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August 08, 1978 - Image 8

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Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1978-08-08

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Page 8--Tuesday, August 8, 1978-The Michigan Daily
'IDo, IDo' dated but delightful

By SUSAN BARRY
I Do, I Do, one of the featured plays at the Black
Sheep Repertory Theatre this month, is a musical that
shows its age. Its theme is marriage, from the altar to
the couple's retirement as parents. It is a light comedy,
a very light comedy, that deceives one at the beginning
with its silly sentimentality.
As the play develops (no actual plot line is discer-
nible) one watches the couple deal with the crises that
one expects in a stereotypical marriage. There is the
coy-bride-on-her-wedding-night crisis, the having-a-
I Do, I Do
Book and lyrics by Harvey schmidt
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Black Sheep Repertory Theatre
She ......................Shelley K. MacMillan
He.......Stan Gill
Owes J. Anderson, drector; Stece
Bass, 'mustaldirctor;,Deborah
Hazlett, set designer; Barbara
Thorne, costumes; Russ Collins,
/ighting; James R. Fleming, producer
baby crisis (twice), the seven-year-itch, and finally the
retirement crisis. Quite predictable, one yawns, and
yet there is something more here.
THE STEREOTYPICAL marriage has changed con-
siderably since the days portrayed in I Do, I Do.
Blushing brides are an awkward anachronism. One
winces as the husband orders his wife around and
makes comments about who is wearing the pants in the
family. As a relevant comment on marriage, this play
simply fails.
However, once the viewer relaxes and allows the
charm of the production, most often radiated by the
players, to overcome any plot expectations, the result
is much more pleasing.

There are two players in the cast, He and She, played
by Stan Gill and Shelley MacMillan. They begin their
roles about as nervous as the two newlyweds they in-
tend to portray. But after a certain initial stiffness,
their personalities begin to take shape.
Gill is a mischievous "He." His dark eyes sparkle
and his moustache bristles as he dances around the
stage in an innocently bubbling version of "I Love My
Wife." His enthusiasm is irresistibly contagious.
MACMILLAN AS "She" has problems vocalizing.
Her voice is strong and resonant but she has poor con-
trol. Her performance vocally was uneven. She is also
a hideous dancer, although this might have been inten-
ded. It is probably her imperfection that wins her the
affection of the audience. She is brazen when she tells
her husband that she is pleased he is leaving her; she
can then unleash all the hidden passions she had been
repressing as a good wife and mother. She is affecting
as the aging woman who sings of the loneliness she
feels when she is no longer needed by her children.
Most important, the players express a genuine in-
terest in each other that makes their often shallow
comments interesting. The audience slowly becomes
convinced of the validity of their relationship,
becoming involved in its development.

of surrealism makes this scene rather incongruous.
On the whole, though I Do, I Do is surprisingly enter-
taining. Light-hearted musicals seem to be the order of
the day, and this might be among the better ones.

NEAR THE end of the play-is a rather sharp reversal
that is somewhat confusing. The actors seat them-
selves at the front of the stage and apply makeup that
makes them look old. This process is confusing to the
viewer who has come to accept the characters as valid.
It is as if they are explaining that they are really only
actors playing these silly roles, not to be taken
seriously, all their previous efforts to the contrary.
This portion was time-consuming, not particularly in- Stan Gill and Shelley MacMillan portray He and She in
teresting, and nearly destroyed the credibility of the the Black Sheep Repertory Theatre's production of
roles.,That the play contained no other such evidence "I Do, I Do."

Summer Arts
Staff
OWEN GLEIBERMAN
ArtsEditor
STAFF WRITERS: Michael Baadke, Karen
Bornstein, Peter Manis, Stephen Pickover,
Christopher Potter, Eric Smith, R. J. Smith,
Kerry Thompson, Tim Yagle.

