ARTS The Michigan Daily Toeing the Line *1 Thursday, October 13, 1988 Page 7 Poetic power Giovanni dons strong attitude 34 Legs. Add Up to One Singular Sen sation The cast of the University's Musical Theatre Department get their kicks in at a recent rehearsal for this weekend's production of A Chorus Line., BY MARGIE HEINLEN THERE seems to be a "serious and heavy-handed" stigma attached to "women's issues." Well, cut it out. Women's issues can be entertaining without being reduced to fashion- able banter. Poet Nikki Giovanni will read from past works and address "Race, Gender and Class" for the Michigan Student Assembly's women's is- sues lecture series. Sacred Cows... And Other Edi- bles released this year adds to her collections of essays, poems, reflections Some of her past works include All I Gotta Do,Women and the Men and Black Feeling , Black Talk, Black Judgement. As the ti- tles suggest, her topics are wide ranging - from poverty to Pop Tarts, insects to ineffectual Black leaders, ministry to men who walk. picket lines against abortion ... and; to women. "Nothing is easy; nothing is sa- cred. Somehow, you and I the ordi- nary grunts who get up in the morning, go to work, make a little less than we owe... will lay down at night, say our prayers to a God we are not sure is listening and close our eyes to the howling of sacred cows on their way to the slaughter- house. We may not know the truth but we've learned to. question the suspect. And after all, isn't that a beginning?" - Sacred Cows MSA women's issues commit- tee is sponsoring Giovanni as part of a continued effort to raise consciousness of women, and men, about women. Chris Fulton of MSA said of the series, "We wanted to raise awareness of women in all work fields and all political orienta- tions. They're not all political or necessarily even radical. We want to attract different crowds with different interests." Fulton added, "We want to be non-partisan and depoliticize some of these events so they can be for everyone. People need to be edu- cated about issues, like proposal A, for medicaid.funded abortions, Our main goal is simply education." So much of who Giovanni is and how she sees the world moves her untainted prose and verse. All out- side stimuli are distilled by her As the titles suggest, (Giovanni's) topics are wide ranging - from poverty to Pop Tarts, insects to ineffectual Black leaders, ministry to men who walk picket lines against abortion ... and to women. confidence, so that her comes out clear and strong. And sometimes even a bit belligerent. But it is definitely her own. Giovanni's extremely cynical, highly punctuated, uninhibited po- etry shouts of outrage and delight. Giovanni calls all women, Blacks ... and people to... think and take a good look around. Some things just need to be said every now and again. "My grandmother, Louven a Watson, used to baffle me when she used to say, I'll be glad when you get off Fools Hill.' I never used to know what she meant. I certainly.db now." - Sacred Cows Raw empowerment, tougher than love confidence-it's great stuff try a little for yourself. BY BETH COLQUITT I saw A Chorus Line on Broadway two years ago. I was surprised be- cause it was visually very unspec- tacular. 17 dancers lined up on a stage. That was all. No background, no set. Yet those 17 dancers man- aged to convey an emotional depth rarely seen in musicals which rely =heavily on a fancy set and props (for =example, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Starlight Express). The characters drawn in the book by Nicholas Dante and James Kirkwood were so vivid on stage that they drew me completely into their world. But it's not just my experience. A Chorus Line holds the enviable title of the longest running Broad- way show in history, and few musi- cals can boast of the credits that A Chorus Line has received in its 13 years on Broadway. It has won 10 Tony awards, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musi- cal (1975-76). For those of you who haven't seen it on Broadway, A Chorus Line will run in Ann Arbor for four nights this weekend at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, performed by the School of Music's Musical The- atre Program. A Chorus Line is ostensibly about an audition. 17 young dancers are desperate for a role in the chorus of a new musical. Only eight will be chosen. According to Director Tim "Millett, "The basic premise for A Chorus Line is a job interview, and, as in every job interview, there is a feelng of great expectation and hope as well as a distinct possibility for failure for each and every one of the dancers at the audition." Millett knows from experience. WEEKEND He performed in the Broadway cast of A Chorus Line from 1980 to 1982, appearing in the role of Zach, the company's director and choreog- rapher. For Millett, the pressure was not so intense when he joined the cast of A Chorus Line: "By the time I auditioned, it had been out for five years. Pressure was off because it was not a new item." He says that his experience performing on Broad- way was thrilling: "It was a big growth period for me. It was my first Broadway show." Landing the role of Zach was a considerable achievement, especially for a first Broadway show. Zach, represented by a voice in the back of the auditorium for most of A Chorus Line, is the only character in the musical who is permanently apart from the group of performers. He emerges only to talk to his assistant choreographer and to Cassie, an old flame. While auditioning all the dancers for the chorus, interviewing each dancer in front of all the others, he draws out each dancer's character, personality and feelings. Despite their varied personalities and experi- ence, all reveal their love for dancing through their interviews, uniting near the end in the beautiful ballad "What I Did For Love." A Chorus Line deals with many themes, including broken families, adolescence, and prejudice. However, none of these themes burden the musical. Millett says he hopes that the University production will not differ from the original show. He says "I am trying to reconstruct the original show. If it does differ, it will be in lighting, costume design, and set." The University production of A Chorus Line will use all of re- cently-deceased Michael Bennett's original choreography, with the ex- ception of "Cassie's Dance." According to Millett, "Having per- formed it on Broadway and on tour for so many years, I feel that Ben- nett's choreography is as integral to the show as the music and lyrics." Millett explains that "on Broadway, 'Cassie's Dance' was originally de- signed for Donna McKechnie, and it highlighted her dancing strengths. In our production, Cassie is a different person, so we're choreographing her dance to show her strengths." (When I saw A Chorus Line on Broadway, I was lucky enough to see Donna McKechnie in a comeback perfor- mance of the role that she made fa- mous.) The transition from actor to director, Millett says, took several years. While touring with the Cho- rus Line company, he realized "that I wanted to direct and choreograph more than perform. Playing Zach allowed me the opportunity to be in the position of a director even though it was a role and that showed me how much I really enjoyed it." Millett, who has been at the University for three years, is a lec- turer in Dance with the Musical Theatre Program. He has over ten years of professional experience as an actor, including work on Broad- way (A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls) and television credits. At the University, Millett has chore- ographed A Wonderful Life, Love Life, The Merry Widow, and On the Town. He also directed last season's A Funny Thing happened on the Way to the Forum. The music for A Chorus Line was written by Marvin Hamlisch, who recently performed a solo con- cert at Hill. Some of his best known songs from A Chorus Line include "One" and "What I Did For Love." Millett says of the show, "A Chorus Line is about hope and the ability to persevere in spite of the odds. I believe this production touches upon something that every- one has felt at one time or another. That's what makes it special to so many, many people. It performed everywhere because it is a show about people, not just about per- formers." Performances for A CHORUS LINE begin at 8 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 13, 14, and 15, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, October 16. Tickets may be purchased at the Michigan League Ticket Office, Monday through Fri- day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $10, $7, and $5 with stu- dent I.D. For further information, please call 764-0450. The ticket sellers at the League feel it necessary to warn everyone who purchases tickets that the original script will be used, and thus there will be some... uh... harsh... language. NIKKI GIOVANNI will appear at the Union Ballroom tonight at 8 p.m. s October 15th Tell your Sweetheart with a Daily Personal Ad' The Michigan Daily S"-"'Classifieds .764-0557 -- - ' - - MAGAZINE Fridays in The Daily 763-0379 The Credit Card That ktsYou Shop IMoreThan 60 Countries. 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