Rogg 6-Friday, April 14, 1978-The Michigan Daily Busy direction mars'Gondoliers' w ------!.. - i a By JEFFREY SELBST E UNIVERSITY of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society has come up with yet another offering, and this time ti's not quite strictly up to par. he Gondoliers, which opened Wed- AR~day night at Mendelssohn Theater, a very very busy production. ' is busy when it dances, par- ticilarly, though the stage direction r aliy never stops moving at any time. 4hJg strings in the orchestra are im- 'aI F S Stareo . V Sevice Fast-Competent RENTALS ATSTUDENTRATES ,15 S. Ashley 769-0342 Downtown, s block west of Main, between Washington and Liberty mensely busy, always running like a toilet whose handle has cease operating properly. (This applies especially to the omnipresent lower strings.) There are some terrific performan- The Gondoliers Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre April 12-15,1978 Duke of Plaza-Toro ......Peter-John Hedlesky Duchess .................. Felicia Steinberg Casilda ......................Sara Dalgleish Luiz ...............................David Kitto Marco ....................Dan Boggess Giuseppe ..........................John Meyer Tessa....................Julie Tanguay Gianetta.................... Sigvid Johnson Don Alhambra ....................Geoff Isaac Mary Joanne Tanguay, stage direction F. Carl Daehler, orchestral direction Deborah Lynn Kulber, choral direction Presented by U-M Gilbert and Sullivan Society ces here, though. The Duke of Plaza- Toro is played with mincing effec- tiveness by Peter-John Hedlesky, an old G&S alum from way back. The Duchess was played stiffly and well by another talented performer, Felicia Steinberg (she who played Ruth in the near-perfect Pirates of Penzance of a couple of years back). DAN BOGGESS, as the gondolier Marco, had a lovely, supple voice and a charming comic countenance. Among some of-the funniest parts of the show lare his expressions as he performs cer- tain comic bits of stage business; the admission price is nearly paid back here alone. John Meyer was appealing and sappy as Giuseppe; the best ensemble work occurred between the two gondoliers and their wives, Tessa (Julie Tanguay) and Gainetta (Sigrid Johnson), par- ticularly in their quartet in Act II. These two lovely women did simply a fine job. The rest of the cast deserves praise as well. Luiz (David Kitto) was doggy and lovable, though his voice wasn't quite strong enough to project beyond the orchestral ,barrier. Casilda, his lover (Sara Dalgleish) was very nice in her role; her vocal talents are matched by her coquettish acting. WELL THEN, rave, rave, rave. Why do I still have strong reservations about this show? What, exactly, was wrong? The orchestra was never quite together-not at entrances or at exits (as it were). The conducting was flat, and the group literally sounded like they were coming from every direction. The soloists on stage were frequently out of tempo with the musicians. I Metropolis FilmSocietyPresents listened closely, and I believe this is due to variation in tempi introduced by F. Carl Daehler at odd moments. But the direction-that was - the trouble. The stage direction. It moved simply too much. During the choral numbers as well as the soli, everyone had too many gestures, too many steps, and far too many things were going on at once. Some viewers were distrac- ted-I was exhausted. Moreover, posturing of the chorus was artificial and stilted-really stiff. Nonetheless I liked this show; the Gilbert and Sullivan Society's off-days are better than most groups' on-days, at least in Ann Arbor, and you can have a very enjoyable evening at The Gon- doliers, even so. JOe. Jlust for the health of it. Physical Education Public Information American Alliance for" ea"th Physical Education and Recreation 1201 16th St N W. Washington D C 20036 Happy Hopper high on his 'Last Movie' By MICHAEL BROIDY "I'M STRAIGHT NOW," actor/director Dennis Hopper told a student audience in an appearance sponsored by the Ann Arbor Film Co-op. The creator of the hugely successful Easy Rider spoke in conjunction with a showing of his 1971 film, The Last Movie, a work for which Opper displayed much enthusiasm: "I've bought all the prints and the negative from Universal (the film's original distributor), and I've payed the government $75,000 in taxes; I'm very happy." Hopper recounted that Universal was less than enthusiastic when he presented the film to them: "I think they opened it in a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles, then wrote it off as a loss." After viewing the film, one can understand the studio's trepidation. The Last Movie begins when the cast and crew of a western movie being shot in Peru packs up and heads for the States, leaving stuntman Hopper behind. The Peruvian villagers who have been curiously watching the filming then proceed to re-enact the plot of the movie, replacing Hollywood violence with real savagery of their own. THE FILM's attempts to alienate the viewer are largely successful. It careens carelessly from flashback to flash-forward and ,from illusion to reality, all the while forcing the viewer to question what he sees. When a con- fused member of the audience inquired as to what Univeral thought they were getting, Hopper quickly responded, "They thought they were getting the director/star of Easy Rider, a film which grossed more than $40 million on a $340,000 budget." The director called his film "a very literary work." He added, "One must listen to the words of the songs (written by then-unknown Kris Kristof- ferson) to get any meaning from this picture." Unfortunately, a 16mm print of the film was exhibited; making such auditory interpretation a nearly im- possible task. Hopper's enthusiasm about The Last Movie led him to dramatically re- enact scenes from the film on the Angell Hall stage. When asked about the improvisatory style of the film, Hopper replied that this was natural: "everything is 98 percent accident, one percent logic and one percent in- tellect ... you have to work with the accident." THE FORTY-THREE YEAR OLD Hopper was trained for five years at Lee Strassberg's Actor's Studio, has been acting since the mid-1950's in films such as Rebel Without a Cause, Giant, and True Grit. Recently he has ap- peared in Francis Coppola's much-delayed Apocalypse Now, a film which has generated much interest, even though no one has seen it. Hopper also plays the title role in Wim Wenders' latest film, The American Friend (to be shown Saturday evneing in the Modern Languages Building). Hopper said that Wenders is "like a big St. Bernard dog .. very gentle, sweet, and meticulous. Coppola and Wenders really care; they make movies that people want to see but at the same time they are movies they really want to make." This is a goal fowards which Dennis Hopper is continually striving. INSTRUMENTS * NEW & USED * EXPERT REPAIR * RESTORATIONS REPAII a different F setof jaws. MLB Lecture Room 1 Friday and Saturday, April 14 & 15 Admission $1.50 Showtimes: 7:00 8:45 10:30 Special Friday Midnight Show -I z 'a i !Y z z 3E 13- IN z GUILD GUITARS If you thought you couldn't afford the sound and quality of GUILD GUITARS & Strings come by and change your mind. Guild D-25's SALE Price $305 Reg. Price $385 Guild D-35's SALE Price $340 Reg. Price $440 SA Guild Phospher Bronze Strings. L L350 M-450 SALE Price $4.25 per set Reg. Price $5.95 per set HERS DAVID GUITAR STUDIO 209 S. State-665-8001 IRmr z -4 r- r, N N- O Z, N, G 70 W 30 H Ic CRISP or CASUAL We know about both! U-M Stylists at the UNION * BIRMINGHAM * WARREN * ROYAL OAK * TROY ua A Un I w i i * IEI c A l.A. D fl~nD 1 M11 i i FlU.& TEIi .rwInbl nFt AUIII MANDOLIN * FIDDLE * KEG,.!KIFCK * UUL~EIUtK W51'..: W 111KW IrMEU I I OAKLAND UNIVERSIY MAKE THIS SUMMER COUNT! JOIN US IN ONE OF OUR INSTI- TUTES -FOR-CREDIT. PARTICIPATE IN LEARNING EXPERIENCES CONCERNED WITH ... HOW INDUSTRY UTILIZES CHEMISTRY ... WHAT THE PRACTICE OF LAW IS REALLY ABOUT. . . HOW OUR SOCIETY DEALS WITH THE AGED. .. INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING FANTASY LITERATURE... HOW TO PLAN YOUR FINANCES... FIELD METHODS IN ARCHAEOLOGY ... WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN ... 19 5 "EXCELLENCE IN EDUCAilON" '71 m x Z m " .4 r m z 0 A m H, .4 m SPRING " AN 383 (8 credits), METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY " ECN 120 (4 credits) ECONOMICS OF PERSONAL FINANCE " PS 342 or 490 (4 credits) THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM May 1-June 9 On-site field experience Port Huron, Michigan May 1-June 21 M & W, 6:30-10:00 p.m. May 2-June 22 T & Th, 6:30-10:00 p.m. m z a SUMMER * ED 590 or CHM 503 (2 credits) CHEMISTRY IN INDUSTRY " ED 590 or ENG 500 (4 credits) RESOURCES FOR THE STUDY AND June 26-July 13 6:30-9:30 p.m. June 27-July 21 M-T-W-Th-F, 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. _ AW P MEATL06F ow. 4Arrr~~ m I WW --" 4w