"The Orchid Pavilion Gathering," an exhibit featuring ancient Chinese paintings, is now open to the public at the Museum of
Art. Covering the deep red walls of the upstairs gallery at the museum are enormous silk and rice paper paintings, many of
which have never been on display in the U.S. before. These amazingly fragile pieces of art from the Southern Sung Dynasty
(1126-1280) to the 20th Century portray a wide array of artistic techniques which are not only aesthetically pleasing but provide
an educational component as well.
Basement Arts introduces a new, clever performance of James Saunders' "After Liverpool" this weekend. The show consists of
a series of scenes created by theatre students and faculty director Phillip Kerr. This production began as a workshop for Kerr's
fall acting class, yet its fabulous end product resulted in its ability to share the production with the University and Ann Arbor
communities.
It began in a high school and church choir in Stephens, Arkansas and started to soar under the care of mentor Jenni Tourel
during a summer program at Aspen Music School. "Singing," said Barbara Hendricks, "was not something I thought about
pursuing as a career until that summer - then I began to give it some thought and consider it as my life. It was a chance I took
when I went to New York."
Joan Crawford had it in spades. Linda Fiorentino made it her calling card. And now Catherine Keener's gift for playing smart,
sexy and delightfully nasty screen roles is gaining her a reputation in Hollywood.
In the surprise indie hit "Being John Malkovich," Keener delivers one verbal blow after another - usually directed at her pathetic
admirer Craig, played by John Cusack. Her character, Maxine, an attractive, aloof, neurotic ice queen, taunts Craig with lines
such as, "Even if you had me, you wouldn't know what to do with me." Her sexy self-assurance at once terrifies and attracts the
men around her.
The term "big band'' may have a retro sound to it. But there's a modern component to the one led by Harry Connick Jr.
The band's music stands are strictly high-tech 2000 with laptop computers replacing the stacks of chart music. On Connick's
current big-band tour, Connick can call out a title and with a punch of a keyboard, the band's 16 musicians will each have the
right charts up on their screens
Films that pushed the director's craft and had moviegoers talking were nominated Monday for outstanding directorial
achievement by the Directors Guild of America.
Whether it was a chilling ghost story, a supernatural death row tale or a surreal comedy about the quest for 15 minutes of fame,
the nominated films were an eclectic mix of the traditional and the avant-garde.
