Arts & Entertainment Friday, November 9 976MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five

1! Ill
x

PIRANDELLO OFFERING
RC play:. issing. something
By SUSAN BARRY weaves a conceit of relativity that he was constantly in a out of the precarious ra

Car wash

disappointing

I


out of their failure to do so. rage.

mediocrity. Even if no one else'

SOMETHING bothered me as was thinking, Burdick was con-:
I watched the R.C. Play- THE PLAY opens with a bevy l IT IS TRUE that Ponza has stantly thinking for them, man-!
ers' opening performance of Pi- of aged women and their spous- a quick temper that often ipulating them, getting ' them
randello's It is So (If You Think es offering each other observa, comes to the surface but Rus- ready for the final impact of
So), in the Residential College tions and conclusions to be sell Sommers' Ponza never his convictions. His involve-
Auditorium. drawn from the strange be- seemed rational at all. He de- ment in the final scene was
The first act started with a havior of the new family. TheF livered his empathetic lines for compelling, and his perform-'
nice quick pace and the chat- problem begins after the actors the old woman in such an an- ance can be summed up in
ter among the old ladies rose have diligently capturkd the gry tone that she seemed more one word: dynamic.
to a delicious cadence of gos- grotesque nature of their char- of an embarrassment to him MENTION must also be made
sip. Sure it was - entertaining acterizations, but then sadly be- than a beloved relative whose of the costumes by Heather
watching the many amusing come immersed in them. delicate sanity was worth tak- Phillips and make-up by Cindy ,
caricatures take shape under Don Rose as Serelli consistent- ing great pains to protect. When Bauml. Both were apparently
the artful guile of Tony Bur- ly bellows out his lines. John Ponza meets his' mother-in-law i authentic and added much td
dick's Laudisi in his opening Frank as Agazzi attempts to in the Agazzi's house, a mood the setting of the piece.
attempts at philosophizing. But convey his -elevated sense of change is crucial to his credi- The timing of the play pro-
something got lost as each char- self - esteem by affixing his bility that he was only raging ceeded swiftly and effectively.
acter went his own way with thumbs to various parts of his to please her. However, he What were basically redundant3
his interpretation and the result apparel, most usually his lap- speaks in the same tone while scenes never really seemed to
was distracting. els. Most of their observations he is explaining his fit, which drag.
The plot was basically con- are tossed off as humorous serves to further destroy his The blocking, however, was
cerned with a mystery that asides. Actually the audience case. not altogether pleasing. Chairs
grew out of some curious liv- needs them desperately as its While Frola showed concern were placed with their backs
ing arrangements between a only source of the characters' for her son-in-law and constant- to the audience. This achieved
new neighbor, Signor Ponza, thinking processes. ly pleaded with the others not a crowded, confusing effect,
and his mother-in-law, Signora This play is, if anything, a to reject him, Ponza only true, but often in a way that
Frola. A fine line of argument play of ideas. Frivolous and screamed at her and insisted blocked out several actors.-
is drawn between the facts that contradictory concepts set the she was crazy. Although Ponza When Laudisi turned his back
one of them must be mad and tone for the drama. presented us with a good solid I lamented the loss of his facial
that none of them/both of them character, whose actions were reactions.
seem to be. While a series of , WHEN THE WOMEN are first consistent and rather mysteri- In all it was an ambitious
situations are contrived by the presented with the idea that ous, one would never have be- production of a difficult play,
towv people to find out the Signora Frola is mad, they ex- lieved for a moment that what enlivened by several outstand-
trut , a cynic named Laudisi press disapproval and exchange he said about Frola was true. I ing performances and interest-
outraged glances instead of This imbalance detracted from ing visual effects. The play runs
C looking surprised or intrigued. the basic argument of the play. through Saturday night and at-
An exception to this was Cin- . tendance would certainly be
C a m p ui Ls # dy Bauml's Amalia. Amalia , But no review of this drama worthwhile, if only to witness
seemed completely authentic, could be complete without men- an interesting presentation of
from her exquisitely detailed tion of Tony Burdick's marvel- what Laudisi refers to as "truth
O rch , make up to her instant partial- ous Laudisi. Burdick was so en- with a capital T.
c ity ifor Signora Frola, even when thusiastically cynical that with
her conviction began to wav one gesture he swept the play
IAnd one of the finest pe- i
la y s formances of the evening was
pthat of Signora Frola herself.
Amy Rothman was a perfect
Frola with her quivering voice,!Be sure you
labored -walk and the extreme, drown al
tig h tly ' drown mysterious compassion she bore
her son-in-law. Her perform- frjes
By LUCY SAUNDERS ance was convincing and often:
touching, and, she consistently new s
r1E UNIVERSITY All Cam. dominated the stage with her ,
pus Orchestra, conducted by presence, even though she was
Charles Gabrion, gave an ener- rather soft-spoken. r°"
gentic (if not highly polished) One problem with the produc-I
performance Wednesday night at? tion was with Ponza.. All the j[
Hill Auditorium. The orchestra credibility of this play rests on c
just started working with Ga- a delicate balance between
brion this semester, and only identification with Frola and 76-D A ILY
held nine or ten rehersals before Ponza. They must equal each
the actual performance. Con- other in compassion and con--
sidering these factors, it's re- viction, so that the audience'
markable that they were as tight is never able to decide who is|___--
as they sounded. really mad. However, if at any I \
The evening's program con- time after the introduction of j
sisted, of Glinka's Overture to both characters there was aTE
Russian and Ludmilla; Gluck poll taken of the audience, I
and Mozart arias, sung by Rose- am sure that a great majori-
mary Russell; Barber's Adagio- ty would agree that Ponza was Please:hel revent fost fs TODAY at: 7:00 ONLY
for Strings; and a section from indeed insane, due to the fact
Borodin's Symphony No. 2 in B ------- -- - ALFRED
- urrcf'nrv'

