The Michigan Daily - Friday, July 6, 1984 -- Page 9
A.R.T. spells good old drama
By Joseph Kraus and
Dov Cohen
HE AMERICAN Repertory Theater
is a survivor.
While repertory theater is fast
becoming a thing of the past, A.R.T. is
going strong. Based in Cambridge, the
company travels widely during the
summer. Fresh from the Olympics Arts
Festival in Los Angeles, the troupe has
made its way to Ann Arbor's Power
Center as part of the summer festival
nn Arbor
umr
J stidal
In town for only three days, they have
already. performed Moliere's
Sganarelle and the first of two showings
of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The
School for Scandal.
The company runs the gamut from
stars to relative unknowns, but all are
essential to the production. The bigger
names include director Jonathon Miller
whose BBC series, "The Body in
Question", received critical acclaim
when it ran on PBS stations across the
country, and Linda Lavin, star of the
television series "Alice."
Although the group regularly un-
dergoes personnel changes, several
members have been working together
for over four years. Originally based in
New Haven, Connecticut, several
members of. the company are Yale
drama 'school graduates. However,
Karen MacDonald, who plays Lady
Teazle in Scandal, stressed that they all
come from varying backgrounds.
MacDonald herself had done im-
provisational work before turning to
serious theater. In talking about A.R.T.
she said, "It's a great company to work
with, we travel quite a bit."
Continuing, she said, "Our goal is to
keep theater alive to keep people in-
terested in theater. There is so much
competition from television these
-days."
Tonight's School for Scandal is
typical of a Sheridan play in that its
several sub plots are tangled together
into a sometimes confusing but always
hilarious whole.
The story centers around the estate of
Sir Peter Teazle, an elderly gentleman
who must contend with a host of
youngsters including his ward, his
young wife and the two nephews of a
friend who are staying with him.
Complications arise as Sir Peter tries
to play matchmaker with the nephews.
He discovers that not only will they
have nothing of his plans, but that they
have their own instead. Yet, what Sir
Peter does discover is only the tip of the
iceberg compared to what is really
going on. Things become even more
complicated when the nephews' uncle
returns and decides to put each of-them
to a secret test. He wants to choose one
of them to be his heir.
The final night of School for Scandal
is tonight at 8 p.m. in the Power Center.
Tickets are available at the Power Cen-
ter Box Office from 7-12 p.m. for $11,
$13, $14, and $15. For reservations and
ticket information call the Summer
Festival headquarters at 763-0950.
Linda Lavin and John Bottoms play Lady Sneerwell and Snake in the
American Repertory Theatre's production of School for Scandal. Lavin is
best known for her role as the title character in the television series "Alice."
Bars and Clubs
The Blind Pig - Friday night take
off with The Flying Tigers. Saturday
it's George Bedard and the Kingpins
in full force.
Joe's Star Lounge - Friday night
it's the legendary Martha Reeves of
Martha and the Vandellas fame.
Saturday brings the Urbations,
Detroit's hottest dance band.
Mr. Flood's Party - The Falcons
with danceable blues, rock and soul
come in for a landing on both Friday
and Saturday nights.
Rick's American Cafe - Let your-
self be talked into to going down to
hear The Blue Front Persuaders, one
of the finest homegrown merchants of
unrestrained rythm and blues, Friday
and Saturday nights.
The ist
Concerts
Los Lobos - "The Wolves" make
another stop in Ann Arbor after their
highly successful show at Joe's in
February. Viewed by'many as one of
the premier bands in the inches-away-
from-stardom category, the show
promises to be one of the summer's
rock 'n' roll highlights. Recently the
band has been hard at work on tracks
for an as-yet-unreleased album, so the
show should be much more than just a
replay of their last one. In addition,
King Kong and the X-Cons are
opening. The show begins at 9 p.m.
Friday night at the Michigan Union
Ballroom. Tickets are $7.50 and
available from the Union Ticket Of-
fice, Schoolkid's, P.J.'s Used Recor-
ds, Wherehouse Records, Hudson's,
and all Ticket World outlets.
Martha Reeves - As lead singer for
Motown's Vandellas, Reeves carved
herself a niche in pop music history.
The band's two biggest hits, "Dancing
in the Streets" and "Heatwave" have
been covered by many others since
Reeves first belted them out, but
never more distinctively. More than
just a pop singer, though, Reeves is
also an inspired interpreter of con-
temporary music in gospel style and
has become known for her inter-
pretations of songs by such artists as
Van Morrison and Jimmy Cliff. There
will be two separate shows, 9 p.m. and
11:30 p.m. on Friday night. Tickets
are $9 in advance and available from
Joe's, Schoolkid's, P.J.'s,
Wherehouse, Hudson's and all ticket
world outlets.
Theater
"Working" - Derived from Studs
Terkel's book of the same name
featuring interviews with Americans
of all economic straits, this musical
montage of sketches is an interesting
portrait of life in the United States.
The play is directed by Gary Garrison
and features a cast of twenty local
talents. The show begins at 8 p.m. on
Friday and Saturday. Tickets are
available from the Ann Arbor Civic
Theater (338 Main) for $5. For further
ticket information and for reser-
vations call the Civic Theater at 662-
7282.
"School for Scandal" - The
American Repertory Theater presen-
ts the Richard Brinsley Sherican far-
ce about crossed loves and fortune
hunting Directed by Jonathon Miller
of BBC fame, the play also stars Lin-
da Lavin from television's "Alice".
Tickets for the show run between $11
and $15 and are available at the
Power Center Ticket office. For
reservations call 763-0950.
Alice visits Frank's
The name on the outside of the little Theater, Lavin illustrates that she's
diner said, "Frank's", but the woman more than just a television actress. She
on the inside looked more like she was plays Lady Sneerwell in the company's
used to being, inside one that said, production of School for Scandal, which
"Mel's." closes this evening. Also, she plays the
Linda Lavin, star of television's mother in Six Characters, a show that
"Alice," stopped into Frank's the company is not performing in its
Restaurant on Maynard yesterday af- Ann Arbor stop.
ternoon for a bite to eat and a look at an Walking from Frank's to the front of
honest-to-goodness greasy spoon. West Quad, Lavin talked about the
In town with the American Repertory See ALICE, Page 10
I
June 30 to July 24
ORDER YOUR
TICKETS NOW!
Power Center Box
Office
Open 12-7 p.m. Daily
Or call:
(313) 763-0950
Marcel Marceau
Philippe Entremont
Claire Bloom
Edward Villella
Sherrill Milnes
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Aldo Ciccolini
Pilobolus
American Repertory Theater
Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Ars Musica
Francois-Rene Duchable
The Ricci Trio
Michael Lorimer
Northwood Orchestra
The Secret Marriage
No Maps on My Taps
Waves VI
The Detroit Chamber Winds
The Ann Arbor Chamber Orchestra
Multiple Arts Performance
Robin Hood (Classic Film)