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The Michigan Daily-Weekend etc. December 3, 1992 Page 1

Welcome to
the jungle
T hey're everywhere. The big,
Black football player with the
petite, blonde White woman eating
buffalo wings at Mr. Spot's. The
dreadlocked Black flygirl making
time with the Phillie Blunt T-
shirted, goateed White guy down-
stairs at the Nectarine on Monday
nights. Polo-clad brothers and sis-
ters kick it on South U. with the
Greeks like nobody's business.
Even trash TV like "Love Connec-
tion" is down with miscegenation.
"One of the things we like the show
to do is reflect society as it actually
is," sayeth Eric Lieber (the show's
producer) in a recent TV Guide.
Yup. Despite the stoopid crazy
racial/religious tensions choking

the life out of America, "The Fe-
ver" still runs rampant. And our
basin of liberalism, Ann Arbor, is
no exception.
I know, I'm treading on danger-
ous territory here. Interracial rela-
tionships are another of those ta-
boo topics, much like religion and
politics, that are sure to wreak havoc
on any cocktail party conversation.
But now, probably more than ever,
it's a reality that needs to be talked
about somewhere other than on
Oprah.
What I find so interesting about
this wave of miscegenation mania
is the media's seemingly gung-ho
advocation of it. Whitney Houston
and Kevin Costner nuzzle lovingly
throughout their new flick, "The
Bodyguard." Cross Colors T-shirts
emblazened with the feel-good slo-
gan "Love Sees No Color" sell like
Michigan basketball tickets at half
price. Even "Black" publications
likeEbony magazine constantly run
apologetic articles on interracial
relationships so we can enjoy
Caucasion kisses guilt free.
It's almost as if there is some
sort of master plan to divide Black
men and Black women. The
stereotype's of "There's no straight,
available African men out there"
and "All my sisters want is a man
with long money and a Benz" are
emphasized to death.
So what I want to do is use this
space to counter all of this internal
tension between African-American
men and women with a little posi-
tivity. Let's take a moment to sing
the praises of our Asiatic queens.
Sisters, despite what the media
(or whoever else) wants you to be-
lieve, we love, honor, and respect
you. Your beauty, your strength,
your steadfastness in a society that
so often misrepresents and mis-
treats you.
From Queen Latifah to Naomi
Campbell, to the gorgeous sister
with the short dreads at the cafe, to
the dreamy beauty with the long
braids in the Union everyday, this
one's for you. With much love and
respect. Peace out.
Oh, did it sound like I was con-
demning interracial dating part? Au
contraire, mon frere. I will say that
people that do it to make some kind
of social or fashion statement are
wack. Wise up, you ain't fooling
anybody anyway. Same goes for
African-Americans that do it at the
expense of our rapidly fading cul-
tural identity. Toss 'em in the trunk
like Ice Cube. If it's a mutual, genu-
ine thing that' snot rooted in some-

Librettist Arnold Weinstein, composer William Bolcom and director Robert Altman , the creators of "McTeague."

A

'Greed' drives 'U' prof William Bolcom to an operatic hit

E'

b y

M i c h e

li e

W

e g e r

r. Bolcom's opera was
fulloffinely-rendered
musical numbers,
given exemplary per
formances by the cast
and orchestra. " - Edward Rothstein, New
York Times
"In every important respect ... 'McTeague'
is a brilliantly crafted entertainment. " -
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
"It boasted the obvious ingredients of an
instant no-nonsense all-American hit." *
Leonard Bernheimer, Los Angeles Times
"There are three things to remember about
reviews: one of them is that no one reads
them as carefully as you (the critic) do;
second, the next day, everybody's forgotten
except you ... and the third thing is, if it's a
long review, whether it's positive or nega-
tive, most people see the size of the thing,
and they're impressed by that. " - William
Bolcom, University professor and com-
poser of "McTeague "
If the name William Bolcom only calls
to mind half of the cabaret team Bolcom and
Morris, you might be under the impression
that he is simply the husband and accompa-
nist of chanteuse Joan Morris, that he is a
sort of male LindaMcCartney. You couldn't
be more wrong. Born in Seattle in 1938,
Bolcom began composing as a very young
child, and at the tender age of eleven, en-
tered the University of Washington as a
private student to study composition with
John Verrall and piano with Berthe Poncy
Jacobson. From there, his bio reads like a
shopping list of awards and honors: from
BMI, theGuggenheim and Rockefeller foun-
dations, the Michigan Council for the Arts,
the National Endowment for the Arts, the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, and
most notably, the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for his
"12 New Etudes for Piano."
He came to Ann Arbor in 1973 to teach
his craft at the University, and was granted
full professorship a decade later. For the last

