From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #827 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Tuesday, September 10 2002 Volume 01 : Number 827 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 09:31:50 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] CORNELL, _UTAH!_ (SL Tribune) Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, September 8, 2002 Retooled 'Utah!' Returns With Historical Trims BY CELIA R. BAKER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Stories from Utah's history tend to have more than one version, depending on the storyteller. "Utah!," the historical extravaganza that inspired the creation of Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, follows the same pattern. A new version of "Utah!" -- the fifth -- opens Thursday on Tuacahn's cliff-encircled outdoor stage. The show, absent from the Tuacahn Amphitheatre the past four years, returns with its trademark elements of spectacle intact -- live horses, burning wagons, the gushing Santa Clara flood and a booming fireworks finale. But the story that generated more controversy than cash in its prior renderings is being told by a new teller -- carefully. Meet Stallion Cornell. To no one's surprise, the attention- getting name is not his own. Cornell gets playbill credit for writing the revised book and lyrics for the new "Utah!," but the nom de plume belongs to Jim Bennett, a former administrator at Tuacahn who is now communications director for Sandy City. The son of Sen. Bob Bennett dreamed up his rakish pseudonym as part of a long-ago college prank. He says bringing Cornell back to life "wasn't so much to hide my identity as to be consistent with my goofiness." Bennett is the fifth writer to try his hand at the "Utah!" script, which has seen some 25 drafts. The first production of the show opened in 1995 with a script by playwright Robert Paxton, author of several works on Mormon themes. Paxton's sprawling musical play, which included elements of an earlier draft by the late Mark Ogden, valorized the role of Mormon pioneers in the settlement of Southwestern Utah. "Indian agent" Jacob Hamblin was the main character in the rambling three-hour show, which featured music by Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardon with lyrics by Doug Stewart. The show was praised for its gorgeous red-rock setting and Western flavor, but got harsh criticism for the dramatic interpretations of polygamy and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. In response, Paxton tweaked his script for the second season. A revised version with additions by Reed McColm premiered in 1997. The next year, an all-new "Utah!" that veered away from Hamblin and history of the St. George area had its premiere. Utah playwright Tim Slover was the author of this more inclusive "Utah!" Slover's script increased emphasis on pioneering groups other than the Mormons and took in settlement of the entire state. Lyrics by Marvin Payne were superimposed onto the Bestor/Cardon score to match Slover's script. By this time, it was becoming apparent that "Utah!" had saturated its audience base. In the summer of 1999, Tuacahn producers took a different tack, mounting a pair of crowd- pleasing Broadway-style musicals in "Utah!'s" place. "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" proved successful, and "Broadway in the Desert" became Tuacahn's catchphrase, with new musicals each season. Despite the success of the Broadway tuners, a wish to bring back "Utah!" to the stage built especially for it never wavered in the hearts of Tuacahn's directors. A decision to try producing an autumn show at Tuacahn provided the opportunity to resurrect the pioneer spectacle. " 'Utah!' is our signature piece -- and of course, we own it," said Tuacahn executive producer Kevin Smith. Since ownership translates to an absence of royalty payments, and few costs for scenery and costumes, "Utah!" is a relatively inexpensive choice as a fall-season experiment. Smith gave Bennett the assignment of retooling the show -- according to specific guidelines. Bennett says the Tuacahn board of directors gave him leeway to write his own script or incorporate earlier versions, but issued precise instructions about subject matter. The show's focus was to return to Southwestern Utah and Jacob Hamblin's life. Polygamy and Mountain Meadows were to be avoided. This year's shorter production follows the structure of earlier versions, but with fewer side trips. The show acknowledges Hamblin's plural marriages in an introductory monologue, but skirts the issue of polygamy in its plot. The Mountain Meadows Massacre, which involved Hamblin only in its aftermath, is beyond the time frame of the revised plot and is not mentioned. Bestor and Cardon's musical score from the first production was retained. Stewart's original lyrics are used for most songs; a few have new lyrics by Bennett. Bennett says LDS Church leaders had no part in determining the contents of the new "Utah!" "There has been a misconception that Tuacahn is an extension of the Mormon church," he says. "Tuacahn is hospitable to members of the Mormon church, but it is not an extension or official arm. In my rewrite it was important to tell a story about people who happen to be Mormons. Religion figures in, but the purpose is not to advance the cause of the Mormon church -- or belittle