ARTS The Michigan Daily Saturday, April 4, 1981 Page 5 Musket's ' re By JOSHUA PECK If e'er a musical needed a sense of cast togetherness (or "ensemble," as they call it in the trade), Grease does. A virtually plotless piece of uff, this grabbag of Fifties music, dance, and yle 'would not have a leg to stand on without a tight ensemble bolstered by plenty of spirit. The Musket production, playing at Power Center through Sunday does project a shiny veneer of en- thusiasm that gets it through its weak spots - of which there are quite a few - more or less un- scratched. Slick choreography, exceptionally fine singing, and an amusing clutter of Pink Ladies (the girl gang members) all contribute to what turns out to be by far the best of the last four Musket shows, lapses notwithstanding. The so-called plot focuses on Danny and Sandy, s the tens of millions of unfortunates who subjec- ted.themselves to the movie version must know. Essentially, the story boils down to: Boy gets girl, loses, girl, gets girl, loses girl, gets girl. You can imagine that there's got to be something going on besides storytelling if the thing is to fill two hours Without losing its audience. THERE IS. Doug Foreman, who has proven his sense of humor far better-suited to directing (which he does here) than to acting (which he has done elsewhere), knows that the material he's working with it utterly ridiculous. With a few ex- ceptions, he keeps his cast busy laughing at the silliness of it all, rather than to sell it as "genuine" - the way the cast of last spring's Godspell tried to do, to name just one embarrassing example. Most of the big production numbers seem to be spoofing themselves, the singers and dancers carrying on to such an extreme degree that the numbers become a shared joke between audience and players. However, the satire breaks down from time to time, most nastily in the opening scene of the second act. For what seems like half an hour, bodies wander aimlessly about the stage in something resembling dance, and occasionally open their mouths to bellow something resembling song. Only moments before rigor mortis is about to set in, a droll treatment of "Beauty School Dropout" miraculously revives the victim. That kind of unevenness does mar the show in a few other places, but thankfully does not disrupt ase' preti the festivities anywhere else nearly as badly. THE MUSKET ritual known as the battle of the band, which entails a struggle for audibility bet- ween the orchestra and the actors, is less of a problem in "Grease" than usual. That may be because the vocal abilities of virtually everyone who matters are so surprisingly well developed. Douglas Sills, a Musket veteran, plays Danny with a pleasingly oafishness in the second act that is mystifyingly missed from the first. In his songs, though, Sills has no problem; he is all cocky, swaggering self-confidence - qualities his gruff and lusty singing voice nicely match. Toni Wilen, Ann Arbor's (sexier) answer to Olivia Newton-John, is charming as Sandy, the "good" girl who wants rather badly to be bad. She is quite convincing in both her virginal incarnation and in her vampish persona of the final scene. Furthermore, she sings almost well anough to mask the fact that she cannot dance a whit. The backbone of the show, though, is provided by the marvelous antics of the Pink Ladies, who execute Karen Ganiard's choreography in disar- ming unity. The trickiest harmonies of the score are theirs as well, and the girls belt them out with slick Join alie aUuilg Arts Staff impeccable tunefulness. THERE IS no outstanding thespianship among the Ladies, but Sidney Mesh is a dancer of professional stature who deserves an opportunity to prove it. Among Danny's boys, Craig Brennan as the ganglingly hyperkinetic Doody is the most colorful cartoon character of all. He adds some needed goofiness to an otherwise dreary "Greased Light- ning," among other crowdpleasers. Grease is a far cry from first-class entertain- ment; there are those energy-less pauses (among them, endless scene changes), and a couple of ut- terly sappy characterizations - Barb Fritz's (Patty) and Tony Bordo's (Teen Angel) among them. But Musket's production does do most of what it must do - shake, rattle, roll, enthuse, and most of all, convey a burning fascination with the fun- ctions of the human genitalia. All things con- sidered, I'd recommend it hands down over the Robert Stigwood monstrosity that goes by the same name. _ __ _ Journey's ' Journey-'Captured' (Columbia)- Journey has long been known as one of the best live bands around and Cap- tured generally backs up that reputation. While Journey has never given us more than well-done (if meaningless) music, they really seem to put it all together in concert. One reason for this may be experience, sin- ce Journey seems to tour more than anyone else. The thing that stands out most about Captured is Journey's enthusiasm; they never sound as if they are just going through the motions. A good example is the song "Where Were You." Even though it is a lackluster song on the Departure album, "Where Were You" becomes much more ap- pealing on Captures simply because the energy level makes up for the song's deficiencies. SINCE CAPTURED was done live, the listener is more able to hear the in- dividual group members. At the end of "La Do Da," Steve Smith is featured in a long drum solo that displays his talen- Captured' ts well. The other members also prove themselves to be capable technically. Hence, one must remember that even though Journey's music is superficial, the group members are competent in- strumentalists-something that separates them from other bands of the same genre. The only exception is lead vocalist Steve Perry, who seems to get more irritating with each album. Two new tunes are introduced in Cap- tured, "Dixie Highway" and "The Par- ty's Over." The latter is the only track on the album that was not done live. Un- fortunately neither one compares favorably to Journey's best work. Both are distressingly boring and therefore not worthy of further comment. The ideal thing to do with Journey would be to see them in concert and not buy any of their albums. However for those who enjoy hearing Journey's sound on record, Captured is not a bad buy. The double album features all of the group's hits and then some. Now if Journey could only spend as much time developing their music as they do touring-then we might really have something. -Dave Ritter the ann arbor (bilm cooperative TONIGHT TONIGHT PRESENTS BEING THERE 7:00& 10:45-MLB 3 THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH 9:15-MLB 3 2 single feature $3 double feature Davis' 'Directions' Miles Davis-'Directions' (Colum- bia)-A rich slice of the sixties, Miles avis' latest reissue, Directions, is far ore successful than the earlier an- thology, Circle in the Round. Opening with a 1960 Gil Evans collaboration and closing with rocking Miles from 1970, these cuts aren't leftovers and out- takes so much as missing links.. Many tunes show Davis' personnel and style in the transition. For instan- ce, Jack DeJohnette's first recordings with Davis are in a strong rocking style, and predate the revolutionary LPs In a Silent Way and Britches' Brew, which troduced jazz-rock. "Water on the ond," dating from 1967, includes guitarist Joe Beck-Davis, but still needs someone like John McLaughlin, as the guitar plays a less prominent role than it was to enjoy later. THE LAST TWO sides document Davis' multi-keyboard bands in set- tings that are alternately mysterious and driving. Joe QZawinul, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Keith rrett (who had not yet developed his coustical bias) are all featured. HIGHLIGHTS include Gil Evans' moody orchestration of "Song for Our Country," two exciting takes of Joe Zawinul's "Directions," (later to become Weather Report's set-closing signature), a lot of nice tenor sax by Wayne Shorter, and Davis' masterful arrangement of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight." One little mystery-Davis likes to name compositions after his friends, nd there's one included here entitled Willie Nelson." Outside of a couple of errors in the credits, the notes and production are first-rate, but there's no account of Davis hanging out in Luckenbach. It doesn't sound like a country tune either, but who knows? Overall, a fine addition to any Milesophile's collection. The mood swings from cool to exotic to rocking, and this set could serve as a good in- troduction to the adventurrous decade of the Sixties as well as many jazz greats of the Seventies and beyond. -Jerry Brabenec LSAT GRE GMAT Test Preparation How do you prepare for these important tests? Get the facts no cost or obligation / 32466 Olde Franklin SX on Farmington Hills, Educatt0i MI 48011 (313) 851-2969 er (callcollect) Please send me your "What Are The Facts" brochure - Name Address Phone Test: LSAT Q GMAT Q GRE U .k w.