ARI
The Michigan Daily Sunday, January 29, 19
84 Page 5
Michael Jackson stable,
surgery may be,
LOS ANGELES (UPI)-Singer Michael Jackson,
hospitalized with burns caused by fireworks that
ignited his hair during filming of a TV commercial,
may need surgery but should be able to attend next
month's Grammy ceremonies, doctors said Satur-
Jackson, 25, was dancing down a stairway at the
Shrine Auditorium Friday night in a scene for a
- multi-million dollar Pepsi commercial when a
special effects smoke bomb apparently misfired and
set his pomade-slicked hair ablaze.
Dr. Steve Hoefflin said Saturday Jackson was in
satisfactory condition with second-degree burns and
a small third-degree burn on the back of his head.
"He's in moderate pain, he's much more tired than
he anticipated. He needs sleep at this time," Hoefflin
told reporters at a hospital news conference. Jackson
checked out of the hospital Saturday.
We're applying ice and antibiotics and he may
require some reconstructive surgery. But we can t
determine that at this time. It depends on the amount
of hair growth."4
Jackson, the country's top singer, won seven
American Music Awards earlier this month and
picked up a record 12 Grammy nominations.
Hoefflin said Jackson will be able to attend the Feb.
28 Grammy presentations at the Shrine "if he feels up
to it."
A spokesman for Jackson said the singer requested
that a tape of the accident be made public as soon as
the film can be processed.
"Michael wants to make certain that his fans know
exactly what happened," Larry Larson told reporters
at the hospital.
Askedl if Jackson was contemplating a lawsuit, he
said, "There's no indication at this point."
, Hospital officials said the medical center had been
inundated with thousands of phone calls since
Jackson arrived and a spokesman pleaded with the
public to stop calling, saying emergency calls could
not get through.
eeded
The singer's Thriller album topped the music char-
ts last year, placing an unprecedented six
singles-including "Billie Jean" and "Beat It"-in
the top 10 and spawning several popular videos.
The accident Friday night occurred before an
audience of about 3,000 people who won tickets to the
- taping from a local radio station.
One witness said Jackson removed his jacket
without breaking stride and tried to put out the fire.
"There was supposed to be an explosion for his big
entrance," said Daryoush Maze, 25, an extra in the
cast.
"As he went off, an explosion went off and there
was blue smoke all around his head and neck. There
were no flames, just blue smoke from the stuff he had
in his hair.
"It seemed like it was part of the show. He was
doing it very professionally, still dancing. He's a
good trouper."
Michael Jackson suffered third degree burns on the back of his head while
filming a Pepsi commercial. He is in stable condition, and has been released
from hospital.
-------- -- - -- --------
Butley boasts brazen oratory
By David Grayson
T HE MICHIGAN ENSEMBLE
Theatre's production of Simon
Gray's BUTLEY is a successful attem-
pt at some highbrow English humor
and the portrayal of the not too funny
prospect of a man's self-destruction.
Ben Butley (Nicholas Pennell) is a
fallen professor of English at the
University of London who dulls his in-
creasing despair and loneliness through
heavy drinking and verbal attacks on
students, aquaintances, and friends.
On this particular day, Ben is informed
of both his estranged wife's
engagement to a man he considers to be
"the most boring man in London," and
his protege and former lover Joey's
(Davis Hall) decision to move in with a
new lover.
The play, static by American stan-
dards, is a challenging mix of rapid-fire
dialogue, extensive vocabulary, and
enchanting word play that would keep
an adept lexicographer on his toes.
BUTLEY is presented as a comedy, at
least on the surface, but as author Gray
points out, "there are some
biographical elements."
Nicholas Pennell, a leading member
of the Stratford Festival company and a
long-time acquaintance of the University
theater program, gives a notable per-
formance as the aloof and bitter Butley,
who was once a promising scholar of
Eliot at Cambridge and is now reduced
to obsessive recitations and personal
interpretations of Beatrix Potter.
Though Butley becomes infantile and
unjustifiably vicious, at timbs, Pennell
portrays a likeable, once caring man
whose continual alienation from those
around him only perpetuates his
misery. Butley is a man totally lost in
an endless facade of verbal cleverness.
Unfortunately, Mr. Pennell's skillful
portrayal is greatly diminished by the
performance of David Hall as Joey.
One infers from the play that Joey is a
man of little backbone and a somewhat
"creepy" nature, but Mr. Hall takes
these traits to such excess that he gives
a totally undefined performance. The
result is a character with the depth of a
cigar store Indian and a disgusting
smirk that looks as if he is in constant
fear of losing some dental work. One
finds it difficult to detect anything ap-
pealing about this prissy imp, and is
likewise skeptical (and vaguely
repulsed) at any character's claim of
fondness for him.
