nt THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Arts & Entertain ment Wednesday, November 1 0, 1976 Page Five
re.
By STEPHEN PICKOVER
WHEN WAS THE last time you were ent
I mean, truly- entertained, not jus
amused or half-heartedly happy, but t
goodness-leave-the-theater-bubbling-like-a-fir
pagne-entertained! If you have difficulty re
ing, then you obviously were not at the Yoi
performance of Shakespeare's Taming of th
for here we find a company of actors whi
how to entertain an audience to the fullest.
The Young Vic has adapted Shakespear
comedy to today's audience successfully
text virtually unchanged. One of the major
however, concerns the hobo pedant of
Christopher Sly, for whose benefit the pla
formed. The new Sly (Barrie Rutter) is a
day drunkard in jeans ,and a flannel shirt b
his girlfriend who is currently residing
Campus Inn. Rutter is hysterically funny
part of the audience, brings us one step
the performance.
A widow (Judy Wilson) plays Sly's suppo
and although this works well, I should hE
to see the original boy, in drag. Unlike Shal
who leaves Sly sort of hanging in the air thr
:majority of the play, director (and Bianca
Coffee showed remarkable insight and im
by involving Rutter frequently with I
r asides or direct involvement in the play it
..,:Jism ig siiii sie imssmss
.* Aua hilarity
S"HOW STARTS TONIGHT:
NIUSI*cal
'Babel'
fresh
WHEN THE TALL, statuesque Joan McCallum with skillful portrayals of the old, middle-aged and By SUSAN BARRYt
ertained? enters in a simple gray frock, one wonders if young lovers. Tanio (Peter O'Farrell) masquerading T IGHTNING flashes and thei
t mildly she could indeed be a shrew. Soon enough, however, as Lucentio was uproariously funny. His entrances earth trembles and cleavesi
honest-to- one finds her tongue as sharp as any blade, and and exits resembled intricate gavottes rather than as the hand of God sweeps the
ne-cham- her cursed contradictory tone a match for David a simple gait, and his dexterous handling of cape idpagan twer tothe round. bHr-
mastr .rified builders gather in bewil-
member- Henry's (Petruchio) rich and powerful voice. and cane allowed a masterful mocking of:Master dered groups, speaking in mu-
ung Vic's Our lioness tamer from Verona breaks his way by servant. tually incomprehensible lan-'
e Shrew, through Kate's not so mighty fortress by allowing The lackeys, Biondello (Arthur Blake) and Grumio guages of the destruction their1
ch knows Kate to view her own nature through him. Mc- (Ian Trigger) proved comical and were responsible greed and vanity has wrought.
Callum's darting, fiery eyes and quick, angry ges- for much of the slapstick in the piece. This highly dramatic and tech-1
tures beautifully balanced Henry's supreme control Coffey's imaginative direction and blocking ef nically ambitious scene is not!
e's lusty and cockiness. These harsh characteristics finally fectively used the simple set provided, dane in a major campus production. It
with the cooled to warmth and gentleness, motivating flow= unfinished and bright red painted pine. This gave is from The Tower of Babel,
changes, ing movement for McCallum and tender requited the audience a chance to use some imagination and a new work by two locally-bas-
Mantua' love for Henry. His sly leers at the audience and fill in the frills, whether the scene be a square in ed artists who were commis-
y is per- her -sioned by the First Presbyter-
current r graceful poise, combined with their mutual Padua or Petruchio's country house - something ian Church of Ann Ar-bor to
charm, permitted two masterful performances. which may seem strange in today's television commemorate its 150th year.
emoaning Coffey was so cute as Bianca you just wanted to oriented society. Bleachers were provided for part Donald Bryant, the serious,
in the slap her silly. Rather than a quiet, serene and of the audience upstage right, thereby effectively bespectacled conductor of the!
and, as gentle sister, we find a spoiled whining try-baby forcing a more intimate mood. University's Choral Union as
closer to giving us a more humorous interpretation. The COSTUMES WERE loose fitting and molded after well as director of music at the,
sisters' father, Baptista Minola-Hugh Hastings, Elizabethan England, with bright capes and tchurch, composed and directed
sed lady, who through some .mistake was not present on the plumage to contrast with the cool colors and simple the music for this opera, which
preenton he , .; takes as its theme the Biblical i
ave liked program-along with Lucentio's father Vincentio lines of the standard dress. story. Bryant studied musicat
kespeare, (Alan Coates), presented us with mature and dig- Besides the intimate ensemble quality of the Capital University in Ohio and
rough the nified father images well played. actors, another factor which made this performance received a masters degree from
i) Denise memorable was its lascivious, baudy and saucy Julliard as well as an honorary
agination BIANCA'S two suitors and lover, Gremio (Job tone exemplified by Petruchio's tongue in cheek doctorate from Westminster i
humorous Stewart), Hortensio (Gavin Reed) and Lucentio "tongue in tail" line and Bianca's bush offering. Choir College. He has been in i
self. (Richard Warwick) respectively each presented us In short, I was entertained. Ann Arbor since 1969 and, al-
though he has composed several
pieesinthe past, he has nev-,
HA RYGRO YECOLLEGE YERS j , er attempted something on this
O YE ' l L yscale.,
BRYANT DESCRIBES his ap-
proach to music as "modern
but not highly contemporary."
