Page 6-Friday, July 28, 1978-The Michigan Doily KANSAS AT PINE KNOB: Technolo trumps the thunder By TIMOTHY YAGLE With the unexpected accompaniment of an erratic thunder and lightening show, Kansas, the band of six near- anonymous musicians who eagerly pioneered rock's current hyper- technological mania, had their fans at Pine Knob standing and applauding af- ter virtually every tune. Following relative newcomer Marc Jordan, the area was deluged by torrents of rain and gusts of wind from an ominous grey sky. This was seemingly oft little consequence to Kansas' fans, however, as nearly everyone, including those on the soaked lawn, stuck the storm out through the worst. Kansas gave everyone their money's worth, and were plainly not up to any inventive hijinks. They greeted the crowd by unveiling their patented logo on a backstage curtain, and launching authoritatively into an assortment of tunes from early albums. The hits from Point of No Return came early on, after which the group returned to some older material, including "Mysteries of Mayhem." KANSAS' dependency on keyboards was obvious merely from their elaborate stage set-up. The musicians formed a semi-circle, framing the keyboards of lead vocalist Steve Walsh Doily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG Steve Walsh, keyboardist and lead singer of Kansas, throws himself into his work during the band's Wednesday night ap- pearance at Pine Knob. 'uu ~Cutuansoy nnmo n and guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren. Facing each other ominously, these two looked as if they were on the verge of a massive pianistic duel. Walsh was in constant motion, dan- cing behind his keyboard, occasionally darting out and cavorting before the audience. By contrast, Livgren was immobility personified. He barely budged even during his guitar solos, two of which came during "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Portrait (He Knew)." The dynamic synthesizer that dominated the evening's music was hushed briefly while Steinhardt talked about the band's history, then made the announcement - which, of course, drove everyone wild - that the four Pine Knob concerts were being recor- ded for a live LP. The concert closed on the sweet and soothing "Dust In the Wind" and "Por- trait (He Knew)," followed by two long encores. 'Sidney Brustein' shows its age By PETER MANIS When the Michigan Repertory Company elected to include Lorraine Han- sberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window in their 1978 schedule, they chose to tackle an unwieldy behemoth of a play. Unfortunately, the challenge proves to be too much for them, although the production does have its redeeming moments. The major problem is the play itself. It is set in Greenwich Village in 1964 and concerns the struggle between idealism and commitment on the one hand, and detached cynicism on the other. While dealing with this issue, Hansberry has ThenSignIn Sidney Brunstein's Window By Lorraine Hansberry Michigan Repertory '78 Power Center Sidney Brustein ...................... Don Hart Alton Scales,.................... Ron Parsons Iris Parodus Brustein ........ Becky B. Prophet Waty O'Hara ..............Daniel Jay Hurtado Max ............... LorensDate Sass MavisParodusBryson. . c...Carol Ann Hart David Ragin.................John v. McCarthy Gloria Parodus........... Lynn Ellen Musgrave Rhonnie Washington, director; Anthony C. Eldis, set designer; Jill Bowers, costumes; Edward R. Thomas, lighting incorporated a wide spectrum of topics, among them racism, homosexuality, prostitution, and hypocrisy. THE SCRIPT, however, contains several major flaws. First, it is too long; one would like to see the play two or three rewrites later. Second, much of the play's language and moral tone is markedly anachronistic. It was originally produced in 1964, in the midst of the activism of the 1960s, and the play suffers from an excess of smug intellectual idealism that is somewhat embarrassing when viewed from these times of relative moral resignation. Third, and most disconcerting, is the failure of the title role to settle upon a single mode of speaking. The setting and situation are completely naturalistic, yet Sidney's lines constantly shift from naturalistic dialogue to overblown, semi-poetic oratory. Since Sidney leaves the stage for only a brief bit in Act Three and carries the lion's share of the dialogue, this continual shifting dominates the mood of the play, making it impossible to establish any con- tinuous atmosphere. ALL THIS IS not to say that the play is without its good points. Far from it - lHansberry makes a number of astute observations about people's at- titudes toward the topic under discussion at any giver moment. Her theme of involvement versus cynicism is just as vital as it was in 1964. What has hap- pened is that the audience now views this conflict from the standpoint of the "disillusioned .70s," thus rendering the play's moral fervor simply blind naivete. In addition, Hanberry's insights are further obscured by Sidney's confusing language. Given this monstrosity, Director Rhonnie Washington has failed to take the bull by the horns and instill some order into Sidney's ramblings. Throughout the first scene, Washington has opted for the character's oratorical side. The result is that every line, no matter how short, is presented as a speech, complete with overly-dramatic arm-waving, thus destrdying any semblance of continuity. The second scene is staged in a more relaxed, natural manner, which was far more effective; unfortunately, the pacing slowed down considerably, a fault that con- tinued throughout most of the evening. AS SIDNEY Brustein, Don Hart is faced with the almost impossible task of reconciling Sidney's dichotomized manner of speech. As one might expect, he sometimes succeeds in merging the two halves into a believable character; more often, however, he fails. Becky Prophet, as Sidney's wife, Iris, fails en- tirely in trying to create a convincing character. Her gestures remind one of nothing so much as those used by most high school actresses; rather than con- veying meaning, they seem to be symbolizing various emotions. Among the supporting roles, we are provided with two excellent perfor- mances by Ron Parsons as Sidney's black friend Alton Scales and Carol Hart as Iris' sister Mavis. Both are entirely convincing and compelling, and provide us with two sterling scenes in succession toward the end of Act Two. THE OTHER roles vary considerably. Lynn Musgrave gives a quite com- petent performance as Iris' younger sister Gloria, but at times seems somewhat forced. John McCarthy is unconvincing as the gay playwright, and for some unfathomable reason appeared to be smiling, even through the tensest of moments. Daniel Hurtado was badly miscast as Wally O'Hara; far from looking likea crusading reform politician, he resembled the epitome of a mem- ber of some rubber-stamp board. In fact, one wanted to see him and Loren Bass trade roles, although -the latter occasionally suffered from mush-mouth. Technically, too, the show varied widely. Anthony Eldis' set was quite im- pressive and appropriately textured. The costumes by Jill Bowers and lighting by Edward Thomas were both lackluster, however, particularly the heavy- handed lighting change during the dance scene in the first scene of Act Three. Also, there were numerous execution difficulties between the stage manager and crew.