THE MICHIGAN DAILY'
A rts'& Entertain ment Tuesday, November 30, 1 976 Page Seven
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FISHER THEATRE FEATURE
rown ugar': Dazzing By STEPHEN PICKOVER
ISN'T war fun?
By STEPHEN PICKOVER tural development which found its hey friendship and professionalism they feel What, you mean you don't
and MIC AEL JONES day in the twenties. During this period, towards each other and the Harlem of love a good murder-filled, blood-
Harlem attracted the attention of cos- their memories. Washington dazzles us henstained mechanized battle?
Then I hope you steered clear
r 'INE OF THESE DAYS in the near mopolitan sophisticates, who thought of with some fancy footwork, Riley is zany of PIP's Oh What a Lovely War,
future, when you have some free it as a novelty, as long as blacks were a la vaudeville, but Lee holds the upper as directed by Nicholas Pennell.
time, pick up a book on the Harlem contained and it was safe to walk the hand throughout in sheer presence and It was as 'funny as it sounds.
Renaissance and become fascinated with streets. The convergence of enlightened script. The main problem is not so
the Harlem of yesteryear - Lena Horne, society and - more importantly - ONE OF THE BEST numbers of the much the cast, the director, or
Irene Paige and Jelly Roll Morton, along money, created for a brief period in show is "Sweet Georgia Brown," per- the techncal aspects of the
with theater-cabarets like the Savoy and Harlem's history an area that was elec- formed by the former actors' younger 1show, but something' much more
Small's Paradise. Dream a little about ric - bubbling with excitement. counterparts, Ursuline Kairson (Paige) p
what it must have been like - and Robert Melvin (Sage) and Marcas B. F. But - you. so quickly add-
then pop over to Detroit's Fisher Theater THE PERFORMERS display talent Brown (Checkers). They were a mas- how can the script hbe at fault
for the real thing. You'll be taken on an and exuberant energy, creating a mag- terful trio, definitely providing us with either from letters or actual
instructive musical tour of Harlem dur- nificent rapport. with the audience be- one of the highpoints of the show. I spoken dialogue during the war
ing the twenties, thirties and forties via cause they convince us of their roles. Jim (J. Edward Adams) and Ella years 1914-1918? My point is
the musical revue Bubbling Brown However, the show was not without its (Terri Burrell), our friends from the made. Historical bits and pieces
Sugar. flaws, as writers stooped to using hack- seventies, sing a beautiful duet, "Love that don't have much in com-
neyed and cliched devices, particularly, Will Find a Way," adding a sormewhat mon except that they are in
The vehicle for going back in, time in one scene with a twenties gangster touching dimension, as they find their ehronological order are great
is a bit cliched - a young couple in that really adds no extra dimension and love in the romance of the past. Bur- for history books - it gives
Harlem of the seventies is taken back causes the loss of forward momentum rell's most memorable performance them character - but not for
in order to see how everything "used the show usually maintains. however, comes towards the end of the musicals.
to be." But it serves the purpose, be-sot,,R
cause we get to go along too. What The creative, expressive, unrestrained show in the song, I Got it Bad, sung SOMEWHERE of course, a
u and explosive choreography of Billy Wil- stunningly and with great expression point was trying to be made.
unfolds before us, with on a 'back son makes the audience want to get i f "Sophisticated Lady," sung by Keith You know, the moral of the
teal photographs projected on a onstgeak jininth.fnwhle .i Davis and danced by Vikki Baltimore story. I think it had something
panel, is a part of New York City few ' stage and join i the fin, while di- d d "m y gime s to do with the fact that war is
people would want to know today, deck- rector Robert Cooper's tableaux give a and Ronald Smokey Stevens gives us bad, silly, stupid, etc. I'm sure
ed out in its finest. A cultural hotbed glamorous and glitter-filled, cabaret-like the elegance, glamor and soph cation World War I was chosen as the
for entertainers, writers and musicians quality. Movement is fact-paced, with that was Harlem. His rich, melodious perfect example because it was
from all over the country to come ped- the muted trumpets and clarinets of aompes w ih a rather ridiculous and stupid
diem th eirwrtecAuplac to boe discl- the orchestra adding just enough spice ballroom poses was delightful,. ahrrdcuosadsui
de their wares. A place to be discov- ota n eec The finale, "It Don't Mean a Thing ,, onslaught (not that others
ered. A place to make a living, successfully wraps up the show by com ' aren't, you understand) thus ex-
The three major figures in the show, bining marvelous choreography with emplifying perfectly The Moral.
At the turn of the century, blacks Irene Paige (Mabel Lee), John Sage dazzling staging. The audience can't help
came in droves to Harlem from the (Vernon Washington) and Checkers (Jay being left breathless, and humming the
South, creating a center for black cul- Flash Riley) work to bring across the evening's tunes."
World War I was the world's
first mechanized war- that is,f
one where men did not physic-
ally confront each other direct-t
ly, but confronted machines in-t
stead. It also had an extreme-I
ly high casualty rate, some-t
thing not unusual in war, ex-!
cept that it could have beent
avoided had, it not been for thec
generals' child-like war stra-
tegy.
