Tuesday, February 25, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
rucsday, February 25, 1975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
- this week
Hancock 's
'Passion' scenes link
classical drama modes
jazz piano,
electrifies Hill crowd
By DAVID WEINBERG By JAMES FIEBIG his place behind an array of
Diane Daverman has got a lot on her mind these days. and BRUCE JORDAN keyboard instruments for the
sure what century it s, Hill Auditorium was the place band's first two numbersI
She wakes up'in the morning not quitesreab ntughtwis for all University jazz lovers to "Spanker Lee" and "Sly."
and when she wakes up this morning probably one thought will be Saturday night, as Herbie Hancock dedicated "Butter-E
come booming up in her mind-This is it! Hancock and the Headhunters fly," the next chart, to the
Today, tomorrow and Thursday at Trueblood, Daverman's brought their unique electronic ladies in the audience--after
Love a la Mode, alias Two Acts of Passion (in Fashion) takes to sound to the usually more som- trying at length (and some-
the stage. Love a la Mode is a series of scenes of classical drama ber concert hall. what in vain) to compare thea
ranging from Elizabethan to 19th century farce, which have been
bound together by music dance and madrigals of the period. .,.s.. v.,:a "., ,:";}:..,.
Daverman, with her choreographer Jenny Martin, selected ther
scenes, fashioned them into a coherent whole, which included at
timestwriting and rewriting sections of the scenes, and finally "Featuring heavy basic rhythms and several
directed them. "etrn ev ai htm n eea
The inspiration for this ambitious effort was the New York complex synthesizer effects, Hancock's per- ;
City Center Acting Company, who sponsored a workshop at the
Universityrlast fall. Ms. Daverman and her cast worked with formance was a fine example of the more 1
City Center, and their present-day effort represents an extension was fI
of the work of the fall.
"Students have only a vague idea of anything that happened electrtc, funk3 type of jazz.
in theatre before the 19th century," said Daverman. "What I,
wanted to make clear was that there's a difference in mentality ": ,..":::;:r.:,:"...:.:.:-.,..:.}:: s.:. ..:.. ..r..
between Elizabethan drama and Restoration and all of them.",
The overriding theme of the production is love and sex
through the ages. "I don't think love changes. The demands of iFeauring heavy basic rhy ust onea butterfly'snwigs to
sceymay be different, and -h codes of behavior, but people and several complex synthesizer the experience of romance. E
society the effects, Hancock's performance "Butterfly" used a variety of
just use these to get what they want, and what they want from was a fine example of the more: rhythms and melodic layers-
love may not be always what they get. I have a tendency to go electric, "funky" type of jazz including a large African gourd,
towards comedy with it because it's easier to take that way," in which he has been a pioneer- filled with gun shot, played by
Daverman said. ing artist. percussionist Paul Jackson-to1
Accompanying the love theme particularly in the area of Hancock's set actually began evoke a calm, mellow feeling.
Restoration is an undercutting bawdiness. Daverman mentioned a without him. The Headhunters, Stark lighting, principally using
scene in which the word "China" is used to denote sex or sexual a pickup touring band who ap- shadow projections of Jackson,
intercourse. peared on Hancock's million- added to the effect.
Of the actors, Daverman said, "They have had to go through selling album of the same name, At the end of Jackson's solo,
very rigorous training. It's been really gruelling for them, but came on first and proceeded to the familiar bass line of "Cha-
they feel they've been working, and that's a good way for them solo around a firm percussion meleon began-bringing the
ybe realizendw nerksgandhot'ngdpattern. Only after a few min- expected wild reaction from the
to begin to realize and understand working procedures that utes of this lively buildup did crowd. This concert version was
actors go through." i Herbie finally emerge and take considerably extended, and fea-
'LOVER' AND 'IMAGINE':
tured solos by Bennie Maaipin
on tenor and saxello as well as
Hancock on keyboards.
The "Chameleon" rendition
also featured Hancock's best
synthesized effect of the night.
Using a 'sample and hold' pat-
tern on his ARP synthesized-
a system which permits the per-
former to program his instru-
ment with a solo line in ad-
vance-Hancock stepped away
from the synthesizer and pro-
ceeded to "conduct" it through
a pattern.
The Lyman WoodardOrgan-
ization preceded the Hancock
set withia surprisingly good set
of music. The Detroit-based
group played some soulful jazz-
rock, and was received quite
well by the admittedly Hancock-
oriented audience.
Most of the main floor audi-
ence seemed to comply with
UAC's no smoking or drinking
rules. The balconies, however,
were reportedly as smoke-filled
as ever.
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
Herbie Hancock
v
3
I
HILARIOUS!
SEXY
I
0
RIBALD!