it, either. The show should be interesting to people in and out of the church." Director Tim Threlfall says that by concentrating "Utah!'s" script upon Hamblin's activities as a go-between for American Indian tribes and pioneer settlers, Bennett's script uses the most exciting chapter of Hamblin's life to good dramatic effect. "Jacob Hamblin had a great love for Native American people and could see things from their perspective," says Threlfall. "He ate and slept and walked and talked with the Indians and learned their language. No one else was willing to do that -- [the American Indians] were considered barbarians. Jacob Hamblin won their love and trust. He was way ahead of his times in terms of race relations." Smith hopes people who saw earlier versions of "Utah!" will come back to see the story of Jacob Hamblin, peacemaker: "For us to have for our inaugural fall season the show that started everything here is really exciting for us. It's like another beginning." Tuacahn will continue to produce different shows each year, but will bring "Utah!" back from time to time, says Smith. Next year's shows are "The Wizard of Oz" and "The King and I" for the summer season and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" for fall. Will Swenson, who starred in the recent movie "Singles Ward," heads the large "Utah!" cast in the role of Jacob Hamblin. Rachel Hamblin is portrayed by Marilee Spencer, Stuart Bird is Tutsegavitz and Black Hawk Walter is Agarapoots. Jenny Frogley is music director; Derryl Yeager is choreographer. Wagons Ho! "Utah!" opens in the Tuacahn Amphitheatre, Ivins, Thursday and continues Monday through Saturday through Oct. 12. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. A chuckwagon cookout is offered before each show at 6 p.m. Tickets for the production are $14.50 to $29.50 with local discounts available Monday to Thursday. Dinner is $11; $8 for children. Call 435-652-3300 or 1-800-SHOW-UTAH. For information, visit www.tuacahn.org. Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 09:36:12 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] WORRALL, _The Poet and the Murder_ (SL Tribune) Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, September 8, 2002 Hofmann Is the Dark Star of 'Poet and the Murderer' BY MARTIN NAPARSTECK SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE The Poet and the Murderer By Simon Worrall; Dutton; $23.95 Simon Worrall's The Poet and the Murderer is a case of genius meets genius. The poet is Emily Dickinson, as good a poet as America has produced. The murderer is Mark Hofmann, "the most skilled literary forger of all time," according to Worrall. Hofmann is famous for murdering two people in 1985, one in Salt Lake City, one in Holladay, to cover his forgeries of documents about early Mormon history. He is now serving a life sentence at Utah State Prison. His primary motivation for the forgeries was to embarrass the Mormon church, which, according to Worrall's presentation, he hated, along with his parents, who were devout members of the church. Worrall sums up a complex hate/love relationship: "the painful contradictions he carried inside -- his desire to hurt and injure his parents and the Mormon church, while at the same time not losing their love and respect." Hofmann specialized in creating documents that cast doubt on the church's 19th century origins. Key among these was the Salamander Letter, purportedly written by Martin Harris, one of the church's earliest converts, and which claimed church founder Joseph Smith believed in the occult, magic and other things church leaders did not want associated with church history. The church bought -- or more typically arranged for rich members to buy -- nearly 450 documents from Hofmann for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Hofmann also forged coins and autographs (of George Washington, Mark Twain, Daniel Boone, dozens of others). Hofmann, who saw himself as a genius (he is said to have an IQ of 149 and belongs to Mensa), seems to have taken particular pride in a poem he wrote for Emily Dickinson. That is, he didn't just copy a poem and pretend it was in her handwriting, but composed a whole new poem: "That God cannot/be understood/Everyone Agrees/We do not know/His motives nor/Comprehend his/Deeds -- /Then why should I/Seek solace in/What I cannot/Know?/Better to play/In winter's sun/Than to fear the/Snow." Hofmann probably wrote the poem around 1980, early in his career as a forger, and by the time that career ended (with his arrest for the murders) he was famous in the document collector world. After the publicity of his trial, he gained a well- deserved reputation as one of the greatest forgers of all time. His work was so good that he fooled the FBI, the Library of Congress and just about all of the top experts in the field. A large part of his success, Worrall believes, was based on Hofmann's ability to engage in self-hypnosis and imagine he was the person whose handwriting he was imitating. Add to that an extensive knowledge of ink, paper, pens and everything else the document forger must work with. The Poet and the Murderer is far more about the murderer than the poet, although Worrall does provide a fine summary of the uncertainties surrounding Dickinson's life: she may have been a lesbian, may have been a virgin, may have had an abortion, may have had an