" THE MICHIGAN DAILY Ent rtnnFriday, February 11, 1977 Page Five -r sOAKLEY SHINES IN TITLE ROLE: IAiMI I I u 'Merry By DAVID MASELLO MOST PERFORMANCES of operatic farces tend to be contrived and amateurish. Not so in Wednesday's Comic Opera Guild version of The Merry Widow at Lydia Mendelssohn. While the show was not with- out its faults, the players man- aged to preserve a joyful ex-I uberance throughout - and thej result was memorable.- The plot of The Merry Widow Widov is a complicated one, involving conflicting love. It deals with a country named Marsovia, which is going through troubled economic times. To reverse this problem, Baron Mirko Zeta, played by Thomas Petiet, tries to win the fortune of Hanna Glawari, (Bernadine Oakley) the rich young widow of a court banker. The Baron's objective is to marry her to the Marsovian count-anilo, thus securing her fortune and the future of Mar- ':Great comic opera Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG Lorenzo Brown, the Lyman Woodard Organization's multi-percussionist whiz, plays drums Wednesday night at the Blue Frogge. L.W.O. plays Blue Frogge Cinemna Weekend Friday - The Big Sleep (Arch. Aud., 7 & 9:05); La Sal- amandre (Ang. Aud. A, 7 & 9); A Fpnny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (MLB 4, 7 only); How I Won the War (MLB 4, 9 only); Seventh Annual Ann Arbor 8 mm Film Festival (Schorling Aud., 7 & 9). Saturday1- Putney Swope (MLB 3, 7, 8:45 & 10); Sher- lock Holmes' Smarter Brother (Nat. Sci. Aud., 7, 8:45, 10:30); Jack Johnson (MLB 4, 8:45 only); Mingus (MLB 4, 7 & 10:30); The Missouri Breaks (Arch. Aud., 7 & 9:15); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Ang. Aud. A., 7 & 9); Seventh An- nual Ann Arbor 8 mmFilm Festival (Schorling Aud., 7 & 9). Sunday - Seventh Annual Ann Arbor 8 mm Film Fes- tival (Schorling Aud., 7 & 9); Medea (MLB 4, 7 only); The Gospel According to St. Matthew (MLB 4, 9 only); La Chi- enne (The Bitch) (Arch. Aud., 7 & 9:05); film animations (Ang. Aud. A, 7 & 9). All weekend - Twilight's Last Gleaming, The Seven Per Cent Solution, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, A Star is Born: The Movies, Briarwood (769-8783); Echoes of a Summer: Michigan (668-8480); The Enforcer: State (662- 5296); Bugsy Malone: Campus (668-6098); Rocky: Fifth For- urn (761-9700); The Silver Streak: Fox Village (769-1300). sovia. The story takes off in all sorts of zany, wild directions, each act becoming more and more complicated until the final happy resolution. Generally speaking, the sing- ing here was splendid, the li- bretto (by Viktor Leon and Leo Stein) realistic, and the scenery striking. Most of the songs were in the form of love duets. Valen- cienne Zeta, played by Linda Mohler, and Vicomte Camille (Samuel Roelofs) were a fre- quent contrast to Mohlers' so- prano, both maintaining timing, clarity and character through- out. HANNA GLAWARI, however, had the loveliest voice of all. As the widow, Oakley launched into her first aria with a vigor that brought life to the scene immediately. Oakley's acting was equally excellent. She was relaxed and confident through- AND out the operetta, and her lines were delivered with ease and clarity. Her frequent duets with the Count furnished the central musical themes of the operetta and each was a model of per- fection. The music was written by Franz Lehar. Dancing was an integral part of the show. In the second act, ,it was Russian-style, enhanced by the bright, silky costumes. At times the dancers were rush- ed and off-step, but usually man- aged to get themselves under control later on. The chorus line scene w'hich involved several men in a dis- play of synchronized waist-high kicking was especially entertain- ing. During this scene, the audi- ence became quite involved, clapping in unison with the beat. The Can-can in the third act was equally festive and enjoy- able. The costumes were for the most part startling yeIt au- thentic in the dance numbers. The main embarrassment of the evening was caused by the orchestra, which tended to play above the singers' voices and to come up with overly long measures of sour notes ,which radically departed from the jn- tended mood. However, the en- joyability of the rest of the per- formance nearly made up for these difficulties. Mora a flair for artistic writing, if you are Interest- ed in reeiewing poetry, and Music or writing feature stories a botut the drama, dance, film arts: Contact Arts Editor, c/oaT T Michigan Dally. By PETER HILL "Mr. Rhythm" Brown and key- keyboard. Other band member s HE LATEST entry into the board great Lyman Woodard. turned in electrifying perform- Ann Arbor nmusic scene is L.W.O.'s style of music is a ances as well. Davidson, or in- at the Blue Frogge, where some smooth mixture of _ sounds, stance 'seemed at times to con- of Detroit's leading contempor- which can appeal to a wide va- jure up a West Indian or Af- ary musicians are giving ive" riety of listening audiences. For rican beat on the skins, bringing shows during February and this reason, it is very diffizult an almost tropical mood March. ;to label its style. L.W.O. has throughout the bar. This week's and next wok's synchronized jazz, rhythm and THE GROUP will be play ng offering is the Lyman Woodard blues, and soul music ;nto an again at the Blue Frogge Fcb- Organization, a