Page 8-The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 4, 1991
Producer/legend
Papp dies at 70
by Jenie Dahimann
Joseph Papp, producer of Ameri-
can theater for 25 years, died
Halloween day in his Greenwich
Village home in New York City.
He was 70.
Papp had been battling pros-
tate cancer for some time. In
August his failing health forced
him to turn over the artistic
reigns of his theatre, the Public, to
an innovative director Joanne
Akalaitis.,
A Chorus Line achieved huge
success, becoming the longest run-
ning show on Broadway, under
Papp's management. Papp used the
profits he made from the show's
success to fund non-profit produc-
tions at the New York Public
Theatre. He established the Public
in 1967 when he convinced the
New York City administration to
convert the old Astor Library,
instead of demolishing it, into a
six auditorium complex devoted
to presenting dramas by such
famed authors as Sam Shepard,
David Mamet, Vaclav Havel and
John Guare.
Other successes Papp enjoyed
were the 1967 musical Hair and
Tony award winning The Pirates
of Penzance and The Mystery of
Edwin Drood.
Papp not only produced, he
also directed and was known for
his abilities as a cabaret per-
former. He was a remarkable mar-
keting manager and public rela-
tions expert. A political animal,
Papp was known as a strong
willed motivator, constantly cru-
sading to further plays and play-
wrights at the Public. Last year,
when the National Endowment
imposed restrictions on the con-
tent of his productions, Papp re-
fused the grant money.
The Public was not the only
forum Papp nurtured. He also
founded the New York Shake-
speare festival. When the festival
was first starting, it toured
around the city in a flat-bed truck.
One day, when the truck broke
down in the middle of Central
Park, Papp turned what could have
been a disaster into the ingenious
tradition of Shakespeare in the
Park.
A permanent outdoor struc-
ture was later constructed that
now holds free annual Shakespea-
rean productions. Throughout the
years numerous actors have ap-
peared in the outdoor arena, in-
cluding Kevin Kline, Michelle
Pfeiffer, William Hurt and James
Earl Jones.
BALLET
Continued from page 5
had was provided by Cesar Urrieta
as the Dream King as he danced a pas
de deux with the Dreamer (Powell)
that described her demon-possessed
dreams.
Ending with a Japanese rendition
of Beauty and the Beast, Ballet
Michigan demonstrated its other
talent of storytelling. The dancers
accomplished this by painting a
beautiful tableau of the classic
story of Beauty (Leticia Guerrero)
and the Beast (Ted Sothern), who
frightens Beauty and eventually
wins her heart.
Told through a dance Narrator
(Julie Fauth), the story daintily
unwound through a melodic harp
and flute duet (Kirsten Allvin and
Laura Larson). Combined with
richly-colored kimono-inspired cos-
tumes and karate-like movements,
the troupe conveyed a austere
setting for the love of the Beast and
Beauty. Quick, jabbing hand gestures
were used to symbolize the
characters' conversations, enhanced
by the chiffon and tassels which
hung from the female dancers' arms.
Although the tale was familiar to
most, the interpretation was unique
and imaginative, and made watching
the story far from a dull bedtime
reading.
-Diane Frieden
Silence! The Court is in Session
The Performance Network
November 1, 1991
"Only the accused is real,"
summed up failed scientist Ponshke
(Rahil Badukwala) in playwright
Vijay Tendulkar's Silence! The
Court is in Session, at the Perfor-
mance Network. The play depicted
an acting troupe's mock-trial, which
became extremely serious. In the
end, the only thing that mattered
was the dirt, the smut and the
gossip. Truth was lost in the wake
of sensationalism. The play was a
comic demonstration of mob psy-
chology and the human tendency to
compensate for one's own idiosyn-
crasies by magnifying those of oth-
ers. Silence! pulled contradictions
and pretensions into the open where
they exploded with comic effect.
The funniest characters in this
work were those committed to their
false conceit. Kirk Haas portrayed
the character Karnik, a failed actor
turned star witness. Haas fully in-
vested himself in portraying a
proud, authoritative witness during
the mock trial, in an abrupt contrast
to the character's reputation as a bad
actor. Karnik was a character who
thought he could do anything. He
eagerly volunteered for every role,
repeating, "I will be the accused, I
will be the accused!" with a hilari-
ous childlike energy. He assumed a
stiff, proud Napoleonic pose after
every assertion- arm on stomach
and all. He puffed out his chest like
a peacock comically, and cluelessly
told the other characters what to do.
Much like Haas, Arwulf Ar-
wulf portrayed his character
Sukhatme's assumed identity with
relish. Acting as both the
prosecutor and the defense attorney,
his inflated accusations were
comical because the audience knew
that he had few clients and that the
ones he did have ended up in jail.
