Ule Ltchitija &Ig
Last Laugh
Before finals make you lose allof your human, take toe time out to catch
the last performance of TWithout A Net" tomorrow night. Thm
improvisational comedy troupe has been making audiences'augh since
October with completely different shows each night. Tomorrow's show
should be equallyentertaining. The whole shebang starts at 10 p.m. and.
tickets are only $3 at the door. And ... Entr6e Plus is accepted! Aw, yeah!
Page 8
Wednesday,
April 5, 1995
Glass breathes new life into 'Beast'
By Brian Wise
Daily Arts Writer
"La Belle et la Bete," the simple
fairy tale of a beast transformed into
man through the power of human love,
is brimming, it would seem, with impli-
cations for the contemporary artist. An
allegory of the creative process, by
which the world of the ordinary is trans-
formed into a world of magic, it pro-
vided the perfect subject matter for Jean
Cocteau's classic 1946 film. Nearly 50
years later, minimalist-multimediacom-
poser and impresario Philip Glass has
taken this notion of transformation one
step further.
His operatic adaptation of the film
V REaw
Philip Glass
La Belle et la Bete
Michigan Theater
April 3, 1995
was presented Monday night at the
Michigan Theater, and much to his
credit, Cocteau's magnificent "Beast"
was not tamed in the least. Rather, the
enchantingly told and visually stun-
ning film gained a new focus - in
short, film became a new form of
musical theater.
Not without some artistic license
was this change accomplished. Glass
removed the original soundtrack and
replaced it with an entirely new score,
which was performed live by his
seven-piece keyboard'and woodwind
ensemble along with four singers. The
entire arrangement, conducted by
Michael Riesman, was situated in
front of the screen, and the resulting
effect was not unlike the practice of
joining silent film with an orchestral
or organ accompaniment.
Yet the addition of sung text to the
original words added a whole new layer
to the work's texture. The lip-synching
never worked perfectly,nor was it sup-
posed to. More importantly, the music
was no longer merely subliminal.
Rather, it was a constant stream of
Glass's familiar style, with oscillat-
ing scales and arpeggios enveloped in
undulating harmonies all moving in a
constantmodulation. Glass's perpetu-
ally evolving soundscape served to
drive the plot forward instead of sim-
ply creating an underlying atmo-
sphere.
Naturally, the original film score,
by George Auric, was more on par
with Cocteau's visual imagery. The
mystical photography and
otherworldly special effects found a
counterpart in Auric's ethereal yet
restrained orchestration. With Glass's
adaptation, both sound and sight com-
peted for equal attention and in more
ways than one: The elaborate, multi-
level stage setup was abundant with
synthesizers, amplifiers and podiums.
This bombardment on the senses
was not without variety, however.
The Beast's magical kingdom of ani-
mated candlesticks, supernatural din-
ner tables, and ghostly statues were
matched by Glass's dark rumblings
and mystic hues. The mundane world
of Beauty's household was portrayed
with banal, incessant musical ges-
tures. Occasionally real life effects
such as the shattering of the mirror or
roar of the beast were treated literally
and quite vividly. Many of the dis-
tinctively French sensibilities of this
"Beast" were instilled with a genuine
American brashness; at times greater
nuance and dynamic contrast would
have gone a long way.
Nevertheless, "La Belle" was a
fascinating foray into a new genre.
The multiple roles were performed
with authority and flexibility by Janice
Felty, John Kuether, Ana Maria
Martinez and Gregory Purnhagen, and
the group's familiarity with the work
was in evidence.
In previous visits, Philip Glass has
frequently amazed Michigan Theater
audiences with his innovative musi-
cal and theatrical works, from
"Koyaanisqatsi" to "1000 Airplanes
on the Roof." "La Belle et La Bete,"
despite its flaws, is an extension of
these previous efforts, and yet highly
original and enjoyable all the same.
Chris O'Donnell and Minnie Driver take the time to dance and fall in love in 'Circle of Friends.'
Friends is a refreshing love story
w
By Michael Zilberman
Daily Arts Writer
There was a time when repres-
sion and guilt were necessary com-
ponents of a true romance, and the
phrase "I'm saving myself for mar-
riage" could be uttered with a
straight face. "Circle Of Friends," a
coming-of-age melodrama from the
director Pat O'Connor, surveys this
time with misty-eyed reverence, and
so do we - at least for the duration
of the film. At one point, we start to
wonder if the feeling of guilt, the
concept of sin artificially planted in
these people really added some zest
to their romances. Then, the movie
ends, and we go back to reality.
Which bites.
"Circle Of Friends" has a simple,
breezy story at its heart. In 1956,
small town Irish girl Benny (Minnie
Driver) goes off to university. There,
she falls in love with an amiable jock
(Chris O'Donnell, looking as if he
were auditioning forOliver's part in a
"Love Story" remake). In the second
half of the movie, heroes are sub-
jected to various temptations: She has
to fend off sleazy arranged suitors;
he, heartless femme fatales. Do they
overcome circumstances in the end?
Is the Pope Catholic?
The film clearly admires its set-
ting and characters. Small town Ire-
land is affectionately filmed, espe-
Imw
cially Knockglen, where every verti-
cal surface has a name of a beer brand
written on it. Benny is touchingly
played by talented newcomer Minnie
Driver, an English actress with an odd
Cice o
Friends
Directed by Pat O'Connor
with Chris O'Donnell and
Minnie Driver
At Showcase
name, odd appearance and odd career
choices (she'll be playing the female
lead in the upcoming James Bond
flick).
