ART Saturday, October 29, 198: The Michigan Daily Page 7 'Larry Kasdan warms up to Ann Arbor By Susan Makuch t ARRY KASDAN is a lucky guy. Not only did this University alumnus know exactly what he wanted to do with his life, he became very successful at his chosen profession. "I was lucky that I know what I wanted to do. The question was just finding where to learn it," he says. was just finding out where to learn it," he says. Kasdan, author of~ the screenplays for such enormously popular films as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi, visited campus this past week as a guest of Prof. Knot and the English Department. His official duty as writer-in-residence called for him to conduct three screenwriting workshops through the English Department. But, as he revealed in a recent interview, "They asked rme to talk to all these English and film classes. I guess the idea being that when you have someone (of stature) come in, you should expose them to as many students as possible." "When I saw the schedule set up form me I was in shock," said Kasdan about his visit. Besides the workshops, Kasdan's week consisted of non-stop question-and-answer periods from students all over campus. All this after he had just finished a strong publicity push for his latest film, The Big Chill. Needless to say, Kasdan had already been asked every question imaginable by the press just weeks before his visit here. Returnng to Ann Arbor, thfe scene of his college days, was a moving experience for Kasdan. "I love it (coming back). It brings back enormously strong feelings. Every place has strong associations. I spoke to the Vietnam and Film class in East Quad today. In my freshman year I lived in Tyler house, and 1 haven't been back there since. I've been back to Ann Arbor a few times, but never back in East Quad, and that (feeling) was'really strong. Freshman year is so intense, you know..." Kasdan stayed on in Ann Arbor long after his freshman year, leaving the University in 1972 with a Masters degree in Education. When Kasdan talks about those days, his soft-spoken, even demure voice finally sounds passionate as he describes what 1 Ann Arbor was really like. "It's been 11 years since I've really been here and it's changed a lot. (Ann Arbor) was volatile, it was alive, there were a lot of protests and demon- strations back then," he remembers. "The whole town was buzzing - the whole country was vibrating - this town was really alive," he remembers. Kasdan's early days here were filled with the enthusiasm and excitement of an era, but by the end of his stay the city had changed immensely. "Right before I left - about '71 or so - the town got kind of ugly . . . a lot of drug trade," he says. "The streets, which were always so vital, became scuzzy. It's a lot better today. (Ann Arbor) looks like a nice place to walk around,"Kasdan observed. Just like many other writing students here at the Univer- sity, Kasdan tried to do as much writing as possible. In ad- dition to plays and short stories (which netted him four Hop- wood Awards), Kasdan attempted to write for the Daily. "I did a profile once of Andy Warhol and the Velet Un- derground - they were at Hill Auditorium. It was the only thing I ever had printed in the Daily. I worked for the Daily selling ad space for awhile - but that didn't last too long. I was one of those who went to the orientation meetings about three different times, but I never stuck with it. It's just like everything else, I guess." During those college years Kasdan met his wife, Meg. "We were fixed up," he admits, lending credibility to the blind date tradition here at the University. "Actually, it was a semi-blind date. . . someone pointed her out to me and then we went out." Kasdan hasn't experienced the difficulty of maintaining a happy family life while making a movie, like so many film makers have. When he made The Big Chill Meg had a small role (she also helped choose the music) and their boys had cameos in the film. "The Big Chill was her (Meg's) first real involvement with a film. She's always been kind of a involved - a personal editor of my writing," he says. Obviously Kasdan and his wife work well together - The Big Chill is doing marvelous business -in Ann Arbor, as well as in the rest of the country. "We're doing great business," he says. "It opened strong and has remained unbelievably strong. It's everything I'd hoped for. Because it was such a struggle to get it made, the studios were convinced it couldn't make money, it's very Daily Photo by DEBORAH LEWIS Alumnus-turned-screenwriter-turned director-turned teacher Lawrence Kasdan pauses for a brief moment during his recent visit to the University. gratifying to be validated by it making money." Just why The Big Chill beat the odds and became a suc cessful picture is somewhat of a mystery to Kasdan himself "I'm shocked. I sort of thought it was possible, but I wasn sure. The issues it deals with are so personal to me, in a wa I'm surprised that such a wide audience is going to it a across the country." He knew it would do well here, "but I'm surprised by th small cities in Indiana and Iowa, where it's doing well also It's exciting, too, when a picture is well-received across th boards," he says. The Big Chill, a film about eight radica University students of the '60s, was thought to be too narrow a subject for the general movie public, but Kasdan found tha there was a universal message in the film - one to whic every viewer could relate. "I