Page 4-The Michigan Daily-Weekend etc. -January 30, 1992 Is World really that different? I think NOT! by Stephen Henderson The name of the show is A Different World, but it really isn't so different from where we come from. That's what comes to mind whenever I hear the funky theme song for thsuccessful Cosby Show spin-off, which airs Thursday nights at 8:30 on NBC. Even though the show is set at a historically Black college in the South - seemingly a far cry from Ann Arbor--the issues it tries to make sense of and the characters it involves aren't necessarily foreign to any college campus. I don't catch the program every week, but when I do, I can certainly relate to what's on the screen. It wasn't always that way, though. When the show first came on in 1987, I was hardly impressed. The show focused on Denise-Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and her friends in the dorm, whose greatest concerns were finding a date on the weekends and making sure their laundry was done. Moreover, Denise was flanked by a number of undeveloped charac- ters, including Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy), a stereotype of the spoiled Southern Belle, andDuane Wayne (Kadeem Hardison), a goofy engi- neering student whose sincere but clumsy infatuation with Denise made him all the more inept. Denise also had a white roommate, whose most notable trait was her self- mocking foolishness. Of course, the show benefited from Bill Cosby's humorous in- fluence, but that was about it. The plots were tired and the characters the little >lctUr'e other than Lisa Bonet's were fairly unimportant. To me, the show was no different than any other sitcom. But Bonet left the show in 1989, which forced the producers to change its content and fous. Since then, the previously stilted characters have become real, three-dimensional people with thoughts and ideas irrespec- tive of Denise Huxtable. They're people you can imagine hanging out with rather than people you'd read about in a dime-store novel. I can draw parallels from them that have real meaning for me. Duane Wayne is now much more level-headed and pragmatic, and Whitley Gilbert cares about more than nail polish and her father's money. Additionally, there are a handful of new characters who play an active role in the show. In fact, each episode revolves around someone different. More importantly, the show's episodes have taken on bolder, more socially conscious themes. Last week's show used a particularly innova- tive plot to expose college students' attitudes toward former prison inmates. And in the past year, the show has explored such issues as the AIDS epidemic, campus racial tensions and the rise in Afrocentric thinking among Black students. These are issues that college students all over the country deal with and talk about. And that's what keeps me watching the show. When I flick on NBC at 8:30 on Thursdays, what I get is a pretty good reflection of life as Isee it here in Ann Arbor, complete with a good sense of humor. And I suspect it's a fairly accurate barometer of what's happening on other campuses, too. The show's writers now seem to realize that there's more to college life than dirty clothes and lonely Saturday nights; awareness and enlighten- net also figure in. And the show successfully portrays that with a mix of humor and realism you rarely get from other programs. Win some loot,part II It's been two weeks and the re- "v; sponse to the trivia contest was so great that we received a new ship- r " ment of prizes. So, we've got tons o' T-shirts and posters from Steve Martin's latest film, G r a n d Canyon. Now it's your big chance to win one, while supplies last! Just send a letter or postcard to Week- end etc. trivia, 420 Maynard, A2 48104. Write your name, phone number, and what you like most and least about Weekend etc. and why. Martin It's that simple. An entertaining Bag Ferndale stage plays with magic Soundgarden: We're young, beautiful, and rich. Now if only we were from Ann Arbor, instead of rainy old Seattle, life would be perfect. " Playing Ann Arbor ain't so easy anym ore by Scott Sterling r"Our favorite place to play is easily Ann Arbor, Michigan. Really cool town. " - Kurt Cobain, singer/guitarist for Nirvana "A live music scene in Ann Arbor? I didn't know there was one left." - Matt O'Brian, bassist for local band Big Chief These two quotations accurately show how Ann Arbor's music scene is perceived. It seems that the further away one gets from the city, the better it appears. Bands from other cities, like North Carolina's SuperChunk and Seattle's Soundgarden, have all expressed a reverence for the Ann Arbor scene. Ann Arbor's legacy is legendary. The Stooges, the MC5, the Ashton Brothers, Destroy All Monsters ... this city has more cool rock music his- tory than any other place in the world. Where else can you show people the spot that Iggy Pop used to take cigarette breaks when he worked at Dis- count Records? Or the place that G.G. Allin first got arrested for throwing feces and assaulting his audience? 