',A tsTHE MICHIGAN DAILY
rts Entertainm ent Thursday, October 14, 1976 Page Five
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'Utopia tdA Out at last Liza ai
from social or political norms, enter and sing a lilting duet, By JEFFREY SELBST I
By STEPHEN PICKOVER with wind accompaniment, concerning their duties. and MIKE JONESI
Enter King Paramount (Kenneth Sanford), awaiting the TT MAY BE TRUE that bad
After a long and bitter quarrel which had the Savoy's arrival of his eldest daughter Princess Zara (Pamela Field). taste is enshrined as a cu-
f theatregoers wondering if The Gondoliers was the last W. S. She is returning from Cambridge with members of the British tural god in Hollywood, but is;
Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan production they would ever see, Ruling Class called. "The Flower's Progress" who will help there any excuse for it? Does-
a reconciliation and a new operetta arrived on the scene. It the king reconstruct his kingdom on British Constitutional n't the venerable Vincente Min-
was called Utopia Limited or The Flower's Progress., Lines. This new development doesn't please the wise men or nelli know that the nation's:
Sophie (Lyndsie Holland), the Buttercup of the story though homicide rate has reached
The first performance, on October 7, 1893 - after close ie Lse Hlland"Ithe Butecupsof th sr though frightening proportions? He'dI
to four years without a new production - gave reviewers ilbert assured Sullivan "It is notnecessar that she should better lock his door at night.
like Bernard Shaw a chance to say ". . though I enjoyed theb g . * N His new film (oh, we blusht
score of 'Utopia' more than that of any of the previous Savoy pose that she should be 'seething with love and passion'." to use the term), A Matter ofc
Operas, I am quite prepared to hear that it is not as palat- The essence of Act II had Captain FitzBattleaxe (Meston aime, starring is dau terL isa i
as well as that old fossil Ingrid
able to the majority of the human race - otherwise the mob Reid) declare and win the love of Princess Zara (with the aid Bergman is worse than a dis-
- as it was to me . . . But people who are not musicians of a beautiful tenor), and the same for the King and Sophie. aster, more than a catastrophe,
should not intrude into opera-houses: indeed, it is to me an The wise men plan an uprising against the British since the more outrageous than massc
open question whether they ought to be allowed to exist lawyers and doctors are out of work (there is no crime and murder. It is, plainly and sim-t
at all." good health) and the jails are being used to house the work- ply, a horror. And to charge1
ing classes. $3 a head to see it is grandE
Unlike earlier operettas, Gilbert chose to spoof a potpouri larceny.
of material concerning late Victorian Society. He included Princess Zara saves the day when she announces the one There, we feel better now. AsI
British business methods, the armed services, law, politics ingredient left out - "Government by Party . . . there will the inquest must proceed, you'llE
and county councils in his satire. be sickness in plenty, endless lawsuits, crowded jails, inter- orobably want to know the plot.
minable confusion in the Army and Navy and, in short, gen- So would we. It was something
UTOPIA is a more complex and difficult piece to follow eral and unexampled prosperity." about a poor Italian peasant
than earlier works, especially since most of the spoken Ii- girl (Lisa Minnelli) who has;
bretto is not included. One does not "fall in love" with Utopia Limited as with come to Rome to live with her,
other G & S pieces, in a single listening. On first introduction cousin and experience Life. In-!
If one asks any avid Savoyard their opinion of Utopia Lim- it seems there are a lack of "get up and dance" numbers like stead, she finds Death (Ingridj
ited, chances are they haven't heard a performance in order "Dance of Cachucha" (Gondoliers, Act 'II) or "Poor Wander- Bergman). Bergman is an im
to express one. The operetta closed after 245 performances ing One" (Pirates of Penzance, Act I) where one leaves the poverished countess, the type
and was not seen again professionally until April 4, 1975 when theater whistling or waltzing. Fortunately, these vibrant ar- been called the "toast of two
it was resurrected by the D'oyly Carte Opera Company, who rangements typical of G & S do pop up when one stops get- continents." Now, at 72, she is
just recently released their recording in the U.S. The main ting frustrated because the songs seem to be "out of order" mere stale bread.
