June 25, 2003 News Releases
Released 6/23/03 & 6/20/03
UTAH STATE NEWS RELEASES FOR 06-23-03
ALUMNI
BAND’S SECOND CONCERT FILLS KENT CONCERT HALL WITH MUSIC
LOGAN — Utah State University’s summer Alumni
Band creates an old-fashioned park band experience during a
second concert June 29 at 7 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall at
Utah State.
“This concert has a program of past audience favorites,”
said Nicholas Morrison, director of the band. “The program
has standard band repertoire and great selections from the musical
‘The King and I..’ This concert is definitely a
crowd pleaser.”
Other highlights include Alfred Reed’s “A Festival
Prelude,” written originally for band and arranged for
orchestra, and Frank Tichelli’s “Shenandoah.”
“Some may remember Tichelli’s beautiful arrangement
of ‘Amazing Grace,’” said Morrison. “Tichelli’s
Applachian folk tune ‘Shenandoah’ is also beautiful
— a gentle, flowing and powerful testament to the freedom
we enjoy.”
The concert also features a duo that includes Larry Smith, who
recently retired from 34 years as director of jazz studies at
Utah State University, and his daughter, Monica Fronk, a soon-to-be
mother of 12. The father-daughter duo will perform two jazz
selections arranged by Smith.
The alumni band welcomes all families, including children, to
come to the concert.
“The music is fun and introduces children to music that
is different than what they hear on the radio,” said Morrison.
More alumni band music can be heard on Thursday, July 3, during
the Romney Stadium fireworks performance. On July 6 the band
will perform at the Old Main Hill Amphitheater at 7 p.m. With
the exception of the July 3 performance, all concerts are free.
June 23, 2003
Contact: Nicholas Morrison (435) 797-3506
Writer: Jody Long (435) 797-1350
UTAH STATE NEWS RELEASES FOR 06-20-03
A
BARKING MAD LOVE STORY FOR CANINE ENTHUSIASTS AND COMEDY LOVERS
ALIKE GRACES THE STAGE AT THE CAINE LYRIC
LOGAN — Mid-life crisis. The very phrase conjures up
pictures of flashy red convertibles with a buxom young blonde
in the passenger’s seat. But in A.R. Gurney’s “Sylvia”
it is a dog that may end a 22-year marriage. Of course, the
dog is played by a lovely young actress, and therein lies the
twist.
“Sylvia” is the third show of the Old Lyric Repertory
Company’s (OLRC) summer season. The production opens Thursday,
July 3, and runs throughout the season until its closing Wednesday,
July 30. Performances are presented at the Caine Lyric Theatre,
28 W. Center, Logan, and curtain time is 8 p.m. Selected matinee
performances are at 2 p.m. For ticket information and dates.
call (435) 797-0305 or check out the Web site at www.usu.edu/lyric.
Now in its 37th season, OLRC is the professional summer theatre
program offered by Utah State University’s department
of theatre arts and the College of Humanities, Arts and Social
Sciences.
In “Sylvia,” a dog is the final straw in a struggling
marriage. Kate and Greg, having raised their children and sent
them off on their own, move back to the city to attack life
again. But Greg finds that attacking life is hard without a
purpose. He is about to lose his job and is struggling to find
himself when he finds a stray mutt instead. Sylvia, the mutt,
seems to be the answer to his searching. He takes her home and
awaits his wife’s return with some trepidation, and rightly
so. Sylvia in not only an unwanted pet, but also, more importantly,
she is a young, attractive, female dog.
In Gurney’s romantic comedy the love triangle has a strange
twist, but many of the struggles and emotions stay the same
as Kate and Greg fight to save their 22-year marriage. The play
is, in turns, funny, poignant, tense and funny again —
really funny, said director Adrianne Moore who directed last
summer’s OLRC production of “The Rivals.”
Having just come off of a production of “Taming of the
Shrew” (directed for Utah State Theatre at Utah State
University), Moore said she is excited to be working with a
small, intimate cast in a piece of contemporary theatre. “We
have a great cast, very experienced and mostly new to the Lyric,”
she said.
“The cast is small enough that we have really been able
to focus on character development and relationships in rehearsal.”
