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ARTS
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 8, 2001
w
Opera documents Cold War.
By Marie Bernard
Daily Arts Writer
When "The Consul" opened in
New York's famed Ethel Barrymore
Theater, its themes of civil strife
and the errs of bureaucracy seemed
particularly relevant to our country.
The Cold War was in full force and
Courtesy of CBS
"Wow...this has never been done on "Survivor" before."
Survivor' makes
promiUse to spice
current stal show
it had set its mood
The
Consul
Power Center
Tonight through Sunday
preformed across
of paranoia and
distrust through
the people. A
few years after
its debut,
M e n o t t i
received a
Pulitzer Prize
and a New York
Drama Critics
Circle Award
for the opera.
Although the
Cold War has
come and gone,
"The Consul"
continues to be
the country to
in addition to two new recordings in
the past five years. The story takes
place in an unnamed European
country in the 1940s. John Consul,
a fighter for the resistance, has been
shot by the secret police, and with
his wife Magda, is searching for a
way out of their war-torn country.
Magda's role is one of the most
challenging of opera parts - a diffi-
cult Aria at the end of Act I is a
challenge in and of itself. "The
Opera Theater hasn't presented this
work since 1980, mostly because it's
such a difficult piece," Majors said.
Magda and John determine that it
is not safe for their entire family to
flee together, so Magda journeys to
the consulate of a nearby country to
seek help. There, the run-around of
the secretary grinds Magda down,
and her need for help transforms to
despair.
This opera is somewhat of a
change from what many audience-
members have grown accustomed
to. Rather than the sweeping gowns
and exaggerated gestures that we
typically associate with traditional
opera, "The Consul" is inspired by
film-noir. The noir genre generally
features bleak urban settings, dark
lighting and cynical or corrupt char-
acters - not exactly "The Magic
Flute."
The University has drawn upon
i ;
great talent for the technical aspects
of the show; scenic 'designer
Alexander Dodge has just returned
from designing "Hedda Gabbler" for
Broadway, and costume designer
Janice Benning is an assistant pro-
fessor from the University of Col-
orado. "I love working with
designers," said Majors. "We have a
symbiotic relationship: The music
helps to define the visual compo-
nents and vice-versa."
In the Opera News, Patrick Giles
mentality
stated that: "Menotti's effectiveness
in all areas cannot be doubted. His
appetite for the pathetic, the
macabre and the tuneful are given
freer rein here (in 'The Consul')
than in anything else he wrote."
Menotti is often called the father
of American opera, and was recent-
ly awarded a Kennedy Center Honor
for lifetime achievement.
The shov opens tonight at the
Power Center. For tickets please call
(734) 764-2538.
rave reviews. This weekend, the
School of Music will be presenting
Menotti's legendary work.
"The Consul is still timely today,"
said director Joshua Major. "Society
continues to deal with the ills of
bureaucracy and the struggle to
maintain individual rights." The
show has had a number of revivals
6, Jeff Dickerson
Survivor Insider
Seems CBS is doing all they can
to pump new life into the disinte-
grating reality show genre. Promos
for this week's episode promise the
first 15 minutes are unlike any-
thing you've seen on "Survivor"
before. We'll see about that.
The preview claims every
alliance and friendship formed will
be dismantled by the surprise
change in format of the show. But
how and what will happen with
"Survivor" this. week is puzzling
fans of the show all across the
v country.
The New York Post as well as
several Internet sites are indicating
whe current two-tribe system will
be deconstructed and then
reassembled into three new groups.
This drastic change would certain-
ly affect the strength of alliances
formed thus far, but who's to say
new alliances would not emerge?
Another possibility could be a
premature merger. In previous
incarnations, the union of the two
tribes occurred following week six,
meaning the amalgamation of
Boran and Samburu would happen
two weeks earlier. What good does
this do for the show and its contes-
tants?
Perhaps executive producer
Mark Burnett foresaw the stale for-
mat of the show during filming
and implemented this twist to
make it fresh for his devoted view-
ers. This is hard to tell considering
the man thrives on building and
breaking presumptions.
