-"-THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Arts & Entertainm ent Friday, January 21, 1977 Page Five
J
FISHER THEATER SHOW ALLURING
ti
.---,..
Equus. Stra n
By STEPHEN PICKOVER passions form the basis for the boxing arena, surrounded byj
and MICHAEL JONES boy's psyche: Yet profession- the audience on all sides, and
HORSES have been a major ally, he realizes that the fer- it is within the ring that doctor'
influence in western civ- vent emotion have to be sub- and patient battle their prob-
ilization, both in the magical dued in order to relieve the lems. The bouts include not
literary world of fantasy and boy's torment. only the present time sessions,
in the development of our ad- A L A N, an adolescent of but - also Alan's flashbacks
vancing . technological tedium. seventeen, is sent to Dr. Dy- which are acted out with in-
They have been man's compan- sart because of a bizarre and tense fervor. The transitions
ion, slave and in some cases, horrifying action he took- made are clear and precise.
master. against the six horses in his Keith Mcllerrnott as Alan
A horse's ability to keep its charge as a stable - groom. We was superb. The audience was
human owner's. admiration find that he is the product of' able to catch glimpses of his
stems from its immense a fanatically religious, disturb- need and 4vish to be helped,
strength, tempered with a do- ed mother and a tyranically though his tough facade was al-
mestication that maintains its puritanic father. ways present in the first act.
innate individuality and wild From his mother, Alan was The hard side of his character,,
character, conditioned to adore and wor- the cool intelligence and in-
And horses have a special ship Jesus, never to forget how stinct about people was well
fascination forhchildren. Wit- he suffered for nrankind. The balanced against the childwin
ness the multitudinous chil- worship of Christ is transferred pain, lying in bed curled into a
dren's stories, like Black Beau- to horses when his atheist fath- fetal position. His passions and
ty and My Friend Flicka. With er replaces Alan's picture of pains were mind tingling.
this special relationship be- Jesus with a striking portrait Not'only a character within
tween man and horse,, Peter of a horse's head. Alan calls the action, Douglas Campbell
Shaffer, author of Black Com- his new god Equus. When he acts as narrator for the au-
edy, creates a powerful theme transgresses against Equus, he dience as well. While his so.
for his newest play, Equus (now blindsthe horses toescape liloquys in the first act some-
playing at Detroit's Fisher from his shame. He comes to times lacked dynamics, ' the
Theater). trust and accept the doctor as second act found him in good
Equus is a play that deals someone to whom he can con- form. His powerful perform-
with a human psychological fens his sin. tante brought the disappoint-
confrontation between a psy- The $rodu ction at the Fisher ane, brghtrthe ndisaont-
chiatrist, Martin Dysart, and Theater uses some creative ments worries ro ances land
patient, Alan Stramig. Dr. Dy- Ianid effective staging tech-'pi fDsr o ie fAa'
sart is characterized as a great niques which enhance the pssion was or qinutensi tay
creative thinker, who after tension between the charac- his realization of figurative er-
years working within the ters and also makes demandsst i
realms of child psychiatry, upon the audience. Perhaps one sonality destruction.
finds himself relying on earlier of the most best devices em- THE SHOW was not without
techniques. He has fallen into ployed is the liberal use of its major faults. True, the au-
a rut which had stifled his suggestion, set off by synec- dience was fully concentrated
creative imagination. At pres- doche. Alan's room is repre- and focused upon the action to
ent, he describes his condition sented as a bench, a sand beach such an extent that its atten-
as "professional menopause," is simply defined by the mother tion was not even distracted by
a period of doubts in which he shaking imaginary sand out of a nude scene, which served to
questions the validity and pur- her shoe, and Alan leads an enhance the beauty - horror of
pose of his work. He wonders imaginary horse by an imagi- the situation. However, the plot
if he is creating passionless nary rein. Horses were depict- was too predictable. Like an
machines robbed of their per- ed by men with wire hooves Agatha Christie mystery, each
sonal identity. On one hand, he and horse heads, making leg jigsaw piece fit nicely into
feels jealous of Alan's strong and neck movements which place and nothing was left to
emotions because of his own I added to the believability, question. Upon leaving the the-
sterile life, and realizes these THE SET is analogous to a ater, we felt , no wonder, in-
--- - - quiry or sensation of catharsis
which was unfortunate, as
E llin ton te potential for these evoca-
New El gton LP ve responses was there.
