10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 13, 1998 Delbanco keeps rewarding Hopwood legacy alive By Erin Diane Schwartz Hopwood festivities this week include a lecture given Katherine Beam, a curator for the Hopwood collec- For the Daily by biographer Jack Sharrar, titled "Avery Hopwood's tion exnressed her admiration for Honwood. "What a Old photos and yellowed writings sheltered within Mass cases on the seventh floor of the Hatcher raduate Library dictate the presence of the legendary Avery Hopwood. Upon his death, Hopwood ordered that his wealth be donated to the University of Michigan in a special fund designated for aspiring stu- dent writers. This exhibition, which runs through June 27, recently prompted a lecture from author and the director of the Hopwood Awards Program, Nicholas Delbanco. Avery Hopwood became a prolific playwright and author, but he is most remembered - 70years after his death - through the prestigious Hopwood awards. Delbanco hopes to shed some light on the writings and personality of Hopwood through the fes- tivities taking place this year. The events will help remind the University com- Munity that before the Hopwood Awards existed, there was a time when Avery Hopwood couldn't afford to pay tuition. Nicholas Delbanco related during his lecture that, "when Hopwood learned that his mother had sold her diamond engagement ring to help with his college expenses, he said that he would replace the diamond with his first earnings. But Hopwood's writing became very lucrative and instead Hopwood present- ed his mother with a new diamond on the opening of every play." In addition to the opening of the exhibition, other Life and Plays,' and another lecture by Delbanco, called "Avery Hopwood and the Theatre of the Twenties," as well as the department of theatre and drama's presentation of Hopwood's play, "The Best People." Hopwood, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, entered the University of Michigan in 1901 and eagerly took courses in English and rhetoric. After one year at the University, he Hopwood returned to Cleveland's Western Lecture Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) to GHarlan eHatcr reduce the cost of his education. Feb.10, Lar But he returned to the University of Michigan for his junior and senior years. The Hopwood award cere- monies, which take place each year in January and April, rein- force the importance of the Hopwood honor. "The cere- monies are all in the service of saying to young writ- ers that someone is paying attention," Delbanco said. "Winning the award is recognized from coast to coast;' Andrea Beauchamp, Hopwood Program asso- ciate. "We have had 2500 Hopwood winners and have given away $1.5 million. There are many Hopwood winners who go on to write great things." "Oscar' love story pays off in spades By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud Daily Arts Writer "Oscar and Lucinda" starts out like a _.asterpiece Theater period movie, but along the way, something knocks the staid camera out of whack and what remains is a strange love story by any measure. The movie begins with two charac- ters leading completely disparate lives. The viewer soon discovers that two oceans and a continent are not enough to keep these threads from eventually tying a knot. Oscar & Oscar (Ralph Lucinda Fiennes) is the * awkward son of a pious English At State minister. Oscar's father does not let his son stray from the abstemious way of living he himself leads. Equally uncon- ventional, Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) is raised on a ranch in Australia. Her childhood fasci- nation with glass manifests itself later when she purchases a glassworks facto- ry with her inheritance. Gambling is the force that brings these two star-crossed lovers together. While studying to be a minister at Oxford, Oscar discovers a passion for the ponies. Lucinda, on the other hand, finds solace in playing cards. The two meet on a ship between England and Australia. But the story does not end there. Once on Australian soil, the two gam- blers find their passion for gaming unabated. Gambling is, for both of them, a risky business. Oscar interprets gambling as a divine activity similar to Pascal's wager. "We bet that there is a God - we bet our life on it!" When his prudish landlords discover Oscar's hobby, he is denounced and cast off from the church. Both Oscar and Lucinda get a sort of nervous thrill from breaking the moral code of the stiff anglophiles. Their