ARTS The Michigan Daily Tuesday, October 24, 1989 Page 7 Newman explores psychological dogm Miss Daisy drives into town --- - " - - -_ ___ _ 1 I -Z BY JAY PINKA IF you ever sat in psychology class and wondered what it would be like to be a trainer of one of Pavlov's dogs, you can find your fantasy made real in Charles Newman's most recent novel, White Jazz. Newman, whose appearance is sponsored by the Institute for the Hu- manities, is a dialogue between tradition and rebellion in both his writing and his lifestyle. White Jazz, for example, takes a unique slant by portray- ing the characters of Freud and Pavlov as narrated by a dog trainer. But this professor doesn't sit in a book-lined study daydreaming about psycho- logical methodology. Instead, he spends six months out of every year traveling to Europe -- discovering the differing realities abroad. The Yale and Oxford graduate finds it essential to juxtapose the differing viewpoints of the two psychologists as representative of traditions of thought typical to certain parts of the world. "It struck me that these (Freud and Pavlov) are the cultural heros of East and West - the last of the old-fashioned thinkers before World War II," says Newman. He continues to explore these polar opposites in the book he is cur- rently working on, tentatively titled The Library of the Barbarians,:in which the dog trainer makes a rejoinder to Freud's conversation. Newman's language reflects a dialogue on the issue of "ethics between economics and art." "The metaphors I use are... (found) in economic analysis and cultural ,criticism... based on culture," says Newman. The unusual content of his work is well-structured in his knowledge of fiction theory; he teaches graduate courses in 18th and 19th century literary theory at St. Louis' small Washington University. Despite his academic load, Newman spends up to eight hours a day writing and revising. Writing competes with trav- eling on his list of loves, but the intensity of Newman's dedication is equivalent to that of his desire to write. He is an example of the motto "genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration," not giving lip service to the work ethic but implementing it in a career which relies on persistent self-motivation - being a writer. "Don't do it unless it's the only thing you want to do. You have to give up a lot," says Newman. But what Newman wants to communicate gives him the force to do it. His effort to breach the boundaries between conventions and cultures shows in his appreciation for the Institute of the Humanities, which seeks to create harmony between University departments. "Its purpose," added Newman, "is to cut across disciplinary border- lines." CHARLES NEWMAN speaks in the Rackham West Conference Room this afternoon at 4 p.m. BY AMI MEHTA IF an abstract artist painted a pic- ture describing the different aspects of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-win- ning play Driving Miss Baisy, it would contain bold blues for power- ful acting, moody reds for bitter- sweet love, mild yellows for com- passion, shades of green for amicable chemistry, jet blacks for simplicity, cool whites for integrity, and mix- tures of various other colors for di- versity. This illustrates some of the important features of the play that the cast of three actors bring out in a touching but comical portrayal of life in the old South. Driving Miss Daisy, set in the late 1940s, is the story of a grudg- ingly growing relationship between a cantankerous elderly Jewish woman and her new Black chauffeur. As the independent woman, Miss Daisy (Rosemary Prinz, Penny in As the World Turns) resents the idea of a chauffeur hired by her son Boolie intruding in her life to pre- vent her from reckless driving. Given a hard time at first, Hoke Coleburn (Ted Lange, Isaac Wash- ington on The Love Boat), a patient man, gradually learns to overcome all of her antiquities. Over a span of 25 years, through periods of humor and turmoil, a genuine bond grows between these two strong-willed people. With its backdrop during the civil rights movement and the Martin Luther King, Jr. era, Driving Miss Daisy not only depicts racial ten- sions between the two main charac- ters but shows how they can be re- solved. The play will be touring mainly college campuses, where racism is often a controversial issue. According to Lange, "Racism is a Ted Lange (theatrically aged, left) is known almost exclusively as the cheerful bartender on The Love Boat He has doubtlessly been shunted into such silly roles because of the Hollywood Shuffle syndrome: Black actors have to take what they can get. In Driving Miss Daisy, Lange has a more respectable forum for his acting. way to divert from the real issue. It's really easy to