RTS 'Quilt' By MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO Today there are over 24,000 NAMES Project Aids Memorial Qu less more being added as you readt some 200,000 dead of the AIDS e lions more infected. Unless you'v under a rock, you know that AIDS Quilt: A Musical Celebration Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre October 21, 1993 disease; why do we need a piece of us that? Because "Quilt, A Musica depicted what exists beyond the col - the intensely personal stories of tions that do not die with the victir "Quilt," a new musical by Unive Michael Stockler (music), Jim M Hubbard and John Schak, saw itsl miere this weekend. Driven by pov mances and some great set pieces, th conveyed the gut-wrenching feelin honesty that accompany the stories Thankfully, all of the performe the demands of the show's structu 25 stories were told, an actor oftenI three different roles. Just a few of 0 ally moving portrayals included: Z asks for 1 a mother denying her sc panels in the death of AIDS ("He died+ ilt, with count- all there is to it!"); Ein this. There are contracted the virus thr pidemic, mil- passed it unknowingly tc ve been living "In the Absence of Angel S is a horrible Ferris as a 12-year-old gi favorite uncle in the due Especially powerful Kessler as Mikey Mike, a (Danny Gurwin, Jeffre Sugarman) in "Hot Sex crotch-grabbing and pel but things settled down ballad. Kessler saw a p Peggy Porter, and told us ftheater to tell lying that he loved her,p I Celebration" Farm wine. In fact, all th d, hard stories but they were tough (hats f human emo- nel shirts), and they were ns. or wearing no condoms. ,rsity graduate Two through-line c iorgan, Merle (James Cooper) and Kar Midwest pre- vided a clear frame ofr werful perfor- Wes' loverhadjustdied,a his production for him, which began hi ig and searing NAMES Project. Karenv of the quilt. make a panel for a friend -rs lived up to Wes, Cooper was touchin re. Since over Philip (his lover), with b played two or life fairy put another da he exception- night") and biting cynic adda Bazzy as about a bunch of dead fa understanding on's homosexuality and rently Wes' lust for life and his vulnerability. of pneumonia and that's Mitzner provided great comic interludes as the Dilly as a mother who domestically inept Karen, with strong vocal work ough a transfusion and ("Karen's Song") and hilarious monologues. o her now dead son (her While the believability of the characters was s" was beautiful); Brooke essentially what made this show work, set pieces irl and John Halmi as her were integral to the visualization of the subject. t "I Believe in You." Patricia Maria Moore designed quilt panels (ac- was tough guy Marc tual size - three feet by six feet) to go along with accompanied by his Boyz every story, incorporating all the details the char- ey Shubart and Eddie acters revealed. At the beginning and the end of x." There was a lot of the show, all the panels were strung together and vic thrusting in the rap, lifted up as a background for the stage. It was an when it moved into a amazing feeling to see a panel and know the story panel memorializing his behind it- even more amazing to know that the all about his first time - stories in the show were real. plying her with Boone's While the show was a little long (three hours e Boyz did it with Peggy, without intermission), each story was relevant to turned backwards, flan- the show in its own way. They were not just stories 't gettin' no blood tests of gay men, but stories of heterosexual men and women, mothers and children. Stockler's music characters, Wes Cronk ran the gamut of musical theater styles, but can be en (Ronit Mitzner) pro- compared to that of a more down-to-earth Stephen reference for the show. Sondheim, with clever lyrics and catchy but not andhemade aquiltpanel cheesy tunes. is role working with the While the statistics are clearly lamentable, this was trying desperately to production gives us cause for celebration by show- , and so she met Wes. As ing us a new side of the disease. Here is this ng in his conversations to incredible work of art - a testament to the vic- its of sardonic wit ("The tims, a memory for the survivors and a promise for ay under my pillow last generations to come that we are coming together ism ("Who gives a shit to fight AIDS. It did not ask for our sympathy - ags?"), showing concur- it asked for our understanding. "Quilt" served as a testament to the victims of AIDS. 'mlt. Zappa's Universe Zappa's Universe Verve Records A full year before the Bobfest, there was the much smaller, much less star-studded, Frankfest. On No- vember 7-10, 1991, at the Ritz The- ater in New York City, Joel Thome conducted an orchestra and rock group through the music of Frank Zappa to celebrate Zappa's 50th birthday and his first 25 years in the music busi- ness. Though Frank selected the pro- gram along with Thome, he appears nowhere on "Zappa's Universe," the album commemorating the event. In his place is a combination rock band/ symphony orchestra of some 30+ members, including Zappa's son Dweezil and Steve Vai, the two of whom work themselves into a com- petitive frenzy on "Dirty Love." Celebrating Zappa's music in such a manner is an interesting concept, but ultimately it is not, well, Frank. ,@While guitarist/vocalist Mike Keneally does an eerily perfect job of reproducing Frank's vocals, the group's rendition of "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" lacks the original's spirit of prohibited exploration. Like- wise, "Hungry Freaks, Daddy," though still as relevant today as in 1966, cannot match the energy the Mothers of Invention pumped into it. Vai's solo rendition of "Sofa," in which he actually soundslike he cares about the piece rather than for show- ing off his technical skill, goes a long way towards redeeming this disc, as does the all-out noise-vocals-orches- tra chaos of "Hot Plate at the Green Hotel." While the music may reside in "Zappa's Universe," it just cannot claim residence in the genius' house. - Dirk