When I think back about the talent here at the University of Michigan, odds are high that Gibson Fleck will stick out in my mind. I cannot explain to you the itching anticipation I’m experiencing for this show and I hardly know anything about it. Gibson Fleck, presented by the Department of Musical Theatre, is an original production with music and lyrics written by A.J. Holmes and Carlos Valdes and book by Ali Gordon. These names may sound familiar to you, and they should. The creators of Gibson Fleck are all current U of M students. This impressive and ambitious young team has worked incessantly to produce a show that is sure to continue the university’s tradition of innovation and creative genius.
Gibson Fleck, a story of a young man searching for a place to call home, incorporates a blend of both folk rock and musical theatre idioms. The show is sure to be an emotional rollercoaster, as Gibson is faced with the enduring uncertainty of the meaning of “home.” I have no doubt that the inspiring story of Gibson Fleck will take you into a world unbeknownst to you.
Gibson Fleck will run throughout the weekend in the Arthur Miller Theatre on North Campus.
Thursday, November 18th: 7:30 PM (SOLD OUT)
Friday, November 19th: 8:00 PM
Saturday, November 20th: 8:00 PM
Saturday, November 20th: 2:00 PM
Sunday, November 21st: 2:00 PM
Limited tickets available at the League Ticket Office: 734.764.2538
Jean and Gordon "Kiss" In The Laundromat. Or Some Weird Metaphor Like That. (Basement Arts Facebook photo)
Play reviews are difficult. It’s sort of like reviewing some shlops singing karaoke at the local tavern. Although the town drunk may have picked your favorite song (perhaps Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ or Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’), he’s still five drinks deep (cheap rum, most probably) and lacks both rhythm and pitch.
The Basement Arts production of Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Dead Man’s Cell Phone’ was rather opposite of the karaoke dilemma. Although the acting was, for the most part, stellar, it had a difficult time carrying a play that failed at developing a connection between the audience and its characters. ‘Cell Phone’ is about a woman, Jean, who, annoyed at the incessant ringing of a cell phone at the next table at a diner, picks up a stranger’s cell phone. Complicating the situation, she soon finds out that the man, Gordon, has not picked up his cell phone because he is dead. Jean, in acting as his secretary and, soon afterward, his legacy-maker, speaks to his colleagues, his family, and friends. In a string of lies, Jean personalizes Gordon in her own mind and conceives of a dieing Gordon to explain to his loved ones.
Unfortunately, although closely involving herself in Gordon’s affairs – attempting to assuage some pain, Jean never becomes more than a liar. The playwright, Ruhl, attempts to personalize her in, among other ploys, declaring a love for stationary that she shares with Gordon’s brother, Dwight (a role similar to Buster of Arrested Development fame). However, even Jean’s budding relationship with Dwight is built upon lies and stories. To Ruhl, Jean is supposed to be a, slightly misguided, heroine. Instead, she creates an internal mess of a mess.
This takes away nothing from the exceptional acting in the Basement Arts production of the play on Friday night (also performed at 7pm Friday and 7pm, 11pm Saturday) (Full disclosure- a close friend, Neal Kelley, played the role of Gordon. Even fuller disclosure- although not necessary today, I am zero percent afraid of talking shit about my friends. They probably deserve it.) The actors’ performances on Friday night were truly great. Grounded in an exceptional performance by Margot McGrath as the overly-emotional Mrs. Gottlieb (Gordon’s mother), the actors displayed a deep intimacy and knowledge of each other and each others’ roles in the play.
The ‘sold-out’ crowd (some mortals even sitting in the aisles for a two hour play!) at Studio One in the Walgreen Center ate it up, laughing hysterically at any sign of a joke. Unfortunately, just as these are the same kids who speak to hear the beautiful sounds of their own voice, there were many members of Friday night’s audience who really wished they were on stage-they really wanted to be the center of attention-so, rather unnaturally, they chose to yell their laughs. (My slightly intoxicated friends- whom I met there- enjoyed laughing at the flamboyant crowd more than the show itself.)
If nothing else, I’m now a fan of the Basement Arts. Quality acting with a price tag of $free.fifty is unlikely to be beat in these parts. Although not my choice of plays, I will, again, choose to make the trek Up North to the Walgreen Center for a Basement Arts production.
Oh yeah, and I would probably choose Al Green’s ‘Love and Happiness’ for my karaoke performance.
Bennett. bstei@umich.edu. ‘No Shirt, No Radio’ Wednesday nights, Midnight-1:30am, WCBN
It may be old news that cell phones have changed our everyday lives and changed our culture as a whole (Check out David Brooks’ editorial this week on sexting and the like) however, Dead Man’s Cell Phoneeven further personalizes the cell phone’s power. The show by American playwright and MacArthur Genius Award recipient, Sarah Ruhl, tells the story of Jean who answers the phone of a stranger sitting at the next table, who she soon finds out is dead, and her subsequent discussions with his friends and relatives.
Ruhl is the author of ten original plays including, the Pulitzer Prize nominated, The Clean House. In a statement honoring her MacArthur Fellowship, the organization states that she is a “playwright creating vivid and adventurous theatrical works that poignantly juxtapose the mundane aspects of daily life with mythic themes of love and war.”
This evening, Friday, November 6 at 7pm and 11pm and again tomorrow evening at the same times, the Basement Arts, a student-run theater organization, presents this new comedy with the exceptional talent of University of Michigan student actors, directors, choreographers. Responsible for the now world-famous, A Very Potter Musical, The Basement Arts have a solid history of presenting free theater as a priceless experience.
Tonight, Friday, November 6 @ 7 and 11pm. Tomorrow, Saturday, November 7 @ 7 and 11pm. All shows at Studio One, Walgreen Drama Center (1226 Murfin), North Campus. Free Admission!
