UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 16, Page 3
January 6, 1994
Programs explore facets of American life in '20s

     Films, guest speakers and entertainment culminating with an evening
with dancer and actor Gregory Hines are all planned for the month of
January as the University of Delaware salutes "America in the '20s."
     Highlighting "America in the '20s" at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 19,
will be "An Evening with Gregory Hines," in Mitchell Hall auditorium. Hines
is the Tony Award-winning actor and dancer who has starred in such Broadway
hits as Sophisticated Ladies, Eubie, Comin' Uptown and Jelly's Last Jam ,
in which his portrayal of Jelly Roll Morton won him a Tony Award.
     Hines' screen credits include appearances in A Rage in Harlem, The
Cotton Club, Running Scared, White Nights and Tap.
     His PBS special, Gregory Hines: Tap Dance in America, won an Emmy in
1989.
     Tickets for Hines' University appearance are now on sale for $5 each
to full-time University undergraduates with ID, limit two per person. If
available, remaining tickets will go on sale to the rest of the University
community (with ID), beginning at noon, Tuesday, Jan. 11, for $10 (limit
two per person). Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general
public at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 18, for $15.
     Tickets are being sold from noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at
Hartshorn box office, located at the corner of Academy Street and Park
Place.
     For film lovers, a selection of movies set or made in the 1920s will
be shown at 7 p.m., Tuesdays in the Rodney Room of the Perkins Center.
Scheduled are The Untouchables on Jan. 11; Harlem Nights on Jan. 18; The
Great Gatsby on Jan. 25 and The Gold Rush on Feb. 1. There is no admission
charge, and popcorn will be served at each screening.
     For those with a taste for the night life, the Bacchus Theatre will be
transformed into a nightclub-for those with U.D. ID only-on four Thursdays.
The entertainment will feature local jazz artists in a nightclub
atmosphere. Doors open at 8 p.m., and music begins at 8:30 p.m. Admission
is $1 with U.D. ID, and one guest is permitted. A cash bar will be
available.
     The jazz series opens tonight with an appearance by Bit o' Rhythm and
the Superior Ragtime Orchestra. Those attending are urged to wear a flapper
or gangster costume for a chance to win a gift certificate to the
University Bookstore.
     Bit o' Rhythm features Harvey Price, percussion instructor at the
University and conductor of the University's Percussion Ensemble, the
Symphonic Band, and the percussion section of the marching band; and Linda
Henderson, former musical director at the Three Little Bakers and the
Candlelight Music Theatre. The two specialize in the virtuoso xylophone
rags of the 1920s and the solo piano rags of Scott Joplin and his
contemporaries. Both have been labeled "virtuosos" by Daniel Webster of the
Philadelphia Inquirer.
     Other local artists scheduled to appear in the series include Alfie
Moss on Jan. 13; Dexter Koonce on Jan. 20; and Lenny Pierro on Jan. 27.
     For a different perspective on the '20s, a free public lecture series
at the Perkins Student Center will feature a variety of viewpoints on the
eventful decade. Each talk will be followed by a reception.
     Ben Yagoda, assistant professor of English at the University and
author of a well-received book on the life and times of Will Rogers, will
speak at 3 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 11, in the Ewing Room on "Will Rogers and
the Culture of Celebrity in the 1920s." The reception will include a book
signing.
     At 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 12, Roy Lopata, planning director for
the city of Newark, will speak on "Jacob Raskob and the Crash of 1919," in
the Ewing Room. Raskob was a DuPont and General Motors executive, political
confidante of New York governor and presidential candidate Al Smith and
chairperson of the Democratic National Committee from 1928-1931. He was the
subject of Lopata's 1975 dissertation, when he earned his doctorate from
the University.
     Speaking on Thursday, Jan. 13, will be Tom Pauly, professor of English
at the University. His talk on "Speakeasies, Nightclubs and Other Forbidden
Pleasures" is scheduled at 3 p.m. in the Ewing Room.
     Pauly, who joined the University in 1970, was a Fulbright Scholar to
Milan in 1975 and served as the director of the University's American
Studies Program for eight years. He is the author of a book on the career
of Elia Kazan and has authored numerous articles on American literature,
drama, film, painting and popular culture. Pauly is currently at work on a
book, Crime As Entertainment: The Fictionalization of Crime During the
1920s.
     Concluding the series are two talks: Seymour Toll will speak on
"Biggs, Fitzgerald and the '20s" at 2 p.m., Monday, Jan. 24, in Bacchus
Theatre; and Richard and Paulette Ziegfeld will speak on "The Ziegfeld
Touch" at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 26, in Bacchus Theatre. Both receptions
will include book signings.
     "America in the '20s" is sponsored by the Perkins Student Center in
conjunction with an English course on "America in the 1920s."
     For more information on any of the events, contact the Perkins Student
Center at 831-1296.
                                                  -Beth Thomas