incestuous relationship with her brother, may have been in love with this man or that man, may have this, may have that. Nearly 1,800 poems survived her, but all letters she received were destroyed, at her request, when she died, and since she spent so much of her time inside the family home in Amherst, Mass., little is known about her life. In addition to Hofmann and the Mormon church (which Worrall portrays as deceitful in its attempt to hide embarrassing documents), there's another villain in the book: Sotheby's, the famous auction house. The house sold documents, including the fake Dickinson poem, that its officers knew or should have known were forgeries. There is also a hero, Daniel Lombardo, a librarian in Amherst, who arranged to buy the poem and later helped expose it, despite the embarrassment that cost him. (Although they play no part in the Dickinson case, Worrall also has praise for Ken Farnsworth, a Salt Lake City detective, and George Throckmorton, a Salt Lake City documents expert, who were the key players in getting the evidence to convict Hofmann in the '80s.) There are some minor, unnecessary slips in Worrall's rendering, but they do no damage to the poet/murderer story. One example is an anecdote about Joseph Smith getting drunk in Cleveland: "The consumption of alcohol is strictly forbidden to Mormons. But the next day . . . Smith and his followers got drunk again." Of course, the Mormon church did not ban alcohol consumption until decades after Smith's death. There are at least a half-dozen books written about Hofmann, but The Poet and the Murderer now ranks with The Mormon Murders, the 1988 police procedural by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, as the most readable. A great poet with a sensitive soul and an evil genius -- the stuff of great stories. -- -- -- -- Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. The Real Thing Simon Worrall will discuss and sign his book The Poet and the Murderer on Friday at 6 p.m. at Ken Sanders Rare Books, 268 S. 200 East, Salt Lake City. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 09:39:00 +0000 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] OVIATT, _The Sixth Wife_ (Deseret News) Deseret News Sunday, September 8, 2002 New productions By Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret News theater editor SIXTH WIFE, a one-woman drama written and performed by Brigham Young University alumnus Joan Oviatt, will have a limited engagement, Sept. 11-14, at 7:30 p.m. in BYU's Nelke Theatre in the Harris Fine Arts Center. The play is based on the life and loves of plural wife Emmeline Blanche Woodward Harris Whitney Wells, who was abandoned, destitute and unloved as a young woman, yet she went on to become one of the most influential women in the American West, a leader in the women's suffrage movement and fifth president of the LDS Church's Relief Society. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $6 for BYU students, faculty and staff. Call 422-4322 for reservations. Copyright 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 08:47:09 -0700 From: Sugar Beet Subject: [AML] New Sugar Beet Sugar Beet Soup for the Soul Click here for your serving: http://click.topica.com/maaawhgaaTtYobatoo2b/ Poll Reveals Majority of Men "Highly Satisfied" with Patriarchy Gospel Doctrine Instructor Breaks Post-Question Silence Record Martha Stewart's Pending Baptism Causes Spike in Utah Anti-depressant Use Another Wife Leaves the Green Family Mass Baptism at Cetacean Branch Ends in Tragedy Editorial: Crooked CEOs Destroying God's Plan of Free-Market Capitalism Inspired First Names May Be Linguistic Clue to Adamic Language Mesa Man Finishes Repenting 13 Months Ahead of Schedule Missionary Couple Cheered by "Plucky" Ethiopian Branch's Dedication to Fasting Greg Olsen Enters "Blue Period" New Comic: The Adventures of High Council Man and the Boy Elder Plus our regular departments http://click.topica.com/maaawhgaaTtYobatoo2b/ - ----- Make a donation to help with Sugar Beet web-hosting fees: http://click.topica.com/maaawhgaaTtYkbatoo2b/ Send your news tips or comments to chris.bigelow@thesugarbeet.com. ==================================================================== Update your profile or unsubscribe here: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a84D2N.batoo2 Delivered by Topica Email Publisher, http://topica.email-publisher.com/ - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 09:50:38 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: [AML] Re: Kurt Bestor Profile I too found myself saddened by this profile, and share with y'all a = suspicion of the muse-made-me-do-it excuses we make for geniuses. At the = same time, I do have to say a few things. 