Since he is supported by the;
..hurch he feels that his work
must be "accessible to the pub-
ry is set.Translated somewhat inappropriate, were consisted of large black and too old and the writing too melo- lic." As a result the music in,
c terms, these be- performed with delicacy or white and silver reversible dramatic to make emotional his opera remains "tonal. The
ore than shouted gusto as the situation demanded. panels. The cast mirrored the sense. Certainly by far the most old methods are given a fresh3
nd semi-illustrated This was particularly true at the decor with their black-and-white enjoyable pieces were the solo and original approach."
bers. The book at- end of Act I where chorus mem- chorus outfits, over which they musical numbers, especially "St. The opera itself, however, con-
nundate the reader ber Joe Kolinski delivered a donned articles of clothing sug- Louis Blues," sung by a Bessie tains a variety of sound. The
ge of memorabilia. bluesy rendition of "America gestive of the character they Smith impersonator. first part is kept light and even
however, the same the Beautiful." happened to display at the mo- The show runs this weekend humorous in order to create and(
Is flat, and the re- The choreography was spotty. ment. The effect was stunning. and next at Marygrove College, build interest in the plot. The
ather like a fourth In some of the numbers the All in all, it is probably worth- at 6-Mile and Wyoming in De- choruses present a contrast with'
nt. cast was directed to give a while. One gets a nagging feel- troit. Since Detroit has a deplor- their elevated tone, stressing
large, showy production, while ing of annoyance, however, a able lack of good theatre, you the dignity and solemnity of
Y itself is thin and in others, it seemed to be no feeling that perhaps the form is might as well go see it. people speaking and creating a
the tale of J. Ward more active than your average
he public relations jellyfish.," P 7*? "
clear reflection of human think-
ing. The builders and "gripes"'
in one scene are composed of
a double ensemble that echoesf
and produces a distinct dicho-c
tomy of feeling.F!t
This variety is also paralleled
in the lyrics. The libretto of!
the opera was written by Bry-j
ant's son Travis, who studied}
theater at Boston University;
and Rider College and is pre-;
sently production stage man-j
ager for the Prince Street Play-1
ers in New York.
THE LIBRETTO is a rather
modern interpretation of the
Biblical story. It focuses on two
families involved with the build-
ing of the Tower and explores
the reasons for their interest
and how it develops. The theme'
of selfishness and pride whichj
ultimately destroys their efforts
is highlighted in the involve-
ment of one family in the tour-j
ist trade and the profit to be
made by selling small models
of the tower. Bryant points out
that tourists and their exploit-,
ers were much the same in those
days as they are now. In fact,
people in general "have re-
mained the same for thousands
of years." The story is "con-1
temporary and universal and,
certainly relevant to today."
This technique of updating
an ancient tale to make it rele-
vant is clearly paralleled by'
the use of contemporary music
in opera form. The effect is
to make the classical atmo-
sphere accessible to the public.
Another concept that this ef-
fort brings up to date is that
of the arts being supported and,
commissioned by the church.!
Both Bryant and his son em-
phasize that it is the Church's'
historic and rightful role to be,
a patron of the creative arts.
This role has been lost throughI
the ages as the Church has nar-
rowed its scope to more func-
tional pursuits.
HOWEVER, the Bryants look
forward to the day when works
such as theirs will be support-
ed and encouraged by the
church on a regular basis. For
this reason, although they are
anxious to share their word with
others interested in, performing
it, they would prefer to see their
production kept within the
church, which "by bringing into
existence this timeless yet con-
temporary story" has "made an
offering to the greater glory of
God."
THE TOWER.OF BABEL will
be presented in the sanctuary
of the First Presbyterian
Church at 1432 Washtenaw on
November 10-12 at 8 p.m. Ad-
vance tickets are available at
the church, for which donations
will be welcome. The opera is
fully orchestrated and has a
cast of 110 including chancel
and youth choirs, eight prin-
cipals (including Stephan Bry-
ant, the younger son of com-
poser Donald Bryant), dancers,
and a puppeteer.
