rankfurt Germany and then drive behind the Iron Curtain to Dres den East Germany There the group will present all four shows Aug 21 at the World Puppetry Congress and esti val considered the Olympics of puppe try very Ms Geiser says trying to read a festival brochure printed in German that had just arrived in the mail see the other coun tries represented are Spain Great Brit ain Russia the Netherlands Italy Bul garia rance Brazil Japan Canada Sweden Hungary Romania Czechoslo vakia As she named each country she seemed to get a little more excited about the trip And with good reason She founded Jottay Theatre in Atlanta at the 1982 Moviegoers saw Eric Roberts the former Atlanta actor play a gypsy in of the a sailor in a crazed husband in and just recently a penny ante hustler in Pope of Greenwich Vil Now meet Eric Roberts the groom to be Last nignt i asked Sandy again to marry me and she said said 28 year old Roberts the other day over the telephone from New York Sandy is Sandy Dennis the well known 47 year old ac tress to whom Roberts has been unofficially engaged for several years She is a neigh bor of his in Wilton Conn only telling you my hometown said Rob erts who graduated from Henry Grady High School in 1974 However the wedding date is a secret not saying when until after he said But he added sentimentally gonna get married on a steamboat going down the Mississippi River When we get to New Orleans gonna catch a plane to Europe for our While romance flourishes off camera movie career also continues to prosper He has just finished playing the title role in Coca Cola shot by Grand Bay ilms in Sidney and its environs a comedy about a whiz kid from Atlanta he said kid goes to Austra lia and falls in love with the country and with his Roberts noted that the Atlanta based Coca Cola Co the script and approved and that he expects the film to be released in the United States at Christmas Roberts has returned to Atlanta only once since making One of his two sisters Lisa 19 lives with him in Connecticut and the other one Julia 16 lives with their mother Betty Lou Roberts Motes in Smyrna up here at my house for the he said happily His father the late Walter Roberts had a theater company in Atlanta when Eric was growing up and instilled in his son a deep love of acting What else is next for Roberts? considering a stage role or two and up for the lead in a film this fall discuss it the director is real hush But he is more than willing to talk about his fiancee got down on my knees to he said teasingly a great groveler What can I Struggle is part of the commitment for Atlanta filmmaker Lee Sokol ANDY SHARPStart GEISER: Going to puppetry in Dresden after Atlanta dates Puppeteer Janie Geiser acting on her dreams ft flr tv Bl wGM Tf)P ILLiNG liO Is tbk WBSBRS a JM 9H aas Jar Jr fWWQl ii ill hi ii wHSSSSs SSSSWWx Music: Ben Holt baritone in the board room (left) 3H Theater: Anniston opening a success 6H Art: Putting money where the art is 8H Books: inding them selves but losing us 1OH SUNDAY JULY 29 1984 I I.