0 Like the Southern ... The local band will reunite at the Halfway Inn in East Quad tonight at 9:30 p.m. iftAwtotmaou RTS FRIDAY JANUARY 25, 2002 michigandaily.com/arts 0 Houston ensemble honors Proust Iconic Chieftains bring new, eclectic repertoire to Hill By Autumn Brown Daily Arts Writer In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, one extremely gifted individual took it upon himself to ponder the Da Camera effect of music of Houston on human cre- Mendelssohn ativity. Theatre Influenced Tomorrow at 8 p.m. by prominent composers such as Rey- naldo Hahn, Gabriel Faure, Cesar Franck and Claude Debussy, Marcel Proust went on to compose brilliant literary mas- terpieces heavily' doused by French culture. Tomorrow night, UMS's presen- tation of Marcel Proust's works by Da Camera of Houston Produc- tions will include "Paris," "Swann's Way," "Without a Bud- ding Grove" and other noteworthy compositions. The French government has hon- ored Sarah Rothenberg, artistic director and pianist of Da Camera of Houston, with the presentation of the Medal of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters. Rothen- burg believes that the reading of Marcel Proust's literary works by the essayist and critic Andre Aci- man will make this particular per- formance stand out from other performances which follow the same program. "Each project I try to find something new, a different way of presenting, which brings an element of sur- prise to the Baritone audience - William they might not Sharp know how fast taking a or slow a break. musician will Courtesy of m an will UMS play," she said. By Jim Schiff Daily Fine/Performing Arts Editor At some point in their 38 years together, The Chieftains stopped "ourtesy or The American String Quartet will back up Da Camera in their tribute to Proust. "The spontaneity is something I want to bring into the concert. Aciman composed the memoir, "Out of Egypt," which retells his refined and cosmopolitan Jewish family's experience in Alexandria, Egypt, spanning the time between their arrival in Alexandria in 1905 and their forced departure in 1965. One critic has dubbed him as "our contemporary Proust." The American String Quartet will provide the musical accompaniment to the performance. Created in 1974, the Quartet celebrated its 25th anniversary with a 50-state tour in 1998. In addition, the Quartet has had the distinction of performing in Japan alongside the Montreal Sym- phony, the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Quartet is comprised of violinists Peter Winograd and Laurie Carney, violist Daniel Avshalomov and cel- list David Geber. To belt out the deep, resonant music of the French compositions, William Sharp will be the baritone. He is known for performances that, according to the Chicago Tribune, "are so caring of words and music, so direct of declaration that (they) cease to be performances at all, but emotion itself." The Chieftains Hill Auditorium Sun. at 3 p.m. being just an ensemble and started becom- ing an institu- tion. Drawing inspiration from every cor- ner of the globe and their native country, The Chieftains have the distinction of being Ire- land's official " M u s i c a 1 Ambassadors." King s 'Rose Red' smells like a dull horror retread By Jennifer Fogel Daily Arts Writer As most of us know, remakes are never as good as the original. Case in point, Kubrick's "The Shining" was definitely a cut above author Stephen King's own television adaptation of his novel. The so-called master of horror is at it once again to prove that "The Haunting" would have been better if done Rose Red his way. Alas, King's deplorable "Rose Red" exudes S Ay M nothing but trivial ploys and an Sunday, Monday overwrought script. It's enough 9 pm. to make Shirley Jackson roll P.M. over in her grave. Starting Sunday and airing over the course of three nights, "Rose Red" examines the supernatural energy encased in a Seattle mansion built by John Rimbauer, a wealthy oil mag- nate, for his new bride, Ellen. Even as building on the house began, extremely odd occurrences plagued the house ... particularly the mysterious and violent deaths that befell some of the workers. Legend holds that John was a cad, constant- ly cheating on his naive wife. On her behalf, the house allegedly began to consume (literally of course) these women and kill men who had become a threat to Ellen. Topping off the mysterious disap- pearances, the Rimbauers' own