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ARTS
Sunday, March 8, 1981

The Michigan Daily

Page 5

Mummens chanz: A million

By JULIE EDELSON
Silence. The stage is black. Lights go
up, as we see a brown blob perched
against a wooden ramp. The blob rolls
ack and forth, forming and reforming
arious shapes.
Ifthis seems a bizarre form of enter-
tamment, that's because it is a segment
of the refreshingly original mime
group, "Mummenschanz." The group
had their audience totally enraptured in
their performance Friday night at the
Power Center.
Mummenschanz presents a view of
the world's evolution from the first blob
to .modern man. The group began as
lunchtime entertainment for European
*actory workers, and was introduced in
America in 1972 after several local
stage and European festival perfor-
mances. The touring company is made
up of only three members: John Mur-
phy, Peter Schelling, and Claudia
Weiss.
WE KNOW Mummenschanz is dif-
ferent from the start. The program
consists of simple drawings which
illustrate each movement. The group is
Oble to take a rather broad and com-
plicated subject - the history of man -
and reduce it to a simplistic yet
meaningful level.
In the first part of the performance,
the actors are inside various
"creatures:" blobs, clams, and
geometric figures. The company uses
the interesting dimension of audience,

The answer can be found in the per-
formers, who have the creativity and
ingenuity to capture our attention. They
are a constant source of mystery to us.
When we observe the figures, we try to
decipher how the humans are wrapped
up inside, but the mimes are so convin-
cing that we soon forget the human fac-
tor and focus on the total object. This
whole situation is extremely
fascinating to children, who areinawe
of the colorful, puzzling "things."
These "things" evolve into animals of
all sorts: a beautiful, graceful worm, a
green clam, a rabbit, cat and gorilla. In
all these instances, the mimists are
able to capture all of the idiosyncrasies
of the animal (twitching of the
whiskers, formation of the hands onto
paws) with little help from the
costumes whichare black except for
one feature of the animal. It is here that
they demonstrate their expert abilities
in mime and gymnastics.
The performers are even "on" during
intermission. They come into the lobby
and engage young children and adults
in the construction of their imaginary
faces. This whole exhibition is a
delight.
The second half of the show is even
MANN THEATRES
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As timely today ..
as the day it
was written.
A ROMAN POLANSKI FILM

years in
more creative, clever, and amusing
than the first. This portion is concerned
primarily with relationships and
emotions. The group uses simple,
everyday objects: cubes, notepads and
toilet paper to illustrate common but
ever perplexing themes: greed and
power, love-hate, and inner versus
outer beauty.
In one particularly clever number,
two men use pliable clay masks which
they pinch and pull to form new faces.-
Again the audience is drawn into their
"conversation." We long to pull at the
clay ourselves. It is a truly remarkable
feat that these actors have total control
over their artistic creations when they
appear to have no visual abilities.
This whole description may seem in-
credibly absurd to the common obser-

amime
ver, but one must experience Mum
menschanz to truly understand them.
The groups' use of unconventional set
techniques (rolling off a ramp to exit),
creative props and costumes, and
relevant timeless themes allows them
to appeal to a diverse audience.
The performance contained only one
minor flaw: the trio revealed their
faces when they took their final bow.
This minimized the intriguing mystery,
and was a type of anti-climax.
Nonetheless, the volume of the ap-
plause was enough of an indication that a
the performers were successful.
Everyone, from older college professor-.
types to four-year-old children relaxed,
laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed them-
selves. And that's always nice to hear. ,-

F-

M
------ OCET

The smash Broadway mime show Mummenschanz is nothing if not am-
bitious. In their Michigan League shows Friday and Saturday nights, all the
troups did was recreate the history of man, evolving him from primordial
blob to now. Nothing to it.

March Calendar

participation here when we "play cat-
ch" with their balloon. This arouses
everyone's emotions, both children and
adults alike, and it is an extremely in-
novative technique. Throughout this

part of the performance, we might ask,
"Why are people laughing at these
seemingly ridiculous, insignificant
figures?" In other words, why do we
like what we see?

Mull condescends to please

Alvin Aley
Dancers
Mon.Tues.Wed.,
March 9,10,11

By DENNIS HARVEY
There's a sense of generosity in the
most likeable performers - they're not
always the best, but it helps - that con-
spicuously failed to show up during
Martin Mull's appearance at the
Michigan Theatre Friday night. To be
sure, about 90 percen of what's
Ogenuinely funny about his stage
presence centers around a faultless act
of smugness toward the audience, and
the evening offered some moments of
delicious condescension.
But beneath the snivelling posture
lurked something worse for being ap-
parently real - indifference. Mull
delivered a few good silly songs and a
lot of generally amusing patter for a
half hour, but the subsequent parade of
mock encores broke up the show's pace,
and when the entire set had barely
*r ached pn hour the act proper was
over.
GETTING REAL encores was like
pulling teeth; undeservedly wild
audience approval brought Mull back
for final encores, but when he dropped
pretense for a moment at the end to say
"I don't wear sincerity well, but this is
really remarkable, thanks," he seemed
not so much pleased as inconvenienced.
The set itself had great flashes of
meanness and tastelessness, along with
surprising stretches of both that
weren't so great - more juvenile than
scathing. Mull has always deserved
thanks for playing up slurs of all types,
racial and otherwise, because their of-
fensiveness really is silly and fun.
(though too many comedians skittishly
aim their darts away from the
presumably hypersensitive
minorities.) Mull, thankfully, has the
nerve to risk offending everyone, and
*0hence no one.
But Friday night much of his
tastelessness seemed - well, tasteless,

