The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November 12, 2010 -- 5
What is love? The RC
Players share their take
By STEPHEN OSTROWSKI
DailyArts Writer
The ageless inquiry into the
nature of love has at times been
handled quite poorly. Chris Kat-
tan and Will Ferrell's infectious,
synchronized
head-bopping The Real
to Haddaway's
"What is love?" 'Thing
in 1998's "A T.g
Night at the Rox- Tonght
bury" is pain- through Sun-
fully memorable day at8 p.m.
and threatened Keene Theater
to immortal- Free
ize "love" into a
laughably lowbrow domain.
Thankfully, the higher-brow
crowd tackles similar romantic
topics. Enter "The Real Thing,"
the RC Players's adaptation of
British playwright Tom Stop-
pard's 1982 production of the
same name. "The Real Thing"
profiles the infidelities of its lead
characters - Henry, a playwright,
and Annie, an actress - and the
messy relationships that encom-
pass them.
The RC Players is a student-run
troupe based out of East Quad that
performs student and profession-
al pieces. According to LSA junior
Sean FitzGerald, who directs the
play, the RC Players - which is
open to non-RC students as well -
Find out if it's
'The Real Thing'
in East Quad.
usually performs two full-length
productions per semester. With
"The Real Thing," FitzGerald
makes his first full-length direc-
torial effort.
"It deals with a lot of themes
that I feel are consistent through-
out time," FitzGerald said. "Like,
what is love? How do you know
if what you think love is actually
is the real thing? Just a bunch of
themes that resonate with every-
one."
FitzGerald said Stoppard's
humor and the show's complexity
make "The Real Thing" an attrac-
tive choice for a student adaptation.
Starring in his first RC Play-
ers production, LSA senior Dante
Bugli headlines as Henry, an
adulterous and charismatic play-
wright. Bugli, who has performed
with campus theater organiza-
tions like Rude Mechanicals and
the University's Educational The-
atre Company, highlighted the
magnetic personality of Henry.
"He's really good at talking
over people, because he's a play-
wright," Bugli said. "He's quick,
he's witty, and so he always has a
lot of smart things to say and he
can tell people what he wants to
say and make people believe it."
Bugli stars opposite LSA soph-
omore Miriam Kamil, who plays
Annie, Henry's mistress and even-
tual wife. According toKamil, the
role of Annie presents somewhat
of a foreign personality.
"I've never played a charac-
ter so different from me," Kamij
said. "It's fun that she's 30, but she
sometimes acts like really young,
really naive. But sometimes it
seems like she's just pretending
to be naive, so she's really compli-
cated in that way."
Bugli and Kamil represent only
a small portion of the cast's age
diversity: According to FitzGer-
ald, the cast consists of a mix of
underclassmen and upperclass-
men, a balance praised by one of
the show's co-producers, LSA
sophomore Sophia Blumenthal,
who works alongside LSA senior
Rebecca Gutmann.
"We have a lot of new people in
this cast, and it's great to see how
the dynamic with everyone is so
pleasant," Blumenthal said.
Still, the production has not
been without its challenges. Par-
ticularly demanding, according
to FitzGerald, was adapting to
the scene changes required of a
distinctive production like Stop-
pard's.
"Scene changes normally are
very complex," FitzGerald said.
"(In the original script) they have
a circle stage that spins ... enabling
them to make quicker, more com-
plex scenes changes, but we don't
have the resources for that. So
I had to sit down and figure out
how I was going to accomplish the
'scenes."
These complexities, according
to FitzGerald, were remedied by
simply rearranging stage sets to
signal shifts in time and place.
Individuals familiar with Stop-
pard's production might notice a
See REAL THING, Page 6
A nine-piece orchestra will accompany "Place.
'Placebo' musical
is super effective
Basement Arts's first
original production
of the year
By BRAD SANDERS
Daily Arts Writer
Red pill, or blue? For the charac-
ters in a new Basement Arts show,
this question is
moot; they're not
given a choice. Placebo
Only a placebo. Tonight at 7
In the first andi11p.m.,
original pro- tomorrow
duction of the at 7 prm.
Basement Arts at7p.m.
season, "Place- Walgteen Drama
bo," a so-called FreeS' o
miracle pill isF
introduced to a
modern midwestern American
town. The pill is supposed to help
the townspeople accomplish their
dreams, but being merely a pla-
cebo, the pill's effects are solely
in the minds of its users. The per-
ceived effects of the pill drive the
dialogue, written by the Univer-
sity's own Joshua Borths, a junior
in the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance, with music created by
MT&D senior Danny Abosch.
"It's a story about dreams and,
you know, how far you're willing
to go to get what you dreamed of,"
Abosch explained. "It's also a love
story between Robert and Morgan,
and the story of how their love is
tested by this placebo pill."
Borths and Abosch began writ-
ing the musical a little over a year
ago and originally intended to
adapt Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi"
into musical format. Their creative
juices came together every Sunday
at Starbucks.
