INTERNSHIPS
ARTS
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The Michigan Daily Friday, October 3, 1980 Page 7
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'FOR COLORED GIRLS'
The real end of
the rainbow
WASHINGTON, D.C.-LANSING, MI.
Interested in working in Washington, D.C., or Lons-
ing, Michigan, during summer, 1981? Come fine out
how at the University of Michigan's Public Service
Intern Program Mass Meeting. Summer internships
are available in legislative offices, executive offices
and agencies, the judiciary, lobbying orgni"zations,.
and the media. Financial assistance available.
ORGANIZATIONAL MASS MEETING
ACKHAM AUD.
WEDNESDAY UNDERGRADUATES
OCTOBER 8 A S I ONLY
7:00 PM.
U Puc Senrice Interm Program
, .' a
RA
By ANNE GADON
~Ntozake Shange's poem-turned-
dapce-drama, For Colored Girls Who
ave Considered Suicide/When the
'Itinbow is Enuf, is a composite of the
sgductions and reflections that make up
black women's lives. It is both boldly de-
fiant of the sorrows cast upon women of
color and grippingly realistic in its
acknowledgement of the struggles of
black womanhood. In a merger of
poetry and dance, the seven-member
female cast exultantly declares not to be
"sorry and colored at the same time/it
seems redundant in the modern world."
Shange's women live in a different
world than "white folks." The streets of
Harlem are a distinct, universe ("six
blocks of cruelty/piled up on itself/a
tunnel close in." Children sing nursery
rhymes with choruses
me black and blue."
of "Daddy beat
F, t
".I
'I ,
erformance Guide
Starting today, you can be guided through the tangle of Ann Arbor cultural
events by the Michigan Daily arts staff, without having to hang around the
'9tudent Activities Bldg. and endure the opinionating face-to-face. This
weekly assortment of recommendations to the best, most obscure and in-
triguing of A' entertainment is compiled by staffers Anne Gadon, Mark
.Coleman and Dennis Harvey.
MUSIC
Bruce Springsteen-One has to experience the Boss' live.show to appreciate
his fanatic appeal and the already-converted will dominate the audience at
this long sold-out tour opener. Last minute ticket buyers should prepare to
,.part with more than their-scalps. Friday, October 3, Crisler Arena, 8 p.m.
RH Factor-Ann Arbor's most adventurous jazz group resurfaces as a quin-
tet, still led by everybody's favorite drummer, Rick Hollander. An early
'arrival is the only guarantee of a seat in this cavernous club. Saturday, Oc-
- 'sober 4, Blind Pig 208 S. First. Music starts after 9 p.m.
The Feelies-This NYC outfit's Velvet-ized surf guitar music came off a bit
too clean and sterile on their stiff debut, but word is their live sound is a whole
'nother story. Anybody chosen as Best Local Band in the Village Voice is
"vorth a listen, at any rate. Monday, October 6th, Second Chance, 516 E.
Liberty. Music should start sometime after 10 p.m.
THEATRE
Qancin'-Bob Fosse's plotless Broadway celebration of dance tours to Ann
_.Arbor's Power Center. Good luck to those who haven't already purchased
tickets; this first offering of the season from the Professional Theatre
program's series has been sold out entirely. Performances Friday through
..Sunday, October 3-5, at 8:00 p.m., with a 2:00 matinee on Sunday.
Kennedy's Children-Robert Patrick's Off-Broadway drama focuses on five
casualties of the 60's who hang out at a New York bar. Good-bye Camelot.
k Performances Thursday through Sunday, October 9-12 at 8:00 p.m. Sunday
natinee at 2 p.m., Canterbury Loft.
FILMS
2,000 Maniacs! A rare chance to see one of the sub-cult favorites by Her-
Schell Gordon Lewis, one of the few really formidable horror-movie
schlockmeisters who has retained enough obscurity to avoid an A' following.
Gore gaTore. Friday, October 3, Hutchins Hall (Law Quad), 8:25 p.m.
Animation Festival-A mixed bag of old and new stuff, from the
f'hallucinogeic frivolity of Quasi at the Quackadero to the weightier
spaciness of SusanPitt's Asparagus. Friday, October 3, Lorch Hall, 7:00 and
9:15 p.m.
Quadrophenia-Franc Roddam's near-brilliant visualization of Pete Town-
shend's rock opera is a totally engrossing, schizzy dive into the Mods vs.
Rockers culture of 1964 England. Wednesday, October 8, Aud. A (Angell
Hall), 8:15 p.m.
