ARTS Page 7 The Michigan Doily Thursday, November 3, 1988 From Tennessee to the Holy Land UAC/Musket revamps Superstar Morris produces moving BY BETH COLQ UITF WHEN I was in fifth grade, my best friend Helen and I spent a lot of time listening to Jesus Christ Superstar at her house. She had seen the show and bought the album, and we used to sit around making up new lyrics to go along with the melody of Superstar. I didn't know anything about the show then. But I remember that the best we came up with was "Jesus Christ/ Superstar/ Where the hell did you park your car?" Needless to say, Tim Rice did a much more eloquent job, and Musket/UAC will be performing Jesus Christ Superstar, Rice's version of the last seven days of the life of Jesus Christ. The music for Superstar was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, a magical name. Superstar was Web- ber's first rock opera, and his second collaboration with Rice. Webber is also responsible for such shows as last season's smash success, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, (the first Rice-Webber collab- oration) and the current London and New York sell-out shows Starlight Express and The Phantom of the Opera. Superstar will be directed by Eric Gibson and produced by Michelle Futterman and Jamie Mistry. Mistry starred in Joseph last year. Gibson, a junior in the School of Music, directed four shows in high school, and is involved in the Gilbert and Sullivan Society and the University Opera Theatre. The University's production of Superstar will be a little different from the original in casting. The traditionally male roles of Pontius Pilate and King Herod will be performed by women. According toj Futterman, "There is only one written role fora woman in Jesus Christ Superstar, and that's Mary (Magdalene). We wanted to give more women a chance. We also thought that it would be an interesting inter- pretation of the script, and it just happened that there were women who auditioned who we felt had that sort of strong aura that would work well in a position of power, such as Herod or Pilate. "We all went into the auditions with an open mind. We realized that the only written role is Mary, and realized that there would be a lot of talented women trying out, so we decided to cast whoever was right, regardless of sex." Gibson realizes that some may be confused by females cast in the customary male roles. "It will take the audience a while to get used to it. A lot will say why, a lot will hate it. It's necessary that people realize that this is not professional, this is a university, and because of that we can experiment a little." See Jesus, Page 8 BY JENNIFER BERMAN IT'S a classic; an attempt "to catch the quality of really 'tough' Ameri- cana of the comic sheets, the skid- row bars, cat-hduses, Grade B movies, street-Arabs, vagrants, drunks, pitchmen, gamblers, whores ..." No, this is not Ann Arbor on a Saturday night. It is Tennessee Williams' description of his first successful full-length play, The Glass Menagerie, being produced by Susan Morris for Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's MainStreet Productions. The Glass Menagerie is dis- tinctly American. It is a strongly autobiographical work, examining Southern gentility, sensitivities, and their accommodations to the forces of social change. Designed specifi- cally for a popular American audi- ence, it sparks the flame in all of us. As Americans,we can easily relate to Williams' vivid, energetic explor- ation of middle-class American life. The Glass Menagerie is the story of Amanda Wingfield, a faded Southern belle who attempts to find meaning and direction in her poverty-stricken life in St. Louis. Her children, Tom and Laura, both Menagerie live in escapist worlds of illusion. Tom, submerges himself in a world of alcohol and the movies; Laura surrounds herself with a collection of delicate glass animals. This strained See Glass, Page 8 I Dollar Bill Copying 611 Church 665-9200 1 listrr 1 lass I .VV. JIwad any subscription 1 I The AFFORDABLE answer to overpriced lecture notes EXPIRES 11/17/88 2' WINTER BOOT SALE RECTORY tE! SAVE ions (9am - 4pm) x 15% to 50% & Supply ON ALL Bookstore * re $2.50 each WOMEN'S * BOOTS tudent Directory ad ap- x [he Student Directory b7692088 aff listings. These *SHOH* ;aculty and Staff Direc- Only nconvenience this may * 128 .,nieiyg3 ldaysleft!! * 128 .Unvrxt-dy Hwkto make a hit. "tsithe':eree:t:wayt > :ay:>for jus"t abo=ut " - ; .. . . . .. .;...,, 'i; O everything you'll want. 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