His love of himself was hilari-
ously obvious. Ridiculous lines
were punctuated by his thrilled fa-
cial expressions, as if he was lit up
Arwulf Arwulf
portrayed his cha-
racter's assumed
identity with relish. At
times he leapt off his
chair to make accu-
sations. He smirked
openly - giving in to
diabolical laughter
with the love of his own story-
telling. When he put on a black
judge's robe, Arwulf commits even
more to his character's sense of false
authority. At times he leapt off his
chair to make accusations. He
smirked openly - giving in to dia-
bolical laughter.
On the other hand, less of a
commitment to a role resulted in
flatness. Rahil Bandukwala, in his
portrayal of Ponshke, lacked a clear
objective and an enthusiasm for his
character. The material needed for
character development was in the
script, but he did not commit him-
self as fully as the other actors.
ginning were delivered with feeling
and laughter that was convincing
and engaging. Later, when she stated
her case, (albeit, to unhnaring ears)
she was no longer a naive little girl,
but an experienced woman dragged
through the mud. Her impassioned
plea rings home, convincingly refut-
ing the affectation of the others.
In compliment to director Peter
Knox's staging, a blue spotlight,
and the "freezing" of the other
characters during Benare's last
speech added an eerie affirmation to
her indictment. The stage appeared
cold and ominous, an excellent back-
ing for her poignant speech.
Silence! offered its audience a
funny and at times disturbing view
of sensationalism in today's world.
It was no duty to be a part of this
court's jury.
Silence! The Court is in Session!
can be seen at the Performance Net-
work through November 10, 8 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday and 6:30
p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $9, $7
students/senior. Call 663-0681 for
more info.
-Mike Kolody
The Smithereens
Power Center
October 31, 1991
At first I was skeptical about a
Smithereens concert at Hill
Auditorium. Sure, the band is great,
but without a well-known opener
or any really big hits, could it pack
need a cigarette as a prop for the
next tune." The crowd cheered, real-
izing what would be next, and a
young man handed the balding, goa-
teed frontman his pack. Just before
DiNizio pulled out a cigarette, he
looked at the box and screamed, *
Pat DiNizio said, 'I
need a cigarette as a
prop for the next
tune.' The crowd
cheered, realizing
what would be next,
and a young man
handed the balding,
goateed frontman his
pack. Just before
DiNizio pulled out a
cigarette, he looked
at the box and
screamed, 'Newport?
You've got to be kid-
ding'
"Newport? You've got to be kid-
ding!"
Aside from the jokes at the fans'
expense, the Smithereens did put on
a good show. The guitars were
highly distorted through their
Marshall stacks, but the sound sys-
tem gave each instrument its due re-
spect. A lot of the tunes, especially
"Time and Time Again," were
played at a slower tempo than on
recordings. The vocals were clear,
Papp
During his lifetime, Papp pro-
duced and or directed about 400
shows (more than 100 were
Shakespeare plays.) His produc-
tions won 3 Pulitzers, 6 New
York Critics Circle Awards and
28 Tony's.
A funeral for friends and fam-
ily was held Friday in the Public
Theatre and Broadway dimmed
it's lights at 8 p.m.tilat evening in
tribute.
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
Majesty Crush takes the
melodiousness of Brit bands such as
Ride and My Bloody Valentine two
steps further. They add a earthy
sensuality to their glorious, surreal
compositions. This Detroit band is
one to keep your eyes and ears out
for, and is a nice change from the
usual R.E.M./Replacements wanna-
p.m. Cover is $5.
-Scott Sterling
The Cult
Ceremony
Sire/Reprise
The atrocious fallout from
Oliver Stone's movie monstrosity,
The Doors, continues with the
Cult's new album Ceremony. Lead
vocalist and Jim Morrison wanna-be
Ian Astbury, with sidekick guitar-
The Smithereens are: (l-r) Pat DiNizio, Jim Babjak, Mike Mesaros and Dennis Diken. The guys still haven't
topped the pops. In fact, they can't even sell out the Power Center. Which is why they're so damn cool.
"No one let's me speak!" he
claimed exasperated, a line intended
to convey an eagerness to get in-
volved in the mud-slinging sensa-
tionalism. The line, however, came
out with a flat, distracted.
Sree Nallamothu effectively
portrayed the accused Benare, the
only 'true to life' character on the
stage. Her pirouettes around the
stage suggested a girlish love for
life that cut through the false pre-
tenses of the others. Nallamothu's
cute hopscotch anecdotes at the be-
the place? And unless you're Alice
Cooper, a Halloween gig on a col-
lege campus that's not played in a
bar just won't work.