RC plays
prove superficial
By SARAH POLAREK Doll's House, but it acquires dously professional and engros- but was an adquate backdrop
The Residential College Play- here a new richness in, Pinter's sing. The soliloquy on "Dragon for Easton's performance.
ers this weekend presented one- vague, existential language. country, the country of pain" is, The Residential College Play-
act plays by two of the most Williams' "I Can't Imagine: voiced most poignantly by East- ers' production overal lacke
startling playwrights of the Tomorrow first appeared in the on, and she has captured per- the kind of sophistication which
modern age. March, 1966 issue of Esquire fectly the combination of fu- would have greatly enhanced
The Players presented Harold magazine, and is a little-known tility and ambition which char- both plays. Butthis lack is in
Pinter's The Lover (1936) and work by a rather well-known acterize nearly all of Tennessee part compensated for by the
Tennessee Williams' I Can't playwright. The one-oct play Williams' female creations. e d
Imagine Tomorrow (1966) at concerns two middle-aged peo- Richard Green's portrayal of performance of thesetao ver
East Quad Auditorium Thurs- ple, called simply "One" and
day, Friday and Saturday eve- "Two", who, like Sarah and her lonely friend lacked style, difficult plays.
nings. Richard, have become trapped
The Lover concerns a well- in a routine and even painful
to-do British couple who, ten existence. W.C. FIELDS in 1940
years into their ho-hum mar- "On"i awmna n
Oneisa omna n-THE BANK DICK
riage, find it necessary to intro- valid, whose only connection, it
duce role-playing games into seems, with the outside world (AT 7)
their relationship. Sarah and is "Two", a high school teacher
Richard create new roles for Egbert Souse stops a hold-up man, becomes a bank guard F
who has recently quit his job as a reward, and directs a film for diversion. Fields in one
themselves; she becomes his because he can no longer com- of his most cynical and hen-pecked roles. Short: Laurel
mistress-whore, he becomes municate with his students. and Harde's LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING.
the lover who visits her in the Each is the only friend of the
afternoons. But Pinter insists other, and the tomorrows which JUDY GARLAND in 1939
that these games are not as are left them are almost ter- THE W IZARD OF OZ
harmless as they might at firstI rifying to these alienated indi-
seem. viduals. (AT 9:05)
ate pconceyRic pas i h The Residential College Play- A childhood fantasy that has transformed itself over the I
late these crdto ers' productions of these two years into one of Hollywood s most durable anddelehtful
laeteecontradictory roles; films Short: THE HAND-Jiri Trynka (Czech puppet
that is, the attempts to bring plays were, unfortunately, am- film).
the sexuality associated with ateurish and out-of-tune . Inh s
the afternoon romps into their The Lover, Alice Taylor as C Gi uild ils Od rh
marriage relationship. Sarah wasrinsufficiently female for $1.50 Aud.
Yet Sarah is frightened by --her mistress-whore seduced,
this attempt throughout, and in with a whine; her "witty .
her, and to a lesser degree, sophisticated" suburban wife
Richard's jealousy of their alter was somewhat dowdy. Martin
egos lies a neurosis which pene- Hurwitz as her husband was
tratet the sterility of the mod- not much better, and both his
ern, middle-class marital con- husband and his lover were,
cept. remarkably uninteresting.
This is, of course, old mater- Judith Easton's performance
ial; it is, in fact, Ibsen's story in I Can't Imagine Tomorrow
of Nora and Torvald in The was, on the other hand, tremen-
Indochina Peace Campaign in Ann Arbor
PRESENTS
1
Barbra
Streisand
Robert
Redford
in
THE WAY'
WE WERE
A beautiful Jewish fellow-traveler
of the Communist party, and a
blue blood jock improbably fall
for each o t h e r in this moody
comedy. Unforgettable.
MARK FORTH and MARY LOU ZUELCH
appear in one of the hilarious
scenes that composes
LOVE A LA MODE
FEBRUARY 25-27
Tickets available at the ticket office in Mendelssohn
Lobby or call 764-0450
7:15
TON IGHT
9:30
Modern Languages Auditorium
$1.25 contribution
994-9041
I
'U' schools perform
interesting media mix
Alk
think.
which radio station in the Ann Arbor area:
programs contemporary-rock music without the hype?
broadcasts in QUAD-in the Dolby System?
is backed by 10,000 watts of power?
informs you of local happenings?
is involved in the community?
T9-.. T. T74TT A. I"Y--.
By LINDA FIDEL The music of the film, com-
posed by Thomas C. Clark,
Last weekend at Schorling complemented it only occasion-
Auditorium the Dance Depart- ally, and the choreography,
ment, the School of Music and while at times interesting too
School of Art presented two of often appeared to be unrelated
their very interesting new to the surrounding events, and'
works, Shutters and Tears. too frenetic to be enjoyable.
They demonstrated in very dif-b
ferent terms what can be done Tears, the second half of the
with mixed forms of communi- presentation was far more suc-
cation. cessful than its counterpart. It
Shutters, a film conceived by began with an interview about
Milton Cohen, was too somber what type of people used to go
and tense to truly be enjoyed to dances. And this set the
by the audience in its entirety, tone ,of the film - it was a nos-
but some aspects offered more, talgic look at dance. c
than others. The point, however; Above all, Tears was ented- .~C
of the film as a whole, was Ir , taig h anes(hc n-t% V " I
difficult to discern.tamng.tTh dancers (whien-
Six women dancers, dressed cluded the refreshing addition
alike in pink, seemed to be ab- of males) were colorful, har- 206 E. Liberty
stractly interpreting something, monious and alive. Their per-
but they definitely missed the formance was professional and 663-86
mark. The abstractness border- thoroughly enjoyable.
ed on sloppiness: one ballerina _
came on stage smoking a real
cigarette while a few others
read an imaginary newspaper,
thus creating a haphazard ef- Every Monday and
feet. The inconsistency would
have been tolerable had Shut- Tuesday ite
ters been entertaining.
rO :FN:= L<R: GS:> BEER N IT E
ORIE NT AL RUGS
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