The Michigan Daily -Thursday, November 15,1990-- Page 7
Theater Review
Joe Turner exemplifies Wilson'
s5
power
by Forrest Green 111
Joe Turner's Come and Gone, but
his victims live on and struggle for
liberation from his malignant
shadow. The University Players'
production of this August Wilson
play communicates the flight of
newly freed African slaves to the
North, or rather, the Pittsburgh of
1911. This production glows with
the evocative resonance that all of
* Wilson's works should be given.
While Steve Dixon's reputation does
not match that of James Earl Jones,
who starred in the New York run of
Wilson's Fences, his performance
as landlord Seth Holly is still a
powerful one.
Charles Jackson directs the play,
and also played Malcolm X against
Dixon's Martin Luther King Jr. in
The Meeting,. Other strong
performances include Marvin Sims
as the entrancing Bynum Walker, a
conjure-man who dabbles in super-
natural roots and conjurations, and
Randall Kirk Gibbs as Jeremy
Furlow, a funny, womanizing day-
laborer residing in one of Holly's
rooms. Joniah Martin turns in a
magnetic performance as the omi-
nous Herald Loomis.
Loomis and his daughter Zonia,
played by Kristen Allen, arrive at
Holly's house and request a room for
a week. As the various characters
twist their personal problems about
fpr each other and the audience, the
essential center of Wilson's well-
constructed plot continues to rotate
around the foreboding Loomis. It
turns out that he is searching for his
wife Martha, missing since his
capture by notorious slave-catcher
Joe Turner, seven years ago. Sharon
Tucker gives a passionate, riveting
performance interpreting the urgent
role of Loomis's wife, exhorting
him to leave his relentless demons
behind him.
Ultimately, Joe Turner serves as
a symbol for the plight of all
Wilson's characters, responsible for
FALSTAFF
Continued from page 5
eretta," he explains.
Presented in English, Falstaff is
done in a way that non-opera literate
individuals can appreciate. Preston
has attempted to have "the staging of
the music support the form of the
music," a large step away from the
traditional view of individual sta-
tionary singers. But Falstaff is not a
common Broadway musical. What
makes opera different than musicals
such as Les Miserables is the ge-
nius of the composition, especially
Verdi's masterpiece, and the vocal
demands on the singers. Performed
with the correct theatrical touches,
operas such as Falstaff can be the
apex of all performance art.
Dream Command
Fire on the Moon
Island
We have a file cabinet here at the
Daily that is filled with the rather
bizarre (and very often low quality)
records that artists who are truly des-
perate for some print send us free of
charge. As you might guess, it's full
of garbage. But every once in a
while, I sift through it to see if
there's anything good. Hell, I don't
care - it's not like I'm paying for
any of this stuff. So I stumble
across Dream Command's Fire on
the Moon. It has enough qualities to
gain my attention: an interesting
cover, a well-known record company
and, best of all, it's on CD.
But even these characteristics
could not possibly save Fire on the
Moon from the dumpster (too bad
you can't recycle CDs). The music
is generally unoffensive; it sort of
follows in the popular "rock 'n' roll:
with some neat synthesizer sounds'
genre and some of the songs actually
have promising intros.
Then singer Steve Fellows start
in. When I first heard his voice, T
swore I was being subjected to the,
latest Eddie Money record. No kid-
ding - Fellows sounds exactly like
the Money Man himself. And that's
just too much punishment for me.
If Dream Command would lose
Fellows, they might have a decent
shot at some sort of success. But
then again, who cares? Coming soon
to a cut-out bin near you.
-Mike Molitor
FALSTAFF will be presented at the
Power Center today, tomorrow, and
Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2
g p.m. Tickets are $12 and $9, $5 for
students with i.d. at the League
Ticket Office.
These actors' strong performances make Joe Turner a poignant piece.
CHARITY
Continued from page 5
haloes as they help Charity through
her life, moving the plot along with
ethereal hands.
Sweet Charity has meaning for
those who care to find it. In fact,
thinking about Charity, it is wonder-
ful that a streetwise woman with her
history can retain her optimistic,
generous naivetd. Above and beyond
the meaning, though, Sweet Charity
is a sweet little romantic comedy, a
feel-good show.
SWEET CHARITY is playing at the
Mendelssohn Theatre Thursday
through Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets
are $5.50 in advance, available at
TicketMaster, and $6 at the door.
Quotes of the Day
"Hermits have no peer pressure." DAILY
--comedian Steven Wright
"My dad's been like a father to me." CLASSIFIEDS
-Dale Berra, son of Yankees catcher
and coach Yogi Berra
STUDY IN ISRAEL
Zoe Olefsky, Midwest Representative of
the HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF
JERUSALEM
will answer your questions on:
DATE: Thursday, November 15, 1990
TIME: 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
PLACE: Hillel, 1429 Hill St.
their flight from the South in hope
for better days. The enthusiastic,
zealous Jeremy quits his job when a
white man forces an exploitive ulti-
matum upon him. And Loomis
stumbles into the Holly house one
evening, overwhelmed by the stag-
gering trauma of his own enslave-
ment. He conveys to the others his
haunted vision of bones rising out of
an ocean - the spirits of kidnapped
Africans lost in the Slave Holocaust.
It is August Wilson's mystifying
depth in analyzing the collective
African American, both historical
and mythological, that makes Joe
Turner's Come and Gone an endur-
ing work. As the characters struggle
for redemption from the past, it
pulls the audience into an empathic
spiritual catharsis. The Players' pas-
sion in conveying this search is a
testament to the persevering power
of the human spirit as well as the
beauty of the African-American ex-
perience.
JOE TURNER plays in the True-
blood Theater Thurs.-Sat at 8 p.m.
and Sun. at 2 p.m. $5, students.
Every Thursday 6-9pm is
For individual appointments
or more information call:
Hillel, 769-8361
ly
i
Thurs No
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