ARTS
Thursday, February 21, 1991
The Michigan Daily
*Theater Review
Page 5
F ',,.
Frankie and Annette would
roll over on their blanket
by Mark Binelli
*"T hey were a little tame with
Vampire," said James A. Bolosh,
director of Psycho Beach Party, re-
ferring to the Performance Net-
work's last production of a play by
Charles Busch, Vampire Lesbians
of Sodom. "We're not softening
(our performance) at all," Bolosh
promised. "Ours is, frankly, pretty
raunchy."
Truer words were never spoken.
A production that could have been
subtitled "Surfin' with John Wa-
ters," Psycho Beach Party is an hi-
larious, subversive parody of the
classic beach movies of the '60s,
barbedly lampooning traditional
gender roles, sex, domination, and
pop culture in general. "We
watched Beach Blanket Bingo,
Where the Boys Are, I mean, you
*name it, Gidget Goes Hawaiian,
didget Goes to Rome," Bolosh con-
fessed.
The cast, comprised mainly of
students from the University and
from Eastern Michigan University,
was led by Courtney Cox as
Chicklet, a young girl whose
yearning desire to become popular
and to learn to surf is complicated
by her multiple-personality disor-
*der. Cox, incidentally, is a man,
and needless to say, his perfor-
mance would have made Divine
proud, cooly delivering lines such
as, "I'm hopeless. I'm built just
like a boy." When the psychedelic
lights flashed to signal a personal-
ity change, Cox was able to effec-
tively (and impressively) shift
from the innocent Chicklet to her
alter-ego, a power-hungry domina-
trix named Anne, who got to ver-
bally emasculate most of the male
characters in the play with lines
like, "Once their spear is broken,
they shall learn to serve their Mis-
tress Anne."
Also standing out in the cast
were Adam Smock, perfectly mel-
low as surf guru "the Big Kanaka"
who is eventually humbled by
Anne; Christa Schubert as Marvell
Ann, the buxom beach bitch; and
most of all, John Connon III as the
beach bum Yo-Yo, whose dynamic
stage presence dominated much of
the action despite a minimal num-
ber of lines. The rest of the perfor-
mances were largely inconsistent,
but acceptable for a campy play
such as this one. Anne Henne, for
instance, was likable as Chicklet's
best friend and existential philoso-
pher, Berdine, but she didn't have
enough energy to pull off several
key monologues.
Bolosh's directing, however,
remained strong throughout. Some
of the finest scenes included the
lip-synch and dance to the Gidget
theme song; Chicklet's man-hating
mother Mrs. Forrest (Edwin J. Dob-
ski) whipping her with a "peter
belt" (jock strap); an impressive
surfing simulation; every heavy-
petting scene (usually involving
two men); and the final, strangely
touching revelation about Chick-
let's dark past.
Bolosh, a senior at Eastern
Michigan University and one of
the youngest directors that the Per-
formance Network has ever used
for a show, first came across the
play in 1987 in New York City.
"We went to try to get tickets and
it was sold out," Bolosh explained,
"and so I bought the script and I
read it on the plane and I laughed
all the way home."
"A show more serious is easier
to direct," Bolosh said, but there
are some serious themes in Psycho
Beach Party as well, as different
characters are forced to deal with
personal tragedies. The film "also
makes light of the surf bums of the
'60s," said Bolosh, "you know,
that macho bullshit. Two of the
surfers fall in love, and there's
kind of a steamy scene between
them." Bolosh paused for a mo-
ment, then added, "Matter of fact,
it's not kind of steamy. Yeah, it's
pretty intense."
See ANNETTE, Page 7
Wait'll Otis sees us ... He loves us!
