arts & efntertainment
Somnambulance at the Ark
The Michigan Daily-Friday, March 30, 1979-Page 7
Charlie Chaplin's 1952
LIMELIGHT
With BUSTER KEATON, CLAIRE BLOOM and NIGEL BRUCE in this his last
masterpiece, Chaplin portrays an aging, alcoholic music hall comedian,
whose outward life might appear to be a failure, but who passes on his
abundant courage at a young protegee, whom he can love only paternally.
Chaplin's pathos is at its height, laced with some of his most freshly inventive
comedy.UN RANE_ ATAN
SAT: LOVE AND DEATH
SUN: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
By ERIC ZORN
Along with a few megagrams of caf-
fine, the Wednesday night Bob Zentz
and Gordon Bok concert would have
been just fine. The pair, who perform
individually and together throughout
the course of the concert, are both
-jascinating folklorists and accom-
plished, diverse instrumentalists, but
their show is so low key that it barely
registers on the scale.
Snappy patter and good audience-
rapport were missing, yes, but a folk
performer doesn't have to go vaudeville
to have a successful act: What both
lacked, especially Bob, was zest. For
RECORDS
By ERIC ZORN
;o Kris Kristofferson, damn his bones, is
a perfect example of what plastic suc-
cesses will do to the artistic spirit. Once
a struggling young musician-poet who
wrote and sang rich, rugged songs of
life and loving, the celebrated hunk has
relaxed, and is now content to foist
tipon a wide-eyed public a dippy shadow
'of his former self. '
The Kristofferson who teams with
.wife Rita Coolidge on his latest effort,
Natural Act, to sing "Number One,"
"fHoola Hoop," and other musical
tragedies, is light years away from the
yman who performed on his first three
albums. There was a gutty sincerity in
his early works, circa 1971, that is slim-
'ly absent, in Natural Act, and thus just
Joes to prove that becoming an enter-
tainment superstar fattens the wallet
but rapes the soul.
we are only left hoping that posing for
holy pictures will leave the gentleman
enough time in the future to scratch pen
to paper.
Now Kristofferson sings mellow,
crooning- songs, and his inadequacy
becomes somewhat distracting. He and
Coolidge do sing fairly well together,
but their harmonies are facile and unin-
teresting; so predictable you could drop
off to sleep at a moment's notice.
EVEN WHEN he's good, he's bad.
The poignant, sorrowful ballad,
"Loving Her Was Easier (Than
Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" which
was so sensitively performed on Kr-
tofferson's second album, The Silver
Tongued Devil and I, is herein sullied
by a cutesy Wurlitzer organ, and fur-
ther enervated by the slightly revam-
ped, androgynous lyrics. This version
the somber tenor of the evening, you'd
have thought someone missed a mor-
tgage payment.
FORTUNATEILY, BOTH men have
ears for a fine song, and Zentz himself
is an uncommonly good song-writer.
Without notable exception, the
traditional and "in-a-traditional-vein"
song to which the sppreciative and
rather large Ark crowd was treated
were meaningful and cogent. The two of
them sang of the land, home, memory,
the sea, and the joys of good friends.
"Our kind of music is a celebration. A
celebration of life," said Bok, who is a
noted Maine folklorist recently
featured in a full page spread in Time
magazine. "Popular, radio music is a
celebration of I don't know what.
Money."
"We're still really part of an oral
tradition," added the hefty Zentz, who
plays more different instruments than
he could possible carry with him. "Ar-
tists who transcend this and start
pushing to sell their stuff lose the con-
tact with both themselves and their
audience. Take a look at John Denver."
BOK, whose deep, rich singing voice
is smooth enough to satisfy any stan-
dards of excellence, sat back on the
piano and lit a cigarette. "I was told
that folk stuff doesn't go on the radio
because it deosn't have the pounding
bass and the punch of the drums." He
offered no indication that he was
thinking of adding such extras to his act
in the near future.
It's true," agreed Zentz. "And the
people in this country are sensitized by
the media. Something is only good if
you've heard of it. Most people know
pretty much only the songs off the
radio."
Bok, who has a frendly New England
accent to contrast with Zentz's light
Virginia drawl, noticed that the
media's decentralizing influence is
chipping away at the cultural traditions
of his own state. "It's hard to fine one
bonafide accent, even in the smallest
Maine town," he said. "We've lost a lot,
but it's nice to see
groups . . . reclaiming the traditions."
