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Witty hit Ritter‘s Automatic Pilot on course at UW PAGE 16 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1985 Coral Andrews Chronicle Special ‘"‘Never, never, go to lunch. It‘s always the bad news meal." Charlie is 30, a fastâ€"talking, fourâ€"letter slinging, standâ€"up comitc in Toronto‘s choice comedy cabaret, The Canada Goose Charlie can‘t take a compliment, looks like ‘an out take from Annie Hall, does her routine without a net, and is adamant that Toronto‘s getâ€"ahead elite‘s motto is, ‘"You are what you eat." For Charlie, life coasts along on Automatic Pilot, and she can never quite seem to get into the driver‘s seat. Automatic Pilot author Erika Ritter is one of Canada‘s favorite female witticists. Her play Automatic Pilot was a Toronto hit, and won Ritter the 1980 Chalmers Canadian Play Award. Ritter was also playwrightâ€"inâ€"residence at Stratford‘s Young Company, this season. It is fittiné that assistant . Young Company director Charles McFarland should~~ Coral Andrews Chronicle Special Many Supertramp fans thought the prime ‘70‘s rock of all ages conglomerate had seen ‘better days,‘ when lead vocalist and founder Roger Hodgson left the group to pursue his own solo career. Newâ€"look Supertramp still a fine group But anyone who saw Supertramp‘s twoâ€"hour light and sound ‘transitâ€"inâ€"motion‘ extravaâ€" ganza at the Kitchener Aud Saturday, will swear on his collection of Supertramp albums, that this fact just isn‘t so. 2 In a memorable evening, reminiscent of the old Aud rock memories, area fans got two bands for the price of one. The evening commenced in fine fashion, with Toronto threesome FM, and the everâ€"unâ€" predictable Nash the Slash. Swathed in bandages, sporting ‘‘sunâ€" glasses at night," the black fedoraâ€"hat music madman stormed around the stage, with his horror soundtrack vocals, and alarming yet alluring stage personna. During a slew of FM material old and new, with FM‘s 1984 and new single Just Like You, plus The Yardbirds‘ old hit Shape of Things To Come, Cameron Hawkins on vocals, keyâ€" boards, and Martin Deller drums, made Nash the Slash, with his ‘sass and violins,‘ a short, sweet and wonderfully sinister pleasure. Mr. Slash plays electronic violins, and mandolins, in classical rock dimensions few modern musicians fear to enter. Supertramp Headliners Supertramp were welcomed in a candle blaze of glory. â€" Richard Davies has taken Hodgson‘s place admirably, and proved this many times during this show. Other original founding band members John Anthony Helliwell on sax (Helliwell‘s solos were a definite highlight) and Doug Thompson on bass, gave Supertramp the credibility and solidity to recruit synth player Mark Heart, and several other fine session men whom they picked up "while hitchhiking on the 401" according Helliwell. This blend of musical brilliancemade Supertramp just as ‘super‘ as they were in the early ©‘70s. o To a millionâ€"dollar lighting score, remini scent of the old Pink Floyd/Emerson Lake and Palmer calibre, the eightâ€"member band perâ€" formed fAawlessly, offering a potpourri of new material from Brother Where You Bound and to the crowd‘s delight, older material as well. Better Days was the show opener, with the band‘s current depression days vignette video. But Supertramp switched quickly to their first hit album, Crime of the Century, their third release, with first hit single Bloody Well Right, a tongueâ€"inâ€"cheek naughty school boy statement about phoney schooling and the family tree. Davies who sounded extraordinarily like direct this perky hour long UW Drama Department ef fort. __Bruce Beaton, as Gene, the aspiring writer lawschool dropout who wants a woman his brother hasn‘t slept McFarland cleverly uses a threeâ€"segment miniâ€"thrust stage effect, achieving just the 80‘s feel he intended, with David Bowie and Mick Jagger‘s current hit Dancing In The Streets to create the right ‘vibes‘. Ritter has some excellent lines and comic buildups that are wasted on the audience due to the four players who occasionally take Automatic Pilot into "hyperspace" sometimes reaching altitudes faster than the speed of wit! The UW production is everything Ritter would want it to be with one minor flaw. As central character Charlie, Becky Maynardâ€"Toma sevic, is confident and wellâ€"suited to the role, but has a