By DOBILAS MATULIONIS
Car Wash, now playing at the:
Fifth Forum, has been bally-
hooed by the press releases as
a slice of life comedy, rich in
urban humor. It has received
many rave reviews, and critics
have claimed it as extremely
funny and heartwarming. Need-
less to say, when one sees the
movie and fails to be impress-1
ed, is a shocking disappoint-!
ment.
Director Michael Schultz has
tried again with Car Wash af-
ter his moderate financial suc-
cess with Cooley High. Both
films are based on roughly the
same idea -- presenting a
"document" of the inhabitantsj
of a particular place and their
comic misadventures. Car
Wash makes no attempt at por-
traying realism, and therein lies
one of its principal faults.
FOR A FILM to be entertain-
ing, the 'audience should iden-
tify with the characters, and
this automatically requires
that a certain believability
should be built into the film.
Hollywood has been criticized
of stereotyping characters, but
director Schultz has bent over!
backwards and given us such
a super-individual screwy set
of nuts as to totally stretch
credibility beyond the limits of
reason.

For example, T. C. (the
"hero", played by Franklyn
Rjaye) imagines he's the "fly"E
-some comic strip superhero
he's concocted. In one scene, he
tries to stop the "mad bomber"
(played by "Professor" Irwin
Corey), rationalizing that it is
his duty as a superhero to safe-}
guard society. Next we have
Lindy (played by Antonio Far-
gas -Huggy Bear on Starsky
and Hutch), who is an effemi-j
nate homosexual (a stereotype,
by the way) and a transvestite
rolled into one. The audience is
expected to laugh hysterically
while Lindy mices around the
car wash making passes at the
men. This type of humor is
downright disgusting, not heart-
warming, and I can't figure out
why it's supposed to be funny'
(if you love this type. of hu-
mor, go see Norman . . . Is
Nave a flair far
artistic writino?
If you are interest-
poetry, -a n usc
or writing feature
stories abo ut the
drama, dance, film
arts: Contact Arts
Michigan Daily.

That You?). Humor should be
of a higher quality than this
ultra-crude slapstick. So may-
be I'm a snob.
Car Wash definitely has its
good points. Director Michael
Schultz has given us an ample
personification of -each of the3
nb less than ten main charac-
ters in ninety seven minutes,
and he develops as many as
five stories simultaneously -
both admirable feats (the actual
film covers one day at the car

wash. Al.so, Norman Whit
field's bouncy soundtrack adds
a fine flavor to the film. When
it's not trying too hard, the
film can be actually funny, and
it is enjoyable 'seeing old friends
again like Ivan Dixon (he play-
ed Kinchloe on Hogan's Heroes
and talented people like the
Pointer Sisters and George
Carlin. However, the film falls
flat on its face in too many
places to be worth spending
money on.

'Liuiiaweekeiid
Friday - Frenzy, Old Arch. Aud., 7, 9:05; Camelot,
Nat. Sri. Aud., 7, 9:45; The Adventures of Robin Hood,
MLB Aud. 3, 7, 9; Robin and Marion, MLB Aud. 4, 7, 9;
Silk Stockings, Aud. A Angell, 7, 9.
Saturday - Betty Boop Matinee, MLB Aud. 3, 1:30,
4:30;. Crime and Punishment, MLB Aud. 4, 7:30 only; Love
and Anarchy, MLB Aud. 3, 7, 9; The Maltese Falcon, Old
Arch, Aud., 7, 9:05; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Aud. A Angell,
7, 9; The Four Musketeers, Nat. Sci. Aud., 7, 9:45.
Sunday - Battle of Algiers, Old Arch. Aud., 7, 9:45;
Devi (The Goddess), MLB Aud. 4, 7 only; Distant Thunder,
MLB Aud. 4, 9 only; Little Shop of Horrors, Aud. A An-
gell, 7, 9.
All Weekend - Carrie, The Amazing Dobermans, Shout
at the Devil, The Next Man, The Movies, Briarwood (769-.
8790); Car Wash, Fifth Forum (761-9700); (761-9700); Fam-
ily Plot/Gable and Lombard, State (662-6264); Marathon
Man, Michigan (665-6290); Two Minute Warning, Fox Vil-
lage (769-1300); The Front, Campus (668-6416).

