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WEDNESDAY
APRIL 5, 2000
Cabaret struts into Power Center for weekend run.
By Nick Falzone
lDaily Arts Writer
Musical theatre is rarely valued as
highly for its ability to teach as it is
for its ability to entertain. Many the-
atergoers attend
Cabaret
Power Center
Agri! 68 at 8 p.m.
April 9 at 2 p.m.
musical perfor-
mances and
leave feeling
moved by a
show's song and
dance compo-
nents, but not by
its political or
societal mes-
sages. Linda
Goodrich hopes
to alter this per-
ception of the
musical theatre
with her rendi-
tion of the
wond-renowned
which runs this
grapher of the production as well as a
Musical Theatre professor, is well
suited for her role as the show's over-
seer, having appeared on Broadway
in its 1987 revival. There, she por-
trayed a Kit Kat girl, a performer in
the late 1920s German political club
from which the musical receives its
name. Eventually, she moved on with
the production across the country and
throughout Europe.
As she shifted locations. Goodrich
also shifted positions in the show,
acting as an understudy while assis-
tant stage managing on the national
tour, helping to set and choreograph
the show on the other side of the
Atlantic. Her incredible knowledge
of the show helped her immensely in
the creation of her own production of
the musical, one that is notably dif-
ferent from the version currently on
tour throughout the country.
"The version on tour now is very
decadent from the beginning, very
glamorous," Goodrich said. "But it
doesn't always confront the audience;
it doesn't necessarily make them look
inside their hearts. In my version, 1
try to make the audience care more
about the people; I try to make them
think" about the German political sit-
uation, she said.
Fortunately for Goodrich,
"Cabaret" is almost guaranteed to
force the audience to think in this
manner; it is one of the most politi-
cally based shows ever to come out of
the musical theatre genre. Taking
place in the heart of Berlin during the
shift from the Weimar Republic to the
Nazi regime, the musical delves
deeply into the political tensions of
the time period through two principal
love stories.
The first main plot line, by far the
more famous of the two, focuses on
the developing relationship between
Clifford Bradshaw, a visiting
American novelist, and Sally Bo lets,
the young British nightclub (lancer
portrayed by Liza Minnelli in the
1972 film version of the musical. As
the show progresses, the two expatri-
German shiksa landlady Fraulein
Schneider falls in love with a Jewish
fruit seller, Herr Schultz, she encoun-
ters a great deal of opposition from
those around her. The two struggle
throughout the show to keep their
relationship alive despite the constant
pressure working to break them
apart.
The show, rife with political ten'
sion in its scenes outside the Kit Kat
Club, also shows a lighter side of
society inside the cabaret. In its
nightclub performances, the musical
effectively juxtaposes seriousness
with farce, poking fun at politics
while recognizing the gravity of the
German shift to the Nazi regime.
Never losing sight of the political
issues that later pushed German
into World War II, "Cabaret" offers
view of late 1920s Berlin that enter-
tains as it educates. And, as Goodrich
points out, the show's didactic value
is one of the primary reasons it has
lasted for such a long time on the
musical theatre scene.
Courtesy of University Productions
Cabaret plays at the Power Center for three nights this weekend.
show, "Cabaret,"
weekend under the auspices of
University Productions.
Goodrich, the director and choreo-
ates move rockily throughout their
relantioship while Hitler slowly rises
to power outside the cabaret walls.
The second story line, more politi=
cally based than the first, explores
the issue of anti-Semitism. As a
FOR LOVE OF THE DVD
'Life' a showing of
thee brutal comedies
ourtesy 01 emo
make
If "Dead or Alive 2" was a
Pokemon character, it would be
named Jigglypunch. That's right, the
game that set new standards of
lideogame bounciness in the chests
of its female sprites has returned
:with a sequel further exploring the
boundaries of physics models.
"DOA2" explores much more area
than that, although the above men-
tioned attributes have been monopo-
lizing most of the attention towards
the game. The game resembles a
This past summer I went to Yankee Stadium with but one
goal in mind. - to see the New York Yankees lose. They
were playing the Montreal Expos, so I knew that my work
was cut for me, but I figured that my new fitted Expos cap
(possibly the only one in the stadium) coupled with some
vocal support would be just enough to help spring the upset.
It didn't happen.
In fact, there wasn't much for Expos fans to cheer about
that day as David Cone pitched the 18th perfect game in the
history of major league baseball. My heart was broken. And
then out of nowhere came "For Love of the Game,' a clas-
sic baseball film where the Yankees finally get a taste of
their own medicine..,t
In the film, Kevin Costner plays Billy Chapel, a life-
long pitcher for the Detroit Tigers,
who, because of a proposed trade, is
Grade: B+ making his last start for the team.
For Love of Raising the stakes for Chapel is the
fact that the game is on the road and
the Game against the division-leading
DVD Yankees. As Chapel methodically
Universal mows down Yankees, he flashes
Reviewed by back to different moments of his
Daily Film Editor life, reflecting on his career and the
Matthew Barrett rise and fall of his relationship with
Jane (Kelly Preston).
Lending support to Chapel throughout the entire expe-
rience is Gus Sinski (John C. Reilly), a catcher for the
T'igers and the man that Chapel demands to have behind
the plate in his final performance. Reilly, an underrated
actor best known for his roles in films of Paul Thomas
Anderson, is so convincing and powerful in the part that
it wouldn't be that surprising to see a few Sinski jerseys
pop up at Comerica Park over the course of the season.
