Friday, April 8, 2011 - 5
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
A satire set in Japan
By JOE CADAGIN
DailyFine Arts Editor
In his legendary account of his
travels, Marco Polo described
Japan - which he had never
actually vis-
ited, as a land The Mikado
of gold and
magic, inhab- Tonight and
ited by devilish tomorrow
idol-worship- at 8 p.m.,
ers and can- tomorrow
nibals. Nearly and Sunday
750 years after at 2 p.m.
Polo's legend-
ary sojourn Mendelssohn
in the Orient, Theatre
the West's From $5
knowledge of
Japan has grown significantly
- as has its interest in the tiny
island nation. In the aftermath
of multiple devastating natural
disasters, Japan has garnered
the attention and aid of West-
ern nations more than ever. In
the midst of these recent events,
this weekend the University of
Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan
Society presents "The Mikado,"
a work that reflects the West's
deep-rooted fascination with
Japanese culture.
Set in imperial Japan, Gilbert
and Sullivan's 1885 operetta is
a madcap work of satire driven
by comedic love-triangles, mis-
taken identities and ridiculously
impossible legal loopholes. In
writing this outrageous work,
Gilbert and Sullivan were hop-
ing to capitalize on Victorian
England's recent craze for Jap-
anese art and culture. Much
of the inspiration for "The
Mikado
village
bridge,
witnes
Japane
But
"The N
nos an
Japane
thinly
true to
van's s
"The
'The M
ize tha
to do
tor Jos
the Sc
& Dan(
society
true in
o" came from a Japanese immediacy of the themes. And
exhibition in Knights- that's true in ('The Mikado') as
London, where the two well."
sed typical aspects of Though "The Mikado" has
se life. little to do with Japan besides
while the characters in its setting, Borths - who lived
dikado" may wear kimo- in Tokyo as a child, sought to
d wave paper fans, the include realistic elements of
se setting is actually a Japanese culture in his pro-
veiled fagade hiding the duction without sacrificing the
rget of Gilbert and Sulli- work's exoticism and fairytale
atire. atmosphere.
e more that you look at "I really wanted to create a
ikado,' the more you real- very different world from our
at, really, it has nothing everyday," he said. "So I did alot
with Japan," said direc- of research on Japanese theat-
shua Borths, a junior in rical tradition. We use some of
hool of Music, Theatre the conventions of Noh theater,
ce. "It uses the Japanese Bunraku, which is puppetry -
r to comment on what's we have a puppetry scene - and
British society." especially Kabuki."
In his research on Kabuki -
a popular Japanese theatrical
N ow at the form developed in the 17th cen-
tury - Borths found many simi-
endelssohn larities between it and comic
operetta.
he M ikado.' "(Kabuki) became a form of
theater for everyday people,"
he said. "It was one of the only
areas in a highly structured,
setting their work in a hierarchical society that you
and exotic locale, Gil- could ridicule the upper class....
nd Sullivan were able to There's an emphasis on specta-
un at the corruption and cle and on oratory humor. And if
isy of Victorian society that's not operetta, I don't know
a safe distance. Broths what is."
d out that Shakespeare With its unique incorporation
ed this technique in plays of Japanese theatrical tradi-
the Tempest" and "Romeo tions, Borths's production dem-
liet." onstrates that not only has our
kespeare set his most bit- knowledge of Japan changed
ires further away from since the bygone days of Marco
n," Borths said. "He used Polo or even Gilbert and Sul-
al places or places far livan, but our interest in the
n order to remove the nation has grown tremendously.
JEDMOCH/Daily
The Men's Glee Club will be in Cuba from May 9th to 14th.
To Cuba with Glee
r
M
'T
Glee Club performs
spring concert
before departing
By ARIELLE SPECINER
Daily Arts Writer
Resting on more than 150
years of tradition, camaraderie
and musical excellence, the high-
By
distant
bert an
poke f
hypocr
from
pointer
also us
like "TI
and Jul
"Sha
ing sat
London
mythic
away i
ly noted
Men's Glee
Club will be
mixingit up
for its per-
formance
tomor-
row at Hill
Auditorium
at 8 p.m.
The con-
Men's Glee Club:
151st Annual
Spring Concert
Tomorrow at 8 p.m.
