Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, December 12, 1971
Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Superstar:
A
super-wasted
ev
By ANITA CRONE
Arts Editor
Ann- Arborites last night were
offered what had the potential to
be a rare treat, but instead
turned out to be one of the worst
excuses of a way to spend an
evening to pass as an event
since John Lennon played at
Crisler Arena Friday night.
From the moment when the
first cloud of smoke poured into
the audience until the interrnis-
sion, the performance yielded
one unrelated part followed by
another. There was no continuity
to the entire segmented presen-
tation and the New York Tour-
ing Company did nothing more
than re-sing the Jesus Christ,
uperstar album.
Rewriting the blurb that ap-
pears in the programs: The New
York Touring Company, along
Rhythms of revoluti
By HARRY HAMMITT
Friday night's John Sinclair
Benefit at Crisler was so. over-
whelming in the number of guests,
that most of them got lost in the
crowd..The entire show lasted for
eight hours and it was more than
most of the audience could take.
A variety of music was present-
ed and much of it was successful
in the short-term context, but
none of it really sustained the
audience through the whole rally
which ended with the long-await-
ed appearance of John Lennon
and Yoko Ono.
John and Yoko came onstage
and the cheering was enthusiastic,
but, still, not as much as would
be expected. He strapped on a folk
guitar and sang "Attica State"
with Yoko. They t hen did a nice
number called "Love of the Irish"
and Yoko did a pleasant little
number on which John joined in.
John then switched to National
Steel Guitar and played a coun-
try-blues slide guitar as he sang
"John Sinclair, It Ain't Fair." The
song was country-blues derivative
and had such simple words that
they became memorable. The song
was well-performed by Lennon
and afterwards he left the stage.
The rally began with Allen Gins-
berg who moaned a few things to
guitar accompaniment. Ginsberg is
not known as a musician and it
was pretty obvious why not.
When the music was brought
back, it came in the form of Bob
Seger and Teegarden and Van
Winkle who were taking the place
of Joy of Cooking who couldn't
make it because of equipment
problems. Seger and company were
not musically outstanding, but
played mostly rock 'n roll which
was what the people wanted most.
They did "Carol", Seger's "Looking
Back," and Teegarden and Van
Winkle's "God, Love, and Rock 'n
Roll."
'They were followed by Phil Ochs
who is straight from the school
of protest singers. His subjects
were all traditional, but his songs
were good and clever. He seemed
to know how to react to such a
large crowd, and didn't play an
overly long set.
He was followed by a long line
of speakers and musicians after
which Commander Cody played.
The band started out pitifully
weak and the audience was rest-
less. Things started getting better
when Bill Kirchan did "Pink
Champagne," and then Billy C.
did a cliched fifties rocker and
really got the audience moving.
They went right into "Jailhouse
Rock" which they did to perfec-
tion, Andy Stein taking a few so-
los on sax. They finished with
their theme song, "Lost in the
Ozone" and kept the crowds pret-
ty satisfied. This was the first ap-
pearance of new steel guitarist
Bobbie Black who doesn't fit the
band's image nearly as well as did
the West Virginia Creeper. The
band was really enthusiastic by
the latter part of their set, and
the audience appreciated them.
Ed Sanders spoke before the
next act which was the Contem-
porary Jazz Quintet from Detroit.
They were joined by a fairly fa-
mous New York trombonist, and
saxophonist Archie Sheppe They
played one number which was
typically avant-garde jazz. The in-
terplay between trombone, sax,
and trumpet was interesting and
the two drummers kept an ever
moving, swirling rhythm. The
band was not received with overt
enthusiasm because the majority
of the audience was restless, and
just wasnt into Archie Shepp.
The band that appeared next
was a surprise: Stevie Wonder.
Wonder played some good piano
and harmonica, and did a few of
his hits. such as "For Once in My
Life." The band was tight and
exciting. The audience was thor-
oughly appreciative of Wonder's
energies.
numbers. Included in the make-
Finally, a bunch of people came
out tohelp David Peel do a few
shift band was Jerry Rubin on
congas. Peel was up to his usual
antics and sang his type of simple,
playful tunes praising the drug
with its "mediocre" usage of the
theatrical elements of drama and
comedic relief, adds "nothing"
to the presentation of Jesus
Christ, Superstar, by incorporat-
ing films and slides "in no way
correlating with any scenes"
throughout the production.
3I . ..
culture and the hippie way of life..
He did a song called "Father", and
also "The Pledge of Allegiance,"
"Marijuana," a song about Dylan
which consisted of singing the
name of Bob Dylan over and over.
Finally, he sang a tune that just
repeated the names John Lennon
and Yoko Ono, after which the
Brifish couple appeared on stage
to conclude the rally.
As a benefit for Sinclair, an at-
tempt to make people aware of his
plight, the rally failed. Lennon's
presence was what sold the tickets
and it was Lennon that the people
came to see. They suffered
through nearly eight hours of
cramped conditions to see him,
and when he came on they could
hardly react. Lennon was the one
who madesthe whole show; as a
complete show, it fell far short
of satisfying.
Read and Use
Daily Classifieds
The company brought to the
stage heavy choreography, with
heavy movements by uncoordi-
nated actors and dancers. In
short, the production was better
left on a record.
"Superstar" is the story of the
last days of Christ's life, told in
song and dance, and easily un-
derstood by members of any
generation. It is also an attempt
to make the people in the story
of Jesus become more real to
today's generation.
This, the touring company did
indeed, with Danny St. Laurent
looking the part of a superstar.
St. Laurent's screams were real-
istic enough, but after the first
one, they could better have been
toned down a bit.