Chris O'Donnell, who gets top
billing, is passable. He's not as inter-
esting an actor as, say, Leonardo
DiCaprio, but he is able to convey
simple emotions and effectively
mimic Irish brogue without letting it
interfere with his primary duty of,
well, being a dreamboat. But the true
highlight of the cast is Alan Cumming
as Sean, Benny's arranged suitor -
he takes this largely thankless role so
over the top, his Sean is not exactly a
human being; he's like Tolkien's
Gollum before theexile in the swamps.
All the yearning for the days
past aside, "Circle Of Friends" has
its touches of modern attitude: con-
sider, for example, a nasty cut from
a lecture on "savage mating rituals"
directly to a violent rugby match.
And, for a film that - let's be hon-
est for a second here - is bound to
serve as a make-out session back-
drop for a couple of weeks and van-
ish, "Circle Of Friends" is surpris-
ingly articulate about restrictions o0
Catholic upbringing. In fact, more
articulate that the flashy, trashy
"Priest" with an invisible "Boycott
Me" sign on its back.
Without indulging in hysterical
harangues, "Circle"'s characters
subtly expose us to the abnormali-
ties of time and place where getting
a pack of condoms means a trip to
another country, let alone a struggle
with one's consciousness. Yet, the
only truly wonderful thing about
"Circle" is its complete lack of pre-
tension. In the age of burgeoning
artistic didacticism, "Circle" just
refuses to make any statements about
its heroine's choices. The creators
of the film seem to be content with
what they've done. If right now, a
teenage couple somewhere is watch
ing this film and the guy is ponder-
ing the eternal problem of how to
put his arm around his companion
and make it look accidental - their
mission is fulfilled.
For his next project, Philip Glass will make an opera out of 'Taxi' reruns.
Minor characters make Civic Theater's production of 'Cuckoo's Nest' fly
i
By Jenn McKee
For the Daily
It was the story that placed Jack
Nicholson firmly on the map in the
film industry. "One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest," based on Ken
Kesey's award-winning novel, tells
the plight of one man who brings life
into, but doesn't really belong in, a
mental health facility. He doesn't re-
ally appear to fit anywhere. Trans-
posed into a play, spectators witness
McMurphy's rise and fall.
The novel unravels the plot from
the perspective of the supposedly
catatonic, Native American patient
called Chief. The play tried to place
more emphasis on him as a major
character, with many instances of a
single spotlight on him as a prere-
corded soliloquy of his thoughts play.
Unfortunately, this mechanism isn't
entirely effective. At times, the re-
cording seems garbled and unclear;
other times, things that are compre-
hensible are confusing unless you are
already familiar with the character
from the novel. It's a well-intentioned
attempt to stay true to the original
work, which I can appreciate, but it
falls short.
McMurphy is the character that is
the true centerpiece - the one that
comes into the ward and changes
everyone's life forever. He shakes
things up immediately by coming in
and refusing to be "showered" yet
again and coercing the other patients
into gambling with him. None of the
patients had even entertained thoughts
of standing up to cool Nurse Ratched
because of the threat of electroshock
therapy, yet McMurphy stands up to
her fearlessly.
McMurphy seems like a typical
man with common wants and needs
- things that we would ask for our-
selves - but Nurse Ratched feels that
he threatens her ultimate control of
the whole ward. This struggle for
power leads to a physical confronta-
tion between them.
The role of McMurphy is a com-
plex one, and Joseph Radding didn't
quite make the mark. His forced exu-
berance and raucous fake laughter
ranged from discomfiting to annoy-
ing in the first act. He appeared to
become more comfortable in the role
in the second act, but he still lacked a
certain quality of verisimilitude. His
portrayal just didn't feel genuine.
McMurphy has one scene in which
another patient says good things al-
ways happen to McMurphy, and he
reacts by both laughing and crying at
this statement. This is a very complex
scene, despite its brevity, but it seemed
almost passed over. As a result of
playing the character flatly, I saw an
actor instead of seeing McMurphy.
Radding was better than his wig,
however, which was an awful and
distracting long, braided number. No
one for a moment thought it was his
real hair, and I don't know that it
served any kind of function. I know
they were going for this rebel-biker
look, but yikes.
The two central characters were
actually the weakness to the whole
production. Tony Putman, who played
Chief, is also unmemorable. Again,
the role is a difficult one, especially
since there are few lines when much
needs to be expressed. Putman had
the size to play the role, as he hulked
over all the other actors, but his heart
didn't seem to be in it. The character's
lack of depth and richness was a prob-
lem in this instance as much as with
McMurphy's.
The best performances were de-
livered by the minor characters. Most
notably, Troy D. Sill did a wonderful
job as the rational Dale Harding, with
hints of Frasier's prissy brother Niles
slipping into the character here and
there. James Jorah's "Billy" also gave
an endearing performance as a stut-
tering young virgin who's afraid of
just about everything. McMurphy
gives him a chance to feel like a man,
but accordingly, Nurse Ratched comes
in and puts a stop to it. Her mere
presence acts to castrate the men in
the ward.
In general, the other patients in the
ward seemed more interesting than
the main characters. I found myself
watching them instead of the center
action at times. Even the night watch-
p One Flew
Over the
Cuckoo's Nest
Ann Arbor Civic Theater
March 31, 1995
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
is playing through April 8.
Performances begin at 8 p.m. and
tickets are $8. Call 971-AACT for
more information.
man, Danny Guberinich, was enjoy-
able and inviting. Though a small
part, he was a major source of comic
relief.
The play's climax is powerful,
with excellent use of lighting and
good performances by all, but the
scene building up to it is undercut by
the script. In the novel, McMurphy
See CUCKOO, Page 9
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