. . . ............. . .... .. . ............ ... .... ... RTS The sound of Philadelphia By BRIAN WISE If asked to say the first thing that "comes to mind with the mention of 1984, typical answers may include, "Ronald Reagan," or "Tigers win the World Series," or "E.T.," or perhaps, "That novel by George Orwell." In terms of musical significance, this was the last time Ann Arbor got to hear one of the world's great orches- tras whose home lies in Philadelphia, :PA. That is, until tonight. As the resident orchestra for the annual May Festival for nearly half a century (from 1936 until 1984), the . (Philadelphia Orchestra has given Ann Arborites 266 opportunities to hear its rich, dynamic and robust sound. The annual visits largely coincided with the legendary career of Eugene Ormandy, who served as conductor from 1936 until 1980. Once leader- ship was turned over to the Italian conductor, Riccardo Muti, Ormandy continued to serve as Conductor Lau- 'reate until his death in 1985. After a 10-year absence, the orchestra will return as part of a week-long tour of the United States under its new music director, Wolfgang Sawallisch. Sawallisch's appointment to the Philadelphia began in 1993, upon the completion of a 21-year tenure as music director of the Bavarian State 'Exit to Ede Opera in Munich. He had previously made several highly acclaimed guest appearances with the orchestra, be- ginning in 1966. Famous for his strong interpretations of romantic repertoire, like his predecessors, he is also an advocate of contemporary music. This combined sense of renewal and re- spect for the grand tradition has earned him plenty of adulation, including being named "Conductor of the Year" by "Musical America." Tuesday night's performance at Hill Auditorium will feature Sawallisch's strong suit - three pieces in the German romantic tradi- tion. The program will include Schumann's Second Symphony, Brahms' Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and the Strauss Oboe Con- certo, featuring principal oboist Ri- chard Woodhams. Having held the position of prin- cipal oboe since 1977, Woodhams has an interesting, quasi-autobio- graphical connection to the Strauss Concerto. Richard Strauss was living in Germany at the end of World War II, still continuing to compose at a prolific rate at the age of 81. In late 1945, he was approached by a young American G.L. - a Philadelphian and oboist named John de Lancie. In short, he suggested to Strauss that he com- pose an oboe concerto, given the instrument's prominence throughout his work. Two days later, the piece began to take shape (although the original reply by the reclusive com- poser was simply "NO"). De Lancie eventually performed the Concerto in 1964 as principal obo- ist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. En- ter Richard Woodhams, who subse- quently was a student of de Lancie at the Curtis Institute of Music, and now 30 years later is performing and record- ing the work (for EMI) with Maestro Sawallisch and the Orchestra. Woodhams is clearly appreciative for this historical turn of events. "Of course," he said, "we're all grateful that he put the idea in Strauss' mind of writing the oboe concerto. While I certainly never studied that piece per se with him ... my playing in general was very much influenced by having studied with De Lancie." "It's a very classical work," he continued. "Of course everybody knows that Strauss greatly admired Mozart. You can hear certain orna- mental figures that certainly hearken back to the 18th century ... For Strauss enthusiasts, it's really a very interest- ing piece, (and) it has these abso- lutely gorgeous, rich, chromatic har- monies, so there's something there for The former May Festival resident orchestra from 1936 to 1984, The Philadelphia Orchestra, will return to Ann Arbor tonight for the first time in 10 years. It's so nice to have them back where they belong. everyone.", In addition to his orchestral work, Richard Woodhams is a member of the faculties of Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music, is independently active as a soloist and chamber musician and holds the Orchestra's first endowed chair which he received in 1984. While Woodhams admits such a schedule tends to be a stretch at times, he considers, "In a way I feel very lucky to pursue what is for me very worthwhile. It keeps me occupied and challenged, so that it is never just a job." THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA will perform tonight at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. Tickets range from $18 to $55, but $10 student rush tickets are available at the Union Ticket Office and the North Campus Commons. Call 764- 2538. 0 n' proves to be an entrance to hell By SHIRLEY LEE Even an Academy Award caliber -cast cannot rescue annoyingly kinky stories from plunging into depths of absolute deficiency. When filmmakers F IL M RE V IE W D Exit To Eden Directed by Garry Marshall; with Dana Delany and Rosie O'Donnell. delicately balance comedy, fantasy, and reality in a '90s love story. Yet, it ends up flopping clumsily in all of the above. "Exit To Eden" chronicles the dominatrix Mistress Lisa (Dana Delany) as the head of an island S&M exclusive resort dubbed "Club Eden." The participants sign up as submissives of Eden, each chosen by The Club for his or her curiosity and capacity for arousal. Club Eden offers an alternative lifestyle; every member, donning S&M gear, has daily rendezvous with his or her own sexual fantasy brought to life. In a fantasy vacation of a lifetime, all live in a presumably sheltered para- dise, free from all sexual diseases, to explore their oppressed sexuality in our less than perfect world. If you think the so-called storyline has already evolved into an irritating love story 'Wes Craven's Nightmare' has all the standards, all the gore By FRED RICE Mr. Krueger wants to kill you. He wants to kill everybody. The profession and chief pastime of slasher maniacs like Mr. Krueger has successfully sucked the life's out of the horror genre over the last couple of decades. So despite the promising title, very little is new about this "Nightmare." The standard story is all there: A gruesome-looking man with steel claws slices and dices several helpless teenagers in their sleep until one of them gets tough and destroys him until he revives himself for a sequel. . "1 .:..."