Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Saturday, November 13, 1971
Experimen t'
By GREG JARBOE
It breaks every rule upon
which traditional musicals are
based. Its romantic leads are
tragic, its comic roles are ser-
ious, it is against capitalism,
it is not escapist. Come to the
Michigan Union ballroom and
you will have a rare opportunity
of seeing On Account of Sid
Shrycock before it goes on to
Chicago.
A contemporary student musi-
cal comedy written by Marilyn
Miller with music by Dale Gon-
yea, it is the most ambitious
work of its kind in the past dec-
ade.
Situated in New York City, it
does not sacrifice realism for
musical comedy. The songs are
not sung as an escape from the
action of the play, nor to re-
beautify dead values of an up-
per-middle class theater.
The drama centers around
Ronna, played by Joan Suss-
wein, and Joel, played by Kurt
Lauer. Susswein was dynamic,
ranging between overpowering
musical interpretation and very
poignant serious acting.
In act two, the final song
between Ronna and the chorus
"Morning's Mine" is the kind of
tune to which David Merrick
would want the rights. And yet
at the same time this is not the
succeed
end of the play. Marilyn Miller
has taken a gutsy step forward
by allowing her finale to be a
very brutal realistic portrait of
frustrated love.
Lauer plays the innocent. He
is too happy, with no problems
no complexity, and no aware-
ness. In most senses, he is a
typical romantic musical lead.
However, his innocence causes
pain. His lack of problems in-
volves him in a complex situa-
tion with real people, leaving
them hurt if not destroyed.
The comic situation of the
play revolves around the un-
wanted pregnancy of Marsha,
played by Janice Young and her
in
Shrycock
I
Blue Alley: Buddy and Junior
By GENE HYMAN
What's the story, Ann Arbor?
There's been a rumor for the
past few years that Ann Arbor
is a blues town-right? Well let
me kill that rumor.
In my past few years in Ann
Arbor I have often paced the
streets listening to people moan
about the lack of good music in
town. It seemed we needed some
sounds to reunite our starving
body and souls.
Now the famine is over, Pete
Andrews has brought in some of
the best bluesmen in the coun-
try-but the Alley is lo s i n g
money. In fact, this weekend
may well be the last weekend of
blues at the Alley-at least for
a while.
Anyway, this weekend Buddy
Guy and Junior Wells are there
and they're really good.
Buddy Guy's guitar is sensa-
tional. He's got complete com-
mand, playing soft and mellow,
then jumping to something tight
and funky.
The- whole band jelled the
minute Buddy stepped on the
stage and began pouring out
those piercing tones. The true
test of blues is when you slow
it down, and Buddy is at his best
when slow. Every note of his
riffs have meaning as they lead
you higher and higher. He has
the sensitive touch that is the
mark of fine blues.
It is impossible not to be
caught up in the groove and be
sustained. Though his style is
GODARD!
AT
Cinema Guild
NOV. 15-22
distinctly his own, Buddy Guy
plays much like B. B. King-
even his facial expressions are
similar.
Then comes Junior Well's harp
-hot yet smooth. The overall
sound is complete and drives on
timelessly. Of course there are
always the traditional blues lyr-
ics with their down-to-earth
view of life.
Bluesmen truly play for the
audience. They have a unique
compassion and sense of grati-
tude for the people they enter-
tain. Buddy Guy is no exception,
his gregarious personality and
s i n c e r e desire to give shine
throughout his performance.
Rather than just playing, both
he and Junior Wells stopped to
chat with the audience, giving
that warm feeling of humanity
that is often missing from a gig.
That's what makes seeing them
live such a unique experience.
There's no way an album can
capture the feeling because rec-
ords are not a complete medium.
Artists depend on an interplay
with people to achieve greater
heights for they too are human
beings beneath whatever images
they project.
It's unfortunate thatthe Al-
ley can't afford to keep pre-
senting such talent because it
is perfectly suited for intimate
musical experiences.
The people that do attend the
performances there always have
a great time but for some reason
word hasn't spread.
It seems that Ann Arborites
wait for big names to come to
town and then rush box offices
like swarms of locusts, mindless-
ly ignoring the beauty of small
performances. It's inexplicable
that people prefer impersonal-
ized concerts that are often
commercialized.
I guess the paradox of exist-
ence has pervaded the world of
music once again. We ask for
something we desire and scorn
if when it arrives. It is time for
people to evaluate their musical
tastes and support the music
they can appreciate as well as
expanding into new dimensions.
If you decide that you ap-
preciate blues the place to start
with is Buddy Guy and Junior
Wells-they'll really get you go-
ing and you'll be glad you went.
Remember, it may be your last
chance.
SATURDAY and SUNDAY
SHAME
Dir. I n g m a r Bergman,
1968. Liv Ullman and
Max von Sydow star in
"Bergman's ultimate per-
sonal vision of war.
Their lives are completely
disrupted by a surreal in-
vasion.
boyfriend Harold, played by
Rusty Russ. The humor is caus-
tic, cutting to the center of
All-American myths. One of the
most beautiful moments in the
play is when Marsha turns the-
atrical tables and tells Harold
"I'm not pregnant" to which
Harold. dazedly replies, "Bull-
shit."
Supporting this ambitious ex-
periment is Steve Chapman as
Lennie and Harriet Winkelman
as Erika. They round out the
production in which no one
wins, everything is lost.
In the New York scene creat-
ed by the show, people meet
each other, live together, fall
in love, hurt each other, and
then come out singing.
