L4B - The Michigan Daily Weekend Mazine -Thursday, March 27, 1997 0 W The Michigan Daily Weekend M A weekly list of who's where, what's happening and E 1S T '*why you need to be there ... thursday friday saturday CAMPUS CINEMA See Friday. Mich. 4:45, 7:00 and 9:15 CAMPUS CINEMA The Producers (1968) The first feature film from the king of parody Mel Brooks features a struggling Broadway producer who looks to an accountant for a get-rich-quick scheme. Mich. 5 p.m. My Knees Were Jumping (1995) A documen- tary about the efforts of British Jews and Quakers to rescue 9,000 children from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland in Kindertransports. The film's creator, Melissa Hacker, will give a presentation fol- lovwjg the showing. Mich. 7 p.m. The Line King (1996) Oscar-nominated documentary of Al Hirschfeld, who dedicat- ed more than 70 years of his life as a cari- caturist for The New York Times. Mich. 8:45 p.m. MUSIC 19 Wheels Grand Rapids party-rockers. With Domestic Problems. Blind Pig. 9:30 p.m. Call 99-MUSIC. Push Down & Turn Four rockers straight outta Indianapolis. Rick's. 9:30 p.m. Call 996- 2747. University Gamelan Ensemble Indonesian music presented by the School of Music's Gamelan Ensemble, focusing on the Yogyanesse style of music. The show draws upon the repertoire of F.X. Widaryanto. Rackham Auditorium. 8 p.m. Free. 764-0594. Saturday THEATER The Marriage of Figaro Mozart's classic opera follows Count Almaviva and his attempts to reclaim his sexual rights over his wife's chambermaid during late-18th century Europe. Presented by the School of Music's Opera Theater. Mendelssohn Theater. 8 p.m. $7 for students. 764-0450. La Ronde As they move through 10 scenes, characters try to connect through themes of lust or love, trust or tryst. Arena Theater. 7 p.m. Free. 764-6800. ALTERNATIVES Fic in Reading Fiction writer Jane Barnes reads as part of the University's Visiting Writers Series. Rackham Amphitheatre. 5 p.m. Free. Poetry Reading Native American poet Duane Niatum reads from his latest work, "Songs frori the Storyteller's Stone." Shaman Drum. 8 p.m. Free. CAMPUS CINEMA Kolya (1996) Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film about Frantisek Louka, who is left to care for his estranged lover's 6-year-old son, Kolya, when she returns to her native Russia. A Czech film with English subtitles. Mich. 7 p.m. Heaven Can't Wait (1995) A Chinese film mocking the gullibility of the public and the big business antics that sell false ideas. In Cantonese with Chinese and English subti- tles. Free. Angell Aud A. 8 p.m. MUSIC Kolya p.m. MUSIC Cecilia Bartoli The acclaimed Italian mezzo- soprano returns to Ann Arbor for her third spe- cial engagement. Program includes works of Vivaldi and Pergolesi. Hill. $20-$60. 8 p.m. 764-2538. Foster Kids East Lansing 9:30 p.m. Call 996-2747. cover band. Rick's. Acoustic Junction Hippie Blind Pig. 9:30 p.m. $10. mountain music. Brother Rabbit Local frat rock. Rick's. 9:30 p.m. Call 996-2747. Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise With guests Swishbelly and Chris Moore. 7th House. 8 p.m. Call (810) 335-8100. Getaway Cruiser Ann Arbor band playing in support of their recent major-label release. With Ten Second Dynasty and Penfold. Blind Pig. 9:30 p.m. Call 99-MUSIC. Sick Of It All With guests Snapcase and A.F.I. St. Andrew's Hall. 7 p.m. Call 961- MELT. THEATER The Marriage of Figaro See Thursday. 8 p.m. Joe Howard, caretaker of the Nichols Arboretum, walks along one of its many paths. Cabin Vfe . v WIOPlayWit thebin andth bees in the great outdo Monster Party #3 the State Theatre 5450. Come boogie down at with Corona. Call 961- B y M e g a n S c h i m p f 0 D a i y S t a f f R e p o rt La Ronde See Thursday. 7 p.m. Thrush Hermit Sloan-like band plays with guest Inch. The Shelter. 6 p.m. 961-MELT. U.R.B.S. and The Left Side Third Wave benefit concert at the Halfway Inn in the basement of East Quad (enter on Church Street). 9:30 p.m. $3. THEATER The Marriage of Figaro See Thursday. 8 p.m. La Ronde See Thursday. 7 p.m. The Four Best Plays You've Never Seen Four short one-acts presented by RC students. Plays are original pieces by students Ben Graham and Ian Lawler, except one which was written by professional New York playwright David Ives. East Quad Auditorium. $3 for stu- dents. 8 p.m. ALTERNATIVES Cecilia Bartoli Autograph Session Opera singer signs copies of her newest CD. Borders Books and Music. 