' Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY, Thursday, September 16, 1971 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 16, 1971 arts Follie By MARK ALAN FARBER On the more pretentious side,< or in the, DON'T WORRY, WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO, department, Stephen Sondheim in Follies tries to mix mid-1920 gaery with 1970 existentialism. What he ends up with are a few fine performan- failure: a sadistic genre Weiss over 20 words to get across his message in, his title)." All sarcasm aside, Follies seems to me to be the best ex- ample of that sadistic genre of theatre that I spoke about in yesterday's article: Attendance is being bolstered not because of allegiance to the drama, but explain the format of the show. Follies takes place in the ru- ins of an old vaudeville, turned movie, turned sexploitation the- atre, which thirty years prior was the home of the Weisman Follies. To mourn the passing of an era, and before this edifice gets the kiss of the wreckers ball, Dimitri Weisman, the pro- ... images doing the last forty years or so?" The ansvier is a cross be- tween an Arthur Hailey novel and a Ross Hunter movie. Phyllis (Alexis Smith) is the dumb chorine, who by reading Sartre and visiting the Metro- politan Museum has become a socially elite Onassis type wife. Benjamin Stone is her promi- nent businessman, politician, lawyer, one-time stage-door- J o h n n y husband. They are childless. Both are unhappy, And both, to use a middle class euphemism, 'sleep around.' Add to this pair, their best friends of those follies years, Bud and Sally Durant (Gene Nelson and Dorothy Collins). Bud and Sal- ly left the buzz of the big city when the follies folded, got married, and lived a quaint, rus- tic life in the country, complete with kids. They too are unhap- py. Buddy keeps a girl on the side. Sally sits at home and dreams of Ben, (Phyllis' hus- band), whom she had loved in those long ago, once-upon-fol- lies days. Add to this soap-suds scenario a fading nympho star (Yvonne de Carlo). Mix in a French bomb-shell turned cos- metic promoter (Fifi Dorsay) and various other non-descript schticks, and you have the story line. The real problem comes when these non-descript schticks (Fi- fi D'Orsay, Mary McCarthy, and Ethel Shutta), who are the vin- tage vaudevillians of yester- y e a r, perform circa-Gloria- Swanson material whilst remi- niscing. It's bad enough seeing competent performers imitating others, but it's downright pa- thetic seeing performers imita- ting themselves when they were in their prime. Think what it 1214 S. University DIAL 8-6416 FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT FESTIVAL "STOLEN KISSES!" is a movie-I'll cherish for a very long time. Strong, s w e e t, explosively funny!" -N.Y. Times would be like seeing the 1971 Charlie Chaplin, who is paun- chy and gray, trying to recre- ate the lithe and athletic little tramp? That's what it is like watching the one-time seduc- tive D'Orsay and Shutta sing- ing their torch songs with sag- ging breasts. No doubt my revulsion is the emotion that'Sondheim desired. After all his play is about the follies of living in the past. It's just that in showing this condi- tion he has tastelessly dragged in performers who are doing precisely that. Even worse, the public is eating it up. Its Shut- ta, D'Orsay, McCarthy, and de Carlo who are getting the ova- tion! It seems that somewhere along the way the Follies has become just that. D. W. GRIFFITH'S SILENT CLASSIC INTOLERANCE with new live piano score TON IGHT-Sept. 16 auditorium a-75c Angell Hall-7 & 9:30 p.m. ann arbor film cooperative 330 Maynard presents Commander ody and his LOST PLANET AIRMEN PLUS STEPHEN and JOHN Tickets FRIDAY-1 show: 8:30 ........................$2.00 SATURDAY-2 shows: 7 :30, 10:00 ...............$1.75 SUNDAY-2 shows: 7:30, 10:00.................