in the sense of deliberate
"outrageousness" that had little going
for it beyond the desire to get a groan of
oh-my-God shock. "Men Men Men"
deals with homosexuality on the most
vague and harmless level, and little dit-
ties like the Teddy Kennedy version of
"Ode to Billy Jo" ("He was a
Massachusetts senator/in love with
Mary Jo. . . ") were lame stuff.
THE ENCORES progressively lost
what little steam had been built by the
set, mainly because their humor was
subdued at best - and Mull is hardly
musician or singer enough- to make
songs not blatantly satiric anything but
innocuously dull.
On the plus side, Mull remains a
comedian of considerable brilliance,
even if it seems he's become, perhaps,
too jaded to be fully interested anymore
by a live audience. The moments of
brilliance were eventually over-
whelmed by laziness and self-
indulgence, but they were there, all
right. The mid-west experience, sealed
and patented, was succinctly sum-
marized through a stray aside: "I know
a lot of you out there are on a date, and
incidentally I think that's absolutely
adorable."
The farewell song that runs "It's so
hard to say goodbye/so let's just say
hors d'oevres" is shrewd bad kultur; a
genteel lullaby ("It's alright/if you just
want to go to sleep tonight/if you just
want to shuffle off to dreamland/I'll
turn off the light/but don't make a
habit of it") nifty nastiness; and
"The Humming Song" great frivolity.
Mull remains something of a dazzling
wit, capable of short-term genius -
although his apparent boredom at
sustaining anything longer Friday
night left this viewer with a rather sour
aftertaste.
DICK SIEGEL'S opening set was, as
expected, unpretentious and immen-

sely likeable; as the night wore on, his
hour on stage grew in stature as expec-
tations for Mull's faded. Where Mull
now seems about five years past the
point of unaffectedness, Siegel is still
fresh goods, blissfully funny and
poignant, casual yet fine-tuned.
His rebop specialties offer silliness
without self-consciousness; whirling
past a hundred barside anecdotes with
just the right amount of self-
depreciating humor, they stay char-
mingly uncontrived after countless
listenings. Completely defined and
satisfying as a personality, he goes so
far beyond the usual conception of
"local talent" that the term scarcely
applies anymore. Wide-eyed -yet
amused bewilderment as the modern
world is Siegel's viewpoint, and who
can fail to sympathize? Opening for
Martin Mull, what would Brando do,
anyway?
Players in the National Basketball
Association arenot allowed to wear
jewelry on the court for fear of causing
injury.

Literally millions agree: if you
haven't seen Ailey, you must; if
you have, you will. ".... the
world has never seen a more
powerful expression of sheer
joy." New' York Times, Clive
Barnes. Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday, 8:00. Power Center
Limited Seating A vailable

TESS'
® A COLUMBIA
PICTURES RELEASE/

1

430
8:00

Nominated for
2 ACADEMY AWARDS
Nothing's going to
' stand in your way.
RICHARD
DREYFUSS 1:45
AMY 4:15
IRVING 9:15
, ' - -9:45
A COLUMBIA PICTURES RELEASE PG
Nominated for
6 ACADEMY AWARDS
Ordinary People
1:30 4:00 7:15 9:45
ROAD GAMES

A distinguished bass of the
Metropolitan Opera, Plishka is
considered one of the finest art -
ists now appearing on opera
and concert stage. He is "an art-
ist of enormous elegance and
skill," New ork magazine.
Tuesday, 8:30.
HillyAudi torium

Paul PIshaL
Bass
Tuesda% March10
CI ' cfv c1t hi i):Lih 1.,. a l d r fr' llt i p Wjllb 1:..


Dc itone
ac turd cIs rMc reh 14
I)bu k Eno 4ei.,s re 1 placemen foru? i//U PUUIr~

Praised for his naturally beauti-
ful voice and superb stage pres-
ence, Ann Arbor audiences may
have see Hagegard in Bergman's
film of Mozart's "Magic Flute,"
or in the nationally televised
broadcast of Oriff's "Carmina
Burana" with Andru Previn and
the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Saturday, 8:30.
Rackham Auditorium


1:15

3:15

5:15
9:30 (R)

7:30

1% MOOF

A unique ensemble of artists
able to perform a rich repertoire
of seldom heard works. The en-
semble of eleven-; voices, winds,
strings and keyboards-, will pre-
sent a Venetian Evening of
music by Monteverdi and
Vivaldi. Sunday, 2:30.
Rackham Auditorium

N d yMrk'Chcm 5crSoloists
A'Venetidn tf\ 'ning
Sunday Ma'rch I{



Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra
Thursday March 19

Andre Previn, known world-
wide as a conductor, pianist,
composer and TV personality,
will conduct the Pittsburgh
Symphony for a performance of
Haydn's "Symphony No. 83,"
Ravel's "Rapsodie Espagnole,"
and Prokofiev's "Symphony
No. 5." Thursday, 8:30.
Hill Auditorium

Gaiway Kinnell
reading from his Poems
Monday, Mrch 9th
4:00 pm.
Rackham Amphitheater
sponsored by
the Michigan Council For The Humanities and
the University of Michigan Department of English


Sweet, sad, gentle, exuberant
music which came out of turn-
of-the-century parades, saloons
and river boats. With an un-
mistakable form and beat, it
allows the players a freedom
of phrasing that makes audi-
ences stamp their feet and
shout! Monday, 8:30.
Hill Auditorium

Preservation Hall'
Jazz Dand
Monday, March 23


OrcI~ira~cmu

Musicians, audiences and critics
praise the full sound of the
Gewandhaus' strings, the vigor
of the wind instruments and the
originality of interpretation.
Kurt Masur will conduct a pro-
gram of Mozart, Shostakovich
and Beethoven. Sunday, 8:30.

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