0 0 The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 7, 1989- Page 10 The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, S Films arrive from all corners of the globe-. Stages of greatness. bauild around campus By Marisa Anaya Daily Arts Writer Before coming to Ann Arbor you may have shied away from the theatre, thinking that it just can't match up to the big (or little) screen for edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Or you may have been turned off after sitting through high school productions of non-risqu6, parents- approved musicals like Oklahoma that you attended because your friend was in the cast or because you'd get extra credit for your English class. Or you may have written off theatre from your life because you simply do not have the means to fly off to London or New York to see The Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables at $50 a ticket. Rejoice, then, because all of these excuses are rendered obsolete upon entrance to WolverineLand. Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan provide you with enough gooood theatre to put off studying indefinitely under the pretense of getting "cultured" - while being fully entertained in the process. Ann Arbor abounds in varieties of theatre; the University's Department of Theatre and Drama, located in the Frieze Building, is where you can always get information on current productions and auditions. Or simply stroll through the Diag and you'll see fliers and banners on the kiosks and in the trees. University Players is the undergraduate theatre group which puts on faculty-directed shows with an all student cast. Last year this group shocked audiences with a revolutionary production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which director Philip Kerr (whose impressive credits include co-starring on Broadway with Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson in Macbeth) replaced the tra- ditional fairyland forest with a modern day-glo discotheque peopled by Ziggy Stardust con- temporaries. University Activity Center's MUSKET, run by students, produces two musicals a year, including SophShow. MUSKET's past credits include Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar. Just last year they put on a production of the classic Chicago that was so professionally polished that I swear it could have been on Broadway - or at least Off Broadway. Another University-sponsored theatre group is the Residential College Players, primarily constituted by but not limited to RC students. They put on a wide variety of plays, which are many times the culmination ofan in-depth study of the play in an Residential College course. Last year this led to a powerful performance of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. Like RC Players, the Brecht Company - which also performs in East Quad, although it primarily consists of non-students - concentrates on the "epic" theatre form of Bertolt Brecht and other works influenced by the German playwright. Black Theatre Workshop, headed by Charles Jackson, features Afro-American playwrights, artist, and performers. In addition to directing, Jackson portrayed Malcolm X last year in Performance Network's The Meeting, a powerful, thought-provoking play dealing with the hypothetical confrontation of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. A non-profit community theatre, Performance Network provides a great opportunity to get away from the campus scene and experience unconventional theatre at its best. This intimate old warehouse theatre, located out on 408 W. Washington, is com- plete with black walls and a black concrete pillar in the center that obscures your view if you sit in certain seats. Performance Network will transport you to the cozy hole-in-the-wall theatres of Off Off Broadway, and spark your curiousity with titles such as Wowie Kazowie and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Local writers get a shot at premiering their works here, as well as local directors who want to stage their interpretations of plays by famous authors such as Tom Stoppard and Sam Shepard. Ann Arbor Civic Theatre is another non- University related organization offering main- stream productions right here in town. But if you prefer more of that luring inti- mate atmosphere and have seen everything that Performance Network is offering, explore the Kerrytown Concert House, which is literally the size of a living room. This past spring they presented Hopwood Award Winner Dan Plice's Submarines and Weltschmerz, two powerful dramas that show why this U of M graduate is destined for a successful career in playwriting. Submarines had its premiere on the Arena Stage in the basement of the Frieze building. As the home of Basement Arts, students test their mettle in all sorts of acting, producing, and directing endeavors on Thursday and Friday at 5 p.m. And what's more, you can experience this plentiful talent free of charge! There are a number of additional groups that are no less entertaining, such as the University's Musical Theatre Department, the undergraduate group which puts on big- name musicals; Barrier Free Theatre, a group consisting of both handicapped and able- bodied performers; Comic Opera Guild, specializing in European operettas; and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, dedicated to the preservation of the ever-popular duo's operettas. The University has been extremely privi- leged to attract big names to its theatre de- partment, such as Andr6 De Shields (who starred in the title role of The Wiz o n Broadway). As the 1989 Martin Luther King Jr./ Cesar Chavez/ Rosa Parks Visiting Professor, De Shields directed The Trojan Women and turned it into a technological masterpiece. The University is also blessed with well-known and respected faculty members, such as Benedict Nightingale, theatre critic for the New York Times. These are the solid foundations upon which successful theatre is built. But what makes its productions truly rise up in performance is the steady current of talent flowing through the University and Ann Arbor community. After a show or two you will see howtAnn Arbor bursts with famous names in the making. Remember that Arthur Miller, James Earl Jones, and the late Gilda Radner all began their careers here at the U of M - who knows what new stars are yet to ascend from our local stage? By Mark Shaiman Daily Arts Writer Years ago tons of films were. shown here in campus auditoriums by the local cinema groups - even on weeknights. These days, the showings are still the most readily available and inexpensive entertain- ment around. On the last few days of each month, students scramble around town to find the new copy of Current, a free magazine listing the upcoming month's events, and then plot their schedules around the list- ings found in the back. Ann Arbor has a reputation that even draws filmgoers from Detroit, Canada, and Ohio. In the last year, Ann Arbor has been host to the Midwest premiere of The Accidental Tourist, the national premiere of the significant Turkish film, Iron Earth, Copper Sky (bringing in the director to the United States for the first time), a festival of films by the Japanese master Ozu, and a Lesbian and Gay Male film festival. Basically, there are three places to see movies easily within walking distance of campus - the Michigan Theater, and the Ann Arbor Theater, and campus lecture audito- riums at Angell Hall and the Modern Languages Building, as well as assorted others. The latter locales may seem the least glamorous, but they offer the biggest range of titles - and since the 'U' is currently renovating many of these auds, the equipment is mod- ern and the seating comfortable. At $2.50 for a single film, $3.50 for a double feature, the price can't be beat. Three primary groups regularly show films in these auditoriums, and now that they are recovering from a financial dry spell, they are also re- gaining their own identities. Cinema Guild has been around the longest and is known for its se- lection of classic American (Hawks, Ford) and foreign (Truffaut, Kiro- sawa) films. Cinema II has become associated with Bugs Bunny (and pals) Film Fests. The Ann Arbor Film Cooperative has the most interesting schedule of all, bringing in off-beat films from Tod Brown- ing's Freaks to Czechoslavakian animation. Two other groups, Hill St. Cinema (which shows at the Hillel Founda ative I though On usually choose probabl the fall about r are all more fi film cl One Ann A Michig cently 1920s; screen, organ showin town, t hangou nearly ing an film ch pacity ways p get the stretch ESPRESSO ROYALE Write for the Daily: Call us at 764-0552, or stop by at 420 Maynard St. L 2275 Platt Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 PUBLIC ROLLER SKATING SESSIONS DAILY EXCEPT MONDAYS FOR: SESSION TIMES, GROUP RATES, & FUND RAISING PARTIES CALL: 971-2211 0 Ile O O _....