Saturday, November 23, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILYP F Page Five Hansi Good-nc By JONATHON EASTMANN Daily Opera Reviewer IIANSEL AND GRETEL-the Music School's opening show of the 1974-75 opera season-is a very nice production but nothing much to rave about. Those who were seeing their first student opera here probably went home suitably impressed, for a com- petent performance was turned in by almost everyone in the obviously talented cast. But ... But, somehow, something was missing last night - something which made last year's productions not just good, but really superb. That something, I think, is inspira- tion. Last year's casts featured people who were more than singers - they were performers. People like Tolli- ver, Hicks and many others who made shows like Marriage of Figaro and Eugene Onegin really memor- able last year were both missing and sorely missed last night. With the exception of David Ad- erente's delightful performance as the witch, there was an unfortunate shortage of "performers" on stage and Gretel': inspired-opera at Lydia Mendelssohn last night. Perhaps, however, the compari- son is unfair, for Hansel and Gretel, as a opera, is quite inferior as a ve- hicle to both Figaro and Onegin. Beyond the score, there's just not much to it, aside from the very en- chanting untra-German imagery complete with Black Forest-style supernatural types such as a sleep fairy, dawn fairy, a complement of fourteen angels, and, of course, the witch. But, don't forego seeing this pro- duction just because of its rather obvious shortcomings. The music alone is worth the three and one half bucks for admission. Engelbert Humperdinck's highly familiar, lyrical score - highlight- ed by the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" - is really beautiful all by itself and was rendered by the mu- sicians in the pit with their usual super level of skill, under the direc- tion of Josef Blatt. Blatt, in case you didn't know, also does the translation into En- glish of the librettos for all Music School shows and handles the job with such grace that you never feel you're missing anything by not hearing them in their original lan- guage. Gretel was sung by Louise Fader and Hansel by Diane Zola and both have strong, lovely voices and han- dled their parts, musically speaking, very well. Michael Jordan, who played the father, also turned in a very fine performance. The mother was sung by Marilyn Krimm, the sleep fairy by Laura Holland and the dawn fairy by Riva Cauellari. But Aderente's witch came dan- gerously close to stealing the show, despite the fact that he was only on the stage for the last half of the third act. The reason, auite simply, was that A derente acted -- he "performed." His presence so enlivened the stage that he significantly made the third act by far the best. There are two more performances of Hansel and Gretel to go-one at 8 p.m. tonight and one at 2 p.m. Sunday. Go see it-it's a very pleas- ant show and you'll enjoy it. And now, my little pretty! Hansel's (Diane Zola) fate has gone from bad to worse as the wicked wvitch has imprisoned him prior to consumption. Here Hansel calls fruitlessly for Gretel (Louise Fader) but to no avail. i' r. r t al! BRIDi Duplicate players must sometimes take unnecessary risks. by FRANK BELL ........ A imQges.. . Every Friday night at 7:30 there is a duplicate bridge game at the Michigan Union. This game is open to the public, and if a player shows up with- out a partner the director will frequently be able to match him up with another player. Run primarily for students, the Union game is a good intro- duction to the world of tourna- ment bridge. Tactics in dupli- cate bridge, also known as match points, can vary greatly from rubber bridge as the fol- lowing hand illustrates. NEITHER VUL. NORTH ' A J 14 V A 5 2 f 9 5 3 4762 WEST K 8 5 2 9 9J5746 EAST Q 6 4 3 V 86 * A Q 10 4 2 4 Q J 10 SOUTH 9'7 K Q J 10 7 4 3 K A K 8 South led the spade seven to dummy's ten. East won his spade queen and continued with the jack of clubs. South won the ace of clubs and led his remaining spade. Now this is where the match point player parts company from the rubber bridge player. The rubber bridge player would play the spade ace and claim his contract, losing a spade, a diamond, and a club. The match point player, how-' ever, would see that he was in a normal contract which the Top anmators rest of the field rated to reach. Realizing that on