University Symphony Orchestra to present free concert. While
Guiseppe Verdi was famous for "Aida" and "La Traviata,"and the
UNiversity Symphony will perform his "Overture to La Forza del
Destino" as well as Walton's "Cello Concerto" with soloist
Thomas Gregory tonight. Hill Auditorium. The performance begins
at 8 p.m. Admission is free.

Z nrgi F t~iig
LRT

Tomorrow in Daily Arts:
Wondering what to watch on television? The Daily Arts
television reviewers have been compiling information about
syndicated programs, such as Whoopi Goldberg's "Hollywood
Squares."
Tuesday
October 20, 1998

8


Tritt lands in gutter but
Sawyer Brown rides high

'NYPD' picks up Schroder.

By Curtis Zimmermann
Daily Arts Writer
Both Sawyer Brown and Travis
Tritt kept making appeals to the
Red Wings fans at their show at
The Palace of Auburn Hills on
Friday evening. Sawyer Brown's
appeal was somewhat legitimate
since two members of the band
are from Michigan. But Tritt's
attempts at pleasing the Detroit
fans - such as his set - became
tiresome.
The combination of these two
well-established acts failed to
completely fill the arena, despite
all the hype the show had in the
previous weeks on local radio sta-
tions. Even the -crowd didn't
resemble the usual Palace country
audience. While there a few cow-
boy hats, they weren't the domi-
nating style. This is rather sur-
prising since both acts have a
,sound that is much more tradi-
tional than many of today's acts.
Sawyer Brown has been play-
ing together for nearly 18 years
and first broke onto the national
scene in the mid-'80s during
which time it managed to build a
loyal following. But the extent of
its success, while nothing small,
hasn't been overwhelming and its
music isn't played on the radio
nearly as much as Tritt's. This
became abundantly clear as lead
singer Mark Miller held up his

5<
L.:
f i.
Courtesy of Warner Brothers
Travis Trtt disappointed as Friday's headliner at the Palace.

By Ed Sholinsky
Daily Arts Writer
Something may be astir. ABC
refused to let critics review the season
premiere of "NYPD Blue."
Perhaps ABC isn't in a sharing
mood because of the mystery sur-
rounding the new season of "Blue."
The sixth season features the depar-
ture of Jimmy Smits' Detective Bobby
Simone after the first few episodes of
the season. So, for the second time
since its stellar debut in 1993, "Blue"
has to replace its leading man.
Enter Rick "Not Ricky" Schroder.
Ricky reports for duty on Dec. 1, play-
ing Danny Sorenson.
Both "Blue" creator, Stephen
Bochco, and ABC hope the show will
improve its ratings with the appear-
ance of Schroder. Last season, which
was atypically weak in both content
and ratings, saw Bochco focus his
attention on his atrocious "Brooklyn
South." This season, however, Bochco
is back, and that can only mean good
things for "Blue"
and the show's
45 fans.
Bochco, the
NYP im bhind

Courtesy of ABC

Rick Shroder looks to fill Jimmy Smits' shoes In "NYPD Blue."

Blue
ABC
Tonight at 10 p.m.
would never have1

genius oe nn
"Hill Street
Blues," "LA
Law" and
"Murder One,"
has helped define
TV in the '80s
and the '90s.
Without Bochco,
shows like
"Homicide" and
"Law and Order"
been possible. With

microphone asked
sing along - and
Travis Tritt &
$T*YW r own
Palace of Auburn Hills
Oct.16, 1998
resounding roar.
The band madeL

I the crowd to
J then was met
with silence.
At one point
he even had
to stop a
song, which
he claimed
was one of
their biggest
hits, and said
how it would
be "Really
cool, if the
audience
acted like it."
This was than
met with a
up for the audi-

are.
Most of Travis Tritt's tunes are
about essentially modern cowboy
anthems: about drinking and get-
ting dumped, the stereotypical
country lyrics. In his music, he
emphasizes the importance stay-
ing true to the sounds of old
school country and rock 'n' roll.
When he emerged looking like a
member of Spinal Tap in reveal-
ingly tight black leather pants,
that the legitimacy of this came
into certain question.
The high point of his set came in
the middle when his band left the
stage and he played four songs
without accompaniment. While
doing so, he demonstrated his abili-
ties as a guitar player and showed
that he isn't some Nashville puppet
who has to be carried by his back up
band. The rest of this set was decent
with some other highlights which
included; "Call Someone Who
Cares," and a surprising cover of
Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive."
The only song they he didn't exe-
cute well was the power ballad "Tell
Me I Was Dreaming" his voice was
really straining when trying to hit
the lower notes in the song.
The encore Tritt gave was mis-
erable. After 10 minutes, which

was enough time for half the
crowd to leave, he came back on
stage. Instead of starting up with
a song he began to read out a
thank you list which included
Detroit's two country stations, all
of his sponsors - for those
members of the crowd who were
to far away to see the Pontiac
signs on the back of stage - and
of course his fans.
Finally, he started playing again
to a near-empty arena. His last few
songs lacked any real intensity.
Even his performance of "Sweet
Home Alabama," which seems to
be a standard at most country
shows these days was rather weak.
It was a shame that he tried to
appeal to the audiences sentiments
with a standard instead of his own
material of which he does have a
very decent amount.
Sawyer Brown and Travis Tritt
have both managed to stay true to
the sound of country music. But
Sawyer Brown did a better job
making its material more accessi-
ble and believable and in doing so
managed to upstage its headliner.
Tritt showed that being more
dominant on the charts doesn't
always guarantee your audience is
going to stick around to hear you.