tendency to rush through her monologues, not giving the audience a fair chance to digest and react to those stunning oneâ€"liners. This trait is particularly noticeable in Tomasevic‘s first Canada Goose segment. (Continued on page 20) Coral Andrews Chronicle Special ‘*Rockappella" was the rage of the evening, as Canada‘s favorite a cappella foursome The Nylons returned to UW Humanities Theatre with their own brand of ‘seamless‘ melody that knocks the socks off everyone who hears them. The four have played every international audience and culture, even Japan. Old Motown hit Walkin® In the Sand featured Cooper‘s clear smooth vocal regrets in a Dear John stint complete with flaming letter â€" a broken heart after he found out "his steady girl from Guelph had dumped him." ° Other renditions included the Beatles‘ This Boy, The Chiffons‘ ("another great synthetic group") One Fine Day, Carole King‘s Up On The Roof, and Silhouettes In The Shade, all enhanced with percussion effects, shadow simulation and lighting score magic. Arnold Robinson did an old Lemont Dozier Motown track, Stepping Stone (Hollandâ€"Dozierâ€"Holland), remarking times are changing because he ‘had an all white backâ€"up band.‘ Robinson‘s bass voice, of ebony silk, added skilful depth to Cooper, Connors and Morrison‘s trio of voices. Marc Connors, Paul Cooper, Claude Morrison and Arnold Robinson (latest member formerly of the Platters) are four of the tightest, brightest performers in the music business, with the now renowned Nylons sound, emerging from allâ€"night singâ€"alongs that the boys had in each other‘s basements. The Nylons‘ album One Size Fits All, and debut album The Nylons have both exceeded platinum and gold sales in Canada, with the four‘s recent release Seamless, following suit. Dressed in fluorescent pink, orange, lime yellow, and green shirts respectively (with color coated shoe laces to match‘!‘!), the Nylons sported matching splattered colorâ€"coordinated black suits. In the effective black light atmosphere, they looked like the Neons, and proved once again why they continue to remain the area favorites, despite the fact Cooper accused everyone of carrying on ‘like cheap white trash‘. The Nylons highâ€"spirited repertoire and humor ‘meshed‘ perfectly as each member had his turn in the solo spot. Connors displayed his excellent range in the Nylons originals, Take Me To Your Heart, Please, a tender love ballad, and This Magic Town, a new song from an upcoming new album. The Nylons own That Kind of Man, and the fiery comment Prince of Darkness featured the four in sculptured layers of a cappella beauty. The Nylons who have backed up The Pointer Sisters performed the group‘s hit Fire, with their own solid technique of sizzling harmonics and smoldering pace. Basically the show was the same format as the Nylons material performed last year at Centre in the Square, but this band is worth more than a second look/listen, and no one minded, especially when Marc Connors repeated his shameless interpretation of Gene Pitney‘s immortal Town Without Pity. ‘"We‘re very big in Japan," said Cooper. ‘"Then again, I‘m very big in Japan," quipped the cherubic Cooper jovially. Claude Morrison‘s incredible falsetto was featured in Heavenly Body and former Nylons smash single, The Lion Sleeps Tonight. The Nylons delight as usual with, and has a mouth that just won‘t quit, is natural and funny in all scenes. One Automatic Pilot highlight features the relentless nagging of Gene, as he hurls himself into a detailed explanation about ladykiller brother Nick‘s (Christopher Wilson) UFO‘s (unidentified fridge objects), when a smitten Charlie figures the way to Nick‘s heart is ‘through an arsenal of cleaning products‘ Christopher Wilson, ‘extraâ€"executive contactâ€"about town‘, Nick, who wants to be a millionaire before 40. is turned off by Betty Crocker, and goes through lovers like shoes, is smug, selfâ€"assuring, also at ease in his role, especially in the love scenarios. Michael Provost, as Charlie‘s ‘late husband‘ Alan Merritt, also gives the play depth and subtle whimsy, with his character‘s confused emulation of Oscar Wilde. Automatic Pilot is slick and wonderfully modern with a contemporary look at today‘s flyâ€"byâ€"oneâ€"nightâ€"stand relationships full of Ritter‘s uncanny insight and McFarland‘s sly direction techniques. It runs nightly through to Nov. J.°â€"