THE MICHIGAN DAILY rts & Entertainm ent Saturday, November 1, 1975 Page Five 'Looking Glass: Not worth a trip By ANDREW ZERMAN unimaginative subjects for par- pel song "Heed the Word of she didn't have to say anything. tesque, he turns on the charm Satirical musical reviews with ody. If I've seen one skit about GM" was actually the best num- She simply used her wacky without becoming overbearing wit, cleverness, sophistication i J.B., the slick movie produer, ber in the show but it had silly-putty face and demonstrat- and, in general, he carries him- and the proper light touch can II've seen twenty-five, nothing to do with Sesame ed impish comic talent. self like a professional instead provide a delightful and divert- There have been about as Street. John Reed, who seemed to of just carrying on. ing bit of entertainment. Unfor- many game show spoofs as there For the record, there were be given the dumbest material He just has that gift of know- tunately, The Looking Glass, have been game shows, also some snappy jingles for again and again, finally scored ing exactly what to do on stage the new dinner theatre attrac- A good musical revue must Bicentennial souvenirs that pro- as a Russian baker-a female as if he'd been born and lived tion at the Campus Inn, has above all be fresh and saucy. vided the evening's most spright- one. most of his life there. none of those appealing quali- That's difficult when you're ly use of words. Laugh-In-type Maria Olds has a natural, un- I was told that changes are ties, working with last year's cock- blackouts aren't very effective forced witty charm about her being made in the show. But Instead, it is predictable, tail party topics: hijackings, when you have to see people that's reminiscent of Lily Tom- the material was too consistent- simple-minded and provincial. Sesame Street, astrology, wives walk on and off the stage. uin. Her astrologer was one of l mediocre for anything but The show has the light touch of with newly-raised conscious- The cast of five, an endearing the more sensitive, intelligent major overhauling to save the a marching band and it just nesses and disaster movies. bunch, deserved better. There character sketches of the even- show. There are no signs that plain isn't funny. Even the CIA proves barren was an occasional tendency, I ing. A brief snatch of "Au Lumn Bilik can come up with beder Jerry Bilik, who created the ground for satire. We've been especially on the part of Diane Leaves" showed that she can work than he already has. show and co-directed it with making fun of secret agents for Baverman, to overdo, overmug put over a song warmly and I should point out that the Richard Burgwin, has arranged years. and come on too strong. affectingly. predominantly middle-aged udi- half-time shows for U football Bilik's forays into the area of But, given the severe short- Best of all was David Paymer ence with whom I saw the show games and, in fact, many of the political satire were not nearly comings of the material, the who again proved that he is cue got quite a kick out of 'he whole skits in The Looking Glass fol- acerbic enough and, I think,, cast controlled their perform- of the most talented fellows thing. To me, however, this low the formula of half-time were too polemic. ances admirably. Sheila Hey-! around town. He does broad looking glass revealed only what shows. A half-time salute to Ameri- man was perhaps the luckiest- {{comedy without becoming gro- I've already seen. You start with a trendy theme can industry (at first I 'houghta - - .- -- a t- and use popular songs to zdlus- it was about the Mafia - the trate it. target of this satire was strange--" So Bilik gives us miserably ly imprecise) was so intent on singing "Close to You," an as- it forgot to be funny at all. trologer singing "I've Told This half-time skit and the Every Little Star" and hijackers "Sesame Street" skit both tidn't making their destinations kntwn work because in each case Bilk: fl' with "I Love Paris" and "I Left imposed political satire on mo- My Heart in San Francisco." tifs that didn't take to it all.y Let no one say this isn't the If you're doing a Sesame By JEFFREY SELBST a fine shading and tonal ora- in projecting a rich tone trom tackiest show in town. Street parody, fine. But what's; Bilik asks for trouble by that got to do with General At Hill Auditorium Thursday tion. the instrument. Perhaps it was choosing the most obvious and Motors and big cars? The gos- night I witnessed an almost- In the very competent third caused by playing opposite such cMmarvelous thing: the University I movement, the strings were a large group, or in making the - - - Philharmonia concert. T h e y slightly out of