ARTS The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 20, 2000 - 9 ART's 'Stag' a fairy tale for all ages W-y Charity Atchison If you're tired of your midterms, tali a break m the land of Serendipp where, according to actress Kristin Goto, "bad things don't happen." Set ir' TV gets 'Bamboozled' by Lee By Christopher Cousino Dally Arts Wrter "We Brothers.- "U Pick a Negro." When writer-director Spike Lee visited the University last February to speak about filmmaking and his latest yet-to-be released feature, he bitingly joked about the acronyms for the television networks WB and UPN. Lee's new film, "Bamboozled," is a brutal racial satire with the courage to uncover and reveal the horrible entertainments of the early 20th Century in juxtaposition with the seemingly fine present situation for American audiences and, specifical- King Stag Power Center Tomorrow at 7 p.m. tihe Oriental kingdom of Ser e n d i pp o. "The King Stag" is a fairy tale for all ages. Written by Carlo Gozzi. the fairy tale draws from Japanese bunraku, Indone- sian shadow pup- petry aid the lively Italian Re n a i s sanc e Gour tesy of (Geffen Records The Roots are headlining the Okayplayer Tlour, which hits Detroit on Sunday, Okayplayer To ready to rock teii tState, ly, A frican-American Bamboozled Grade: B At Quality 16 and Showcase roles in culture and society. Along with his intelligent casting of characters, inCludim Damon Wayans. Jada Pinkett-Smi th and Tommy Davidson, Lee barks at everyone involved in the American media, attacks with an angry, offensive gait and rages in force and heartsinking imaerV - all to strike home the important problem of the moment concerning the sad, racist state in which Lee sees the American media. "Bamboozled" is a satire (which Lee makes a point to define at the Americans in hopes he will make a point about racial role stereotyping and get fired. However, Dunwitty loves his pitch for "Mantan, the Modern Day Minstrel Show,' a flagrant play on minstrel shows of the early 20th Century where characters put on black-face and performed degrading interpretations of African-Americans, big lips and "Yessuhs" in all. Portraying the singing and dancing Mantan is Savion Glover, seen recently on stage in "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk." With his sidekick Sleep 'N Eat (Davidson), the pair of minstrels, backed by their stage band the Alabama Porch Monkeys (The Roots), become TV sensations across the country. Before long, everyone is laughing about the min- strel character as children put on black face masks for Hal- loween and fans buy loads of minstrel merchandise. Sloan's brother, Big Black (Mos Def), a leader of a militant rap group, fights an outspoken, violent battle to end the show. And sure, enough "Mantan" eventually self-destructs - as does "Bamboozled" to an extent. The premise of Lee's film is incredible. He hits on an American problem here and now, throwing it in your face and forcing you to watch the old, painful Minstrel images along with his satirical lampooning of modern rap videos and so-called "black sit- coms." However, the film runs its two hour length too long, desparatly needing another round of editing. By the end, there seems to be a shred of a story left to tell. Lee, however, brilliantly leaves us with a montage of old min- strel footage and cartoons, which make for the most pow- erful, poignant part of the film. Shot on digital video (Lee claims it's an aesthetic to make the film look like TV), the footage at times looks really dirty and pixelated. In that regard, many of the electric beauty in Lee's previous efforts is lost in the imagery. "Baboozled," though, isn't so much a film, but a social message. Lee makes his statement loud and clear - we as a culture must move on, but first we need to face today's minstrel, the J.J. Walkers, the "Mo' Money"'s and change the "only" parts for African-Americans. street theater, It s a light and comic story of a search for love. The handsome King Deramo is looking for a wife who will love him for him and not for his money: The King has a magical statue to help him deter- mine whether or not the ladies are sin- cere in their pursuit with their love or are just out for his cash. As with every good fairy tale there is a bad guy, in this case Tartaglia, a Prime Minister who wants his dauehter larice, played by Kristine Goto, to Yiarry the prince. But alas, Clarice loves Leandro. Leandro's sister, Angela, is the love interest of Tartaglia's eye, but is in love with Deramo. There is also a love triangle to complicate matters. "The Kinu Stau" also has another essential fairy tale element, the enchant- ed forest, where Tartaclia works his evil On the King. Deramo has the ability to put himself into the body of any other *reature, and Tartaglia tricks Deramo, learning his spell, and puts himself into the Kin's body in order to win the heart of Angela. But don't fret. Love con- quers all. And like in any good fairy tale, they will live happily ever after. "The King Stag" will be performed by the Harvard-based American Reper- tory Theater. ART has been dedicated to progressive productions of forgotten past works and those of the old master * o. Julie Taymore. who also did cos- iting for "The Lion King:" designs .he production's costumes. In this pro- duction the actors wear large masks, wvhich obscure much of the actors' faces. Goto said of the masks, "initially they are challenging, because actors are accustomed to using their faces. They obscure what you use, having some- thing over the face other skills are required.", The actors have to incorpo- *te more of their body and voice than they normally would