The Michigan Daily-Friday, February 9, 1979-Page 7
'Takin~g
By DIANE HAITHMAN
A huge and eager crowd descended
on Trueblood Theatre Wednesday,
bought all the tickets to the opening
performance of Ed Bullins' The Taking
of Miss Janie, and packed into the
T e Taking of Miss Janie
By Ed Bullins
Trueblood Theatre
February 7,8,11-8 p.m.
February 9-7:30 & 10:30
February 10-1 p.m.
Miss Janie .................. Dominique Lowell
Monty .................. Ron "OJ" Parson
Mort Silberstein:...................Peter engel
Flossy ........,............Stephanie McIntosh
Sharon ..:.........................Lori Miller
Peggy .. ................. Kayjona Jackson
Lonnie ...................Harry Dunn
Rick..........................Kirk Kirksey
Len .................... Lawrence Evans
Phil'L. Williams, director;
Nancy Jo Jones, stage manager;
Steve Dixon, production manager
auditorium determined to have a good
time no matter what occurred onstage.
They succeeded, somehow. Although
Back Alley Players' treatment of
Bullins' powerful yet cliche-ridden
script often wears embarrassingly
threadbare, and few members of the
cast did more than scratch the surface
of the possible depth of their roles,
there still, paradoxically, seems to be
some reason to go see the show and en-
joy it. Perhaps it's cast enthusiasm, or
maybe audience sympathy ' for those
who have nowhere to rehearse but back
alleys-but something draws the
audience and almost holds it. So if
you're going to attend one mediocre
production this year, this is the one to
see.
The Taking of Miss Janie, the brama
offers puzzling quality
George Roy Hill's 1972
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE
Mild-mannered Vonnegut creation Billy Pilgrim begpmes unstuck In time and
never knows whether he will be in his 40's with a dreary wife; in his 20's
at the bombing of Dresden; or in his prime on the planet Tralfamodore,
where he and Valerie Perrine are the subjects of a behavioral study by extra-
terrestrial scientists. Starring MICHAEL SACKS. In exciting 35mm.
SAT: Clint Eastwood In THE EIGER SANCTION
Desk's "Best American Play" of 1975,
takes a negative look back at the sixties
and the wilting flower-children of L.A.-
Manhattan-San Fran-Boston. Nostalgic
wisps of the Beatles and Jimi Henrix
drift sporadically across one of those
"this-could-be-a nywhere-even-yoyr-.
apartment" sets. Bullins imbibes his
controversial tale of the breakdown of
barriers between blacks, whites, and
Jews in drug-culture days with all the
dope, sex, and revolutionary spirit that
made it possible. "We were the youth of
our time and wd blew it!," wails a
character. The lights come on sym-
bolicaly on a pre-professional '70's
audience that somehow fails to see the
connection. It has already become a
" period piece"-a near-sighted view of
a dead generation that couldn't see the
forest for the speed.
Dominique Lowell plays Miss Janie.
The blond, mini-skirted Lowell is aptly
cast in the role of a perennial UCLA
student who "thinks colored people are
neat:" Ier intentionally shallow por-
trayal was well-handled, but it was all
but obscured by the fact that we simply
could not hear her. Although her treat-
ment of the two love/rape scenes was
quite sensitive, somehow the audience
ended up roaring with laughter-this
was too bad, but perhaps it was
inaudibility that kept the crowd from
appropriate empathy.
For some unknown reason, the most
experienced actors in the cast face
energetic yet cliched performances.
Ron "OJ" Parson, as Monty, has a
reasonable excuse-he stepped in at the
last minute due to the illness of leading-
man John McCants. Parson gives Mon-
ty little of the needed magnetism of a
character whose symboic role is
purely sexual. this should be conveyed
by more than his participation in ex-
plicit love scenes-his innate,
irresistible attractiveness remains un-
convincing.
KIRK KIRKSEY plays Rick, room-
mate to Monty and staunch defender of
Black Nationalism. Fortunately,
Bullins blesses Rick with a number of
delightfully funny lines and a neat
comic character. But this luck is not put
to advantage. Kirksey delivers his lines
with unnecessary monotony; the
audience laughed not at him, but at his
lines. Kirksey has'won many awards
for his performing ability which I'm
sure were quite well-deserved; here,
however, he seems to be resting on his
laurels..
Harry Dunn, as Lonnie, disappoints
by electing to encompass all of the 60's
would-be jazz musician's like, qualities,
man, into one loud, tedious,
stereotypical lump. Lawrence Evans
plays an adequate Len, but mushy dic-
tion and inaudibility mar his one "big
speech."
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS sur-
prise by adopting a "we try harder" at-
titude and coming up with some nice
touches. Peter Engel, an arch-
Zionist/addict Mort Silberstein, lends a
hint of pathos to the waning peacenik
when he begns to explain where his
generation went wrong and suddenly
breaks down, pleading with the audien-
ce to lend him ten bucks. His movemen-
ts, too, are fun to watch-he's a human
rubber band. Both Lori Miller as Shawn
and Kayjona Jackson as Peggy have
their brief moments as well.