All right. We'll never know exactly how much Otis Redding would have liked the Black Crowes if he were
alive today, but the Crowes' respect for Mr. Pitiful is obvious in their treatment of his "Hard to Handle." In
the past few years, one of the "hip things to do" among hard rock bands has been to remake soul classics
with distorted guitars, as if "Chain of Fools" needed Little Caesar's razor-sharp edge. Some may discount
the Crowes' cover tune as being no different from the Bullet Boys' "For the Love of Money" or Stryper's
"Shining Star," but they have proven to .MTV viewers that they are only one of a few rock bands (right up
there with the Stones) who can successfully remake an R&B tune. It's hard to predict whether or not the
Black Crowes can sustain their success (see the Georgia Satellites), but the Crowes' wild attitude,
especially that of singer Chris Robinson, and their love of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle has earned them quick
popularity within a year of the release of their first album. According to David Letterman, they play "rock 'n'
roll the way God meant it to be."
The Black Crowes open for ZZ Top tonight through Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Tickets are $22.50
(plus the evil service charge), available from TicketMaster.
Theater Review
Chelsea has a regional theater
by Kevin E. Humbert
A Hollywood and Broadway ac-
* tor, a Yale playwright, and a New
York director come together to
create a new theater. This combi-
nation alone does not seem to be
especially news worthy, but what
makes the story interesting is its
location. The new, regional theater
is located in Chelsea, Michigan,
20 minutes west of Ann Arbor. And
the artists seem to have a shared
affinity for the Midwest: actor Jeff
*Daniels, Chelsea resident; play-
wright Lisa Wing, University grad-
uate; and director T. Newell Kring,
one-time Northwestern student.
The result is the Purple Rose The-
atre Company and their first pro-
duction, Blush at Nothing.
Blush at Nothing is a well-
made play of the highest degree. It
uses many tried-and-true farcical
* techniques: the mistaken identity,
the mysterious stranger, and the
comic reading of the will. And like
all good farcical comedies, the fi-
nal act is a frantic scramble of
characters searching for a treasure
and hiding from the others who are
seeking the prize. Also waiting in
the background is the booby trap
that will inevitably fall on the
obligatory unsuspecting victim.,
Many of the actors make the
most of the play's farcical style,
blowing up their characters into
full-fledged comic caricatures. Lori
W. Pelham as Jane Medina, the
pregnant cousin, and Andy Lind-
strom as "Tiny" Holden, the grand-
father, are particularly ridiculous
(in a good way) in their larger-
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Opposite Jacobson's
668-9329
than-life portrayals. Terry Heck
brought simplicity to the female
romantic lead, Vivvie Holden; her
opening scene with match-making
Aunt Catherine (Shirley Benyas)
was straight-forward and in-synch
with the small space. However, in
later scenes, Heck slipped into
stock responses with her male
counterpart, Barry Delaney, who
played Godfrey, her lover. Eliza-
beth Keiser portrayed Vivvie's sis-
ter, Pearl, with simplicity and
enough impishness to make her be-
lievable.
Wing's writing style borrows
from Noel Coward, whom both of
the major characters and the play
itself occasionally emulate. The
quick dialogue sometimes over-
whelms the storyline, particularly
the lead romance. However, this
cannonball pace does keep the
weak portions of the plot moving
and allows the laughs to overlap
while keeping the audience from
noticing the clichd-ridden parts of
the play.
The suggestion that Midwest-
erners would understand the play
better and catch more of its jokes
was insulting, however.
"Midwestern" has been confused
for "unsophisticated." Cheap gags,
such as a nun inadvertently
"feeling-up" a southern gentleman,
a pregnant woman squeezing
though a window, and scrotum in-
jury are not always sure fire laughs
for all Midwestern audiences. As
for the other "in-state" jokes, most
of them wer
basic physic
setting didi
the play.
The thea
high-tech,
Chelsea-siz
set is flawl
ings sugges
Catherine's
dozens of
decorating t
design.