reason for this -lag was the prohibitive production costs (it is It may take. longer than usual to get to them (at least half-
the most expensive show G & S ever produced costing 7,200 way through the first Act), but it is worth the wait. The SHE AND LIZA get involved
pounds sterling) and the highly trained sniging voices re- Christy Minstril number (termed this because the chairs on in a bizarre symbiotic relation-
quired stage are arranged like the Christy Minstril shows at St. ship giving Bergman a chance
41to utter inanities, and giving
This new recording (London FFRR OSA-12105) brings not James Hall, Picadilly) in Act I fills the criterion, and though neli a chance to sing -
kl only Utopia Limited to the eager ears of many listeners, but you may not dance, you'll at least snap your fingers to the at the most inopportune mo-
also the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Royston lively banjo and tambourine orchestration. ments. As the movie begins we
Nash and a totally new cast (excluding our beloved John Those having a fond passion for Captain Corcoran from derive the idea that Liza has
Reed, of course) to the Opera Company. Because the over- H.M.S. Pinafore will be glad to see he's back again, this time oeco e star (thilm is
ture to Act I is extremely short, the opera begins with Sul- commanding steam ships - "Then give three cheers and in flashback form), Frankly,
livan's Imperial March, written for the opening of the Imper- three cheers more for the tar who never runs his ship ashore." we don't know the outcome.
ial Institute by Queen Victoria. We left the theater before the
All new members of the company have exceptionally end. We assume the countess
Nash's conducting of the March and Overture is more clear and crisp voices, with Field's soprano and Reed's tenor died. Everyone does, sooner or
sprightly than Isadore Godfrey's style of conducting, but lacks expecially commendable. Holland has a mature, vibrant alto, later.
depth and smoothness of tone. He has the orchestra play stac- and true to Gilbert's word she doesn't seem at all ogre-like or We have, for your conveni-
cato in nany areas where a fuller legato would be appre- bursting with heart-sobs like so many of her character coun- ence, catalogued a comprehen-
ciated. However, the remainder of his conducting adds vigor terparts. Reed is his amusing self as usual, and combined with sive list of the film's good
and an understanding of Sullivan's music. Alydon makes an unforgettable pair of "wise fools". .points:
A. It was in color. (Could you
Act I opens in a "Utopian Palm Grove" complete with Utopia Limited lacks much of the buffoonery of earlier imagine it in black and white?)
tropical landscape. Two wise men, Scapio (John Reed) and works, but Gilbert's lyrics and Sullivan's music maintain their B. Liza can sing. (Even if her
Plhantis (John Ayldon), whose duty is to denounce the king high quality of competence, and set them off once again as !songs were just ridiculous.)
to the Public Exploder, Tarara (Jon T"n), should he stray the fathers of Victorian Comic Opera. C. No one who is watching the
"ti.:film can, during the same twol
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"I w y ' r tm'--
Id pa
'Time'
(Now That was 1970. Who asked himj
mitting a violent crime.
E
1
this is no joke. Have you seen to make a return anyway?
the statistics?) Liza? Actually, that's possible.
D. It is funny. (How strange. She had announced that she al-
It was meant to be touching, ways wanted to work with her
poignant. Oh, dear.) father. We hope once is enough.
As for Bergman, she should hire
YOU DON'T FIND this suffic-. herself a new embalmer. This
lent reason to go see it? one was just terrible.
Really, folks, we could men- Well, on to the technical as-
tion that the dialogue was puer- pects. The set was done in Old
ile at best, the costuming gaudy, Italian Money, an interior de-
the timing execrable, and the signing style that combines the
direction inadequate, restraint of a Wild West baw-
Oh, we know what you are
saving. "I saw Mahogany last dy house with the stylishness
year. Nothing could be as bad of a Farrell's Ice Cream Par-
as that." But oh, you're wrong! lor. This is interspersed with
One has to reach back to the touches of mock-Cinderella de-
Japanese horror flicks of the t cor, before the ball.
fifties to find precedent.r e
)omb?
vani must by dying a slow death
right now. Lombardo probably
hasn't touched a bite of din-
ner. And Welk is in court, su-
ing for damages.
