Wednesday, November 5, 1975 The Dally Tar Heel 3
'Elegance must be real at five feet'
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Rock's Fleetwood Mac
comes to Memorial Hall
The British band, Fleetwood Mac, will
perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in
M emoriul Hall. Tickets are S4 at the Union
desk.
The group first gained renown in late 1968
with a melancholy, melodic instrumental
called "Albatross," which became a No. 1
British single. Three more hits followed in
the next two years: "Man of the World,""Oh
Well" and "Green Mannalishi."
With the albums Future Games and Bare
Trees in 1972, Fleetwood Mac gained
recognition in the United States.
Now based in Los Angeles, Fleetwood
Mac plays rock with rhythm and blues roots,
layers of harmonies and striking melodic
lines.
Its last two albums have been Heroes Are
Hard to Find and Fleetwood Mac. Group
members are Mick Fleetwood, drums.
percussion; John McVie, bass; Christine
McVie, keyboards, vocals; Lindsay
Buckingham, guitar, vocals, and Stevie
Nicks, vocals, guitar, percussion.
There will be no warm-up group.
'A Little Night Music,' produced by
Hoof 'n Horn. Written by Hugh Wheeler.
Kevin Patterson, director; Patty Forbis,
choreographer; David Meoli, musical
director.
by Rick Sebak
DTH Critic
The production of A Little Night Music at
Duke which closed Sunday night was not a
totally meritless mounting of the Stephen
Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler musical, but it
certainly destroyed any respect which I
might have felt for the Hoof n Horn
organization. Beautiful music, respectable
acting talents and some fine vocal abilities
were crushed beneath the weight of a totally
fatuous and inappropriate staging of the
play in Duke's Fred Theatre.
Director Kevin Patterson obviously
plunked himself down in the center of the
center section of the audience and totally
ignored the fact that his playing area was
thrust and required non-proscenium-arch
staging. Sitting in a seat on the right side of
the stage, 1 was unable to see large parts of
Act I because a high-backed hunk of
furniture blocked my view.
At other times, members of the 5-person
chorus positioned themselves directly in
front of me so that 1 could not follow the
actions happening at center stage. (This is to
say nothing of the annoying spotlight which
shined directly into my eyes w hen there was
no set piece of cast member obstructing my
view.)
Patterson rationalized in the program:
"We are not professionals, we are not drama
majors we love getting together for some
laughs and a lot of hard work." The first two
statements are obvious, the third is irrelevant
because any audience member is still
required to pay $2.50 for a seat, irregardless
of the fact that that seat might not even
permit an easy view of the stage. Such
foolishness would be inexcusable in the
smallest of community theatres and
WANTED
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department is now hiring staff
writers. Applicants should have
writing ability, typing skills and
two or three days a week to spend
working on stories. Contact Robin
Clark at the DTH office.
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THE OLD BOOK CORNER
137 A. East Rosemary Street
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Chapel Hill. N.C. 27514
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His latest LP
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$6.98 list LP
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Tickets on sale today: $5.50 and $6, available
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definitely destroys the reputation of any
university group which hopes to please any
kind of discriminating audience.
I would not be suprised if these complaints
were answered with cries of "But the theatre
was so small! There was no other way!!
Rubbish. Inadequate and faulty staging
merely indicates lack of imagination on the
director's behalf.
A ' fie Night Music is an intimate
musical which should work splendidly in
such tight quarters. Unfortunately, however,
the illusion of elegance is hard to create w hen
the audience is close enough to read easily
the labels on the bottles of wine (and Andre
champagne will never pass for Mumm).
Disbelief of mock elegance is much more
readily suspended w hen one observes from a
distance.
Runs in stockings, overly heavy make-up,
dirty costumes and tablecloths which hang
only tw o inches on the upstage side of a table
only work against one's willingness to accept
theatrical conventions in a small theatre.
Elegance must be real at five feet.
The musical is a skillful adaptation of
Ingmar Bergman's comedy film, Smiles of a
Summer Night. Set in turn-of-the-century
Sweden, it's the enchanting story of
Frederick Egerman and his second wife
Anne (still a virgin after several months of
married life), who gets upset when she hears
her husband say the name "Desiree" while
napping one afternoon. In town with a
touring theatrical company, Desiree
Armfeldt is a skilled and experienced actress
who had an affair 14 years ago with
Frederick and is ready to resume the
relationship now on a permanent basis.