If one is interested in radi-
cal movements, this is surely
taking the counter-culture val-
ues to the people who need
them - in a form they have
learned to accept. The produc-
tion was enjoyed by the women
of Plymouth last night, when it
opened by invitation at the Ply-
mouth High School Theater.
The respectable citizens of Ply-
mouth saw a play presenting
marriage as a magazine adver-
tisement, money as the fruit of
lying and cheating, and came
away appreciating the Ann Ar-
bor ethic.
Director Terry Lamude has
presented a balanced blend of
musical styles and staging.
There is a 1930's dance fantasia,
a number reminiscent of the
"big band" era of America mu-
sic, a syrupy love ballad and
even hard rock. The credit, of
course, belongs to Gonyea's
score. Perhaps there are no
songs you can whistle when
leaving the theater, but there
is never a time when the songs
don't make you realize that the
SEE
PAUL NEWMAN as
TH, FR, SAT, NOV.
11, 12, & 13
9:00 p.m. in
STOCKWELL HALL 75c
singers are trapped by their
own personalities.
On the other hand, "No Emo-
tions" is , a memorable lyric
which is hard to forget. Keith
Brown, as Mr. Ripoffsky, made
"Moola Sonata" vibrate with
his operatic contralto. And
"When Love Enters Your Life"
presents an optimistic upbeat
sound in contrast to scenes of
police brutality, rape, drag
queens, and the general New
York street scene presented as
a background. The overall effect
is involving but at the same
time provokes reflection.
Miller is to be complimented
most of all for her brilliant wit.
It propels the play through two
and a half hours of a surely
controversial experiment in the
musical comedy form.
Student directed, written,
composed, and acted, the per-
formance is still professional in
every sense of the word,
On Account of Sid Shrycock
will be opening in Chicago at
Kingston Mines Theatre Nov.
19. I recommend that you don't
see it in Chicago, but attend the
performance tonight.
ALLEY CINEMA
PRESENTS
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
TOMORROW-SUN..
NOV. 14
ONE POTATO
TWO POTATO
"At the Cannes Film Festival,
ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO
scored the Loudest and Longest
Ovation in 9 Years."-Time
A piercing story of an in-
terracial marriage.
330 Maynard
SHOWS AT 7 $ 9:30 $1
ANTONIO
DAS MORTES
Brazil 1969
dir. ROCHA
A revolutionary
folk. ic
Alice's
Restaurant
ALICE LLOYD HALL
Tonight 9:30
SPECIAL SHORT:
"ST. LOUIS BLUES"
s- ~
ANN
T
"Wildly exhilarating"
ON ACCOUNT OF
SID SHRYCOCK
One Night Only Before Chicago Opening
mnight Union Ballroom 7 & 1
TICKETS AT DOOR
I
I
WatIs CALENDAR
What's Happening
and Where
"Rabelaisian"
"Swiftiar
0
I
All you folks
are invited
to meet
MALVINA
RENOLDS
2 P.M. Today at
THE ARK
1421 Hill
The workshop's FREE!
A great chance to meet
the author of such songs
as Little Boxes, What
Have They Done to the
Rain, etc.
Debuting Nov. 16
If you have an item of interest, place it
in THE DAILY CALENDAR folder 48
hours in advance.
420 MAYNARD
Bulletin Board
4i
B
i
Fa
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CINEMA
1 1.: 4
( )m-IIs
m ONLYm-Nmmuu...
EXTRAORDINARY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
SVEN NYKYIST
*
ARCHITECTURE
AUDITORIUM
SHAKESPEARE WEEKEND
Friday & Saturday
HENRY V
(1946)
Directed by and Starring
SIR LAWRENCE OLIVIER
7:00 & 9:30
9
Sunday
Olivier's HAMLET
7:00 & 9:30
Aud A, Angell Hall
I
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I
*
7:00 and 9:05
75c
J
Read and Use
Daily Classifieds
I
N~o niWM * 14A11 Hill $TM ET
A revealing portrait of
the new liberated woman
* BLAZING COLOR
P.us 2nd feature *
a rt eema 482"3300
IF i~i
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"An 'adult' film without violence, viciousness or
gratuitous sex. A film with a witty, literate and be-
lievable screenplay, superb performances and subtle
direction. And glory of glories, a film that treats
women as part of the human race, as people who
can be equally as forceful and interesting as men
without being rendered grotesque. Glenda Jackson,
who is surely one of the best actresses alive, is ex-
traordinary in her role, bringing to it the complexity
of an intelligent, sensitive, self-knowledgeable
women who is in control of her own life, even to the
point of allowing someone who isn't half what she
is to hurt her. Peter Finch gives a beautiful perform-
ance as the homosexual doctor, bringing to it the
dignity and depth the role deserves."
--Gail Rock, WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY
Joseph Jannii pa, udoonef John Schlesinger's Film
S7. ~ ~9Bloody Sunday"
SM T W T F S
Claude Chabrol's
thriller
les Biches
in color
in French, English subtitles
SATURDAY
N
4
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Jacqueline Sassard plays Why, a homeless young artist taken in and
loved by Frederique, a wealthy, somewhat older woman. Their idyllic re-
lationship is disrupted by Paul. The result is deranged violence.-Taste-
fully "unconventional," involving, shocking, thought-provoking.
"a thing of beauty .. .
delirious, decadent ...
but ultimately delightful."
-Andrew Sarris
Village Voice
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