The Michigan Daily-Monday, April19, 1993-Page 11
Stood up by Stephen Baldwin
Kauffman Signs .
Janet Kauffman, an English pro-
fessor atEMU and author of the collec-
tions of short stories "Places in he
World a Woman Could Walk" and
"Obscene Gestures for Women," will
sign copies of her new novel "'The
Body in Four Parts." The signing will
take place Thursday from 4 to 6p.m.at
Shaman Drum. Call 662-7407.
Aspiring De Niros
Want to see your names inlights?
All you aspiring De Niros take note:
former Ann Arborite and University
grad Timothy Naylor is filming ahalf-
hour long movie here this summer for
his NYU Master's Thesis. No, Tim is
no amateur with a camcorder. He
teaches cinematography at New York
Film Academy and has worked as a
ematographer, shooting videos for
MTV, a documentary and short fea-
tires, including "Uncle Robert's Foot-
steps," which garnered raves at
Sundance. Tim's own films have
brought in an array of festival and film
school awards as well. With all these
sterling achievements, Tuncouldhave
chosen any glamorous location for his
new film, "Nice Haircut ... Dude."
ut, thankfully for Ann Arbor, Tim is
going with our own A-Squared, the
place ofhis youth and formative years.
"Nice Haircut" aspires to be a cross
between "Fast Tunes at Ridgemont
High" and "River's Edge" and will be
in production here this June. Tun is in
town this week seeking some of that
renowned local talent with which Ann
Arbor brims over, so if you have a
buming desire to be on film, or arejust
curious, stop by 1020 Frieze building
this 'Thesday, Wednesday and Thurs-
day from 7-9:30 pm and audition.
You've got nothing to lose but your
pride. Call 995-2371.
"Keeper" Documentary
Starting this Thursday is the highly-
acclaimed "Brother'sKeeper,"the lat-
estincredible documentary to be over-
looked at the Oscars (which puts it in
good company, including "Paris is
Burning," "Roger and Me," "Truth or
Dare" and "A Brief History of Tune."
The haunting film tells the story of the
Ward brothers: Delbert, Bill, Lyman
and Roscoe, illiterate bachelors who
live together on an isolated dairy farm
without modem conveniences like in-
door plumbing. Their secluded lives
end when Bill is found dead and his
brother Delbert isaccused ofsmother-
ing him with a pillow. The film studies
the brothers' lives and the reaction of
the community to the murder. The film
has won numerous awards including
theSundanceFilmFestivalDocumen-
tary Audience Award. (You may also'
haveseentheuniquetrailerfor the film'
featuring Spalding Gray, who was so
taken with the film that he could not
move from his seat, even though he
had to pee). The film plays from April
22-30 at the Michigan Theater. Call
668-8397.
by Alison J. Levy
THE SITUATION: An interview
with the littlest of the Fabulous Baldwin
Boys, Stephen, in conjunction with
Mario Van Peebles' latest directorial
effort, "Posse."
THE CATCH: Oh, he was sup-
posed to call anywhere between one
and five. The following is a re-creation
of the events that followed.
1:00 I arrived right on time and
spent a while answering phones and
making sure the tape recorder worked.
2:15 Foolishly drank a Diet Coke
and made bets with my colleagues that
I'd have to run to the rest room in the
middle of my interview.
3:00 Received a call from Pat
Reeves, "Steve's" hardworking and
charming agent with a Southern drawl.
He informed me that Steve wouldn'tbe
calling until between 2:30 and 3:30 on
his lunch break. Anyone familiar with
the time zones and basic arithmetic can
figure out that that's between 5:30 and
6:30 in Ann Arbor.
3:20Tookatrip toBorder'stodomy
monthly browsing.
3:45 Receivedafax from good ol' Pat
which contained Stephen's bio and a
message that suspiciously said, "If it
doesn't happen today, It'll happen to-
morrow forsure."What did hemean by,
"If it doesn't happen today"?
4:00 Sat around thinking of ques-
tions,butdecidedtothrow afewout: "Is
Billy's talent inversely proportional to
his looks?" and "Why do your brothers
date such skanks?"
4:15 Passed out from hunger pains
and interview anxiety.
4:25 Revived with smelling salts.
4:30 Trekked to Amer's. Ordered a
whole #44 and spent approximately half
an hour browsing in the retail section
until my sandwich was finished.
5:00 Scarfed the sandwich and
thought of questions. "Do people ever
tell you you look like James Voskuil?"
5:30 The magic hour. For the next
60 minutes I kept everyone away from
the phone with a big knife.
5:45 The phone rings. It's my friend
Tricia asking if I want to rent a movie.
6:00 An editor reminds me that Iam
naive in the ways of Hollywood and that
Baldwin will most likely call 45 min-
utes late.
6:45I call Pat Reeves who greets me
with his syrupy speak. (Hey, why is he
answering his own phone?) "Oh, he
didn't call you? I'll geton him and make
sure he calls you tomorrow. You'll be
there all day won't you?" (Sure, like I
have absolutely have nothing else to do
this time of year.)
7:00 Go to my friends to comfort
myself over a good movie, but instead
find myself crying in my beer at Rick's
and playing quarters with some fools
who have decided a good rule is to
smack me in the head anytime someone
misses.Then I go and sleep atmy friend's
because I left my keys at the Daily.
THE NEXT DAY
1:00 Showerless, Ireturn to theDaily
and begin the waiting game all-over
again.