LET'S END this with a scene,
shall we? Lisa is fantasizing
a costume ball in Venice, of
which she is the hostess (paral-
leling a similar scene in the
Countess' past). Her guests are
leaving in gondolas. They are
all, hundreds of them, waving
and saying goodbye from their
boats. What does Liza do? What
does any red-blooded Italian girl
do?
"Goodbye" she sings, from
WE FEEL particularly sorry
for Liza Minnelli, who has prov-
ed that, with the exceptions of
Cabaret and The Sterile Cuckoo,
she wouldn't recognize a good
script if it had Oscar cavorting
nude on. the cover. As for he
father, ditto. Ditto. Ditto. His
last film was Barbara Strei-
sand's On A Clear Day ete, etc.
Have a flair for
e in r ewi
poetry. arnd mus e
or writing feature
stories a b t the
drama. dance. film
arts:-,Contact Arts
Michigan Jaly.
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t
I
U' Museum shows abstracts
By LIZ GREENFIELD
rHE UNIVERSITY'S Mu-
seum of Art located in
Alumni Memorial Hall on
State Street, is 'showing now
through October 31 an exhibi-I
tion of abstract art, "American!
Abstraction - Creation 1932-36:
Paintings and Studies by Alex-'
ander Corazzo and LeRoy Tur-
ner."
Alexander Corazzo born in
Lyon, France in 1908, came to
the United States in the 1930's
and studied painting with Cam-
eron Booth. Leroy Turner, born
in Sherwood, North Dakota in
1905, studied at the Minneapolis
School of Art, University of
Minnesota, and with Edmund:
Kinzinger, as well as with Cam-
eron Booth. Both artists were'
affiliated with "Abstraction-
Creation", a Paris-based inter-
national alliance of abstract ar-
tists whose membership includ-
ed advocates of French Purism,
Dutch de Stijl, Russian Con-
structivism, and Dada and
Bauhaus abstraction,
In additioft to ,the works of
Corazzo and Turner, other ar-
tists connected with Abstrac-
tion - Creation or working in re-
lated styles during the 20's and
30's - such as Albers, Gorky,
Heiben, Moholy-Nagy, Villon,
Kandinsky, and Picasso -~ also
have works on exhibit.
WITH ONE or two exceptions,
all the works displayed in the
two second floor galleries and
around the balcony, were pro-
duced in the period between the
two wars. Corazzo and Turner
show in their work that, even'
though they were geographical-
ly far from the major art cen-
ters of the world, they were
certainly involved in the inter-
national avant-garde movement
in painting that was occurring
between the two wars.
The exhibition, organized by
Gerome Kamrowski and cospon-
sored by the U-M's School of
Art, is beautifully organized
and demonstrates a wide va-
riety of art mediums - among
them lithographs, oils, silk-
screens,, pencil drawings, gou-
aches, collages, woodcuts, wat-
ercolors, engravings, and even
a few sculptures. There is ab-
stract art in some form for
everyone. So if you have not
visited the Art Museum recent-
ly, it is definitely worth your
while to take advantage of this
opportunity to view abstract art
at its best.
NOON LUNCHEON
HOMEMADE SOUP AND SANDWICHES-50c
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15
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DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE
FOR PROSECUTOR:
"How an energetic prosecutor can improve the
criminal justice system in Washtenaw County:
A profile of the 1976 prosecutor race.
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SCIENCE FICTION SERIES
1956
FORBIDDEN PLANET
Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Niel-
son star in what some consider the best sci-fi
film of the '50's. Space explorers from Earth
arrive on planet Altair-4 and discover that all
that remains of a previous expedition is a
scientist, his daughter and an incredible robot,
"Robbie." These "survivors" dwell in an almost
idyllic utopia based on the technology of an
extinct race, the "Krel."
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DAILY
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TONIGHT!
INGMAR BERGMAN'S 7 & 9
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Bergman studies the ebb and flow of spirit in four people living
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PlayingTonh
IITUElI In
- - - - - --
the university of michigan
artists and craftsmen guild
invites you to an exhibition and sale of
ceramics, fibers, graphics, jewelry,
paintings, and sculpture
l