8- The Michigan Daily Summer Weely- Wednesday, May 19,1993
a HM 'That is one
S. selling some
Getting aboard
By JASON CARROLL
As the wintersemesterisover, the
University Theatre Department is
closed.Butdon'tthink thatyouwon't
be able to see any big productions this
summer. The Ann Arbor Civic The-
atre brings its summer musical to the
Power Center this weekend.
"On the 20th Century" is a musi-
cal farce that takes place during the
1930s, a time when the train was the
king of transportation. The 20th Cen-
tury Limited was a luxury liner that
sped from Chicago to New York in
only 16 hours.
Just like the classic '30s film that
inspiredit, themusicalfocusesonone
of those train rides and the crazy pas-
sengers that inhabit it. On board is
OscarJaffe (Tim Henning), a former
Broadway producer whose recent
shows have been absolute flops. In
the adjoining car is the screen actress
he made famous through the theater,
Lily Garland (Julia Broxholm).
Throughout the show, Oscar tries to
hook up with Lily both profession-
ally,on the stage, and romantically, in
the bedroom.
The last major character in the
show is the set. Director/choreogra-
pher Jim Posante stated, "All the im-
portant action takes place on the trainI
... you get a claustrophobic feeling,"
therefore amammothspectacular set
isvitaltothe show.During the perfor-
mance, the audience willlsee the front
of the train, the rear with an observa-
tion deck and a side view of the two
adjoining cars.
Posante said that he struggled to
achieve his vision for the show. "I
worked with theset/costumedesigner
(Christine Reising) for a whole year
to create an Art Deco look." In fact,
several authentic flapper dresses from
the period were donated to the Civic
Theatre for use in the show. In addi-
tion Posante confessed, "It was diffi-
cult to stage some of the larger scenes s
without spilling off the train." t
Bothimusically andrcomically, the a
show is superior to many other musi-
cals that werereleasedin thelate'70s. a
On Broadway, both the composer Cy i
Coleman and writers Comden & r
ast thing to rememben writers are always
body out.'
-Joan Didion
Keitel's
1 raging
Snferno
By MEGAN ABBOTT
Therearemovies aboutsinand then
there aremovies that are sin. There are
movies aboutredemption andthenthere
are movies that are redemption. "Bad
Bad Lieutenant
Directed by AbelFerrara; written by
Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund; with
a Harvey Keitel.
Lieutenant" wavers tentatively some-
g where in between. And that space,
entury" will be playing at the Power Center. where Harvey Keitel's character re-
onies for its score is very much a farce, and the comedy sides, is so dark that even his redemp-
: remarked, "The was fun to play with ...It's a classic tion becomes ugly and contorted.
>mden & Green, it screwball comedy." "Bad Lieutenant" chronicles the
pork they did before ON THE 20th CENTURY will be descent of a corrupt police lieutenant
L." performed Wednesday May 19th (Harvey Keitel) whose moral compass
athe thinks that the through Saturday at 8 p.m. with a has been shattered. He's floundering in
asmuchfunwatch- Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. at the a morass of drugs, gambling, promis-
Century" as he did Power Centerfor Performing Arts. cuity and loss of faith. But it's clear that
added, "The show Tickets are $14 to $18. there 'sonly somuch further he can fall;
he's recklessly bettng more and more
during theDodgers/Mets playoffs,con-
vinedhecan come outahead. And the
morerecklessheheeomes,thecloserto
S e stardom all pays ilf out when New
York Cityisunder thegripsofavicious
a lot of hours." enjoyed working with director Van rape and beating ofa nun. The Lieuten-
> say, "I mean, in the Peebles even thoughhe was not aware ant finds himself mesmerized by the
go in the studio when that Mario once played Tootie's ab- violation of the nun and her refusal to
udioand leave when original boyfriend in a "Facts of finger her assailants. Her faith brings
do shows when I Life Goes to Australia," TV movie. him to the point where he must choose
I like that freedom." He says, "I didn't catch that. I don't redemption or the abyss. It's not en-
one thing Tone Loc think it hurt him as a director though. tirelyobvious, however, which choices
: "The money. What I'll have to ask him about it." will lead him in which direction.
>ol." And heappreci- He also liked working with Big Abel Ferrara's ("King of New
the people he works Daddy Kane."Therapper's bond was York")harshNC-17workimakesnoth-
freedom to do what there. Besides, we're friends back in ing easy for the audience. Seldom has
roles tailored to his Los Angeles." Perhaps Big Daddy a film been harder to watch, with its
uldn't play a school Kane is avictim of ToneLoc's theory ragged explosions of sexual violence
like that." of rags to riches. "First albums are and urban horror. But it's not sensa-
one Loc was able to always about hard times. Being poor tionalism.Ferrara, and co-screenwriter
"Posse" because he Zoe Lund,are foremost concerned with
soundtrack. He also See Loc, Page 11 the spiritual implications of the
Lieutenant's journey. It asks if a soul
this lost can find salvation. Eminently
Catholic in ideology, yet ever con-
cerned with the troubling ambiguities
of any dogma, the story doesn'teverlet
usoffthehook.We canneitherhatenor
admire the Lieutenant. He is both the
SinceZ196d shadowy Other we spend our whole
u" -----T - - lives running from, and he is us, all of
us, in our darkest hours.
Such a complex and symbol-rich
characterrequires theperfomanceeof a
nd . lnt lifetime. And no living actor could
99 1 ... offer up such a character with more
Vaid ony at Packard/Hill 769-5555 visceral truth than Harvey Keitel, with-
Maiden Lane 995-9101
ng. (pus tax) Limit one coupon per order. See LrEumar, Page 10
Expires 5/20/93
0
Tone Loc-omotion to mo
By ALISON LEVY
"Posse" is the latest video/genre
film from nubile director, Mario Van
Peebles. This movie follows up his
first film, "New Jack City" and con-
cerns the never dealt with, but popular
issue of African American cowboys in
the Wild Wild West. The cast includes
Daily fave, Stephen Baldwin, Van
Peebles andrapper-tunmed-actor, Tone
Loc who plays wild cowboy, Angel.
Hmmm. What do you call him?
Tone? Mr. Loc? T.L.? Mr. Tone Loc?
Howbout avoiding the name thing al-
together? That's what I did in an inter-
view with the Wild Thing himself.
Loc began by saying he preferred
the music business to his fledgling
career as an actor. "There's a lot more
freedom in the music. I mean acting is
a lot of hurry up and waiting around.
It's alotmore disciplinedto be anactor
and I have a lotimore respect for those
people now than I did before because
Fortunately, T
mix these skills on
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