6:30-9 p.m. Free. Poetry Reading Ursula Duba reads from her first book of poems, "Tales from a Child of the Enemy." Hillel, 1429 Hill St. 7:30 p.m. Free. (A reception for Duba will be held at 4 p.m. at Shaman Drum.) The Four Best Plays You've Never Seen See Friday. 8 p.m. sunday CAMPUS CINEMA See Friday. Mich. 5:30 and 7:45 Kolya p.m. eyond the Hill and amid the real hills, a quiet battle is going on. Right now, winter is winning. Trees lay felled by ice, and sled and ski tracks criss-cross the weekend's snow. But as the silver maple buds and the fetterbush pokes out of its winter hibernation, spring is wag- ing a counteroffense. "As you look up the silver trunk of the tree, you see little bits of red," said Inger Schultz, the devel- opment officer for Nichols Arboretum. The bursts of red from the silver maple are part of the early bloom season in the Arb, which will peak in mid-April and May. It is then that the char- acteristic explosion of wildflowers and blooming trees will dot the landscape. "It's a quiet space - a quiet space of green in the middle of the city," Schultz said. A serene place nestled near University Hospitals and North Campus, the Arb was founded in 1907 when alumni Esther and Walter Nichols donated 27.5 acres to the University. The landscape was designed by University alumnus O.C. Simonds, founder of the SNRE landscape architecture department. Today, the Arb is a 123-acre patch of green with entrances on Geddes Road and behind Mary Markley Residence Hall. The terrain includes the Huron River, wetlands, wooded glens and a 20- acre prairie. "You could really start anywhere and probably get lost, but probably have fun doing it," said Andrea Urbiel, aN SNRE and Art junior. "I always find new places I've never been before, but the prairie is one of my favorites" Urbiel spent last summer compiling a history of the Arb based on interviews and memories from people who have visited for more than 40 years. "It's their stories and the story of me getting their stories," she said. Urbiel is currently working on getting the book, titled "Oral Histories of Nichols Arboretum," pub- lished. "They're mostly stories people could have told me about now," she said. "They went after classes, they went with a girl." But the Arb is more than a place to walk a dog, take a run or sit by the river. It is more than a river that babbles and birds that sing. "It's not just a park - it's a living museum," Schultz said. The Arb's landscape, designed for visual quali- ty, sets it apart from parks as does the wide variety of vegetation. "Each individual plant there has its own histo- ry," Schultz said. The Japanese Umbrella-pine, for example, was brought from Japan to Massachusetts by a Harvard botanist. After sitting in a greenhouse for more than a year, the tree was planted with the hopes that it would survive a New England winter. When it did, cuttings were mailed across the country to other arboreta, including Nichols. More than 64 species throughout the Arb are marked with diamonds, and more than 500 trees and shrubs are labeled. The collection includes trees from around Michigan, the United States and the world. "What it does is bring the world closer to us," Schultz said. "It's alive - it changes every day." Several SNRE classes have labs in the Arb, along with some other University classes that take field trips there. Tours of the Arb are given on the third Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. beginning at the peony garden.April's tour, to kick off Arbor Week, will take special notice of the international collection of trees. Also currently in bloom now are skunk cabbage, which Schultz describes as "hideous little things." The plants generate their own heat to melt the snow around them and attract flies and beetles with an odor resembling a skunk. Blooming times are available on the Arb's Web MUSIC Pushkings Boston indie-rock scenesters. Green Room. 10 p.m. c~be lirbigutn ilip Weekenid M AG AZ IN E Weekend Magazine Editors: Greg Parker WeekendiMagazine Photo Editor: Margaret Myers. Soprano Cecilia Bartoli signs CDs Friday and performs Saturday.. Writers: Dean Bakopoulos, Jen Petlinski, Jack Schillaci, Megan Schimpf Photographers: Josh Biggs, Jennifer Bradley-Swift and John Kraft. Cover photoillustration by Josh Biggs. Cover design by Josh Biggs and M Graphics Editor: Tracey Harris. Arts iitors: Brian A.Qti andJennifer Petlinski.