Stepanie McIntosh, as not-quite-
streetwalker Flossy, does an admirable
job of portraying the intuitive wisdom
of a shrewd character analyst.
Althoughshe overplays the comedic
aspects of her role a bit, the audience
somehow ends up liking her and
trusting her more than anyone else on
stage.
If only for the sake of seeing an Ed
Bullins play and the, University's
celebration of Black History Week,
don't write off this show until after
you've seen it. Whatever the perfor-V
mance quality, it's a chance to see a
show atypical of the Ann Arbor stage,
even with, expectedly, a few
memorable flaws.
MANN THEATRES
FrL
MAPLE IE-AGI SHOPPING CENTER
769-1300
ADMISSION
Adut-$4 .00 Child-$2.00
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7:00 & 9:05
OLD ARCH. AUD.
$1.50
.. .
MEDIATRICS
presents:
GOLDRUSH
(Charlie Chaplin, 1925) Chaplin plays the pathetic, lone pros-
pector who journeys to the Klondike hoping to discover gold
and make his fortune.
FRI., FEB. 9 Nat. Sci. Aud. 7:00,8:30, 10:00
-and-
SILENT MOVIE
(Mel Brooks) MEL BROOKS, DOM DE LUISE and MARTY FELD-
MAN convince SID CEASER to finance-a silent comedy pro-
vided Brooks can supply big name stars for the production.
SAT., FEB.10 Nat. Sci. Aud. 7:00, 8:30, 10:00
Admission $1.50
I
I
'Gypsy's fortunes are overcast
j
Y
SHOWTIMES
CLASSIC SEX COMEDIES FESTIVAL
Preston Sturges Night
"In five short years (1940-1944) Preston Sturges wrote and directed eight of the
funniest, most joyfully inventive and at the same time profoundly human
comedies ever produced anywhere .:. . The speed and sparkle- of their wit, the
wisecracking typically-American exuberance of their dialogue, have never been
equaled."-Peter Bogdonavitch.
Miracle of Morgan's Creek
"Sturges; skill was such that in the repressed 40's, he was able to sneak the most
audacious materialspast, the censors without raising so much as an eyebrow.
MIRACLE, after all, is about a girl tricked into marrige by an on-leave soldier
for a night's drunken lay, and about what happends when she finds herself
pregnant and can't even remember the experience, much less the father's name."
Betty Hutton plays Trudy Kockenlockgr in this outrageious satire on motherhood
and the nation's war morals. Sturges stockplayer, William Demarest, is especially
good as the enraged father. Directed in whirlwind style to keep tastelessness from
creeping in. With Eddie'Bracken. "The Hays Office (censor bureau) . . . has
been raped in its sleep."-Jaynes Agee. (1944, 9mm) 7:00 ONLY
The Lady Eve
This tour-de-force spoof of the Garden of Eden myth is one of the most hilarious
battle-of-the-sexes ever made. The lady ("Eve"-played by an alluring Barbara
Stanwyck) is a swindler, who with her cardshark father ("The Serpent"-
Charles Colburn), spot their latest dupe, an unsuspecting millionaire ("Adam"
-Henry Fonda). Stanwyck steams up the screen trying to seduce Fonda away
from his lifelong project, a book called "ARE SNAKES NECESSARY?" (The
scene in which she vamps him by getting him to change her shoes, is eroitc and
comic dynamite). Contrary to the plan though, the cool seductress crook~alls in
love-but that's only the beginning. Fast moving and full of surprises, LADY
EVE is Sturges' most skillful mixing of sophisticated romance withprat-fall farce.
"Best Film of 1941"-NY TIMES. With William Demarest. (97m) 9:00 ONLY
Plus Short-HOLLYWOOD STEPS OUT-Animated Hollywood
movie stars wine and dine in this 1941 Tex Avery Looney Tune. (Shown at 7 and 9)
By NINA SHISHKOFF
Johann Strauss Jr., the waltz king,
wrote an operetta, The Gypsy Baron,
which was a great success in its time. It
was a shrewd venture, taking advan-
tage of the then-current rage for
anything with trappings of the gypsy
culture, and adding a dash of
patriotism, romance and the inevitable
Strauss waltz. The libretto was silly and
melodramatic, but the music captured
the imagination of the public.
The comic Opera Guild felt
something ore than Strauss's music
was needed f%~i today's, audiences, so,
they commissioned a rewrite of the.
libretto. Unfortunately, as the opening
night at Lydia Mendelssohn theater
demonstrated, it's still Strauss who
carries the show.
IT'S NOT EASY to rewrite a libret-
to while leaving the music intact,
especially since Strauss worked
carefully with the original librettist to
make the music match the action.
Therefore when a group of gypsies,
originally making tools al forge, now
prepare to "cling and clang into bat-
tie," something sounds wrong.
