Page 8 -The Michigan Daily-Thursday, April 7, 1988
'Angel City'
takes
a
shot
BRyAvra Kouffman
The University Players' produc-
tion of Sam Shepard's play, Angel
City,. opens tonight at the Trueblood
Theater. The production features di-
rection by Patricia Boyette and a cast
comprised mainly of students, with a
guest appearance by sax-playing the-
atre department professor Peter Fer-
ran.
Ferran's musical talents will un-
doubtedly enhance what promises to
be a multimedia event. Angel City
is a play about the film industry -
its power and its gimmicks - and
the University Players' production
reflects this fact through its use of
video technology, film projection,
and special utilization of mirrors.
Boyette explains, "We're trying to
present [the play] in a new way. I
saw the original production which
Sam Shepard directed at the Magic
Theatre in 1976. It was really a bare-
bones production, and I liked the
script, but I thought it had some dif-
ficulties. He was writing it so that
at Tinse
there wasn't much of a through-line.
It was written to be more like a jazz
improvisational piece where every
moment stands on its own.
"Because it is about the film in-
dustry, we thought that it would be
interesting to add the dimension of
having film involved in (the play).
Actually, we're using the technology
of video, but the material is film-
oriented in content.... [Angel City ]
is about film and reality and illusion
and the power of an industry that
manufactures dreams."
Angel City is also about the
bizarre effects that filmmaking has
on the creative process. Written
largely as a response to Sam Shep-
ard' s own experience in Los Angeles
(a city which Boyette describes as
being "surrealistic without even try-
ing"), the play features the character
of a young Hollywood-bound
screenwriter who becomes embroiled
in the making of an epic disaster
film.
This film, designed solely to be-
come a money-maker and save the
film studio from bankruptcy, depends
itown
mainly on gimmicks for box-office
appeal. Frantic for a new idea, the
studio heads hit on the concept of
selling spirituality. They hire a
"mystic of sorts" to help them, and
then the "fun" begins!
Angel City provides ample testi-
mony to the vivid imagination of
playwright Sam Shepard. Since
1964, Shepard has created over 40
plays, for which he has received a
Pulitzer Prize and ten Obie awards.
He is also known for his work as a
film actor, and for his award-winning
screenplay, Paris, Texas.
ANGEL CITY will be performed
at 8 p.m. on April 7, 8, and 9, and
again on April 14, 15 and 16,. at the
Trueblood Theatre in the Frieze
Building. There will be two Sunday
matinee performances at 2 p.m. on
April 10 and 17. Tickets may be pur-
chased either at the Michigan League
Ticket Office or at the Trueblood,
one hour prior to performances. Ad-
mission is $4 for students with ID;
*1
Miss Scoons (Elizabeth Richmond) and Tympany (James Ludwig) are two of the victims of Hollywood in S;
Shepard's scathing indictment of the film industry, 'Angel City.'
Records
Tigertailz
Young and Crazy
Relativity/Combat Records
England has a history of using
American music and selling it back
to us. The blues and Chuck Berry,
for example, weren't considered cool
until English bands started playing
their songs. So now England has
decided to export (gasp) glam metal.
Since I consider glam metal to be
a ridiculous waste of time and
money, I was all set to slag this
record. I mean, look at the cover:
hair out to here, makeup out to there
... and these are guys! Therefore I
was pretty surprised when I liked it.
To stand out from the evergrow-
ing pack of metal bands, a group has
to have something to set them apart:
songs, exceptional musical or vocal
talent, etc. What Tigertailz has is
good songs; vocalist Steevi Jaimz
and guitarist Jay Pepper (doesn't
anyone use their real names any-
more?) have written an album full of
good tunes, with h u m m a ble
melodies and hooks that stick in
your head. Jaimz is a David Lee
Roth sound-alike, but with a higher
range (i.e. he's still young). Pepper
isn't
'80s,
style
los.
the next Guitar God of the
but he mixes a varied rhythm
with some tasty, compact so-
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