Schulze Dead Can Dance into the Labyrinth 4 AD "Into the Labyrinth," the newest album from Dead Can Dance is very atmospheric - an intricate, personal record that requires the listener's full attentioh. It's similar in feel to Peter *Gabriel's "Passion," but it is far more original and authentic in its use of ethnic instruments and influences. Ironically, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have scored many films worldwide; this shows in their records, which are seamless, lulling and moody art-pieces. "Into the Labyrinth" is more fo- cused than the band's previous al- bums and comes close to even being accessible; "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove," for example, is one of the most "pop" songs that the group has recorded. Perry's voice sounds like a post-modern Sinatra set to Ara- bic music, replete with buzzing and droning sitars. "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" is a traditional ballad and Gerrard's voice has never sounded stronger or warmer on this stark track. "How Fortunate the Man With None" is music set to the words of Bertolt Brecht. It's a dark, cutting song about the problems virtues can cause, hence "how fortunate the man with none." While all the tracks with vocals are strong, the instrumentals such as "Yulunga" and "Toward the Within" are beautiful but a bit ponderous and self-indulgent. Despite this, most of these tracks succeed on a level be- yond the expectations one would have for intense, ethnic art-rock. All in all, the moody, melancholy works on this album make "Into the Labyrinth" an amazing journey. - Heather Phares Seam The Problem With Me Touch and Go Seam's second record, "The Prob- lem With Me," is essentially a pleas- ant, 9-song journey through thought- ful, if somewhat melancholy, guitar pop. The similarities with groups such as ebadoh, The Wedding Present and Pavement (amazingly apparent on songs such as "Sweet Pea" and "The Wild Cat,")spring to mind, but Seam has left the experimental quirks and rough edges of these groups aside. In many ways, this works very well. Without exception, every track on the album is a sure winner, in- stantly accessible and enjoyable, a trait usually not associated with the aforementioned groups' albums. On the downside, though, Seam come off as being afraid to take certain risks with their music, which is about the only thing that keeps "The Problem With Me" from being one of the best albums of the year. Most of the tracks here are near- perfect blends of emotion, subtleties and noise. On tracks such as"Rafael" and "Bunch," this blend works won- derfully, with each song complement- ing shy, heart-wrenching guitar mo- tives with explosive, discordant frus- tration. Unfortunately, this formula wears a bit thin on songs like "Stage See RECORDS, Page 8 'Girlie Show' shocks By CHAD A. SAFRAN It was part Broadway musical. It was part Las Vegas production. It was part upscale, strip club. But one thing is for sure it was all Madonna. Thursday, the one-time East Quad resident brought her "Girlie Show" world tour to the Palace of Auburn Hills and gave a concert with dazzling costumes that appeared to change after every song and athletic dancing that was awe-inspiring. The large curtain that draped the Madonna front of the stage rose to open the show, revealing nothing more than a Palace of Auburn Hills slender, pole that stretched from the October 21, 1993 stage to ceiling. However, it wouldn't be Madonna if she didn't do some- thing to sexually shock the public in the first few minutes of a performance. Sure enough, a female dancer, clad in only a tiny g-string slithered down the metal rod as if she were performing at Deja-Vu. Needless to say, it definitely drew attention, especially from the males in the audience. Madonna soon made her appearance, as she rose from the depths of the arena on a circular platform that throughout the show was used to wisk her away for costume changes as well as bringing her in for the various songs. Dressed in a pair of skimpy, leather shorts and halter top in addition to a mask that hid her eyes, the divine one launched into "Erotica." And it certainly was. The dancers were bumping and grinding as if the Lambada was still fashionable while Madonna used the equestrian bat she brought on stage to give some mock self-arousement. It was not a concert for those not comfort- able with public displays of affection, much less public displays of fake sexual intercourse. Unfortunately, just as the concert was gaining energy, Madonna decided to slow the tempo considerably with a version of "Rain" that one could have heard on any Top-40 radio station without paying $35. The fake rain that appeared to drizzle throughout the song took away from what little emotional impact the song had. Singing a majority of tunes from "Erotica," Madonna offered the diversity of a Kellogg's Variety-Pak, from her Phyllis Dyler wig (which covered Madonna hairstyle #2,351-a short, platinum blonde cut) in'70s garb during "Deeper and Deeper" to her Marlene Ditreich tribute while performing "Like a Virgin" with a German accent (pronouncing virgin as wergen). As the dancers bounded across the stage with endless energy from begin- ning to end, Madonna displayed the same. Before concluding the concert with "Everybody," the troupe put on a performance of "Holiday" that made the show worth the price of admission. Bellowing to her troops like a general, Madonna, dressed now in along, military style trench coat, performed the song as if she had when the song first came out nine years ago. It was energetic, lively, while enabling Madonna to display her enormous stage presence. Even though, she stands only 5' 41/2", she seemed to be a 20-foot giant of the music scene. She took many elements of show business and turned them into one shocking and entertaining show. ANASTASIA BANICKI/Daily Madonna put on a breathtaking performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Red th Daily. Recycle the Daily. SELF - ESTEEM M A T H E M A T I C S A D V O C A C Y z d