9 Rosario Ferre will read at Shaman Drum tonight. Author will
read selections from "Eccentric Neighborhoods," the story of a
family's struggle during Puerto Rico's struggle for independence.
8 p.m.
Local writer Craig Holden to read at Borders. Holden will read
and sign copies of "Four Corners of Night." Tonight at 7:30 p.m.
rlr
Ix V
a4 LI
* Weekend etc. magazine brings loads of joy and entertainment
as a reviewer examines the art of Monster Trucking.
Wednesday
January 20, 1999 8
4>
Chorale celebrates MLK Day
By Jeff Druchniak
Daily Arts Writer
It was easy to become overwhelmed by the extensive slate of local events honor-
ing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this past weekend. Certainly, though, one of the high-
lights was the concert given by the Brazeal Dennard Chorale
on Monday afternoon at Rackham.
The appearance of the Chorale, named for its founder and
longtime director, was arranged by Music Prof. and associate
Brazeal Dean Willis Patterson. Patterson described the securing of
Dennard Dennard's choir, which is based in Detroit but tours and travels
Chorale extensively, as a significant coup for the University communi-
Rackham ty
Public Schools.
Dennard's 28-member ensemble combined professionalism and enthusiasm for its
extensive and varied set list. The concert was performed with a brief intermission,
and the first half of the performance was devoted to mostly sacred compositions by
modern black composers, including two demanding cantatas by John Work and
Adolphus Hailstork.
The second half offered arrangements of traditional spirituals, composed anony-
mously and of uncertain historical origin. These included two pieces arranged b
Dennard, and one sparkling contemporary work, "Mary Was the Queen of Galile
composed in the classic spiritual style by Wendell Whalum.
The relatively small size of the choir, as well as the unforgiving acoustics of
Rackham, made the richness and strength of the collective singing tone all the more
impressive. Dennard's ranks did experience a few minor glitches and hesitations in
the first part of the concert, but this might have been related to accompanist Kerry
Price's absence due to a broken ankle, which required choir member Cheryl
Meadows to gamely replace her at the 11th hour.
Baritone Theodore Jones and soprano Brenda Wimberly demonstrated excellent
technique and imposing stage presence, as well as the endurance to each perform sev-
eral of the solos that the chorale's repertoire included.
The most compelling soloist in the ensemble, however, was Martha Boone, who
sumptuous, passionate alto range was almost stunning enough to obscure the persis-
tent wish that she had been allotted more than one opportunity.
Incubus performed to an excited crowd Monday night at St. Andrew's Hall.
Icubusifsed
jazz funk well
Auditorium
Jan. 18, 1999
N
"The appearance of Brazeal Dennard and his Chorale pre-
sents me with a great deal of pride to be able to enjoy their
presence on our campus," Patterson said.
"They are ... the leading ensemble in the country for the
choral repertoire of African American composers, though that
is not all they perform."
The concert was dedicated to the "African American choral
music tradition before and since Dr. King," a tradition Dennard
has participated in not only with his present ensemble but as a composer, high school
music teacher, and administrator, the last two during long service with the Detroit
Film opens closet of Whale's skeletons
By Adlin Rosli
Daily Arts Writer
Incubus apparently does not believe
in relaxing on its days off when on
tour. The group has been the opening
band for the Black Sabbath reunion
show on the west coast and for its days
off from that tour, the group went on a
mini headlining leg. Detroit's St.
Andrew's Theater was part of the leg
this past Monday night. This mini
headlining tour is also Incubus' last
appearance in Detroit for a while.
(Well, at least until they finished mak-
ing a new record and are going on tour
to support it someday.)
Monday's Incubus show, with its
two opening acts, was a show of made
up of the predictable, the unexpected
and the always entertaining Incubus.
The predictable was provided cour-
Incubus
St. Andrew's Hall
Jan. 18, 1999
tesy of the first
opening act that
night, the
Detroit band
D.O.C. As soon
as the audience
heard the first
couple riffs dur-
ing the band's
soundcheck, it
knew the band
was going to be
another one of
those dime-a-
dozen trendy
"rap-core" acts
during the night. The Howling
Diablos played their set with amazing
abandon, and impressed as many as
they disgusted. The group ended its
set with a long drum solo where all
the group members picked up drum
sticks and started whacking away.
Towards the end of the solo, the singer
lit his sticks on fire. It was an experi-
ence reminiscent of Stomp, Sepultura
and Rammstein all at once,
(Stompulturammstein?)
