ARTS a +r ,a o The Michigan Daily Thursday, February 14, 1991 it really was all Page 9 Theater Review by Annette Petrusso T he Replacements and those damn Republicans, Reagan and Bush, pretty much sum up the '80s. The band made their live debut on June 29, 1980 in a halfway house for alcoholics. This first show, played drunk, sans a broken- aimed Tommy Stinson (young and chrefree, like most of us who were ohly about 10 or 11 at the time) represents the rebellion against the old man shot by the psycho, Ron- nie Ray-gun. Little did we innocent kiddies know what were in for with this president. Their first album, released in 1981, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, proves with its title that we cool young-types hated and re- Noise" all pointed out some of the problems that the nation was facing and how we regarded them. Sucks to you, Mr. Reagan. The Reagan years lasted too long. '83's Hootenany brought the 'Mats more notoriety, as even those dinosauric old-men rock crit- ics liked the Replacements and hated Reagan. The title evokes the '60s, which those dildos can relate too, don't you see? - protest and all that. Same for their real "break- through" LP, Let it Be, which was released in '84. By borrowing the moniker from the Beatles, the band received even more credibility from those old critics who hated the "noise" (preferring the sentimental slop that Springsteen was putting out on Reagan Reagan continued for four more2 years, so something had to break. It was guitarist Bob Stinson and heroin - thank you, Mr. Reagan.C By forcing these kids to live on the edge and making your policies af-r fect national life so much, every- one wanted to take lots of drugs and forget you ever happened. Or drink a lot, as the Replacements' notorious antics on stage and off confirmed. Not that excessive any-t thing is all that bad, but Ronnie1 sure made lots of people not wantl to be like him.F Anyway, Bob left the band afterl Let It Be and was replaced byl some dude named Slim Dunlap.1 His very name evokes thoughtsl about cigarettes and Reagan'sl Secretary of Education (and laterI s fault around the base like a bad tattoo around the ankle. Slim wasn't as bad as the cigarettes; he just looked a little straighter than Bob. But his very name simultaneously conjures up images of a more conventional (dare I say Republican) life-style and a slight undermining of the same way of the life. From '87's Pleased to Meet Me to '89's Don't Tell a Soul to '91's All Shook Down, the Replacements have gotten progressively more edge-less musically, just like the United States has become more boring now that those tedious Re- publicans control the country and people are fighting it less and less. Maybe it has to do with the band's move to a bigger, more major-like label, Sire, from the very indepen- dent Twin-Tone. Republican val- ues of sales and more distribution must come into play somehow. Meet Me has a self-centered ti- tle - "I simply can't think about the world while my life sucks" - but the cuts are uniformly fabulous. It sports a homage to a Mr. Sub- Culture, "Alex Chilton," and a song about jumping off a "Ledge," just like young people wanted to do to show older presidents the fu- tility of life while they are around. All in all, Meet Me still retains that slightly subversive quality. Don't Tell doesn't. Oh my god! Main songwriter Paul Westerberg has started to m-a-t-u-r-e. "I'll Be You" is a silly song about wanting to change his identity, something a father would sing to his child. Yikes! - fatherhood and young, rebellious Replacements don't mix. But it does fit right in with a Republican ideal. I promise not to tell if you don't that the Replace- ments might be content with some degree of conformity. It's just a phase, right? Well, wrong ...sort of. All Shook Down barely features more than Westerberg and one other 'Mat playing on each track. But it is life-weary, mature music. If I just listened to it knowing nothing about the Replacements, I would think it was a fabulous debut LP with a nice number of interesting musical cameos. But they aren't debuting, they are falling apart, and Westerberg reflects nicely (there's that word again). See MATS, Page 10 A romantic play especially for a sweet Valentine's Day x='y by Beth Colquitt D ear Friend, A bit of advice. If you haven't come up with some- thing to do for your sweetheart today, "Tonight at Eight" take her - or him - to see She LovesMe atthe Ann Arbor Civic Theatre. The show is like the sourballs in Drake's Valen- tine candy mix - sweet at first, tart when you bite into it, but leaving a very pleasant after- taste. She Loves Me is a sweet lit- tle musical which doesn't try to be anything other than a stan- dard love story. Boy meets girl, and they strike up an adversar- ial relationship, which at the end turns to deep affection. Through some loans from the University's Musical Theater department, the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre does it justice. The two leads simply sparkle. Their charm as they quarrel and make up rivals that of Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain, and the comparison does not end there. As the slightly pompous but soft-hearted Georg, Patrick Beller's warm and in- tense voice fills the small the- ater with his romantic