Strumming a chord, Zentz added,
"We're doing this to pass something
along. To give something to the people
who come to see us."
Unfortunately, this enthusiasm for
the music and culture did not seem to
carry over to the stage all that well,
and the solemn mood of most of the
evening seemed far from a celebration.
Oh, well, you know theose New Englan-
ders: Never can get a rise out of 'em.
MEDIATRICS
presents
CAT AND MOUSE
(Claude Lelouch) A Gallic mystery in which the detective falls in love with
the main suspect. A delightful game of who-dun-what.
FRI. MARCH 30 NAT SCI AUD 7:00,8:45, 10:30
' AND THE GOODBYE GIRL
(Herbert Ross) Neil Simon's happiest and funniest comedy with Marsha Mason
and Richard Dreyfuss. About laughing, love and warmth. Dreyfuss won the
Academy Award for the best actor.
SAT. MARCH 31 NAT SCI AUD 7:00, 9:00
ADMISSION $1.50 .
INDIVIDUALIZED GEOMETRIC
HAIR DESIGN
CAMPUS: 520 E. WILLIAMS-761-3485
DOWNTOWN: 338 S. ASHLEY-761-2699
CINEMA GUILD
Tonight @o
7:00 & 9:35
OLD ARCH. AUD.
$1.50
I.)UI)
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SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS PRESENTS
AN ALL- PROFESSIONAL CAST IN FOUR ONE - ACTS
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY EDWARD ALBEE
THE AMERICAN DREAM*******
THE ZOO STORY 830 p.ni
5:00 P.M. LISTENING
Ceti COUNTING THE WAYS
m L
Kris Tiristofferson and Rita Coolidge
ANatural Act
A&k1SP-4690
These days, apparently considering
'Himself too famous to write songs,
Kristofferson has relied on songwriters
who are not fit to pack his lunch either
44 terms of melodies or lyrics. A
precious three songs on the new album
'ire Kristofferson's own, but those were
41 written at least eight years ago, and
BOOSTING BLOOD
NEW YORK (AP)-Athletes might
improve their performance if they got
"high" on their own blood rather than
turning to vitamins, according to a
recent report.
Studies on blood boosting-the
removal and subsequent reinfusion of
the athlete's blood-can improve exer-
cise time and performance by as much
as 40 per cent, according to the report in
The Physician and Sportsmedicine
magazine.
Under -the boosting program, a
physician removes up to a quart of
blood from the athlete. The blood is
then frozen in a process that prevents
red blood cells from dying.
MARCH 31 - POWER CENTER
SPECIAL OFFER ! ! BUY FIRST PERFORMANCE- - GET THE
! SECOND PERFORMANCE 1/2 PRICE!!!
Tickets $4-8. Available al the PTP Ticket Office in The Michigan League Friday from 10-i
and from 2-5 p.m. (764-0450); Saturday at the Power Center Box Office from 12 noon to
8:30 p.m. (763-3333), and at all Hudsons Stores.
Universiy guest arust-m-residence Mel wnier an ui uversiy stuUent Jaie neu perform in Josepn walker's The
River Niger. The play, which tells the story of a black Harlem family in the early 70's, will be staged at the Power Cen-
ter April 11 hrough April 15.
p t
brings tears for different reasons than
its predecessor, nine years ago.
A star may have been born, but it's
time to get semi-tough with this Rhodes
scholar who is content to languish in the
comfort of the synthetic artistry which
will keep him on covers of fan
magazines only so long as he looks like
such an adorable brute. He's not getting
older, he's getting worse, and as a
responsible party for this boring and
presumptuous album, Kristofferson
will surely be the songwriter who fell
from grace with the public.
ANIMATION NIGHT
Picture if you will a world in which fiction becomes fact, where boundless
imagination is transformed into reality, and rules are invoked and revoked
at whim. This is the world of animation. A unique forum for socio-political
motifs, real and surreal art as well as humor all enmeshed into one unfor-
gettable evening. Featured will be animations from all parts of the globe
portraying the many styles and forms which make the world of animation
so spectacular. An evening not to be missed.
SATURDAY-ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
TON ITE at Angell Hall, Aud A
7:00 and 9:00 $1.50
THE FILM
HAIR
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MON, thru FRI. 7:15-9:40
SAT. & SUN. 1:15-4:00-7:15-9:40
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