each board in rEceive AnniEs duplicate a pair receives a match point for each score that HOLLYWOOD (Reuter)-Four they beat and one half a point topline Hollywood film anima for a tied score, the match pointtors player would play the jack of includingthe creator fan spades. ther and Bugs Bunny won True, if the spade finesse awards at the annual awards loses to the king declarer will ceremony of the International go down one, losing two spades, Film Animation Society here one heart, and one club, but the last night. rest of the time he will be able Tex Avery, the creator of to sluff his losing club on the Bugs Bunny, Friz Freleng who ace of spades and make an invented the Pink Panther and overtrick. Chuck Jones of the "Road- The double finesse in spades is runner" cartoon series won a 76 per cent proposition, thus, golden Annie awards. slightly more than three quar- A ters of the time South will Aspecial award was made to make an overtrick and beat all Art Babbitt, formerly a top those declarers who had played animator with the Disneyl sudi safe for their contract, while design Donald Duck one auarter of the time he will go down. In duplicate it does not mat- ter how big your score is if you " do not do better than the other - pairs sitting in your direction. V ilence It is the number of pairs you beat and not your total score agast each pair or for the divies whole session, which is import- Woe is Hansel Hansel (Diana Zola) finds himself hopelessly entrapped by the wicked witch (David Aderante) who has revealed to him the awful truth of the gingerbread house. The Music School production closes tonight at Mendelssohn. __ ~ -- - .. - 11 ] OPEN, READING ... POETRY.. . Women's Studies Program Sponsors Poetry & Prose AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION EVERYONE WELCOME SATURDAY, NOV. 23 7:30 p.m. PENDELTON ROOM 2nd Floor Michigan Union 0] .. Couzens Film Co-op PRESENTS LINDSAY ANDERSON'S "IF.. with MALCOLM MacDOWELL FRIDAY & SATURDAY AT 8 & 10 IN COUZEN'S CAFETERIA ADMISSION $1.00 I1 a ~~mediatrics presents LeMan s with STEVE McQUEEN Fri., Nov. 22-Sal., Nov. 23 1:30,9:30 Nat.Sci. Aud. $1 r The bidding: South West 1H Pass 4H Pass North East 2H Pass Pass Pass Opening lead: Six of dia- monds. East won his ace of diamonds and noted that declarer had played the king. Realizing that South no longer had any dia- monds, East shifted to the queen of clubs. Winning his king of clubs, de- clarer led a heart to dummy's ace and returned a heart to his king as West pitched a dia- mond. Having drawn trump, Miami staff photographers of the Associated Press captured this sunset glimpse of a flock of sea gulls heading home for a rest a fter a busy day of searching for food. ant in duplicate. sod unites. Pennell to recite Betjeman's poetry Have a few extra moments during the day? Need something to occupy your mind? THEN, tuck a copy of Crossword Puzzle under your arm. English actor Nicholas Pen- nell will premiere an interpre- tive reading of the poetry of England's Poet Laureate John Betieman at noon on Monday, November 25. The special per- formance will be held in the Pendleton Arts Information Cen- ter on the second floor of the Michigan Union as an "extra" on the center's current noon- time "Open Hearth" series. Pennell is currently in Ann Arbor as guest artist to play the title role in Shakespeare's Pericles, which will be pre- sented by the University of Michigan Theatre Program No- vember 27-30 in Power Center. He will be re-creating the lead role in which he performed these past two seasons at On- tario's Stratford Festival Thea- tre. Pennell has played major roles in many television pro- ductions in England, including that of Michael Mont in The Wifiu Forsythe Saga. On stage in London, he is known for his work in plays by Harold Pinter. His career has also included ap- pearances for the Oxford Play- ers, the Bristol Old Vic Com- nanv and many films, including Isadora and David Copperfield. "I find John Betjeman unique j in his poetic imagery," says Pennell, who feels that the lau- reate's style is particularly suit- able for dramatic presentation. Pennell's Monday performance will be his own adaptation. DAILY CLASSIFIEDS BRING QUICK RESULTS The community of God. Make it your way. RIAL tEUC04 IN AMERICAN LIF ~jA Pt*k 5uwo an N aW #6f~i *MI 1 ,W - I ,- IfyOuire gt thie CRAZIE to AM"IAZE IBITEYOD R I "TRWIF 1 RNFT YARN1" I ~ilN1to ILN l E., lC T 40 X"- rEi9~ Shows at 1-3-5-7-9 P.M. Open 12:45 .