TRTS
The Michigan Daily
Monday, i
March 16, 1987
Page 7
Company is good
By Lauren Schreiber
Daily Photo by SCOTT LITUCHY
Good As Bronze
A group of male Bronze Elegance models display the latest spring fashions last night at the Michigan Union
Ballroom, The 7th Annual fashion show was the creation of the MYSTIC minority council of Alice Lloyd, to
celebrate Black History Month. "The show is very professional and we want to shine this year," said Lisa
Simmons, Bronze Elegance publicity coordinator.
W,.alf Ljfe' not half bad
"Brief Encounter," the first
sketch of the Comedy Company's
Big Show, was so stupid that I
started getting that uncomfortable
feeling I always get when I think
I'm going to have to write a bad
review. Not too much later, how -
ever, I found myself, if not rolling
in the aisles, at least having a pret -
ty good time.
Of the few sketches that were
disappointing, even these were not
terrible (except the first, which
makes me wonder why it was
included at all.) "Church for the Not
so Perceptive" was an interesting
concept that was overdone - the
point would have been better ap -
preciated in a shorter skit. The same
holds true for "Impressionist De -
sign," a clever idea about famous
painters as modern interior deco -
rators. "Top of the World" was pret -
ty weak, but somewhat saved by
the actors.
Looking now to the bright side
(the majority of the skits), Craig
Neuman deserves praise for his
"Trouble in Paradise." Brady Bunch
parodies are dangerous in that they
have now reached cliche-status.
This one, however, was a riot. Ar -
ranged in that familiar box-for -
mation, the actors sang the Brady
Bunch song (with new lyrics) while
looking up, down, and across-
just like they do on the real show.
Matt Schlein was brilliant in his
portrayal of Alice. Also noteworthy
was Greg's costume (you know, the
plaid pants), Melanie Harrison's
portrayal of Marcia ("that's really
groovy"), and Katy Wood's lisping
Cindy.
"Quiet a Relief" was a panto -
mime, with Dan Ryan accom -
panying on piano. While three men
went to the bathroom, Ryan sup -
plied the sound effects, including
toilet flushing, zippering pants, and
sighs of relief. "Meeting of the
Minds," a skit about a mindreaders'
convention was also funny. In it, a
magician's performance, election re -
sults, and simple conversation
("I'm very happy to see all of you
here tonight." "No you're not...You
don't even like Sullivan.") are vic -
timized by the mindreaders' abil -
ities.
The best of all was "Modes of
Theatre," a short skit taking place
in a coffee shop which was repeated
four times througout the show,
each time in a new style. Unne -
cessary were the explanations
preceeding it; it was obvious to the
audience that the last three were a
play on the first. The second mode
was done in the style of Greek
tragedy. The observing customers
in the restaurant made up a chorus
and the others, dressed in togas,
included the tragic heros and a
wandering soothsayer. The Shake -
spearean mode was definitely the
funniest sketch in the show. The
Greek chorus became the witches of
Macbeth. The actors used lines
from all the famous Shakespearean
tragedies, and of course, they all
died in the end. The last mode was
done as theatre of the absurd.
Overall, the cast was excellent.
The group worked well together,
creating a tight, ensemble perfor-
mance. A few actors, however, de -
serve special praise, including Dan
Unowsky who had real stage
presence and excellent delivery.
Melanie Harrison was incredible as
the dramatic waitress, Penny, in the
"Modes of Theatre." She also
brought new meaning into the ste -
reotyped flower child of the sixties
in the skit, "Neurosis Anony -
mous." Craig Neuman must be
commended for his talent in face-
making. In "Modes of Theatre," he
portrayed the geeky cook, Gus.
Everytime he looked at the audience
he had a new, ridiculous expression
which broke up the house. Katy
Wood was also wonderful in her
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ability to change characters- a
nerdy housewife, Cindy Brady, and
a sexy woman. Because, however,
the others were also so good, I want
to mention them too: Eric Champ-
nella, Alexa Eldred, Keith Fenton,
H. Anthony Lehv, and Matt
Schlein. There.
Jon Hein and Janet Hofmann did
a fine job in directing their actors:
pacing was good, blocking was
neat, and casting was accurate.
There were only a few flaws in
the production. The set changes
were a little slow. Consisting only
of assorted chairs and tables, these
could have moved a little faster.
(Never leave your audience in the
dark too long- they get confused.)
The costuming could have been
simplified to help speed up the
changes.
The biggest problem in the
show was the ending of the
sketches. Not-very-funny one-liners
had the unfortunate result of ruining
an already funny sketch. The au -
dience would be laughing through -
out, and then the final joke would
leave them in silence, or sometimes
groans. Leave well enough alone.
I was impressed by the Comedy
Company's performance. And I
laughed.
