The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 6, 1979-Page D7
STRATFORD, DETROIT A2 OFFER ALTERNATIVES:
City overflows with
heatre opportunities
I
Stage fans have options galore
(Continued from Page 6)
ceed in Business . ., Applause, and
Pippin.
UAC group casting calls appear on
billboards around campus.
Like many cities of its size, Ann Ar-
bor, has a Civic Theatre made up of
townies of various stripes, mostly of
professionals. AACT counts among its
members professors, housewives,
secretaries, a reporter for the Ann Ar-.
bor News, and a retired priest. Unfor-
tunately, the company is not the best
for students to get roles, as its directors
are known to be a rather Cliquish lot,
not entirely favorably disposed to
students and other transients. Still, it
doesn't hurt to try, and Civic may be
changing anyway. The group has.
recently published advertisements
calling for people to fill any and all of its
vacancies. Very encouraging.
Civic, by the way, has a remarkably
wide range of genres in its repertoire.
Along with common community theatre
material like Rodgers and Hammer-
stein musicals, Kaufman and Hart
omedies, and the like, the company
as recently done two shows by Stephen
ondheim, one by Brecht, and one by
he French playwright Giraudoux.
Civic generally advertises its casting
alls in the Ann Arbor News.
In all but one of the last four years,
one of the Guest Artist shows has had a
predominantly or completely black
cast. That will again be the case this
year, as grad student Rhonnie
ashington will direct a production.
Black actors may also join- the
mateurish but energetic Back Alley
layers, which has staged such shows
s No Place To Be Somebody and Short
yes. Back Alley casts often have ac-
ors ranging in years of training from
our or more down to none at all.
Aside from an occasional female-
oriented Studio show, women have only
the Women's Caucus, a rather
nebulous, dirt-poor congregation of
Theatre Department actresses, to meet
their needs. The Caucus has staged two
--
poorly attended shows on its in-
fintesimal budget, and unless a great
deal of moral and financial support is
forthcoming, the future does not look
bright.
Local gay people can climb the stairs
to Canterbury Loft on State St,., where
an original gay musical revue, The
Anita Bryant Follies, was staged in
March, and where other such fare may
be offered in the future.
The radical contingent can check in
with the Theatre Company of Ann Ar-
bor, whose dozen members enact left
wing notions in works of their own
creation.
THE ACTORS' Ensemble is an in-
dependent troupe that stages one or two
straight- dramatic works each
semester.
Once in a while, University depar-
tments other than Theatre will produce
plays of their own. Most widely adver-
tised are Greek comedies put on by the
Classic Department. The Department
of Romance Languages occasionally
stages Spanish plays or playlets, and
one professor, Michel Motu, has done
some interesting experimental theatre.
The Residential College, about which
you can read in various University
literature, has its own theatre program
and its own company, the R.C. Players.
The Players are quite . non-
discriminatory with regard to casting,
so if Brecht and Chekhov are your bag,
give them a ring. Incidentally, the
Residential College is the only Ann Ar-
bor group that ever does Shakespeare,
outside of the Guest Artist people's bat-
tle with the Bard each December.
Would-be prima donnas will just have
to content themselves singing along
with their old Maria Callas records.
The Music School's semesterly operas
are all but impenetrable to outsiders.
Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados,
however, will be treated equitably by
Ann Arbor's own G&S Society, whose
casting calls are usually proclaimed on
billboards in front of the Union.
1=1 IN-101
By JOSHUA PECK
Local theatregoers <vho think they
may be stuck with just a lot of wide-
eyed college kids acting in their
favorite plays may have another thing
coming. For if they tire of watching
University students strut their stuff,
they can watch seasoned professionals
at work in Detroit, Manchester, Strat-
ford, Ontario, and indeed in the Univer-
sity's very own Power Center.
Each year, the professional Theatre
Program (PTP) offers four touring
professional plays as the "Best of
Broadway" series. This year's of-
ferings are Showboat, Eubie!,
Deathtrap, and Da. The latter three of
these shows opened on Broadway
within the last three years.