balance and as a sound of a cello fill Hill Audi- played a traditional program, result, tended to obscure any torium. I don't know. yis the bridge and they played, mostly, ex- other sections of the group. Cc- Many: times he sounded a S Honestyitremely well. What, then, were casionally the brass peeked little too thin. But otherwise it player's most deadly the problems? Mostly, there through. was utterly enjoyable. In the weren't any. But the fourth movement was sections where he stood out eans of self-destruction The concert included Dvorak's fine. Bridging from the third from the group, and those where _Symphony no. 8 in G major, op. almost without pause, the mark- he melted in perfectly, he dem- By MARK FRIEDLANDER 88, Prokofieff's Sinfonia Con- ed difference in conception from: onstrated himself firmly in con- certante for Cello and Orchestra, the previous movements was trol of the instrument. trump making five because and Mussorgsky-Ravel's Pic- emphasized by a strict rhythm, Northmwhen declarercouldn't help tures at anrExhibition. The first crisp balance and precision turhe Muss gnuental sh- - K Q 6C himself, he talked the defense and last are conventional show-, playing. tpe.Msly twsfn. into giving him a hand. But de-'stpe.M tliwafn.r 4 10 2 .arer gasinohmonopold.oBtdc- pieces for symphony orchestra, The tuba made one regret- The only exceptions to tis were West * Q542 East darer has no monopoly on trick- the other not often played. table entrance near the begin-the Promenades, none of which V J109 7 4K 10 7 6 4 8 5 2 The Dvorak was played with ning, but the highlighted per- were played quite correctly, the 4 K 9 6 4 V A J 8 5 3 North taste and style by the members formances by cellos, flute and "Bydlo" section, where tne tex-' 9 43 South K 7 6 4 A J 9 2 of the Philharmonia. The trouble violins were nothing short of ture was muddy, the "Cata- 4 5 3 with the piece lay in the catch- masterful. The clarinet solo was combae," where the tone was V A 4 3 West f7S2 East as-catch-can interpretation by devastating; light, lovely and shaky and the dynamic varia- A Q10 93 4 Q 10 7 4 4 A K 8 4 4 K 5 Uri Mayer, the conductor. utterly controlled. tions were not well-controllkd * A Q 5 2 rQ10 0874 The first movement displayed The coda was a little bit rush- and "The Great Gate of Kiev." 4AQ K Q 109 South * 8 6 4 3 an excellent sound, a nice rich ed and the dynamic shift to The problem with this Jast South West North East 4 9 3 2 4 8 6 3 4 Q J 10 6 tone from the strings, both lower triple-fortissimo was too abrupt. piece was again in unity. This 1-NT pass 3 NT All pass ; A K J 9 6 2 and upper. The cellos showed a Other than that, a perfect move- section must sound larger-than- Opening lead: J of Spades i A silky, supple sound, while the ment. life, and near the end, it almost In most professions honesty is violins played with a lovely The Prokofieff, a virtuoso did. The strength of the Phil- the best policy. But in bridge North East South West exactness. In this movement, the piece for cello (and orchestra) harmonia is in playing quieter another cliche takes precedence: 1 Club pass 1 Heart pass upper and lower strings alter- was given its technical due by sections, those that demnd pe- nice guys finish last. An hon- 1 Spade pass 3 Hearts pass nated with each other to good soloist Richard Harlow. Bowing cision-playing. When tey try est declarer is at a distinct 4 Hearts All pass effect, while the horns and flute the intricate passages, he made for the huge effect, as in this disadvantage in trying to make; O loverlaid well. the performance look deceptive- piece they must, there is a touch hopeless contracts. Opening lead: K of Diamonds The conductor, however, was ly simple. His technique was of empty grandeur about the The bidding was straightfor- South won the opening lead too interested in the perform- flawless, attempt that is slightly disap- ward. South opened his balanced and cashed the ace of trumps, ances of particular sections, and The only difficulty he had was pointing. sixteen points one no-trump and intending to finesse the queen did not pay attention to the - ~ ~ - North raised to three on his bal- later. He did not have to be- unity of sound. It is perhaps a anced ten. But the resulting con- cause West played the queen necessary consequence of the & WOIILD S 'E tract was hopeless. Declarer had under the ace. South smiled, seating of an orchestra, but the W iUDu UES eight top tricks, virtually no way believing the queen to be sin- effect was of layered sound, PRESENTS to find a ninth without giving gleton, and led a low spade, in- rather than a well-textured THE AWARD WINNING up the lead, and five potential tending to insert the