“Sylvia” is a new kind of play to hit the Lyric
stage; it's very contemporary, but still enjoyable for everyone,
Moore continued. “I think ‘Sylvia’ is hysterically
funny, really one of the funniest plays I have seen,”
she said. “The characters, however, all take themselves
very seriously. The main character, Sylvia, is actually a dog.
She is also a symbol for freedom for the natural world that
her master, Greg, yearns for. For Kate, Greg’s wife, she
is ‘the other woman.’ So the actor has the challenge
of playing a dog with doggy mannerisms but must also function
as the embodiment of the fantasies of the humans around her.”
Playing the title character of the loving, rambunctious and
often flirtatious mutt, Sylvia, is New York actor Amy Tribbey.
This is Tribbey’s first season with the OLRC, but she
is a well-traveled actor on the regional circuit. Playing her
newfound master, Greg, the man with the mid-life crisis, is
William Warren. This is not Warren’s first season at the
OLRC, but in the years since he was last seen here, he moved
to Kansas City to get his master’s degree and has been
working extensively in regional theatre. Greg’s wife,
and Sylvia's competition, Kate, is played by actor Susan Dolan.
This is Dolan’s first season at the OLRC, but she works
often in her home, Salt Lake City, for the Salt Lake Acting
Company, the Pioneer Theatre Company and Sundance Theatre. And
returning for this show to play three different characters,
two of them women, is OLRC regular Lee Daily. According to Moore,
Dailey will delight audiences with his support roles in this
production. He plays Tom, a macho New York dog owner, Phyllis,
a New York society matron, and Leslie, a therapist of indeterminate
gender — is she/he a man or a woman?
“Sylvia” contains some language not suitable for
all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
The playwright is known for his biting satires and comedies
that center, usually, around the lives of WASPs, but he has
to write about what he knows, he has said. A once-professor
at MIT, he quit his job at the age of 40 to take up writing
full-time, much against the wishes of his family, who thought
theatre was an exhibitionist’s arena. Since his jump into
the writing world, he has become extremely prolific.
“Sylvia” was written in 1995 and opened at the Manhattan
Theatre Club with a formidable cast. Sarah Jessica Parker originated
the title role, with Blythe Danner as Kate and Charles Kimbrough
as Greg. The show is now produced regularly in regional theatre
as its wit and charm entice dog lovers and theatre lovers alike.
The OLRC season includes five shows running in repertory all
summer, from June 12 through Aug. 9. The first, “On Golden
Pond,” is followed by the comical tunes of “Forever
Plaid,” the barking madness of “Sylvia,” the
who-done-it fun of “The Murder Room” and a classic
love story in “The Last Train to Nibroc.”
Moore summed up the season by concluding, “The season
is very varied, there should be something for everyone, and
hopefully audiences will come to all five shows and have the
opportunity to see a real range of work in terms of period and
genre. ‘Sylvia’ is a contemporary New York comedy
— originally featuring Sarah Jessica Parker. Contemporary
work is a new challenge for the Lyric.”
According to the OLRC publicity office, this season offers many
more promotions throughout the season. This includes weekly
Web site giveaways, special performance-night promotions and
autograph opportunities. Watch the Web site for more, and keep
an eye out for the OLRC Promo Jeep. Catch the driver and win
merchandise, tickets and more. For more information on promotional
activities and ushering opportunities, call 435-797-1500.
Tickets are currently available, including the OLRC’s
Flex-Pass option. A Flex-Pass Season Subscription includes five
coupons to any evening performance of choice (subject to ticket
availability). With this pass, patrons can see what they want
— one show five times or five shows once — all at
savings. There is also a matinee Flex-Pass option for even more
savings. Pricing and ticket information is available by calling
(435) 797-0305 or by visiting www.usu.edu/lyric. Tickets can
be purchased at the Smith Spectrum ticket office on the Utah
State campus (7600 Old Main Hill, Logan).
June 20, 2003
Contact: Jeremy Gordon (435) 797-1500
AdrIanne Moore (435) 797-3023
SIDEBAR TO “SYLVIA”
LOGAN — Now in its 37th season, the Old Lyric Repertory
Company is the professional summer theatre program offered by
Utah State University’s department of theatre arts and
the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
Five plays will be presented this season June 12 through Aug.
