Friday, July 15, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five Troupers surmount Reod in Brief By TIM YAGLE The first song "Hustler" is IF YOU'RE IN the mood for a heavy-metal tune with some some "out of this world" rock spacey keyboard sounds from music, give a listen to the new Gregg Rolie and a scorching Journey alb sm, Next (Colum- guitar solo from Schon. By RICHARD LEWIS THEY ALL WORK VERY HARD. Everyone associated with the Black Sheep Rep- ertory Theatre's production of The Star-Spangled Girl-from the actors onstage to the pop vendors in the lobby-plunges enthusiastically into the task of making it a success.r The Neil Simon comedy is the first of five shows to be offered by the Manchester group this summer and, commercially speaking, it is a wise choice. The Star-Spangled Girl is as full of laughs as any play in the Simon canon, and not nearly as over-exposed as such hits as The Odd Couple or Barefoot in the Park. ITS WIND-UP PLOT ticks away like this: Two San Francisco hippies are busy putting out an anti-American magazine when a flag-waving Southern belle moves into the apartment next door. During the obvious ideological conflict that ensues, one of the hippies falls in love with the girl, the girl falls in love with and other hippie instead, and so on, until we are finally given to understand that radicals and conservatives can learn to live together through the power of whim- sical romance. Neil Simon, as a comfortably middle-class play- wright, is quite competent to write plays about the comfortable middle class. I can believe his slovenly sportswriter and fussbudget news copy- writer in The Odd Couple; he might well have drawn them from life. I am also willing to trust, him when depicting the clientele of the Hotel Plaza in Plaza Suite. But when, in The Star-Spangled Girl, I am pre- sented with two San Franciso radicals of the late sixties who never swear, smoke pot, listen to acid rock or utter a mildly anarchistic word, suspension of disbelief is impossible. Still, whether or not Simon's characters work, their jokes rarely miss the mark, and last Thurs- day's audience went away happy. Director Robert Horner has assembled an energetic and appeal- ing cast which almost manages to make a play out of a two-hour comedy act. STAN GILL, AS Norman, is all frenzy and frus- tration as he pursues Sophie, the girl next door. As he watches her through a telescope, his eyes actually seem to bulge out-as she yells at him, his face is full of adoration. He bounces about the stage like a dazed puppy, and is great fun to watch. Norman's roommate, Andy, is played by Owen J. Anderson with a remarkably immobile face. This complements Gill's constant activity very well, and the two are often hilarious in scenes together. Linda Hart's Sophie may have left her accent at home, but she is appropriately indig- nant when necessary. bia PC 34311). Journey is a space-rock band from San Francisco. The two years old group's sound is cen- tered around Neal Schon's lead guitar - flying notes balanced by extended vibrato holds re- sult in dramatic tension in his playing. "Melody and rhythm is the key to the whole thing", Schon says. .. S S "NICKEL AND DIME" is an instrumental that sounds like a bunch of guys got together and jammed for awhile with everybody doing his own thing. "Spaceman" is a slow, eerie rocker that received extensive FM airplay a short while ago. The tune itself is sufficient to keep you listening, then lead guitarist Schon zaps you with a couple of short, ear-piercing guitar solos. "I Would Find You" is real- ly "out of this world" rock. It's very low keyed and it fea- tures Ross Valory's bass guitar and Gregg Rolie's keyboard. JOURNEY IS READY to ex- tend its base beyond San Fran- cisco, and Next should help them do it. The album is al- most like nothing you've ever heard before; it features light to heavy-metal space rock that will keep you soaring right along with the band. Journey is going to be in De- troit sometime within the next month and if you dare to see them, you're in for a real treat. What's on this weekend SCREEN STARS Robert Shaw and Roger Moore light up Ann Arbor ci The Spy Who Loved Me, respectively. 'Spy' is the new James Bond thri the Fifth Forum. T NIGHT the film co-ops of- fer a wide variety of films: Cinema Guild's repeat showing of the Woody Allen-gone-spastic Bogart in Play It Again Sam, in the Architecture Auditorium at 7:30 and 9:30. A compelling documentary on African Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada, a 1976 release is screened at 7, 8:45, and 10:30 in MLB 3. Angell Hall, Aud. A is the "theatre where, Shirley Clarke's jazz-junkie doc- umentary, The Connection will be exhibited at 7:30 and 9:30. Saturday's offerings include Zefferelli's dewy Romeo and Juliet (MLB 3, 7 and 9:30), its contemporary and cool counter- part, West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood (Arch. And, 7 and 9:45) and Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg paired off in an asylum in Lilith (Angell A, 7:30 and 9:30). Sunday night's free classic film is the 1941 release Santa Fe , which stars the Warner Bros. love-team Errol Flynn and Olivia deHaviland, with support by Ronald Reagan, at 8 in the Architecture Aud. Theatregoers can choose be- tween the Manchester Black Sheep Rep Co.'s production of Anthony Newley's The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd, or a production of The Lady's Not For Burning, a modern verse comedy set in the Medieval period, presented by the St. Andrew's Players, at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Division and Catherine) through Saturday evening at 8, admission for students, $1.50. Stage addicts can also bop down to Greektown in Detroit to the newly-established Attic Theatre at 558 Monroe. You Know I Can't Hear You When The Water's Running, their cur- rent production, runs Friday and Saturdays at 8 and mid- night, and Sundays at 8. These four one-act comedies should prove to be a laugh riot, and midnight theatre is one con- cept that is long overdue. Musical events worth noting include the appearance of Street Corner Band at Second Chance, The Red Mountain String Band, performing tonight and tonnsorrow at Mr. Flood's, The Ark presents Craig John- son and Cheryl Dawdy, guitar and dulcimer/vocals respective- ly who perform originals and old-time music tonight and to- morrow night. Poetry in the Park is hap- pening Saturday afternoon at West Park. Perhaps in preparation for the upcoming Street Fairs, gal- lery exhibitions are in abun- dance this week. The Lee Hoff- man Gallery in Birmingham presents "Graphics for Young Collectors" featuring such art- ists as Dine, Calder and War- hol. The U-M Museum of art is displaying etchings, French and English watercolor land- scapes, and 19th and 20th cen- tury photographs along with their permanent collection. Saturday marks the opening of photographer Jack von Euw's show at Art Worlds. The De- troit Institute of Arts offers a major retrospective of the works of sculptor Daniel Ches- ter French, reknowned for his seated Abraham Lincoln in the Washington D.C. Lincoln Me- morial. Also in Detroit, through July 31st, The Detroit Artist's Mar- ket presents "Art for New Col- lectors" a mixed-media show geared to encourage collection of original Detroit artwork, with the encouraging price ceiling of $100. The Market is located at -1452 Randolph, open from 10-5. Have a floir for artistic writing? It you are interest. ed to reviewiw ps-try, ant muic or writing teature stories about the drama, dance, tim arts: Contact Arts Edistor,./o -'the Mtchigan Datly. AP Photo SUPERMAN co-stars Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) and Chrislopher Reeve (Clark Kent/Super- man) relax between takes on the set of the expensive epic, which also stars Brando and Su- sannah. York. The film, and its sequel that is being shot simultaneously, is currently on loca- tion in the offices of the New York Daily News, soon to become famous as the headquarters of Metropolis' Daily Planet.