"Hill Street Blues" (one of television's
greatest series), Bochco redefined the
cop show, shifting the focus from
action to morality. In Bochco's cop
shows, there are no good guys and no
bad guys - there are just flawed
human beings trying to get by.
Sometimes the "good" guys, the cops,
do the wrong thing; sometimes the
"bad" guys, the criminals, aren't so
evil.
"Blue" operates in this gray area.
Yes, Bochco does glamorize police
work, but he's not above infusing his
cops with a dark side.
For its entire run, Dennis Franz's
Detective Andy Sipowicz has
anchored the show. When "Blue" pre-

miered, Sipowicz was a drunken racist
set on destroying his career. After
being shot by an underworld figure,
Sipowicz found himself on the path to
recovery. He stopped drinking and his
natural ability as master detective
resurfaced. Along the way, Sipowicz
has struggled with sobriety; reconciled
with his estranged son, saw his son die
from gun violence, got married, had a
son and survived a battle with cancer.
While two time Emmy-winner
Franz has held the show together,
"Blue" has seen leading men come
and go. First was David Caruso as
Detective John Kelley, who left after
his popularity skyrocketed during the
show's first season, to do movies.
Though there were rumors from enter-
tainment sources that Caruso might
reappear and replace the departing
Smits, these rumors proved way off
mark. It was well publicized that
Caruso left "Blue" on not-so-swell
terms, and his return would be unlike-
ly.
But the fact of the matter is "Blue"
was never as good after Caruso left.
Starting with the show's daring and
controversial pilot - still the show's
best episode and one of TV's finest
moments - Caruso and Franz had an

on-screen chemistry that Smits and
Franz could never match. That's notO
say that the Smits episodes lacked
quality, just that they could not touch
the first season.
Still, "Blue" under Smits generated
some of the series' best episodes. The
story arch involving the death= of
Sipowicz's son has a special place in
the show's pantheon of great story.
lines.
Since ABC didn't feel genero
that can be said about "Blue"'s seas*
premiere is what "TV Guide" and
ABC Web pages have printed. The
most important parts of the season
premiere are the setting up of Bobby
Simone's departure and his stabbingaL
the hands of a murder suspect. Since
Smits and Schroeder will never share
any screen time, it will be a while
before Smits leaves for good. Smrits'
fans will see "Blue"'s resident heart-
throb throughout the month
November, until Schroder takes over
in December.
At its best, "Blue" is amazing
Hopefully with the return of Bochco
and the appearance of Ricky the
"Blue" will recover from a mediocre
fifth season and restore itself to rts
former glory.

ences lack of knowledge of its
music. The band managed to hold
the crowd's attention for the full
set playing its brand of country
rock while hamming it up on
stage. What made this all the
more appealing was its songs all
had a certain wit and the tunes
that weren't funny weren't nearly
as trite as so many country songs

Ba
Bulloc sinks, agan, on video

I

By Matthew Barrett and
Aaron Rich
Daily Arts Writers
"Eddie Adams from Torrence." Errr,
maybe not, but Dirk - well, actually
Mark Wahlberg" - is back digging in
"The Big Hit" After doing a film
loosely based on John Holmes,
Wahlberg needed a little release and
found it in the form of this slick flick.
Jack Horner thinks that all of the men
in this movie will become big, bright,
shining stars. If we're lucky, soon we'll
see a documentary on the making of
"The Big Hit" by Amber Waves.
"Sassy" Sandra Bullock slips to a
new career low in "Hope Floats." This
weepy flick shows a Texan rekindling
the coals of her love life after an

the bar for films

New On
Video This
Week

embarrassing trip to a TV talk show. It
also stars Harry Connick, Jr. as the
man who helps Sandie get her groove
back. Director Forrest Whitaker raises

about jilted lovers.
After "Hope
Floats;' it would
take Jack
Dawson in a
deep-sea diving
getup to save
Bullock's sinking,
career.
Like a rose,
finally reaching

Adams Family" for this former child
star. This twisted tale of sexual rela-
tionships, family values and a spunky
teen serves up heaps of laughs ai'd
illicit affairs. Picture Lisa Kudrow
the opposite of sex.
For those left unsatisfied with .
first "Species" movie, we offer tTh:
second generation, "Species II." This,
sequel is about as welcome as a late-
inning Yankees grand slam. Michael:
Madsen, the only non-alien from the:
first film desperate enough to come
back for seconds, shakes his well-
defined booty in hopes of hooking 4p
with Natasha Henstridge. The odds of
appreciating this film and the Tigs
winning the World Series next ye
about even. Tony Clark: Dream on.

MGCHIG/A
STUDENT
A SSEMBL Y
FALL '98 ELECTIONS
NOVEMBER 18 £ 19
POSITIONS A VAILABLE:
MSA REPRESENTA TIVES /N:

its full blossom, Christina Ricci has
become a respected movie actress and
quite a woman. "The Opposite of Sex"
confirms that there is life after "The

. .

I

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