Arts &THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Ars& Entertainm ent Wednesday, April 1 3, 1977 Page Five
,
io adside Attractions to
perform in Mari golds'
Bla ck
By DOBILAS MIATULIONIS
Sun day~
First cl/ass thriller
BLACK SUNDAY (at Briar-
ixrr,
,4) ;v , f,"o+ n1-a ttn6_
'By SUSAN BARRY acre and received such enthu-
siastic acclaim from the majorI
WITH A HANDFUL of dedi-' area newspapers that the per-
cated theatre enthusiasts in formers, reluctant -W part withx
attendance, Roadside Attrac- their hit, determined to take it:
tions opened their series of Annj on the road.
Arbor performances with a ner-" ALTHOUGH essentially not a
vows but gradually entertaining touring company, Roadside At-
Pinter revue Tuesday afternoon tractions decided to return to
in the Pendleton Arts Center. Ann Arbor, where they had
The revue was merely an in- spent fifteen months in resi-
itiation to the company's brand B ence before they acquired their1
of intense and, personal drama theatre, arnd where they claim
that they will be bringing to part-time student members.
their performance this weekendJ The company originated as a
of The Effect of Gamma Rays group of Oakland University, the-
on Man in the Moan Marigolds. atre majors w h o gradually
Roadside Attractions is a acquired new members as they
small theatre troupe with aI moved to various Michigan ci-
core of about seven performers If ties and finally settled in De-
working out of a small theatreI troit. Their theatre is two blocks
called "The attic" located in~ from the new Renaissance Cen-
the heart of Detroit's Greek- ter and they feel themselves
town. Their production of Mari-! much a part of the revitaliza-
golds. sold out seven sucessive tion of the arts in the city.'
weeks in their dowvntown the- "We're really trying to bring
SwowU) is a tUfsL ci~srivet,
people back to Detroit,".- said! ing thriller which is a mixture
Lavinia' Moyer, a member, of of fins acting, superb direction,
the core of Roadside Attractions. and dazzling special effects.
Moyer stressed that her corn- The plot, is based on the;
parry could offer more variety
in drama because of their di-
verse audience and the fact that
without a high overhead they
never feel obligated to pack the
theatre every night.
"WE ARE a brand pew the-
atre with unique productions
and we're! really proud of it,"
said Moyer.
This weekend's performance
includes five women who are
members of the troupe. T he
unanimous a c c I a i m afforded
previous performances makes
these a pretty solid bet. Per-
formances are April 15, 16, and
17 at 8 p.m. with a matinee on
Sunday at 2, in the Arena The-
atre of the Frieze Building.
Tickets are available at Jacob-
son's.
STRINGS WOULD NOT BE MISSED
Mikado: Gay Gambado
Thomas Harris best-seller about
an Arab terrorist scheme to
murder the fans attending the
Super Bowl, and the screenplay
adaption' is handled well by
screenwriters Ernest Lehman
(North by Northwest), Kenneth
Ross, and Ivan Moffatt. The
film also reflects the refined
production of Robert Evans
(The Godfather, Love Story,
Marathon Man) in the effortless
but complex 'on-location shots
and the assembly of a fine cast
and crew who obviously worked
well together.
Black 'Sunday represents the
glorious comeback of director
John F{rankenheimer (The Man-
chuirian Candidate, Grand Prix,
French Connection III whose ca-
reer appeared to be faltering
under a flashy, uneven direc-
torial style. However, Black
Sunday dispenses those fears--
it is the result of Frankenheim-
er's mature direction and his
gifted talent for handling ac-
tioni. The film moves along at
an electrifying pace, and Frank-
enheimer builds s u s p e ni s e
through expert cross cutting, so-,
phisticated camera logistics and
well-thought-out scenes.
THE ACTION sequences in'
the film are absolutely top notch,
brilliantly filmed for miaximrum
effect. In fact, the sequences:
are so well done that they over-
shadow the rest of the film, and
as a result the film seems gath-
er fragmentary (superb scenes
interlpersed with "just" very
{good scenes). The final half hour
of the film is as spectacular and
thrilling as any other suspense-
ful finale, bar none. Black Sun-
day's climax is an example of
an unlikely chase (a blimp and
a helicopter) expertly milked for
all it's worth.