9. The complete schedule follows.
June 12 (E), 13 (E), 14 (E), “On Golden Pond;” June
19 (E), 20 (E), 21 (M, E), “Forever Plaid;” June
26 (E), “On Golden Pond;” June 27 (E), “Forever
Plaid;” June 28 (M, E), “On Golden Pond;”
July 3 (E), 4 (E), 5 (M, E), “Sylvia;” July 10 (E),
11 (E), 12 (M, E), “Murder Room;” July 16 (E), “Forever
Plaid;” July 17 (E), “On Golden Pond;” July
18 (E), “Murder Room;” July 19 (M, E), “Sylvia;”
July 22 (E), “Sylvia;” July 23 (E), “Murder
Room;” July 25 (E) “On Golden Pond;” July
26 (M, E), “Forever Plaid;” July 30 (E), “Sylvia;”
July 31 (E), “On Golden Pond;” Aug. 1 (E), “Forever
Plaid;” Aug. 2 (M, E), “Murder Room;” Aug.
6 (E), 7 (E), 8 (E), 9 (M, E), “Last Train to Nibroc.”
Performance dates designated with (E) are evening perfromances
at 8 p.m. Dates designated (M) have a matinee performance at
2 p.m.
For information contact the OLRC public relations office at
(435) 797-1500.
June 20, 2003
Contact: Jeremy Gordon (435) 797-1500
THE SKINNY ON
THINNING FRUIT
LOGAN — One of the hardest tasks for a gardener is to
thin fruit. Most fear that removing fruit will reduce the amount
they will harvest later. In reality, however, thinning fruit
helps the tree produce more usable fruit. It keeps the tree
healthier and helps it produce more the next year.
One of the problems with apple trees, for example, is biennial
bearing, said Jerry Goodspeed, Utah State University Extension
horticulturist. This means the tree produces a heavy crop one
year and a light crop or no crop the next. This is because each
spur (where apples are borne) can only produce an apple every
two years. If all the spurs develop fruit one year, none are
left to produce the following year.
The fruit is there to protect the tree’s seed, he said.
Without seeds, the tree produces no fruit.
Typically, the more fruit on a tree, the smaller the fruit,
said Goodspeed. If the tree has too much fruit, there is actually
less consumable fruit because the seeds take up more energy
and edible fruit.
Imagine that a fruit tree is like dealing with a bank. You have
$1,000 to put in the bank. For each checking account opened,
you are charged a $25 service charge. It doesn t matter how
much you put in the account, you still get dinged $25. Although
you may want to have multiple checking accounts, it soon becomes
obvious that you are losing money with each account you open.
Imagine now, that the service charge is the seeds or pits in
fruit. The seeds and pits are always a constant. If you have
too much fruit, you receive too many service charges with the
seeds or pits, yielding less edible fruit for you.
As far as methods for thinning, apples can be the trickiest,
said Goodspeed.
They are produced on small spurs (modified stems) and need to
be handled with care. When thinning apples, be sure not to damage
the spur. The spurs can produce apples for many years, but once
the spur is damaged, it is through producing.
Because he worries about the spurs, Goodspeed recommends using
scissors to thin apples. Simply cut the apple off right next
to the fruit, leaving a small piece of stem on the spur. The
tree will quickly figure out that the apple is gone and drop
the little stem, leaving the spur viable to produce fruit the
next year.
Leave about one apple every 5 to 7 inches, or one apple every
three spurs, said Goodspeed. Each spur has the ability to grow
up to five apples. That is too many apples on a spur, so leave
only one apple per spur after thinning. To decide which apples
to remove, look at the cluster of fruit, keep the biggest one
and then carefully remove the rest.
Peaches are more fun to thin than apples, he said. Thin peaches
to about one peach every 5 to 7 inches. Since peaches are borne
on last year’s wood, you don’t have to worry about
preserving the spurs.
Now is the time to thin fruit trees, Goodspeed concluded. The
tree will reward you with larger, sweeter and more delicious
fruit this fall. If you don’t thin now, the fruit will
be small and perfect for the birds to harvest in the fall.
June 20, 2003
Writer: Julene Reese, 435-797-1363
Contact: Jerry Goodspeed, 801-392-8908
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