-----------

lkh,

F'.4

uest Ass

Featuring NICHOLAS PENNELL
Guest Director in Residence
'A BRITISH MUSICAL SATIRE
14IVWEL TAUR

*C

]R' 11 COW

cture J \ .

*

Nov 23,24,26,27- 8pm; Nov.28-2&8pm

screenplay by
WILLIAM GOLDMAN from

his novel

produced by
ROBERT EVANS

and
SIDNEY BECKERMAN
SHOWTIMES
Friday: 7:00 and 9:05
Sat.-Sun.: 1, 3:05, 5:10,
7:15, 9:25

Power Center
?;cits at the PTP TickeCt Ofe
MendeLichn Theatre Lobby Mon.-f 10-1 2 5
For Information Call 764-0450
TIckets also Avadlable at a i Hu-lo

4

,.


A


minor.
The Glinka Overture was exe-
cuted with much enthusiasm,.
and for the most part, good co-
ordination. At one point, the
strings seemed to be sipping
away but Gabrion soon brought;
them under control and ended1
the piece with a dramatic, well-
timed flourish.
THE ARIAS didn't fare as
well. I felt these to be the weak-
est pieces by far, as Russell's
mezzo soprano was breathy, and
lacked the dimension needed to
bring out the emotion contained
in Glnck's "Che faro seza Euri-
dice," a beautiful aria -from his
masterpiece, Orpheus.
Zarber's Adagio is my favorite
string composition, and the re-
flective quality with which the'
string section played it proved
successful. Concertmaster Cath-
erine Huntress played with ex-
ceutional grace and verve. I
talked with one member of the1
orchestra after the performance
and he felt that the Adagio wasj
perhaps the most difficult piece
to do justice to. However, the
timing in it was very good in:
comparison with the Borodin
symphony.
The Allegro segment of theI
symphony was played stolidly,
bvit as the orchestra got into it
it improved remarkably, ending
with a smoothly polished quality.
Talking with Charles Gabrion'
after the concert, I found he felt
that the actual excitement of
being on stage and playing to anj
audience greatly improved the
collective performance. I feel:
it's a shame, when musical en-
thusiasts of the University (99
per cent of the orchestra are
non-music majors) get together
to perforrr in a free concert
that lasts less than an hour. that
they should play before a half-
full auditorium. Whether this
lack of attendance is the result
of pot being able to get out at
8, too much homework or 'better .
things' to do. I can't ascertain,
but for me, the University Cam- j
pus Orchestra provided an en-
joyable study break.

ANN ARBOR 8:30p.m.
DANCE THEATER'S Nov. 19 & 20
at DANCE SPACE
FALL 3412S.
,$2 at the door
i refreshments
PERFORMANCE Served after each
performance
R.C. PLAYERS present,
I Pirandello's
(IF YOU
THINK SO)
Directed by
Jack McLaughlin
NOV. 18, 19, 20
'8 P.M.
EAST QUAD
AUDITORIUM
Admission $1.00

--
--PLUS-
They had more than love -
they had fun.4s SHOWTIMES
j I3LE Friday: 7:00 and 9:00.
AID Sat. and Sun.:
1, 3, 5, 7 and.9
2I
1p
ALFRED H ITCHCOCK'S 1972
The recent Hitchcock thriller about the terrorizing of London by the
Ni
"Necktie Murderer" and the ensuing efforts' of Scotland Yard to pin I
him down. The all-British cast is excellent in this flawlessly fashioned
film. Hitchcock's cameo role is as a corpse dredged up from the Thames.
- SAT.: Bogart in T HE MA LT ESE FALCIN{
CINEMA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD.
ROUBEN MAMOULIAN'S 1957
SILK STOCKINGS
Fred Astire and Cyd Chorisse dance to Cole Porter tunes in this de-
ightful musical based on the earlier Garbo film NINOTCHKA. Last

A


Where


HELDOVER
DON'T MISS ITI
of 7:15 and 9:15,
SUN. at 5:15, 7.15, 9:15

a

anything
can happen...
and usually
does!
fNt i eAjey eeute il - ,
Irelissinmi - terry " If . 11 u eAI I i l irns
liuiiaet 6trj kc Ilk" - lreulist
lie Fele .listesA ide j -
CDC IAl IM flNf)lCLT C LiIA/1