The Michigan Daily-Friday, June 20, 1980-Page 7 ==Arts==m 'GUYS AND DOLLS' By Damon R have taken q years, not th the hands o Guys and musical lar ters. Directo want with sc musical's b suggestions, ought best 1 director firs artistic dire designers su Ann Arbor Guys and Do many of the big-cast Civ: of the prin training in cing, and the trotting out belting out evident ease Abe Burrow with harshly that is the won't quit. IF THER company ar laughs fror coaxing out Broadway saga JOSHUA PECK the heartwarming qualities of the show I unyon's Manhattanites come from the romance of ace gambler t uite a lot of abuse over the Sky Masterson, here played by Thomas e least of which has been at Cooch, and Salvation Army Sergeant f various productions of Sarah Brown, here Molly Shaheen. Dolls, Frank Loesser's Masterson, as conceived by Runyon ceny of Runyon's charac- and Burrows, is the kind of man who rs are free to do what they doesn't generally have to try very hard t ripts, of course, but every to make his gambles a success. He is ook contains a few basic confident, slick, and debonair, and l explicit and implicit that probably has never met a woman who f be heeded by the casting did not eagerly respond to his advan- t, and by the musical and ces. That puts him several cuts above ; ctors, choreographer, and the ordinary gambling slobs who people bsequently. the rest of the stage. v Civic Theatre's current Cooch's Sky is nothing special; he's ills seems to be immune to just another gambler, luckier than diseases that have plagued most perhaps, but every bit as low as ic musicals in the past; all the others. Benny and Harry's cipals have considerable sleaziness adds to the comic flavor of acting, singing, and dan- the show; in Sky, it detracts from what chorus is unusually adept, ought to be one of the show's few some very tricky tunes and sophisticated elements. intricate melodies with SHAHEEN'S PROBLEM is not so But some of Runyon's and much one the general conception of her s material has been dealt character as it is the twists and turns - assaulted, even - and the plot takes her through. At first kind of problem that just sight, Sarah ought to be an inap- proachably virginal servant of the E is one thing Loesser and Lord, scarcely given to any pleasures e better at than squeezing save the ones the man on the Cross of- m their audience, it is fers her. By the end of Act II, Sarah has a sentimental tear Most of been convinced that there is room in slightly flawed her life for a living man - one in par- ticular. Sarah's transformation is spurred along by a wild night in Havana in the company of her pursuer. Her defenses ought properly to come slowly unglued as she gets drunker and gayer. But in the Civic rendition, Shaheen forgets about the Galilean altogether too hurriedly. It is not entirely the actress' fault though, for choreographer- director Jim Posante has stuck Shaheen in the middle of a chaotic, overly demonstrative sequence in the Cuban speakeasy that may be the ugliest, most untoward hoofing the Mendelssohn stage has ever borne. How could Shaheen retain her com- posure in the midst of all that? Development problems aside, one thing Shaheen exhibits plenty of is sheer elegance; class. Her partner could certainly have used some lessons in that elusive trait. THE OTHER two leads are played more conventionally by Rob Nuismer and Susan Dawson, respectively Nathan Detroit and Adelaide. Nuismer uses every one of his nearly 80 inches to project the droll image of a slightly stupid hustler-with-a-heart-of-gold. And Dawson overcomes her usual-dif- ficulties of poor projection and weak characterization, surfacing with a per- fectly tacky and exquisitely dynamic Adelaide. Despite the fact that she in- termittently loses her Brooklyn accent (could the problem be that she learned it in Rhode Island?), this Miss Adelaide is the moat on target of any of the four leading caricatures. The production's strong scenes are exceptionally so, and fall regularly enough to keep the whole enterprise moving nicely along. The opening num- ber, "Fugue for Tinhorns," is expertly rendered by Andy Lindstrom and Taylor Nichols, and especially by Peter Slutsker, whose brassy singing and amusing bumbling are periodic delights throughout the evening. Some of the larger musical numbers are beautifully planned and executed as well, which makes the Havana disaster all the curioser. "The Oldest Established" has some freshly dopey choreography, and "Take Back Your Mink" is as tight and snappy as ever an amateur company has danced it. In Sky and Sarah's defense, their duet "I've Never Been in Love Before" is simply beautiful. All the slow numbers, in fact, are sung with clarity and emotion worthy of this best of Loesser's scores. Had not the effort been marred by Posante's egregious conceptual errors, Guys and Dolls would have been a Civic masterpiece. As it stands, only crazed idealists will be more than slightly disappointed. Subscribe to The Daily- Call 764-0558 The CONSE ER VA TOR Y STEAKBURGE RS fiet ground chuck. A ttuned to your good taste M-Sat. 11.9 516 E. Liberty next o 994-5360 Second Chance Q A~ll{.11a1111.G1 VG~ia. a vav African fusion group plays Union tonight The term "fusion", when applied to jazz, can describe a dizzying range of styles and performers-from George Benson to James "Blood" Ulmer while it isn't advertised as a "fusion" group, The Mandingo Griot Society comes as close as anyone to blending a number of disparate styles into a cohesive, im- provisatory whole that should fit anyone's definition of jazz. Combining African, Eastern and familiar Western influences the Man- dingo Griot Society unites an inter- national blend of musicians and musicianship, producing a percussion- heavy stream of ideas that are not only rhythmically challenging but joyously accessible as well. Jali Foday Musa Suso, leader of the ensemble, is Gam- bia's leading Kora player, a 21 string cross between a harp and a lute. Musa is also a master of Mandingo in- struments such as the dusungoni, tamo, bala and bolon. Joining him are Cuban bassist Al Creido and Americans Hank Drake (drums) and Adam Rudolph (assorted percussion). Eclipse Jazz is sponsoring (naturally) two performances by the Mandingo Griot Society this Friday, June 20, at 8:30 and 11:00 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door. The show is scheduled for the outdoor Terrace at the University Club in the Union, so keep your fingers crossed for conducive weather. There will also be a free public workshop in the Kuenzel room at 4:00 p.m. It's open to musicians and non-musicians alike and will cover African culture as well as music. NOW SHOWING (R) MOVIES AT BRIARWOOD I i _ !!T ! ! I !I ! R Ea'7 ! ® ! ! ! y '