The producer is Millie Daniel-
son, who also designed the ex-
tensive set, which completely
covers the chancel. Production
Coordinator is Nancy Houk and
Mary Martha Beierwaltes is in
charge of costumes.
PUMPKIN
PIES !!
an autumn tradition.
We make 'em better
than your Granny!
SUGAR BIN
BAKERY
corner of Liberty and Main
300 S. MAIN 761-7532
Update
By JEFFREY SELBST
.S.A., Dos Passos' great novel
of the 20th century, was first
put into dramatic form in 1959.
Now, Marygrove College's The
Theatre has updated this ver-
sion for the 70's. Billed "a new
musical version," it is no niore
than the original play with a'
few Best-Loved Songs thrown in.
This is not to say that the
production wasn't splendid, be-
cause it was a visual delight.
The problem, as I _ see it, is
which the sto
into dramati
come no m{
headlines an
musical num
tempted to in
with a barra
In the play,l
technique fal
suit looks ra
grade pagean
THE STOR
cliched. It is1
with the antiquated form in Morehouse, t
which the show is presented. It exec who struggles to the top
is "reader's theatre" at its sil- and then finds out that life is
liest. Each member of the Gre- Emot- There is nothing new
cian-style chorus stands up and here. Sinclair Lewis did that too,
narrates a part of the story. and rather better. So what made
This is then acted out in silhou- the novel so great? Nothing but
ette in the background. meticulous characterization andI
Dos Passos, used two tech- story flow.
niques in his story-the 'Camera This can't be done in two
Eye' and 'Newsreel.' These are hours, though the cast perform-
used to enlarge the reader's un- ed in earnest and spirited fash-
derstanding of the times in, ion. Musical numbers, while
PianistLaredo excil
THE EVENING left me w
dering. What can you say ab
something like this? Wast
on-
out
the
u arneri flawless - again
By SCOTT EYERLY
A GOOD pianist with a poor
piano is like a good speak-
er with a hoarse voice - the
result is not terrible, but frus-
trating. A performer suddenly
finds his or her expressive
range constricted while the au-
dience finds its expectations
confused.
Thus pianist Ruth Laredo de-
served her enthused ovations
last Sunday, for she success-
fully performed a program of
Romantic music on Rackham's
fussy Steinway.
Wearing a bushy white dress
(fairly tasteful by virtuoso
standards), the attractive La-
redo began her program with
Beethoven's Sonata in E - flat
major ("Les Adieux"). Her ap-
proach was rather careful in
the first movement, becoming
more extroverted as the piece
grew. Often she dropped her
head low towards the keys, at
other times flinging her long
arms behind her to snap off a
phrase. Mostlydue to the piano,
partly due to Laredo, the cre-
scendos did not reach true
Beethoven fury, but many very,
soft, introspective passages
were outstanding.
The end of the first half was
devoted to Seriabin and Rach-
maninoff, both composers with
whom Ruth Laredo is closely
identified. She is the first pia-
nist to record all of Scriabin's
sonatas and is presently record-
ing Rachmaninoff's complete
solo piano literature. The for-
mer's P em, Op. 32, was a
brief, quickly forgettable piece,
but his ninth sonata, The Black
Mass, was quite impressive.
This is a very difficult work
technically and emotionally, an
uneasily unwinding chromatic
mobile that blows up in one
great climax, to slowly subside
in the depths of bass piano keys.
R A C H M A N I N O F F
was represented in Three
Etlides Tableaux: No. 2 in C
minor, No. S in E-flat minor,
and No. 9 in D major, each be-
ing played with the flair needed
to survive musically. No doubt
this excellence stemmed from
the direction of the great Ro-
mantic pianist Rudolf Serkin,
with whom Laredo studied when
at Curtis. A native Detroiter,
Laredo also went on to her New
York orchestral debut with the
American Svmnhony Orchestra
under Stokowski.
Clearly, the best part of the
2
r
_
,.
,
.E
I
E
.
C
i!
.;
.
sI
show good because its produc- By SUSAN BARRY opening Allegro evoked a surg-
tion was good? It certainly didn't JT IS DIFFICULT to improve ing sensation as it rose and fell
leave any satisfactory feelings, on a flawless performance in intensity. The melody then1
while on the other hand I knew - but the Guarneri Quartet did began to drift and the move-a
I'd seen a good cast put out as just that in the second of its ment closed with rapid, distin-1
much as it was capable of doing. series of Beethoven's string guished chords.
