Arts
The Michigan Daily
Friday, July 10, 1981
Page 9
a *1
After the
fireworks:
'Coriolanus'
THE COMING WEEKe...
What S happen in'.?
MUSIC
Simmons-Newhouse Band, Afromusicology-This sounds like it may well be
the most intriguing of Eclipse Jazz's summer series of free concerts in
Liberty Plaza. The Simmons-Newhouse Band takes its name from the two
popular local musicians that lead it, Martin Simmons and Steve Newhouse.
Given the musical background of these two gents, you can expect a dan-
ceable mixture of funk and rockabilly. How they'll pull that off, we won't
know until tonight. Opening for them is Afromusicology, a band based on
traditional African music that is led by a faculty member here at U of M,
Morris Lawrence. Friday, July 10; Liberty Plaza; 6-9 p.m.; free.
Onyx-Detroit's finest reggae band, Onyx was last seen here in Ann Arbor
opening up for the Brides of Funkenstein and completely out-funking the
self-proclaimed "Queens of Nu-Wave Funk." This is a band not to miss.
You'd probably never know they were Americans (much less Detroiters) if
they didn't tell you so. Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11; Rick's American
Cafe; 10 p.m.; $2 cover (unless you wear a Hawaiian shirt, in which case it's
free).
Psychedelic Furs-This British band has become famous for iti dense,
big-beat sound laden with eerie saxophone. They're easily the best of the
moody new-wave dance bands that have followed in the wake of Joy
Division. They even have somewhat of a hit single stateside with "Dumb
Waiters" from their new album, Talk Talk Talk, but my pick to click is the
new single, "Pretty in Pink." Tuesday, July 14; Nitro's (in Detroit); $7.50 in
advance, $8.50 at the door.
Plasmatics-What can you say about this band that hasn't already been
said? They've gotten a lot of media attention for the obscenity charges
leveled against their lead singer, Wendy 0. Williams. Highlights of their act
include cutting an electric guitar in half with a chainsaw, smashing a
television set, and blowing up a Cadillac. Of course, if you saw them on the
Tomorrow show, you've already witnessed the best parts of their act con-
densed into a two-minute videotape. But for those of you who want to ex-
perience the full glories of songs like "Sex Junkie," "Headbanger," and "A
Pig is a Pig" in person, they'll be playing in Detroit this week. Friday, July
17; Masonic Auditorium (in Detroit); $9.50 and $10.50.
Dennis Brown-One of Jamaica's top vocalists, Brown has been accused
by some of doing vanilla reggae. But that may well make him the perfect
reggae superstar for America, where the Police's pasteurized roots music
has been the closest thing to real reggae to reach the airwaves. Friday, July
17; Madison Theater (in Detroit); $8.50.
THEATER
Hansel and Gretel-Ann Arbor Circus Productions will be presenting a
unique production of this favorite children's play as they educate children
about the process of putting on aplay as well as perform the play itself. True
to their name, they have also incorporated some mime and juggling into the
show. Sunday, July 12; Michigan Theater; 2, 4, and 7 p.m.; $3 for adults and
$2 for children.
JoinTONIGHT
SEOND A,
01 be B thiFEA TURES
MUGSY
News Staff -
Len Cariou as Coriolanus, faces off against Scott Hylands as Tullus Aufidius
in the Stratford Festival production of 'Coriolanus.'
By JOSHUA PECK
The Stratford Festival of Ontario,
Canada, as you may have heard, has
had a very busy winter. While the
sweeping expanse of the Festival Stage
and the cozier altar at the Avon were
dark, all the sturm und drang moved
to the administrative offices, where
former artistic director Robin Phillips
was dethroned, board of directors
members came and went with the
wind, and a hefty portion of last year's
acting company was graciously direc-
ted elsewhere for this summer's em-
ployment.
The details of the struggle for power
have been amply chronicled elsewhere;
let it here suffice to say that the
Festival ended up with John Hirsch,
last seen at Stratford in 1976, back at
the helm.
CERTAINLY THE most visible ef-
fect wrought on the Festival by the
political fireworks is the sorely
diminished season being mounted this
year. With 16, 13, and 15 productions in
1978, '79, and '80 respectively, one
might recoil to discover that a mere
eight plays have made it to the spotlight
this year. The limited scope of the
current season is not the result of
financial hardship; indeed, the $6.1
million Stratford took in last year
bested 1979's total, itself a record, by 30
percent.
No, the problem is that Hirsch was
not coronated until sometime in
February, and simply didn't have time
to mount the usual number of produc-
tions. Who can fault him for opting for
fewer productions of substantially
higher quality than hi audiences might
otherwise have had to e'dure?
Four shos opened in June. albert
and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore (which I
skipped, as I find all productions of G &
S equally offensive); Moliere's The
Misanthrope; and Shakespeare's
Taming of the Shrew and Coriolanus. Of
the three productions I saw, it is the last
alone that is clearly in the class of some
of the best performances of Stratford
seasons past.
DIRECTOR BRIAN Bedford has
chosen a little-done play for the second
year in a row, though last year's Titus
Andronicus deserves its obscurity,
while Coriolanus does not.
Len Cariou stars as a Roman general
so vain and elitist that he cannot lower
himself to civil conversation with the
city's plebeians - the poor folk who
must convey their approval if he is to
rise to power in the civilian arena.
See CORIOLANUS, Page 13
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