'I think it's the continued Birmingham-ization of Ann Arbor ... Anything that's loud and rebellious is frowned upon by city council and various other organizations here in Ann Arbor. They make it really hard for a bar to get a liquor license and have live bands.' -Matt O'Brian bass player, Big Chief Not only did Ann Arbor have more than its share of amazing musicians, the city once overflowed with great concert venues. The Second Chance, Joe's Star Lounge, the Michigan Union, even East Quad's Half Way Inn once hosted legendary shows. R.E.M., Fugazi, and the English Beat are just a few of the many bands that used to play those clubs. But over the years, the club scene in Ann Arbor has dwindled down to. almost nothing. There is hardly any place left to see live acts. "Even three years ago, when there was the U-Club and Club Heidelberg, See CLUBS, Page 5 by Josh Mitnick Question: What's the use of trek- king all the way to Detroit to hear some music or see a play when there's so much happening on the Ann Arbor scene? Answer: You neverknow what's going to come out of the Magic Bag. Stumbling over the Magic Bag Theater and Cafe will be hard the first time for most students - the average entertainment seeker is not usually disposed toward hopping into a car on a Friday or Saturday night and driving 45 minutes to Ferndale when there are some good shows only blocks away. Butonce you getapeekatwhat's going on inside the Magic Bag, you' llprobably find yourself check- ing the club's list of alternative mu- sic, theater and film events to plan the next visit. Since opening last May, the Magic Bag has filled a long-time vaccum of alternative entertainment in the Detroit area and booked big names who didn't get out to Ann Arbor, like the Max Roach Quartet. Making excuses for missing shows like this is pretty hard because the club's central location - a mile down on Woodward Ave. from 696 - makes it quite accessible if you have the time and transportation. "The Magic Bag is filling a void that's been left by a lot of different things, not the least of which has been the lack of Eclipse Jazz programming, the lack of any major name coming into any club. or concert hall jazz-" wise in this area," said WEMU announcer Michael Nastis. A good example of this is the Magic Bag's booking of the David Murray Octet. Whether it's listening to a big name jazz ensemble, taking in a rock'n' roll film or enjoying a play, the Magic Bag provides an original and intimate setting. The actual room is the size of a small movie theaterand live shows are performed on a stage thrust. The room's flavor and acoustics differ depending on the seat loca- tion. The front third of the room's 275 seats are arranged cabaret-style around tables, creating the atmo- sphere of a larger than average club. But if you move farther back in the room, the theater seats give the feel- ing of a tiny concert hall or play- house. Shows featuring electric instru- ments might sound different in the front, where seats are significantly below the speakers and stage, com- pared to the back, where you sit on an even plane with both. Steve Milgrim, owner and presi- dent of the Magic Bag, explains that the idea for the club was the result of a personal fantasy, nurtured for more than 15 years, of wanting to create an alternative, intimate the- ater for the arts. "I've always felt that Detroit needed an alte- ,-. -, arts theater, a small theater for a - .,enter- tainment," Milgrimn "Metro- politan Detroit neeucu go.thing like this." Just what is alternative? "No Rod Stewart, no Madonna, no For- eigner." This means theatrical perfor- mances like poetry readings, astage rendition of the ever-so-culty Rocky Horror Picture Show and produc- tions by local goups such as Detroit Playwright's Initiative and Theater Grottesco, Detroit's only intema- tional touring theater troupe. In April, the Bag will begin a classical chamber music series on Sunday mornings. On the cinema side, the Magic Bag's lineup is very similar to the Michigan Theater. Milgrim is no novice as a pro- moter. As owner of Sam's Jams new and used record shop, he has been promoting free concerts in Detroit for many years. "He's obviously established his committment to presenting music,". said Nastis. "The Magic bag ex- tends that idea into forms of theater and movie showings." Milgrim said he had been eye- 0i June, 1989. ing the venue for a number of years, which had been occu- pied by a bar featuring bottomless dancers a la Ypsilanti's Deja Vu. Despite protests from the surrounding com- munity, the bar sur- vived until an Oakland circuit court judge forced it to close in 0 Ultimately, trash gave birth to art. Milgrim purchased the site a year later, beginning rennovations in October 1990. The walls of the new room feature a rotating art dis- play by local artists. Gourmet car- bonated fruit refreshments in the outer lobby round out the artsy at- mosphere of the Bag. After eight months of operation, Milgrim says the initial response by the surrounding community has been positive, adding that a high percentage of shows have sold out. Most performances are co-spon- sored with local radio stations like WDET, WLLZ and WEMU. As good as it is now, the Magic Bag is still far from its potential - Milgrim talks of expanding pro- gramming to include non-main- stream rock shows. Nastis said, "I would assume that down the road, in a very similar vein to Sam's, (Milgrim) -will present all types of contemporary music, not just jazz. 0 t .4W ff ~IAZZ CAFE WINTER JAZZ SERIES North Campus Commons Dining Room 8pm-9:30pm DATES: Jan. 23 Ir Featuring jazz Ensembles . 1)30 from the jazz Studies Feb. 6 Program, Ed Sarath, director 13 r STARBOUND * Resumes * Term Papers * Theses " Applications * Letters Envelopes * Transcription * Laser printed Fast service. ,* AIUE WJ I L-JKUI un IhtL