Mx~j Lilijn Itdg A silent shocker Once again, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" hits Ann Arbor on the big screen. The p;ilent classic by German Expressionist Robert Wiene is a surrealistic i iurder mystery that has become a favorite for film profes- sors on cam is. So, if you haven't seen it in class yet, check it out tonight at the, Michigan Theater at 7 o'clock. Tragedies fill mixed Stratford program By J. David Berry For the Daily The following are brief reviews of some of the tragedies now showing at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH "Sweet Bird of Youth" deals with the "terrible, stiff necked pride of the defeated." Focusing on two has-beens that are scratching for a come back, Williams' occasionally long-winded drama comes to life due to tremendous performances. Geordie Johnson plays Chance Wayne, a young local playboy whose R EV IEW The Stratford Festival Running now through Nov. 3. call 1-800-567-1600. youth and charm is fast wearing thin with the Hollywood elite. Any promise that he once had has faded, leaving him to scrounge for what little recognition he can get. In a last-ditch effort for suc- cess, he becomes the boy-toy of a fallen movie queen, the Princess Kosmonopolis, played stunningly by Martha Henry. Johnson and Henry play off each other well, as two "monsters" both try- ing to use the other to reclaim a shred of their past glory. As the desperation mounts, so does the extreme nature of the dealings of these two. While Johnson's Chance holds his own, Martha Henry far outshines any- thing else onstage. She is a wonder, and the Princess's return to the grace of Hollywood gives her a remarkable power. We see a transformation in Henry, from someone who begins, scrounging for any shred of dignity, and finishes a bona fide Hollywood legend. From moment to moment, Henry is both monstrous and fragile, broken and dignified. Her performance will remain as one of the great ones. Also turning in noteworthy perfor- mances are Tom McCamus, whose turn as the revenge-seeking Tom Jr. is fright- eningly driven; Chic Reid, as Miss Lucy, the spruned-too-often mistress of Boss Finley; and Lewis Gordon as Boss Finley, the quintessential southern gen- tleman fighting tooth and nail against Chance, the colored, or anything else that might take away some of his con- trol over Chance's small hometown. Weaving this story all together is Diana Leblanc, last season's noted director of "Long Day's Journey into Night." She keeps the actors clipping along through Williams' brilliant but lengthy writing. Only the first act feels a little long, and before you know it, three hours have passed. Leblanc has accented the peace with some smokey jazz stings creeping in at crucial moments. The saxophone seems to lament the fate of these fallen birds whose wings will no longer carry them to greatness. KING LEAR "King Lear" is often hailed as the greatest tragedy ever written for stage. While this may be true, it is also one of Two stars of "Little Foxes," now playing at the Stratford Festival. Fire*Eate Shelter al Washington, D.C. c By Ted Watts Daily Arts Writer Jonathan Fire*Eater is a quintet con- sisting of a vocalist (Stewart Lupton), a bassist (Tom Frank), a guitarist (Paul Maroon), a drummer (Matt Barrick) and, interestingly, an organist (Walter Martin). With a sort of retro rock sound that well befits an organ (you can sure- ly think of some examples from the late '60s or early '70s), they seem poised to break out into a world where the "Trainspotting" PR soundtrack has breathed new life into an old Iggy Pop song that is Tonight a not beyond com- parison in sound to this young group. Based in Nw York, the band has had a rather vague sort of history. "We all grew up together in Washington (D.C.)," explained ivory pecker Walt in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily. "We moved up here and started the band, and they all lived together, and, um, that's about all. Then we just played all around here, around New York, and then we went on a couple of tours, put out a couple of CDs and records, and then that's where we are now I guess." "It's all pretty casual, really," added singer Stewart. Casual or not, over the course of a very small number of releases, Jonathan Fire*Eater has consciously altered their sound, on recordings at least. "The first thing doesn't sound anything like we did then live, but we're getting closer to recreating our live sound. That's hard to do," Walt explained. The band will soon have a chance to sound even closer to their live sound than on their most current release, since they're writing songs for their first full album, which they hope to record by December and which will be on the high profile Dreamworks label. Lyrics are easier to capture, since they're just words. But the concepts in the band's songs aren't your standard boy-meets-girl material. You get stuff about genetics or an undertaker. "I just like to do sketches of people or try to portray someone through words and images. I don't think we have this goth- TLU pac,. reman condition aft LAS VEGAS (AP) - Doctors removed rapper Tupac Shakur's right lung after he was shot four times in the chest during a weekend attack, and the most difficult tragedies to do well. Given this distinction, an uneven cast is unable to maintain the tension neces- sary to drive a production of the play. Due to the size of the cast and the sheer number of difficult roles, it was impossible for Richard Monette, direc- tor of "Lear" to cast an accomplished actor in every part that required one. It appears as though he was left to put some young talents into roles that dic- tated otherwise, and hope that they would rise to meet the challenge. Most glaringly miscast is Jordan Pettle as the Fool. In his first major part at Stratford, Pettle seems to be con- scious of his lack of experience on the Stratford stage. Pettle's take on the Fool, written as a master of wit who pulls no punches and says things exactly as they are, appears uneasy, delivering the Fool's jabs with reserve and apology. Also falling slightly short of the mark are Martin Albert, whose King of France comes across more as a young