The Michigan Daily-Sunday, February 19, 1978-Page 5
Crosby
By JOSHUA PECK
T HOUGH some effort is made to
enlighten, entertainment is the ob-
ject in the Best of Broadway series'
Same Time, Next Year, now at Power
Center. Entertain it does, and most
amusingly.
The play is the saga of a 25-year ex-
tramarital affair. George and Doris,
both happily married and parents of 3
children, meet one night in 1951 at a rit-
Same Time. Next Year
by Bernard Slade
Pow~er Centfer
February 17, 18, 19, 1978
Doris ............................,Kathryn Crosby
George .......................... ... Tony Russel
Directed by Warren Crane
Costumes by Jane Greenwood
Sets by William Ritman
zy hotel in northern California. They
hastily consummate their relationship
and, as the curtain rises, they are
waking and recovering from their first
night of love.
George (Tony Russel) is frenetically
nervous as he slips out of bed and into
his clothes. His jittery manner leads
Doris (Kathryn Crosby) to inquire
about his religion: She: "Are you Jew-
ish?" He: "No." She: "Then why are
you so guilty?"
THE COUPLE banters about the joys
and tribulations of their respective
home lives. Doris complains that her
husband considers his four years in the
service the best of his life: "Three of
those years were spent in a Japanese
prison camp."
THE DUO'S weekends together
become an annual event (thus the title).
The play's format consists of six twenty
or thirty-minute glimpses into their
yearly entanglements.
THE HIGNlANDS
1 and 2 bedroom apartments
includes security lock system, drapes,
dishwasher, lighted tennis courts, and
pool
Buses to and from campus daily
1693 Broadway, Apt. 302
769-3672
Reaume and Doddes Management Co.
big.
Detractors are
claim that Kathry
Sinatra, David Ca
rabble, would neN
show business if n
(late husband Bin
The argument is u
case. Ms. Crosby]
credits galore, all(
In Same Time, sh,
constant aspects o
those facets that
perience alter.
Her timing is ir
with Jack Benny
most deliciously
the products of
timing, as when G
regrets about her i
of pregnancy: "
wails. And then:
visiting the dead ra
PLAYWRIGHT
managed what m
only grope at: a
barrage of genuin
coupled with two
mensional charact
minutes, there w
that the play woul
Neil Simon-type s
the actors, partic
warmed and loose
improved.
As George, Tor
than afew probler
seems to be phys
in B'way hit
likely to make the prepares to blurt out some of his punch-
n Crosby, like Nancy lines. When he remarks to Crosby that
ssidy, and other such his wife doesn't like to travel with him,
ver have made i( in she asks, "Afraid of flying?" He shakes
ot for famous kinfolk his head and replies, "Crashing." Not
ig in Crosby's case). badly scripted, but Russel embarras-
tterly spurious in this singly anticipates the audience's reac-
has stage and screen tion and so kills it.
of them justly casted.
e artfully blends the On the other hand, Russel handles his
f her character with most difficult task quite admirably.
time, love and ex- Over the course of the play, his charac-
ter undergoes a painfully gradual meta-
mpeccable, on a par morphosis from jumpy, basically dis-
's. The production's likable and insecure child to gracefully
funny moments are aging, self-fulfilled gentleman. Play-
Crosby's incisive wright Slade uses the character of
eorge expresses his George to make an interesting point
involuntary condition (and counterpoint) of view about the
You're sorry," she "human growth" movements of the
"... I insisted on early 70's. Through his involvement
abbit." . with Esalen, transactional analysis and
the like, George has become a com-
Bernard Slade has fortable, jeans-clad swinger.
any other comedists His new-found confidence has
seemingly incessant allowed him tolerance even of Doris,
iely funny one-liners who in this scene (11,2) is a successful
thoroughly three-di- businesswoman. When Doris attacks
ers. For the first five him for his affected ways ("Let's rap
vas some indication about it"), he is able to turn away her
Id be a showcase for most virulent wrath: She: "You're full
uperficiality, but as of shit." He: "I can buy that."
ularly Tony Russel, Costumer Jane Greenwood, twice a
ned up, the situation Tony winner, deserves credit for a job
perceptively done. In the second scene
s wRthel has more especially, Crosby's ungainly garb len
sicall i ds insight into the precise nature of her
icly posing as he character's change.
Daily Photo by ANDY -REEBEtRG
Julius Hemphill, playing soprano, played duets with Oliver Lake Friday night at the Residential College Auditorium.
x duo spur jazz fans'
i q/
By MATTHEW KLETTER
W EARING EARRINGS on opposite,
W ears, Oliver Lake and Julius
Hemphill performed saxophone duets
Friday night as part of Eclipse Jazz's
Bright Moments series at the Resi-
dential College Auditorium.
Lake and Hemphill spent con-
siderable amounts of time in the South
developing an avant-garde style which
forwarded them to New York.