Finally, Incubus made its grand
entrance with, except for bass player
Alex, light tribal makeup adorning
their faces.
Incubus was in amazingly tight
form that night. Everyone in the
group proved themselves to be musi-
cians of the highest order. Drummer
Jose and bassist Alex were locked
together like a Gaelic knot pattern.
Together, they provided a succession
of tight grooves from the night's selec-
tion of songs. Drummer Jose's playing
was one of the best drum perfor-
mances ever heard and bass player
Alex flourished with his Les
Claypool-meets-Flea style.
Guitarist Mike proved to be a wor-
thy contender as well. The man is
undoubtedly one of the most versatile
guitar players.
Singer Brandon and D.J Kilmore
completed the proceedings as well by
providing their own charisma and tal-
ents to the night's set.
Incubus' set left nothing to be
craved as the group played almost all
the songs off its "Enjoy Incubus"
debut album and a healthy dose of
material from "SCIENCE."The songs
that got the greatest response that
night were "New Skin" and
"Redefine." An obscene amount of
crowd surfing and a loud crowd sing-
a-long session occurred during these
two songs.
After a single song was performed
for the encore, the group left the stage
with singer Brandon looking especial-
ly exhausted. The feeling was quite
mutual for the crowd that night, but
that exhaustion was quite possibly
tempered with a feeling of satisfaction
from Incubus' killer show.
By Matthew Barrett
Daily Arts Writer
Sorry to disappoint all the De Niro fans, but there is
only one great "Frankenstein" movie. The life of James
Whale, director of the 1931 version of the horror classic
and its follow-up, "Bride of Frankenstein, is examined
in "Gods and Monsters." Based on the novel "The Father
of Frankenstein" by Christopher Bram, the film exam-
ines the latter part of the director's life and flashes back
to earlier days, which served as inspiration for his films.
Ian McKellen plays Whale in an intense and top-of-
the-line performance. Whale is a bitter man who rarely
leaves his home, and yet he wears extravagant outfits and
spends countless hours dolling his appearance. When a
young journalist comes to his house to interview him,
Whale spends the entire morning getting ready so that he
can impress the reporter when he arrives.
To add spice to the interview process, the homosexual
Whale instructs the reporter to remove one article of
clothing for each question he asks. Judging by the reac-
tion of his maid, Hanna (played wonderfully by Lynn
Redgrave), when she discovers
the two, this isn't the first time that
Whale has played this game. At
one point in the interview when
Gods and the director is told by the reporter
Monsters "It's the horror movies you're
remembered for" Whale fires
back with, "I'm not dead yet?'
At the Michigan But in many ways the director
Theater is. He has suffered a stroke and
seems to have little happiness in
his life. The only companionship
that Whale has is a nagging
housemaid named Hanna.
This all changes when Clay
(Brendan Fraser), a new yard
worker, enters Whale's life. From the second that he eyes
Clay, Whale is hooked. He lures Clay into his life by hir-
ing the worker to pose for his paintings. Whale informs
the model that while he's only interested in Clay's head,
removing that distracting white shirt would really help
the finished product. After his vine swinging in "George
Courtesy of Uonis Gate Pictures
Ian McKellan portrays "Frankenstein" director James Whale In "Gods and Monsters."
of the Jungle, Fraser isn't the first actor who would
come to mind for a role like this, but for the most part he
does a respectable job with Clay.
The relationship between Clay and Whale forms the
film's foundation. Whale seeks companionship and plea-
sure from Clay; his interests, although denied, are sexual.
Clay is not homosexual and struggles with the rela-
tionship. Part of Clay is scared and another part fascinat-
ed by the director. As Whale was in his childhood, Clay
is from the wrong side of the tracks and appears to be just
making ends meet with his yard work.
Although the bond between the characters is the heart
of the film, it becomes a little unbelievable at times. At
one point, Whale makes a very aggressive sexual pass at
Clay, only to have his friend turn around and assist him
in going to bed. Yes, Clay may have very strong feelings
of friendship for Whale, but even a close friend would
have left the situation immediately.
Writer/director Bill Condon takes a large leap towa@
respectability with "Gods and Monsters," a big step up
from "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh" Condon inserts
flashbacks from Whale's childhood, wartime experiences
and wild pool parties that rival those from "The Last
Picture Show," but gets a little heavy handed with his sym-
bols towards the end of the movie when he includes the all
too popular shot of a character wandering around in the
rain. (This shot should have been outlawed by Hollywood
after "The Shawshank Redemption" nailed it.)
