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March 18, 1978 - Image 5

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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1978-03-18

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The Michigan Daily-Saturday, March 18, 1978-Page 5

'West Side Story'

1* -

1:

By JOSHUA PECK
W ELL, A flawless production
would have been too much to ask
for. But overlooking a few major goofs
and a gaggle of minor distractions and
detractions, Musket's current West
Side Story makes for a sometimes
exhilarating, enchanting evening of
theater.
Jon Zimmerman and Patricia
Preston play Tony and Maria, (nee
Romeo and Juliet). They are both suc-
cessful in some respects, and painful
failures in others.
West Side Story
PMer C:enter
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstain
Tony.................. .....Jon Zimmerman
Maria........................Patricia Preston
Bernardo.............. .........Andrew Swee
Anita ..........................Ellen Sandweiss
Riff .............................. Greg Conley
Krupke ................ ......... David Crites
Shrank ....................... Robert Frankel
Glad Hand........ .......Douglas Foreman
Doc .......... ... .......... Michael Greene
Chino..................Jose Luis Urla, Jr.
Action....... ............Scott Lazarus
Anybodys .. ................. Nancy Kling
Robert Alexander, idirecor; Peter Kentes,
i'horegArphfr; Leif Bjaland, tnguxid diretor; Ben-
jamin Whitely, racal director; David Boyer, xe.
te~liner; Timothy Hunter, fighuing drcsigner;
Kathleen D. Schaadt, cofnune designer.
Zimmerman. sings magnificently
throughout the show. In "Maria," he
reaches for the originally-written high
notes, which no other Tony I've seen
has attained. (Bernstein wrote a lower
register alternative for those not up to
the soaring falsetto task.)
UNFORTUNATELY, Zimmerman's

soaring vocal achievements make his
inadequate acting glare all the
brighter. He does not, by a long shot,
ruin the show; he merely lacks the ear-
thiness and vibrancy to convince us
that we are watching a "star-crossed
lover," tragedy bound.
As Maria, Preston suffers from no
such contrast in abilities. As an actress,
singer and dancer she is a cut above
fair, though just about all of her
moments with Zimmerman are awk-
ward, i.e., unloving. The instants that
will stand out in my mind are those
when she is alone in a spotlight, as in
her beautifully done solo in "Tonight."

r
Of the production staff,
choreographer Peter Kentes deserves
the most credit. He took a cast selected
predominately with vocal director
Whitely's needs in mind, and turned
them into quite a cohesive, tight dance
troupe. The-Jets, especially, look as if
all they've been doing these past mon-
ths is rehearsing their choreographic
feats. But that is obviously not the case.
THE PAINSTAKINGLY trained Jets
are responsible for both of the produc-
tion's best songs: "Cool" and "Gee, Of-
ficer Krupke." In the former, the

ives up
clashing rhythms and dissonant theme
bolster a tension of tangible dimension.
The latter proved to be the audience's
favorite, in taking a broad sarcastic
slap at the Establishment, with
vulgarisms thrown in for topping.
The depressing elements of the cast
were surprisingly numerous. David
Pevsner whined his way through the
part of Baby John, an insecure Jet.
Director Alexander should have choked
a little of the "cuteness" out of Nancy
Kling's Anybodys. David Crites was
lackluster as Krupke, and Robert
Frankel as Shrank a tad worse. And if
Douglas Foreman (Glad Hand) is once
more cast as an unfunny, sniveling
idiot, I will take up axe murder as an1
avocation.
THE SHARKS ARE led dynamically
by Andrew Swee as Bernardo and Ellen
Sandweiss as Anita. Swee especially
exhibits mastery over his character
down to the macho Latin swagger in his
walk. His dance steps, too, were exper-
tly maneuvered.
Sandweiss, though a bit Hebraic at
times, captained the female Puerto
Rican contingent with style. She was
particularly peppery in the caustically
comic "America, with the help of an
admirable job by the other Shark
women.
An awkward bit of blocking sent Swee
flailing into the orchestra pit during the
climactic knife fight, but he recovered
gracefully. There were other problems

to its

a
5
{
R
Y
9
name,

Tony and Maria (Jon Zimmerman and Patricia Preston) in a romantic money
from Musket's production of "West Side Story."

with the use of the stage, such as an
arrangement which gave me the distin-
ct feeling that Maria's bedroom was in
the middle of Ninth Avenue. I also won-
der if Tony and Maria objected to the
interruption of their embrace by over-
eager stagehands.
GREG CONNELLY as Riff was

steady and quite effective when called
to violence. I wonder, though, if the
very skillful Scott (Action) Lazarus
would not have been the right man for
that role.
West Side Story has a reputation
among some as the greatest stage
musical ever written. Musket's
stimulating and provocative rendition
does the notion proud.