Bruce Govan as Judas had
an intricate character to por-
tray, and unfortunately did not
do it justice. The Judas he por-
trayed had stomach trouble,
which after a while, instead of
being troubled or pathetic, be-
came comical. His meeting with
COUNCIL THEATRE
presentsr
THE DAY LATKE
LOST ITS LATIES
or
When the Jews
were caught with
their Pans down.
A HANNUKAH
COMEDY-FARCE
written by MEL FOSTER and
ALAN EISENSTOCK
3 SHOWS: 4:15, 7, and 8:30
directed by Alan Eisenstock
TUESDAY, December 14
at Hillel-1429 Hill
only 25c
ening
Herod, played by Stanley Ram-
sey, left something to be desired,
namely enunciation on the parts
of both characters. But the yowls
of Govern were clearly heard
and understood.
Mary Gutzi, appropriately play-
ing Mary, had a fine voice which
carried well, but unfortunately
she had a great handicap to
overcome. The song, -I don't
know how to love him" has been
heard on the radio so often that
one almost expected to hear
Gutzi sing with similar vocal
ability. She did not. Even so,
her delivery was enjoyable, and
was the only high, point in an
otherwise dull evening.
C
*U of M Arts ChoraleL
Christmas Concert Al
Dec. 12,1971 at8:00 P.M.
in Hill Auditorium
Works by Stravinski, Poulenc, Britton
Bach, Pinkham, and others.
MAYNARD KLEIN, conductor
FREE ADMISSION
Ri
Read andUse Dai ly Classifieds
r
"A FASCINATING
VAMPIRE SHOCKER!
WE GUARANTEE
THAT IT WILL GLUE
YOU TO YOUR SEAT!"
-Howard Thompson,
New York Times
"It's lesbian time
in Transylvania!
The glorious
Seyrig drinks
the blood of
beautiful virigns
to remain
forever young!"
-Bernard Drew,
Gannett News Syndicate
"DAUGHTERS" 40. 7 010
"NEXT"
2:30 0 5:30 0 8:30
FIFTH or-um
PgPT'4 AVENUE AT LiDERTV
liDOWNTOWN ANN ARmOR
L I NF'ORMATION 761-9700
~1
a
-4
ARM Michigan Film Society
-ONLY-
TUESDAY
-ONLY-
The U-M Folklore Society Presents
EARL ROBINSON
tauthor of Ballad for Americans, Joe Hill, etc.)
MONDAY, DEC. 13 8:30 P.M.
at the Ark-1421 Hill Street
ADMISSION CHARGE $1.50
($1.00 FOR FOLKLORE SOCIETY MEMBERS)
"DEAD tired at end of semester? Be
GRATEFUL for two great nights of
music.."
GRATEFUL DEAD
HILL AUDITORIUM
Tues., Dec. 14--Wed., Dec. 15
December 14
first exam-break double bil
* If 14-year olds were given the vote ...
" If a 24-year old rock star were elected President
of the United States .
* If everyone over 30 were put into LSD restirement
campus .. .
Hollywood would call it
Wild in the Streets
with CHRISTOPHER JONES, SHELLEY WINTERS
and DIANE VARSI
-and-
Dracula Has Risen
from tihe Grove
with CHRISTOPHER LEE
macabre beauty-victim welcoming the
blood sucker almost as a lover.
Natural Science Audit.
WI4D IN THE STREETS-7:00 & 10:15
DRACULA HAS RISEN-8:30 & 11:45
ALSO-2ND SHOCKER!
Heaven help
whoever is ... IE
I
'Sti
.,
.. ,
. yz .
.: ,r'
. _:.
UAC-DAYSTAR presents
TUES., DEC. 14th and WED., DEC. 15th
cRATEFUL
TisGog on Sale
DEAD
Tomorrow
761-7849
$1 cont.
ALLEY
CINEMA
330 MAYNARD
FINAL WEEK
OF
ESCAPISM
PLUS
LAUGHS
$1.00 each showing
sponsored by
ann arbor
film cooperative
MONDAY
DEC. 13
CHILDREN
OF
PARADISE
1943-45
"Breathtaking . . . close
to perfection ... guaran-
teed to make you very
happily drunk."-JAMES
AGEE.
Set in 19th century Paris,
CHILDREN OF PARA-
DISE is one of the most
spectacular f i I m s ever
made.
TUESDAY
DEC. 14
THE
COMMITTEE
An unconventional film-
ed performance of a
group of west coast en-
tertainers who brilliantly
a n d hilariousiy satirize
such contemporary issues
as sex, d r u g s, politics,
education, r a c i a l prob-
lems, mass media.
SHOWS AT 7 & 9:30
WED.-THURS.
DEC. 15 & 16
THE
GREAT
CHASE
A compilation f iIm of
great movie chases . . .
including D.W. Griffith
films, C. B. DeMille films,
f i I m s starring Douglas
Fairbanks, Sr., L i I I i a n
Gish, Buster Keaton . . .
SHOWS AT 7 & 9:30
V'
NOTE TIMES:
7 & 10:30
the ann arbor film cooperative presents
TUESDAY Steve McQueen and Jaqueline Bissett in Peter Yates'
DEC. 14 A cop with existential
7:0 & 9 30 p.m. cool. Knock-out chases,
(And 11:15 p.m. if pre- exciting, believable de-
vious show sold out and tective thriller. Color.
attendance warrants) Rated M
THURSDAY Raquel Welch, Mae West in Michael Some's version of
with 'RIDERS OF THE PURPLE-SAGE'
UTORIUM
EACH SHOW
7-12 P.M. 1
Tickets Available at MICHIGAN UNION