The look at the life of James Whale that "Gods
Monsters" provides should be of interest to most m
fans. He was an important and influential director, and
the movie provides a glimpse at some of the circum-
stances that led him to create his masterpieces. Just imag-
ine 50 years from now when "James and Jack,' the story
of a young James Cameron and a ship of dreams hits the-
aters. Almost as scary as the monster itself.
who want to be the next Limp Bizkit.
Despite the band playing a short set, it
still felt like hours due to its complete
void of originality.
The unexpected was next in the
form of The Howling Diablos. A sax-
ophone player and a guitarist who
looked like Jerry Garcia spliced with
Melvin's Buzz Osbourne, a lead
singer in sunglasses a fedora and a
mid-'80s Nike jacket, a percussionist,
a drummer, and a bass player, all
played unabashed pure funk/jazz. One
couldn't help but feel as though he or
she had accidentally wandered into
the wrong venue.
Teh group gave 100 percent, ignor-
ing that it was playing to an adolescent
crowd bent on moshing at some point
Stage adaptation displays family in Basement
.)
'Jesus Christ!'"
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By Jenni Glenn
Daily Arts Writer
Popular author Paul Zindel's "The Effect of Gamma
Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" will be drama-
tized for this weekend's Basement Arts show. Zindel's
books, such as "The Pigman" and "Pardon Me, You're
Stepping on My Eyeball," are
primarily aimed at a young adult
audience.
"Marigolds" reflects the con-
The Effect of cerns of teenagers by focusing
on a dysfunctional family. The
Moon Marigolds feelings of sisters Ruth and
Arena Theater Tillie are common among
Tomorrow through young people. "You have a very
Saturday real family going on here;" said
director Kevin Raleigh, a Music
junior .
Zindel's story focuses on the
relationship between the sisters
and their mother Beatrice.
"Beatrice is a very angry and
depressed woman;' Raleigh said. "Her life has not
worked out the way she wants it to, and she will not
blame herself"
Beatrice's instability rubs off on her daughters. Ruth
floats in and out of mental institutions and acts out,
while Tillie withdraws into her own imaginary world.
Although the show portrays an extreme, Raleigh
said he felt drawn to the realistic characters. While first
reading the script two years ago, it reminded him of an
acquaintance he knew when he was growing up. "I
knew a mother who was like Beatrice," he said. "I
knew I could put it on stage and make it real."
Raleigh said his directing strategy involves making
the production as real as possible while creating a
heightened sense of drama. "Theatre sort of focuses all
those passionate parts of ourselves on stage," he said.
The actors fuel that realistic, yet larger-than-life
atmosphere with their chemistry. This cast's ensemble
of five women features Music students Jessica Spenny,
Stacy Harold, Betsy Foster, Sera Bonfiglio and Beth
Tyszkiewicz. "The highlight will be when those girls
go out on that stage, and they're beautiful, and they act
to the best of their ability and they're happy with their
performance" Raleigh said.
All the actresses play a crucial role in the show. "If
you have a large part, if you have a small part, you're
an actor," Raleigh said. "You do your job. It's everyone
working together that makes a show:' he explained.
Raleigh said he views the director's role as being in
charge of every part of the play. "Directing is one of the
most difficult jobs" he said. "You're responsible for
every single thing that goes up on the stage, whether
it's your idea or not. Everything the audience hews,
sees or smells is your responsibility."
Putting on shows through Basement Arts allows the
director to be part of all the levels of the performance.
Raleigh involves himself in aspects of the show rang-
ing from technical details such as music to staying up
late brainstorming new ideas.
"I found Basement Arts was an ideal place to put on
the kind of shows I want to direct," he said. "Inv ;
many ways, they will let you do just about an
you want to do?'
Among his other duties, Raleigh said he must be
flexible and help the cast give their best performances.
"As a director, you need to care more about your dast
than yourself" he said.
Raleigh also aims to communicate a message with
"Marigolds" from Zindel's dysfunctional family to the
audience. "No matter what kind of deep, nasty ... pits
we dig ourselves into, no matter how far down we
slide, we'll always have one thing,"he said. "That's that
wispy-looking, sort of crooked, Charlie Bro
Christmas tree thing at the bottom of Pandora's b
and that's hope."
'Marigolds'plays at 7p.m. with a special 11pm.
performance on Friday. The-Arena Theater is located
on the ground floor of the Frieze Building. Admission
is free, but seating is limited to first-come first-served.
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