The 1992 Neil Jordan classic, "The Crying Game," will run tonight at the Michigan League Underground. "The Crying Game" is a political thriller that explores the trials of a retired IRA terrorist Nho must watch over his a captured soldier's girlfriend. The film stars Stephen Rea. Admission is free and the show begins at 8 UIr £tctikgwn 3g To&drh in Daly Arts: ® Feeling a little "Cuckoo"? The Rude Mechanicals' presen- tation of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" opens tomor- row, and Daily Arts will have a sneak preview of the show. Wednesday March 11, 1998 5 Girls' dream of Broadway :y Christopher Tkaczyk ssociate Weekend, etc. Editor I They are coming. In fact, they're already here. "Dreamgirls,' the pop musical written by Tom Eyen and enry Krieger, is on the road to Broadway. The show is on a "ional tour, which stopped in Detroit for a three-week run. 'Dreamgirls" follows the story of a three-member girl group tring the '60s and '70s. Comparable to the Supremes (of which Diana Ross was a part), the Dreams become engaged in record con- tract deals and performing affairs. Effie, Deena and Lorrell are the Dreams who Dreamgirls try a chance at fame by competing in an Detroit Apollo Theater talent competition. Opera House That night, they are discovered by Curtis, who leads them to the limelight March 3, 1998 and lands them a job as back up singers for the famous James Thunder Early. The story rolls from there as love interests intermix and talent is snubbed; the rest of the show is about how the Dreams fall apart. The producers of the show are intend- The show was directed by Michael Bennett, who was the cre- ative dance genius behind "A Chorus Line." Bennett, who suf- fered complications from AIDS in 1987, is the inspiration for this production's choreography. The best thing about this "Dreamgirls," as was with the orig- inal, is the vocal ability of its stars. It seems as if all the Dreams were raised in African American Baptist churches, as there is so much soul pouring from their pipes. Most impressive is B.J. Crosby as Effie. As the dumped Dreamgirl, she showered the audience with her wailing voice. At one moment, she may have been capable of speaking in tongues because she surely seemed touched by a higher power. The best moment of the evening saw Crosby in the first act finale "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." Her spiritual performance will move you to a higher ground. The rest of the cast suits the musical well, but no one partic- ular performer stands out as a comparison to Crosby. La Tanya Hall and Tonya Dixon, as Crosby's co-Dreams, fit the part well, but their chances at wowing the audience are reduced to brief moments of polite applause. Kevin-Anthony as soul singer James Thunder Early (slightly reminiscent of a young James Brown) is entertaining and respectable. He is able to reach vocal highs that are often only witnessed of pre-pubescent boys. Brian Evaret Chandler as Curtis Taylor Jr., the car dealer who becomes the Dreams' manager, proves to be a threatening villain. His singing is strong and bears the fierceness of his Courtesy of Carol Rosegg The cast of "Dreamgirls" are making a stop In Detroit - possibly en route to Broadway. character. He illustrates his ability to make women swoon over him, regardless of his evil ways. La Tanya Hall as Deena Jones, the Dream who later replaces Effie as lead singer, reminds us of Diana Ross. Her soft singing style is the first indication and her looks proved the compari- son. It's great to see characterizations of music legends, but it doesn't take talent to do an impersonation. Ten percent of the men in New York's East Village could probably pass for Diana Ross on any given Saturday night. It's the style, not substance that is being showcased within this revival. Whether or not this version of "Dreamgirls" makes it to Broadway this season, it is still an entertaining show. The thrills of the Motown sound are jammed into Krieger's score and the amazing performance by B.J. Crosby is not to be missed. It isn't often that Broadway shows stop in Detroit before its New York run. "Drearngirls " runs through March 22. Tickets are available by calling (313) 872-1000. ing to make "Dreamgirls" the first revival since the original Broadway production. The original "Dreamgirls" swept the boards with six Tony awards in 1981. oen's flashy Lebowski' is ig fun10, Dude By Ryan Posly Daily Arts Writer The Coen brothers - director Joel and producer Ethan - have been making offbeat little gems of films for almost 15 years, but it wasn't until their last