Butley is left without the powerful in-
terloctor with which he is to parley
throughout the play. Pennell, however,
gracefully makes a monodrama of
most of the first act as well as selected
scenes from the second when only Joey
is present..
When Pennell does get the oppor-
tunity of opposing an actor of equal
merit, the result is impressive. Case in
point is the confrontation between
Butley and his not yet ex-wife Anne.
Patricia Boyette gives a wonderfully
haunting performance as a woman
deeply wounded, but determined to
plow through what is left of her life. It
is during this scene, undoubtedly the
play's best, that Butley's confusioni and
undirected assaults on others come
clearly into focus.
The rest of the cast gives solid, but
not particularly notable performances,
that provide an- appropriate backdrop
to the professor's rantings. The scene
design and lighting of Butley's office
(the only set) is effective and easily
believable to anyone who has ever been
to an English professor's office. Walter
Eysselinck's direction can be cbn-
sidered par for the course of M.E.T.
productions; professional quality
theater with sufficient attention given
to all aspects of production.
Though far from perfect, Butley
gives us some noteworthy acting,
strong insights, and some precious
laughs. Despite its flaws, the play suc-
cessfully brings us to- the close with
empathy intact for this man who has
driven himself into loneliness.
4,
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o
0
ANN ARBOR
L
iINDIVIDUAL TwEATRES
5th Ae e 1tue',y 761-9700
Nicholas Pennell contemplates life after a too short vacation away from the
University.
$2.00 SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 P.M.
MON. THRU FRI. DAILY 1 P.M. SHOWS
PAULINE
AT THE BEACH
Paul Taylor dancers impress with delicate steps
By Julie Edelson
WHEN THE PAUL TAYLOR Dance
Company made one of its first ap-
pearances, their avant garde dancing
was so offensive that several audience
members left in the middle of the per-
formance. Needless to say, some 29
years later, no one walked out on the
Paul Taylor performance at the Power
Center. Friday night's performance
not only indicated that the audience has
come to appreciate more radical dance,
but also that Paul Taylor has modified
his style to incorporate a variety of
movements-from classical to contem-
porary.
The concert opened with a stage
covered with wooden dogs. This rather
humorous device set the mood for the
piece, "Diggity," which consisted of a
series of playful antics. The dancers,
dressed in casual grey and white,
executed light, graceful movements
such as jumps, leaps, and turns, to con-
vey the convivial mood. The piece was
extremely well-dramatized by the dan-
cers' excellent facial expressions. The
female/male flirtacious interactions
were especially comical and enjoyable.
The greatest achievement in this piece
was the dancers' ability to sidestep the
obstacle course of dogs with total ease.
Clearly, this was a difficult task, but the
dancers performed it effortlessly, so
the audience was unaware of the dif-
ficulty.
The second, more modern piece,
"Profiles," was impressive at the start,
but quickly lost momentum. The dan-
cers, dressed in geometrically designed
unitards, were able to make
magnificent shapes with their bodies,
climbing on top of one another, and in-
terlocking arms and legs. This
highlighted their light, flexible bodies.
However, the piece, void of diversity,
became monotonous after a few
minutes, and the background violin
music sounded like nails on a chalk-
board. Although this may have been
Taylor's intent-to create a clashing,
harsh dance, it became annoying after
the initial appeal of the piece was lost.
The company's ability to work as an
ensemble was prevalant throughout the
concert, but it was best seen in
"Images." The company was syn-
cronized in every step, and they moved
as a unit, blending together in a very
graceful fashion. There was a constant
flowing movement, and an ease that is
sometimes lost in the harsh movements
common in modern dance. But
"Images," like "Profiles," became
repetitious and monotonous, with a
series of repeated steps, and the dance
could have been shorter.
The last piece, "Airs," Taylor's com-
promise with the classical, was by far
the best. Here, the company was able
to magnify their greatest strength:
the ability to combine the grace of
ballet with the ease and casual nature
of modern dance. The magnificent
music of Handel, which played before
the curtain rose, set a pleasurable
mood. Indeed, the dancers did look
"aerial", as the title denotes, with the
women wearing powder blue, flowing
skirts, and the men in matching tights.
The women, moving with a soft, sultry
:e Boys
Twin-Tone.). If the last Replacements
LP, Hootenanny, made your blood
tingle with the same excitement that
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue does, then
I'm sure this double-header will tickle
both the funny and dancing bones,
abandon provided.