? -Blush at Nothing
re superimposed over a an inevitable question: Just what
:al farce. The Michigan does the Purple Rose intend to be?
not seem necessary to Blush at Nothing seems to fill
the same purpose as various uni-
ter itself is a vision in versity and community produc-
not often seen in tions; the show, for the most part,
ed towns. The glossy entertains no better than a good
ess, and the set dress- non-professional theater. While
st the extent of Aunt Wing is a Michigan resident, the
s eccentricity, with setting's connection to the play
trinkets and oddities seems forced.
the simple living room If the Purple Rose is looking to
bring people to the theater that do
not usually patronize the live arts,
ME the audience should be challenged
more than it is in this first produc-
akes a regional theater tion. While good theater should be
an a community the- accessible, it does not necessarily
onal" seems to suggest have to be untaxing on the intel-
the arts that is patron- lect of the audience. Nor does it
t by area residents, but need to be as distant as Shake-
wide or "region"-wide speare or Chekhov can be. It is un-
.n reality, an Actor's derstandable that the Purple
ill Professional Theater Rose's first production must be
ract must also be pos- popular and somewhat light fare to
king the theater more secure an audience, but I would
or Equity and career- hope that future productions would
-Equity artists, as well take steps and make attempts that
hnical-theater counter- university and community theaters
nal also seems to sug- cannot or do not.
What ma
different th
ater? "Regi
a center for
ized not jus
by a state-v
audience. I
Equity Sma
(SPT) contr
sessed, ma]
appealing f
minded non
as their tec
parts. Regio
David Lee Roth
A Little Ain't Enough
Warner Brothers
Where Steven Tyler mixed
Mick Jagger's misogynistic Black
stud posturing with the Nean-
derthal sexuality of the alienated
Boston working class that raped
Jodie Foster's character in The Ac-
cused, Diamond Dave combined
the medieval-Anglo-Saxon-knight-
meets-Muddy Waters libido of
Robert Plant with Angelino glitz.
On Roth's newest metallic
schlock, however, the pseudo-
blues pomp and circumstance re-
sembles the polished suds 'n' beer
nuts AOR of Aerosmith (two songs
are "Walk This Way" with differ-
ent lyrics). Perhaps this is the re-
sult of Aerosmith's recent critical
rapprochement or, more likely, be-
cause he couldn't find a guitarist
to match Eddie Van Halen or
Steve Vai, instead settling for
arena hack Steve Hunter, whose
pomposity single-handedly ruined
Rock 'n' Roll Animal.
With his characteristic good
taste (there's a photo of two min-
strels in black face on the sleeve),
Roth forges the blues into a "Thus
Sprach Zarathustra" for the '90s,
eliminating the supposed proletar-
ian dialectic of glam rock as effec-
tively as any Himmler propaganda
memorandum. Indeed, the bombas-
tic guitar and martial probing of
the rhythm section create a nihilis-
tic power surge that eliminates all
structures but one. Diamond
Dave's dick becomes his uibermen-
sch, if not his ultimate State, tear-
ing down bikini bottoms of leggy
would-be Eva Brauns all along the
Venice Beach boardwalk.
Roth's impish phallus is a
smoking mountain" that's "got to
blow" here, and a "Hammerhead
Shark" there. Relishing in sexual
metaphor - from the hackneyed
"ride 'em cowboy" double enten-
dre to the revolutionary "40 Be-
low," in which "too much heat is
See RECORDS, Page 7
gest a more serious (whatever that
word entails) attempt at theater
than the relaxed community the-
ater production.
Beyond this theoretical discus-
sion is the Purple Rose Theatre.
While holding a SPT contract, in
practice the theater also functions
as a community theater. Talent is
to be drawn predominantly from
the surrounding areas. This leads to
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The acoustic set is just a special warm-up for Drivin n Cryin's full power
show at the Blind Pig Friday night!
All of Drivin n Cryin's releases, including their new hit Fly Me
Couraeous, are on sale at Schoolkids!
Fly Me Courageous
$12.99 CD
and
$7.99assette
, 'r