LA R ^RAPHIC U COPYNG 4 PRINTING E NNDING F0"
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1atshops f TheFuture
COPIES
Open 7 Days
GRAND OPENING SPECIAL
663-6816
715 N. UNIVERSITY
(2nd Floor)
Located at:
S. STATE & N. UNIVERSITY
By Elizabeth Snyder
The lights dimmed and I sat back waiting for the
film to begin. Pictures of destruction and people with
serious burns who had lost their hair filtered through
ny mind as I recalled the only other film that I had
ever seen on radioactive fallout. Dennis O'Rourke's
film Half Life is a change, though. Half Life is a
locumentary that took place 33 years ago in the Mar -
shall Islands. These islands came under American
rusteeship after WWI1 and in March of 1954, our
government decided to vacate one of the islands,
namely Bikini, and drop a hydrogen bomb in order to
obtain scientific data concerning the fallout.
O'Rourke's film does not deal with Bikini but
rather its neighboring Atolls. Despite the fact that
these islands were hundreds of'miiles away from Bi-
Cini, a wind shift led to disastrous results. Half Life
attempts to show that the U.S. had knowledge of the
wind change before the bomb exploded and did not
* vacate the neighboring islands of Rongelap and
Rongerik.
The movie is successful only in the sense that it
appeals to the emotional side of the viewer. Scenes of
children playing intertwined with scenes of a naval
captain counting down the seconds causes us to
sympathize with the uneducated natives who later
claim "we didn't understand what they were doing to
us." But O'Rourke drives the stake home with the
stories and pictures of the suffering children. Fur-
thermore, the inference that the U.S. used these
people as guinea pigs is on the tip of everyone's
tongues.
However, where O'Rourke fails is in his
deliverance of concrete evidence. There really is very
little of it in the documentary. Instead the viewer is
given the opinions of natives and very unprofessional
looking Americans. Not once does he mention how
many of the inhabitants suffered as a result.
What is left as the film draws to a close is an
uncertain feeling in the mind of the viewer. Emo-
tionally, Half Life has him squirming but rationally,
with an argument as strong as O'Rourke's, it leaves
something to be desired.
"Half Life" is playing at MLB 3 at 7:30 and 9:30.
Dancerssh ow Gallery of work
Women in Judaism Series
Professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky
"Women in Jewish Life"
The role of women in Jewish communal
and ritual affairs
By Jose-Arturo Martinez
r "Gallery of Dances" was the
hmost pleasant surprise of the
purrent local dance season. The
concert was full of lush, full
lancing, creative music and
oreography that was very good in
'oth its conception and its
cxecution.
Marsha Pabalis and Gregory
atterson put on the strongest
$ ungle performance in the concert.
heir Pas de Deux in Bill
eYoung's 'Thief of Souls' showed
conviction that was impressive to
wee. The trust necessary between
°, rtners to fully dance a work
nanated through in their dance and
"they easily stole the show. Linda
;priggs joins Pabalis to dance the
second duet which has the
,pearance of a man and woman
vorting together though in reality
is two women. Used as the
I ounter point of a duet of
VOTE
ean honest and since
a responsible and r
" a student committe
student governmen
I3
seemingly two men dancing gives
the dance its androgynous edge.
The concert began with a vivid
splash of scarlet that bursts upon
the eyes of the audience. Gay
Delanghe's 'Red, Red, Red' began
with a giant hand that drops down
from the rafters to grasp and then
squeeze a giant tube of paint.
Dancers appropriately costumed in
red then flow onto the stage setting
like colors onto a canvas. The
dancers then cavort on the stage
space with an almost reckless
abandon. The climax in the third
movement takes a more serious
bent as the background noise of
shots being fired and shells
exploding and visual sound effects
gives what is otherwise a
seemingly light work it's hard edge.
David Gregory's sound track lends a
wonderful punch to the dance.
Jessica Fogel's work 'People in
the Sun' was my favorite work.
There is currently no one better at
U-M at creating strong visual
imagery. Fogel's vision combined
with David Borden's music give us
an eerie set of still lifes that are
drawn from the paintings of
American painter Edward Hopper.
The single movement that serves as
the unifying thread throughout the
work is a hopping step that relates
back to the artist himself. Thomas
Cocco as the 'hopping' artist and
Jean McGregor-Wiles as his subject
present us with an eerie human
rendition of Hopper's works.
'Porcelain Dialogues' is the
Murray Louis work set on six
students. Danced to a stark black
background the white of the dancers
costumes was a dazzling contrast.
The vocabulary of movement was
new for many of the dancers but
they carried it off well. The lover's
'spat' carried on between Jennifer
Weiser and Thomas Cocco
contained a wonderful mime
element that was'broadcast to the
back rows of the theater and was
indicative of the dance. The subjects
the dancers discussed can only have
been guessed at but they and the
audience had a good time 'listening'
in.
Monday, March 16
7:00 p.m at Hillel (1429 Hill Street)
"Women In Jewish Thought"
Monday, April 6
663-3336 U l
_,
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