The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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Thursday, March 29, 2007 - 5B
Miller's'Time' a triumph
A meat lover and a vegetarian at Seva
of humallity
By PRIYA BALI
Daily Arts Writer
At the end of the day, when peo-
ple have been made prisoners, and
another mass of
people have been
killed, the one Playing
thingthat remains forTime
true for the female
musicians of the This and next
Auschwitz con- Thursday,
centration camp Fridayand
is their music, and Saturday at 8
the humanity it p.m.,this and
brings, next Sunday
When at 2 p.m.
renowned Ameri-
can playwright Sold oua Rush
an pyiest tickets availahle
and University one hour before
alumArthur Mill- showtime
er said all of his AtheArthur
plays attempted MillerTheate
to "grab an audi-
ence by the throat
and not release them, rather than
presenting an emotion which you
could observe and walk away from,"
he did more than just set a goal for
himself as a writer. He set a goal for
the audience to experience an emo-
tion in the same way that the actor
does. In Miller's "Playing for Time,"
the audience and the actors experi-
ence grief, fear and compassion as a
unified body. As the first play to be
performed in the newly constructed
Arthur Miller Theatre in the Wal-
green Drama Center, "Playing for
Time" is a sold out show running
from now through April 8.
"Playing for Time" isn't one of
Miller's best-known plays, but it's
fitting for the opening of the Arthur
Miller Theater. Because many are
unfamiliar with the play, it will be,
in a sense, new for many audience
members, just as experiencing the
theatre will be for all.
"We also wanted to do a show
that would allow us to incorpo-
rate the theatre, music and dance
departments, and this building is a
culmination of bringing those three
departments together," said Rob-
ert Chapel, director and University
alum.
Based onFaniaFenelon's memoir,
"Playing for Time" tells the story of
a half-Jewish and French cabaret
singer and her experience during
the Holocaust in Auschwitz, where
she and a group of women offer
their music in hopes of having her
life spared another day.
After Fenelon and a group of
women are appointed musicians to
entertain the prisoners and Nazi
officials, music begins to offer
everyone an ironic beauty during
an extremely dark time. For Fenelon
and the women close to her, music
becomes the guiding force of their
will to survive, and allows them to
over tragedy
feel strengthened and humanized in
a time of war.
The actors behind these chal-
lenging roles needed to act, play an
instrument and in some cases sing
all at once. With months of voice
lessons and musical training, cast
members were able to claim their
roles in a play that not only requires
its actors to be multi-talented, but
to willingly grasp the horrors of the
Holocaust.
"To be able to portray a real
woman who lived through this hor-
rible experience is a real honor,"
Musical Theater senior Janine
Divita said. "This is an incredibly
demanding show - emotionally and
physically - but I think it's the least
I can do to pay my respects to Fania
Fenelon."
"This play is about choice, and
about what a person will do and how
far a person will go in order to save
one's life. These ethical questions
make it universal in this regard,"
Chapel said.
For Fenelon, the war isn't only
about being a woman or being a
Jew, it's about being a human being.
When discussing Mandel, who is
in charge of Auschwitz's women,
Fenelon said "what disgusts me is
Lesser-known
Miller play a tale
of ironic beauty.
that a woman so beautiful can do
the things she's doing. We are the
same species and that is what is so
hopeless about this whole thing."
Both women have entirely differ-
ent views of the world, yet they are
moved by music in the same way.
Music doesn't choose who to trans-
form, it will transform anyone who
listens.
The selected musical pieces in
the play are the result of combined
efforts by Chapel, orchestrator
Jerry DePuit, sound designer Henry
Reynolds and musical director
Bradley Bloom. Beethoven's "Sym-
phony No. 5" and Gershwin's "The
Man I Love" are among the chosen
repertoire which parallel the tortu-
ous nature of the period.
"Other musical excerpts chosen
were based on the appropriate time
period and how they would comple-
ment the dramatic moment," Bloom
said.
At Auschwitz, music's ability to
empower is a reflection of the invul-
nerable spirit of its makers. Miller's
play is a memorial to these women
and to the memory of the Holo-
caust.
By JEFFREY BLOOMER
and PAUL TASSI
Daily Arts Writers
Jeffrey Bloomer: If you've
heard of Seva and live south of
Huron Street, you probably know
it as the residentvegetarian restau-
rant in Ann Arbor. Hippies, right?
Located at314E. Liberty St. -actu-
ally really close to Central Campus
- it's quiet and casual dining with a
menu of proven and unproven veg-
etarian meals (many things can be
made vegan if they aren't already).