We saw a good show and the
Cinema W
Friday - The Producers (Nat
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (O
Special Section (Aud. A Angell, 7,S
the Sundance Kid (Couzens Cafe.,
Saturday - Butch Cassidy
(Couzens Cafe., 8, 10); Special Se
9:15); Seven Beauties (Old Arch.
ance (Nat. Sci. Aud., 7:30, 9:30).
Sunday - Phantom India, 4
Arch. Aud., 7, 8, 9, 10); Jules et Ji
All weekend - Black Eman
(668-6098); A Star is Born, The
The Pink Panther Strikes Again;
(769-8783); King Kong: Michigan
ula: Fifth Forum. (761-9700); Th
5296); The Silver Streak: Fox Vill
A NEW, REGULAR PREI
t Preh"
Note - PRELUDE is a new idea
addition to the Daily Arts Page Mus
that wvill appear the day of each last
University Symphony Orchestar whe
Sconcert, It will offer informa- gra
- plus
tion about one particular piece
in the program including the PI
coinposer's life history during will
the period of composition, per the
formance problems, hints on teen
what to listen for, or corn- of3
ments on the concert's format.Ifollo
We hope these short features Jap
t il help you enjoy and under- Bcom
stand these free monthly con- Bac
certs to a fuller extent. Sucp
wor
By ROSALYN KUTNER dur
sens
The format of tonight's con-i
cert in Hill Auditorium at 8 A
p.m. is one that the Ann Ar- con
bor audience has yet to experi- of,
ence: a collage of 48.5 minutes mus
, of non-ston music. ens
kekend
. Sci. Aud., 7, 8:30, 10);
ld Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05);
9:15); Butch Cassidy and
8, 10).
and the Sundance Kid
ction (Aud. A Angell, 7,
Aud., 7, 9:05); Deliver-
-part documentary (Old
im (Aud. A Angell, 7, 9).
uelle: Campus Theatre
Seven Percent Solution,
The Movies, Briarwood
(668-8480); Young Drac-
e Enforcer: State (662-
age (769-1300).
VIEW OF USO:
in the Eastman School of
sic in Rochester, New York
year and received an over-
lming reception. Such a pro-
m is scheduled for tonight
a few more surprises.
[ECES OF contrasting eras
be alternated. For example,
concert will begin with six-
nth century Baroque music
Thomas Tallis immediately
owed by a contemporary
anese number. Some other
posers will be Berlioz, J. S.
h, Gershwin and Mozart.
;h a fusion of musical con-
ts and styles is novel in the
ld of formal concert proce-
es and sure to create mixed
sations.
nother unusual aspect of the.
cert will be the positioning
the performers. Since the
sic is continuous, and five
embles and seven soloists
Women 's art exhibit ends
By ANGIE NICITA
IF YOU HAVE walked into the
main lobby of the North Cam-
pus Commons lately, you were
probably struck by a new view.
The Ann Arbor Women Paint-
ers arn using-' tis foyer for
their Winter 1977 exhibit (which
ends today).
Many mediums were display-
ed in this years show. Acrylics,
watercolors, ink, pencil, oils,
pastels, silkscreening, mono-
prints, and photography were
all represented.
Besides the many different
mediums, there were also vari-
ous styles of- art in the juried
showing. Landscapes, still-lifes,
abstracts, seascapes, non-repre-
sentational, figures, and realist-
ic pictures all appeared.
First place inthe show went
to Johnnie Crosby's "Frag-
ments," an abstract watercolor.
Done in deep blues, rusts, and
browns, it was one of the most
thought-provoking paintings dis-
played.