talent quartet e consisting of Ron English on 1ui- Ienticing and mellow blend. ruary 13-16. If you appreciate tars, George Davidson on drums, In Tuesday's sets, Woodard's professional and versatile mu- multi-percussionist Lorenzo hands seem to float over the sic, you shouldn't miss LWO. Finch, Dunaway among Academy award nominees I I *" I LOS ANGELES (MY - P z t e r I nominated for posthumous Finch, who died Jan. 14 of a awards as best actor. heart attack, was nominated Faye Dunaway of Network yesterday for an Oscar as best and Talia Shire of Rocky were actor for his performance as among the nominees for ' e s t the messianic TV anchor aan actress of 1976. The o-hers: in Network. NETWORK captured 10 nom- inations in the 49th awards of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Science, tying witn the sleeper of 1976, Rocky. FINCH'S co-star, William Hol- den, was also a nominee for best actor, as well as Robert Do Niro for Taxi Driver; Gian- carlo Giannini, Seven Beauties and Sylvester Stallone, Rocky. In the past, only James Dean and Spencer Tracy had be-n Marie-Christine Barrault, Cou- sin Cousine; Sissy Spacek, Car- rie, and Liv Ullman, Face to Face. All The President's Men plac- ed third in the number of nom- inations vith eight, followed by Bound for Glory with six. Both were named for best picture, along with Network, Rocky and Taxi Driver. Rocky also drew nominations for supporting actor for Bur- gess Meredith and Burt Young. The category also includes Ned Beatty of Network, Laurence Olivier of, Marathon Man and Jason Robards of All The Presi- dent's Men. SUPPORTING aqress nomi- nees: Jane Alexander, All The President's Men; Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver; Lee Grant, Voyage of the Damned; Piper Laurie, Carrie; Beatrice Straight, Net- work. Sidney ILumet of Network and John Avildsen of Rocky receiv- ed nominations for best direc- tion, along with Alan Pakula for All The President's Men; Ing- mar Bergman, Face to Face, and Lina Wertmuller, S e v e n Beauties. ch I an aisave your lif. AmericanI Cancer Society. Tm'S SPACE Co NTRfSUfW *iY TH PU8US46R Gene Littler i MONO BOOGIE BAN D APPEARING FEB. 10, 11, 12 AT Film festival begins tonight THE ROADHOUSE 72 OFF ON PITCHERS-Wed. nights Cover only $1 before 10 p.m. on Wed. H By DAVID KEEPS day, will be held in the Schor- ing Auditorium in the School of OME MOVIES don't'have to ! Education, on the corner of be boring. They can be- a Monroe and East University. legitimate means to a creative This year, over 100 contest- and profitable end, say board ants will vie for a minimum of members of the Ann Arbor Film $1,000 in cash awards. The prize Co-op. The Co-op is sponsoring money comes largely from do- the Ann Arbor Film Festival, nations from supportive film which begins tonight at 7. co-ops and ticket sales at the The festival, now in its. sev- door. enth consecutive year, is loose- BUT GLORY and money, ly billed as "the National Ama- aren't the most important part teur Film Festival" and boasts of the festival. entries from filmmakers in Cal- Jim Frisinger, festival man- ifornia, New York, Ontario and ager explains, "We provide a points between. The weekend service to filmmakers who want events, two night of judged ex- to have their work shown in hibitions on Friday and Satur- public, but have no outlets. day, and a program featuring Eight millimeter filmmaking is this year's prize winners on Sun- really the people's medium, it's the cheapest and most accessi- " ble way to get an idea onto film." The festival, believed to be the oldest in the U.S., was founded in 1970 by filmmaker members of the Residential Col- lege. Though there are fewer en- tires in this year's program, movie' m ie' STREISAND Frisinger promises "a really KRLSTOFFERSON eclectic show, including anima- tion, experimental films, come- dies and documentaries. Except 1015 20,10 for raw pornography, we've got 1:36:0 just about everything." -4 9.15 Screenings begin at 7 and 9, 700 9:5 (no and an additional matinee is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow. B Re Admission tickets, $1 per show, are available at the door. ( - .r + r , ti t~ --._. PIZZA AVAILABLE TILL I A.M. The Roadhouse is lo- cated four miles north of Ann Arbor at U.S.' 23 and N. Territorial Rd. Information 665- 3967 Enjoy dining before the s h o w upsfairs at the Hill ounge The ROAbHOUSE U.S. 23 N. Tcrir t Ann Arbor 'i mi_ ...... ..r,. __-> n c, c c7 ---"_ - _ -- ___, _. , A~ - WEST SIDE BOOK SHOP Used & Rare Books Bought & Sold " LIBRARIES PURCHASED " FREE SEARCH SERVICE 113 West Liberty * 995-1891 Open Mon-Sat 1'1 to 6pm Thurs & Fri Evenings 'til 9pm HOWARD HAWKS' 19464 THE BIG SLEEP Humphrey Bogart plays Phil Marlowe in this classic rendition of Raymond Chandler's novel. Lauren Bacall plays an attrac- tive young rich,"widow who, along with her sassy sister, pre- sent Marlowe one of his most confusing cases. The lively screenplay is by Chandler, Hawks and William Faulker. Sat.: THE MISSOURI BREAKS CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD. CINEMA7:00 & 9:05 Adrmission $1.25 ALAIN TANNER'S 1972 LA SALAMANDRE Vaulting its director into the front franks of European film- makers, this film presents the story of a free spirited work- na-class woman. who becomes involved with two different fArt ° T LLI L VALrm T, ri