full-scale opera. "McTeague," which ran
for three weeks last month, was commis-
sioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the
company's first commission since 1976.
The story of this production begins with
the search fora story to set to music. Friends
and Lyric Opera people threw out ideas, but
it was ultimately novelist Andrew Greeley
who suggested to Lyric general director
Ardis Krainik that Bolcom take a look at the
1899 Frank Norris novel, "McTeague." Set
in San Francisco and Death Valley, it deals
with a man trying to shed his obsession with
gold, but whose friends and family are in-
evitably drawn into the same madness, with
tragic results. "Then I remembered the si-
lent, movie 'Greed,' which I had played for
when I was at Stanford," recalled Bolcom,
"and that's how it all came together." He
went on to explain why he was drawn to this
particular story: "I loved the tragic aspect of
it ... there was an emotional current that
struck me as very real. It just moved me."
The composer knew right away who he
wanted tojoin him on the project. Librettist
Arnold Weinstein has collaborated with
Bolcom for over 30 years, writing lyrics for
most of his cabaret songs, as well as stage
pieces like "Casino Paradise" and "Dyna-
mite Tonite," which Bolcom calls "operas
for actors." Altman, on the other hand,
Bolcom knew only from his film and stage
productions; by divine coincidence, Altman
had come to the School of Music in 1983 to
stage a production of Stravinsky's "The
Rake's Progress," which was the acclaimed
director's only foray into opera.
"I wanted to use Altman because I had
seen what he had done at U-M and I thought
it was wonderful," said Bolcom. He has
been most impressed by the way Altman
deals with performers. "I think what he does
is, he creates a climate where (the singers)
can expand. A lot of what came out on the
stage came from the singers themselves,
and he allows and encourages and finds a
way to help them shape it. And that means
it's their contribution and it's real, and so
what they do and what they sing is all of a
piece, rather than, 'you go over here and you
(In thie anti n t that.' which is not the

Altman also collaborated on the book,
working out the scenario, while Weinstein
scripted the lines. "Bob put it wonderfully;
he said, 'I saw the light at the end of the
tunnel, and Arnold did the digging,"' said
Bolcom of the process of fleshing out the
libretto. "All the basic moves in the novel
are in the opera; but we pushed together
certain characters, we expanded Maria
Macapa ...we really wanted to make it a
tight, simple thing. Altman kept saying,
'This is a fable, this is a fairy story,' and you
know how economical a good Grimm's
fairy tale is. It was more interesting to us to
do that, than just to depict the novel. We
were interested in the universal story."
Inspiration for the orchestral interludes
and sequences came first, butBolcom started

setting the text as soon as the first act of the
libretto was finished. When it came to fit-
ting musical ideas to the characters' words,
he took, "the greatest of care - not only in
the sense of trying to make sure it was the
appropriate kind of musical language, but
also so that you could understand it ... that
was a challenge. Nobody is going to put up
with not understanding the words in a great
pop song; they will be impatient about that.
They'll put up with it in what they think is
art because everybody is supposed to be on
their best behavior and they're sitting there
holding their hands. But I think understand-
ability is very important, so I went to terrific
lengths to have it happen." He also found
that the personae themselves guided his
See BOLCOM, Page 5

Chalk up another rave for Mc Teague'

Opera is about two things: sex and
death. Or so one of my favorite
professors used to say.
"McTeague," William Bolcom's debut as a
composer of "legitimate" opera, is no ex-
ception, at least on the surface. But the
cardinal sin which really drives this show is
greed.
Briefly put, the Weinstein-Altman plot
begins with four relatively normal principal
characters and follows their inevitable down-
fall as each succumbs to his or her obsession
with gold. Throughout the opera, the lust for
money is metaphorically played out as just
plain lust, with righteously disturbing re-
sults.
Near the opera's end, we see a destitute
Trina (Catherine Malfitano), now separated
from her husband, McTeague (Ben
Heppner), singing lovingly to the "little
golden babies" which she has won in the
lottery, but which she refuses to spend.
"This, this is love!" she sings, as she spreads
the coins over the bed and caresses herself
with them.
Earlier in the same act, a more graphic
features Maria (Emily Golden), the Mexi-
can maid who sold Trina the lottery ticket,
and Schouler (Timothy Nolen). Trina's

while simulating intercourse with Nolen
against a prop wall. It's clear though, that
the seducer in this scene is gold, and the
utter lack of passion between Schouler and
Maria makes their act all the more pathetic.
Some might feel this scene is entirely
See McTEACUE, Page 5




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