T DaFriday, October 11, 2013 - 5

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Sondheim play to
teach love lessons

The 'Gravity' of the film
industry's situation

'A Little Night
Music' to explore
sex, marriage
By PAIGE PFLEGER
Daily Arts Writer
Stephen Sondheim's "A Little
r Night Music" is a Tony Award-
winning musical centered on
the romantic
lives of sev- A Little
eral different Night MUSC
couples, and
how their pas- Friday and
sions intersect. Saturday at 8
Taking place p.m. and Sun.
circa 1900 in day at 2p.m.
Sweden, the
show revolves Mendelssohn
around the $22
life of Fredrik
Egerman,
played by School of Music,
Theatre & Dance senior Conor
McGiffin. The show follows
Egerman's current relationship
with his wife and a permeating
love interest from the distant
past.
"The great thing about Sond-
heim is that no matter how gor-
geous the music can be on the
surface, there is always some-
thing happening within the
music that lets you know that
this isn't something that you can
just sit back and let wash over
you," McGiffin said. "There are
always little details about who
the characters are, and what is
happening that Sondheim lets
you know."
In tackling such an intricate
show, Director and Associate
Professor of Musical Theater,
Mark Madama, used his expert

knowledge of Sondheim's
work. In his past years teach-
ing at MT&D, he has worked on,
five Sondheim shows, includ-
ing "Sunday in the Park with
George" and "Into the Woods."
ladama begins with the
music and immediately gets the
actors onstage to begin block-
ing. After the bare bones of
the scenes are laid out, actors
are encouraged to explore
more deeply their character's
motives, and to discover new
relationships and ways of com-
municating on stage.
"Every show has a differ-
ent story," Madama said. "This
show is interesting because of
its very mature subject matter.
Tapping into the students and
having them understand that
mature level of relationships
has been very rewarding."
The show's thematic scheme
deals with love, sex, marriage,
infidelity and how complex sit-
uations can be when said emo-
tions are involved.
"I know the students all quite
well," Madama said of his cast,
"and the thing that is so great
is how they've embraced the
material. They haven't shied
away from it; they've jumped in
and embraced it..I'm excited to
share the show with the audi-
ence."
Despite the seriousness of the
subject matter, the cast has still
had fun creating the world of "A
Little Night Music." From dis-
covering the possible harmful
effects of the corsets that the
women must wear for the show,
to goofy face-offs between
characters; McGiffin has fond
memories of "Night Music," not
least because it is one of the last

shows of his career here at the
University.
"I've known Connor McGif-
fin since he's been here and
had him in three of my perfor-
mance classes," Madama said.
"He's embraced this character
pretty fully. He's found the
maturity of this man, the con-
textual quality of this man; he
sings the role great ... He really
transforms himself into being
a man that is older and who is
involved in a relationship that
at one time may have seemed
completely satisfying and then
changes."
Approaching opening night,
McGiffin will have the usual
pre-show jitters, but this year,
they come with a dash of nos-
talgia.
"When the curtains raise I
anticipate looking around at all
the freshmen who are working
backstage and feeling a well
of emotion," McGiffin said,
"because four years ago I was
there."
Above all else, McGif-
fin hopes that "A Little Night
Music" will leave the audience
with a few valuable lessons
about love.
"Love is'real," McGiffin said.
"The show is really about peo-
ple at points in their lives miss-
ing the person they belong with.
I want them to go away with
the love of the music that was
put forth, and to remember the
comedy of the show, and that
if you're away from someone,
you can always come back to it.
Certain loves don't fade away as
time goes on. Respect the power
of it. As the sage Huey Lewis
once said, 'That's the power of
love.' "

Full disclosure: I have
something of a reputation
among friends for being
the guy that likes to speak in
extremes. After my first-ever
screening of
"Paranormal
Activity,"
I blurted
something
vaguely
along the
lines of,
"They should AKSHAY
stop making SETH
horror mov-
ies because
this just won everything." I've
probably called four or five
different releases in the last
year alone the best things ever
made ("Spring Breakers" was '
pretty good though), and I
have a penchant for yelling at
people who aren't on the same
page ("You haven't seen xxxx
yet? Why are you even here?").
But when all's said and done,
what do my friends know?
They're all insane.
Now that you've had this
brief glimpse into my soul, let's
talk about "Gravity." A lot of
people have been calling it the
best movie released in a very
long time, for sure the most
gripping 90 minutes of cinema
produced all year. Some have
gone as far as saying they'll
never see another film like
it in their lifetimes. To put it
lightly, the world has collec-
tively lost its shit and boarded
a massive Hubble Telescope-
sized bandwagon to space.
Coming from the dude who
loves speaking in extremes, all
of these people might be right,
but if there's something I've
learned looking at an ungodly
number of yearly top 10 lists,
it's that when it comes to sift-
ing through movie releases
and holding up The One that's
supposed to be the com-
mon denominator, there's no
verifiable certainty. The only
verifiable certainty here is that
"Gravity" is a game changer.
I use the term game changer
for two simple reasons. One:
Studios in Los Angeles that
have seen the film but aren't
actively trying to replicate, or
at least mimic, what director
Alfonso Cuar6n has accom-
plished are at risk of being left
behind. Two: Every movie that
will now be set in space, or for