The special effects of the film
are incredibly realistic, espe-
cially the terrifying shot of the, fully in two moving scenes
Goodyear blimp grazing the up- where he heartbreakingly ex-
per deck of the Orange Bowl as presses his motivations and ex-
it looms over the crowd. The plains his ruined life to Dahlia1
inoffensive Goodyear blimp is (Marthe Keller). Marthe Kel- 1
transformed into a menacing ler's subdued acting, though!;
weapon of destruction as it slow- marred by her obtrusively thick!
ly crunches off light poles and accent, is an effective foil to
settles onto the playing field, Bruce Dern's energy as the twol
mercilessly crushing hapless team up in a strange sort of
spectators who have run onto way that is reminiscent of Bon-1
the field in hysteria. However, nie and Clyde;
Frankenheimer's use of sub- Robert Shaw plays an agingl
limiinal quick cuts during the
destructive climax is a bit too
disorienting and incomplete, as
a result of his attempts to de-
ceive the audience (afterall, the1
blimp really wasn't in the
Orange Bowl). Nonetheless, the
film leaves the intended impres-S
sion of showing more than it
really did. !O
Black Sunday deals with a'O
hardened Arab terrorist (Mar-No iste im I
the Keller) collaborating with a! o stetm
Vietnam veteran turned Good- Theater Productioi
year blimp pilot (Bruce Dern)ofie nth 2d
in an attempt to perforate theofce nte2d
spectators of the Super Bowl lowing positions:
with 200,000 darts. Dern gives
the performance of his career D 1 R ECTO 1
as Lander, a disillusioned and MUSIC GD R EC
vengeful veteran. Much atten-
tion is given to the "mechani- ~ BUSINESS MA S
cal" part of the plot, as Dern is
shown meticulously- at work on-_ ___
the dart plan, coldly calculating
distances and areas and effec-
tive kill zones at his drafting
Iboard.
THIS VICIOUS side of Dern's
character is contrasted beauti-
Israeli commando - investigator
whose character reflects the
tired experience of too much
killing and too much war, but
his pursuit of Dahlia becomes
an intense personal quest.
Originally, Black Sunday was
very violent, but Paramount
tried unsuccessfully to achieve
a PG rating through cuts, and
the released version contains
less violence. Even so, the vio-
lence and bloodshed in the film
is plentiful. Much of the 'killing
in the film consists of innocent
bystanders, and Frankenhbeim-
er's unflinching camera portray s
it as brutal and tragic. The film
refuses to compromise reality
on any'level (except for the pis-
tol silencersthe ever present
Hollywood invention) and so.
achieves a strong sense of be-
lievability. The result is an ex-
citing, chilling masterpiece of a
film.
By STEPHEN PICKOVER It even appealed to the Japa-
nese, although this was not the
IT IS ALWAYS with extreme opinion of the British govern-
pleasure and excited- expec- ment, which banned the show
tation that I look forward toI in 1907 because they were afraid
the bi-annual performances of it would offend the visiting
the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Prince Fushim. Mrs. Carte, who
and with good reason. They are1 had already sunk a large in-
usually of a high caliber, and$ vestment into the revival of the
this semester's production of operetta, ;decided to open any-
Gilbert and Sullivan's master-? way, and invited Mr. K. Sugi-1
piece, The M~ikado, lived up to mira, the correspondent of the
their standards as accomplished Tokyo Ashai, to criticize the
Savoyards, with some excep- performance. He said "... I had
tions. a pleasant evening, and I con-
The show was excellent, but sider that the English people,
not superb. Its main problem in withdrawing this play lest
was technical in nature, located Japan should be offended, are
in the string section of the or- crediting my country with need-
chestra. Here, under the direc- less readiness to take offence."
tion of Carl Daehler tile strings
--- upon which Sullivan relies The Society's Mikado was por-
heavily for the thematic pass- trayed with stunning hand-paint-
ages-- emostraed ateen-ed costumes, a magical Japa-
trances, pitches of up to one- ut intarcaecheogndrphyried
half step sharp and sloppy runs, chtdingrictecwell-raedusen-
Yet this was not consistent. Iteldnthwl-raedueo
seems -that the fault did rnot lie fans. It is vital that a Japa-
with the players, as there were nese deportment is maintained
several numbers where their throughout the show, and it was
virtuosity was very apparent. perfected to the hilt from the
One can only conclude that with women's shuffling feet to the
more rehearsal on the part of men's bows of greeting. Make-
the strings the show might have up too, added a touch of authen-
reached a lpftier summit. ticity by accentuating both "an
Thfe shows itself, outside of the aspect stern" and the gaiety of
costumes, set and Japanese war a gambado.
march, is as much Japanese; A MAJOR CREDIT to thist
as Gilbert and Sullivan's fairy- production was the chorus,
tale lolanthe. The only charac- whose reactions both facially
ter whose name comes close to and vocally were exceedingly
translation is that of Ko-ko, wel-timed and served to help
which means pickles. move the action swtiftlv.' The ~
and yet mellow performance of
that great lady. Her rich alto
Tended itself both to comedy and
pathos, especially in the aria
"Hearts do not Break." Glen
Santiago (Ko-ko), H. Cameron
(Pooh-Bah) and Lenore Ferber
(Yum-yum) also acted and sang
superbly. Ferber's "The Sun,
Whose Rays are All Ablaze"
was especially well delivered
with a charming interpretation.
