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Coral Andrews Chronicle Special Rock and Roll is here to stay in any way, shape, or form. It's not just a saying, it's a way of life, and was for many who saw this spectacular show at UW Humanities Sum day. John Gray's special brand of rock and roll featuring the reunion of TOs combo the Monarchs was like a Saturday night blast from the past in a Brylcreem and bobby-sox time machine. The setting is Mushaboom. Nova Scotia, "tt place where culture is something you find in the back of your fridge every once and a while." It's a tale about a bunch of regular guys. whose greatest single thrill in I meaningless existence is to play in a rock and roll band. His one-liners and sensitive funny characters Parker, Manny, Chink, Brent, Shirly and Screamin' John, tell rock and roll the way it should be, with no pretentious punches. Gray, a mastermind, who had directed over so productions including Billy Bishop Goes to War, with Eric Peterson who plays Screamin' John in Rock and Roll, has astounding insight into the etmftured workings of the teenage psyche. "iiairoys realize how much they've matured in one direction, after a 15-year reunion, yet digressed terribly in another. -.- Gray's script poignantly reveals "that we a: failures, in one way, no matter what wt do in lift-f Ian-ulna, an van. "ca-J, "v ...u.-\.. v u..- FP9i _..- -.'- --_-. Theatrical marvel Eric Peterson is Screamin' John, a James Dean personna, former idol and grand-daddy to the Monarchs, whose worldly advice rings eerie bells, since his violent death at 19, made him all too aware of the Monarchs futile fate. -iiiGGrds, and dirges interspersed with slick 'sos 'lingo' were 'too cooool'. _ Frank MacKay as Parker the 'fat boy' lead singer, who originally sang with John Gray in the Lincolns, was like a roly-poly version of Blood Sweat and Tears' David Clayton Thomas, with his powerful vocals, his character interpre- tation uncanny. Gray based much of his script on autobiographical experiences with the Lincolns in Truro, Nova Scotia, and this local crowd was often gasping, chuckling and drifting back a decade or two for the majority of this memorable evening. Rock and Roll takes us hack in memorable night of reminiscing - [Moi were in a Rock and Roll band, this show could have been written by your old basement band, because the story remains the same, and the roles then were well de- fined. -cdins don't play in rock bands." says Manny. "Who says?" ... God says,_tha!'s _who taysi' _ _ Girls were either drunked up, knocked up, beat up or all three, and Shirly, played with strawberry-blonde vitality and finesse by Babs Chula, was natural, as she tried to get into the "Boys Club", but incessantly failed. -kuirew-s "Rhodes, Shirly's steddy Brent and the Monarch's peacemaking lead guitarist, were the perfect Neufeld performance will span centuries uâ€"WAMWMV.M"~ that we are all In what promises to be an intriguing program spanning four centuries of music, soprano Elizabeth Neufeld appears at the Music Room Sunday, Dec. 4 accompanied try Bruce French (lute and guitar) and Rosemary Collins (piano). The concert is the first in a host of December programs slated as KW Chamber Music Society offerings. Hailed " the dramatic highlight of a perfor- mance of Bach's M. Matthew Paulo. in which she was a soloist with Catherine Robbin. Mark DuBois and Christopher Cameron. soprano Neufeld is launched on an exciting musical ca- Having studied and performed extmtsively in Germany, she retumed to Cand- where she has given mmy lieder recitals. including a perfor- mance at the 1m Guelph Spring Festival. She has appeared as a soloist in the Poulenc Giulia. Haydn's Nelso- Iaaa and I... h 11.0 a! War and Handel‘s Me.ainh, M. 10h Paula- and [and h Bout. After her impressive performance in' Bach‘s St. Rattler Paulo. in In]. she was invited by conductor Melville Cook to be a soloist in this great work again in 1982. Tickets no no or for students and seniors " SMy 9retetra. naive compliment, as they attempted First Romance to Screamin' John's wailing sardonic apcomghment. Jay Brazeau as Chink, the unemployed loser, and Alec Willows as Manny, the richest Jew in Mushaboom. who thinks God is part of a holding company, were like Laverne and Shirley's Lenny and Squiggy. mi‘heir- longtant "triekeririg and . siiiiiny's whimsical conversations with the Almighty were among Rock and Roll's highlight/c, _ - _ _ . . . -iiiaGarraris the hassles, the hardships, the joys of being a teenager, and the harsh reality of facing the real music in the never-ending rat-race of humanity. Jay Bunion; Mac Willows, Frank MacKay and Andrew Rhodes in John Gray's Rock and Roll. David Cocoa! photo The ever-popular Mitch Miller, who thrilled local audiences last year with his New Year's Eve Sing-along party at Centre in the Square, is back again this year with an excit- ing program beginning at F. " p.m. Miller will conduct the K-W Symphony In a delightful evening bound to please all his fans as he helps them ring in the new. he began his Brat en- deavour as an oboe player and within two years he an perim- m with the Syracuse Mitch Miller back for New Year's Eve "s---sss,,,,_songfett,.,,.,,..,.,,...-----"-'"'" Balding hair, endless jobs, hapless relationships, and an endless string of broken guitar dreams made Screamin' John's red-hot finale, You Better Rock, You Better Roll. ring crystal clear to the Monarchs and made John Gray's blockbuster production solid gold in the show-biz hit The Monarchs see life 'in front of their feet', and know there is life beyond Mushaboom. but are too conditioned to do anything about it. Except Parker the "rrttoy". _ - Parker Grentuaiiy leavés the band. and his touching intimate dialogue with his imaginary mother during I Couid'nt Be Like You, was another plus. - _ parade. called "Singers De- Cade," his second ca- reer as a recording executive flourished. As the head of popular records at Columbia. he became one of the industry's success stories, having intro- duced or promoted such greats as Tony Bennett, Patti Page. Johnny Mathis, Rose- mary Clooney, and Frankie Lane. While still at Columbia he conceived the “Sing- Along“ albums. " of which he recorded. re- sultinginaalesoinear- lynlnlllion copies. The "Sing-Along" albums attracted the notice of television ex- ecutives and Miller’s Mitch" series topped the TV popularity charts for more than three years, thus he had yet another sue- cessful career on the His fourth career. that of symphony con- ductor, brings him back to the milieu of classical music where he began. For the past " years he has toured the nation leading such orchestras as the Boo- m Pops, the Cleveland burg Symphony, the Los Angeles Philhar monk aid, of course. the Kitchener-Waterloo Syarmhoety Orchesm.