Weber..State Comment, Rents | mn pores 10th season By Sue Hiatt Utah Musical Theater, now in its tenth season, has built a reputation for outstanding musical productions. This summer, travel to the South Seas, ancient Rome, the London of Charles Dickens and Peronist Argentina from the auditoriums of Weber State. The season opens with the story of love and danger on an island in South Pacific. The production runs June 28, 29, 30, July 3, 4,5, 6, and 7. The South Pacific of World War II is the dramatic background for this Rogers and Hammerstein classic. The hilarious illogicalities of Latin comedy and the zany nonsense of vaudeville join forces in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical runs July 12-14, 17-21. The great Latin play- wright Plautus was the inspiration for the authors Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. The story unfolds as Pseudolus, a roguish, conniving slave to a Roman family, schemes to become free. His young master, the callow Hero, promises freedom if Pseudolus can obtain a beautiful girl, Philia, who Hero has seen from his bedroom window. Other deliciously unsavory characters include the doddering old man, the seductive courtesan, the lustful husband and his shrewish wife. The topsy-turvy situations that kept the Romans laughing, once again prove that good comedy is classic. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” by Charles Dickens, his final and unfinished work, is the basis for this Tony Award winning show, which runs July 26-28, 31, and Aug. 1-4. The story revolves around two lovers, Edwin and the fair Miss Rosa Bud, and their ill-fated courtship. Rosa is adored by other men as well, one of whom is Edwin’s uncle Jasper. The ensuing jealousies provide motive for Edwin’s untimely disappearance, but who did the deed? It is up to the audience to decide. Relive the legend of Eva Peron in the final musical of the UMT 1990 season in Evita Aug. 9-11, 14-18. This is the fabulous myth of Eva Peron, bit actress, mistress and wife to Argentine dictator Juan Peron, and saint on earth to Argentina’s poor. Evita chronicles Eva’s rise to power from her humble beginnings in the country, seeking fame and fortune in Buenos Aires, meeting her mentor and husband and facing a tragic early death. Eva is brought to life again through a wonderful story and score that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. James C. Christian returns this year for a second season as managing and artistic director for Utah Musical Theater. “I’m really enthused about the continued growth of UMT,” said Christian. “Last year showed a sizeable growth in season subscriptions as well as individual ticket sales. We have chosen an exciting season this year that will have something for everyone.” This season there are nine performances of each production including one Saturday matinee. Season tickets are available at the Dee Events Center Ticket Office. Season tickets are $27 if purchased before May 1, and $29 thereafter. For tickets call (801) 626-8500 or send checks to: Dee Events Center Ticket Office, Ogden, UT 844083401. Credit card purchases are also available. flew from there to England. Donald Woods, former editor of the South African Daily Dispatch speaks to students at Weber State. _Anti-apartheid leader addresses WSC students Donald Woods, former editor of the South African newspaper, the Daily Dispatch and friend to the late anti-apartheid advocate Stephen Biko, told Weber State students he was pleased to be considered a threat to apartheid. “I felt quite honored to be in the group of other dissidents. I felt I need to live up to the honor,” Woods told students and community members gathered for a February convocation lecture in the Browning Center. Woods was the focus of the award winning film Cry Freedom which chronicled his anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa, the death of his friend Stephen Biko, his banning by the South African government and his eventual escape from that country. “T used to think that the government would not just ban for nothing. Then one day you wake up and, zap, it happens to you,” Woods said. Woods’ editorial attacks on the racial policy of apartheid drew the ire of the South African government and from many white readers. During his 12 years as editor he was prosecuted in court seven times under South Africa’s strict publication laws restricting criticism of governmental policy. In 1977 he was arrested and punished without legal process for publishing details of the killing of Biko, a young, black leader in South Africa. He was given banning status, which prohibited him from writing or speaking publicly, being quoted in the press, speaking with or being in the room with more than one other person at a time. The banning was for a five-year period. But three months after his arrest, following personal attacks on members of his family by officers of the State Security Police, Woods, his wife and their five children escaped across the border into the black-ruled country of Lesotho. The family “Americans are spoiled because they have grown up in a free society,” Woods said. “There’s a great surge toward democracy in the world. These are exciting times. Let’s hope it continues to spill over to South Africa,” he said. Over 360 laws define the governmentsanctioned racism of apartheid in South Africa, touching every aspect of life. One set of laws restrict interracial use of public restrooms with elaborate restrictions for white, blacks and mixed races. “For some reason racists are always concerned with plumbing,” he said. The laws give preference to whites and establish a kind of pecking order for nonwhites based on the degree of skin color. “The blacker you are, the worse it gets for you,” he said. In prisons, for example, white prisoners are given porridge with milk and sugar for breakfast. Black prisoners get the porridge without the milk and sugar. Laws also note that in construction only white workers are allowed to pull out nails “because that job’s considered more technical.” Woods has travelled throughout Europe and the U.S. encouraging countries and businesses to apply external pressure by economic sanctions in hopes of affecting South Africa’s internal affairs. He noted that South Africa, with its abundance of gold and diamonds, is one of the richest countries in the world, yet blacks there suffer from the highest infant mortality rate. In some places two out of five black infants die. For South African whites there is one doctor for each 148 people. For blacks the doctor-to-patient ratio is one to 93,000. “Apartheid is killing people. It is a killing of the spirit,” Woods said. Though reform has started in his country, Woods noted that the political and economic oppression of apartheid is far from over. “It’s a great mistake, if we get the beginnings of reform, to let off. We need to help build the pressure that severs the life span of apartheid,” he said. atin Utah Musical Theater enters