Julius Hemphill, born in Texas, was
influenced by Ornette Coleman and
Dewey Redman. In 1968, he moved to
St. Louis and became a member of the
Black Artist Group (BAG), along with
Oliver Lake and Lester Bowie. BAG,
similar to Chicago's Association for the
Advancement of Creative Music
(AACM), is an educational performing
eo-operative organization.
During an Eclipse workshop held
Friday afternoon in a basement
classroom in East Quad, Hemphill
discussed BAG and the AACM.
Refering to BAG, he enunciated, "I feel
-a membership allover the planet".
Hemphill told the group of jazz en-
thusiasts about the five-day workshops
he gives, twice a. year at the Creative
Music Studio in Woodstock, New York.
Also conducting workshops there are
Anthony Braxton, Sam Rivers, Don
Cherry, and the Art Ensemble of
Chicago, who just finished a ten-day
workshop.
OLIVER LAKE has spent much of his
life in St. Louis affiliated with BAG. In
1974, he moved to New York and
became-active in New York's jazz loft
scene.
The artists began their performance
at 8 p.m. with Hemphill on clarinet and
'ake on soprano sax. Unlike in many
recent jazz performances, these
musicians had music to read, which
'apparently helped to synchronize their
performance. The first half of the con-
cert was filled with interlaced pitter-
pattered instrumentation, creating a
mellow ambiance, very relaxing
around mid-terms. The music made me
think of the sorrow found sitting by the
Mississippi:
Chains of ancient sorrow,
Psalms of cryless mercy,
A squeal of solitude,
A view of the now,
With a glimpse of the past,
Submergence of a soul
in an instrument.
Friday night, Lake was a more
dynamic performer than Hemphill.
Hemphill maintained structure while
Lake would stretch out his emotions.
Many times this emotional augmen-
tation was presented with Hemphill
whisking through hisclarinet while
Lake occasionally whined away with
his saxophone. This whisking and
wining seemed to add a personal touch
to the performance.
DURING THE workshop Lake,
speaking of the differences between his
live performances and his studio, work,
commented, "I'm more comfortable in
playing situations because I can bounce
my energies off the audience". It was
tranquilizing to watch these men, and
occasionally you could find a distinct
rhythm, but the music does not get
hung up on a continuous rhythms or
structures.
There seems to be sentiment among
listeners about the lack of recognition
this music is receiving. Commenting on
this, Lake said, "I think it's a con-
spiracy and I think economic factors
aside, I think that general heirarchies
of people. . . would call us anar-
chistic."
Halfway through the show, Lake and
Hemphill changed the pace by putting
on their alto saxophones. Hemphill
started off with a solo, creating a
cyclonic synthesis of frequencies. This
vestige was followed by Lake's
spasmatic saxophone approach, ac-
cented by Lake stomping his feet to his
riff of expression. The Lake solos were
much more dynamic then Hemphill's,
although there was something very
congenial about Hemphill. With their
saxophones on, the show became more
enterprising and farther-reaching.
The last two jams were especially in-
spiring, with Lake and Hemphill off
shooting from a basic framework and
sending these offshoots into fission
dispersions. Though these musicians
said nothing to the audience throughout
the entire performance, in the end they
received a well-deserved standing ova-
tion.
Throughout this school year, we've
had the opportunity to see some of the
finest jazz around today. This concert
was another bright moment proving
that avant-garde music is alive and
coming.
F
The Office of
Major Events Presents
IN CONCERT
BUFFEli
And
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Rescheduled for Today
1970
BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE
Raimer Fassbinder's autobiographical mediation on filmmaking
in a class with 8%, Contempt and Pay For Night. Cast and
crew tear each other apart at a seaside luxury hotel, hoping to
be made complete by contact with the "Holy Whore"-the cinema.
TUES: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
The CORAL REEFER BAND'
FRIDAY, MARCH 24TH - 8:00 PM
HILL AUDITORIUM (Ann Arbor)
RESERVED TICKETS $7.50 - $6.50 & $5.50
TICKETS GO ON SALE 11:30 AM, WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 22ND (No Personal Checks Please!)
AUTHORIZED TICXE T OUTLETS:
MICHIGAN UNION BOX OFFICE (Ann Arbor) ALL HUDSON'S
HUCKLEBERRY'S PARTY STORE (YPSILANTI)
FOR INFO. CALL 763-2071
MAIL ORDER INFORMATION: Send self-addressed, stamped
envelope along with certified check or money order only, to:
JIMMY BUFFETT, MICHIGAN UNION BOX OFFICE, ANN
ARBOR, MICHIGAN 48109
Smoking & Beverages Strictly Prohibited iiiHill Auditorium
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7:00 & 9:0
OLD ARCH. AUD.
$1.50
k '
GARY SNYDER
ATHE
WE
COVER
EVERYTHING!
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