Tuesday, November 20, 1973
I fit MIC:HIUAN DAILY
rage revel
Tuesday, November 20, 1973 it-1t MI(JHIUAN VAILY
;
i Willie
By BOB SCHETTER1
The heavy wood door to the l
Primo Showbar stares you in the v
face, backoning you to open it
and unlock the secrets behind.
You can sense the energy and
movement as music streams past
this formidable barrier, quicken-
ing the heart, altering the body ]
rhythms, luring and enticing you
toward the magic inside. Some-
thing is happening here and you a
don't know what it is . . . .
Totally straight-forward, Wil-
lie Dixon and his All-Stars build
Dixon:
A
the iitensity, not by frenzied out-
pouring of emotions a la Janis
Joplin, but rather by capitaliz-
ing on the basic rhythms of the
music and by presenting it in a
mellow, cohesive style.
Playing Primo last week, Dix-
on and his band created this mel-
low cohesiveness with a delicate
balance between instruments.
Dixon himself is a composer and
performer of such blues stand-
ards as "Spoonf!l" (recorded by
the Cream) and "Wang-wang
Doodle" (Howling Wolf).
None of the performers,i
cluding Dixon, is outstandin
but all are nevertheless goo
Guitarist Buster Benton ist
pical of the Chicago school, co
centrating on the technic
sounds rather than on emotior
Where Benton kept back, he
monica player Carey Belll
loose, mixing fine control wi
an inner quality which was ez
ily conveyed to the audience.
The final three members, L
fayette Leake (piano), Clift
James (drums), and Dixon hi:
longtim
in- self formed the rhythmic a n d Displa
g, chordal foil to the more 'melodic music al
)d. members, and filled in nicely countena
ty- with their own runs and riffs ly and g
n- when necessary. self and
al The All-Stars played through out thatI
ns. an amazing variety of songs. The ed in th
ar- high intensity "Don't Want No for Chuc
let Woman," highlighted Benton's ed on to
ith voice and guitar mastery, while It was
as- "Trouble Seems to Follow Me name C
Around," constitutes the "heavy" into bein
.a- end of the spectra. In between es wasr
on these were the standards "Spoon- with Bol
m- ful" and "Wang-Wang Doodle;" ist and h
a little B.B. King and s o m e added in
light jazz. Dixonc
'Figaro'
fine pei
By C. ALTON PARKS job as F
The School of Music's pro- swaggeri
duction ofhThe Marriage of Fig- singing
aro at Mendelssohn Theater Sun- he hadi
day night was simply delightful. ject as w
Mozart's classic comic opera
was brought off with style and
class by a talented and enthus-
iastic cast.
Mozart, at its best, is pure
unadulterated fun - a sublime
swirl of color, music, romance
and nonsense. The music school's
production caught this mood well
and provided a thoroughly enjoy-
able four hours of escape from
an increasingly un-fun, un-ro-
mantic world. ""~"
The action o f Figaro takes
place in the castle of C oun t The b
Almaviva in 18th century Spain. was turr
Its improbable and marvelously stein in h
silly plot goes something I i k e schemin
this: Figaro, servant to t h e sold the
Count and amateur matchmaker rendering
wants to marry Susanna - a moveme
chamber maid of the Countess- ous oldv
but is thwarted by the Count's Ashley
amorous designs on her. cent Che
Matters are further compli- as theoC
cated when the elderly Marcel- as Antog
ina brings a lawsuit against Fig- sang
aro to force him to marry her
(a gambit in which she is tacit-
y supported by the Count). What
follows is an i n s a n e tangle of
S intrigues in which the Count,
S Marcellina and her henchmen--- -
vie with Figaro, Susanne and the
betrayed Countess. AR
she Unbelievable problems are fol-
it lowed by equally unbelievable re- "Wh
in solutions (Figaro doesn't have to
ut marry Marcellina when he dis- to M
ut. covers she is his mother) until,
nd in the end, all is straightened "The'
rnout and everybody gets married "h
rn and lives happily ever after.
la y
y- In the meantime, the audience P
on is treatened to some of the fin-
iag est examples of Mozart's light,
its romantic style - syrupy roman- AR'
re- tic ballads and waggish comic
ely duets. "
Z. Edmond Tolliver did a fine
te
in
ying the character of his
1 over his plump, jovial
nce, Dixon talked free-
ood-naturedly about him-
the band. He pointed
the pianist and he start-
e early Fifties, playing
.k Berry and then mov-
.writing and studio work.
in the Sixties that the
hicago All-Stars came
g. Drummer Clifton Jam-
recruited from his years
Diddeley and tne guitar-
harmonica player w e r e
the last year or two.
dug all the attention giv-
m ixes
rform
igaro, capturing well :he
ng comic part. H i s
was quite good, althogh
a tendency not to pro-
vell in the lower register.
blues
en to him by Ann Arbor's "beau-
tiful people" as he described
them. Laughing, signing auto-
graphs, he went on to say that
he has been treated extremely
well by all the college towns.
Future plans call for a few"
days of recording in Chicago and
moving qn to Omaha.
The night ended in a blissful
booze state. Listening to a 'star,"
the bar-goers had grooved to the
blues, seduced by the sights and
sounds of the night: Ann Ar-
bor's fantasy life. The succinct
word for the evening was "intoxi-
cating."
fun,
inces
ler had a very entertaining bit
part as Don Curzio.
