Word: act
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...would do was pray. Like Quayle, Cheney has come to be seen as a drag on the ticket, violating the first rule of Veepdom: do no harm. First, there was his uncompassionately conservative record, voting no on everything from Head Start to college-student aid to the Older Americans Act, which offers support services to the elderly. This prompted the joke that Cheney's never met a welfare program he liked. When the New York Times examined his stint at Halliburton, it found that he was more an ambassador attracting business through government contacts than a hands-on executive...
...boys for long. Brandon Harlee was two years old, in his mother's arms, when his father shot her, leaving her legs paralyzed. His dad left the family, and Brandon grew up in a neighborhood rife with drugs and gangs, where even little kids learn to act tough. By sixth grade, Brandon was becoming too much for his mom--and his school--to handle. Though he showed promise on aptitude tests, he scored Ds and Fs in his classes and was constantly in trouble for fighting with other students...
...Boston jokes are frequent in the beginning of the first act, as is making fun of current topics such as Firestone tires and the television show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." (Note: If you are a college student from out of town, the majority of the Boston jokes will go right over your head.) After the crime has been committed and the investigation commences, the actors' interactions with the show and each other continue the relaxed, light-hearted atmosphere...
...middle of the first act, the audience is invited to participate by correcting the characters on their recollection of past events as the events leading up to the crime are recounted. The audience participation is very casual; during the first act members simply shout out when they notice an error, and can then speak to the "detectives" individually during intermission to discuss crime theories. After intermission, audience members become investigators themselves and can ask questions of any of the actors...
...Unfortunately, instead of ending in an explosion of confusion and humor, the conclusion of Shear Madness falls flat. In the second act, when the questioning of the characters has ceased, the audience is asked for their input one final time and then the actors turn serious. The conclusion of Shear Madness is without a doubt its weakest part; the audience suddenly feels like they are being subjected to a forcibly scripted scene despite the previous casualness, and the show cannot pull off the sudden twist to drama...