Marilyn Zimmerman to lecture at Art & Design auditorium.
Zimmerman's work has addressed gender, poverty, and censor-
ship. 7 p.m.
8 Friday
February 19, 1999
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1 TS
Read Daily Arts for an interview with members of the
innovative Cirque Ingenieux.
Corporate torture makes for laughs in
'Office'
By Erin Podoisky
Daily Arts Writer
I used to work as a clerk in a doctor's
office. One day I came into work and found
out that we were bought part and parcel by a
very large HMO. Suddenly there were a
bunch of nonsensical forms to fill out in trip-
licate every time we wanted to requisition
more staples and five new bosses to answer
to, each secure in their little "I'm upper man-
agement and you're a
faceless, expendable
lackey" job, each intent
on passing on complaints
Office and requests to the next
Space executive up the line
rather than deal with a
problem.
At Briarwood "Office Space," Mike
and Showcase Judge's first foray into
live-action filmmaking
after bringing us the
depravedly entertaining
"Beavis and Butthead"
and "King of the Hill," is
a movie about those
obscenely huge corporations, the ludicrous
bureaucracy they entail and the worker bees
who are mad as hell and refusing to take it
anymore. It stings its target mercilessly.
Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a pro-
grammer whose mind-numbing job is to
update bank software for the Y2K problem.
He spends the bulk of his days staring at his
desk pretending to work and bemoaning his
existence - for him, each day is the worst
day of his life because every day is that much
more horrible than the one before it. He takes
phone calls from Milton, a weird guy in a
neighboring cubicle, in a misguided effort to
alleviate the pain. When this too fails, Peter
enlists the help of a hypnotherapist, who
pitches a coronary from the effort of trying to
normalize Peter's work experience.
Peter's two best friends at work, Samir
(Ajay Naidu) and Michael (David Herman),
must labor under an unpronounceable sur-
name and the curse of a bad pop singer,
respectively. When two efficiency consultants
are brought in by the priggish, hem-and-haw
veep who oversees their work and constantly
asks (although not in any way that would
allow the answer "no" to be acceptable) them
to work on the weekends, Peter snaps. He
skips work, ignores his messages and hits the
consultants with the brutal truth about his
waste of a job which, of course, gets him a
promotion - that's how screwed up this cor-
poration is. Along with Samir and Michael,
he hatches a plot to embezzle money from the
company and live the lush life down in the
Caribbean with the profits.
And then there's Milton. "Office Space" is
actually based on Judge's "Milton" shorts,
established stars. Case in point: Jennifer
Aniston is essentially the lone recognizable
face in the cast, and while her own situation
as the restaurant world counterpart to the
Dilbert disciples (she works at a Fridays-like
establishment where her manager actually
chastises her for not sporting enough "pieces
of flair") is suitably amusing, she stands <
as the weak link in the cast.
"Office Space" is an anthem for anybody
who has ever spent time (or to be more accu-
rate, done time) in a cubicle, a call to arms for
the corporate cogs who know the hell that is a
boss passing the buck. It's incredibly timely,
dealing with a problem that far too many
capable workers know well. And it's incredi-
bly funny - even the extra-work situations
are hilariously frustrating, from the ev;
morning traffic crush opening scene to Pete
friendship with his next-door neighbor in the
(what else?) generic apartment complex he
lives in.
Watching "Office Space" is enough to
make you question whether or not working at
McDonald's would be such a bad thing after
all; at least you wouldn't be locked in a tri-
walled box from 9 to 5, staring at a computer
screen all day long. Like all of us, Peter is
constantly questioning his life choices, won-
dering if there's something better out there,
There is. It's called get them - before thh
get you.
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Jennifer Aniston and Ron Livingston check each other's eye color.
wickedly funny little bits about a Dilbert-like
drone constantly crapped on by his boss. The
live-action Milton (Stephen Root) is a mum-
bling mess who veritably screams "Help me!"
with his splotchy skin, his inability to speak
above a near-whisper and his boundless love
for his red Swingline stapler. Milton is our
sympathetic barometer of pain and insensitiv-
ity as cruelty on top or cruelty is dumped on
him by the evil vice president. It's hard to
believe that one man could be so bizarre or
compliant, but when Milton finally breaks,
it's a breathtaking sight to see.
