's 'Cabin Boy' takes a *plunge overboard By SCOTT PLAGENHOEF Poor Chris Elliot. He developed into one of the most refreshing, consis- tently amusing features on the old "Late Night with David Letterman" show. The Fox network rewarded him with his own network program, "Get a Life." Chris as a 30-year-old paperboy living at home with his bathrobed parents. Regrettably, it was moved from time slot to time slot. A consistent audience could not be found and was canceled. * L It is lamented to this day. Cabin Boy Two years later, Elliot is given the Written and Directed by Adam opportunity to star in his first feature Resnick; with Chris Elliot and Brian film and it turns out to be a an utter Doyle-Murray piece of garbage. "Cabin Boy" is not entirely unamusing. Elliot provides all of the humor through his usual antics of effeminate, man-child stupidity, yet there is too much working against this film from the beginning. Elliot stars as a spoiled, rich schoolboy, who after graduation, instead of getting on a cruise ship which is to take him to his father's hotel in Hawaii, accidentally boards the delicately named fishing boat, "The Dirty Whore." End of plot. The four crew members of the "Whore" are each old, fat and drunk. End of character development. "The Dirty Whore" itself poses the large problem of being a very limited setting for the characters with little comic possibilities. End of humor. Horribly under-budgeted, the sets, whose quality rivals the latest claymation techniques, are unavoidably distracting. The effects, needed to incorporate all the best sea mythology into the plot, seem taken from "Jason & the Argo- nauts," "Clash of the Titans" or any other horrible "B" movie in which *Japanese men in rubber suits ravage small villages and docks. Elliot does bring along quite a few friends for cameos in the film. From the obvious, his real-life and "Get a Life" pa as his father in the film, to the curiously asinine, Ricki Lake as a statue on the front of the boat. As also may have been expected, David Letterman does make a cameo, one of the highlights of the film. Dave comes on early, doing virtually the same type of persona he does every weeknight. Another late-night personality, Andy Richter, makes an extended cameo as the boat's initial cabin boy. Richter also provides some humor, but for the most part Conan O'Brian's sidekick suffers through his best Chris Farley * imitation. Which brings us all back to Elliot. Elliot is the film and does his best to save it, but one has to wonder even if he is surrounded by an inventive cast of supporting characters can he have an extended film career? Probably not. Elliot has one character- himself. His talents are perfectly suited for network television and the opportunity to be himself every week. Sadly his humor was and is perfect for a 30-year-old paperboy who lives with his bathrobed parents. r *W 0 "Tommy" mixes the best of Broadway musicals with some youthful rock n' roll enthusiasm. Catch it at the Masonic Temple Theatre starting tonight. 'Tomy'rocks a new generation Alfonso X El Sablo Cantigas de Santa Maria Astrde In the late middle ages, Castilian King Alfonso X became compelled to direct the composition of over 400 poetical-musical cantigas in devotion to the Virgin Mary, enlisting theprow- ess of northern Spain's the greatest troubadours and song-smiths. While the subject matter is far from unusual in Medieval music, this recording of 13 cantigas from the original massive manuscripts infuses these bygone tunes with vitality and vigor. Melding sacred Medieval choral singing with secular troubadour in- strumentation, this recording com- bines the force of monophony with jaunty melodies and driving rhythms. *The Galician-Portuguese lyrics of these 13th-century compositions are sung by La Capella Reial de Catalunya, while Hesperion XX adeptly supply the instrumental sup- port. While the authors of these songs remain unknown, they voice Alfonso X's intense devotion to the Virgin Mary. "Muito faz grand'erro" relates Alfonso's miraculous deliverance from illness by having the Cantigas de Santa Maria placed upon him. The calm and vocal clarity of "Santa Maria, strela do dia" honestly conveys Alfonso's praise and idyllic courtly love for Santa Maria. Hesprion XX's mastering of con- templative ballads and rousing melo- dies gives these songs an umph that the vocalists alone could not muster. With instrumentation like this, these tunes may just last another 700 years. - Chris Wyrod H. P. Zlnker Staying Loose Energy Records No, this band is not an accordion group and it is not a new age guru's --supporting act (or if they are, their ' liner notes and sound are both deceiv- ing). What they are, however, is a complicated matter. At various times, they sound like everything from light Queensryche to '70's funk to an ill- conceived mix of They Might Be Gi- ants and Smashing Pumpkins. Not to say that Zinker retains any of the are spread too thin musically and end up having no force. Oh, well, the music is fairly soft and it does have a funky bass several times. Out of eigh- teen songs, though, this has to be expected. Perhaps the scattershot feel of the album comes from the fact that it is compiled from various tracks that were either never released or only available overseas. That doesn't make it any better, though. Oh, and Evan Dando sings on one track. - Ted Watts Doughboys Crush A&M Records "Crush" is a decent pop-rock re- lease from Canadian four-piece Doughboys but is nothing overwhelm- ingly spectacular. The musicianship is capable, particularly Paul Newman's drumming (not the actor turned spaghetti sauce chef), and the vocal harmonies are intriguing. How- ever, with a few exceptions, "Crush" falls flat. The Doughboys are at best medio- cre when they sound like late Re- placements and the Goo Goo Dolls ("Fix Me" and "Tearin' Away"). This isn't saying a whole lot, but then the band isn't delivering anything new. Their melodic ballads ("Neighbor- hood Villain" and "Treehouse") are boring and drag two minutes too long. There are three really good songs scattered throughout the record and, ironically, the first is entitled "Shitty Song." The fuzz guitar and distortion spice up a song that would have been just another boring ballad. "Every- thing" is a rocker with strong rhythm and chord progressions. "Summer Song" is