$1.50 ADVANCE I!CKETS FOR ALL SHOWS NOW ON SALE AT SALVATION RECORDS-330 MAYNARD, 1103 S. UNIV. COMING SEPTEMBER 24, 25, 26 MISSISSIPPI FRED MCDOWELL plus TERRY TATE -iany-J inJuaris ces, and a flawless technical production (lighting, sets, make- up, and costumes). This is rea- son enough to see the show (if you have the money) but it leaves one in the theatrical twi- light zone of neither being en- tertained nor enlightened. It's the type of show that you walk out of saying, "My, weren't the costumes gorgeous, and Alexis Smith really can act!" Hopeful- ly, however, theatre should have a bit more substance. Follies really tries hard, but by trying so hard it fails miserably. "FOLLIES," says the cultured uptown Manhattan matron to her graying husband as they leave the Wintergarden Thea- tre. "Don't you get -it," she says triumphantly. "FOLLIES!" The very name of the show suggests* two levels of consciousness: First, the play actually revolves around a reunion of the girls from the Weisman FOLLIES (a fictional recreation of the Zig- field Phenomenon). Secondly, and on a deeper psychological- emotional level, the show tells the tale of the FOLLIES of the girls, who in the past, compos- ed the Weisman line. Get it, the FOLLIES of the girls in the FOLLIES! (Gee, it took Peter ETATET!! Program Information 662-6264 OPEN 1 P.M. Shows at 1:30-4 P.M.-6:30-9 P.M. rather because of desire to ob- serve the ravages of old age. The producers of Follies have gathered the remnants of the Zigfield, Thalberg eras and put them on display as P. T. Barn- um did to the two feet tall, 16 pound General Tom Thumb. To be less subtle, I felt more as if I was watching a freak show than a theatrical offering. I found myself literally embar-' rassed that performers past their prime were being exploited - so mercilessly by such a repu- table producer as Harold Prince. To be more coherent, let me The Michigan Daily, edited and man- aged by students at the University of Michigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan. 420 Maynard Street. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104. Published daily Tues- day through Sunday morning Univer- sity year. Subscription rates: $10 by carrier, $10 by nai Summer Session published Tuesday through Saturday morning. Subscrip- tion rates: $5 by carrier, $5 by mail. 603 E. Liberty DIAL 5-6290 3rd WEEK! Just a person who )rotects children and other living things ducer of the defunct follies, de- cides to throw a first and last reunion. Ergo, the follies girls of three to six decades-gone-by converge on this shrine of past glamour and youth. They rem- inisce and narratively give the answer to the oft repeated ques- tion, "So what have you been WgI LD Thursday and Friday GROUPIES 1970. Groupies are a fascinat- ing assortment of sexual apos- tles (generally women) who devote themselves en mass to a relenthless pursuit of sexy rock stars. GROUPIES is a "cinemaverite" style documentary of this phe- nomenon which displays the in- variably bazzare personalities of America's most unabashed lovers. Recommended by ANDY WARHOL and ANNE BANCROFT Ann Arbor premiere ARCHITECTURE AUDITORIUM 7:00 and 9:05 75c .f "STOLEN KISSE " COLOR by Deuxe * AND * 4i JULES VERNE TAKESYOU OVERTHE EDGE OF THE WORLD! ., . 10 TOM LAUGHLIN DELORES TAYLOR I . _ , L Ar ~ n~ot)LW tjtfl t i j III I Elvin Jones Quintet Featuring: CHIC COREA Saturday, September 18--10 p.m. Sunday Matinee 4 p.m., Evening 9-12 lbo Cultural Center 1711 3rd St. DETROIT 341 -0770 jl ; i , , - ~___ I. r. 1 Ili BOWLING LEAGUES FORMING SIGN UP NOW! MICHIGAN UNION LANES OPEN NOON MON.-SAT., 1P.M. SUN. GAMMA PHI BETA Lawn Dance __ __ --- ! ' I I' I }i 1i i.. That's the way we deal with our customers. For your health care needs ... from prescriptions to feminine hygiene products to hot water bottles to laxatives ... talk to a Quarry pharmacist. You'll get worthwhile advice from our competent sales personnel. No matter what your health care problem, trust a Quarry pharmacist to give you the score. 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