ARTS
a J
.,
The Michigan Daily
Monday, February 8, 1988
Page 7
_ ',
Alley
aims
at
appeal
(and
laughs)
-4"
By John Shea
Special to the Daily
SAN FRANCISCO - When
God made Kirstie Alley, He took
two pieces of metal, each of equal
strength, and fused them together.
Country. City.
The fibers are pretty strong at
both ends.
"I'm real outdoorsy," Alley said
in a teleconference interview earlier
last month. "I like to swim and play
games a lot. But it's not like I'm a
princess or something. It's just that
when the sun goes down, I like to
have a bed and a shower." (laughs)
She laughs a lot. Never mind that
Alley is creeping into her 30s; she
still retains a laugh that smacks of
schoolgirl charm. And while her
deep, husky voice and strong limbed
body seems more suited for Wheat
Thin commercials than quiet drawing
room dramas, it would be a mistake
to think of her as a country bump-
kin. Because merging with the hon-
esty, the integrity and the innocence
Alley got from growing up in
Kansas is a sophisticated urbanite
driven to survive. It is this drive that
helped her weather the storm of the
Cheers controversy last fall, and it is
this drive that helped her get through
the filming of her new movie, Shoot
to Kill (opening in theatres nation-
wide this Friday).
In Shoot to Kill, she plays
movie," another reporter said. "You
don't wear any makeup, and there
aren't many actresses who would do
that."
"I really hate makeup," she said.
"The worst part of acting to me is
sitting in the makeup chair. I mean,
I could put on all the clothes and
makeup and I still don't look that
hot."
With Alley, what you see is what
you get. She is honest. She is frank.
"How does it feel to be virtually
the only woman in the movie?"
"I liked being the only woman
among ten men. (laughs) Ten, big,
handsome men. (laughs harder)
She is a bit of a flirt.
"Do you consider yourself a star
now?"
"o No."
And she knows where she stands.
"Would you like to see more
scenes between you and Tom
Berenger?" she is asked.
"Yes. I would like to see a big ol'
love scene - a big ol' love, sex
scene. (laughs really hard) I wish
there was something in the begin-
ning with us together. But then
when I see the movie, I see a real
isolation, a real desperation that it
created by never seeing us to-
gether..."
She understands: Shoot to Kill is
not her movie. It belongs to Poitier
and Berenger and how their relation-
ship develops from adversarial to
amiable. Yet she accepts this and
does the best she can with a character
whose sole purpose is to be dragged
through the mud.
"I know what I am, and if I am
anything, I am a survivor. And it
would take a lot for me to quit in an
area that I want to win at - like
living. (laughs) That's how Sarah is
just like me."
"Is there a more vulnerable side to
Kirstie Alley?" someone asked her.
"Yeah. I think I have my vulner-
able moments, just like everyone
else. But I'm not a crybaby or a
wimp or a whiner. That doesn't
compute for me. I'm a pretty emo-
tional person, you know. I'm senti-
mental. And I'm vulnerable with the
people I care about.
"One of my most hated lines by
men is, 'Is she really vulnerable?'
Because I get this picture of a
woman who is a sap. (laughs) Who
starts bawling if you say the wrong
thing or can't do something for her-
self. I think that's an act. I don't
think that's a real admirable trait."
Silliness mixed with sensibility:
that seems to be the way Alley likes
to go. A little country, a little city.
When asked her about her future
plans, she said, "Oh, I have two or
three scripts I'm looking at. And I'd
GET IT!1.
L~M~
like to have some babies. I'd like to
start off with one. Or two." (laughs';
God, she laughs a lot.
"I suppose, the inevitable." one
reporter announced. "How's life on
Cheers ?"
"Pardon?" she said in French.
"How is life on Cheers these
days? Everyone was saying, oh, this
can't happen, that can't happen - "
"I don't want to brag," she said,
"but the ratings are up."
You would swear these words
could only tumble from the mouth
of someone who is, well, conceited.'
Alley, somehow, is not.
Nice people, I am told, get eaten
up in this business like shoo-fly pie
- fast and furious. Alley is the ex-
ception.
* "My big concern was first, I'
screw up the show and the ratings
would plunge. Then you think, if
the ratings stay the same then it
didn't make any difference if you
were on the show or not. And the
ratings went up a bit, so it makes
me think. Maybe more people are
watching. And maybe ... they want
to see me." (laughs)
Maybe.
The Personal Column
MICH4IGAN DAILY CLASSIFIED ADSa,
"I know what I am, and if I am anything, I am a survivor. And it would
take a lot for me to quit in an area that I want to win at - like living,"
said Kirstie Alley, who is best known for her role as Rebecca on 'Cheers.'
Alley appears in the movie 'Shoot to Kill' which opens nationwide this
Friday.
Sarah, an expert trail guide in the
Pacific Northwest who is taken
hostage by a ruthless killer. Chasing
after them is her lover (Tom
Berenger) and a FBI agent (Sidney
Poitier) who wants revenge.
Alley's role is not what you
would call a glamorous one; she
spent the majority of the film either
being dragged, pushed, kicked,
beaten, or slugged.
"In one scene," she said, "the
killer slapped me and dislocated my
jaw."