While the ratings may be down
slightly for thetmother of all reali-
ty shows, shooting begins today on
"Survivor 4," tentatively titled
"Citizens on Patrol."
The latest batch of 16 contes-
tants has arrived on the island of
Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, a set-
ting quite similar to that of the
original series. CBS is wasting no
time churning out their flagship
program before the trend finally
comes to an end.
Predicting a winner this week is
going to be complicated, not
impossible (I used to bulls eye
womprats in my T-16 back home),
but quite difficult. After last
week's correct prediction, yours
truly has moved up to 50 percent
accuracy in calculating the next to
go. With the hypothetical rule
changes, anything goes this time
around.
Twelve people to choose from;
let's narrow it down. No matter
how they rearrange the tribes, the
elder Kim, Kelly, Frank and Teresa
are still weak. Silas put himself on
the chopping block by opening his
mouth last week, the brute should
have followed Colby's lead and
kept quiet, his future is bleak. Kim
was damn lucky Boran won immu-
nity or else her ass (get some defi-
nition in those cheeks you saggy
old hag) would have been sent
packing. Arguably the weakest
physically of the remaining sur-
vivors, momma Kim will have her
torch extinguished tonight at Tribal
Council.
Author Mark Salzman presents new
cores f vestII 4 IV Iy FlV*rIauct on
novel 'Lying Awake'
at the Drum
This secretary looks too snooty for classy opera.
By Carmen Johnson
Daily Arts Writer
"Lying Awake," Mark Salzman's fifth book, pub-
lished in 2000, is the story of a Carmelite nun who
learns that her recent visions of God's radiance may
Mark
Salzman
Shaman Drum
Tonight at 8
have been caused by tempo-
ral-lobe seizures, a removable
small tumor. After dedicating
almost 30 years to her faith
with little happiness, and a lot
of doubt to her calling as a
nun, her electrifying visions
had finally given her much-
needed support and encour-
interests, which have lead him places like Yale and
China. After entering Yale University at 16 for his
talent playing the cello, he decided on a degree in
Chinese Language and Literature. It had been an*
interest since high school after watching Kung Fu
movies. Being small himself, Salzman was
impressed by the small but strong fighters and just
wanted to get girls to notice him. He became an
expert in the martial arts, and in 1985, was invited
to participate in the National Martial Arts Competi-
tion in Tianjin. He was the only non-Chinese con-
testant.
Salzman graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa
Cum Laude from Yale in 1982, and moved to China
to teach English at Hunan Medical College.
His first book, based on his experiences in China,
"Iron and Silk" was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize
for a non-fiction work. He even did some acting, in
the film version of "Iron and Silk" having written
the screenplay himself.
The same year, he published "The Laughing
Sutra" a novel about a Chinese orphan traveling to
San Francisco. Later he wrote "The Soloist" about
two cello prodigies, and in 1995 a memoir, "Lost in
Place" about his own yearning as a child to become
a wandering Zen monk.
But his next novel would take him longer to com-
plete. "Lying Awake" took him six years to finish;
during which he had felt discouraged - he even
tried writing from the passenger seat of his car.
He spent more time researching Catholicism,
spending time with Carmelite nuns and learning
about their life without television, newspapers,
movies and men.I3ut the idea of neurological disor-
der and mysticism left him no choice but to finish it
no matter how long it took.
He eventually went to a writer's colony, thought
about what he was trying to say and finished his
novel. But in the process he came to realize the par-
allels between his faith in writing and his character,
Sister John's faith in God. Both were illusive and
irrational.
Mark Salzman now teaches writing classes to
incarcerated youths at a Central Juvenile Hall. He
lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jessica Yu, an
Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker.
More currently, he's walking the streets of Ann
Arbor. Salzman vists Shaman Drum tonight, read-
ing from "Lying Awake," the book that challenged
even this multi-talented writer for six years to pro-
duce something that could come from inside a
nun's head.
Cjj
agement.
By making the decision to
have the tumor removed, and
risk losing her visions which
had also led to her write
inspiring poetry, she learns
how to evolve through her
own stubbornness in facing the real world outside.
