ARTS INDIVIDUAL THEATRES 5th A e at liberty 7614700 Page 5 WEDeSAT.SUN sonys15r shows before/ The Michigan Daily Saturday, April 3, 1982 uv nu.rn-- ran-v-n- l-. 'Superstar' unsuccessful Marial Hemingway and Patrice Donnelly: Tow athletes competing for the Olympics and for each other. Best isn t good enough By Richard Campbell IT'S BEING publicized in revealing (interviews in Playboy,Rolling Stone, and Runner. It stars ,Mariel Hemingway, a slightly more respec- table version of Brooke Shields, in a role that is a mixture of Rocky Balboa and Marilyn Chambers. It is a movie with enough sex to entertain non- athletes, and enough athletics to enter- tain everybody. It's Personal Best, and it's playing atla theater near you. The plot of this made-for-TV caliber movie is simple enough. Chris Cahill is a 19 year-old hurdler, who becomes romantically involved with another female athlete, Tory Skinner. With Tory's help, Chris gets a tryout for the university track team, and, through diligent effort, makes the team. Alas, troubles appear on the sports horizon when Chris 'becomes good enough, through the talents of the nasty but lovable coach, to challenge Tory at her own sport - the pentathalon. The tension mounts. Personal Best takes on a lot, and comes through with surprisingly little. The characters of Chris and Tory are one-dimensional, bringing depth to the occasional scene but having no con- sistency over the two-hours of the film. Hemingway, and the rest of the cast, have the hard task of showing their growth over a four-year interval, but the movie looks like it could take place during one summer. Hemingway pouts like a child at the beginning of the film, and pouts like a child at the end. The sexual relationship between Cahill and Skinner is a very small part of the movie. Though it is supposed to show how Cahill matures, it really only fills in the off-track sequences. In these -scenes it is,interesti g to note that the acting of new-comer Patrice Donnelly is substantially better than Hemingway's. Donnelly manages to imply that she is really Tory Skinner, rather than seeming completely out of place, as Hemingway does. The editing of the track sequences is rather ordinary. You're not going to see anything that you wouldn't see on Wide World of Sports. In fact the entire movie, except for some nudity and strong language, wouldn't seem that out of place on TV.f Personal Best is a bland little film that is going to get more than its share of publicity because of its supposedly breakthrough, screenplay. This is a screenplay that drops characters in the middle of the movie, invents corny situations to fill in time, and generally does nothing new or interesting. It is definitely not one of the best. Even Rocky III might be better. By Carol Poneman T HURSDAY NIGHT'S premiere of Jesus Christ Superstar is a classic example of innovation gone bad, taking a production with many high points and pulling it downward. The main problem with the produc- tion is its inept casting. Loren Hecht, who plays Judas, shows a great deal of energy in her interpretation of that main role, but she is never very convin- cing as the embittered yet dynamic an- tagonist, neither through her voice, which did not have the range necessary. for the role, nor her acting, which was unvaried, nor through her movements, which were choppy. Hecht never achieves the presence and power that the role demands and instead becomes only a distraction, pulling attention away from other stronger members of the cast. The strongest cast members appear in the supporting roles and give the musical its spice. Todd Edward, who plays Annas the Priest, was both sinister and comic as he interpreted the character as both hunchbacked and grey faced. Pilate, who holds a more central role, is played by Shawn Howard. In "Pilate's Dream" he gives a quietly: moving performance with a strong and expressive voice. These same qualities are featured in "Trial By Pilate" where he remains true and forceful, never straying from character. Stealing the show is Herod, played by Judy Milstein. Traditionally, Herod is played by a male actor. But Milstein pulls off her interpretation by adding a key element - Humor. Crass and flashy, "Herod'sSong" has the spark that is lacking in much of the musical. Milstein and her back-up chorus mem- bers take the ragtime music, dive into it and make it theirs. Obviously, the role of Jesus, played with a beautiful voice by Jon Zimmer- man, is