Reva Gotlieb's watercolor,
"Huron Valley Parkway," took=
second place. It is a landscape
displaying an excellent use of
fall colors.
A PHOTOGRAPH titled "Sun-
flower," by Genevieve White
captured third. It portrayed a
single bloom against a brilliant
blue sky, and framed with shite
matte.
Finally, honorable mention
went to the only mono print in
the show, titled simply No. 117.
This work by Bernadette Heath
was a circular piece on white
matte, done in deep blues,
pinks, purples, and deep green.
Reedy structures coming upI
from the base of the circle
seemed to suggest seaweed.
One of the most striking pic-
tures in the exhibit was an un-
titled work by Monique Seibel.
It was a pencil sketch of a
little girl in traditional dress
wearing a puzzled and rather'
unbelieving stare, an expres-
sion that was captured beauti-
fully.
There were a few interesting
textured things in the show al-
so. "Mist" by Hermine Brown,
and Crosby's "Aerial View"
both exhibited the use of raised
surfaces.
Overall, the show had some
interesting aspects and there
.was some impressive talent, but
in totality it was not as large
or of as good a quality as it
might have been.
AtNNAI2IICL [ELA CC-CU
"+s s@@ssssssssss @@s@ O*@e***@**s
TONIGHT in
MODERN LANGUAGES BUILDING
FRIDAY, JAN. 21
7, 8:45 & 10:30
BANANAS
MLB 4
(Woody Allen, 1971)
Allen's humor at its height. The only logic is the
logic of fantasy. A thoroughly alienated tester of
Rube Goldberg gadgets takes off for a South
American country where he is transformed info
a revolutionary with a false beard. Louise Lasser
in her best non-Mary Hartman role. "An inde-
cently funny comedy.-"Vincent Canby.
SHOWTIMES-7, 8:45 & 10:30
ADMISSION $1.25
SATURDAY, JAN. 22 in MLB-
WERTMULLER'S
"ALL SCREWED UP"
SUNDAY in MLB-
WONDER'S
"ALICE IN THE CITIES"
FRI.-SAT.
MARY McCAS
AND
JIM RINGEF
SINGER-SONGWRITER
$3.00
LIN
Rolling Stone: "An
exceptional album right
up there with today's
best. McCaslin's
unorthodox guitar
tunings create unusual,
ethereal melodies of
striking beauty." "Jim
Ringer seems pluckld
out of a Tijuana
barroom,"
features
amino xvne mr mrnlnrae TT"fntr_
By ARTHUR LUBY
THE WAVE of Duke Ellington
recordings released since
his death have been of uneven
quality. Certainly, such albums
as The Queens Suite and Recol-
lections of the Big' Band Era
have to be counted as unexem-
plary samples of the Duke's
music.
However, Duke Ellington's
Jazz Violin Session (Atlantic SD
1688) recorded in 1963, but left
unreleased until now, is one of
the very finest collections of
jazz violin presently available
and. one of the truly outstanding
Ellington recordings not issued
while he was still alive.
The album was originally to
be called Duke Ellington and his
Fiddlers Three, a more accurate
title considering that one of the
three fiddlers, Svend Asmussen,
is actually a vioist rather than
a violinist. The violinists are the
well known Stephane Grapelli
and the late Ray Nance, a very
versatile musician probably bet-
ter remembered for his warm
-often tender-trumpet solos, a
feature of the Ellington b r a s s
section for more than twenty
years.
ALL THREE fiddlers were
given one number to themselves
backed only by a rhythm sec-
tion made up of Ernie Shephard,
a bassist whose solid broad tone
is certainly a highlight of this
album; Sam Woodyard at
drums, and Ellington himself.
Perhaps the best of these selec-
tions is Grapelli's version of "In
a Sentimental Mood" which is
the most evocative and emo-
tional ballad he's put on wax
either before or since this re-
cord. incuding the much lauded
recordings he later made wish
Oscar Peterson. Ray Nan-e is
given Billy Strayhorn's "D a y-
dream", an unfortunate choice
simply because the recording of
this number' made by .Joxiny
Hodges on alto sax in the late
1930's is so fluid and graceful
that at times one might mis-1
take his alto for a violin.
