ARTS The Michigan Daily Saturday, April 9, 1983 Page 5 'Mikado' By David Kopel N ANKI-POO, son of Japan's Mikado (Emperor), is about to be forced into marriage with an ugly old court lady named Katisha. Disguised as a musician, Nanki-Poo flees to the small town of Titipu. There he falls in love with beautiful maiden Yum-Yum. Un- fortunately, Yum-Yum is the ward of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner of Titipu, and Ko-Ko plans to take Yum- Yum as his bride. Complicating the situation is a decree from the Mikado that Ko-Ko must keep up his quota, and execute someone within the next week. This is the background for The Mikado, Gilbert and Sullivan's Japanese operetta. Each year the University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society (UMGASS) produces two Gilbert and Sullivan shows. Their Mikado could stand improvement in many ways, but nevertheless achieves its goal of providing a relaxing evening of comedy and song. While certain par- ts of the play, especially in the first act, were uneven, the audience for the most part went away happy, for the show's many virtues overshadowed its few faults. The evenin enough, with t the orchestra'. the Queen." B ded, the orches the prologue. The first se' energy. Nanki was without ai The Gentlem chorus) sang choreographed ts were neither The action p Titipu's seconi ficial, enters. cestry, whichc first protoplasi say hello to any stockbroker. A bery and hyp the audience in Gilbert and obviously not dimensional o must not be p] but as larger t and the Mikad broadly from rest of the cast in the second a Once the cas to exploit the tbeanumphant 1g began promisingly audience finds much to laugh at, such he audience standing for as Pish-Tush's animated eyes, and Ko- s rendition of "God Save Ko's pursuit of his enlightened self- ut once the anthem en- interest. stra moved listlessly into Music is, of course, the heart of an operetta, and except for a few weak veral scenes also lacked numbers, The Mikado's music is -Poo, hero of the story, delightful. Ensemble numbers such as ny conviction. And while "Mi-Ya Sa-Ma" and "Behold the Lord nen of Japan (men's High Executioner" find the proper credibly, their uniform, rousing Gilbert and Sullivan spirit. 1 gestures and movemen- Even better were some of the smaller precise nor uniform. numbers, such as "Three Little Maids icks up when Pooh-$ah, From School Are We" and "The Flowers d highest government of- That Bloom in the Spring." Proud of his family an- When Ko-Ko tries to extricate himself can be traced back to the from a death sentence by marrying the mic globule, he refuses to wretched Katisha, he forces himself to yone of a lesser rank than sing her a love song - "Willow, Tit- As the epitomy of snob- Willow." Combined with his sentimen- ocrisy, Pooh-Bah keeps tal voice, his disgust for Katisha stitches. creates one of the evening's best Sullivan characters are moments. fully-developed three- Number by number, The Mikado im- ones. Accordingly, they proves. Gilbert and Sullivan would be layed in a realistic way, happy to see this production that faith- than life. Only Pooh-Bah fully captures their sense of the o himself play their roles ridiculous. the beginning. But the The Mikado continues at the Men- did loosen up, especially delssohn Theatre, in the Michigan ct. League today and Sunday at 2:00 and t pushes itself far enough 8:00. Performances resume next play's possibilities, the Friday through Sunday evenings, with a matinee on Sunday too. Poet to read at Union Arts Pro gram University Senior Tina Michelle Datsko -will give a free poetry reading of her works at noon on Tuesday, April 12, in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union. DAt- sko has been the receipient of seven Hopwood Awards for excellence in creative writing, as well as two Cowden Memorial Fellowship Awards, and the prestigious Bain- Swiggett Poetry Prize, which Dat- sko was awarded while still an un- dergraduate. She was also recently published in UBI magazine, a publication from campus group Crossroads for Tomorrow. The reading is being presented as part of the Union Arts Program Series. -Larry Dean i Irish folksinger cracks The Ark Records By Deborah Robinson A BRIEF lesson in Irish colloquialism will allow you to discover that "crack" can mean fun, joking, storytelling or banter - in other words, auto-generated entertainment. The term is often associated with drinking, music, or wild antics. Thursday night at the Ark, Dublin musician Johnny Moynihan and his hoarde of instruments provided a good bit of "crack" for the'wee crowd that turned out, to hear him. It was an in- timate evening of sharing from a man whose traditions are his life. Moynihan is promoted as having been a "driving force" in the big-time Irish groups Planxty and DeDanann. He commented on this by saying that the lads in the bands usually provided their own transportation to gigs, and that he'd only got behind the wheel of a Planxty van once. This musician is not flashy. He has an inner dynamism that comes out in the clear ringing drone from his quietly played bouzouki and in subtle variations in rhythm and ornamen- tation of jigs and reels. The concert program was varied, in- cluding dance tunes, tunes with a lilted or sung part, ballads and acapella songs from Ireland. He also performed original songs and tunes from other parts of the world. This vast repertoire was performed on tin whistle, button accordion, bouzouki, mandolin, tenor banjo, guitar, and bodhran (an Irish drum). Switching instruments came as naturally to Moynihan as did the delicate ease with which he played each one. Ireland has produced a vast num- ber of musicians; Moynihan is an example of one of those to whom the cultural tradition is second nature. Listening to him play isn't what one would normally consider exciting, but the sound of it, without electronic aids or gimmicky arrangements, inspires Medical School Tampico, Mexico What Makes G A= A Quality Medical School? 