Unfortunately, she has a lover, the Count
Carl-Magnus Malcolm, who is insanely
jealous and ready to duel at a moment's
notice. At his request, his wife, Charlotte,
informs An:ir that her suspicions about
Frederik and Desiree are tr-.". As Act I
comes to an end, the Egermans (including
Frederick's son Henrik, who is studying for
the ministry) are invited to Desiree's
mother's mansion for a weekend in the
country. Act II is spent untangling and
rearranging relationships.
The score is composed entirely of waltzes
which lend an appropriate dignity to the
whole scene. It has been recognized as an
unusually adult and mature musical, and, I
think, the finest in many years. I had seen
two professional productions before the
Hoof 'n' Horn presentation and must lament
the poor staging because there was some
truly fine work done by several of the
performers.
Norman Ussery was very well cast as
Frederik. He managed to overcome the age
difference with apparently no real effort and
was surprisingly convincing as the Swedish
lawyer who might be attractive enough to
deserve the attention of a famous actress.
Carole Bowers was absolutely perfect, an
unqualified success, as the Countess
Charlotte Malcolm. Looking like a tall Liv
Ullman, she delivered lines with comic
timing and assurance w hich distinguished an
outstanding performance. I would consider
sitting through the show again (even at such
a great disadvantage) just to hear her say
again, "I frequently laugh myself to sleep
contemplating my own future."
David Reid played her handsome
husband with a suitable military demeanor,
but his hair style w as so incorrect that I never
once was able to forget that he was probably
just a Duke student.
As Petra. the maid. Laurie Hankins added
a large amoung of essential energy to the
show. I found her song, "The Miller's Son."
to be much more acceptable in this
production than even in the Broadway
version where it seemed to be somewhat out
of place.
The most famous song from the show,
"Send in the Clowns. was handled
beautifully by Jennifer Nielson whoe
performance had annoyed me in earlier pans
of the show. She initially lacked the dignity
which Desiree requires in order to be
believed and had to fight a set of costumes
which were much too large in almost every
instance. I accepted her portraval much
more readily in the second act when she
seemed a bit more resolved and subdued.
I sincerely regret that these performances
were not showcased in a more exciting and
conscientious production of the musical.
The Hoof n Horn plavers offer an
intriguing set of musical plavs every year, hut
if they insist on perpetrating such foolishly
inadequate staging and such half-hearted
.theatrical convictions, it will not be worth
the trip to Durham, let alone the price of
admission. Even amateurs must strive for
professionalism.
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fSottie is director Bert Torn's literate
modern-dress version of an English
underground novel written (by one Jack
Archer) back in 1810. Promoted as "the
most beautiful erotic fantasy ever" and
already challenging Emmanuelle as a box
office phenomenon abroad, Flossie lives'
up touts blurbs with exquisite photog
raphy, pretty people and a spate of soft
core but fully consummated sexcapacles
more romantic than raunchy. Performer
Jack Frank who looks like a young v
Joseph . Gotten. even with his clothes
off plays a guy named Jack, who is
invited by a worldly old flame to tutor
her virginal blonde protegee in the arts
of love. In. the film's title role, Maria
Lynn is the freshest little porn queen
since Marilyn Chambers and exudes a
Sweetheart of Sigma Chi innocence that
flakes her thirst for sexual "knowledge
; ;n both natural and disarming. You
have to be a swinging Swede to
between die lines of Flossie's fre
I voice-over narration, which is
f. explicit and the proper accom
5nt to images made to tease the
l?th intimate details that most sex
is rusbT through in' their haste to
1 a splashy climax. Torn uses fiash
; to cover die obligatory orgies and
" i equences but keeps Flossie .
Jbaing along seductively as well as
ctively until ever)' man jack of us
ns to root for the hero
' Seldom has this
imal need been depicted on thecreen .
idi such wholesome spirit anc?Vs' f
""nother forward step in making - -
utterlyespectable.
I a I s o v
august 1375
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