age Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, April 16, 1970
'Pirates
By JOHN ALLEN be
There aie two ways to do ne
> Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates ter
of Penzance: director R o g e r tr
Wertenber ger did it the othei Oa
bway. in
Which is to say one can play bot
' up the music and the pacing exf
and try to hide the corn, or one w
can have a warm July and ei±t
watch the corn grow uninhibited, gos
To quote from the show: "yet
people say I know not why th;
that we shall have a warm July." eq
In spite of the busyness of _
some of the business, the strain-
ing for laughs that don't quite
come naturally, this semester's -
s:offering by the G & S Society the
is mostly successful, and doubt- ty
~¢less a good way to celebrate his
the ending of a school year Ca
which seems to have lasted Po:
_through a middle-length eter- bei
nity of winter. The show's pri- bol
k mary strength lies in the mu- out
sical and comic talents of its Br
:.cast. cel
William Hall as the Pirate ter
-J. Mark Rottshafer King and Linda Oakley as Ma- So
in
cinemain
sin
pi
thi
-theatre
Busy, yet enjoyable
BARBER.
L, the romantic lead, are both
w to the Society this semes-
r and both are worthy of the
ust placed in them. M i s s
akley's singing is clear and
telligible, as is Mr. Hall's, and
oh of them carried off the
:aggerated melodrama t h a t
as required of their acting tal-
ts by the stylistic conception
verning the production.
James Bryan as Frederic,
s male romantic lead, was
rual to Miss Oakley vocally,
For more ARTS, see page 9
ough he may have been gui-
now and then of overdoing
htronics of the role. H. Don
meron as the Sergeant of
lice was appropriately dumb,
Muddled, bemused and discom-
buated.. everything a Fuzz
ght to be, in short. Both Mr.
ryan and Mr. Cameron air e
,ebrating their second semes-
in the Gilbert and Sullivan
ciety with their appearance
Pirates.
Three old-timers are featured
ithe cast. Jane Hassinger
ngs the role of Ruth, the
'atical maid-of-all-work. Per-
ps the role is a bit low for
r: not as much voice comes
rough as one might desire,
at her comic talents find their
eIge in the part:
John Alexander continues his
freer as chief pratfaller of the
aciety. One keeps waiting for
voice to roll out with the
vinous warning,, "this per-
frmer will self-destruct in ten
,onds. ." In any produc-
on that was less of a slapstick
"e-for-all his characterization
'Samuel,- right-hand-man to
ie Pirate King, would perhaps
too broad. As it is, he pro-
ies some of the major laughs,
ace one adjusts to the tone of
e evening.
Chief pleasure of the show.
however, is Charles Sutherland
as Major General Stanley. His
off-rhymes in the patter-song
- "I Am the Very Model of a
Modern Major General" - are
about as far off as rhymes have
yet been known to go, but even
the strictest purist of a Sa-
voyard should find his liber-
tiesin this number to be a de-
light, acknowledging as they do
the great familiarity of t h e
whole number.
Mr. Sutherland's performance
is a delight throughout and his
singing is equal to his ever-
finer sense of comic timing.
Colby Schneider, Helene
Freedman and Anne Umana
round out the cast of principals
and take good advantage of the
humorous business given them
as leading ladies of the women's
chorus.
The chorus, by the way, seems
particularly animated in this
production and sings fairly well
when not overwhelmed with
business.
The staging is, at times,
murky. Too much use of a com-
bination bridge and archway
simply because it is there, in
the middle of a not-very-in-
spired set, is rendered the more
disturbing by lighting that seems
designed to illuminate hemlines
and boots but to do very little
for faces. The s e co nd act
throughout seems to be too dark.
But the orchestra is generally
sharp, the spirit of the produc-
tion is generally high, and any-
one who likes to hum along
with one of the most popular
of the G & S operettas should
be alerted early to the fact that
such productions here at the
University tend to sell out early.
And exams are days and days
away. Enjoy. Enjoy.
BILLIARDS
BOWLINHG
MICHIGAN UNION
WILL BE OPEN
AT REGULAR HOURS
NEXT WEEK
SSTAND
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By WILLIAM DINNER
If one plans on an entertain-
ing evening ogling over the Roll-
ing Stones, ala the Beatles pro-
ductions, one might as well
stay home, as ,nearly one-third
of the audience who did plan on
that type of show and walked
out of Jean-luc Godard's Sym-
pathy for the Devil at Wayne
State's Helen De Roy Theatre.
However, the majority who,
stayed were exposed to a de-
manding, intense, and frustrat-
ing film as Godard portrays the
sickness of American society
while intricately weaving the
cultural and political transfor-
mation necessary for a true rev-
olution.
Godard is fully aware of the
frustrations of the revolutnion-
arytmovement, yet, he also feels
that revolution is inevitable
as portrayed in the closing scene
with the body of a blood splash-
ed girl sprawled on a camera
bom between a red and black
flag.
This same theme was utilized
by political artist R. Crump a
while back in a drawing of a
black militant sitting with a rifle
on his lap protecting a garbage
heap behind. The caption reads:
"So what."
