THE MICHIGAN DAILY
suNDAY. M
THE MICHIGAN -AL- T~hV1
, 1 lt
TA
CU LTUIRJE BEAT
By BRUCE COLE because he feels this would en-
This past week, -Louis Simon, hance the entire concept of the
thetremnager-iektLoufrom arts at the University.
heatre manager-director frm Prof. Finney considers the thea-
New York City, has been in town rofsFinne corthestdeas
texamineprset of a prfes tre as a model for the students,
o ea prospects proes- whereas actual training could be
He was brought to Ann Arbor done, as it is now, adequately in
He ws brugh to nn Aborthe classroom.
y a group of Ann Abror residents thefclHsgroo.
Prof. Hugh Z. Norton of the
who sponsored this type of theatre speech department feels any
hiere from 1954 to 1957. Due to fl theatre that is a good theatre, as
nancial difficulties, however, the the. professional theatre would
theatre was not very successful. have to be in order to be success-
Simon said there are real pos- ful, is good for all.
sibilities for the establishment of Sees Benefits
a professional theatre,if it is done He could also see Simon's point
n the proper manner. He did not of not having students partici-
expound fully on this point,
though, as he had not finished his pate since the time which would
study on the feasibility of the have to be given to it would take
venture, up too much of a student's sched-
Aid University ule.
On the other hand, Prof. Wil-
Simon did say the theatre would liam Halstead of the speech de-
be a great aid to the University in partment agreed that students
that people on the staff could be could benefit from just viewing
guest lecturers at the University the productions, but other than
and that students in general that, the theatre would not be
would benefit greatly from the beneficial to the University, since
theatre. it would be so disconnected from
However, Simon indicated stu- the University. He did say, though,
dents would benefit only by being that until more details are avail-
spectators, rather than active par- able, he would not be against the
ticipants. He said it would be al- theatre idea.
most impossible for students to A final point to consider is the
act in any productions since the area to be served to make the
theatre needs people who can de- theatre successful. Simon said the
vote full time to it. theatre would have to attract
A large question now arises as people from as far as Detroit and
to how much value students will Toledo.
get merely by being spectators. Although it is noble to think
Acting Necessary people will travel to Ann Arbor
Students in the speech depart- in droves to see the shows, prac-
Inent agree that there would be tically speaking, it is questionable
value in being spectators as they that people will come here,, espe-
could study the motions and voice cially if the winter which occurred
projection of the professionals, this year happens again.
but the students emphatically As it appears now, before Si-
state there is no greater experi- mon's report, the theatre will be
ence to prepare someone for the fine for Ann Arbor, but still, how
stage than by acting in a produc- much will the student actually
tion under eynper direction benefit.
STAR OF 'HOWIE':
Ames Comments on Comedy Acting
By PHILIP SHERMAN
Leon Ames, who just "drifted
into comedy," called that mode of
acting "perhaps the most difficult
in the theatre."
The star of the Drama Season
production "Howie," said that
"timing" is an essential element in
playing comedy because many
and Gracie Allen - Ames said. He made a distinction between
There is no comparison between the comedies of the Elizabethan
the two. period and modern types. Eliza-
Must Create Character bethan comedy, he said, was slap-
In representational comedy, the stick while modern writing is
actor must create a character who lighter. Though he has played
is human and funny rather than some of these comedies in the
tell jokes, Ames said. early years, he has no desire to do
,them again..
His favorite characters, he add- Ames said he startedprofession-
ed, was David Slater, the elegant a is a estdofess"pn-
playboy in "The Moon Is Blue." He ameditn ad des ireulta925.rHeb-
Ames played i the roadcompay gan with repertoire, playing a dif-
of the "Moon Is Blue," but rejected ferent show every day for a week
the opportunity to play it on and then moving on to the next
Ba atown.
Broadway. He now is less interested in road
Why did he turn down the script shows. Though audiences, whom
of one of Broadway's most suc- he characterizes as a "collective'
cessful comedies? Ames said he genius which is never wrong" are
simply failed to judge the script the same all over, the fatigues and
correctly in feeling that it was strains of road travel are getting
not funny. to be too much,
Reads Objectively tb oeuCh
The ideal which he tries to .
follow in reading scripts is to be In his 34 years in the theatre,
objective in that he reads the play Ames has noticed many changes.