The set contributed to the quartets last Saturday night at The Allegretto was more hu-
professionalism of the work, and Rackham Auditorium. The per- morous and contained an un-
--- formance was not only perfect, usual and playful scherzo. The
it achieved such a degree of Adagio presented a poignantI
smoothness in its accuracy that contrast with its melancholy;
1 + xW it was often necessary to re- minor chords that became sooth-~
mind one of the fact that it was ing toward the end. The quar- j
actually a combined effort of tet was resolved in a rapid, live-
performance came last: Ravel's four distinct and independent ly tune which summarized the
Valses nobles et sentimentales musicians. effects of the preceding move-
and La Valse. While she played The first quartet, Opus 18 in ments.
the former very well, La Valse A major, No. 5 was as soft The first two quartets were1
was Laredo's grandest achieve- and sweet as anything Beethov- markedly melodic and pleasing;
ment. She emphasized all the en has ever written. In the to the ear. While the first in'
lusty Viennese momentum, mix- opening Allegro, first violinist these series of concerts stress-
ed with Ravel's idiosyncratic Arnold Steinhardt handled some ed diversity these first two quar-
touches, such'+as brutal down-!, brief solo phrases with the tets were so tonally similar that
beat crashes on the very low- maximum tonal richness that their unity was most striking.
est note clusters. At the end his authentic Guarneri instru- Op. 130 in B flat major was
o ment afforded. The lively melo- more ponderous and intricate.
of this super-waltz, written both dy slid gracefully from one in- In the Adagio the tumbling and
in parody of and homage to the strument to the other with a trilling scales highlighted scat-
mighty Strauss tradition, sev- lightness and ease that was tered fragments of melody that
eral "Bravos!" rang through breathtaking. were variably developed or sub-,
The Grosse Fugue which com-
prised the finale was more
heavily punctuated. Rapid, dis-
cordant sections were followed
by slow and smoothly weaving
sections although the major
changes seemed to occur in in-
tensity rather than in tempo.
The audience received all
three quartets extremely warm.
ly and called the Quartet back
onto the stage four times to
acknowledge their excellence.
Thy next concert in the series
is scheduled for February 19.
and 20 and at that time Op. 18,
No. 1 in F major; Op. 74 in
E-flat major; and Op. 131 in
C-minor will be performed.
ANN A00FL 00
TONIGHT an unscheduled showing of
MARTIN SCORSESE'S
TAXI DRIVER
Starring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, the
existential American Boy in New York who lives
for the one moment in his life that will ever
mean anything. Cannes Festival G r a n d Prix
Winner.
AUD. A ANGELL HALL
7:00 & 9:00-$1.25
Chi Psi Fraternity
PRESENTS
A Special Midnight Concert
WITH THE
David Bromberg Band
N ;.
s f x -0
the applause. A slower, more serious melo- dued into the background.
dy emerged in the Menuetto. THE PRESTO was light and
As an encore Laredo played This effect was continued in the rapid but more somber than
Gopening of the Andante which lively. The Andante was slow
noting that "it is still the Bi- then weaved into a series of and heavier and was followed
centennial year" and that Rav- variations that were humorous- by a slightly more melodic Al-
el and Gershwin were good ly grandiose. The Allegro re- legro. The Cavatina reintroduc-
friends. Her performance was capitulated the major themes ed a somber theme and the sum
tred to ers an wih with an uplifted quality. effect was of a series of more
very true to Gershwin, which THE SECOND quartet, Op. or less serious moods superim-
is not common among classical 59 in F major, No. 1, was more posed over each other in a musi-
pianists. distinct in its dynamics. The cal collage.
WIN A FREE
WINDJAMME R CRUISE
GARGOYLE, U. of M.'s own humor magazine, is giving away a
free 6 day Windjammer Caribbean cruise. To win, put your
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found in the Fall 1976 GARG or at the Student Publications
Building. THE DEADLINE IS NOV. 10, 1976.
I
j
t
Dial 763-5100
November 13
beginning at 6 p.m.
November 14
ending at 1 p.m.
for"
29 hours of
fund raising
ove r
..y. 1i0 91.7 fM
Live performances
Special Guests
Premiums of:
autographed books,
records, pictures
Gourmet dinners
flying lessons
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Gol$30,000
tsupport the
Program Guide
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and news events
Don't forget
16i3-5100
INGMAR BERGMAN'S
1964
THURS: PLANET OF THE APES
CINEMA GUILD
TONIGHT AT
7:00 & 9:05
OLD ARCH. AUD.
Admission $1.25
THE SILENCE
The third film of Bergman's religious trilogy
depicts a world in which God is silent. Two
sisters arrive in a large city in which a strange
language is spoken. They choose different ways
to express their sexuality. The choices are
promiscuity, masturbation, incest and lesbi-
anism.