without the masks. Lively voices and body mowe- ments will be used to pick up where the actor's faces are left out. Goto says. "The show is so full of joy and is easy to fall in love with:' Johnson &rings soul to Borders By Jee Chang D). i .Arts tWriter Singer sonrwriter \ann Johnson made short appearance at Borders Wednes- y night as a part of her radio promto- fional tour. She performed two songs. answered questions from the audience, I ty Jacari Melton )ly Arts Writer The year 2000 has seen its share of ipod hip-hop oriented tours. The Lvri- c t Lounge, Spitkickers and the Good- vile tours weCre just soIe of the miore miin1orable. Contiinuine wi t this trend is the Okayiphtver tout', leadline d Cayplayer by the Roots, which comes to Tour Detroit this Sun- tate Theater da. Sulay at 7:30 p.m. The basis for the tour IS the w'ebsit e w wit i okar plannomC7, which started in 11999 as the Roots 1 home- pare.5ince its inceptioni, how\e.er. it has gown to include other artists and groupsconsidered on the cutting ede of urbn music. Present occupants of* the sittinclude Common. D' Anuelo. the Jaz.fatnastees, Talib Kweli & I hi- Tek ancDilated Peoples in addition to the Root. So fat the tour has included a num- ber of ats. For the Detroit show, the advertis'd acts include Dead Prez, Bahamaca, Talib Kweli, the Jazzyfat- nastees aid Slum Village among oth- ers. It's iniortant to stress that these are the advertsed acts. In past Okayplaver shows, stecial nuests have made appeatanc , an clement that 0rgainizets of the ever hope Will draw m tore aticn- dants. I lowevet draini afis shouldi't lie that difficul E very act on the tour has a strong folleving especially the Roots. Comine oflthe Grammy winning 1999 release "ThIgs Fall Apart," members of the crewtook a short hiatus from each other 0 pursue different w'orks. Drurntier uestlove toured W1ith D'Angelo aswell as contributed to the production o several albums, including Common's "like Water For Chocolate' R alizel .the"Godtfather of Noyze.. released hisown album and Black Thought is seto drop a solo recordin i in the near fot re. Part of the Roots' appeal is their use of instrumiiients, a rarity in a hip-hop world ruled by turtitables and digital audiotapes. Also. they are extremely eneretic and keep crowds involved throuclh standard segments and attrac- tions like "Hip-Hop 101," which fca- tures performances of classic and contemporary hip-hop and ftink clas- sics. and either Scratch's or Ralizel's vocal antics. All in all, they are one of the most innovative groups in music today. It s important to re me m be r, though, that the other acts on the bill are no less able to rock the mic. On October 17th, Talib Kweli and DJ II i-Tek released their highly anticipated ful l-length debut, "Reflection Eternal." They've spent the last several mIionths in a constant state of touritn , appearin with Dilated Peoples and on the Spit- kickers tour. Although Kwel i is often overshadowed by his Black Star cohort Mos Def, he can hold his own and should be viewted as one of the best MCs out currently. li late 1999, the Jazzyfatnastees released their album "The Once and Future." However, this R&B duo is probably better known for the back- ground vocals they've provided for the last few Roots albums. They buck conventional R& B trends by using instrUmentation and not talking about "Bills, Bills, Bills." or other things of that nature. (Goodvibe label mates Slum Vil- lace aiid Bahaniadia bring iiore Ce\e eiiiiore f11v\or. Slum's Iy1rics and imiusic put the fun back into hip-hop while at the same time celebrating their hometown of Detroit. Bahama- dia is one of the best female MCs around with her somewhat monoto- ne flow and good lyrical content. To say the least, the Okayplaver four is special. The quality of the acts is impressive as well as the fact that one show could accommodate them all. If c erything gaoes accord- ing to plan, this may go do\\n as one of the best hip-hop tours in a year that featured a number of them. beginning of the film) about television broadcasting con- cerning a fledglig network in desparate need of a hit show. Producer Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport) complains that his top writer Pierre Delacroix (Wavans) writes shows that are too vwBlte. At one point he tells Delacroix. "I'm blacker than voi,. a statement that Duiiwittv enforces with his photo array of African-American heroes (Kareem. Ali .Jordan, etc.) hanging in his office. Along with his assitant Sloan (Pinkett-Smith), Delacroix creates the ultimate, offensive degradin show for African- .4 DE. 1 Vann Johnson Borders October 18, 2000 enough to have an had a table selline ('Ds and signedl autographs. Johi- son has per- f'orned xith Michael Bolton, Yanni and Kenny G. and has an upcoming perfor- mance with Ron- tne Laws ii Los Anees. Several niehts before, 'Thie M ichi igain Daily was f'ortunate interview with John- son, Johnson's bold, warm personality caught tme by surprise. She is not only a ' at vocalist. but an inspirationalist. Johnson is full of positive energy, and is passionate about making a difference in this world. Her music is is meant to niove people's lives towards a positive and spritual direction. Johnson is a very much a spritual per- JOIN T-IE MOST PROMISING PROFESSICN OF THE 21ST CENTURY THE AMERICAN WEST Out of Myth, Into Reality October 6-December 31,2000 Not all heroes of the Wild West wore pants. Images of the American west from 1825-1925. 00.ay0 *obef* Cowboy Poetry John Swaile, local poet 730 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Galiery 298 Call 419-255-8000 for details on programming supporting this exhibition.