6 MAINSTREAM Cold War Kids to rock CSUF
Concert Calendar Fri, 10/07/05 7 p.m. The Killers Long Beach Fri, 10/07/05 8 p.m. Bangles House of Blues Hollywood Fri, 10/07/05 7:30 p.m. Sat, 10/08/05 7:30 p.m. Franz Ferdinand Greek Theatre Los Angeles Sat, 10/08/05 12 p.m. Moto Music Mayhem: Yellowcard, the Vandals, a Static Lullaby and more Storm Stadium Lake Elsinore Sat, 10/08/05 8 p.m. Exploited: Ch3: Orange Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana Sat, 10/08/05 7 p.m. Sun, 10/09/05 6 p.m. Green Day The Home Depot Center Carson Mon, 10/10/05 8 p.m. Tracy Chapman Roxy Theatre Hollywood Tues, 10/11/05 7 p.m. Cake Ventura Theatre Ventura Wed, 10/12/05 7 p.m. Dropkick Murphys House of Blues Hollywood Thur, 10/13/05 8 p.m. Kottonmouth Kings Galaxy Theatre Santa Ana
By HENR HENRY TRUC
Daily Titan Asst. News Editor
FELD ENTERTAINMENT
Tracie Franklin plays the storyteller in ‘Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh!’
CSUF alumna sings about Pooh
By ASHLEY MAJESKI Daily Titan Staff
Winnie the Pooh has a new neighbor in the Hundred Acre Woods. Cal State Fullerton alumna, Tracie Franklin has been touring the world with Pooh in the hit stage show “Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh!” as the storyteller who leads the audience through an interactive stage production. The show, which has traveled the world since 2004, invites the audience to join in planning a surprise party for Pooh. With the help of colorful sets and special effects, Franklin is the link between the characters and the audience, encouraging them participate. Franklin said for people in different countries, it’s like going to Disneyland. “They come to see a piece of the Disney magic,” she said. Years ago, if someone had told Franklin she would be acting alongside Winnie the Pooh, she wouldn’t have believed it. Franklin dreamt of becoming a ballerina, only to be told by her teacher her hips were too big. From there, she set her sights on medical school. But she never made it there. After auditioning for a musical at CSUF, she discovered her true calling in life musical theater. Her former CSUF
theater professor Jim Taulli said he remembers Franklin’s effervescent personality and hard work ethic. “Tracie lives life in a very positive way, and that positive attitude is very infecting,” Taulli said. After graduating in 2001 with a degree in musical theater and a minor in business administration, a professor helped her land a job on a cruise, where she worked for eight months. She was about to move to New York when a friend suggested she audition for the show. Mitch Hanland, who gave Franklin her first voice lesson, is not surprised she’s so successful. “She knows how to be very ‘up,’ which is important for any performer,” Hanland said. “Plus, she has a tremendous voice.” The show will be at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood until Oct. 9 and then will be traveling to New York, Mexico and Japan. After her contract ends in May, she is not sure what she will do. “From being on this tour, I feel I can do anything,” she said, adding that she would like to do a Broadway show or be a lounge singer in Thailand for a while. Though she loves it, Franklin admits that the touring can take a toll. “I am a true gypsy,” she said. “I have no home address right now.”
The Cold War is coming to Cal State Fullerton. Actually the Cold War Kids are coming to to the Becker Amphitheater for another free Wednesday concert presented by ASI Productions. A band of a different variety, Fullerton’s very own Cold War Kids use stomping, thumping and chanting just as much, if not more than, conventional instruments to play their music. Influenced by bands like Velvet Underground, Karen Dalton, Leadbelly, Captain Beefheart and King Mob, the group’s music offers soul, blues and rock to a Titan crowd that probably has not heard anything like it in previous Wednesday nooners. Drummer Matt Aveiro, Matt Maust on bass, Jonnie Russell on guitar and lead vocalist Nate Willett on guitar, make up the group that “make songs about human experience in orchards and hotel rooms, laundromats
and churches, seat ports and school halls,” according to the band’s Web site. The songs available for listening on the band’s Myspace offer two distinctive sounds. “The Sermons vs. The Gospels” gives a taste of the bands ability to sing the blues live. “Quiet Please,” a more refined track, sounds similar to a Radiohead song, but is still markedly unique. The band’s stomping and thumping is quite refreshing, yet it isn’t as dominant as one would expect. What really makes the band a draw is the vocals of Willett, whose versatile voice is easy on the ears as he just lets it loose, though at times he sounds like a notable vocalist. “The Soloist in the Living Room” is the strongest track, with a variety of instruments, a catchy beat and great vocals, making it worth seeing the band live. For more information about the band, check out the Web site at www.coldwarkids.com.