thought that no one would b able to understand it if they didn't live through that era . bT 1k but because everybody deals with the issues of growing up - - those are the same things, the same limitations, the same f. immortality, the fact of living with some compromises - 't these are very universal topics." y Kasdan's topics during the past week were a little less lI serious than those in The Big Chill. That seems to disturb him little, though. "There's a little more concentration of career to and how do I do it' kind of things than I would like," he says - about what students ask when they get the chance to talk with e him. "You have to have some.skill first," he says. "It seems W that they (students) want to sort of jump over that. Either w they assume they have it (talent) or they just don't want to t deal with that. I mean it's so hard to learn how to do this stuff. h That's what I'd like to talk about a little bit. But they want to e talk about George Lucas." ..* C '7iwII Are You A tunes fill Joe's By Joseph Kraus IT WAS A rain-chilled day in Washington D.C. last summer as two bedraggled Midwestern college students stood rereading the promotional posters for an honest to goodness folk singer." Sadly, neither of the starry-eyed young men had enough money with him to buy a ticket. That folk singer was Fred Small, and at least one of those college students is as last going to get to see him here in Ann Arbor. Cast in the mold of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and even Tom Lehrer, Small is dedicated to singing about the ironies and injustices of life. He is equally at ease singing out against Reagan's economic policies with his "Walk on the Supply Side" as he is with singing a good story about a lonesome polar bear. Small knows what he's talking about. He was an undergraduate at Yale and he earned a law degree and a masters in natural resources here in Ann Arbor. He gave up a promising legal career for a life of smoke-filled coffeehouses and idealism. Small has already acheived some successes in his young career. From his first album, Love's Gonna Carry Us, his "Three Mile Island" received airplay on several different radio stations. Big names like Pete Seeger and Charlie King have performed his songs and he has appeared with Seeger, Holly Near, Bonnie Raitt and Peter Yarrow to name only a few. He recently released his second album, The Heart of the Appaloosa, which features in addition to "Larry the Polar Bear" an Ochs inspired "ain't marchin' anymore"song called "No More Vietnams" and a post nuclear holocaust primer called "Dig a Hole in the Ground or How to Prosper During the Coming Nuclear War." In a snow sponsored by PIRGIM, Small will appear Sunday only at Joe's Star Lounge. Tickets are $4.50 in ad- vance and $5 at the door. Designing Person? If so, Ann Arbor Civic Theater has designs on you! We are looking for talented, experienced directors; producers, and designers of costume, stage sets, and choreography, as well as set and costume builders and props persons. Come join us in helping to create exciting, rewarding community theater this season. Send your resume to Ann Arbor Civic Theater, 338 S Main St.. Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104 or call 662-7282 between 1:00 and 4:00. Do Y OU get1 y2U2 Fred Small, still soaking in the success of his latest album "The Heart of the Apaloosa,' performs at Joe's Sunday night. Recrd 7 Michael Franks - 'Passionfruit' (Warner) He's created his own style of music - a jazz and pop fusion that's light enough for the casual listener and intricate enough to inspire admiration. After a solid run of seven studio LP's, Passion- fruit, the latest, may very well be Michael Franks' best. The music on Passionfruit is crafted with infinite care, arranged with a deft precision and polished to near perfec- tion. The musicians know their stuff and they perform like professionals; among the the names contributing are guitarists Jeff Mirnov and Hiram Bullock, bassist Will Lee and drummer Steve Gadd. Sharing the drum slot with Gadd is ChristopherParker, who makes an impressive contribution, and keyboardist Rob Mounsey injects a touch of spice with his performances. The delicacy of Franks' compositions often demands restraint from the group, and they comply most satisfac- torily. Given the chance to show their muscle, the band kicks in with infec- tious exhuberance while showing the tunes all the respect they deserve. Lyrically, Franks has rarely been in finer form. His double-entendre sub- tleties permeate "Now That Your Joystick's Broke" with upbeat inanity, romping freely with the quirkiest sound effects arrangement this side of your favorite video arcade. With his attention turned to romance, Franks conjures up familiar images with "Alone At Night," and then shows love's sunniest side on "Sunday Mor- ning Here With You." His voice is the perfect vehicle to convey these images - sedate, inherently romantic and passionately smooth. - Michael Baadke THE 24 th ANNUAL £INII'ENA JIONA THE PEOPLES OF rilt Presentations of music and Dance *Introductions of the Nations rInternational Expressions of Hope for Peace and Understanding FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1983 A r,,M 1M 0001 --m AA I ac '4y 4ULTIVITAMIV40' VPL M LSA STUDENT GOVERNMENT COUNCIL is now taking applications for November 14 & 15 election. LSA Student Government office is i SPORT". 0°7647,-l'am' Gt~+S~t~eo +7(44- 65 7 CIQ(-UL. AT WJ "'7( 4" 5S8 k~ I i