Under the direction of <Josef
Blatt, the orchestra played
strongly but never overwhelmed
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ARTS
Daily Photo by JOHN UPTON
est comic performance
ned in by Claudia MI-
her role as the snivellig,
g Marcellina. She really
part with her perfect
g of the expressions and
nt of a crochety, querul-
woman.
Putnam as the adoies-
rubino, Thomas Jenrette
ount and Steve Bryant
nio played convincingly
very nicely. Conrad Mi-
the vocals.
With the exception of the first
act which was unfortunately tac-
ky, the scenery was well done
and effective. The last act scene
- a garden setting - contribut-
ed well to the colorful romantic
escape of the production.
Stage Director Ralph Herbert
and the entire cast are to be
commended for a delightful and
entertaining performance of Mo-
zart's venerable classic.
Willie Dixon
Simon 's urban comedy
lacks societal solution
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By ALVIN CHARLES KATZ funny,v
Neil Simon is certainly : h e ing the
master of urban middle-class well be
comedy, as he proves again in There
The Prisoner of Second Avenue, jokes a
the latest offering of the Pro- Simonr
fessional Theatre Program. forte, t
Simon takes ordinary people laughter
and shrewdly examines the trials reality,;
they put up with to live in the happene
big city; the result is an oit- crying a
rageously funny play that never PTP's
loses sight of its underlying sen- one. At
sibilities. good di
The plot is a typical Simon si- and Tonr
tuation comedy. Mel and Edna play mo
Edison (King Donovan and Imo- able ten
gene Coca) are a middle-aged comic it
couple living in a high-rise, high- tioni.
rent apartment in New York's The se
fashionable East Side. ard Sylb
Nearly everything th-At could turing t
go wrong has. Mel is losing his a New
job and his mind, has indigesticei ing, of c
from his lunch at the healta food The s
restaurant, and can't sleen. The displayi
toilet won't stop flushing, the sort of
two German stewardesses n e x t which c
door are making a racket, the ience. Ir
air-conditioner has gone berserk Coca is
so the temperature is 89 out- while su
side, 12 inside, and the cactus Donovan
on the balcony is dying from the executiv
pollution. vous br
Believe it or not, things get together
worse, and one catastrophe fol- complen
lows another until Mel and Edna formanc
fall apart at the seams. Simon Despit
takes the genuinely sad series professi
of events and makes it genuinely of Seco:
a specic
thanksgiving
while constantly remind-
audience that they p;.ght
looking at themselves.
are plenty of extended
nd funny situations, but
relies primerily on his
he one-liner. He uses
as\ a telescope into
and by the end what has
d is as much cause for
as it is for laughter.
production is a g o a d
the heart of it is some
rection by Mike Nicnols
. Porter, which keeps the
oving along at a comfort-
mpo and punctuates the
rony of the entire situa-
ettings, designed by Rich-
bert, are exceptional, cap.
he prison-like quality of
York high-rise overlook-
ourse, another high-rise.
ix member cast is solid,
ing good timing and a
spirited professionalism
comes only from exper-
n the lead roles, Imogene
n i c e l y sympathetic
uitably volatile, and King
n is perfectly cast as an
ve on the verge of a ner-
eakdown. The two work
beautifully and in turn
ment each other's p e :-
ces.
te all the laughs and the
ionalism, The Prisoner
nd Avenue is somewhat
treat
rs-Fri-Sat
short of completely satisfyin
After an excellent first act, t
play really goes nowhere;
almost seems like Simon is
too deep and can do nothing b
try to wisecrack his way of
We lose interest in Mel a
Edna because we don't lea
much about them as the pb
progresses, and being a pla
wright and not a sage, Sim
gives us no solutions. Nothi
really happens to tie all the b
and pieces together, and ther
suit is a funny but ultimate
empty vision of urban lunacy.
T1
atever Happened
Miss September?"
AND
Whistle Blowers"
RATED 'X
hone 482-3301
T2
Little Sisters"
AND
nage Fantasies"
rogram Wednesday
PRESENTS:
HORSEFEATHERS & -TWO, TARS
Classic MARX BROTHERS and
LAUREL & HARDY
Next MONDAY & TUESDAY, Nov. 26,27
Ingmar BERGMAN'S "CRIES AND WHISPERS"
TONIGHT-7:00 & 9:00 Aud. A-AngellH all $1
university players
presents the second
showcase production
1973-1974
at the ARENA THEATRE
in the Frieze Building
and
/ iss,
reardon
drinks
a
little
by PAUL ZINDEL
NOV. 29, 30, DEC. 1
TICKETS: Thursday $1.00; Friday & Satur-
"Tee
new p
_ ...
4.'
1-11
11-1
Nov 22-23-24 Thu
ESTHER
PHILLIPS
COMING
Nov 29-30 &Dec 1
Handel's rLssiai
Eddie Harris
' f-7
In just ten days, the University Choral Union of 350 voices presents
the first of three performances of this holiday favorite, continuing
a long-standing tradition in celebration of the Christmas season.
This year's soloists are Ruth Falcon. soprano, Muriel Greenspon,
contralto, a U-M School of Music alumna, John Sandor, tenor, and
Satverio Barbieri, bass. Donald Bryant is the conductor.
IM"N TvE&SITY
rfE rT Tf AT/ N A T G i 1rr 'ITV YT 7
r