The mostly no-name cast does a very good
job with Judge's material and because of their
unfamiliarity seem far more effective than
Herbie Hancock electrified Detroit fans
By Garth Heutel
Daily Arts Writer
Herbie. Hancock is "groovy groovy
jazzy fimky," to quote Us3 from their
1993 remix of his tune "Cantaloupe
Island." Well known for his experimental
work with Miles Davis and Wayne
Shorter, Hancock visited Detroit on
Tuesday night to prove that, without syn-
thesizers or horns, the man still has style.
After an introduction by the illustri-
ous Ed Love from WDET, who
explained why he has always referred to
< r'"
t_
Hancock as "the
a
Herbie
Hancock
Orchestra Hall
Feb. 16, 1999
young genius from
Chicago,"
Hancock and his
trio took the stage.
Kenny Davis on
bass and Gene
Jackson on drums
joined Hancock
on the piano, pro-
viding for a more
casual concert, a
return to the early
"straight ahead"
style of his youth.
The trio opened
the set with a Cole
Porter song, "I
topic that may have been the most excit-
ing element of the evening: Gene
Jackson's drumming. Granted, one
doesn't go to a Herbie Hancock show
for the drummer, but in this case that
wouldn't have been such a bad idea.
Beginning with the Stevie Wonder tune
and continuing throughout the entire
second act, Jackson kept the pace and so
much more, adding an astounding level
of energy both in his killer solos and his
support of Hancock.
He was also a key component to the
most enjoyable tune of the evening, the
opener of the second act, the Hancock
classic "Maiden Voyage." Opening with
Hancock tapping the strings in his
piano, closing with a percussive back-
and-forth between Hancock and
Jackson, in between fell a beautiful
interpretation of the smooth tune, kept
sailing along perfectly with the help of
Davis's bass.
The rest of the show maintained that
level of energy and was able to hold the
audience for the entire nearly three hour
performance. With songs such as Don
Henley's "New York Minute" (also from
"The New Standard") and "Some Other
Spring," a Billie Holliday recording, the
band, especially Jackson, never let up.
The solo work of Hancock, which
delightfully hints at the song's melody,
and of Davis, whose earthy, gentle tone
and wonderful sense of melody ideally
fits with the trio, complemented each
other perfectly.
Though multiple Grammy- and
Oscar-winner Hancock is on the road
practically nonstop, there is no excuse to
not take every chance you can get to see
one of the best jazz musicians not yet
dead. Herbie-vores can feel safe in the
knowledge that the Watermelon Man is
here to stay.
courtesy of impact Dnce Theatre
The Impact Dance Theatre will perform this weekend.
Impact Theater to
dance annual show"
Courtesy of Verve
Herbie Hancock brought his groovy, jazzy, funky act to Detroit on Tuesday.
Love You'" which served to set the tone
for the entire evening: an acoustic, more
subtle and mellow sound from the funky
Hancock, all the while maintaining his
signature groove. This lengthy, escalat-
ing tune saw Hancock and the band
cover the spectrum from quiet, reserved
melodies to unrestrained, cardiac drum
solos.
Hancock began the next piece with an
ethereal piano solo. The breezy melody
was pounded out on the upper register of
the instrument and the low keys
responded with single, hanging notes, a
far departure from the riff-based tunes
we associate with Herbie.
Despite the excessive heat at
Orchestra Hall and the occasional cell
phone annoying both the audience and
the performers, Hancock kept the night
in check. While Davis whipped out the
electric bass for the next tune (the only
non-acoustic number), Hancock provid-
ed some commentary on music and life
in general, which was far less interesting
than his piano work.