} } ?4CQ Y 3 Paul Mercurio to Dana Delany: "I'll wash your back if you wash mine." idly attempt to charm the viewers with unworkable eccentricity, their result often takes away from what might have otherwise been valuable material. Garry Marshall's lukewarm adaptation of Anne Rice's "Exit To Eden" seeks to I-s Ez ti _ :- =- P rA J -u-u .j G " MULTI COLOR SPECIALISTS " ARTIST ON STAFF * RUSH ORDERS * NEAR U OF M CAMPUS 1217 PROSPECT, ANN ARBOR 665.1771 U OFF with this ad. with a tediously prosaic concept, drink a cup of coffee and smoke a cigarette before you read on. The mindless twist comes in when L.A. Detectives Fred Lavery (Dan Aykroyd) and Sheila Kingston (Rosie O'Donnell)must go undercoverin Club Eden. They are looking for the menac- ing duo; the nefarious diamond smug- gler Omar (Stuart Wilson) and his re- vealing-but-not-quite-so-lethal accom- plice Nina (Iman). The overt, sexual paradise chal- lenges the viewer to find one, single way of viewing the film. Throughout, Eden poses as the new battleground, existing solely for sensual gratifica- tion. Infused with quirky love scenes - whether deviant or not - Marshall never truly penetrates the film with a piercing eye, failing to realize that the greatest aphrodisiac and the highest form of pleasure is achieved only through love. Marshall's series of idle attempts at trite comic misadventures come to an unbearable dramatic climax in New Orleans. Rice's original story becomes obnoxiously layered with comic lar- ceny. The producers have attempted to distill the novel's erotic nuances by playing them off against a light, come- dic sub-plot. They seek to do this by exploring dominance and submission in all human relationships. Yet, both the comic and erotic dimensions plum- met you into circumstances so distaste- ful and dull that your first instinct is to pity the filmmakers and to walk out of the theater. All of the film's stupid humor and unsensual love scenes fall short of guid- ing the audience through the risque world of sexual freedom. In coupling an unconvincing plot with an intoler- ableeccentricity, "ExitToEden" show- cases a corny yet, ironically, classical structure of a Shakespearean comedy - lovers, good guys, and bad guys - all chasing each other around the is- land. That alone might have made it worth it to suffer through the rest of the show. Yet, Marshall echoes sentiments in "Exit To Eden" that no one truly cares about. Do yourself a favor, bring along a book in case you get bored. EXIT TO EDENis playing at Briarwood and Showcase. Wes Craven's New Nightmare Directed by Wes Craven; with Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund. The story has the cast and crew assembling to make another sequel, effectively a movie within a movie. Except it's not really a movie within a movie because Craven hasn't finished the script yet. Strange things start to happen while the cast waits to shoot the film. Only they're not teenagers anymore. Writer-director Wes Craven figured that the teenagers who he captivated a decade ago with the original "Night- mare" would rather see Generation X 4 ground to hamburger meat than people half their age. So he cast the original Krueger-conqueror, Heather Langenkamp, and made her a mom. But don't worry. She still acts like a gawky teenager. Better yet, she plays herself, making her teenage manner- isms all the more humorous. Robert Englund plays himself too. So does Wes Craven and some of the executives from New Line Cinema. Craven maintains an unusual level of suspense. Characters are in danger of . /a lot Indian American Students Associati presents Ie 1994 DiwaI qBeycm Bor~ on r r Mr. Krueger slashes to death mem- gettingKl m aI in most bers of the crew as Craven writes it into scenes, so there is the script, and pretentiously explains that Mr. Krueger has grown into some- plenty of tension if you thing much too powerful and evil to be bother to care about contained by the films. That's lofty writing on his part. The guy is still the these people. same old slashermaniac. Interestingly, However, as in most his character is no where near as dis- turbing as Robert Englund as himself. slasher films, the story The film plays off the fears of the only introduces them early thirtysomethings by making Langenkamp a mom. That's theextent for the benefit of the of her character; she tucks her kid into maniac's culsinart. bed, worrying that the boy has been exposed to excessive violence (like that from her movies). The kid (Miko Hughes) is a composite of other horror film kids. His head never spins, but he pukes a couple times and talks possessed like Danny from "The Shining." Craven maintains an unusual level of suspense. Characters are in danger of getting killed in most scenes, so there is plenty of tension if you bother to care about these people. However, as in most slasher films, the story only introduces them for the benefit of the maniac's cuisinart. Craven attempts some subtle self-reflective social commentary by having the crew of the "Nightmare" movies become the victims of their own creation. Yet, he doesn't develop that idea very far. After all, Mr. Krueger is a nasty butcher whose chief obligation is knocking off characters for the audience's delight. Anything more would painfully tax the cult following. WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE is playing at Showcase. Make all your dreams come true. Write for Arts. Call 7 Satur~ rmber 5th Theatre .m. 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