1. Fine Faculty 2. Good Facilities 3. Quality Student Body 4. Has N.Y. State Educ.?ion Depatment approval for the purpose of placing 3rd or 4th yeer medical students in clinical clerkships in teaching hospitals in N.Y. State. Noreste offers a 4-year program, has small classes, is W.H.O. listed. Universidad Del Noreste 120 East41 StNY, NY 10017 (212) 544589 683-6560 fascination. His music is what I believe great music to be: a direct statement of who the player is. The music speaks for him. Most of the material Johnny Moynihan presented could be heard in different pubs around Ireland. Old men singing old songs, young men outdoing each other by remembering weird tunes from far-off counties - the essence of his music comes from these sources which are so very much alive today. This man should be highly credited for his musical ability, his instrumental facility, unshaking clear voice, and trueness to folk culture. His brilliance shows when he steps beyond these parameters to other folk traditions, to social parody and to political commen- tary. Not many players have the ability to cross musical lines and maintain the in- tegrity of their own style. Moynihan's versions of "La India Bonita," a Mexican brass band tune, and "Greasy Coat," and Appalaichian fiddle tune were both pleasing to hear. Two original sngs also stood out, a moving anti-nuclear song and a country-and- western parody called "Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Turn Into Fleadh Cowboys," concerning the rowdy par- tiers who plague Irish folk festivals. The evening with Johnny Moynihan passed easily, his songs and tunes flowed out, filling the room with war- mth. His remarks on everything from Irish history to the decor were spon- taneous and funny. He's full of crack, that one. University of Michigan WOMEN'S GLEE CLUB CONCERT Conductor: Rosalie Edwards April 15 8:00 p.m. at Rackham Auditorium Admission Complimentary Mac McAnally, 'Nothing but the Truth,' (Geffen Records) After two years of dead air, Mac is back. Mac McAnally has just released Nothing but the Truth, his first album in two years, and it's apparent that the man has been through some changes. He got married; he had a daughter; and his father died. Such things tend to change one's Weltanschauung. They've changed McAnally's. His other three albums tend to be more idealistic, describing a world that is more black- and-white. Nothing but the Truth was written by a man who has seen the real world and knows about compromise. McAnally has always been tough to categorize. He grew up in a small town in Mississippi which, like a couple of other small towns I know, didn't know what to do with'somebody who didn't want to work in the factory or on the farm for the rest of his life. He started out at Muscle Shoals and is still based there, but his sound isn't really Muscle Shoals. Vocally, he sounds like James Taylor, but his lyrics have more of an edge than is normal for Sweet Baby James. I suppose that 10 years ago he would have been riding the coffee-house cir- cuit. The music is jazz-influenced middle-of-the-road, but the lyrics belie the tune. There is not much airplay for lines like, Save your heart and let your body be enough to get the maximum pleasure from a minimum love. Whatever style this is, McAnally brings it off. The music is varied in style but not quality. McAnally has surrounded himself with a crew of highly competent musicians, including keyboardist Clayton Ivey, guitarist Hugh McCracken, and saxophonist Randall Bramlett. The lyrics usually cut through, laying open the issue. Oc- casionally there is some superfluity, but even Dylan at his peak was guilty of that. There is a strand tying 'this album together. Each song is about either an obvious trap with a hidden way out or an obvious way out with a hidden trap, The former type works better, and most of the songs fit into it. McAnally laces most of the album with humor, though the humor can be grim. But sometimes he takes the gloves off. In "Like Your Mother" he is talking to his best friend, a small-town girl, trying to convince her to leave and telling her what it would be like if she stayed: You have a single obligation to meet their expectations and be fat and always pregnant like your mother. And a few lines from "Dark Ages" should hit home with every recent graduate: They bought you a brain and got your diploma framed and put you on that higher plane that's taking you into the dark ages. Mac is indeed back, older and wiser and with a few new things to say. You may not always like what he's saying, but I think it's worth a listen. - Knute Rife McAnal/v ... making music again - em mm MR 1 2 INDIVIDUAL THEATRES $2.0 aeoibtny 619700 $2.00 Wed"sot"sun Shows Before 6 pm Is ENDS SOON! ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS MERYL STREEP SOPHIE'S CHOICE Fri Mon - 6:50 9:40 Sat Sun - 1:10 3:55 6:50 9:40 (R) ENDS SOON! TOM SELLECK BESS ARMSTRONG 9:15 10:00 12:15 2:30 5:00 7:00 9:00 MAX DUGAN RETURNS The Ou siders 1:00 3:00 5:00 7:15 9:30 r r =-5 !9mmmmm r i i i I Mnn thm Fri IMailv nice-mint. Adults 92_tin to mnar-ity