--not from the viewpoint of the He emphasized the economic
character which he has been asked factor which has brought produc-
to create. He is currently reading tion costs of even the most simple
a televisionscripanplay from fifteen to fifty to one
a new play. hundred thousand dollars. This
anw-yhas served to cut down plays be-
Ames, who has played in televi- cause they need "rave notices" to
sion as "father" in "Life with survive, and the public has been
Father," in the movies and on the taught to follow the reviewers.
stage described the differences be- In addition to this long decried
tween the medias. trend, Ames 'has noticed the
Television, he said, is most change in actors.
nerve-wracking and, because of Actors More Serious
time requirements, is made quite Though theatre personalities are
difficult. The show must be con-b
densed into about 23 minutes for basically the same as 30 years ago,
d e n s e i to ab o u t 2 3 i n t es f o r m o d er n a c to rs , h e s a id , o u tw a r d ly
a half-hour presentation, seem to take themselves much
Cutter Controls more seriously than actors in the
In movies, the cutter rather day when he started.
than the actor himself controls Ames said he did not know what
the actor's destiny, Ames pointed made them wear dirty clothes and
out. Theatre, he concluded, is the be sloppy. Actors of his day were
most satisfying of all. The actor is equally as dedicated, yet still
the boss and the play is up to him. though of themselves as "ladles
A play "comes alive in rehearsal" and gentlemen."
with the director and members of He noted that the current mode
the cast adding to the original of students learning acting in col-
script of the play, lege is healthy now, "where else
The "teacup scene" in the "Male can they?" Ames' daughter is en-
Thel"tneupscee"nmo thfamoal rolled in a dramatics curriculum
Aneimnemofher mostfamousnat UtahUniversity.
SGC Plans.
Bike Auction
For St udents
Student Government Council
will hold its first bike auction on
the first Saturday in September
after registration at the SAB.
Students interested in selling
their bikes may bring them to the
SAB during exam week, June 3 to
8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The seller
and a representative of the Stu-
dent Activities Committee will
agree upon an appraisal, the maxi-
mum being $30.
Half the appraised sum will be
paid to the seller immediately,
money being taken from funds
appropriated by SGC. After the
auction the seller will receive the
selling price of the bike, with de-
duction for the amount received
in the spring and 10 per cent of
the selling price for operating
charges.
Bikes will be stored in the SAB
over the summer. All profits will
be placed in the SGC scholarship
fund.
At the time of pollection the
seller will complete a tag consist-
ing of three parts. These will in-
'lude a receipt for the committee,
a tag for the bike, and a receipt
for the student. When the bike is
sold the seller will be contacted
by mail or phone. and will receive
the remainder of the payment.
STEELMAN
TRANSITAPE
Portable Tape Recorder
A Truly Amazing Small
Completely Portable
Tape Recorder
See it at
HI7 F STUDIO
1317 S. University Ave.
LEON AMES
discusses comedy
comments and movements appear
funny only if delivered at a split
second speed.
Another important element in
acting comedy, he said, is for the
comedians not to appear amused
at their own lines.
There are two types of comedy--
representational, the variety in
which Ames plays, and presenta-
tional, the type of George Burns
COMING EVENTS:
'U' To Hold Play, Concert
I
By CAROL LEVENTEN
"Howie," the second play of this
year's Drama Season, will open
at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre. Leon Ames
will repeat his Broadway role in
this take-off on the television quiz
craze. Charles Hohman, who
played in "No Time for Sergeants,"
will also star.
"Howie," will be performed to-
morrow through Saturday eve-
nings at 8:30, and Thursday and
Saturday matinees at 2:30.
Tickets are available at the
Drama Season box office in the
League. The student season ticket
plan, which allows students to pur-
chase tickets for any three of the
five plays, will be continued until
the end of this week.
* * *
Prof. Frances Greer and Prof.
Eugene Bossart of the music school
will give a faculty recital at 8:30,
p.m. Tuesday in Aud. A, Angell
Hall. Miss Greer, a soprano, will
be accompanied by Bossart on the
piano.
The University Symphony Band
will give a concert at 7:15 p.m.
Wednesday on the Diag. Prof.
William D. Revelli of the music
school will conduct the concert
which is sponsored by the music
school. In the event of rain, the
concert will be given in Hill Aud.
* * *
The Michigan Writers Confer-
ence will begin on Thursday, May
21. Sponsored by the English de-
partment, it will hold sessions in
the Union for two days.
At 9 a.m. registration will take
place in the third floor conference
room. Walter Kidd, visiting lec-
turer in English, will speak on
"Fiction" at 9:30 am.; and Prof..