schoolboy, and Colombe Demers as Cordelia, who, though at times very good, seems to fall short during some of the more dramatically intense scenes. Richard Monette's direction sets the play sometime in the mid 1800s, which creates some beautifully refined cos- tumes for the court scenes, but looses some of the savageness inherent in the play. Monette does make an interesting choice with the storm scene, staging it as a judgment for Lear, with two bright lights shining down, as in an inquisi- tion. Also, making Edmond, played by Geordie Johnson, a priest is an interest- ing choice that works well in context, creating even a wider gap betwvcen what he appears to be and the monster that he actually is. Rising above these shortcmings are Diane D'aquila and Martha Burns as Lear's deliciously evil daughters Goneril and Regan respectively. Also impressive is Lewis Gordon.4 faithful Kent, whose loyalty to the faring Lear is heart wrenching; Eric IDonkin's Gloucester, whose naive eyes are only opened once he is blinded; and Peter Donaldson's Edgar, whose cowipassion as Mad Tom is beautiful to see:. The highlight of the productiton is the opportunity to witness a master like William Hutt tackle a role wortthy of his stature as an actor. Hutt does -ot push any of the acting moments, bust rather, deals with them simply, with n extra- neous gestures or emotion. It: is the power and ability that comes orgy from years of experience on the stage, choos- ing his intense moments carefuly, and not playing all of his cards at onme. His restraint remains until the final moments of the play, when Lear -finally cracks and then, the emotion flows like a torrent of angst, sweeping the: audi- ence right to its feet. Seeing Huitt per- form Lear is a rare gift, and one that, despite other flaws in the produmction, ought to be taken advantage of. AMADEUS The Stratford Festival's productiion of "Amadeus" is in the middle of its rmuch- deserved second year of performmince: See STRATFORD, Pagle 10 Tuesday September 10, 1996 r to light, blaze quintet hits Detroit ic thing going on. That song was about someor who did that. His job I guess. We're not morbid guys really, we've got far too much ... No. I don't krow, Stewart laughed. There's still something slightly elu- sive about Jonathan Fire*Eater's sound. The band itself has trouble defiiing what makes it distinctive. Or at least Stewart does. "I don't know. Talent. Creativity, Im-agination. I don't know, h o n e s t1 y. Hahaha." EV IEW There has bee Jonathan a fairly larg Fi.@ Eater amount of praise for the band in t 7:30 at the Shelter. the big cess pool Tickets are $6. fish pond that is New York, but the band is wary of the attention they've garnered. "We played for a really long tine to clubs when they were empty, then they started to get filled," Stewart explained. "And we kept on playing. Then a buz word of mouth was passed and then it seemed to be going really well and kinda crazy and everyone had heard of us and so we sorta stepped back from that. A lot of times when something is hyped too much, it really seems to fade, and I don't think we're going anywhere, we're gonna be around for a-lot of records hopeftily. I think we're in it for the long haul so 1 didn't want to mil this hype thing now, and have yo place in the sun before your time has come. Doing a natnal tour certainly gets them out of New York. But there are other reasons for the tour as well. "Well, we've gdt some press we're not that happy about in the national things, and instead of having people talk about that stuff that doesn't really have that much to do with us we wapa go out and play around as much as we c' so that everyone can actually see us and make an option about that and not about the snippy little things that they read. So we're going to tour as much as we possibly can. We just have trouble getting it together, but now we're finally getting it going," Walt said. So, you've heard the snippy press stuff. Go to the Shelter tonight and form your own opinion. ns in critical er shooting police complained yesterday that unco- operative witnesses have given them few leads. Shakur, 25, remained in critical co) dition at University Medical Center yesterday, spokesperson Dale Pugh said. "His injuries are very severe, very traumatic." It was the second time in two years that Shakur, who has a history of vio- lence and trouble with the law, has been the victim of a shooting. Shakur was a passenger in a car heading to a nightclub ate Saturd when a white Cadillac with four me inside pulled up and someone opened fire, shooting Shakur four times in the chest. His lung was removed Sunday. Death Row Records Chairman Marion "Suge" Knight, whose Los Angeles-based company specializes in violent "gangsta" rap, was treated for a minor head wound after being grazed by a bullet fragment or shrapnel from the car. Shakur and Knight were going to t . nightclub after watching boxer Mike Tyson defeat Bruce Seldcn in a title fight when the shooting occurred on Flamingo Road, one of the city's busiest streets. Sgt. Kevin Manning, who is heading the investigation, said Shakur apparent- ly was the target: "He was the passen- ger and the one closest to the point of fire." Police said witnesses are stayi - mum. "We did not receive a whole lot of cooperation from most of his entourage," Manning said. "It amazes me when they have professional body- guards that they can't even give us an The cast of "King Lear." :.:.., ® Complete multimedia computer customized for students * Campus Z-Station* features " Powerful Intel*Pentium* processor " Large capacity hard drive " Plenty of memory to run todaly's hottest applications " Plug & Play into your campus. network with a high-speed modem * Desktop Systems include Microsoft* Natural® Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse ® Loaded with Microsoft softw ere for study and fun " Microsoft Office for Windows 95 with Word, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Access, Schedule+, Encarta 96 Encyclopedia, Microsoft Internet Assistants " Microsoft Windows 95 with Miciiosoft Internet Explorer 2.0 " Microsoft Plus! 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