Hill Auditorium
From $5
Insidious' simply insipid
By TIMOTHY RABB
Daily Arts Writer
Oren Peli's new production
may as well have been called
"Paranormal Activity 3: Slightly
Higher Bud-
get." To its
credit, "Insidi-
ous"works well Insidious
by combining
the scariest At Quality 16
elements of the and Rave
"Paranormal"
series with the FilmDistrict
brutality of the
"Saw" series and the shaky cam-
erawork of the "Bourne" series.
The problem is, the story has
nothing new to say - save for a
"What do you mean Lady Gaga has a new video out?
half-tv
utterly
The
"Insid
are un
quirky
(Rose
high s
rick W
and tI
TI
0 'p
into a
ular r
starts
low. Z
out th;
house
was h
comes
cover
the ho
memb
It
everyo
a scrip
out of
wist that segues into an as possible, but in spite of the
yunderwhelming ending. familiar format, writer Leigh
parallels between Whannell has provided plenty of
ious" and "Paranormal" genuine scare scenarios, and the
canny from the get-go. A cinematic quality of "Insidious"
couple - pianist Renai is a marked contrast from the
Byrne, "Sunshine") and documentary-style "Paranor-
school teacher Josh (Pat- mal," which makes the scares all
Nilson, "The A-Team") - the more unsettling.
heir three children move Director James Wan (the
"Saw" series) clearly had a hand
in the film's fright factor as
well. Instead of relying on the
Wannabe slow escalation of suspense and
s q lt dread seen in "Paranormal,"
seque to Wan barrages the audience
laranormal.' with startling demonic mani-
festations from start to finish.
What makes these even more
disturbing is their juxtaposition
new home for no partic- with occasional laugh-out-loud
eason, and spooky stuff humor. Wan convinces us that
harshing everyone's mel- we can breathe easy - at least
Then (surprise) we find for a few minutes - and then
at the family left their old throws another wrench into the
because Renai thought it mix. There are other pluses, too:
aunted. An old medium The dialogue between Renai
into the house to dis- and Josh is sincere and affec-
(double surprise) it's not tionate, the acting is better than
use that's haunted - it's a decent and there's even a cute
er of the family. little "Saw" reference on Josh's
seems like Peli wants classroom chalkboard.
'ne who presents him with But Josh's cluelessness begs
t to milk as much money the question - what's with the
his "Paranormal" premise male characters in Peli's films? It
seems like they're all bumbling
cowards who deflect discus-
sions of a spiritual realm with
bad jokes and perpetual denial,
all in the face of incontrovertible
evidence. It's just lazy to make
a character's stubborn folly the
catalyst that drives the plot for-
ward.
That's just a minor hitch,
though - the worst part of
"Insidious" is the laughable end-
ing. The best stories have a subtle
allusion to their thematic under-
current, but "Insidious" builds
tension to a fever pitch and dis-
pels it with a plot thread that
comes straight out of left field.
When Renai and Josh reach wit's
end, they call on a medium. She
walks into the house, surveys the
situation and acts as a deus ex
machina, introducing an absurd
element into the story in a des-
perate attempt to distinguish it
from "Paranormal."
"Insidious" does its job as a
horror film, and the astral pro-
jection theme adds an inter-
esting twist. Still, the premise
borrows a bit too heavily from
its predecessors. Peli needs to
stop trying to capitalize off his
first film and start giving view-
ers a new reason to cringe.
cert is a send-off to Paul Rardin,
the club's conductor of six years,
as well as a celebration of the
group's upcoming 2011 UMMGC
Tour of the southeastern United
States, including a stop in Cuba.
"Half the songs will be an
American set, celebrating (Rar-
din's) work as an American com-
poser, arranger and conductor,"
said Lee Quackenbush, a Busi-
ness senior and president of the
Men's Glee Club. "The second
half will feature a lot of Afro-
Cuban pieces. That will be in cel-
ebration of our trip to Cuba."
The show will also feature the
director of the World Percussion
Ensemble in the school of Music,
Theatre & Dance, Ph.D. candidate
Neeraj Mehta. The Glee club cre-
ARTS IN BRIEF
FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW
Canadian festival
brings outdoor
films to Michigan
Banff Mountain Film Festival
World Tour
Sunday at 7 p.m.