a good song that brings the album to a close. However, unless you're into midwest rock bands, you won't find much to like about "Crush." - Matt Carlson By MELISSA ROSE BERNARDO With the invention of rock 'n' roll, the Broadway musical seemed to have lost its identity. The young crowd was jamming to rock, but the older folks were buying the tickets to "Hello, Dolly" and other commercially-ap- pealing musicals. So a couple of au- thors tried "rock musicals"; that is, rock music to appeal to younger audi- ences, watered down so as not to alienate the elders. "Hair," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Chess" were all successful in their own right, but they were billed as musical theater, written by musical theater people. Enter "Tommy," a rock musical actually written by rock musicians - more specifically, Pete Townshend of The Who. Beginning in 1969, "Tommy" has survived countless in- carnations - an album (performed by The Who), a concert, a classical recording, a ballet and a film - the latest being a smash-hit stage musi- cal. (It opened on Broadway April 22, 1993, and won Tony Awards for Score, Director of a musical, Chore- ography, Scenic Design and Lighting Design. It also broke day-after-open- ing box office records.) Tonight "Tommy" hits Detroit's Masonic Temple for a three-week stint, and promises to sweep audiences up in the fervor of rock'n' roll of days past. The first national touring com- pany stars former MTV "VJ" Steve Isaacs as Tommy. In a recent phone interview, Isaacs discussed the show and the role of Tommy. "It's the story of a boy trying to find himselfagainst odds that are from inside him," Isaacs summarized. At age four, Tommy witnesses his father murder his mother's lover, and the event drives him into a "deaf, dumb and blind" state. So Tommy goes through his whole life in this almost autistic state, enduring numerous other torments and traumas. He is molested by his uncle, abused by his cousin, his parents plan to give him away, but eventually he uncovers a hidden tal- ent - playing pinball. Tommy be- comes famous for being a "Pinball Wizard," and when he wakes from his deaf, dumb and blind state, discovers that he has become a superstar. Isaacs finds many challenges in the role of Tommy. "My personal challenge is to every night try some- thing a little bit new to give the inner life of the character more depth," he said. The structure of the show "Tommy" is also a challenge for him. "It's kind of this new hybrid of musi- cal theater show. It's not your average 'Phantom of the Opera' or 'Show- boat' kind of a vibe. It moves really, really quickly, so there are some physi- cal demands," he said. But the pace of the show also poses a challenge for the audience. In "Tommy" there are no pauses for scene changes, nor are there those ubiquitous spots for applause after huge numbers. Additionally, there is about a paragraph of actual spoken dialogue in the whole show. "The show is structured so that you just sit down and watch it and experience it. And because it moves so fast, it doesn't spell anything out for you. You have to really watch what's happening on stage, listen to, the lyrics and put the pieces together," Isaacs explained. "Tommy" is also in a peculiar position in musical theater history, as most critics and audiences admit it is caught between genres: So is it musi- cal theater or is it rock 'n' roll? "Now it's definitely both and they're both intertwined. Pete (Townshend) is gifted enough that he came up with something that could survive many different interpretations ... from being a record to being a ballet to being a movie. The play is much more taking 'Tommy' seriously as a dramatic piece, and it just hap- pens to be told with rock music in- stead of any other kind. "So this is pretty much the first 'rock musical,' because it was a rock musician who wrote it. I think 'Tommy' now has pretty much run the gamut of descriptions," Isaacs said. Isaacs, along with many theater critics and aficionados, would like to see more rock musicians writing mu- sicals. "I think the theater could use it right now," he stated, "Broadway is 100 years old this year, and this year on Broadway they've got so many revivals it's not funny. So I think if this can really inspire some rock mu- sicians to get pretentious and really push the envelope and find out what they're made of, that would be great." Perhaps it already has. Elton John has just completed a rock musical for Disney, and rumor has it that Billy Joel has one in the works. If rock musicians are inspired by the power of "Tommy," so too are the audiences. "('Tommy') really taps into your emotions in a real potent way. I think it's really great that this kind of piece inspires younger people to come check it out ... And then people like my parents age can come and kind of relive their past and see where 'Tommy' has come from since '69," Isaacs said. Audiences are waking up and smelling the vibrancy of "Tommy." Perhaps what we've been breathlessly awaiting has finally arrived - the rock artist who will liberate Broad- way from the second raters. Greet- ings, Savior. TOMMY will play at the Masonic Temple Theatre (500 Temple Avenue, Detroit) tonight through February 6. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $47.50. Call (313) 645-6666 or any TicketMaster for tickets. Call (313) 832-2232 for directions or more information. LS&A SCHOLARSHIP LS&A Scholarship application for Spring-Summer 1994 and Fall-Winter 994-1995 are now available In 1402 Mason Hall To qualify for scholarship consideration, a student must be an LS&A un ergraduate and have completed one full term in LS&A. Sopho- mores must have a U of M grade point of 3.7 or better and Juniors and Seniors must have a G A of at least 3.6. The awards are based on financial need and academic merit. MORTAR BOARD National Senior Honor Society Since 1918 Dedicated to scholarship, leadership & service. Interested Juniors can pick up information sheet at CIC desk, North Campus Information Desk or Room 4115 Michigan Union. Information sheet due January 28, 1994 ??Questions call Leah at 764-0078 -You Can Have More Fun... at the 18 '«rganizations which comnprise the 'superstructutre that is [.C We'r., the largest student org<,anization qt the Univ esits of Mlichigan1. The Unit crsity Acti ities C ontor has something for you..