appre- hensions. While singing "She Loves Me," Georg's feelings- run delightfully amok, as he" dances about the stage in a style reminiscent of Kelly's rain dance in "Singin' in the Rain." Belier's very Midwestern pri- vate-school accent glares somewhat in his pronunciation of Sheldon Ham ick's Hungarian.' names, but this barely shadows his fine performance. Beller is perfectly paired in every attribute with his heroine, Amalia Balash (Trace Plester). With an impressive display of versatility, Plester, who has, shown a strong operatic voice in past University productions, de-,- livers a delicate and excruciat- ingly sweet tone, admirably suited for the small theater. Plester and Beller work well to- gether, bouncing a wide variety of emotions off of one another,- and the romantic tension is al- most tangible. Two other good perfor- mances come from Bob Star- ring, in the role of Mr. Maraczek, crusty owner of the parfumerie in which all the" characters work, and James Hekman, as the enthusiastic and ambitious delivery boy, Arpad. Starring and Hekman in- See LOVE, Page 10 EI9I3 i4&NE i I I., Ph my god, the Replacements look like Republicans! Note Paul Westerberg's cardigan sweater and tie, something Uncle Ronnie must have given him, and his neat hair-cut. Steve Folley, the new 19-year-old one with the spiked and moussed haircut (another product of the Reagan years) and glasses (no real rock and rollers wear glasses but some, gasp, Republicans do), and Tommy Stinson sport button-down Oxford-cloth shirts, an Witimate symbol of preppy-ism. They even look sober. February Guest Speaker: Fr. Matthew Searfoorce St. Andrew Orthodox Catholic Church East Lansing, Michigan Topic: "The Bible and Tradition: The Sources of our Faith" Where and When: Michigan Union - Room 2209 .Thursday, February14th 7:00 - 8:00 pm ., 4 ,t I ;u q sented Ronnie for his age and his obvious dislike of us. The Re- placements apologized for us with the title, but entertained us younger-types with some excellent hardcorish-fast stuff. A similar theme and a similar sound racked their '82 EP, Stink. Obvious comments about Rea- gan's body and policy odor aside, Stink's song titles really represent young dissatisfaction and hint at possible drug use, or, as Reagan * would put it, "drug abuse:" "Fuck School," "God Damn Job," "Dope Smokin'," "Moron," and "Gimme Born in the U.S.A.) but liked the ti- tle. These two albums were much mellower than Sorry or Stink, but then even girls liked them, and you know how much girls hate loud racket and how many records girls buy. "I Will Dare" on Let It Be hinted at the Replacements' future new direction, a relatively sober one (which wasn't that sober at first). The song is melodic and nice; no really fast guitars and fucked-up times here, but straight- ahead rock 'n' roll. Not that nice is bad, but nice is still, well, nice. Bush's Drug Czar and now a Republican has-been), William Bennett, Mr. Anti-fun. Virginia Slims are cigarettes for women who are uncomfortable with the thicker, shorter phalluses of other cigarettes. They taste awful and look stupid, with the flower motif a- e The University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, Iv r Michigan Union Bookstore v 1 YYYYYYValentine's Day SpecialYVVIV1Y I I Buy $10.00 worth of merchandise (anything counts) February 11-14, 1991 & Receive a coupon for $1.00 off any single rose at Louise Flowers and Gifts 334 S. State Street on Valentine's Day!!! higan Union Booksto 530 S. State Street Ground Floor of the Michigan Union open 7 days a week I Mic r re ;;:A; EBurnham Associates 543 Church 761-1523 VALENTINE'S SPECIALS Discounted Rates-1st Month's Rent Contact the following people: 543 Church 515 Walnut 848 Tappan 761-1523 747-7317 761-6249 1001 S. Forest 1506 Geddes 665-5127 610 S. Forest 747-7317 769-1647 Leases signed between 2/14-2/28 GOING OUR WAY? COMMUTER TRANSPORTATION OFFERS : .PROMPT SERVICE TO AND FROM THE UNION TO THE DETROIT METRO AIRPORT .SPRING BREAK SPECIAL (FEB 19-24) " $13 ONE WAY 0, $23 ROUND TRIP MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TODAY. CALL TOLL FREE- 1-800-351-5466 Black History Month Symposium Black American Families: Challenges and Opportunities Horace H. Rackham Building The University of Michigan February 15-16, 1991 Friday, February 15 Rackham Amphitheater 10:00 - Panel discussion with Fred McCuiston, President, Ann Arbor NAACP, and William Rapcliff, Director, Saturday Academy for African American Students - Children of Color: Challenges and Opportunities for the 21st Century 11:00 Black Families: A Status Report 1:30 3:15 9:00 am - Methods for Tracing Black Family Genealogy - Afroamerican Men's Views of Male Family Roles 10:45 - Black, Single Parent Women: Future Directions - Psychological Interventions with Minority Youth All eventsare free and open to the public For further informaton, please call 764-5513. [Thurs ,- 14 .9 ,SOUNDTAGE4 Mothers, Fathers, Grandparents Families Coping with Stress Saturday, February 16 Rackham 4th Floor, Workshops -.4. k4' -. .9. -.9 r Trinidad NOW HIRING Tripoli 4.. FOR OUR NEW PLYMOUTH ROAD STORE FOR THESE PART-TIME POSITIONS: CLERK/CASHIERS PRODUCE CLERKS STOCK CLERKS DELI/PASTRY CLERK SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OFFERED " OrTiA DTTATrl R ArTilR R r /t T-TTT AT THE I T1Ill) .