Phantom of the Paradise-Beyond even Carrie and Dressed to Kill, this is
Brian De Palma's craziest film, horror-rock-musical-comedy-drama-
fantasy wildly visualized as a 'satirical take-off on The Phantom of the
Opera. Great, dazzling cinematic fun. Thursday, October 9, Nat. Sci.
Auditorium, 7:00 p.m.
Black Orpheus--Set amid Brazil's Rio Carnival, Marcel Camus' modern-
day, all-black rewrite of the Orpheus myth is alive with color, dance, roman-
ce and eroticism'. It achieves the sort of exotic cultural-mythical aura that
The Harder They Come amateurishly flirts at. Thursday, October 9, Lorch
Hall, 7:00and9:05 p.m.
.1
BUT THESE women refuse to be con-
fined, they reject the idea of sorrow.
Their progression from childhood to
womanhood is presented by a vigorous
African dance. They are joyful in their
ethnicity, rejecting spiritual as well as
physical chains. One woman remem-
bers her invisible girlhood playmate,
Toussaint L'Ouverture, the black
Haitian revolutionary. Toussaint is
her shield against the model white
children of story books, her attempt to
maintaining pride in the color of her
skin.
Although Shange focuses on the con-
ditions of her black sisters, all women
can find much to empathize with in her
poetry. In "Somebody Almost Walked
Off Wid Alla My Stuff," the Lady in Red
complains of men's efforts to possess
women ("did you know somebody
almost got away with me in a plastic
bag under their arm.") And the
inevitable cat-calls and the fear of at-
tack ("regular beauty and a smile in
the street/is just a set-up.") are also
bitterly described.
Shange is angry at men, but she isn't
suggesting that they be completely
written off. She stresses the importance
of unity among women. Lovers change
but sisterhood is something constant.
Rather than competing against each
other for men, women should support
each other, Shange is saying. It is this
support, the ensemble nature of For
Colored Girls that makes it such a suc-
cess. The collective spirit of these
women is formidable in contrast to the
pain that they present in their
soliloques.
DIRECTOR Duncan McLaren's
production is wonderfully upbeat,
although his indefatigable seven-
member female cast occasionally
exudes cheerfulness to the point of
sacrificing some of the show's tenser
moments. "I Used to Live in the
World," a depiction of Shange's years
in Harlem, simply doesn't hold water.
The women seem unable to convey the
immensity of fear that inspired Shange
to write lines that cry for help ("No
man ya can't go with me/I don't even
know you/no"). -
"Graduation Nite" as performed by
the Lady in Yellow (Rochelle Cum-
mings) is a rambunctious portrayal of a
high school graduation. Cummings
bounds about the stage, sentimentally
recalling the joy rides of that fateful
night (Lady in Blue: "You gave up your
virginity in a Buick?" Lady in Yellow:
"Yeh, and honey, it was wonderful").
Shange's women are sometimes
angry and defiant but always sensuous.
Debra Mims as the Lady in Blue slides
captivatingly through Shange's poems,
"One" and "'Sechita." Her body takes
on the image of the poetess' words. In a
supplemental poem from "Nappy
Edges," another anthology of Shange'e
poetry, she portrays a sorceress,
resilient in her power to manipulate by
black magic. Mims is the "goddess" of
"Sechita," the almighty practitioner of
black magic. Her every movement is
mesmerizing and imperial.
Less than mesmerizing, however, is
the ART facility. Located in the
Renaissance Center, this 100 seat
theatre is plagued by posts that poten-
tially block the view of patrons and an
erratic sound system consisting of two
stereo speakers lashed to the ceiling.
Loft theatres are fine, but Ren Cen
patrons are bound to demand less
primitive conditions for their money.
n
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CINEMA GUILD'S ANIMATION NIGHT
7:00 & 9:15 at Larch Hall
Some old, some new, but definitely some of the best animation of all time.
Includes KOKO THE CLOWN, QUASI AT THE QUACKAISARO, Susan Pitt's
ASPARAGUS, and RAPID EYE MOVEMENTS by Jeff Carpenter. Also Larry
Cuba's Beautiful TWO SPACE which showed at the 16mm Festival this year.
The classic APEMAN by Paul Tassie, and many others. Two full hours to
tickle every funny bone you got and bug out your eyes with beautiful
images. Join the club.
CINEMA GUILD (CHIMERA GRILLED)
ETC.
Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick-Forget their knee-jerk political
reactions, this pair's combination of baiting, bickering, and back-biting
should be hilarious theatre-it sure doesn't constitute a debate. Tuesday, Oc-
tober 7, Hill Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.