daughter vanished, taken into the folds of the house. After John's apparent suicide and Ellen's own dis- appearance in 1950, the house - which had grown quite extravagant from Ellen's wish to keep building - was shut down and has laid dormant for the past decade. Well, dormant except for the fact that the house has kept growing on its own accord, effective- ly able to shift its shape and size at will. Presently, the house is about to be razed on the orders of the Rimbauers' surviving grandson, Steven (Matt Keeslar, "Psycho Beach Party"), who fears the evil of Rose Red. Yet, why let all that good psychic ener- gy go to waste? Pressured into giving the house one last "wake-up" call by his lover, Professor Joyce Reardon (Nancy Travis, "So I Married An Axe Mur- derer"), Steven opens up Rose Red for a rag-tag group with psychic powers on a mission to prove the existence of paranormal phenomena. It seems unnecessary to go into great detail about the members of the group, what powers they have, etc. since night one's only function is to provide expository information. We don't even get into the house until night two, and even then nothing remotely terrifying happens until the third night. Suffice it to say that the extraneous members of the psychic all-stars are weeded out fairly quickly as the house begins to "feed" off of their energy. As denial and ambition overtake Reardon, she fails to heed the warnings of her cast and instead clings to her "key" (the power behind Rose Red), Annie (Kimberly Brown, "Tumbleweeds"), a 15-year-old autistic with tele- kinetic abilities. Meanwhile, the others have a case of the heebie-jeebies as the house brings itself to full force, as ghosts roam the hallways and nothing is as it seems. By far, the miniseries' biggest failure (other than being completely boring) is its misuse of the But titles aside, this prolific sextet is truly worshipped for its live perfor- mances. This Sunday, the Hill Audi- torium stage will be transformed into the rhythmic, enchanting world of The Chieftains. The roots of The Chieftains lie in the traditional Celtic music of Ire- land, which is as diverse as the backgrounds of each of the group's members. The fiddle itself is a mal- leable instrument, varying in style and technique from county to coun- ty. "Water in the Well," their most recent album, features the swing- like fiddle of Kerry, the laid back sound of Clare and the Scottish- influenced sound of Galway. "Chief" Chieftain Paddy Maloney likens the regional differences to a journey of fiddles. "If you listen attentively you'll hear the different styles, the construction of tunes in each little place you go," he said. The Chieftains' unique combina- tion of instruments - uileann pipes, fiddle, harp, bodhran and flute - is the brainchild of Maloney. And while Maloney does much of the composing and arranging himself, The Chieftains are foremost a collection of accomplished solo musicians. Each mem- ber hails from a differ- ent part of Ireland, providing the group with a great deal of breadth. Fiddler Sean Keane's version of "Heartbreak Hotel" is a favorite piece of The Chieftains. Part Irish jig, part guitar-driven rock, this song is just one of many that com- bines sounds from sev- eral countries. It is their thirst for new musical inspira- tions that has led The Monstersc Chieftains to collaborate with dozens of famous artists. Their extensive roster includes Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Sting, Bryan Adams, Elvis- Costello and Sinead O'Connor. Maloney began backtracking on a McCartney album back in 1972 and since then has forged a number of musical connections. On many occasions, artists will approach The Chieftains with an idea and Mal- oney will try to adapt it into tradi- tional Irish music. The song "Long Black Veil," for example, features Sting's vocals in the Irish language. "It's from the heart-it's great music, it's music that belongs to everyone," said Maloney. "You don't have to be Irish to sing or play Irish music." Last October, The Chieftains traveled to New York City to play at a memorial service for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Visiting Ground Zero the next morning was an emotional experience for Mal- oney, who found the awfulness of it to be overwhelming. He pulled out a tin whistle and played the heartfelt Irish tune, "I am Asleep, Don't Wake Me." A lot of the workers stopped to listen to Maloney's play- ing, which surely brought some tranquility to the scene. "I just played it as a mark of respect," said Maloney. Sunday's program is brand new material for The Chieftains. They've surpassed even their own high performance standards with this show, which is comprised of bluegrass, country, traditional Irish music and even a tap dance sequence. Natalie MacMaster, a Canadian bombshell who plays fid- dle and dances at the same time, will take center stage. "It will be quite a night," said Maloney. 