"Really?" one reporter asked.
"Yeah. It was the shot that they
used (in the final cut)," she said with
a perverse sense of pride. "I felt like
a rag doll."
"You're not a vain person in this
Opera s
By David Hoegberg
When the Barber of Seville rode
onstage on what resembled a Good
Humor tricycle - from which he
proceeded to pull wigs, razors, and a
note from an Addams' family-type
"Thing" in the front basket -
Thursday's Power Center audience
knew it was in for an enjoyable
night at the opera. This device was
just one of many fine touches from
director Dugg McDonough that pro-
vided visual interest while enhancing
the sense of the text in the New
York City Opera National Com-
pany's performance of Rossini's
comic opera, Barber of Seville.
Another was the cast's machine-
like motions during the finale of Act
II, which accompanied the words
(roughly translated), "I feel like I've
stuck my head into some dreadful
smithy where the ringing of anvils
never stops." This reminded me of
Henri Bergson's saying that the
ucceeded
essence of comedy is the machine
gone berserk. An effect that didn't
work, however, was the street band's
trouble with sheet music during
"Ecco ridente" - it distracted visu-
ally and aurally from the focus of
the scene.
Stella Zambalis' Rosina provided
the most attractive singing of the
evening, deploying her slender
mezzo with security and beauty.
Her evocative facial movements vir-
tually stole Bartolo's "A un dottor"
out from under him. Tenor Robert
Swenson as Almavia showed a clear
and sweet voice used with some ef-
fort, though his fioriture was not
always clear. Richard Byrne, the Fi-
garo, sensibly didn't push his young
baritone, but he might have pushed
his acting a little more towards
spontaneity. As the genius behind
the acting, Figaro should seem a bit
more charming and unpredictable.
The Company's supertitles were
helpful and met with general ap-
proval from the audience. One frus-
tration was that the set for acts II
with nice
and III were placed too far back on
the Power Center's stage, making
most of the action in those acts in-
visible from the last three or four
aisle seats on right and left. Since
th touches
the house was sold out, this meant
that a significant number of us were
left in the cold, unable to share in
the exuberance of this otherwise de-
lightful production.
ATTENTION! .
Public forum, February 8, 8PM, Pendleton
Room, second floor, Michigan Union.
Topic: President Fleming's Discriminatory
Acts Policy.
"Some praise it as a great first step toward
creating a better University environment."
"Some criticize the policy for violating the
first amendment and many other civil
liberties and civil rights."
Listen to and participate in the discussion
as student, faculty, and administration
representatives debate the Fleming policy.
Sponsors: Affirmative Action Office, Civil
Liberties Board, Michigan Student Assembly,
Office of Student Services.
February 8, 8PM, Pendleton Room, second
floor, Michigan Union.
Tues.,
Feb. 9
Wed.,
Feb. 10
Thurs.,
Feb.11
The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC r
University Band/PercussiondEnsemble
Eric Becher/Michael Udow, conductors
Program includes music by Persichetti,
Wagner; new works from around the
world for ragtime, ethnic, &
contemporary marimba ensemble
Hill Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.
FREE.
Concert Band/Chamber Winds
Donald Schleicher, conductor
Leslie Guinn, guest baritone soloist
Program includes "Folk Song Suite" by
Vaughan Williams, music of
Grainger, Reynolds, Gabrieli
Hill Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.
FREE.
Lecture-Demonstration by Jane Ira Bloom,
soprano sax
Co-sponsored by Eclipse Jazz
Room 2044, School of Music, 3:00 p.m.
FREE.
MINORITY & INTERNATIONAL
STUDENT GROUP
. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH STUDENTS
FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY OR THE WORLD?
- ARE YOU FEELING BOTH SATISFIED BUT BEWILDERED ABOUT
COLLEGE LIFE?
- STILL FIGURING OUT NEW FRIENDS AND ROOMMATES?
- ARE YOU WONDERING HOW YOU REMAIN YOU AND STILL FIT IN?
- TRYING TO DECIDE HOW TO BALANCE YOUR SCHOOL WORK AND
SOCIAL LIFE?
A group for minority and international men and women will begin February, 1988.
Students will have the opportunity to meet others and share their thoughts and
experiences about life at The University of Michigan. The Group will run from four
to five weeks. Blanca Charriez, the group facilitator, would like to talk briefly by
phone or in person with interested students prior to first meeting. Please call
Blanca at 764-8312.
WHAT DAY? Wednesdays
3100 Michiga1Union[ STARTING Tentatively to Begin February 10
DATE? Led by: Blanca Charriez, ACSW
Late Registration
at UAC, 2105 M. Union
Financial Planning
Magic
Sports Massage
Speed Reading
Tarot Cards
Taxation without Frustration
For up-to-date program information on School of Music
events call the 24-Hour Music Hotline, 763-4726
c'mon... thursday's classes aren't all that important
presents comedian
NEW WAVE VAUDEVILLIAN OF THE NINETIES
O.J. ANDERSON
NOMINATED
COLLEGE ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
FOR '86 & '87
TOM FRANK
Student Comedans
CHRIS WASHINGTON
WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 10
And Your Host
PETER BERMAN
JIM MERCURIO
I