Oh, yes.. . Monday night, Joe's Star
Lounge, and all that.
elegance as they executed their high-
extended arabesques, resembled nym-
phs, and the men were equally
graceful. The most attractive
movement was the partnering sequen-
ce, with Linda Kent, Susan McGuire,
and Kate Johnson, who appeared
weightless in the lifts with their par-
tners, Christopher Gillis, Thomas
Evert, and David Parsons.
With the exception of the somewhat
annoying harshness prevalant in some
of the movements, and the unnecessary
length of the pieces, Paul Taylor has
successfully proven that he can com-
bine a variety of movement elements to
create truly high-quality dancing.
POETRY READING
with Ruth Schwartz
and LynnCrawford
M nay. January 30th
8:00 p. m.
GUILD HOUSE
802 MONROE
"BRILLIANT
VILLAGE V(
"EROTIC"
New'Y
"EFFERVESCE
New York Ti
FRI., M
SAT., SUN.
1:15, 3
T"
)ICE
NT"
imes '
(Rj
(ON . 1:00, 7:15, 9:35
:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:35
WINNER LOS ANGELES
FILM CRITICS AWARD
BEST PICTURE, BEST ACTRESS
AND BEST DIRECTOR
SHIRLEY DEBRA JACK
MocLAINE WINGER NICHOLSON
FRI., MON. 1:00, 7:00, 9:25
SAT., SUN.
1:00, 3:30, 7:00, 9:25
Psychedelic rebellion of Slick
By Larry Dean
W ASHINGTON, D.C. is the kind of
place where dreams come true.
While there's all this hype about starry-
eyed youths hitting the road for New'
fork City, L.A. or Hollywood with
elebritihood on their minds, just as
nany folks dedicated to "making it"
in a variety of different manners) find
heir feet scudding the sacred soil of our
aations' capital in search of a break.
Under the grim shadow of the
Washington Monument phallus, they
extend their hats, give a little soft shoe,
and hope that passers-by will help fund
their search for show-biz immortality.
Pigeonholing the Slickee Boys' noise
as "psychedelic" might be easy, yet it's
not fair. True, they have recorded the
Yardbirds' "Psychodasies" before, (on
their debut LP of some eight [!!] years
ago) and true, they do tend to ape the
psychedelia pose, both through song
titles ("Manganese Android Puppies")
and appearence. But as we all should
have learned by now, labeling is merely
a kick-off point for the music, and
doesn't need to leave it at that. For, in
the Slickee Boys vocabulary, humor
and sheer absurd excess seem to be the
domineering forces behind their
garage-band-derived produce.
As with many struggling outfits, the
Slickee Boys have endured a number of
personnel changes which has left them,
to date, with a five-membership. I'm
sure this quintet of musical myopics
will rock and roll you with tongues-in-
cheek (or in-check, if you prefer),
having practiced quite a lot over the
span of years, and between stops at the
zoo to watch the pandas sleep, or else
see the polar bears frolic.
Along for the ride is Minneapolis'
Replacements, whom many devout
fans swear by. This knack for profanity
on the listeners' part is no doubt due to
the Replacements' virtuousity-in
troth, they play blues, jazz, rock, folk,
field hollers, even skiffle! But it does
all come from the same base, which the
band members like to call "trash rock"
with the same kind of pride that prom-
pted Haydn to pen his piano sonatas.
The Replacements are on the Twin-
Tone label, a Minneapolis-based com-
pany which also boasts the Slickee Boys
as members of the roster (You
might've even seen the Boys' video,
"When I Go to the Beach," on Empty-V,
celebrating their initial recording for
Light lunches: Any sandwich 12.85
with soup or all you can cat salad bar add 11.25
'All yo Munchie
desire"Hour r
Sunday - /" 4-7 p.m.
....nc h 2 fors
FREE UNIVERSITY COURSES AND
WORKSHOPS NOW OPEN
Free, six week Free University courses on the following
topics will begin starting Feb. 5, 1984:
Media and Politics City Politics
Co-ops Central America
Tenants' Rights Blacks at UM
Nuclear Disarmament Communes
Exploring the Gender Gap Military Research
Capitalism, Democracy, and World Peace Political Theater
Free, one or two meeting Free University Workshops on
the following topics:
Political Music
The University's Budget
The War Powers Act .
Nineteen Eighty-Four
War Tax Resistance
Student Empowerment
Qualities for Social Activism