say, 'well that's a white person and that's a Black per- son' because immediately you've got something to talk about as opposed to saying that there are other real hardcore issues that have to be dealt with. There are people that don't have any homes, white and Black people." Generally, Lange feels most ev- eryone knows that Black people and white people can work together. This play reaffirms that fact. Even for the people that seemingly can't get along, such as Miss Daisy and Hoke, there's something to be learned and there's something to be experienced between them. In this divided world, it's often hard to show that people can still manage to reach out to each other and connect. But this play seems to do just that through the tightness of the script and the development of the well-drawn characters. Here is this feisty, aging Jewish widow opposite "a chauffeur who's not an ignorant man, he's a very dignified guy at a time when they used to take away a Black man's dignity," said Lange. Hoke Coleburn isn't book smart be- cause he can'tread, but he's people smart because he surmounts all of the problems that Miss Daisy gives See DRIVING, page 8 an evening with Stephen Jay Gould Don Cherry Art Deco A&M Records Several years ago, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard came out with an album entitled Sweet Return, named because of his return to the straight- ahead style that firmly established him among the ranks of the finest. trumpeters in jazz. Hubbard's return was indeed sweet, but Don Cherry's return, on his new release Art Deco, is sweeter still. Cherry, one of the pioneers and torchbearers of free jazz, has brought forth a truly swinging album, with old bandmates Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins in tow. Tenorist James Clay, a straight- ahead player all along, comes along for the ride. The album's notes talk about Cherry's beginnings in jazz in Los Angeles, most notably his affinity for Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins charts. The opening cut, the title piece, is a bright tribute toMiles' groups of the mid-'50s - from Cherry's muted horn and echoes of the melody in his solo to Haden's cut-time bass in the theme to Billy Higgins' brush work a la Philly Joe Jones. Miles' bands set a high stan- dard in the small group format, and Cherry takes a chance by inviting such comparison. His band more than measures up to that standard. The quartet has its moments of brilliance through the album, but each supporting member is given a chance in the spotlight as well. Don Cherry gives hornmate James Clay a chance to show his talents in a for- mat with which he is familiar, the ballad. He tackles "I've Grown Ac- customed to her Face" well enough, but the most impressive of his works is "Body and Soul," the clas- sic tenor saxophone vehicle. Here, Clay's work is smooth; he plays some brilliantly inventive and melodic ideas. It's a performance that can hold its own against some of the best renditions of this ageless tune. On "Passing," Billy Higgins pre- sents tribal rhythms in a solo that is at once spiritual and quietly intense. Charlie Haden's "Folk Medley" gives the bassist room to maneuver on his own. Haden's playing is sim- ple and controlled, yet bluesy. Each song has an underlying peacefulness to it, the sign of an experienced, time-worn player. Ornette Coleman is an old band- mate of Cherry's, and Cherry honors him accordingly with three of his compositions '- "When Will the See RECORDS, page 8 lecture and signing of his new boo Rackham Auditorium Thurs, Oct. 26, 8 pm .tM visit sponsored by U. of M. Museum of ]Paleontology and Borders Book shop Pi Delta i Delt Pi*Deta Pi e-ta P DeltaPiDe IA LOVES THEIR PLEDGES: Tina Aggarwal Rachael Hu Jenny Salvano Jill Blick Jennifer Kalich Seema Shastri' Darleen Chan Susan Katz Elyssa Sholtz Becky Cheng Nika Kayne Chris Smith Jamie Cohen Mari Keith Susan Spies Lisa DeMore Karen Klein Jennifer Srigley Lisa Franklin Dawn Lehman Carolyn, Stein Caryn Friedman Lesley Lomo Andrea Stern Cindy Friedman Andrea Markowicz Randi Stone Vicki Friedman Liz Ostow Kara Wires Lisa Hagenauer Carla Pagotto Barbara Zacharakis Hindy Hoffman Tanutda Pittayathikhun Deborah Zolot Maria Pomeranz Sandi Rao Sandy Rockind 4Are heatrr ____________ Theat, e Thea .e Th.r ce Danc nce eate mactDane Tea mpct anc met etDar e Thatr Imact anc ThatreImpct anceThetre tmp o ~atreImpat Dace Teatr Impct Dncefheate Im -e ma- pampccDtc hete rm aimpact Danceete mpt Oct e Ip act Dancemeat e mpat "t _r Dace ,eatr Imact Dance Tht e mpa + Dace Pct Dnce heate Imact Dance Th et in a Theatre Imp~ ~ act Dance TheatreIpc DneT ee nm 'mpct Dac'e Theatr Im : m~pact Dneh emctDance har m mpctDnc Tea etpact DancTharIm at)actmDacee heattretmp eact DanceeTheatre I I a I.