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 n- r 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.