ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, January 20, 1989 Page 7 A2 plays big city Broadway Bound is Liberty bound Simon's BY BETH COLQUITT Every now and then Ann Arbor gets the chance to indulge its aspirations of being a big city instead of a very high-minded, intellectual, but small university town. One of these times was January 5th, when the Midwest premiere of The Accidental Tourist played the Michigan Theater. The Michigan is often the venue graced with these bits of national importance that reach Ann Arbor, and Broadway Bound has been hailed as Simon's deepest, most touching, and most human work, featuring more poignant scenes than in his earlier comic shows. it will be the case again this Sunday evening when the Broadway national touring company performs Neil Si- mon's Broadway Bound, which opened on Broadway in December 1986. Broadway Bound is the third of Simon's loosely autobiographical "B-B" trilogy. The first two, Brighton Beach Memoirs and the Tony Award-winning Biloxi Blues, cover the boyhood of Eugene Jerome. Broadway Bound is about the young adult Jerome, a struggling writer and radio comic. It also covers the breakdown of the Jerome family. Broadway Bound has been hailed as Simon's deep- est, most touching, and most human work, featuring more poignant scenes than in his earlier comic shows. However, in spite of Simon's self-searching and intro- spection, the pensive and serious are well-balanced with the sweet and the humorous. Broadway Bound stars Barbara Tarbuck as Kate Jerome, a role she played in Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway in 1984-85. The show also returns Brian Drillinger to the part of Stanley, the bossy older brother, a role he played in Brighton Beach Memoirs both on Broadway, in the national touring company, and in the film version. The role of Eugene Jerome is played by Kurt Deutsch, who made his Broadway debut in that role for nine months before he joined the Broadway Bound touring company. Neil Simon is one of today's best known play- wrights, and this is shown in the fact that his name on a theatre marquee means as much as the names of its stars. In the past, this privilege has been accorded to a rare few, namely playwright Arthur Miller and movie directors Busby Berkley and Woody Allen. Simon has also had virtually all of his shows made into movies, some of which the public may not realize were once plays, such as The Odd Couple and The Goodbye Girl. Since the Broadway national touring company has finally reached Ann Arbor, I propose to any Neil Si- mon fan (or really any comedy fan at all) that this is going to be the best performance that has or will hit Ann Arbor for a long time. Being the small town that we really are, we are always obliged to wait a long time for Broadway shows to arrive, but when they fi- nally come, they're worth the wait. BROADWAY BOUND will play the Michigan Theater on Sunday January 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 and $18, with a 20% discount for Michigan Theater Mem- bers. They are available at the Michigan Theatre Box Office. Student rush tickets will be available tomorrow for $7.50. Madison Arnold (far Deutsch gather 'round what they're listening left), Barbara Tarbuck, Ronny Graham, Brian Dritlinger, and Kurt the old crystal set in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. You can find out to Sunday night at the Michigan Theater. Re o d ,, - 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 "A Ap pP ALP Anita Baker Giving You the Best That I Got Elektra Records Anita Baker's music at its most beautiful is all about being engulfed by, or succumbing to, love. In his book A Lover's Discourse: Fragments, Roland Barthes called this feeling an "outburstof annihilation which t affects the amorous subject in despair or fulfillment." The grammy-winning album Rapture dripped with such sentiment, and showed that 'old fashioned' soul. still has a broad appeal in an age where most modern Black music is more concerned with rhythms than with emotional confession. Following up Rapture has been no easy task, and Giving You the Best That I Got is caught between xeroxing its predecessor and venturing into the jazz direction that Baker seems to prefer. Opening tracks "Priceless" and "Lead me into Love" fall limply into soft soul territory in which Anita fails to ignite. The title track is most obviously * Read We DaiCt~ !d designed to sell the album to the people who bought Rapture. It's a weak song which again fails to utilize Baker's singing talents. These particular musical love letters are about as welcome as a wet blanket in the Michigan midwinter. However, three performances on the LP show that Baker can still reach the parts that other singers cannot touch. "Rules" is an expansive, slow burning torch song that has banal lyrics but still slices your left atrium from your right ventricle. In fact, all the songs here lack lyrical invention but, as Aretha said, soul is not what you sing but how you sing. Baker smoulders on "Good Enough," a track with jazz piano cadences that hint at the direction Baker's music should go. "Just Because" is another jazz-tinged pearl and betrays a healthy fascina- tion with Sarah Vaughan's phras- ing. If Baker can forget about mar- ket forces and go with her natural impulse to be a jazz singer, then she can make records greater than Rapture. This release is flawed be- cause she's trying to please all of the people too much of the time. But three shimmering perfor- mances on this album point to more fulfilling amorous moments from her in the future. -Nabeel Zuberi Friday and Saturday until 11:00 p.m. Come Early and Party! 310 Maynard 994-6500 $ 200,000.00 STOCK REDUCTION Year End Clearance 20%-75% OFF Entire Store Includes: Women' s Boots, Shoes, Acessories and our full line of Capezio Dancewear A~w'HOEHUT 1209 South University 769-2088 CENTER FOR RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES presents a one credit course on HUNGARIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION (REES 301, Section 888) by Dr. Laszlo Budai Visiting Fulbright Scholar from Hungary January 30-February 22, 1989 Monday/Wednesday, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Location to be announced This course will provide an introduction to Hungarian history, political life, literature, arts and culture. A multidisciplinary approach will be used and materials will include translations from books and periodicals, as well as films and slides. No knowledge of Hungarian language required. All lectures are open to the public. For registration information please contact the Center, 204 Lane, 764-0351. MASS MEETING A MUSICAL VAUDEVILLE A sexy, steamy, late 1920's musical actors, assistants, and crew members needed JANUARY 25 7:00pm S u ig anyI aRm j 7 I HOW TO TAME THE ROOMMATES 1 WOMAN NEEDED to share a room in two bedroom apt. located behind S.Q. Rent * 223/mo. is negotiable. Does not include electricity or phone. Wonderful roommates. Call 747-8549. ATTENTION HOUSE L EASERS-- Looking for 2 single rooms in a iiet house beginning Sept. '89. Call 764-5840 or 764-5835 (please leave a message). FEMALE NONSMOKER wanted to share a furnished 2 bdrm. house. $75/wk., util. incl. Call 995-0503. Avail. Jan.-May. FEMALE NON-SMOKER to share new apt. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, walk-rn closets, bal- cony, fireplace, laundry, health club jacuzzi, sauna, and cat. Near north campus. 085/mo. 663-3462._ FEMALE to share spacious 2 bedroom apt. close to campus. Avail. immed. $275/mo. + utilities. Neg. Call eves. 662-2835 or leave LIBRARY JUNGLE. The Library can be a real jungle. Especially at a large university like the University of Michigan. That's why Peer In- formation Counseling, a service of the Under- graduate Library, is r offering the Library Survival Kit. Inside you'll find I a camnus librarv man. the Reserve Desk, the Micro- 1 computer Center, and the1 Academic Resource Center.+ You'll also find valuable tips on how to efctively use the library for research. So avoid getting lost in Good for one free LIBRARY SURVIVAL KIT! Redeem at the Reference Desk, the stacks! Hunt down those books and periodi- cals you so desperately need! Locate those resour- c s for that all-important term paper! Just clip the cou- pon shown here and present it to the UGL I Reference Desk. Pick up a Library Survival Kit today.