Check out the local flavor on MTV's "12 Angry Viewers" tonight. Witness the unleashing of U2's video for "If God Will Send His Angels," which was shot in Detroit in October, as it is judged by Jurors 1 and 11, who happen to be 'U' students. The show pre- mieres at 5:30 a.m. and repeats at 12:30 a.m. UI1~z icigm tij~ Don't miss previews of the Take 6 concert at Hill Auditorium and "Romeo and Juliet" at the Michigan Theater, both happening this weekend. Thursday March 12, 1998 A Mechanicals make 'Cuckoo' fly By Anna Kovalszki Daily Arts Writer A work farm, a mental ward, a nurse, a half-Indian, a convict ... an unseemly combination of places and people. Really, it is their apparent incongruence which lends them a certain mysterious aura, and in Ken Kesey's imagination creates a bizarre world. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the author's rebellious spirit allowed his work to take on an anti-authoritarian tone during its creation in the early '60s. The work still captivates audiences through video, with Milos Forman's film interpretation, and through theater, with Dale Wasserman's adaptation. Rude Mechanicals, a University Activities Center committee, has decided to rise to the challenge of por- traying this diverse group of characters in its produc- tion of "One Flew Over the ., Cuckoo's Nest" Leslie Soranno, ' .'producer of the play and Rude Mechanicals committee chair, One Flew Over said the group is focused on the Cuckoo's recruiting a cast representative Nest of the University community, Mendelsson Theater and has had success with the Tonight at 8 caliber of talent it has drawn to its auditions. While approxi- mately half of the cast comes from performance art majors. the other consists of students with varied backgrounds. ____________ Director Francine Liebling, a third-year Music student, says she chose to do this play for several reasons. She saw .a production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" a few years ago, and she wished to experiment with doing it in a different way, with a larger cast. She also wanted to make it more similar to Kesey's book, and therefore altered Wasserman's script at times. And although she admits that Jack Nicholson did a superb Academy Award winning performance as the protagonist in Forman's 1975 film version, Liebling contends that he only offers a typically Nicholson interpretation, a character dissimilar with Kesey's description. Nurse Ratched, the vicious, exacting health profes- sional who torments and subdues the patients, also is treated in a lighter tone. Liebling said her character does not warrant such treatment without background infor- mation. Liebling practices a rehearsal technique in which she allows the cast to experience the "complete biog- raphy of the character." In order to portray a character properly, knowledge of the character's lifetime is needed, as opposed to just using a script with few DANA LINNANE/Daily Kevin Stahl, Thomas Tate, Garth Heutel and Jeff Fazzola star in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" this weekend. lines, she said. The stage set, designed by Mina Kinukawa, is that of an austere mental ward, precisely the environment that Kesey's characters inhabit. Liebling contends there will be a surprise element in the effects, perhaps in the electric shock therapy room. The pattern of the floors lend a certain force, a perspective. Liebling argues they, along with > the stark white of the set, allow a certain mix of "realism and sur- realism" to emanate from the :.:. the patients are forced to submit to their keepers. It is a paradoxical world. Rude Mechanicals strives to achieve accurate presentation of this world through hard work, as planning started in October 1997. From the technical staff, to the producers and directors, to the cast, the entire endeavor is stu- dent organized and executed. What better way to attest to the power of the young than through a successful production of this critique of "the system." Ken Kesey uses the mental ward to allude to the oppressive- ness of American society in the Beat and Hippie cultures of the '50s and '60s. Liebling asks, "whether his conclusions still hold true in our 'modern age,"' DANA UNNANE/Daily and we may perhaps do the hief Bromden In same, with a view toward the Cuckoo's Nest." optimism of our own times. stage. The play will be set within the physically strong and emotional- ly weak Indian Chief Bromden's recollections and narration. Through his observances, we glimpse the authoritarian world of the mental institution, where instead of therapeutic healing, Ben Green portrays C Rude Mechanicals'"T Primus thrashes hard-core at Swatch's Sno-Core da d4 's 9~aw r &*act S~racc By Cohn Bartos Daily Arts Writer When you think of Detroit, snowboarding probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But during the University's spring break, the first annual Swatch Sno- Core tour rolled through the State Theater in Detroit, joining snowboard culture and music together to make for an interesting night. The audience was as diverse as the lineup, starring the unknown Van Allen Belt, hip-hop heroes Tha Alkaholiks, ° punk wannabes Blink 182, and the always enjoyable, enigmatic Sno-Core Primus. The night started out Tour with a very noisy, ugly set by State Theater Canadian newcomer the Van March 1, 1998 Allen Belt. Featuring Jerry Garcia on drums and some freakish Les Claypool clone on guitar and vocals, the band's brand of spacey, prog rock and very lame Primus imitation threw the audience for a loop. The night became immediate- ly more entertaining, though. As the band thankfully left the stage, a projector dis- played the "South Park" episode where Cartman is contacted by the "visitors." After everyone in the crowd got their laughs in, it was time to laugh some more. Hip-hop drunks Tha Alkaholiks members took the stage and made complete asses of themselves. They proceeded to get wasted and flow uninspiredly through tracks from their three albums as the crowd booed and laughed at their moronic inflatable 40- ounce bottle on stage and two idiots holding Alkaholiks posters on sticks as they rhymed. When the farce ended, another "South Park" episode was shown as everyone's favorite jokesters Blink 182 prepared for their set. As the bassist and guitarist exchanged jokes and insults back and forth, Blink played what sounded like the same song over and over again for about 45 minutes. The trendy 14- year olds with the pierced eyebrows in the crowd seemed to like it, but I was highly unimpressed with the band's effortless, generic set. After a short break and some snowboarding videos, headliners and "South Park" theme-creators Primus took the stage to a roar, as Les Claypool brought out his stand-up bass and played "Sailing The Seas Of Cheese" before the band, including new drummer Brain, launched into "Nature Boy" from 1993's "Pork Soda" Les Claypool, despite a broken foot injured on the first day of the tour, was his masterful self as always on bass, showing his talents on songs like "Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers," "My Name Is Mud" and "Southbound Pachyderm." Guitarist Larry "Lar" LaLonde was rather subdued on stage, as usual, but he was playing far more intricately than his simple fill-in techniques of the past. Brain was both punchy and ani- mated on drums during a drum solo and while making Courtesy of Interscope Primus headlines the SnoCore Tour of punk and hiphop. the older songs take on new life and the newer songs from "The Brown Album" sound better than ever. New tracks like "Bob's Party Time Lounge, "Golden Boy" and "Kalamazoo" went over just as well with the crowd as the older songs, although the crowd was somewhat disappointed that Primus some- how neglected its 1990 debut "Frizzle Fry" altogether. This disappointment soon faded, though, as the good ol' boys brought their set to a close with a ten-minute version of the classic "Tommy The Cat" and the thrashing encore, "Jerry Was A Race Car Driver." The 13-song, 75-minute set seemed a little short, but it alone, along with the South Park episodes, wab worth the price of admission. They made up for the other laughable performances and the fact that there was absolutely no snow anywhere to be found, making this first annual Sno-Core show a success overall. I MICHIGAN ORCHESTRA Steven Bizub, Music Director UM'C> y ' NhAy -- - - -,.p w ~L.- .na .W 3 *w rr-T I - x m LXIT1I1111 A11VIF ll Ii111r! _ t 11I111 1 T IlIE 1 cEl f c ' (I' l W'AillILU' m f--klLLLE t-kLl LL't!1'L .:l;JLJIILILlLlL2 L l!r.. l L ?l!L l! m 4 Saturday, March 148pm rot uI-l A~uA~*,vw hum