In the plot of either libretto, the hero,
Sandor Barinkay, whose father was
exiled twenty years before, returns to
Hungary to find the family estate in
ruins. He becomes the leader of the
gypsies and falls in love with Saffi, a
gypsy girl. He and the gypsies go to war
and all turns out well in the end. The
original libretto lacks any kind of
drama whatsoever. Buried gypsy
treasury is found early in the second
act, and by the middle, the secret of
Saffi's birth is revealed. After that,
there's nothing to do but send
everybody off to war so they can return
triumphantly for the finale. The new
libretto tries to correct this by having
the treasure discovered later, and
"keeping Saffi's true identity a. secret
until the very end.
THE NtlaibGogal
INSPECTOR
GENERA
Featuring
Philip LeStrange
as the Mayor
Wed.-Sat.. Feb. 14-178 PM
Sun.. Feb18, 2 PM
MON.-FRI.
6:30-9:00
SO THE characters stall for time as
best they can. The old gypsy woman
knows more than she's letting on; she
nods sagely and keeps saying
everything is in the cards. She's in a
bit of a fix about athat treasure,
however; it's, not time to tell Sandor
where it is, but a song about gleaming
gold is coming up. So she asks him to
imagine what he'd do if he were stid-
denly wealthy. Obligingly, he sings the
song.
The singers seem confused, but they
The Gypsy Baron
Johann Strauss Jr.
Lydia Mendesohn Theater
February 7-10,
Sandor Barinkay ............Ernie Brandon
Saffi........ ... ..........Susan Anthony
Count Carnero.............Paul Bravender
Ottokar .................Robert Douglas
Thomas Petiet, director; Carl Daehler,
music director; new libretto by Gersh
Morningstar.
certainly can't be blamed. When they/
aren't singing love songs that sound
strangely menacing, they are repeating
some of the worst operettaAialogue
since Jeanette MacDonald met Nelson
Eddy. One character says, "You must
not cross the count. The graveyards are
full with those who did.",
The orchestra played well most of the
time, especially during the bouncier
numbers. The oboe solo in the overture
was marvelous, but during the operetta
itself, it wasn't uncommon for the or-
chestra to drown out the singers. The
best aria should have been Saf fi's gypsy
song; done correctly, it is spell-binding.
Saffi handled it well enough, but at the
end of each chorus, she was accom-
panied by what sounded like the bell of
a tricycle.
ERNIE BRANDON was a passable
Barinkay. If his acting was on the
wooden side, at least he had a better
Hungarian accent than anyone else in
the cast. Susan Anthony, as Saffi, sang
her part adequately - perhaps over-
See 'GYPSY,' Page 8
SAT. & SUN.
1:45 6:30
3:45 9:00
f 1
SK
MON.-FRI
7:00-9:45"
Tickets on Sole 3
Prior to Showl
YOU'LL BELIEVE
A MAN CAN FLY
SUPERMAN
MARLON BRANDO
GENE HACKMAN
RELEASED BY WARNER BROS. 0 (.J
iOWTIMES
J. SAT. & SUN.
1:30 7:00
o Minutes 4:15 9:45
Noime .-
}1
SAT-Mc
Double-$2.50
Queen and Hoffman in PAPILLON
ANGELL HALL, AUD A
TONITE!
a$1.50
Double-$2.50
/,
- I
r&
7
; "
S BERNIEWORREL.r
Includes WOO TOGETHER!MUCH THRUST
HAPPY TO HAVE (HAPPINESS ON OUR SDE
1
Somewhere In My Lifetime.
The remarkable vocal magic
of Phyllis Hyman.
'p6
El
El-
"v '
1II
I
1 1
1II
1 . . . . . . .I
I1
I yI
''GO BANANAS!*
THURSDAY'S THE NIGHT!
Thursday, February 8 is Grand Opening night at the j
1 most exciting new disco in town! The Bananas Disco.
A throbbing, inviting new light in the night. See it.
Hear it. Feel it. Love it. The Bananas Disco. 2800
I WANT TO BE WHERE YOU ARE/LEGENDS
DAVE VALENTIN. His flute magic is
spellbinding.
Dave Valentin's the most talented young
flute player in music today. Now, he's
combined jazz, latin and classical stylings on
a brilliant debut album.
Includes: UNDER THE MOON AND OVER THE SKY
ROUGH TIMESCHILDREN Of THE WORLD UNITE
ANGELA BOFILL. A remarkable
new vocalist.b
iAngelar floeo h rgts on
singers on today's scene, is a coming star.
7.98 LIST ALBUMS And, on her sensational debut album, she
$549 performs a setof, brilliant songs in her own
7.98 LIST TAPES - unique style.
HOURS. MON -SAT. 10 6 iAkl
SUN ; 12-8
$R)p
O qft
Tickets at the PTP Box Office
in the MisrnI pamn w
-I