nine, which whole. her oer.wudgive him a one - third The tempo of the second y chance ofavoiding two spade movement was somewhat self-; opening lead without much en losers, indulgent. In the tradition of! thusiasm. West put up the queen on the Tschaikovsky, the sweet strings Obviously, because West had spade lead, so declarer won the were allowed to hold sway,: not led a heart, he did notknow ace, smiling again because he rather than disciplining them they were running. Unfortunate did not dream that West would tightly, and the inherent drama- ly, this was not too great a play the queen from any hold- tic elements of the movement handicap because the process of ing other than king-queen. were heightened for momentary setting up the ninth trick would i Then the ,roof fell in! South effect, sacrificing thereby a su- alert the defense to the fact that i finessed the nine of trumps, staied interpretation. hearts was their only chance. losing to West's ten, who cash- The solo violin was facile and The honest player would win ed a diamond and led another well-executed, while the clari- the opening lead and lay down one. Declarer ruffed, pulled the nets, in their brief duet, showed the ace of diamonds. When the last trump, and led to the spade king failed to drop, he would jack and East's king. A fourth 8:00 P.M.E-OCT. 31, 1:00 P.M.-NOVEA1 lead the ten of diamonds to the diamond left South one trick!l y 603 east Gibey MENDELSSOHN TH EATRE queen, hoping to sneak by with short of his contract and ex- Tickets $2.50-Adults & Students an extra diamond trick. But tremely$peeved.CA1 $.25-Children under 12 Eastwoud wn, hif toa hert, tre ely peeed.All tickets now on sale at UAC Box Office (at the Union) East would win, shift to a heart, Twice it was necessary for Thar Pon,6S29 10:30 a.m.-5:30 a m. and beat the contract two ! West to deflect South from the K___ tricks. correct and winning line of play. Shows at 1-3-5-7-9:05 - - -_-_- T hP 1iiU1LVaL diih daL i WuUl l I f hp h di nt. 1.1d dtaVU h OenI"at412:45 Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN Diane Marcovitz, zany comedienne and musician captivated the audience at thex Ark where she played last night. Marcovitz is best known for her frequent costume-changes and Randy Newmanish singing. She'll be back at the Ark tonight. If you are interest. ed in reviewiiia poetry, and music or writing feature stories a bo0ut the drama, dance, film arts: Contact Arts E di t or, c/o The Michigan Daily -i HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! Bloodthirsty Butchers AND Torture Dungeon (rated R) First 8 people in their favorite horror flick costume will be ad- mitted FREE! MANN H pE.!o LA G MAPLEVIL AGE Pi6EHE I UAC CONCERTCOOP TO G s ILL 1'1 BONNIE RAITT BUDDY GUY-,JUNIOR WELLS BAND ROBERT PETE WILLIAMS SIPPIE WALLACE TONIGHT at HILL AUD. Tickets at Mich. Union until 5'30 (763-2071), at the door 6:30. Sorry, no personal checks. SMOKING AND BEVERAGES STRICTLY PROHIBITED * TONIGHT . sparkling Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn COMEDY DOUBLE FEATURE HOLIDAY (1938) in MLB 3 at 7 p.m. only THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) in MLB 3 at 9 only with THE KING OF HEARTS - anti war comedy starring Alan Bates & Genevieve Bujold. In MLB 4 at 7 9 p.m. $1.25 OR $2.00 DOUBLE FEATURE p.f 1 1 1 1 m NMI ff - .' i e isnonesi aeciarer woui ! enau no aroppea te queen resort to trickery and more like- of trumps, declarer would have ly succeed. He would be careful had to play trumps from the. to win the opening lead in his top down, not being able to pick hand and lead a club to the up Qxxx onside anyway, king, carefully advertising his West by putting up the queen strong! holdings in the black of spades persuaded declarer to suits. Then he would lead a low play him for both top spade heart to 'his queen and West's honors (25%) instead of the king! West would have a terrible spade ten and at least one top problem. He would know that honor (33%). A little judicious South had the black suits well dishonesty can go a long way covered and was trying to set toward the making or breaking up more tricks in hearts. His of a contract. hand might be I Axx V AQJx --_ _ f xx 4 AQxx, in which case ." West would have to shaft to a This \ diamond immediately. Natural- Weekend ly, West returned the Jack of diamonds. FRI.-SAT. Disaster followed for the de- fense. The jack was covered by DIANA the queen, king, and ace. South A cashed the ten, nine, and three MARCOVITZ of diamonds, three more clubs, and two more spades. Three no- THE SUN PRESE ;NIS INIr AIIINIGHI'SUNIES FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7 AT MiflMI-IT Lihere at the MICHIGAN THEATRE Uun nF C.l##ai&,. Cnll 0