The Smithereens didn't sell
enough tickets for Hill, and the
show was moved to the still under-
packed Power Center, but neither
the band nor the fans seemed to
mind. The members of the group are
not a photogenic crew, but they still
know how to entertain. Before
"Cigarette," from their first al-
bum, singer Pat DiNizio said, "I
but that was not necessary, since
most of audience knew all the
words anyway.
Unlike performers like Billy
Joel, the band fortunately realized
that the audience wanted to hear
more than the group's new tunes.
The members didn't looked too
bored when they played "Blood and
Roses," and they never will. That's
probably why they'll also never be
too successful; they're too cool to
ever alienate their old fans.
-Andrew J. Cahn
Billy Duffy (left) and Ian Astbury of The Cult look kind of pale and mopey,
but beautiful nevertheless. Do you think Jim would approve?
be's that crowd local stages.
Majesty Crush appears at Indus-
try on Tuesday at the benefit
entitled "Mural of Reality." Other
local bands will also perform, in-
cluding His Name is Alive,
Brothers from Another Planet, and
Gangster Fun. The show begins at 8
god Billy Duffy, have taken the
theme for their release from the
movie and their current home, L.A.,
by way of Great Britain.
Ceremony refers to Native
American ones in particular. The
Cult has taken the overwrought, and
therefore totally cheesy, images
that Stone put in his film, and ex-
panded on them for an entire record.
Astbury and Duffy seem to think
this image equals rebellion in the
ultimate rock 'n' roll sense of the
word.
The more the Cult pushes it, and
uses phrases like "super fat funky,"
"funky style music," "earth god
mother/ he dug brother," and "hip
young dudes," the more they upset
the wavering balance on which they
stride. This balance lies between
being the ultimate cheese rockers
and enigmatic innovators taking an
unrespected genre and improving it
in their own fashion.
Worse yet, Astbury and Duffy
must be taking bad advice from
mediocre L.A. hard rock and metal
bands like Motley Crue. The
psychedelia worship of their first
release, Love is here, but buried un-
der the mire of group shouted cho-
ruses and clich6d guitar riffs that
sound straight out of the How-to-
Be-a-Hard-Rock-Band-and-Get-Lots-
of-Girls-to-Like-You handbook
they give to every long-haired young
male that moves to L.A. (Led
Zeppelin were the contributing edi-
tors.) The clean crunch of Electric
also rears its head at points in the
album, but the focus on quality,
fresh sounding songs, which the
Cult began to lose on their last LP,
Sonic Temple, has faded to the point
of non-existence.
Songs like "Wild-Hearted Son"
and "Heart of Soul" take their cues
too blatantly from "Sweet Soul
Sister" on Sonic Temple. "Full
Tilt," with its charging chords,
tries to recapture Electric's bril-
liance, but could have been written
for Slaughter just as easily as for
the Cult.
But there's the rub. No other
band could perform these tunes, no
matter what the quality, with the
passion and intensity of Astbury
and Duffy. Astbury's lavish vocal
struts and chic-ow's and other
noises he interjects into every song
give the Cult a distinctive personal-
ity and appeal few other hard rock-
ers have ever been able to equal.
Whatever Duffy plays, his stance
and style match Astbury's poise to a
tee. Though Ceremony may sound
unfulfilling now, after hearing the
songs performed live, the luster
added by the Cult's fiery concert
experience will markedly improve a
listener's sense of this album.
-Annette Petruso
OVERKILL
Continued from page 5
"There are so many middle-of-
the-road type bands, uncommitted
one way or the other.... The record
companies just keep signing them
and forcing them down people's
throats... I think it really sucks.
It's killing the originality of the
music. But then, on the other hand,
with the influx of the kind of
funk-thrash-alternative approach
to things, I think it's really cool,
because you get this change
happening. So you get something
different. Even-tually, they'll
start forcing that down our
throats."
On Heavy Metal Musicians
Having No Brains: "It's a
preconceived kind of thing. It
kinda answers it's own question.
If somebody's gonna say that
about you, it sort of puts the shoe
on the other foot kind of a thing.
'What a dope this guy must be.'
Look in the mirror! (Ellsworth
turns and looks in the mirror and
repeats this out loud to himself.)
'What a dope this guy must be!'
"Blitz" doesn't change much
once the tape recorder goes off, or
even when he gets on stage. It's
honesty, progression, honesty,
energy, honesty, honesty, honesty,
and kick-your-butt-in metal.
VAGINITIS STUDIES
Studies of Candida (yeast) infections of the vagina are being
conducted by Barbara D. Reed, MD, MSPH and colleagues
at the U-M Briarwood Health Center and the U-M Family
Practice Center at Chelsea. These studies are designed to test
reasons that yeast infection recur in some women, and to test
new treatments for infections.
PROVIDED: Free Visits to the Office
Various Laboratory Tests for Vaginal and
.- . Ts' l A It
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