Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 17, 1988 Grease slicks 4 ack and soups up IN Soph Show's not just another song and dance BY BETH COLQUITT I bet all of you have seen the posters all around campus for Grease. I bet you all thought of Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, and Didi Conn with her pink hair. Think again. The Soph Show pro- duction of Grease is the original 1972 Broadway production, with all the show songs left in, and the glitz of the movie left out. "The movie was campy and it was kind of flashy," says Director Jeff Lerner. The movie seemed as if "they didn't trust the script they were given. They kept having flashbacks and scene changes. In the show the whole thing takes place right there, no cameras moving all over the place." Most of the musical Grease con- sists - logically - of song and dance, with only skits separating the musical numbers. "They do the steps of the '50s, the Sock Hop, the Stroll, the steps our parents did," says Lerner. The opening scene of Grease , omitted from the movie, is a high school reunion. "It's kind of like opening a yearbook, seeing who was doing what when," says Lerner. "It begins with a reunion, which sets up the convention of why we are watching this." The movie also altered the characterizations. Choreographer Courtney Selan explains that in the musical, "Sandy isn't from Aus- tralia, she's from the same world that they are, and at the same time she isn't." Lerner adds, "All the adults in the movie are represented by one teacher - all the rest of the characters are kids." Assistant Music Director David Kirshenbaum says that another ma- jor difference between the two is that there are at least four extra musical numbers in the musical that were left out, or played as background music, in the movie, which also contained about four new songs. "Most of the songs in the movie weren't even real '50s style - they had a disco beat," she said. The organization responsible for this production is Soph Show, a di- vision of the University Activities Center which focuses on first- and second-year students, who make up the entire cast. Says Lerner, "For many of them it's a new experience. We need to build their confidence. Many of them have never acted be- fore." "We have to show them that they're capable of really doing something, and of having a good time," stressed Caroline Greenberg, co-producer. "We had a terrific turnout. 170 students tried out, and they were mostly non-theatre majors," said Greenberg. Until A Chorus Line appeared on Broadway, Grease was the longest running show ever, and it still holds third place. Says Selan, "All the parents wanted to relive it, and all the kids wanted to see it (for the first time)." The producers expect that this production of Grease will be the first since the death of co-author Warren Casey last week. "It's done a lot anyway, but it will be performed even more now, as a result of hts death," says Selan. Rumor had it that Casey and Jim Jacobs, the two authors of the show, were about to write their first musical together since Grease. Casey and Jacobs, both greasers themselves, wrote about what they knew. "It's a very clever script,' says Selan, "It's an upbeat show. We want to satisfy the writer's orig- inal visions. We hope that won't be hard. It's not a difficult show, (it's not deep), it's fun." GREASE is presented by the Uri- versity Activities Center at the Lydi Mendelssohn Theatre on November 17,18, and 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $S and are available at the Michigan' Union Ticket Office and all TickeL- Master locations. 4 Myth Continued from Page 7 0 l ROBN LOZNAK/iOy Members of the Grease cast mouth off in a brusiers bonanza Tuesday on the Diag. OLENTANGY INN 10 minutes from Ohio State University Stadium (within walking distance) Rates: $33.95 for two people with a double & single bed ($5.00 per extra person) . Lounge . 24 Hour Coffee Shop Reservations: (614) 294-5211 1299 Olentangy River Rd. (between 3rd and 5th Ave.) Columbus, Ohio IONA COLLEGE University of Windsor presents... BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE academy-award-winning singer & songwriter 'THE POLARIZATION OF PEOPLE" Mon. Nov. 28 7:30pm Cleary Auditorium 201 Riverside Dr. East Windsor, Ont. Tickets $18. available at Can-Am Centre and Iona College 208 Sunset Ave. Windsor, Ont. 4$ Self Service with coupon kink . the copy center 540 East Uberty Open 24 Hours 1220 S. University Open 24 Hours Michigan Union Open Eay - Open Late CLASSIFIED ADS! Call 764-0557 In The Spotlight Shooting the Works The Ann Arbor DanceWorks launches its fourth fall-season this weekend with a program featuring several local premieres as well as new works from several local artists. Gay Delanghe will present the Ann Arbor debut of her satirical dance for five, All of a Feather..., which treats the experience of the artist as a financial and social outsider in the community. Among the other works presented will be: two works from Linda Spriggs Joy, a story of first love inspired by the Langston Hughes poem of the same name; and Public Places/Private Spaces, a unique collaboration combining dance and architecture. The performance will be held tonight through Saturday night at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the MacIntosh Theater of, the School of Music. Tickets are $7, $5 for students and seniors. Speaking in tongues Ever watch an opera and puzzle over what language it's written in? Well, now you have the chance to see one that's supposed to be like that, as conductor/composer/pianist Donald Bryant presents his operatic adaptation of The Tower of Babel. Based loosely on the story from the book of Genesis, but with several additions to the plot (including groups of tourists gawking at the tower and a puppet show), the opera features over 100 performers and a 24-piece orchestra. Performances are tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, located at 1432 Washtenaw Avenue. Tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for children, and are available at the church office. a literary critic as well as a teacher of Johnson's at Southern Illinois U- versity, wrote of the novel, "The storyteller's voice... is as magical and human as the Faulkner voice; jP some ways even better." "I have to know the story befor% I write it," Johnson says. "When I get an idea, a voice, a story, and most importantly a question I want to ex- plain, then I can write. I write every day until it's done." Johnson's career - from his col- lection of short stories, The Sor- cerer' sApprentice, to his most rel cent novel, Oxherding Tale -- shows a constant change and rest lessness with new ideas and voices. Johnson pursues this novelty in all his work, and encourages'it in his students as Washington University, where he serves as head of the Cre- ative Writing department. "You have to try and do some thing in your new story that you haven't done before," Johnson in- structs. CHARLES JOHNSON will read from his works at S p.m. in t Rackham East Conference Room; fourth floor. The selection will b the first chapter from a novel-i - progress, tentatively titled Ruther ford's Travels. wvr rsu IF YOU WANT TO BE A pt PHYSICIAN, WE'LL PAY FOR IT. If you're willing to invest your skills and knowledge as an Air Force medical officer, we'll invest in you and ,fl pay your way through medical school if you qualify Its the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program. It pays for: * Tuition; * Books, supplies, equipment and lab fees; *Plus a monthly income ofmore than $650. " Call uSAF HEALTH + " *PROFESSIONS ) 1 313-561-7018 COLLECT YOWZAI R F Michigan Daily ARTS 763-0379 a WHAT'S HAPPENING RECREATIONAL SPORTS CROSS COUNTRY SKI RENTAL MANAGERS NEEDED SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS, WINTER TERM, 1989 AT RADRICK FARMS GOLF COURSE CROSS COUNTRY SKI RENTAL CENTER . _,w 4 ,1 Y f~ Book, Music, and Lyrics by EXPERIENCE WITH CROSS COUNTRY SKI EQUIPMENT HELPFUL 9 MUST HAVE OWN TRANSPORTATION PAY STARTS AT $4.60 PER HOUR CALL 763-4560 IF INTERESTED AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER GOING HOME FOR THANKSGIVING? DON'T DRIVE TO THE AIRPORT. Jim Ja A Jcobs and Warren Casey November 17,18,19 8:00pm Mendelssohn Theatre Tickets $5.00 for ticket info call 763-TKTS I I / %W-AR- UI I