1) I'm not a genius, and = therefore have no particular insight into exactly what geniuses go = through, 2), I do find my own muse, such as it is, prompts me to write at = inconvenient hours, write things that have no commercial value and are = likely to get me in trouble, and write at times when I might be better off = fixing stuff around the house or helping with the kids, 3) history is full = of examples of brilliant people who, as far as we can tell, really did = have a compulsion to create which those around them found impossible to = live with, and thank heavens they existed, or we'd be denied the works of = Mozart, or Kurt Cobain. So I feel that our best response might be = compassion for Kurt Bestor and for his family, gratitude for the blessing = his music can be in the world, and hope that he and his family are able to = find a way to be happy. Eric Samuelsen =20 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 10:05:00 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Lousy Movies Jeff asked if he should watch Tom Trails. Unfortunately, I haven't seen = 'em for years. I remember, though, when I was in seminary back in the = horse and buggy days, we watched Tom Trails every week, and laughed our = heads off at it. We thought it was a hoot, this didactic Native American = soap opera. I remember the theme song: "Life is hard, Tom Trails." And I = remember that the actor who played Tom Trails (was it really George P. = Lee?) had exactly the same facial expression no matter what; elation, = agony, despair, sexual temptation--he was equally deadpan throughout. We = thought it was a hoot, and our poor beleaguered teachers had a terrible = time trying to get us to take the message seriously. Eric Samuelsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 10:17:25 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Lousy Movies > Worse than "The Incredibly Mixed-Up Teenagers Who Grew Up to Become Zombies" > also skewered by MST3K? > > Thom Thom - get your titles right. It was "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Died and Then Became Mixed-Up Zombies." My vote for the worst title of all time. Despite it being a cliche, I still thing "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was the worst SF movie ever made. - --Ivan Wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 10:19:55 -0600 From: "Eric R. Samuelsen" Subject: Re: [AML] Brewvies Ivan wrote: >However, those friends whodrink beer and don't hold church callings and = >rarely >go to church and are unapologetic about it - I personally would think = >they've >gone a bit too far off the track to truly be called Mormons. IMHO, that = is. >So where is the cut off? Gosh, what's wrong with the standard that says "if you say you're a = Mormon, you are one." Seems to me that all those non-Church attending = folks are still members of record, which means they're officially Mormons. = So on what basis do we tell someone 'sorry, you're actually not a = Mormon?' Seems to me we need all the allies we can get, even sometimes = hung-over ones. If you smoke and/or drink and don't hold a calling, and rarely if ever go = to Church, but are still a member of record, and still consider yourself a = Mormon, then let's not get all evangelical and start drawing lines and = hammering wedges. Don't we find it awfully offensive when folks say we're = not Christians? And they've got a lot stronger case than we have for = excluding 'inactives.' They say we don't believe in the same God they = believe in, and frankly, they're right. We don't. So on what basis do we = decide to not include as Mormons people who sort of believe in Joseph = Smith, probably own a Book of Mormon and may have even read it once and = still regard it as scripture and who anyway generally share our belief = system? I'll put it even stronger. We know folks who, in the areas of Church = attendance and Word of Wisdom obedience may not be worthy to make it to = the celestial kingdom. I've got those covered, but am currently unworthy = to make it to the celestial kingdom because of pride and arrogance and a = general lack of charity. I'm a Mormon, in desperate need of repentance = and Christ's atonement. So are my beer drinking Mormon brothers and = sisters. I see the differences between us as reasonably superficial. Eric Samuelsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 10:23:38 -0600 (MDT) From: Ivan Angus Wolfe Subject: Re: [AML] Neil LaBute Interview in _Salon_ > And now LaBute literally feels censored just so he can be a full-fledged > member again. > > I keep trying to believe that rumors about such things and Gestapo-style > Strengthening the Members committees are overblown. This news is not > helping my effort. > > -- > D. Michael Martindale > dmichael@wwno.com I have very little experience with "Church Courts" but I have never known them to be vindictave withc hunts. There has been enormous amounts of love shown. Unless we know more specific details, we really shouldn't judge, IMHO. Unless LaBute decides to make an issue of it (He seems to be quite annoyed, but not overtly critical of the Church) I don't think we should. - --Ivan Wolfe - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 09 Sep 2002 11:15:51 -0500 From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] Script Sought Christmas-oriented script sought for already-funded film project Estonian Latter-day Saint filmmaker asked us to pass on the following: Dear LDS Film Community, I have financing to do a feature film ower this fall-winter. Looking for Christmas-themed literary properties. It should not be an LDS project - yet portray our values. I hope someone has a literary property that deserves to be made. I am a producer/director, with 2 years of LA experience and a graduate from BYU film school 1997. Best, Jaanus Silla wirecom@solo.delfi.ee H=e4=e4ls=f5numid! T=e4iesti uus t=fcngateenus! Vaata http://www.delfi.ee/a/4045821 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #827 ******************************