1:30 Talk to music writerAndy Cahn
who offersthis thought-provoking ques-
tion for Stephen. "How much would
you pay your brother Alec to sleep with
Kim Basinger and then cut her up and
stuff her in a box?"
2:00 Call Pat Reeves who assures
me that Steve would've called, but their
lunch break was too late, so he'll prob-
ably call between 5:30 and 6:30, but if
not, he'll let me know. Probably?
2:15 Check Premiere's latest issue
containing "The Most Powerful 100
People in Hollywood." Pat Reeves'
name is no where to be found. Hmm?
2:30 Go home and take a shower.
4:00 Back attheDaily and mentally
re-arranging my sock drawer.
5:00 Once again I start protecting
the phone.
5:30-6:30 Spend the hour willing
the phone to ring and biting my nails. I
even had to move on to my toes.
6:45: Call Pat Reeves and get his
machine. In my most professional man-
ner I let him know I am a bit annoyed
and that he wasn't very professional,
especially because they solicited us and
at least they could call and let me know
and thatI had been waiting fortwodays.
7:15 Pat Reeves calls back:
HIM: Hi Alison, how're you?
Me: Fine. (Pissed.)
HIM: Great. Letmejust tell you that
we are not unprofessional at all. It's
been just crazy here.
Me: I just think ...
HIM: There was an accident on the
set and Steve pulled a muscle in his
neck. They had to take him to the hospi-
tal to get heat put on it. (Even my
Mom,when I toldher aboutit, said, "Oh
poor baby")
Me. I think someone could have
called and told me what was going on.
HIM: I just found out about it my-
self. Don't worry about it though. I'm
sure he'll be okay. (Oh good, because I
was about to run to Normandie's and
send a huge bouquet.) The studio's
worried about finishing the production
though. But, you'll be there tomorrow
won't you?
Me: No, no I won't.
HIM: Well then DARLIN' I don't
know what to tell you.
Me: Okay fine.("sugar-sweetie-
cutie-pie") Bye.
Gee, do you think he would call
Andrew Sarris "darlin"'? It would be
quiteeasytotake this outonMr.Baldwin
himself, which I did for quite a while.
But then I realized that the sole blames
lies with his incompetant agent. The
role of the agents as stars in Hollywood,;
is one of the bigest crimes of the post-
studio society in which we live.
Baldwin
I -
'Ophelia': 'Hamlet' with a misconceived twist
by Kimberly Gaines
Last weekend's Basement Arts pro-
duction of "Ophelia" was an interest-
ing, ifnotintensely entertaining experi-
ence. Directed and revised by Jenie L.
Ophelia
Basement Arts
April 15, 1993
Dahlmann, "Ophelia" was William
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" with a twist.
The show began with the appear-
ance of a white-clad, angelic "Feelya"
(the program gave slightly different
gamesthan the-ones we all know so
well), played by Rebecca Winston. She
informedus thatthis story wouldbetold
from her perspective, and her opening
monologue let us know that this play
would be from an ultimately feminist
view. She told us of the horrors of living
in the shadows of men, her father and
Hamlet alike, and how she had finally
found what she had always searched
for:purity,andmoreimportantly, sister-
iood.
She then announced her play would
begin, and theothercharactersappeared
one-by-one on the stage, all dressed
completely in black. The show was
brightened with the opening perfor-
mance of Ophelia's brother (Nick D.F.
Abruzzo), who made you wish you had
a brother as sweet as he was. After
Abruzzo's scene, however, the show
gradually turned for the worse.
Although the actors were all con-
vincing and professional, the revised
script didnotallow the actors' talents to
come through. With theexception of the
subtle amusement of Ophelia's father
(Gavin Barbour), the lines were either
over-dramatic orjust did not fit into this
well-known Shakespearean master-
piece.
Hamlet (Steven O'Berski) is an odd
combination of femininity and sexual-
ity. Whatever his intention, his letter-
writing scene came across as cute -
that's really the only word for it. The
performance was also sparked with the
occasional entertaining scene like the
arm-wrestling match between Hamlet
and Ophelia which was accompanied
by their feigned orgasms. Although at
first you felt surprised, confused and
kindofoffended,youhadtolaugh atthe
end when Ophelia's father burst in and
conversed with Ophelia about her past
interactions with Hamlet. Her replies
deviously covered any sexual feelings
she might have had.
I didhave to wonder, however, at the
direction of the scene when Hamlet
threw Ophelia violently to the ground,
and beat her over and over again. I was
amazed at how real it looked until
Ophelia got up and there were red marks
all over her arms and blood on her
elbow. Reality went a bit too far here. If
I had wanted to see some sado-masoch-
ism in action, I could have gone else-
where.
The show virtually ignored every
aspect of "Hamlet" except Ophelia and
Hamlet's relationship. The fact that
Hamlet's father was dead was men-
tioned only once and had no effect
whatsoever on the play. While this is
understandable since the play was from
Ophelia's perspective, it seems as if her
importance in the life of Hamlet and his
family was over-emphasized.
Numerous revisions of
Shakespeare's works have been writ-
ten. Some are beautiful and serve to
emphasize Shakespeare's universal
themes in amodem fashion. Others just
cannot match the acclaimed writer's
talent with their own ideas. Unfortu-
nately the latter seemed to be the case
with "Ophelia." It attempted to com-
bine the twisted and exciting story of
Hamlet with college feminism. The re-
sult was an over-dramatic, relatively
pointless story of one young woman.
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