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Page 14 --The Michigan.Daily - Tuesday, July 24, 1984
dB's do it
at Joe's
(Continued from Page 10)
George (Elbowing him): What do
we need, a translator in here? This is
America - Ann Arbor, Michigan, not
the friggin' U.N.!
Al: Schorlee!
George: Now let's hear it for the
Midwest's last great hope, Tetes
Noires!
(Six women stroll out onto the
field. The crowd's cheers dwindle
down and fizz out like can-
dleflames. Cries of "Get Steinem
out of baseball!" and "Make a
home-run for me, baby!" Come out
of the crowd. The women seem
unaffected by the comments.)
Al: Gee, I didn't know they were all -
George: Dressed in Black, that's
what you were about to say. But as you
can see - and for our audience
listening back home - not all of them
are, but most.
(The Tetes Noires start playing.
At first, the rude crowd comments
continue, embellished by a faint
echoing "boo" now and again. But
as their inning progresses, they get
better and better, so by the time
they've performed their unique ver-
sion of "Soldier Boy, " a song called
"I Wonder What It's Like To Be A
Moonie," and a breathtaking a-
capella "White Wedding," amongst
others, the crowd is on their side.
They cheer maniacally and throw
roses at the feet of the conquering
Blackheads.)
Al: I never knew violin could be so
kick-ass.
George: Very Devo. But they put on an
impressive show. I'm sure we'll be
hearing more of these guys ... er, gals.
in the future.
(The press box is pelted with
Susan B. Anthony dollars)
Al: Woah! For that kind of money,
we should be exceedingly sexist more
often!
George: Ok. Now it's time for the
biggies, the team we've all heard about.
They've been playing ball here and
abroad for 'bout six years now, but only
just recently got themselves an
American contract! (Trumpet blast)
They got themselves a new first
bassman named Rick Wagner, too, but
he came after the contract.
Al: I understand he's a fine player.
George: Mighty fine I hear, Al. If'n
that's the case, then these Southern
boys transplanted to the North should
be playing some inspired baseball.
Al: Let's cross our fingers.
See dB's, Page 15
Stanley H. Kaplan
The Smart
MOVE!
n
PREPARATION FOR:
MCAT GMAT * GRE
*Please Cll
. KAPAN 662-3149
CENTER 203 E. Hoover
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
I
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Going out in style
The Ann Arbor Summer Festival comes to its official close tonight with a concert combining the Northwood Orchestra
and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival Chorus. The program will include works by Handel, Mahler, and Copland,
highlighted by the world premiere of "Death's Echo", by Donald Bryant. It commences at 8 p.m. tonight at the Power
Center.
'Tambourine' loses a beat
By Jeff Frooman
" THAT AM I doing here? - I
don't even like gospel music.
"I'm enjoying myself. Immensely."
Those were the thoughts that ran
through my head during the inter-
mission of Tambourines to Glory, the
gospel musical by Langston Hughes.
The touring company of the Detroit
Center for the Performing Arts staged
the musical this past Saturday night at.
the Michigan Theater. It was a perfor-
mance that anyone would have en-
joyed.
Tambourines to Glory is about two
black women, Essie and Laura, who
are down and out on the streets of
Harlem. Both face empty futures until
Laura hits on the idea of starting a
church.
The two may seem like unlikely
priestesses, but Essie can sing and play
the tambourine, and Laura can preach
hell, brimstone, and fire, so their
streetcorner church is an immediate
success.
A success spiritually and financially.
It's a success spiritually because
Essie practices what Laura preaches.
Essie becomes truly devout and
dedicated to helping the people on the
street. The street-corner church is a
success financially because as Laura
warns her listeners, "You can't get
saved for nothing." So when the tam-
bourine gets passed around the crowd,
the eager listeners contribute their
dimes and quarters.
Laura knows that "Holiness don't
make money," and so while her prac-
tice may be preaching, she doesn't
practice what she preaches. Instead,
Laura has an eye on making money and
the other eye on Buddy Lomax.
Buddy Lomax is a Harlem hustler
who has connections with Marty. Marty
is "the man behind the man behind the
man," and his syndicate quickly has
the church involved both in a numbers
racket, where Laura reads selected
verses ("lucky texts") from the Bible,
and also in the selling of "holy" tap.
water.
A struggle begins between Essie on
the side of "good" and Buddy on the
side of "evil," with Laura caught in the
middle. At stake: the very soul of the
church.
Like most musicals, the plot of Tam-
bourines to Glory is nothing heavy. The
focus is on the singing and dancing, and
not necessarily in developing the
characters or delivering a deeply
philosophical thematic message. As a
result, the theme and characters suf-
fered.
The theme was about as simple as
they come: good vs. evil. Accordingly,
the play's messages were: "Be good,"
and "People who aren't nice go to jail."
The characters were at least
believable. I had no trouble accepting
the fact that people would be willing to
pay Essie and Laura for the quick cures
Laura promised, and that with a little
help from the syndicate Laura was able
to turn the church into a real big-time
operation. So the problem with the
characterization wasn't one of logical
perception-I believed that the char-
cters could exist.
Rather, the problem was a lack of
emotional involvement between myself
and the characters. I felt nothing when
Essie went to jail and again nothing
when Laura went to jail.
I think we needed to see Essie and
Laura suffer more at the beginning,
because we really didn't appreciate
their rise to success. Furthermore,
their success came too easily. Charac-
ters for whom things come too easily
don't get much sympathy from an
audience when those characters finally
have their fall.
Before their fall and their trip to jail,
all I ever saw was five minutes of Essie
and Laura suffering, and then two
hours of them making successes of
themselves. It's hard to empathize with
characters like that.
However, I believe this problem with
the characterization was more in the
writing than in the acting. An actress
can only do so much with a poorly writ-
ten part.
Fortunately, none of these problems
became apparent to me until the final
scene. The final scene left me with a
bad after-taste in my mouth-a taste
that wasn't there during most of the
musical.
During most of the play the superb
singing and dancing kept the play
moving along. There really wasn't time
for asking analytical questions until the
end. The question, then, is "Should the
analytical questions even be asked?"
Isn't it enough that a play keep you en-
tertained for two hours and keep your
mind free of analytical questions?
Perhaps.
But I guess I feel more fulfilled when
a play gives me a little more than just
pure entertainment.
In the opening scenes the singers and
dancers seemed stiff and unrehearsed.
It looked like they were concentrating
on the mechanics of their parts and
were really not expressing emotions.
I suppose they just needed to warm
up, because by the middle of the first
act they had loosened up considerably.
Wow ... had they ever loosened up!
Even if you can't stand gospel music
you would have liked them. They
radiated energy!
What was particularly fun about that
singing parts was the way the songs
were punctuated by "Amens," "Yeah
Brothers," and "Halelujahs" from the
chorus. These interjections gave the
songs an especially lively air.
The ending, however, was a disaster.
Again, I think the problem was more in
the writing than in the performing.
Everything came out so well I thought I
was going to vomit. It was truly
sickening. Maybe its nice to oc-
casionally see a play where everything
works out for the best in the end, but
sheesh ...
No play or musical is perfect and
Tambourines to Glory was no excep-
tion. Overall, though, I'd give it high
marks. It was well worth the time and
money, and I'd recommend it and the
touring company of the Detroit Center
for the Performing Arts to anyone
looking for a good time.
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