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atter any free-floating accurate generalization, he's, in
nment, is going to be essence, portraying the really
red to "Gravity." Simply nice uncle that tells awesome
.e bar has been raised. stories and gets along with any-
ology was invented to one listening. In a less extraor-
his experience possible. dinary setting, it would never
film is beautifully work.
'sed, a visual marvel Think about it: The whole
ill stand the test of notion of metaphorical rebirth,
nd shepherd in a new a theme that begins to tie
cinema that bends 'the together the entire movie, is
tween CGI and live- old, but the films that manage to
photography. I could keep it relevant, like "Gravity,"
length about how every almost always have a less-than-
in this masterpiece took sedate treatment of setting.
n months to plan out In "Cast Away," Tom Hanks's
ecute as things inevita- character, marooned alone on
nt wrong, forcing him a deserted island, wills himself
rovise and as a result, to rise above isolation. But the
te on the spot. But the larger hurdle becomes coming
this film will remain to terms with the fact that the
consciousness months, woman he loves has moved on.
even years, down the His circumstances teach him
only half related to how to let go, and by the end of the
oppingly stunning it is. film, he's truly reborn. None
opening tracking shot, of it would have been effective
20 minutes in length, had it not been for the sense of
u with its silence. We remoteness the movie envelops
vith a simple message: us in during the first and second
n space is impossible," - act.
it silence, punctuated "Gravity" excels because
athy intakes of oxygen it similarly closes that gap
onauts, is what reaf- between emotion and vision.
the alienness of the set- Never before has a film so
e're in space - in every effectively magnified a human
of the word, a forefront story under layers of intriguing
nan accomplishment, an sci-fi disconnect.,It's a perfect
int of all we've achieved. marriage between seeing and
th the vast emptiness feeling.
ng through in every A lot of the people I spoke
nce, Cuarin makes it a with before watching "Gravity"
horical beginning for said it's the best thing to hit
otagonist. theaters since "Inception." At
their core, both movies try to
resolve human conflicts we've
[on't want to been examining for centuries:
"Inception" tackles confronting
dramatic, but regrets while "Gravity" looks
at an evolving personality.
s is one of the Both movies are tied together
by their grandness, and it's
st films ever. this grandness that lets the
pathos resonate.-Neither film
is perfect, but both reaffirm
the ubiquity of the personal
Ryan Stone, played to conflicts we confront on a daily
tion by Sandra Bullock, basis.
ous, broken from the Alfonso Cuardn's masterpiece
,and this movie quickly is an extension of that ubiquity,
orms into her quest to and a film that easily makes
ehind a life defined by its mark in Akshay's Five Fave
s of her daughter. She's Flicks (AFFF). If you haven't
ly complex personality in seen it yet, take solace in the
t enlivened by the most fact that Fall Break has arrived.
ed character types and Why are you even here?
cin tak iACr int


tropes since tarres came into
fashion in the 1930s. George
Clooney's character is fun, but
nothing new. In the form of an

Seth is watching 'Gravity'
again. To stop him, e-mail
akse@umich.edu.


"You steal the food right out of my mouth, and I watch you eat it."
Ridiculous Runner Runner'

By NATALIE GADBOIS
DailyArts Writer
Online poker combines the high
stakes and real risks of gambling,
but allows the gambler to sit at
home wearing
decade-old box- C+F
ers and eating
spoonfuls of Runner
Nutella, while Runner
losing (or win-
ning) thousands Quality16
of dollars. The and Rave
money is real,
but the glamour 20th Century Fox
and mystique
are missing. "Runner Runner,"
starring Justin Timberlake and
Ben Affleck, works in the opposite
way; we get the flashy handsome-
ness of our leading men and the
glitz of the (apparently massive)
CostaRicangamblingworld,with-
out gaining any insight into who
these characters are and what the
hell they're doing.
Richie (Timberlake, "Inside
LlewynDavis") is aPrincetongrad
student and former Wall Street
big-wig - the devious-genius type
that Timberlake successfully por-
trayed in "The Social Network,"
but comes across as robotically
smarmy here - who takes to
online poker in order to pay his
school bills. (Ben Schwartz from
"Parks and Recreation" is utterly
wasted as Richie's doubtful and
un-funny best friend, with only 10

minutes of screen time.) has some catchy one-liners, but
In our hyper-accelerated Timberlake fails to make him
world, technology-speak from interesting. ,
just a few years ago feels dated. While Richie doesn't have
Richie is a former Wall Streeter a personality, Ivan is just too
laid off in the Great Recession, much of everything: over-sexed,
and when the disconcertingly brash, apparently brilliant but
slickIvan Block (Affleck, "Argo") mentally unstable - and too
offers him a position at his pow- tan. Way too tan. Affleck can't
erhouse online gaming compa- pull off this over-the-top mad
ny, Richie jumps, taken in like man, and a character that is
so many movie men by the beau- supposed to be chilling is actu-
tiful women and ever-flowing ally funny - he speaks awful
alcohol of this high-flying life- Spanish and flings men into
style. crocodile-invested waters with
a flamboyant flourish.
The film pretends ,to be
ca J innovative because of the
HOW can JT flashy scenery and tight cam-
and Affleck fail era zooms, but just like Block,
it's fizzy, not fun, superficial
to be amusing2 yet still boring. It's as though
director Brad Furman ("The
Lincoln Lawyer") was trying
to make the film into so many
Once in Costa Rica, Richie archetypes: a sexy thriller, a
begins to discover the shock- pertinent internet saga, a PSA
ing truth of Block's corruption, against gambling and a flashy
using phrases like "negative action film. What ends up hap-
three sigma" and other seem- pening, though, is that every
ingly made-up Internet jargon aspect is stretched too thin,
to describe what appears to be making the film ultimately
a basic Ponzi scheme. He runs underwhelming. The dialogue
from FBI agents in fedoras, lacks both human quality and
easily seduces Block's chippy fresh snap, the "bad" characters
assistant (Gemma Arterton, fail to exude real evil and the
"Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunt- good characters are weak nin-
ers") and innocently ignores the nies. In not recognizing it's own
plainly psychotic tendencies of ridiculousness, "Runner Run-
his boss. Richie looks great and ner" fails at even just amusing.

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