0 ARTS Purple Prince puts on powerful performance by Kim Yaged Where has Prince been the past five yeafs? "Yo' momma's house," he declared Thursday night before breaking into a luscious rendition of "The Morning Papers." He opened Act I, what he is calling the first half of the show, rather predictably with a hard-driving, fast-paced version of "My Name Is Prince," and in his typical coming at you live style jumped right into "Sexy M.F." This trend continued throughout the night as songs were presented and subtly evolved into the next track. However, where the Purple One usually providesjust a sampling of avariety of songs, this go-around he was more generous with the playing time per track. Act I consisted of the opera - a live performance of the songs off the latest Prince and the N.P.G. collaboration. The man, woman and horn symbol Prince and The New which is the appellation of the CD was Power Generation also the primary lighting fixture and the Fox Theatre most compelling component of arather April 1 and 2, 1993 sparsely filled stage. For the first hour of the show the performers acted out the story-line which consisted of the Princess, played by dancer Mayte Garcia, being kidnapped from where she sat in the audience and courted by Prince himself. During a grooving performance of "The Max," Prince and then Tony Mosley, Kirk Johnson and Damon Dickson, took turns taking Polaroids of one another and audience members and then throwing the photos to the crowd. Prince even graced an extremely receptive audience with a new song called "She's A Peach," which, like a lot of the songs off the new album, cannot be half as good recorded as it is live. 0 The performances in "Andromache" are first-rate, highlighting the fierce emotional struggles between the four main characters. 'Andromache'leaves 'em -lughing by Laura Alantas I left a Greek tragedy laughing. Not a good sign. My parting reaction to John Russell Brown's "Andromache" was not, however, a fair indication of the quality of the performance. Some of Brown's innovative theatrical devices worked very well and many of the actors provided strong individual per- Andromache Trueblood Theatre April 1, 1993 formances. Sadly, these positive aspects of the show were undermined by a few unfortunate directorial choices. The show opened with an introduction called "Andromache Project." After contextualizing the facts of the Trojan war, the cast emphasized the relevance of the themes of warandhate in the present day. From imitations of influential political leaders delivering speeches explaining their involvement in specific wars to the retellings of victims' experi- ences in many recent conflicts, "Andromache Project" successfully called into question the exist- ence of any and all wars. During "Andromache Project," Brown effectively experimented with the manner of representing war. His unique vision for this introduction included choreographed and mimed movement and brutal sound effects. The show then seamlessly flowed into Brown's retelling of Racine's "Andromache." The dignified translation of the17th-century tragedy was created by Brown himself. The finest aspect of the performance was watch- ing the internal struggles of the four main characters: Pyrrhus, Andromache, Orestes and Hermione. The line that divides love and hate can often blur beyond recognition, but these four characters distinctly de- fined the line many times. Christy Wright's Hermione effortlessly glided along this thin line. She ranged from manipulating others to being manipulated by her own passions, which demonstrated her complex and confused in- ner thoughts. Peter John Fletcher's Orestes found himself at the mercy of his love Hermione's calculat- ing actions. While Orestes could not control his reactions, it was clear that Fletcher carefully con- trolled his expression of them. Fletcher's final scene, however, reached such a fever pitch that Fletcher's pained words merely bounced off the audience. The level was too intense and too frantic for the audience to absorb. In a role that could also potentially suffer from excess of emotion, CeCe Grinwald's Andromache was able to keep the balance between over-the-top wailing and restrained action. Grinwald's greatest scenes, however, included those where she remi- nisced about her beloved husband. Scenes such as these revealed Andromache's noble strength and Grinwald's sincere talent. Opposite Grinwald's grieving Andromache was Chris Stapleton's determined Pyrrhus. Perhaps the most memorable performance, Pyrrhus found him- self in love with his enemy, despite himself. The continual conflict between his political allegiances and his intense love for Andromache allowed the greatest insight into his character. Stapleton remark- ably captured these two opposing states of mind in one scene. After pledging the end ofhis involvement with Andromache, Pyrrhus then saw Andromache enter. Within moments, he knelt at her feet and revealed his burning desire to marry her. Stapleton convincingly portrayed Pyrrhus' tortuous emotions. The force of much of the play, however, was lost due to distracting costumes and make-up. From Orestes' loin cloth to Pyrrhus' Dr. Seuss-inspired red and yellow striped cape to Andromache's too- tight-to-walk-in black wrap dress to Hermione's ankle-length tunic with waist high slits, the cos- tumes upstaged the actors' performances. Themost unfortunate decision came, however, at the very end of the show. At the tragic conclusion of "Andromache," the actors of the frame play returned with a 12 feet high "puppet of death." With a paper machd head and skeleton body, the puppet chased an unsuspecting group of modern day war protesters. After the killing of one protester, the others lashed out and stabbed the specter of death with their anti- war poster handles. As the massive puppet crashed to the floor, its skull went rolling into a far corner of the stage. This attempt to make a final, undeniable anti-war statement was so absurd that the drama that had preceded it was all but forgot. Instead of depict- ing war as a circus, the show had made a circus of itself. The highlight of the first act was the vicious performance of "7." Introduced by hypnotic Middle Eastern music, Mayte danced around the stage platform, sword on head, then the rest of the dancers kicked it in. The Fox, with its ornate architecture and design, was the perfect backdrop. As the music retracted to mark the conclusion of this portion of the performance, his highness made the declaration, "To whomever it may concern, you must come to your senses, there are no Kings on this earth, only Princes." All the showmanship of Act I were pushed aside when Prince re-emerged after the break. The second half of the show started with "Let's Go Crazy" and went through such rarities as "Irresistible Bitch," "She's Always In My Hair" and "When You Were Mine" without slowing down. Inviting audience members on stage and climbing onto a statue off stage to do his "fuck the taste out of you' mouth" impersonation, Prince put his reputation as a recluse to rest. During one ballad in Thursday night's show, when a touch of feedback screeched its way out, he responded with, "I didn't know my voice could go that high." A pearl cage descended on stage for a portion of "Insatiable" which progressed into a performance of "Scandalous" that made the song worthy of its appellation. Alternating between his gold mike with stand and his cock pistol microphone, Prince pleased the crowd with hits from nearly all his albums in the past ten years and then some. He even threw in a light teaser, turning on the house lights as if the show had ended. A less gullible crowd Friday night pretty much didn't fall for it, and aftermuch chanting, Prince, clothed in white threads with gold trim, strutted back out on stage declaring, "Prince has left the building." He proceeded to perform a montage of "Partyman," "Party Up" and "1999," concluding with a clip of "Baby I'm A Star" because, after all, he is. A Write for Summer Arts for information about writing for musw, fine arts, books, theater or film, call Megan or Nima at 763-0379 Best of AnnArbor Ballot '93 Please return by April9 to the Daily at 420 Maynard, 48109. Results will be printed in the April 15 Best of Ann Arbor issue of Weekend etc. Thanks for your time. Best Restaurants/Bars for... 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