Korean film "Bitter and Sweet" screens at the Michigan. Check
out director Myung-Se's urban satire that compares a subway
platform to a war zone. Random musical numbers express a busi-
nessman's daily adventures. Myung-Se is expected to attend the
reception following the film, which is in Korean with English subti-
tles. Michigan Theater. 7 p.m. $5.25 for students.
Mg a- de St I .p ldat
L-RT
l'omorrow in Daily Arts:
Come back to Daily Arts for a preview of the controversial
new film "American History X."
Tuesday
November 10, 1998
5
PBS builds Lloyd Wright
By Chris Cousino
Daily Arts Writer
"Early in life I had to choose between
honest arrogance and hypocritical
humility. I chose honest arrogance."
Frank Lloyd Wright. Egotist, genius,
monster, rebel, artist, eccentric, self-
indulgent, legend, visionary. While he's
been called many things, to anyone and
everyone who knew him, he was simply
Mr. Wright. And he saw to it that they
called him that, not even Frank or
Frankie for that matter.
The famous, infamous larger than life
architect extraordinaire Frank Lloyd
Wright has captured the attention of men
and women worldwide since his busi-
ness initially boomed in the first decade
of the 20th Century. His tumultuous
escapades and symphonically beautiful
designs are finely captured in the
intriguing documentary film, "Frank
Courtesy of PBS
Fallingwater, a home in Mill Run, Penn., is one of Wright's most famous creations.
B.B King dazzled the crowd at Hill Auditorium on Sunday,
B.B. crowned
By James Miller
Daily Arts Writer
Church this past Sunday was held a little late. We had a
special guest preacher that evening. He was from Indianola,
Miss., and he's been preaching for nearly 50 years.
It's not too much hyperbole to say that a B.B. King con-
cert is like church Sunday. People come dressed in their fin-
ery. Everyone knows most of the words, and what's going
on. Most importantly, everyone who goes feels a little bit
taller when they walk out.
The evening's program at Hill Auditorium got underway
with acoustic blues champion, the Great White Hope of the
country blues, John Hammond. Hammond plays risky
'nusic, especially in these times. The delta and Piedmont
styles of the blues, with aggressive guitar parts and high, tor-
tured singing, are not the most accessible kinds of music,
even with a crowd as open-eared as a B.B. King crowd can
be. But Hammond is a fine player, and an absolute magician
at singing and playing at the same
time.
The problem was the sound guy,
who had the harmonica miked loud
B.B. King enough to play a gravel pit. The
Hill Auditorium sound, especially in the high register,
was too shrill and strident. In an effort
Nov.8, 1998 to make Hammond heard in the cav-
ernous auditorium, they over-ampli-
fied everything. Songs such as
"Preachin' Blues" by Son House and
the ever-present "Walkin' Blues"
require a light touch, and Hammond's
light touch was obscured by the heavy
handed sound work.
His shuffle tunes were fluent and
soulful, however, and with better sound, the rest of the tunes
would'have been more so. The guy can whup some behind
at the Ark and smaller venues. It's a shame that his talent was
obscured this particular night.
But on to the preacher. At any B.B. King concert, the band
comes out and plays a few songs to warm the crowd up a bit
more. Other than just a lip-loosener, this vamping gives the
crowd a chance to realize the caliber of musician that King
carries with him. All three of his horn players are excellent
and tasteful, and the keyboardist James Toney is a phenom-
enal blues player.
We got one of the traditional King openers, Louis Jordan's
"Let the Good Times Roll." Always the showman, King
entered the stage in a brilliant, albeit huge, sequined jacket.
After holding the blessed Lucille above his head for the audi-
ence's adoration, he went into "Why I Sing The Blues".and
the recently recorded "I'll Survive." The last tune was made
with the Rolling Stones, much to King's amusement, calling
Mick Jagger "the world's oldest teenager" before the song
began.
For the next tune, "Payin' the Cost To Be the Boss" King
pulled himself up a seat. "Not because I'm tired," he said.
"But because this is how we reminisce, back over 50 years."
King was getting serious. When B.B. King sits down during
a concert, you know it's time for the sermon.
The songs take longer, and he talks to the crowd. It's
always about love, and he always segregates. First, the fellas
get their speech, about how to treat their ladies, then the
ladies get one about the care and feeding of their men.
"Payin' the Cost ... " was one of these instructional songs.
The classic "The Thrill is Gone" was one of these too.
Apart from being the grittiest and funkiest song of the night,
the homily within the song should have been called "How To
Make Him Wish He'd Stayed Awake Saturday Night." In
between verses, King gave the ladies instructions on how to
how to fake like you're leaving and scare him in being more
"awake" for you. Dig?
No B.B. King concert is complete without getting the
audience into the act, and it joined him on "Since I Met You
Baby" singing one of the verses with him. Besides King's
genuine enthusiasm about getting the crowd to sing, the
band turned in beautiful solos; with special snaps to
"Mighty" Mike Doster, the bassist, who managed to quote
Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" in his solo.
The last two songs "How Blue Can You Get?" and "Please
Accept My Love" are special tunes in the B.B. King canon.
The first has the famous lyric "I gave you seven
children/Now you want to give them back" and the second
is just one of the prettiest and most emotive blues songs.
After a quick run through of Howlin' Wolf's "Rock Me" and
a few guitar picks thrown to the crowd, he was gone.