film, "Fargo" (1996), that they broke into the mainstream spotlight. That film, the "true" story of murder, mayhem and funny accents in the snowy northern Midwest, won the Coens a long-awaited Oscar for their screenplay, as well as the Best Actress award Joel's longtime muse, Frances McDormand. Their highly-anticipated follow-up to "Fargo" is the demented caper "The Big Lebowski" a delectable piece of eye and ear candy that hearkens back to their more wildly satirical days, a la "Raising Arizona." Like "Fargo" (indeed, like most of their films)"The Big Lebowski" is a geographical portrait, this time of the Los Angeles that Raymond Chandler might have written about if he were alive in 1991 - a twisted film noir for the '90s. Jeff Bridges is The Dude (a.k.a. Jeff Lebowski), a lazy, unemployed, { reefer-mad dude who is still stuck in the '70s and would rather be bowling. The Big He comes home one night and is Lebowski accosted by a pair of bumbling thugs OW (what would a Coen brothers movie be without some of these) who have At Briarwood him confused for another Jeff and Showcase Lebowski, a millionaire tycoon. The ridiculously tangled plot begins to unravel when The Dude, egged on by his overly aggressive friend, Walter (John Goodman), pays a visit to this v rich Lebowski seeking compensation for damages incurred by the thugs (namely, a urine-soaked rug). The Dude, ill-equipped to pay his rent, let alone solve com- plex mysteries, descends into a world filled with German nihilists, pornography, double-crossing, marmots and LSD flashbacks. He is the ultimate everyman, caught up in unbe- lievable situations and forced to regain control of his life. Jeff Bridges supplies the perfect blend of aloofness and frustra- tion, passivity and anger - the aging stoner guiding us e ough the bizarre maze of the Coens' L.A. Th complement to The Dude's pacifism is the open aggres- sion of Walter, one of The Dude's bowling partners and his side- kick in the mystery. John Goodman is brilliant as this well-inten- tioned, but loudmouthed Vietnam veteran who takes charge of The Dude's predicament, only to screw it up even more. The Coens have a knack for drawing incredible perfor- Snipes can't carry 'Marshals' Courtesy o framercy Pictures The Dude Lebowski (Jeff BrIdges) and Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore) -no relation - engage in some full contact bowling. mances out of their actors, which probably has more to do with their unparalleled writing than anything, and this film is certainly no exception. Julianne Moore vamps it up in a clas- sic indistinguishable European accent as Maude Lebowski, the suspiciously helpful daughter of the "big" Lebowski who only uses The Dude for his (questionably favorable) sperm. Steve Buscemi gives his usual off-kilter performance as Donny, the third bowling partner of The Dude and Walter who never quite knows what's going on. Sam Elliott, with his incredibly husky voice, provides the unusual narration with an extra wink and a grin for the audience as an out-of-place cowboy storyteller who shows up every now and then. And John Turturro provides the biggest laughs as our heroes' bowling nemesis in only two outrageous scenes which have nothing to do with anything. Of course, this cast of odd characters and dead-on perfor- mances would mean nothing if the Coen boys weren't such clever filmmakers. And sure enough, "The Big Lebowski" is filled with scenes which are either incredibly funny, incredi- bly flashy or some combination of the two- like The Dude's surreal dream sequences, one of which can only be described as Busby Berkeley-goes-bowling-and-invites-Vikings. Unfortunately, the structure is, almost out of necessity, episodic, so much so that the film loses steam several times and then fights to pick up the pace again. Several scenes and char- acters have nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, which was the intention; they play out hilariously and would be missed if they were not included, but they also slow the film down. Even the ending was so anti-climactic it was hard to believe it was over, yet the Coens have hardly let their fans down. "The Big Lebowski" offers rich, unconventional char- acters spouting a striking combination of vulgarities and intellectual babble in the most strangely romantic portrait of Los Angeles since "L.A. Story" - and a guy called The Dude guides you through it all. By Joshua Pederson Daily Film Editor Before delving into the critical analysis of"U.S. Marshals," one thing must be made abundantly clear. I have one small bias in the viewing of any major action