PTP ALSO BRINGS occasional
special events to campus, and these are
often the most noteworthy productions
each year. In the past, such projects
have included four Edward Albee plays
directed by the playwright, a one-man
dramatization of Moby Dick, and A,
Long Day's Journey Into Night with
Jason Robards, Zoe Caldwell, and
Michael Moriarty.
The Black Sheep Repertory Com-
pany, which operates out of Man-
chester, 30 minutes away, stages a wide
and captivating array of shows through
much of the year.
Detroit also offers much in the way of
theatre. The Motor City's greatest
theatre assets are the large Broadway-
style Fisher Theatre and the smaller,
homier Music Hall. The former stages
big budget productions of Broadway
shows, sometimes with the original
stars. Recent presentations include On
The Twentieth Century, with Rock
Hudson and Imogene Coca, Annie,
Four, and a couple of years ago, Vin-
cent Price portrayed Oscar Wilde in a
one-man show. The Music Hall is also
the home of the Michigan Opera
Theatre.
EASTERN MICHIGAN University in
Ypsilanti, Wayne State University in
Detroit, and Oakland University in
Rochester all have theatre departmen-
ts that each stage up to ten productions
a year.
Last, but certainly not least, there is
the Stratford Festival, a four hour drive
or a $15 train ride away in Ontario. The
Festival, which nmany believe possesses
the best company on the continent,
stages some fifteen shows between
June and October. Generally, half the
works are by Shakespeare and the
others are contemporary.
Of course, don't forget the many
productions in town which casts are
composed of students. These ordinarily
are the cheapest, and besides, you may
have the fun of commenting on an ac-
tor's work to him in French class the
day after the peformance. For those on
a really tight budget, some shows
require the services of ushers, who may
sit and watch the drama unfold for free,
once the paying customers are seated.
.+
Ann ARBOR CIVIC THEATRE
50th Season
1979-19804Playbill
Grease, and A Chorus Line. Music Hall
shows are usually a bit more off the
beaten path. Helen O'Connel, Margaret
Whiting, Rosemarie Clooney, and Rose
Marie brought in a revue, Four Girls
earn $1OO0
amonth
for 2 or 3 hours a week of your spare time.
don ate plasma
You may save a life!
Itfs ease and relaxing. Be a twice-a-week regular.{
$10 cash each donation, plus bonuses.
this ad worth $5 extra
New donors only. Phone for appointment.
ANN ARBOR PLASMA CORPORATION
662-7744
SHOW DATES
September 26-29
December 12-15
February 13-16
April 9-12
May 14-17
June 18-22
TITLE
The Devil's Disciple
Kiss Me Kate
The Curious Savage
The Crucible
Lady Lambert (Original)
Guys and Dolls
AUTHOR
GB Shaw
Cole Porter
John Patrick
Arthur Miller
Diane Monach
Hopwood Award Winnter
Frank Loesser
SEASON TICKET ORDER FORM
NAME PHONE
ADDRESS ZIP
DAY PRICE NO. OF TICKETS TOTAL
Wednesday $23.00
Thursday 23.00
*Friday 28.00
*Saturday 28.00
'.
{.
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4
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r
a
F
r
THE, LORD FOX
Dinner Hours 4-10 p.m. 662-1647
Featuring A nn Arbor's largest selection of fresh seafoods,
steaks, and wines. Special flambeed desserts. Old-fashioned
hospitality striving for a balance of American and Continental
dishes.
NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
1 '% miles east of US 23 on Plymouth Rd.
Add $ .50 for postage and handling
$ .50
Seating Preference: Orchestra O Balcony O TOTAL AMOUNT
Make checks payable to: Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
Mail to A.A.C.T. 79-80 Season, P.O. Box 1993; Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106.
*Season tickets for Friday and Saturday must be ordered by September 1 st.
,ACc, No. Expiration dateVS, Acc. No. .Expiration date
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