Nance's solo inevitably 4'ffers
by comparison and in the end
reveals just how complete the
Hodges solo really was. It's a
pity that Nance was put in- that
acting was marvelous. untor- v 11 P 11a ,AicA f~lua l Y1 ,aavl
tunately, it captured the view- Gustav Meier, conductor of will be performing, not everyone
er only so far, and while one Gstv birnosutge.
wished to be pulled into the the University Symphony Or-
position, for throughout the rest web of higher complexity and chestra, once heard a concert Tonight's collage is a unique
of the album his bluesy ,mn emotional stress, the play holds in Belgium that began every divergence from the formal eti-
slow, thoughtful version of one at arms length. Thus it piece on the final note of the quette of serious concerts, and
ing the most striking of the semIqu anb adt
three fiddlers. s have only partially achieved its preceding piece, eliminating all should be a unique experience
Asmussen, carefully guided by goal. applauses. He introduced the for the audience as well.
Ellington's deft placement of his
own piano chords; provides a
of Ellington's reed section, and The Professional Theatre Program
"Don't Get Around Much Any- Best of Broadway Series
more" which is preferable to
the numerous and often banal DON'T JUST READ
vocal versions of this num-ber
madr by Ellington and others. THE SHORT STORIES
During the remainder' of the
album, Paul Gonsalves and Rus- i
sell Procope, longtime members
of Ellinton's reed section, nd SET
trombonist Booty Wood,, a r e
bro'ught in to create the sort of
lush instrumental backdrop to
the violin and viola solos wlich Sherlock Holmes
Ellington was such a master at PA YI
creating'for any soloist u n d e r "Sherlock Holmes" offers a nostalgic glance at another place and another era.
his direction. Particularly inter- g g
esting among this group of rnm Fri.-Sun. at 8:00 p.m.; Sun. at 2:00 p.m.
bers is the recording of Billy Power Center
Strayhorn's "Pretty Little One"
a piece with the sort of yearn- FOR INFORMATION CALL: 764-0405 OR 763-3333
ing feel which was so charac'er-
istic of Strayhorn's composi-
tions.
might be as memorable for El-
lington's piano playing as for the
fine violin playing. His playing
is snare, yet rich in tinassal
chord combinations and rmy-
thms. Notice the fine, reflective
variation on the well-worn piano
intro for "Tdxe-th 'A' Crai,
and the way he subtly increas-
es the intensity of both his and
his musicians' playing in
"String Along With Strings". PAUL MAZURSKY'S 1976
In the end, the album is 't fur-
ther testimonial to Ellingtnn's} N EX T STO P
importance as a pianist as well
as a composer.
-RIENTA R-G-GREENWICH VILLAGE
The life of an aspiring young actor who leaves his smothering mother
AT and defeated father in Brooklyn to embrace the Bohemian life of Green-
P'JIa Hous wich Village in the 50's is poignantly re-created by Mazursky and
acted by Lenny Baker. Shelly Winters plays the Jewish mother. "It's
We buy, sell, Oappraise, clean Mazursky's own 'Americord.' And I like it better than Fellini's."-Pau-
used Orient rugs line Kael. THE CRITIC-a short by Mel Brooks.
" Sheepskin Coats
" Jewelry 0 Pipes
* Tapestries 0 More! SATURDAY: SEVEN BEAUTIES
320 E. Liberty
769-8555 CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH.-AUD.
7:00 & 9:05 Admission $1.25
who have supported its
COSTA-GAVRAS 1975
fund, PIRGIM announces a ANN ARBOR PREMIERE SHOWING
Cancellation OF
e $1.50 PIRGIM fee. SPECIAL SECTION
Sun.: TONY BIRD from South Africa
SINGER-SONGWRITER
An excellent writer with a great deal to say.
215 N. Main Ann Arbot 66.7758
1421 HILL
8:30
761-1451
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public interest work.
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I i
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