"The version we have today is
barely recognizable from the ver-
sion we started out with," Abosch
said. "(We'd) think of some really
cool idea that would negate the
whole idea we had thought of... but
that's the process - it changes, it
grows, it's a living piece of art."
Going from paper to the stage,
the casting process proved to be a
proud moment for the production's
directors.
"It's one thing to hear the work
how you invented it in your head,
but to hear real live actors perform-
ing your piece, it's so enlightening,"
Abosch said. "They bring so much
to the table and you learn so much
about a piece."
Being the music director, Abosch
had to compose the music toencom-
pass all elements of the play - from
its characters to its story to its
themes. A nine-piece orchestra will
perform the score.
"It takes a long time because you
have to set up the musical world of
the show. It's more than just writ-
ing the music, it's telling a story
through music," Abosch explained.
"I've written one other musical and
See PLACEBO, Page 6
"The Real Thing" was written by Tom Stoppard.
A cappella gets festive
By ADDIE SHRODES
Daily Arts Writer
Every year, nerves and excite-
ment escalate for MACFest per-
formers as, group by group, they
take the stage
before an audi-
torium full of a MACFest
cappella fans. Tomorrow
For freshman at 8 p.m.
performers, Rackham
the 11th annual Tickets from $5
MACFest will be
their debut into
the tight-knit University a cap-
pella community, one of the larg-
est in the country.
"As a freshman, I was so ner-
vous, because it's like you're
proving yourself to not only your
group and to the audience, but to
this huge a cappella community,"
said Chaz Cox president of the
Michigan A Cappella Council and
member of the all-male a cappella
group GMen.
MACFest features seven-minute
musical sets from 13 of the 15 a cap-
pella groups on campus. Since 2002
it has been organized by MACC,
which brings representatives from
the a cappella groups together to
talk about issues related to the
community and acts as a liaison to
the greater Ann Arbor area.
By assembling the groups to
perform, MACFest exemplifies
the purpose of MACC. The con-
cert is the main source of revenue
for MACC throughout the year,
and it can mobilize a solid follow-
ing for every campus a cappella
group.
"There are definitely groups
that have 'groupies,' if you will,
but those groupies quickly
become a cappella groupies when
they come to concerts like this,"
said MACC Vice President Lance
Fletke, member of Amazin' Blue.
"It's lik'
group?
This is'
Since
sion" o
shows 1
a dram,
attentio
this fal
which-
perforn
to recrt
had to s
of spac
Fletke,
est attei
Whil
on hope
only str
sity a ca
"We
the aud
cr
C
nity an
a grour
and evi
same p
absolut
hard fe
Each
diversit
Rangin
Americ
(a co-e(
interest
Asian-i
Chines(
two so:
will be
oldies a
e, 'There's not just this one However, it's hard to know
There are 14 others too? what to expect from each perfor-
wonderful!'" mance, as the groups lose gradu-
the "huge cultural explo- ating members and gain new
f group performance in voices each year.
ike "Glee," there has been "One year you may have a
atic increase in a cappella group that sings oldies and seri-
in this year, Cox said. At ous ballads, and the next year
l's A Cappella Rush, in they're doing pop songs and Dis-
all of the campus groups ney tunes," said Fletke, a junior in
and present information LSA and the school of Music, The-
uit new members, people ater & Dance. "It really is a grab
it on the floor due to alack bag of a cappella - you get a little
e. According to Cox and bit of everything."
this year's was the great- For group members, MACFest
ndance ever, by far. isn't just a chance to show off
e that puts more pressure their group to others for the first
efuls to get into a group, it time in the year; it is also a chance
engthens the solid Univer- to get excited about what every
ippella community. other group is doing.
make it very apparent to 4I love MACFest because
itionee that this a commu- oftentimes it's the first time in
the year where you're able to see
the groups," Cox said. "It's really
fun to see where they're at, what
Thirteen a they're doing and who their new
members are."
)pella groups Fletke and Cox both joined
e o groups as freshmen after hearing
lescend on about a cappella for the first time
Rackham. upon entering the University.
"I stumbled upon Amazin' Blue
and listened to it, and I was like,
'this is really bizarre; this is really
d that they need to choose cool and different!' " said Fletke,
p that fits them the best, who had sung in his high school
ery singlelgroup is on the choir.
age," Cox said. "There is "I was in shock," Cox added.
ely no competiveness or "As in, 'This cannot be real. What
elings whatsoever." is this? This is fabulous!'"
group is distinct, and that "Yeah, it's just like, 'Where has
y is on display at MACFest. this been?' " Fletke said.
gfrom the India-influenced Both fell in love with a cappel-
an pop of Maize Mirchi la their first year and have stuck
d group with South-Asian out the often 10 hours per week
ts) to Kopitonez (a co-ed time commitment and frequent
nterest group that sings in late-night rehearsals. MACFest
e). Each group will perform is one of the big pay-off events for
ngs, the majority of -which all involved, literally and figura-
contemporary pop, rock, tively, even for the nervous fresh-
md classics. men.
I