DSO pleases at Meadow Brook
By KERRY THOMPSON brasses, sometimes amounting to presenting two different programs pe
The Detroit Symphony's Saturday downright crudity. This pecadillo was week, the orchestra cannot have muc
concert at Meadow Brook provided me not so much in evidence Saturday night. more than five or six hours' rehears
with my first contact with this elegant Perhaps conductor Theo Alcantara was for each performance. I suppose tha
outdoor setting, and I was impressed by able to bring the brasses under control; standard repertoire, such as Wagner'
the acoustics from the lawn, where I perhaps the ,Meadow Brook shell's Renzi Overture and the Mendelssohn ar
heard the first half of the program, and read through once or twice to set temp
the Pavilion, where I sat to hear Saint- and that's it-in places they sounde
Saens' Organ Symphony. The only Detroit Symphony Orchestra like it, too, and it took all of Alcantara'
acoustical problem was that the sound TheoAlcantara, cnductor skill to glean some semblance o
tended to bounce around a bit in the Silvia Marcovici, violinis' precision from some of the more di
Pavilion. For compositions that rely on MeadowBrook MusicFestival ps foso
grandiose brasses and a reverberating RienziOverture........................wagner
organ, however, such as the Saint Concerto for violn
in Eminor,op.64.............Mendelssohn A GOOD EXAMPLE came in th
Saens, this quality seemed quite apt. synphony No.3in third movement of the Mendelssohn
I'm not sure, though, that I'd want to C minor ("Organ"). .Saint-Saens where the woodwinds and solo violi
hear a Mozart symphony there. must try to coordinate a lively descen
One problem that this critic (and ding arpeggio pattern-it was rathe
others) has complained about in other acoustics mellowed the brasses. ragged at first, although Alcantar
Detroit Symphony concerts is a certain Whatever the dynamics of the situation, quickly brought the orchestra to heel.
lack of subtlety and refinement in the the brasses deserve a compliment for Saint-Saens has been called "th

er
h
al
at
's
re
A,
d
s
If
F-
e
n,
in
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a
e

REC ORDS

7

their playing, notably in the Saint-.
Saens.

IfI Weren't So
Romantic, I'd ShootYou
Derringer
Blue Skc JZ35075
Rick Derringer isn't going to make
j any new fans with this new album;
although he's collaborated with such
talented and diverse people as Bernie
Taupin, Alice Cooper and Patti Smith
on most of the cuts, If I Weren't So
Romantic, I'd Shoot You contains
nothing radically different from his
previous two albums.
This prolific songwriter who has
worked with and on occasion virtually
single-handedly sustained Johnny and
Edgar Winter's groups, is still trying to

tell us what it's like to be a t'
love ("EZ Action") with
driving, almost Punk-like roc
AS USUAL, Derringer's
front and center. Except for'
Road" and the title cut, where
a bit on the frantic stuff, the
album resumes a pr
monotonous flavor.
As a band, Derringer is
driving three-man ensemble
not a whole lot can be
repetitious sometimes dull ro
cup of tea, then this album;
be for you.

SILVIA Marcovici's superb reading
of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
deserves special praise. One is tempted
to say that Marcovici plays remarkably
eenager in for one of such a tender age (she is only
the same 26); the truth is that she is a
k and roll. remarkable performer for any age.
One wants adjectives other than the
guitar is usual cliches to describe her marvelous
"Midnight performance; but terms such as
e he letsup "warm" (second movement) and
rest of the "brilliant" (third moverfient) keep
ractically coming to mind, and they fit so well.
Her exceptionally clear tone was at all
a hard- times easily discernable against Alcan-
of which tara's well-controlled orchestral ac-
said. If companiment.
ck is your I marvel, looking.-at the Meadow
might just Brook concert schedule, how any con-
ductor has enough time to prepare
anything, with the Symphony's tight
-Tim vagle summer schedule. Preparing and

greatest composer who wasn't a
genius," and this symphony testifies to
the assertion, It is a pleasing work, but
one that never rises to great heights
and stirs the deep feelings the greatest
works are capable of evoking. Even the
grand climax, exciting and compelling
as it is, is exciting in a Star Wars
fashion-effective, but shallow. When
one compares Saint-Saens' use of organ
with Mahler's in the latter's Symphony
of A Thousand, one quickly perceives a
marked difference: Saint-Saens doesn't
quite make the instruient fit, at least
not with the ease and style of Mahler.
The Organ Symphony didn't seem to
suffer much from the sck of rehearsal
time, though the orga/ dominated the
orchestra in most places, instead of
maintaining an appropriate balance.
Alcantara was able to bring out most of
the important passages in this rather
thickly scored piece, and the full or-
chestra-organ climax was excep-
tionally well-done.

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