People say a lot of things about B.B. King concerts, and
his music in general. Music journalists like to fall all over
themselves in their praise of King. So much so that they stop
trying to get across the real meaning of the performance.
So I'll say this: Riley B. King is 73 years old, and he can
still hit the gorgeous high note in "Please Accept My Love."
He still plays a Gibson guitar like an angel of God and he
still sings the blues like his throat was made to do nothing
but that. All hail the King.
Lloyd Wright."
Directed by Ken
S '4 4
Frank Lloyd
Wrigt
PBS
Tonight and
Tomorrow at 9 p.m.
Burns ("The Civil
War," "Baseball")
and Lynn Novick,
"Frank Lloyd
Wright" chroni-
cles the life of the
architect from his
1867 birth in
Wisconsin to his
death in 1959; on
the eve of the
opening of his
final opus cre-
ation, the
Solomon R.
Guggenheim
Museum in New
beauty of Wright's designs is evident in
the smooth, ethereal direction as the
camera traverses through the passage-
ways of his Unity Temple in Illinois.
"Frank Lloyd Wright" engages the vis-
ceral sense of Wright's genius in touring
the spiraling ramp encircling the interior
of the Guggenheim.
While the Guggenheim was Wright's
ultimate triumph, his career began in the
early 1900s after he dropped out of the
University of Wisconsin with aspirations
to work professionally at achieving his
philosophy. He wanted to convey
designs that show his belief that "the out-
side was there chiefly for the inside."
Through the film, Novick conveys that,
"He had a total vision of what this envi-
ronment would be"
As Wright's visions attained increas-
ing popularity and critical acclaim
throughout the early part of the 20th
Century, his infamous scandals and
live-on-the-edge mentality fueled the
legend of Mr. Wright. The complex
Wright, who once poignantly said, "I've
had the father feeling about a building
but never once for my children"left his
first wife with six children and bills to
go off to Europe with his mistress,
Mamah.
While Mamah, whom Novick feels
"was the great love of his life;' Wright
would have other wives and illegitimate
affairs after her more than slightly suspi-
cious death. But ,rumors of Wright's
affair with Ayn Rand and that he was the
inspiration for Howard Roark in Rand's
"The Fountainhead" aren't true. "He did-
n't like Ayn Rand at all," Novick said.
As Wright's love life bounced up and
down, so did his career. His practice hit
rock bottom during the twenties and then
rocketed back to prominence with his
fellowship program, Usonian house
designs, and one the most famous exam-
ples of his organic architecture, the
Fallingwater house.
While Wright's designs had their fal-
lacies, such as faulty ventilation or leak-
ing roofs, his genius has been forever
heralded. For "what mattered to him was
aspiring for something greater."
Although the film lacks commentary of
critics discrediting Wright's work,
Novick explains, "We tried to find them.
But we couldn't." Novick firmly
believes in Wright's genius.
"Sometimes, something is just true."
While Novick directed the majority of
the filming, she worked closely with
Burns to construct the film. As this is the
first time Burns shares a director credit,
Novick has worked closely with Burns
in production of "The Civil War" and
"Baseball;" not to mention her position
as producer for Burn's upcoming series,
"Jazz."
Such a wonderful portrait of an artist
could only come from the creative com-
bination of Burns and Novick. With
"Frank Lloyd Wright;" we have the per-
sonal journey of a man who believed in
what he was doing and put himself first,
and so come one step closer into the
nature of a true genius.
York City. Through rich cinematography
of many of Wright's buildings and a
series of personal interviews with archi-
tecture critics, colleagues, his 100-year-
old son and grandson Eric Lloyd Wright,
"Frank Lloyd Wright" tells a tale that
provides more than just historical facts
- it lays out a deeply human story about
the life of a single man, one which
Novick feels, "engages the subject on a
lot of different levels."
Rich in controversy and filled with
passion, the story of Frank Lloyd Wright
cuts across many boundaries of success,
failure and the journey of a genius.
Novick explains that, "It's a really com-
plicated story and that is what I love
about it."
Novick's passion in bringing a true
SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENINGi
EDWARD
NORTON
EDWARD
FURLONG
'Horse'
put to
pasture
By Matthew Barett
and Aaron Rich
Daily Arts Writers
Bill Clinton and his political band-
wagon storm the big screen in the new
video "I Went Down" Well, not really,
but this film set in Europe, is the story of
two strangers thrown together by fate,
a just out of prison and the other one
away
Giddy-up horse fans, cowpokes and
other farm folks for the release of "The
Horse Whisperer." Robert Redford stars
and directs this gritty horse drama about
a man, a prosthetic leg and a wild buck-
et of oats. Golden Boy "Bob" Redford
sparks up the screen with Kristin Scott
Thomas, a cowgirl a few years his junior.
Comedian Phil Hartman's last movie
is in the special effects comedy
mall Soldiers." Taking a page from
"Toy Story" the makers used computer
Singers,
Singer/Dancers,
Musicians & D.J.'s
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Wednesday, November 18, 1998
Western Michigan University
Dalton Center Lobby
Auditions: 2:30 -5:00 p.m.
Lansing, Michigan
Thursday, November 19, 1998
Michigan State University
Kellogg Hotel & Conference
Center Auditorium
Auditions: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 20,1998
University of Michigan
The Michigan League-
Kalamazoo Room
Auditions: 400 - 6:00 p.m.
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