6 Nancy Travis kissing credibility good-bye forever. cast. None of the characters are fully fleshed out, playing out in a stereotypical fashion. Nancy Travis moves from self-possessed to merely pos- sessed overnight, while the others just sit around and say she's under a lot of pressure. Pressure? People, the house is trying to kill you ... haven't you watched a horror film before? Travis' mantra the entire movie is: "The house is alive. This house is bad." Can we say stale? "Rose Red" is a clear disappointment for devoted King fans who enjoyed "It" and "The Stand," two of the seven miniseries that King has provided for the ABC network. Particularly dis- heartening is that "Rose Red" came about from conversations between King and director Steven Spielberg. Luckily, due to his busy schedule, Spielberg never had anything to do with this pro- duction. If you are even considering watching "Rose Red" for the benefit of finding King in his Hitchcockian cameo, don't bother. He shows up as a daft, "whoa man, this house is scary" pizza delivery boy in night two. And if you're planning on watching for the late David Dukes' final per- formance, send your condolences instead. of (celtic) rock "The Chieftains." Habitat scores with Necto' s electric funk Just call me Mr. Butterfingers. REDEFINING DANCE THROUGH THE WONDER C) INNOVATION Choreography by David Dorfman, Jessica Fogel, Bambang rawan, Neor Rahma ina and Peter Sparlirgs Jan.31, Feb. 1-2at pm Feh at2nm By StacyAnderson Daily Staff Writer So we've all been to the Necto. But how many of us can say that 'Rings' will indude Two Towers' peek By Jeff Dickerson Daily Arts Editor Although "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" failed to win any Golden Globes awards Sunday night, the epic fantasy film crossed the $250 million mark in the U.S. box office this week. The film has become one of the top 20 highest grossing films of all time in only five weeks. New Line Cinema, the film's distributor, is already looking toward the future of the franchise and the Fellowship of the Ring" at least six months away, fans are clamor- ing for new footage of the upcom- ing "Two Towers." David Tuckerman, distribution president of New Line Cinema, stated "We're going to give (audiences) a preview of ("Two Towers").We're going to change the last reel out and do a preview of "Two Towers" at the end of the last reel. (Audiences) are screaming for it." With Academy Award nomina- tions coming soon, New Line is going to wait until March to release the new material. Cloud Nine Music The Necto Tomorrow at 8 p.m. we've been to the Necto and benefited char- ity at the same time? This Sunday, the University's chapter of Habitat for Humanity will be hosting a concert to raise money to bene- fit them and their goal of building a third house for Music with DJ Virus have described themselves as "'70s era funk, jazz and vintage Motown soul." Their recently released, self- titled EP is filled with soulful, dance-inciting lyrics and beats and, having sold out the Blind Pig many a night, they know how to work a crowd. But besides the electric funk that you'll encounter when you walk in the door, the real cause shouldn't be overlooked. With over 2,000 members on campus and support from companies such as Detroit Edison, Best Buy, John- son & Johnson and others, the University's Habitat for Humanity has already built and dedicated two houses to people in the Ann Arbor area. They need your help to build the third. So come to the Necto at 9 p.m. on Sunday night, bring $8 and some friends, and enjoy the essence of music and the spirit of dancing, all the while knowing you're giving your hard-earned money to a cause worthy of every penny. A people who desperately need it. The show will feature local acts Notice Co, DJ Virus and Cloud Nine Music, mixing up funk, soul and techno to appease the masses and allow everyone to enjoy their night. Headliners Cloud Nine : , r