Michigan Theater
From $10
This Sunday, anyone will be
able to enjoy breathtaking moun-
taintop views and the thrill of
whitewater rafting without leav-
ing Ann Arbor. Outdoor Adven-
tures is hosting the 13th annual
BANFF Film Festival World Tour
at the Michigan Theater. The
original festival takes place in
CLOSE TO U OF M
NORTH CAMPUS
AFFORDABLE RATES
ON SHUTTLE
BUS ROUTE
ated a partnership with Mehta
in which some of the Glee Club
members accompanied his recent
show, and in return, a number of
his percussionists will accompany
the Glee Club on Saturday.
"It will be cool to have so many
percussionists and make it as
authentic an experience as pos-
sible," said Matthew Griffith, an
LSA junior and the public rela-
tions manager of the Men's Glee
Club.
While this new destination
may come as a shock to some, the
Glee Club has a history of travel-
ing to exotic places. The club has
traveled all around the country,
but has also jet-setted to Aus-
tralia, Spain and Great Britain.
Next year, the group plans to
visit China for its international
tour, which occurs every four
years. The club also performed
in Estonia in 1992, after it
declared independence from the
former USSR.
This trip to Cuba - which
takes off May 9th and ends May
14th - is goingto be aunique stop
for the men of the Glee Club.
"It's a ridiculously unconven-
tional and rare occasion, and we
thought that it would be great for
usto investtime inmakingithap-'
pen," Griffith said.
Historically, Americans have
not been allowed to legally travel
to Cuba. Some may even think it
is dangerous, but the University's
help and financial support, com-
bined with the fact that this trip
is a cultural exchange, allowed
for the visit to take place.
Canada and runs for one week
there in the fall, showing over
50 independent adventure and
mountain culture films. The best
films then go on tour throughout
the U.S. and Canada.
"You get to pick which films
you want to show," said Jeremy
Doody of Outdoor Adventures.
"At each stop, you get something
else out of it. You don't just see
the same thing."
This year, the Ann Arbor
BANFF Festival will feature films
on sports like Midwest moun-
tain biking, whitewater paddling,
monoskiing and, of course, moun-
tain climbing. The main feature of
the evening is a film called "A Life
Ascending," which tells the story
of a family living in the moun-
tains and the lessons its members
learn. There will also be an inter-
mission with raffle prizes and
"It was muchmore ofastruggle
to make it happen, and that makes
it that much more valuable," said
Raul Jimenez, MT&D sophomore
and campus publicity manager of
the Men's Glee Club. According
to Quackenbush, the obstacles
included hiring a lawyer and fill-
ing out mounds of paperwork
months prior to the trip.
The men of the Glee Club are
performing in Havana, Cuba's
capital, and in Matanzas, a more
traditional Cuban city. The club
will be performing for both gov-
ernment officials and the pub-
lic. The concerts will be free of
charge because the men want to
reach out to as many Cuban peo-
ple as they can.
"We're used to havingourpeo-
ple who follow us, and it will be
interesting going out there and
performing for a group of people
who speak a completely different
language and have completely
different customs," Jimenez said.
"I think it's going to be really
great."
According to Quackenbush,
Cuba has a strong choral tradition
because the arts are completely
funded by the government.
"They have exceptional choral
conductors who, unlike here in
the states, have a guaranteed liv-
ing if they go into the arts- so it's
a kind of a unique setup," he said.
Not only are the members tak-
ing part in two choral concerts
during the visit, but they also
plan to do community service,
which according to Jimenez
See GLEE CLUB, Page 6
giveaways from local businesses
with a passion for the outdoors
like Bivouac and Moosejaw.
"Outdoor Adventures is a
place where we try to encour-
age people to get out and try new
things," Doody said. "This is
kind of a different take on that,
where we expose people to other
adventure-type sports."
The strength of the festival
resides in its ability to bring in
people who have an interest in
the great outdoors and the envi-
ronment and at the same time
allow for anyone to sit back and
enjoy the rush of adrenaline that
accompanies these sports.
"It's really all about the films,"
Doody said. "It's a fun and new
experience every time. Each
year we try to make it bigger and
better."
EMILYBOUDREAU
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