It is unlikely that this slim spiritual novel is writ-
ten by an agonistic. But author Mark Salzman is
often referred to as a renaissance man with broad
Warbuton becomes 'The Ti
TV' s coolest blue
By Ryan Blay
Daily Arts Writer
$10 Rush Tickets on sale 10 am - 6 pm
the day of the performance or the Friday
before a weekend event at the UMS Ticket
Office.
S50% Rush Tickets on sale beginning
90 minutes before the event at the
Performance Hall Box Office.
Th:. Wome u.ch...rv:.e-.
He runs from rooftop to rooftop.
He makes sure to remind villains not
to do drugs as he defeats them. And
he wants a slice of your righteous
combat pie. Fighting villains like
Apocalypse Cow on Fox is "The
Tick."
The deadpan Patrick Warburton
("Seinfeld") plays the blue superhero
with comic antennae and a talent for
saying just the wrong thing at the
iper hero
right time. When someone says "no
offense," he replies with "none com-
prehended." He gets upset if some-
one denies the snazzy of something.
The Tick doesn't fight crime alone.
His loyal sidekick and friends are just
as kooky as he is! Arthur (David
Burke, "Party of Five") plays Robin
T to the Tick's Batman. Not that there
0
I
Sc#ili( arir.
"'lucs they pert no 1imHts
on115 bore NOIcan:lim1
ofh or 1I an u uploro."
The Tick
Fox
Tonight at 8:30 p.m.
will be any jokes
about the duo
being-gay. No,
certainly not.
Arthur is
some sort of
moth but often
gets mistaken
for a rabbit. A
formeraccoun-
tant, Arthur
wants to be a
superhero ("part
time at first")
but nobody will
give him any
(
Schlumberger Ltd. is a $12 billion
technology services company active in
more than 100 countries. So when we
promise you the world, we mean it.
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Tonu Kaljuste returns to Ann Arbor with his newest ensem-
ble that specializes in introducing the incredibly rich and
diverse repertoire of music for a cappella choir.
Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
UMS teams up with the Ann Arbor artistic community,
including U-M professors Peter Sparling and Martin Katz,
for a performance that is a true-must see! Based on the
well-known Greek myth, this dance-opera production of
Orfeo ed Euridice tells the tale of Orfeo, a master of
music, and his quest to retrieve his beloved Euridice from
the underworld.
And careers at Schlumberger are
"borderless," which means you have
lifelong opportunities to move across
disciplines and divisions. So you can
follow your heart and intellect. And
explore the boundaries of science and
technology as you expand your own
horizons-.
If you have a passion to excel and want
a future without limits, you'll discover we
speak your language.Take a minute to visit
our website at www.slb.com/careers.
Michigan Interviews!
Infnrmation Meeting:
attention. He screams and the Tick
arrives to meet his "first damsel in
distress." Despite his lack of confi-
dence, he does try and help save for-
mer president Jimmy Carter from the
Red Scare, a Cold War era robot
designed to kill the ex-prez. And yes,
the monster does wield a hammer
and sickle.
Also joining in on the fun are fiery
gdbo
Courtesy of Fox
Patrick Warbuton as "The Tick."
female Captain Liberty (Liz Vazzey
"ER") and Batmanuel (Nestor Car-
bonell. "Resurrection Boulevard"), a
machismo Latino. Former lovers, she
works for the CIA and he works his
charms on ladies. Although really
bad stereotypes, they do make for
some nice times.
The gang and future heroes they
meet (The Blaze and Friendly Fire,
for example) have fun, but it is the
Tick's words of wisdom that keep the
show moving. From the moment he
appears on the show, fighting a coffee
machine that won't give change back,
("Java devil, you are now my bitch")
to his advice to a despondent Arthur
-"If you give up, if .you give in,
then you're gonna end up with fear
just standing there, laughing at your
dangling unmentionables!" -the
Tick never fails to end a scene with a
gag. The superhero that is so out of
it, he has to refer to lucidity as Mr.
T r (t(his wrdi. not mine) and