I was up to no good, so I decided
to ask Paul, who's sort of a meat-
and-potatoes Hungry Jack type, to
come with me for dinner.
Paul Tassi: You tried to trick
me.
JB: I had honorable intentions.
The few times I've eaten out with
Paul, he orders things like a plain
burger patty and whole milk or a
plate with three orders of bacon. It
freaks me out. I may be a vegetar-
ian, but I brought you because this
place really is good for everyone.
They have a lot more than imita-
tion meat - they even have a pretty
good bar.
PT: Uh huh. Is this place vege-
tarian or vegan? Which is the crazy
hippie one and which is the healthy
one?
JB: I'm not sure what you -
PT: Hey! They have T-shirts!
I'm going to get one to remember
this, cause Iwill never ever be here
again.
JB: Paul - whatever. Let's order.
I got a sandwich with too many
peppers last time, so I think I'll
stick to pasta. Yes ... goat-cheese
ravioli. The waiter tried to make me
get this last time. I don't really have
$15 for dinner, but you being in a
vegetarian place is kind of a special
occasion, right?
PT:What are these burgers made
out of? Actually, don't tell me. How
are they allowed to have eggs here?
Isn't that like an aborted chicken?
JB: They just can. We can talk
about the politics of conception
later.
PT: Whatever, I'm getting eggs
then. Oh, and French fries. Wait
- are they real French fries or like
soy French fries? They don't have
cabbage or something in them, do
they?
JB: No, Paul, there's no cabbage
in the French fries.
PT: Fine. Good. Eggs and fries.
Seva
Vegetarian Restaurant
Cheap Moderate Pri:
Specialties:
Vegetarian cuisine
Located at:
314 E. Liberty St.
ANGELA CESERE/Daly
Butternut squash, cream cheese, green onions, chiles, cumin and cinnamon in corn
tortillas topped with spicy tomato sauce and cheese. $12.95. Yes. Now.
JB: Wait - you can't eat here and PT: Yeah I definitely have done
just order eggs and French fries that.
PT: What why not? JB: (pause) I know you're seri-
JB: That's like going to Gratzi ous, too.
and norrinz nlain noodleC P CEV a'6
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MILLER
From page 1B
construction: sharp architectural
detail, advanced lighting fixtures
and - in adherence with Miller's
desire for flexibility - reconfigu-
rable performance area. The space
can be configured to present either
a thrust or end-stage design.
The theater will serve as a
replacement for the Trueblood
Theater, which was once located in
the now-demolished Frieze build-
ing. By comparison, the Miller
Theater offers more physical space
than Trueblood; it holds 240 seats
whereas the Trueblood seated just
150.
However, the subtle intimacy
that is a necessary component in
the design of a theater - that which
evokes the crucial connection of
audience and actor - is not forgone
with the upgrade from Trueblood
to Miller. The theater's main floor
and splendid balcony design were
modeled after the Elizabethan
courtyard theater, a structure that
emphasizes closeness between per-
former and spectator.
"(The Theater) is a wonderful
space," said John Neville-Andrews,
professor of theatre and acting,
"We're now able to broaden our
range of play."
Not surprisingly, there are vari-
ous grievances on the heels of the
theater's opening, the biggest pos-
sibly being the change of location -
from the generally accessible Frieze
building to the seemingly remote
North Campus.
"We were nervous about the
movement to North Campus when
we first came," Neville-Andrews
said, "but we overcame those fears;
we realized we could be a bench-
mark, a way to attract people to
North Campus and to the (Wal-
green) Center."
The parking spaces in University-
delineated "Blue Lot" are another
issue that could spark controversy.
Not only are the allotted spaces lim-
ited, but the required payment for
parking could prove to be less than
convenient for theater students and
faculty - students and faculty who
might be less than pleased to be
making the trek in the first place.
Still, amid the gripes that may
arise, the opening of the Miller The-
ater marks a significant point in the
progression of theater and the arts
in general at the University. At the
essence of Miller's legacy was his
attention to student involvement,
his devotion to the innovation of
craft and his idea of transforming
words into the passionate action
that is performance - the making
of art for the masses.
The Native American Law Students Association presents
American Indian Law Day 2007
Preventing Exploitation:
Native Peoples, Medical Ethics,
and Institutional Research
Please join us for a presentation on genetics, institutional
review boards, and research on Native populations.
Friday, March 30, 2007
University of Michigan Law School
Hutchins Hall, Room 250
1:30pm - 4:00pm
Free and Open to the Public
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