Word: nan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...ultimate hope of every spinal cord-injury victim is that crippled limbs will work again. That dream seems tantalizingly close for a 22-year-old paraplegic in Dayton. Using a computer-based locomotion system, Nan Davis, a senior at Wright State University, recently stood up in front of television news cameras, took half a dozen halting strides and said with a laugh, "One small step for mankind." Davis has been paralyzed from the rib cage down as a result of an auto crash in 1978, on the night of her high school graduation...
Sometimes the superior performances of a few stars can rescue a production like this one. Alas, in the case of Nan Hughes (as the imported British governess), and John Redd and Peter Miller (as Scaphio and Phantis) stellar performing only reinforces the weakness of the rest of the play, As the two conniving advisors, Miller and Redd combine excellent movements on the stage with resounding voices. As they fight over Princess Zara, plan the overthrow of the British invaders, and manipulate the King, their excellent comic timing shines...
...governess, Nan Hughes gives the best performance of the evening. Her clear, beautiful voice and effectively expressed character speak of a matronly yet passionate nature. She doesn't need to use extraneous actions to reveal her character. In one remarkably clever bit of business, the governess narrates a silent film in which her two young charges--the young princesses--meet and repel an undesirable man. With her magnificent voice leading the miming of the other actors behind a screen lit by flashing light, we momentarily forget that anyone else has to sing. Unfortunately, we can't forget for long...
Finally, the cast boasts a handful of exceptional performers. Though so many performers are drawn from outside the College--long-standing, misguided G & S Players practice--the strongest and most professional performance in the operetta comes from a freshman: Nan Hughes as Tessa, one of the gondoliers' brides. Hughes is a natural actress, and her commanding, sensuous mezzosoprano is the vocal equivalent of chocolate-chocolate chip ice-cream. Margery Hellmold's performance as Casilda is further proof that first-rate singers enroll at Harvard: her soprano has a rare purity and vigor but never becomes inappropriately operatic...
...suffer, early on developed a way to preserve elements of their faith. Adopting a complex sham, they worshiped publicly at Buddhist temples, then slipped away at night to hold secret Christian prayer meetings. At home, they prayed overtly before Buddhist and Shinto altars, but their real altar became the nan do garni (closet god), innocuous-looking bundles of cloth in which revered Christian statues and medallions were hidden. For 2½ centuries, their fierce faith endured, but it inevitably also turned inward. Because their prayers and rituals had to be transmitted secretly among illiterate peasants, they slowly became garbled. Over...