Director Susan Morris obvi-
ously put a lot of time and work
into her aspect of the show, and
if Daehler had done the same
with the strings, perhaps even
The D'Oyly Carte Company
would have been envious ..As it
stood, this version was only aI
mild Auperlative.
'/director Robert Altman
i
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Arts Briefs
t RESIDENTIAL COL. PLAY
The Residential College Art
Department will be presenting
Many Moons, a play by James
Th~'ber, this Saturday at 2 p.m.
and 7:30 p.m. in East Quad's
Residential College Theater. Ad-
mission. is free. The play, adap-
ted by Tim Prentiss, makes usel
6f life size puppets designed in;
A sculpture class taught by Ed-I
wina Drobny and Ralph Wolfe.
It's a fairy tale, for "kids of!
all ages."
writer/produce~
$aL46
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MAJOR EVENTS OFFICE p'resents:
Bonnie
Raitt
with special guest
SIPPIE WALLACE
SAT., MAY 7
HILL AUDP.-8S P.M.
RESERVED SEATS $6-$5-$4
Tickets gjo on sale on Thursday, Ap~ril 14 'at Hill Aud. Box
Office at 11:30 a.m. Beginninq Friday, April 15 tickets
available at the Michigan Union Box Office {763-2071 )
only x11 :30-5:30 Mon.-Sot. Sorry, no personal checks.
Smoking and, beverages strictly prohibited in Auditorium.
Presented in Association with UAC
1c or'
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A i fI e (
47/ MOW
4,W "vJO7Ar $r
1 woman became
2
2
women became 3
1
3 women became 1.
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(1o9ia
IT IS WELL that Sullivan did{ of fans not only to denote emo-
not attempt a. Kabuki-like tone tions but also as pantomime for
-for his orchestration, for then the "personage of noble rank
the charm of a fantasy Japan and title" with whom they were
with very real English problems currently concerned, added still
would be lost to realism, and? another touch of comedy, bor-
even if the Japanese music' dering on vaudeville.
could have been reproduced au- While all principles sang and
thentically, it would then have acted well, special mention goes
been inconsistant with Gilbert's to Meredith Parsons as Katisha,
libretto. for her sinister, haughty, bold
rAIBURINS
106GLORY Y{
Apri~3-17 A DRAMAT IC SONG
Apr~il13-17 by
Wed.-Sun. 8:00 prm. 31OWCI Playwright-poet
Sun. 2:00 p.m. LANGSTON 1
-HUGHES
PF'e) - rj c, MARSHIA L PLRR'I
Ticts at the PTP Ticket Off ic~e >
Mercelssohn Theatre Lobby, Mon -Fri. 10-1 2-5;
For Information Call- 764-0450
Tckets also Avaiable at all Hudsons
--
!I'N
IR
j$
6
The.
Hbpwcood
kt ards ort
19-77
--riNedesci-Vykprii 12/197
I rckham krnpitheater,
Furth Floor, Ruackharm Buh~rsi
Vallver Percy
"The State of the NcbqlI
Dying hrt or New Sciece"
Tommy Thompson produced the "I Love Luc",show for seven years. For the
past seven years he has been production head for Lion's Gets Films. His film
credits include Production Manager~ for THE LONG GOODBYE, THIEVES LIKE
US, CALIFORNIA SPLIT, and BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS. The Assistant
Director on NASHVILLE, he produced IMAGES and was first Assistant Director
for McCABE AND MRS. MILLER and WELCOME TO L.A. He also recently com-
pleted his role as Executive Producer in charge of production, for Alan Rudolph's
WELCOME TO L.A. and Altman's 3 WOMEN.,
Ms. Brandish is in charge of Altman's office. She is a consultant in every aspect of
his work, from cueativity to busineass. She has worked with Altman on evary phase
of production from the conception of Lion's Gate Films, and was Production
Secretary for NASHVILLE.
tcmmv thcmw1PscnA
eldinebrdh
THE LANGG DBVE'
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Graduate Dance ConcertI
APRIL 14, 15, 16-8: 00 P.M.
DANCE BUILDING I
(behind Central Campus Recreation Building)
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