essential to the musical. Unfor- tunately, Zimmerman lapses in and out of character throughout the production. In "The Garden of Gesthemane" and in "Poor Jerusalem" he sings movingly and builds up the needed emotions for the psychologically demanding songs, but in other scenes, like "The Temple," he moves out of his role as he changes from shouting to singing. Disappoin- tingly, whenever he shouts, a mid- western accent comes out and Jesus is lost in the translation. Still, Zimmer- man plays his role well and sincerely. The chorus is attractive and skillful and many members are distinguishable for their agility and athleticism. Especially well done was "Hosanna," "The Temple," and "The Arrest." The choreography, however, was sometimes repetitive and leaned a little too much on the standard disco influen- ce. Superstar is rendered less engrossing by the constant appearance of microphones, both as body packs, cor- THE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET FAST RESULTS CALL 764-0557 QHow many Foreign ,;Medical Schools have requested N.Y. State approval for Clerkship Training Programs? Only NORESTE. TMWhy? 1. Fine Faculty 2. Good Faciltes 3. Small Classes, Noreste particpates in Guaranteed Student Loan Programs to S8000 has a 4 year program and is WHO listed School of Medicine Tampico. Mexico Universidad Del Moreste Admissions, Inc. 120 East 41 St NY NY 10017 212 594-6509 ann DOWNTOWN ANN ARBOR ROOMS STILL AVAILABLE FOR GRADUATION " 200 Rooms " Color T.V.'s i Cocktail Lounge " Direct Dial Phones * Near Uof M " Group Rates Available " Major Credit Cards Honored * Call for Reservations 100 5. Fourth Ave. 769-9500 " 'DEA TH TRA P' is Deadly Fun"' -ANN ARBOR NEWS Who'll do it? MICHAEL CAINE CHRISTOPHER REEVE DYAN CANNON DEATH TRAP dless mikes and regular corded mikes. While it is necessary, with the loud rock music of the score, to amplify the singers, these microphones are quite an anachronism with the biblical plot. Jesus Christ Superstar is certainly not an easy musical to produce. Thur- sday's performance succeeded because of the strong performances of many of its players. Yet, through errors in casting and in other key areas, Super- star did not have that final polish of professionalism often seen in other MUSKET productions that would have made it a complete success. DAILY-7:15, 9:25 (PG) SAT, SUN-12:45, 2:55, 5:05, 7:15, 9:25 i RICHARD PRYOR LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP (R) DAILY-6:55, 8:35, 10:15 SAT, SUN-12:15, 1:55,3:35,5:15, 6:55, 8:35, 10:15 'DEATH TRAP' ,s I ANN ARBOR LATE SHOWS FRI and SAT NIGHT! I I AT MIDNIGHT (X) .ALL SEATS $3.00 UNEDITED BANG BANG YOU GOT IT! AT 12:15 (R) ALL SEATS $2.00 RICHARD LMW ON THE SUNSET STRIP Join The. Daily Staff Records Philip Glass-'Glass- works' (CBS) The new Philip Glass album is typical of this artist's output of the last decade. The repetitive rhythm structures, often soothing in their predictability, build up throughout the course of the LP to oc- casional heights, but when it's all over, the listener feels denied. The decep- tively sparse-sounding instrumentation of each piece makes the album an ideal studying tool - careful listening to the music is not required, and the rhythms reinforce one's concentration rather than detract from it. Yet unlike the ambient attempts of Brian Eno and others, the music will stand up to repeated and close listenings. Glass was rigorously trained as a classical musician, and his in- tricate knowledge of modular struc- tures shows through. His "Ensemble" - which includes the diverse sounds of the bass synthesizer, piccolo, and French horn - handles the varying rhythms remarkably well and manages to convey the ethereal quality typical of most of Glass's work. While not on a par with some of his other records when it comes to ex- perimentally; Glassworks, succeeds by its outward simplicity. Each piece leads quite well into the next, reem- phasizing various themes throughout the work. It is a gentle, deceptively elaborate album conducive to mental gymnastics of complete mindlessness. Any incompleteness felt after its con- clusion may merely be a longing for more. Listen to it-the simplest things are the hardest to explain. - Tony Corbeill Subscribe to the Michigan daily Adult$3.50 Child $2.00 in MAPLE VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER BARGAI EN4 5 l Before 6PM MON thru FRI MATINEES Before 3PM SAT and SUN - 1 I K - hluIulmIuhuhHhiuuIflhuuflEuIuinuLumuIiuauuaunnEJE i