JET

"Not Great Jewish Theatre . . .Great Theatre"

presents

Harvey Fierstein's

Al•

TORCH
SONG

TRILOGY

Directed By NICHOLAS CALANNI

HELD OVER BY POPULAR
DEMAND THROUGH
SAT., MARCH 17!!

AARON DE ROY THEATRE

Jewish Community Center • 6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield

TICKETS (810) 788 2900 or

-

77
—&
—
c &v llaznwm.

(810) 645-6666

Senior, Student & Group Discounts

adagios; co.acil for
_u awl ...rot afffafrs

Infrared Hearing Devices Available

A New Selection Of Original Serigraphs
And Fine Art Posters by Ken Keeley
_ 20% OFF
Through March 9th

'Everything In The Garden'

I

've read recently that garden- lovely to listen to. Casting is ple walk up upstage. Then too, it
ing is to the '90s what the culi- acute here. Bret Tuomi (this sea- seems disconnected with hidden
nary arts were to the '80s; son's successful Pericles) plays steps — stomp, stomp — to an-
Edward Albee's 1967 play, Richard with acerbic wit. His swer the door or go to the other
then, was prophetic, for the
eventual disillusionment rooms. Larry Kaushansky is the
garden of the title is a real
is palpable. As Jenny, designer.
and metaphorical stand-
THEATER
Judith Annozine is
Tracey Norton's costumes are
in for the life and times of
blandly fero-
good for the men (with the
four suburban couples.
cious and single-
exception of the son's school
This metaphor particularly ap- minded, a good
costume: is he in bellboy
plies to Richard and Jenny, one choice.
school?). Mrs. Toothe's cos-
couple who never have enough
As Jack, the deus
tumes may be ironic, but
money. Richard is a research ex machina of the sub-
they emphasize her slight-
chemist who won't allow Jenny urbanites' pact to sell
ness and undercut her pow-
to work, except in their much-ad- their souls to the dev-
er. Patent leather Mary
mired, immaculate garden. Un- il, Mark Finnell is
Janes for this powerful pur-
MICHAEL H.
til, on the sly, she begins a nicely rakish; but too
veyor of a carnal enterprise?
part-time job. Afternoons only. As many of his line read-
MARGOLIN
And Jenny's get-ups with
a prostitute.
SPECIAL TO THE
ings are inaccurate.
dopey flat shoes. No woman
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, Gretchen Alexandra's
JEWISH NEWS
in her right mind would
how does your garden grow? Mrs. Toothe is anoth-
wear flats to her own cock-
With ... pretty maids all in a row." er story: This charac-
Jenny's partners are other sub- ter cries out for an oily
urban wives and, in Act II, they English woman —
and their husbands seal their Carole Browne for ex-
pact — to take whatever steps, ample. Alexandra
even murder, to preserve this lu- does everything right:
crative partnership with the busi- inflection, body lan-
ness-like madam, Mrs. Toothe.
guage, delivery. But
The first act shows us how she lacks strength and
Richard struggles with his own punch, and her accent
shortcomings as a husband, fi- is cultured but not a
nancially, and, in Albee's way of whit English.
thinking, as a suburban stud,
The rest of the cast
who should deliver goods, club — the suburban cou-
memberships and vacations. At ples — are well-cast
the end of Act I, when he discov- and behave as if they
ers what "afternoon delight" belong. The only ex-
means, Richard's howl of anguish ception is Barthol-
launches him on a voyage of self- omew Williams as
discovery.
the teen-aged son;
Act II details the descent into has he wandered in
a moral hell, lined not with good from a Neil Simon Judith Annozine and Bret Tuomi play a suburban couple
intentions, but paved with gold. comedy or a Fox sit- in a Gothic tale of corruption, a dark comedy by Edward
Richard lashes out at Jenny and com? Where director Albee.
their 14-year-old son. He finally Blair Anderson is good through- tail party in upwardly mobile
succumbs to peer pressure, and out with the actors, here he ab- 1960s suburbia.
at play's end, he and Jenny are dicates.
On the whole, Albee's play is
reunited in holy money-mony and
The physical production — well-served and there are enough
everything in the garden will be usually one of the strong points moments to serve the audience
all right.
at the Hilberry — is misguided. well, too. Good — not great — Al-
Albee, setting up an exquisite The raked stage makes the at- bee is still a pleasure.
moral conflict in Act I, hedges his mosphere off-kilter; nothing is on
bet in Act II — though cleverly. the level. Fine, it's a metaphor,
It is a damned clever play and but it's disorienting to watch peo-

'Heavy Metal'

Rated R

erY

29203 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield • (810) 356-5454

The Bright, Idea:

Give a Gift Subscription to

I

M

TV hasn't been around
forever. There was a
time, long ago (circa
1980), when music
videos, sound bites, sex icons, car-
toon violence and chic commer-
cials didn't exist in even the most
obscene dreams of hormone-
laden teen-agers. And then there
was Heavy Metal, an animated
futuristic sci-fi film that changed
American pop culture, and the
world, forever.

Produced by Ivan Reitman

And, like most groundbreak-
ing and trend-setting produc-
and originally released in 1981, tions, Heavy Metal was successful
Heavy Metal reeks of MTV as it and cultic, compounding the
existed 10 or so years ago. Hair- heated controversy over its racy
band rock, super-cool car-
content that has kept it
toons, backward social
off the shelves of Amer-
MOVIES
messages, and sex that
ican video stores. Well,
even the cable channel
the fact that it's been so
couldn't show, combine to create hard to see for the past 15 years
what can easily and aptly be only adds to the excitement. Not
called a period piece. Even the as- since Showgirls will a film pique
tronaut guy, a classic MTV icon, the interest of 13-year-old boys
makes an appearance in the to this extent.
film's opening credits.
Having seen the film, I can

(Animal House, Ghostbusters)