thriller. On my list of fla- grantly preconceived notions, this par- ticular bias ranks up there with "Leonardo DiCaprio is the skinniest little boy alive." It follows as such: Wesley Snipes is the undisputed crown prince of the action-adventure genre. Just accept it. "Passenger 57," "Boiling Point," "Murder at 1600" and a wealth of other Snipes classics have placed him at the apex of your run-of-the-mill, knee-to- the-groin, fist-to-the-face, gun-to-the- throat, pretty-lady-at-your-side bundles of violence. So, if you have come to terms with this fact of nature, read on. If not, there are a number of 12-step groups to which I could refer you. For this reason, in this review, Wesley Snipes will come under no, I repeat, zero critical scrutiny. Thank you. "U.S. Marshals" comes from the pro- ducers of "The Fugitive," and at face value, the plots of the two movies are essentially the same. Random hero, wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit, flees from law enforce- ment for amount of time just sufficient for his innocence to be proven. The ran- dom hero in this installment is Mark Sheridan, played by Wesley Snipes. But while "The Fugitive" relied on the strength of a popular '60s television series, "U.S. Marshals" has no such support. It bases its existence on the return of Sam Gerard, the U.S. Marshal (hence the name) who chased Harrison Ford in the film's predecessor. Tommy Lee Jones, who portrays Gerard, is a great actor. He garnered an Academy Award for his work in "The U.S. Marshals ** At Briarwood and Showcase Gerard is not the main character, so the writer is able to pigeon- hole him a bit. And in the devel- opment of a sup- porting role, this technique is passable, even commendable. But similar methods, when applied to a main character, lead to a stereo- Fugitive." But, even great actors must be given decent parts in order to shine. The creators of "U.S. Marshals" did not take into account the fact that Jones won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The character of Sam Gerard was not written as a lead. The transition from supporting role to main role should never have been made. When writing a supporting role, the writer is able to take advantage of the fact that the character will have limit- ed screen time. For this reason, he or she can create a character that relies on convention. In "The Fugitive," Sam Surprise, surprise. Unlike those of its predecessor, the creators of"U.S. Marshals" had to con- trive a new storyline. They didn't have the luxury of the one-armed man. And if there isn't a one-armed man on which to place the blame, our fugitive is guilty, which takes much of the suspe.se out of the film. So, who might one choose as the real criminal who will finally be impli- cated, proving Wesley Snipes's inno- cence? The physically handicapped is an area which has been done (a one- legged man might be overkill), so why not turn to the last true bastion of Communism? Yes, the creators of "U.S. Marshals," hoping against hope' for the continuation of the Cold War, set up the Chinese consulate as the evildoers. But there are a number of plot twists along the way, so I'll leave it at that. The supporting' cast of the film is interesting, if not strong. Gerard's investigative team, just like its leader, is typical at best. There is the wise-crack- ing, out-of-shape guy, the young gun and the government outsider. Overall, though, despite the stereo- typical characterizations and sketchy plot, "U.S. Marshals" is fairly enter- taining. The action sequences are exciting, for the most part. And included is a spectacular plane crash, whose conclusion denies any connec- tion to conventional laws of momen- tum. And finally, one cannot forget that Wesley Snipes plays the fugitive. And we already know that he's the knock- down, drag-em-out leader of the pack. A director could put Snipes in a Victorian period piece starring Hugh Grant, Shaquille O'Neal and Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'd still be the first one in line. type, complete with all the negative connotations implied by such a word. In the case of the character of Gerard, this is too bad. The created stereotype is that of an emotionless, brilliant, instinctual, no-nonsense, street-smart law enforcement officer. But after the mold is poured, Jones is given little room for character devel- opment. One rather humorous result of Gerard's stereotypically bland character is his developing penchant for stating the painfully obvious. "We've got our- selves a fugitive!" exclaims our hero. I Is Now mg Display Account Executives For