Sheridan Baker, also of the Eng-
lish department, will speak on
"Poetry" at 10:15.
Prof. Clark Hopkins of the clas-
sical studies department will speak
on "Juveniles" at 11 a.m. There
will be a round table discussion at
2 p.m., again in the third floor
conference room.
The English department will
present the annual Avery Hop-
wood Lecture and Awards in Cre-
ative Writing at- 4:15 Thursday,
May 21, in Rackham Lecture Hall.
Howard Nemerov, poet and nov-
elist, will speak on "The Swaying
Form; A Problem in Poetry."
Verdi's opera, "La Forza del
Destino," will be shown' at the
Cinema Guild at 7 and 9 p.m. Sat-
urday and 8 p.m. Sunday, May 24
in the Architecture Aud: The film
version of this opera features
Nelly Corrali, Gino Sinimberghi
and Tito Gobbi.
which Ames starred, was created
in this fashion.
Ames, who recently played in
Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg,
Ohio," said he preferred comedy
to serious acting. In the latter,
words said with the proper empha-
sis serve to convey the meaning,
but comedy needs more, he ex-
plained.
Ph. NO 8-7083 for information-
RALLY ROUND THE FLAG, BOYS
Joanne Woodward - Paul Newman
Cinemascope and Color'
also
LITTLEST HOBO
Buddy Hart - Wendy Stuart
'... < (By the Author of "Rally Round the Flag, Boys]" and,
"Barefoot Boy with Cheek.")
ADVENTURES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: NO. 3
Today, ranging again into the fascinating world of social science,
let us take up the subject of anthropology-the study of man
and his origins.
The origin of man was indeed a puzzle until the Frenchman,
Jean-Louis Sigafoos, discovered the skull and shinbone of
Pithecanthropus Erectus in Java in 1891. What Sigafoos was
doing in Java is, incidentally, quite an odd little story. Sigafoos
was a Parisian born and bred. By day one could always find
him at a sidewalk cafe; sipping barley water and ogling the
girls; each night he went to a fashionable casino where he
gambled heavily at roulette and go-fish; in between times he
worked on his stamp collection, which was one of the largest
in Paris.
.1 1w
'Y t~s
TWO
ENCORE
HITS
ACADEMY AWARD WINNER
DIAL
NO 8-6416
AVA ANinONY
GARHDNER* FRAN CIOSA
Now She Comes To
Life ... To Flesh.
And-Blood Life...
Against The Raging
Canvas Of Spain's
,Most Violent Hour!
The Shameless
Duchess Who Was
Mistress To An Era!
Well sir, one summer Sigafoos lost his entire fortune gambling
at the casino. He was seriously conftemplating suicide when,
quite unexpectedly, a letter arrived from one Lotus Petal
McGinnis, a Javanese girl and an avid stamp collector, with
whom Sigafoos had been corresponding from time to time
through the international stamp collectors journal. Until now
the nature of their correspondence, though friendly, had been
strictly philatelic, but in this new letter Lotus Petal declared
that although she had never laid eyes on Sigafoos, she loved
him and wanted to marry him. She said she was eighteen years
old, beautiful and docile, and her father, the richest man in the
tribe, had agreed to give half his fortune to the husband of her
choice. Sigafoos, penniless and desperate, immediately booked
passage for Java.
The first sight of his prospective bride failed to delight Siga-
foos. She was, as she said, beautiful-but only by local stand-
ards. Sigafoos had serious doubts that her pointed scarlet teeth
and the chicken bones hanging from her ears would be con-
sidered chic along the Champs, Elys6es.
But sobering as was the sight of Lotus Petal, Sigafoos had
an even greater disappointment coming when he met her father.
The old gentleman was, as Lotus Petal claimed, the richest man
in the tribe, but, unfortunately, the medium of exchange in his
tribe was prune pits.
Sigafoos took one look at the mound of prune pits vhich was
his dowry, gnashed his teeth, and stomped off into the jungle,
swearing vilely and kicking at whatever lay in his path. Stomp-
ing thus, swearing thus, kicking thus, Sigafoos kicked over a
heap of old bones which-what do you know!-turned out to
be Pithecanthropus Erectus'
But I disgress. From the brutish Pithecanthropus, man
evolved slowly upward in intellect. By the Middle Paleolithic
period man had invented the leash, which was a remarkable
technical achievement, but frankly not particularly useful until
the Mesolithic period when man invented the dog.
In the Neolithic period came the most important discovery
TT. fT-l XT7n A AI A