Daily Photo by BRAD BENJAMIN
Sharks Nibbles and Consuelo (Dick Hayden and Jane Kinset) dance up a storm
in Musket's production of "West Side Story."

New Sweet misdirected

By TIM YAGLE
T HE HARD rocking British quartet
known as Sweet isn't quite as hard
rocking as they used to be. They've

some relaxing music about California
nights and everything that can happen
out there in crazyland. A song that
really isn't much of anything, "Silver-
bird," follows. It has a lackadaisical
folk-pop melody, and really is not worth
listening to. "Dream On" (not to be
confused with the Aerosmith hit)
follows with a nice and relaxing piano
and violin duet.
THE NEXT TUNE, "Love Is Like
Oxygen," (catchy title) almost returns,
in spots, to Sweet's hard rocking style,
("Ballroom Blitz," "Set Me Free," and
most of the cuts from their previous
album Off The Record). "Love" com-
pares getting love to getting oxygen:
Love is, like oxyg'en
You get too much, you get too high
Not enough andyou 're gonna die
Loveistlike oxvgen
You get too much, you get too high
Not enough and you're gonna die
Lu ii-'ger; you hughi.
The guitar and piano midsection gets
somewhat dull, and the end drags a bit,
too.
The flip side is not much different.
"Strong Love" is a decent attempt to
catch on to the Saturday Night Fever
craze, but it won't have you dancing in
the aisles. The inevitable song about a
lost 1 ve and the poor guy who wants his
sweetheart back, "Lettres D'Amour,"

is sure to soften your heart with its
mushy melody.
I'LL NEVER understand the title of
the next number, but it will make you
think. "Air On A' Tape Loop" has a
good, flowing rhythm but oddly enough,
the sparse lyrics (spoken intermitten-
tly) are the first four letters of the
Greek alphabet. "Air" gets a little
sleepy in the middle, but synthesizers
and "synthesized voices" of bassist
Steve Priest and guitarist Andy Scott
spice it up a little at the end. A bizarre
tune indeed.
What is even more strange about
Level Headed is its cover. It has the
same concept as Off The Record, but
there I eventually figured out what that
design represented. This one will take
me awhile longer.
Level Headed is a change for Sweet. I
hope they don't adapt this new easier
rock style permanently because it sim-
ply is not them. They were and are
much better as a hard rocking band.

MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE COLLEGIUM
MARC STUDENT HOUSING
FALL AND WINTER 1978-79
Would you like to live in an elegant neo-Tudor mansion (East Quad)? Dining hall, library, cultural
events, interesting associates, old-world ambience. The Medieval and Renaissance Collegium is now
accepting reservations for student accommodations in the MARC Residence House. effective September
1978. If you ore a MARC concentrator or if you are interested in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, you
are eligible to live in the MARC House. For information or to reserve a room for the fall, see the director,
Russell Fraser (2619 Haven. 764-4140): or phone the MARC office 763-2066), or stop by the office (M-F
9:00.12:00 and 1:00-4:00, N-11, Law Quad) with your name and address. Act now on your reservation.
Only a limited number of places are available.
Redeamus ad antra.
THE OFFICE OF MAJOR EVENTS presents

JCKSON BROWN
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
KARLA BONOFF .r
WED., APRIL 12, 8 PM, CRISLER ARENA
Reserved seats $8 and $7
Tickets go on Sale
Sun., March 19, 10 am at Crisler Arena
After March 19, tickets available at Mich. Union Box Office, M-F,
11:30-5:30 (763-2071). Sorry, no personal checks.

Lelel Headed
Sweet
CapitolSTAG 1744
taken an about face in their philosophy
toward music. Their latest album,
Level Headed, could be a transition LP
for them - an attempt to figure out
where they are going. Or they could
already have decided that this is what
they are going to do. I hope not.
"California Nights" opens this
mostly folksy and easy rock LP with

THE L------NG
AND THE
SH --RT OF IT
THE LONG: If you are between 17 * and 32 years old
and would like to experience Israel for 6 months, a
semester or year, we've got the programs! Learn
Hebrew, volunteer in a development town, dig into
a kibbutz, live the land and the people in these
historic times. Most programs cost little more than
airfare alone. Room and board are included. Col-
lege credits are available where applicable.
* and a high school graduate
THE SHORT: If you are in high school, college, or
older you should spend this summer in Israel. There
are dozens of programs to choose from-many of-
fering college credits. Be an archaeologist, work
on a kibbutz, learn Hebrew, dance, tour, discover
your Jewish+ roots. All programs offer rare
challenges and in-depth Israeli experiences.
So whether you're interested in the long or the short
of it call today or write for the free descriptive
booklet.
American Zionist Youth Foundation
Israel Program Center 515 Park Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10022 (212) 751-6070
Name -
Address

City State.

Zi p

Age _ Telephone-_ __

I.

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