Word: tympani
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Rabbit's colleague Tympani (Martin Harris) is another artiste who was called in a few months back to work on the project. Tympani speaks his credo midway through the first act: "Optimism isn't reassuring. It's stupid." Harris convincingly portrays Tympani's pessimism. And he is also effective when Tympani daydreams beamingly about owning a "pale green diner" or going to the movies...
...moment of productivity, Tympani plays a rhythm on two toms as Rabbit searches for the nature of the being they must create. This cacophony succeeds in transforming Miss Scoons (Alexis Toomer), the gum chewing, sexy secretary of the operation, into a nun. Toomer is understandably more interesting in the role of the mystical and concerned nun than in the hackneyed role of the secretary...
...artistic integrity Shepard says he wrote Angel City after a bad experience in an office in Hollywood and his cynical pessimism shows through every line of the script Each character in the play has a dream Lanx wants to be a boxer, Miss Scoons wants to be an actress. Tympani dreams of owning a diner And each has sold out, abandoned his integrity in order to try and claw his way to the top Money is the driving force in Angel City and any movie its inhabitants create is considered terrific as long as it sells...
...extraordinary talent of Ben Halley, Jr., so fully and wonderfully exploited in Big River shines very little in Angel City As Tympani Halley rolls his head wildly, concentrating on his quest for the perfect rhythm. But his energy is dulled, pulled down by the production's lethargy, John Bottoms as Rabbit is the worst offender, however, in the category of torpid A R T actors. I'm after power, "he whimpers, but the audience knows that all he needs is a good night's sleep...
...LIKE TYMPANI, the character of Sax, played by Joel Press, searches for a musical answer to the music industry's dilemma The play wright clearly sides with the saxophone player, whose solution of jazz and creative improvisation is ignored by the movie producers as they stagnate in their own deathly juices Shepard looks for artistic form of expression with the elusive quality of "presence," describing it as a realization that comes to the viewer when he encounters something that's undeniable." Stale Hollywood movies and chicken-shit plays don't have that presence improvisational music, he says sometimes does...