gambling turns into an illicit activity that leaves them quivering orgasmical- ly. Still, the two do not think they are in love. Oscar is under the illusion that Lucinda loves a minister who has been sent away into the outback. He hatches the ultimate wager: He guarantees the delivery of a glass church to the minis- ter in a certain amount of time. With the bet in place, Oscar leads an expedition to deliver the glass cathe- dral. Along the way, Oscar kills a man responsible for the deaths of many natives. Oscar finally does make it to the minister's town, where his glass church is incredulously received. "Oscar and Lucinda" has all the ele- ments of a good movie. Fiennes offers a fine performance as the quirky Oscar. At times, he plays the part all too convincingly; he reminded me of the Mad Hatter in "Alice in Wonderland." Blanchett is equally adept at playing the unconventional and free-spirited woman with a burning passion for cards. The film benefits from a screenplay adapted from the novel by Peter Carey. Many of the lines in "Oscar and Lucinda" are witty and lucid, imagina- tively telling an unconventional story. The film often falls short with the cinematography and editing, though. "Oscar and Lucinda" is perhaps too introspective and meditative for a play- ful love story. At more than two hours, the film can sometimes be boring. In the end, though, the freshness of the concept - two individuals bound by a love of gambling - makes the movie worthwhile. "Oscar and Lucinda" is rarely exciting or visually spectacular but it is a very well-made film. Art galleries a By Katie Williams For the Daily Do paintings have a heartbeat? This is one of many questions art lovers are invited to ponder at "Towns, Gowns and the Arts," a tour of local art galleries debuting today from 7 until 9 p.m. The journey begins in the Media Union Gallery on North Campus with the interactive "Immedia" exhibition, travels to the Ann Arbor Art Center and the Michigan Guild Gallery and ends at the Margaret Parker Studio. "Towns, Gowns and the Arts" is the brainchild of Arcitecture graduate student Anne Lusk. The plan began with her desire to get to know. townspeople and older faculty members better. She reasoned that an art gallery, as opposed to a lecture of symphony, would give people a greater opportunity to interact. Lusk even developed a 40-year-old Motown ain't too proud to brag The Hartford Courant Though ABC's two-part. four-hour special "Motown 40: The Music is Forever" comes at a time when much of the nation will be obsessed with the Winter Olympics and the network put several days between parts, that won't stop real American music lovers. Motown 40: The Music Is Forever ABC Sunday at 9 p.m. inside views and outside observations. to put Gordy's Detroit dream into perspec- tive. As Gordy explains early on in the special, "My dream was that an artist could walk through one door --just a normal kid off the street - and come out another door, a star." And what a parade of stars they turned out to be: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Mary Wells, the Commodores, the Jackson 5 and, more recently, Boyz 11 Men. With a long list of credits - from "Lady Sings the Blues," "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" and "Lonesome Dove" - and with courtes an intimate connection to most of the major Motor Motown players, de Passe certainly knows how Jacks The University of Michigan School of Music Friday, February 13 - Sunday, February 15 Theatre and Drama Avery Hopwood and David Gray: The Best People Philip Kerr, director Mendelssohn Theatre, 8 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.); 2 p.m. (Sun.) Admission $18, $14; for more information phone 734-764-0450 Sunday, February 15 Michigan Chamber Players * music by Boehme, Kodaly and Brahms Britton Recital Hall, E. V. Moore Bldg., 4 p.m. Faculty/Guest Recital Larry Hensel, baritone; Timothy Cheek, piano CANCELLED * Schubert: Winterreise Tuesday, February 17 Pre-Concert Informal Talk Ellwood Derr, UM Professor of Music Theory "Haydn's Harmoniemesse, a Mass for a Princely Celebration" Auditorium 4, Modern Languages Bldg., 7p.m. Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra Jerry Blackstone, conductor " Haydn: Harmoniemesse Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m. Loft Style "1,2& 3 Bedroom Apartment Homes, Deluxe Loft Style '24 Hour Fitness Center pigsly td E; e Designs , Full Size Washer/Dryer optional ACcolflt c 2( ' Volleyball Pool ' Gourmet Kitchens and