-Ironically this is Godard's
first film in English. Ironic since
Godard continually frustrates
the viewer with a pornographic
"political novel" interspersed
throughout the dialogue.
With passages such as, "Brut-
ally; she kissed the so-called
apostle of non-violence on the
mouth," Godard told of the rev-
olutionai-ies who have heard the
political rhetoric time and time
again - still have no fruits to
bear.
The form of the film is es-
sential flat, comprised of ten
seperate episodes. Five of these,
totalling nearly half the iun-
ning time, are of the Rolling
Stones' practice sessions. We
watch the Stones' "Sympathy
for the Devil" grow from rough
rehearsals through a series of
tentative arrangements to actual
takes of the finished product.
However, the viewer is never
permitted to hear a complete
version during these sessions.
These episodes of the Stones
develop the dominant influence
of the film; the slow tedious
creativeness that is essential
for constructing the revolution.
Alternating with the Stones
are several segments of black
militants spurting readings from
LeRoi Jones and Eldridge Cleav-
er. From their base in an auto-
mobile junkyard, symbol of
American heritage, they casual-
ly execute three white girls
clothed in virginal white gowns
alluding to the violence that
must be endured during the rev-
olution.
Later the blacks methodically
and carefully place their stock-
pile of automatic rifles neatly
on the dead bodies. Then just
as methodically, put them back
in their truck.
There is also a scene in a
magazine store specializing in
soft-core pornography. Godard
focuses the camera nearly ex-
clusively on the covers of the
magazines while the fascist
manager reads passages from
Mein Kampf. Ingeniously there
is little reading from the frus-
trating novel. Rather, Godard
relies on the American social-
ization process to district him
from listening to Mein Kampf,
since the viewer's eyes and mind
are glued to the cover of the
rags.
Then there is a fascinating
ten minute dialogue with Eve
Democracy (Anne Wiazemsky),
strolling mournfully through the
meadows and constantly queried
about her feelings of political
and cultural ideas. She answers
either 'yes' or 'no' somewhat in
the typical mentality molded by
the movement.
Aside from the different epi-
sodes, the Rolling Stones' seg-
ments are sporadically inter-
rupted for brief moments to
watch a young girl, (Eve Dem-
ocracy?), paint rhetorical Mao,
Leninist, Marxist slogans on cars
or billboards.
Godard presents a pretexts in
the film; there is no plot to un-
fold, merely a plethora of ideas
woven around the central theme.
Sympathy for the Devil, how-
ever, is not without problems.
The second half is somewhat
boring and requires complete
concentration, but even 'is slow-
er parts depict Godard's true
genius.
The viewer's frustration from
not hearing the complete version
of "Sympathy for the Devil" ist
finally relieved with the full
song at the close.
But Godard never intended -
and I think rightly so - for the
song to be aired in its entirety.
He insisted that since the rev-
olution is not complete the song
must remain fragmentary In
the original production of the
movie in London under the title
One Plus One the final scene
was silent. But as typical with
Americans the version here was
changed and the scene seems
totally out of place.
FFE RAHEAD
bu
ra
ca
So
a
om
fo
sec
tic
fre
of
th
be
on
thf
plus JOHN SEBASTIAN
also BLUES IMAGE
Friday, May 8 - 8:30 p.m.
COBO ARENA
TICKETS: $3.50, $4.00, $5.00, $6.00
Available at Cobo Box Office, Grinnell's in Ann Arbor ticket
outlet. MAIL ORDERS: Cobo Hall Box Office, 1 Washington
Blvd., Detroit, Mich. 48226, enclose check or money order with
self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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F
U-M Tutorial Project!I
BUCKET DRIVE
FRIDAY, APRIL 17~
31 N. Washington
YPSILANTI
DIAL 483-3534
SHOWS AT
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16820 James Couzens Highway
Please send me more information on executive opportunities as a
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iI
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Address
city _. County
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Noon Luncheon 25c, Thursday, April 16
SAE
SUMMER STUDY
IN ITALY
"PUTNEY,
WPThe Truth and Soul Movie
A
RADICAL FILM SERIES
presents
a benefit for
Legal Self Defense Fund
Pumpkin (Eater (1964)
THUR.. 16: screen play by Pinter,
starring Anne Bancroft
7,9, 11 75 cents a night
Canterbury House-330 Maynard
-Earn up to 8 transferable
credit hours
-Learn Italian while study-
ing Italian a r t, history,
philosophy, literature
-No previous knowledge of
Italian required
-%z sessions or full summer
session -
See M. B. LONG
3097 FRIEZE BUILDING
Call between6-8 P.M.
663-4995
CUBA and GUATEMALA
TODAY
(their struggle for social justice)
*1
Discussion based on recent visits by
BETTY RICHARDSON NUTE
(staff member, American Friends Service Committee)
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COME TO THE DIAG
4)
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NGC THEATRE CORPORATION
H ELD A NATIONAL GENERAL COMPANY TIMES
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375 fo. MAPLE RD.7691300 720-::3
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