mobTHE MICHIGAN D1 ..Y A r srFriday, October 29, 1976 Page Seven - r~ PTPh By ANDREW ZERMAN WHAT EVERY married wom- an knows is this: that her husband's strength, success and achievements are due, in good part, to her support and col- laboration. This is every wom- an's sectet "joke," says the en- dearing and indomitable heroine of Sir James Barrie's play, What Every Woman Knows - and, althoPgh this idea may seem a little archaic in terms; of today's feminism, the play itself is a little archaic and is all themore charming be- cause of that. We are dealing here with an example of that sublime genre of wise, epigrammatic, high English comedy, a style that has its roots in Much Ado About Nothing and that can be traced through Congreve and Sheridan to Wilde, Shaw and Noel Cow- -ard. Traces of it can be found today in Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Nichols. I myself am a shameless and unabashed fan of English draw-, ing room comedy and had a grand time at Wednesday's onening of What Every Woman Knows, as performed by the' Professional Theatre Program in Trueblood Theatre. THERE IS SOME creakiness in Barrie's dramaturgy. The is way with1 first two acts, though not less entertaining than the third and the fourth, seem more like a long prologue to the meat of the play than an integral parts of it. And a good deal of time is spent with the characters of the Comtesse and Lady Sybil, who are basically no more than catalysts. But there is wit enough so that none of this be- comes tiresome. Under the sensitive and lucid direction of Jack van Natter, the cast, with a very few ex- ceptions, deals successfully with the comedy's gentle nuances and subtleties. None of the hui- mor has been broadened exces- sively. The strongest member of the cast is Steve Meigs as the stub- born, pig-headed John Shand.' Meigs has the difficult task of playing a character who wit- nesses one of the fundamental tenets of his life collapse in: front of him. We see Shand's discovery, reaction and, finally, his arrival at self-knowledge - and it is entirely convincing. We believe it because of the consistency and depth of Meigs' performance. The Shand he cre- ates in the first act is human enough to grow and change be- fore our eves in the fourth. AS HIS WIFE, Kathryn Long is nearly as good. She lets us see all the charm that obviously has but is o to. Her marvelously ex; face mirrors all that is g within her. My only qu that Long underplayed 1 intelligence, her aware what she's up to. Maggi sophisticated, yes, but schemer and she's driv doesn't get her man b dent -- this is no N Pinchwife - she plans i As for her father and ers, Charles McGraw, GI ett and Bruce Gooch wor tifully as a little ensemb in the cast. As alwav little things-glances, g intangibles'-- that comm an uncanny sense tha three men have been liv playing checkers toget just since the stage r called, "Places," but fo Whatever good wor Musgrave may have b ing, any by the last act 'Woman' Maggie Izcd vhe was doing some good blivSous work, was virtually obliterated r'essive by her dreadful French accent. ing On Van Natter's failure to somehow ibble is all'iate this situation was his laggie's greatest mistake. ness of e is un- SUE BOROFSKY had a basi- she's a .1y stereotypical character to en. She play but, granting that, she still )y acci-need not have been .so relent- /1argery Mirgerylssly haughty. She had the op-i broth- port'nity, in the brilliant sec- en Pru- tiun concerning a brooch, to give rk beau- her character some poignancy le with- ad vulnerability, but she failed s, it is to. estures, Physically, the production re- aunicate flected the same care and fin- t these esse as tie cast did, though the ing and budget seems to have been lim- her not ited. The London apartment was manager a little shabby-looking, given r years. the references to its elegance, A Lynn but Henry Van Kuicken's cos- een do- tumes were fine all around, as I real- was the play in general. Cinema Weekend Friday - The Grande Illusion, Old Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05; Children of Paradise, MLB 3, 7:30 only; What's New Pussy Cat?, MLB 4, 7 only; Casino Royale, MLB 4,'9 only; State of the Union, Aud. A Angell, 7, 9; Young Frankenstein Nat. Sci. Aud., 7, 9. Saturday - Dementia, MLB, 3, 7 only; Night of the Liv- ing Dead, MLB 3, 8:45 only; The Last house on the Left, MLB 3, 10:30 only; Minnie and Moskiwitz, Old Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Aud. A. Angell, 7, 9; Young Frankenstein, Nat. Sci. Aud., 7, 9; What's Up Doc? ML'B 4, 7, 8:45, 10:30. Sunday - Yankee Doodle Dandy, Aud. A Angell, 7, 9; :Masque of the Red Death, MLB 4, 7 only; The Phantom of the Opera, (Arthur Lubin), MLB 4, 8:45 only; The Trip, MLB 4, 10:30; Phantom of the Opera (Robert Julian), Old Arch. Aud.,,7, 9:05. All Weekend - Logan's Run, Silent Movie, Face to Face, Burnt Offerings, .The Movies, Briarwood (769-8780); Alice in Wonderland, Fox Village (769-1300); Marathon Man, Michigan (665-6290); The Ritz, State (662-6264); The Front, Campus (668-6416) God Told Me To, Fifth Forum (761-9700). ii Dalv Photo by CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER KATHRYN LONG as Maggie engages in dinnertable conver- sation with husband John (played by John Meigs, right) and her father (left, played by Charles McGraw). The scene is from the PTP's current production of Barrie's "What Every Woman Knows." Paris orch. refined r I 1 By KAREN PAUL ANIEL BARENBOIM led the Orchestre de Paris in a de- lightful concert of Berlioz, Rav- el and Brahms on Wednesday night at Hill Auditorium. After the orchestra curiously appeared dressed in street clothes, Barenhoirn explained that they had just arrived, aft- er being delayed in Minneanolis since 10 a.m. This informal ap- pearence and unfortunate delay,' however, did not seem to effect their performance. The orches- tra's playing was exceptionally{ musical and .refined. The Love Scene from Romeo and Juliet by Berlioz is not an attention grabber; it opened thei concert on a serene note. The; orchestra displayed an impec- cable balance and blend and, though subtle, the dynamics and phrasing suited Berlioz' sonor-1 ous music. At times chord chan- ges were somewhat ragged; usu- ally the sections played together precisely. A PERF'CT interpretation of Ravel's Daphnes et Chloe, See- and Suite, seemed to flow nat- urally from the Trench music- ians. The web of changing col- ors and harmonies of the im- pressionist rnsic had a beau- tifll continuity throughout. Bar-' enboin controlled the orchestra VISIT.* WUOM'S 917FM OPEN HOUSE IS OCT.29 FRIDAY l AM --7PM SATURDAY. 10 AM - 2 P.M VNST WiT -H STAT E I OURS " DISPLAYS REFRESHMLENTS 5th Floor of LSA Blg UM Campus to produce all the correct ef- fects - polished blend, flowing tempo changes, swelling and eb- bing dynamics. The flute, in its many solo lines, played fault- lessly. After the swift, whirling of the "danse generale" the piece ended with a wonderfully complete orchestral sound. Barenboim again exhibited his exacting control of the orches- tra in the Symphony No. 1 in C minor of Brahms. His unique interpretation included an abun- dance of subtleties - nuances of tenno and dynamics-which niade ^ pry phrase interesting. The t- stra was so well-bal- anced tiat the violas, cellos and basses could always be heard while also properly blending with the rest of the orchestra. The winds added to this effect of rich sonority created through-, out the symphony. In the allegro of the fourth movement, the brass sections had more spirit, although they did not seem really impressive until the end, where, along with the timpani, their robust play- ing created an exciting culmin- ation to the enjoyable evening. special Attractions Performing Oedipus "Nobility, Swiftness and Horror" "ExpliosMeyMoving" Nov. 5&6 8:30pm And The 9Ta m of the shreW "BoisterousIrreverent, Knockabout Version" "lBa~sy, Jovs,& Fine' Nov.7 2&8pM Power Center Tmckets available at PTP Ticket Office MenteessonnTheatre Lobby, Mon Fr.10 2- For l 'smation Ca i A 76 04O Introduction to Kundalini Yoga AS TAUGHT BY Swami RUdran nda &MichaeI Shoemaker BEGINNERS CLASSES EVERY MONDAY 0 WEDNESDAY ®FRIDAY at 5:30 P.M. Rudrananda Ashram 640 OXFORUD o995-483 - - - IT S IDNIGHT at the ADNESS ICH IGAN When VINCENT PRICE meets EDGAR ALLEN POE meets ROGER CORMAN IN "THE HOI OF USHE AND "THE P1 AND TH PENDULU FRIDAY and SATURDAY UOSE ER" IT IE m~' r 12:00 Midnight MICHIGAN THEATRE ALL SEATS $2.00 ._ ........................... ...... . I TONIGHT in MLB MARCEL CARNE'S CHILDREN OF PARADISE , (LES ENFANTS DU PARAD!S) (1943-45( 7:30 ONLY 'while the Gestapo hunted for some of the filmmakers, Carne made his film about art, life and the theatre in the Paris of Balzac. It is a monumental film of incredible richness-comic, tragic, philosophic-filled with strong, subtle characterizations and at least five kinds of theatrical performanees. A kaleiodoscope, the film shifts from the life of the theatre to the relationship between art and life, to the problems of love. "A film-poem on the nature and varieties of love--scared and profane, selfish and possessive." -Pauline Kael. With Jean-LeIuis Barrault, Arletty, Pierre Renoir. French with subtitles. WOODY ALLEN WHAT'S NEW PUSSY CAT? (CLIVE DONNER, 1965) 7 ONLY Woody Allen wrote this witty story about a Casanova type (Peter O'Toole) who's swinging himseli to an early grave and so goes to a psychiatrist (Peter Sellers) who doesn't want to cure O'Toole- he wants to emulate him! With Romyv Schneider as a patient fiancee, Capue'ne as a cool nymphomaniac, Paula Prentiss as a suicidal stripper. Ursula Andress as an oppo'tunistic parachutist and Woody Alln as O'Too'c's tlest friend and main schnook who works a desser at a strimease joint and still can't get a girl. l 7.m u i t l ti U'. 4 W- .' - - m .' -*