Though the electricity and the open-
ing bars of one of Hancock's most noto-
riously funky pieces, "Cantaloupe
Island," suggested a return to more
upbeat work, that would have to wait
until the final number. The band main-
tained its subtle mood for this piece,
which might have been a mistake, since
it was difficult to listen to "Cantaloupe"
and not want to see Herbie go bananas
and tear the place down.
The first act closed with a Stevie
Wonder tune, "You've Got it Bad Girl,"
a selection from Hancock's latest
release, 1996's "The New Standard,"
which features the pianist's own inter-
pretation of tunes by today's most popu-
lar composers.
May I, for just a moment, go into a
By Anna Kovalszid
Fine and Performing Arts Editor
Dance, dance, dance! It seems that the
University has been enveloped in this
wonderful artform in the 1998-99 sea-
son. One only needs to think of Bill T.
Jones, Trinity Irish Dance, Razzmatazz!
and Merce Cunningham to realize this
profusion. This weekend, in addition to
Impact Dance
Theatre
Mendelssohn
Theater
Tonight and
Saturday at 7:30
Meryl Tankard
Australian Dance
Theatre, the
University com-
munity will have
the opportunity to
witness its very
own talented per-
formers. But we
are not speaking
of students in the
dance department,
but majors from
all other fields of
study. Yes, it is
time for the
nas turning." But she explained that even
to those who don't know much about
dance, Impact shows are explosive in
many ways, and are crowd pleasers. "The
audience members don't need to feellike
they are sacrificing a Friday or Saturday
night, they will still have fun at the show
Adair said.
There will be 13 pieces performed,
and almost all members of the compao
have choreographed a piece. The choreo-
grapher gets to chose the dancers
involved. The group consists of 13
women and two men. Adair said, "It is a
new element that two men are part of
Impact Dance, and they are exciting
additions to the group:' Out of the
approximately 100 auditioners, only a
handful get picked each year. The com-
nany, while only having one formal shor
each year, takes part of University ever
such as "Dance Marathon" and
"Encompass."
With music by artists ranging from
Janis Joplin to Tori Amos, and pieces
from soundtracks like "Studio 54" and
"Rent" the show is sure to have a sam-
pling for every type of audience member.
And there will even be musical guests, the
a capella group "Gimble in the Wabe."
Impact has been part of the University
Activities Center since the '70s, and h s
received a revival in years past. As A
commented, "Our increased name recog-
nition has contributed to our packed and
lively crowds." This year's show is bound
to be a worthy part of the incredible
dance season with which we have been
blessed.
University of Michigan
Program in Film and Video Studies
announces its annual competition
THE LEONARD AND EILEEN
NEWMAN PRIZE
FOR DRAMATIC WRITING:
$1,000 AWARD
Deadline March 9,1999 by 5:00PM!
The Program in Film and Video Studies is now
accepting scripts for this prestigious competition.
Students enrolled in the College of Literature,
Science and the Arts are invited to submit dramatic
writing - screenplays, stage plays or teleplays.
The winner will be announced as part of the
Hopwood Awards ceremony in April.
(1) submit three copies of the work
(2) submission may be up to 120 pages
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Impact Dance Theatre Show, brought to
you once a year.
I have witnessed their explosive shows
in the past. What seemed novel in their
repertoire was the pure enjoyment, a sort
of dance for dance's sake element which
can be so masked by the many academi-
cally inclined interpretations. One can
understand and enjoy their program, for
it is basically composed of 15 dancers
doing what they love.
As group member Abby Addair com-
mented, "There is a cultural stigma asso-
ciated with dance, that it is a few balleri-
r 3011
The University of Michigan
School of Music
Sunday, February 21
Michigan Chamber Players
Andrew Jennings, Stephen Shipps, Rebecca Ansel, violins
Yizhak Schotten, viola
Erling Blondal Bengtsson, Anthony Elliott, cello
Louis Nagel, Logan Skelton, piano.
* Beethoven: Trio, Op. 1, No. 3
* Dohnanyi: Serenade
* Faure: Piano Quinet No. 2
II,
I