'he DVD version of "For Love of the Game" comes
packed with plenty of extra features that should be of
great interest to fans of the film. For starters, there's a
documentary on the making of the movie which fea-
tures interviews with director Sam Raimi and the
By Jenni Glenn
Fine & Performing Arts Editor
"Family Life: Three Brutal
Comedies" will experiment not only
with themes but also with the technical
aspects of the show when it comes to
the Basement Arts stage this weekend.
The performance marks the first
time that a Basement Arts show will
build a complete set and then load it
into the Arena Theatre. This type of set
building is normally only done in larg-
er theaters and is not typically feasible
due to the Basement Arts budget of
time and money.
The production staff of "Family
Life" decided to build the elaborate set
designed by Tim Reynolds in order to
add a new dimension to the Arena
Theatre. Some pieces of the finished
Kevin Costner plays Billy Chapel in "For Love of the Game."
majority of the actors. The lo umentary emphasizes
the importance that was placed ot making the base-
ball seem realistic and stresses the fact that Kevin
Costner threw every single pitch for his character.
Several deleted scenes are also included, many of which
are just slight variations of scenes in the finished
product. And while some of the scenes are entertain-
ing on their own, keeping them from the film's final
cut makes sense when the already 1 38 minute running
time is taken into account. There's also a trivia game
on the history of perfect games included, which if you
answer correctly sends you to "Slide, Babe, Slide," a
short film starring baseball legend Babe Ruth.
"For Love of the Game' is a great movie for baseball
falls and a dream come true {r Detroit Tigers fans. We
can only hope that at some point in this baseball season
the film's plot repeats itself when Jeff Weaver, or anoth-
er member of the Tigers, pushes back the sun and shuts
down the Yankees with nothing short of perfection.
F amily
Life
Arena Theatre
Apri 6.7. & Sat 8 $.m.
Apri 7at 11 p.m.
"Family Life" set
will be perma-
nently donated to
Basement Arts
after the show
ends, leaving a
legacy from this
production. "The
Basement is
going to be used
in a way its never
been used
before," director
Marya Keefe
said. "We wanted
to use the space
looks at another dysfunctional family
celebrating the mother's birthday. "The
plays deal with relationships between
parents and children and what happens
when that communication fails,"
Keefe said.
Keefe selected the script by play-
writing Prof. Wendy Hammond for her
senior directing project because of its
powerful, universal message. "When I
finished reading it (for the first time),
I was shaking," she said. "The plays
are pertinent to decisions I'm making
at this point in my life and decision I
see my friends making."
The elements of personal truth in
the show present a directing cha
lenge to Keefe. She said that som
times she feels too emotionally
involved with the show. "At some
point, it's time to just be a director
and not be viscerally affected by the
piece,"she said.
The emotional stories impacted
the cast, which is composed of
School of Music students Julia Siple,
Andrew Bielski and Sandra
Abrevaya, in a similar way. Th i
actors created acting exercises in
order to reach the necessary emo-
tional state to bring the "Family
Life" personalities to life. "It has to
come from (the cast) because the
characters are inside those bodies,"
Keefe said. "People who come to see
this show are going to be surprised
because they're doing things they've
never done before."
The actors faced the added chal-
lenge of being double cast in th*,
production. Each actor portrays two
parts, one older and one younger, to
show the development of a single
personality type over time. "It's not
that they're playing the same charac-
ters," Keefe said. "They're using the
same behavioral patterns that repeat
themselves unless the cycle stops."
Between the powerful themes, the
comic script and the new set, "Famil
Life" offers plenty of enticements t
its audience. Keefe hopes that those
in attendance will recognize elements
of their own experiences in the show
and have cause to reexamine them.
"The way these plays are written,
everyone has a sort of personal expe-
rience with them, whether it's from
theater or not," she said.
Grade: +
Dead or
Alive 2
For Dreamcast
Tecmo
Reviewed by
Daily Arts writer
Ted Watts
hybrid of two
previously
r e I e a se d
Dreameast
fighters, "Virtua
Fighter 3" and
"Soul Calibur."
The complicat-
edly rendered
backgrounds
and excellent
character design
in a way that people would walk in and
say, 'This is different."'
The set also reflects a central theme
in the three short plays, the contrast
between fantasy and the real world.
The scene appears normal to the audi-
ence at first glance but gradually
reveals its hidden incongruous aspects
during the course of the action. "There
is this very strange line between the
absurd and reality in these plays"
which the set embodies, Keefe said.
The comedic action taking place on
the set focuses on the theme of
strained familial ties. The first play
studies an argument between parents
and a child over the topics of love and
cockroaches. "Minna and the Space
People" the next piece, follows a man
trying to convince his sister that she
cannot communicate with aliens using
her mascara wand. The final story
bring "Soul Calibur" to mind, while
"DOA2"'s cartoonish character color
scheme, hand to hand combat sys-
tem and occasionally multileveled
combat levels recall "VF3."
Which is not to sav that "DOA2"
is redundant. The game merges
attributes from both games is a very
See DEAD, Page 9
Courtesy of Universal
John C. Reilly and Kevin Costner play for the Detroit Tigers, a highly underrated team, in "For Love of the Game."
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