So, .we now have a moral andf
some historical potpourri. Mu-t
sic is obviously our next criter-
ion to be checked off, since thise
IS a musical. And what betterc
source to tap than the slew oft
European and American World'
I songs? This was one of the1
aspects of the show which help-!
ed break the monotony andI
boredom of the poor text. And,,
I think as a musical review of,
World War I this show couldr
have been much more effec-
tive. Unfortunately, the musical
rumbers were unable to revive
the low points to which the1
show had already sink.t
THE NUMBERS themselves,
particularly t h e ensembleI
scenes, were vital and ener-
getic, choreographed in an ear-
ly 1900's style. Unfortunately,
some of the soloists lacked vo-
cal projection, and it was diffi-
cult to hear what was being
sung. In general, though, the
r\
A -.. Smith Curporotion s
..'~~.J ..rl UL~UH 5 ~ i iii i's
lovely
singing and dancing were per-
formed well.
The set consisted of a circus
tent - like gazebo which housed'
the orchestra, with a mahogany
paneled gloor. The orchestra,
high in their ivory tower, played
marvelously, keeping the tempo
bright and cheerful, but never
overpowering.
A very effective device used
today to enhance the reality of
flashbacks on everything from
blank to lavishly colored panels.
The former type was employ-
ed for this musical, suspended
on either side of the stage from
the ceiling. Some original slides
of men in battle and "WE
WANT YOU" posters were
displayed. While this was some-
what effective in_ setting the
mood, I think the more gory
scenes could have been left
out. Also, the monotony of the
repetitive casualty information
and the distraction from action
on stage because of their high
position were enough to render
the posters virtually useless.
ONE OF the most touching
scenes,. though cliched, occur-
red in the beginning of Act.
bore
I. Here the Gerrys (Germans)
and the Tommy (British) cross
enemy lines and share a drink
on Christmas, only to kill each
other the next day. This was
certainly the most poignant, and
one of the few scenes which was
effective in actually creating
the mood of war on the front.
In
bre
one.
essence, it was a maca-
show, in more ways than
I
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Simsar exhibition features Calder
L IRE I I NIU
CONSULTANT
By CHRIS DYHDALO c
.I
NOT A particularly exciting,
but definitely a big name
show to visit is the newest ex-
hibit at the Alice Simsar Gal-
lery. It features selected works
on paper, , notably those of the
late Alexander Calder and Saul.
Steinberg.
Taken together, the works re-
present a good cross-section of
recent movements in moderns
art. Sharing the spotlight with1
Calder and Steinberg are twoi
works by Frank Stella, a Dine
and even a pencil drawing by
David Hockney.
A solidly composed, cold-
colored collage by Jean Arp re-.
vealed his experience through
the unity of the whole design.
A BEAUTIFUL Paul Jen-
kiins, "Phenomena Blue Wing",!
demonstrates an interesting di-
vision of space coupled with
subtle gradations of blue which
can only be achieved with wat-
ercolors.
The abundance of Calder's
works on paper show his abil-
ity as an artist, rather than a
sclilptor. Bold, black strokes
outline the brightly colored bal-
loons i "Envol", a 1974 gou-
ache. r ' ittle boy at the show
stood f' ,ated in front o the
high grinning teeth of a ther
Calder work, "Laughing Bear".
Two cartoons by the inimit-
able architect, Saul Steinberg,
displayed his fascination with
persoective and the many areas
in, which he has traveled.
OTHER works included in the
show are Norris Embry's
"Crucifixion", and "Personage"
by Dubuffet.
i
In order to illustrate flat, tion of recent works of import-
abstract work, a short poem by ant artists in the sixties and
Richard Wilbur, "On the Mar-1 early seventies. The cost of
ginal Way" was included:
Has the light altered now? buying these originals is pro-
The rocks flush rose and hibitive for most people, but
have the melting shape you can go down to see the
Of bodies fallen anyhow ... show at 301 North Main until
The exhibit is a good selec- December 23.
AU-DITIONS
UNIVERSITY GUEST ARTIST SERIES
Production of Chekhov's
UNCLE VANYA
UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE
3 ~Production oft
WHEN YOU COMIN
BACK, RED RYDER
Tues. Nov. 30, Wed. Dec. 1, 1.30-11 P.M.
Audition requirements posted in the
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civil eLiiec inr j tvi;c: r inlg rn.< aui c.s, or lflichuf col
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Outstan dinrg salary cm'] fully a ucd Benefit pr agrom
Pleasoanr sulurbari Miiwouke( ocicon. Serid resume to
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3 FAMOUS WRITERS READING
SELECTIONS OF THEIR OWN
WORKS IN YOUR LIVINGROOM
DYLAN THOMAS WILL ROGERS
ERNEST HEMINGWAY RICHARD WRIGHT
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ROBERT FROST \_BEATRIX POTTER
AND MANY OTIERPS
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TWO SHOWINGS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1
3 P.M:, AUD: A, ANGELL HALL
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2
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