Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 64

8E DETROIT FREE PRESSSUNDAY. SEPT. 29, 1985 6 We Won't Attic's season premiere is a disappointment WE WON'T PAYI WE WON'T PAYI Attic Theatre it Lawrence "3L DcVine Randall Godwin Aden Rusaall Monica Dealer Phil Raahaad Clyde Harper Sergeant, Lieutenant, etc, Antonia Margherita Giovanni Luigi a 1 A comedy in two acts by Dario Fo, produced by the Attic Theatre and directed by James Moran; with English adaptation by R.G, Davis, settings by Tom Macie, costumes by Ann C. Correll, lighting by Paul Epton and sound by William Elmore. At the Attic Theatre.

Third Ave. at W. Grand through Oct. 27; performances at 8 p.m., Sat. at 5:30 9 p.m., Sun.

at 2 30 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 10 a.m.-7 p.m. ADULTS: $7.75 at the Gate; $6.75 in advance at Ticketworld, AAA (plus service charge), at participating Fotomat locations, and through the Festival Office. 0 The Attic Theatre's production of "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" starts the file cards of the brain flipping backward until they stop at Well, perhaps there is no need to name names.

But the last such an unendurable time in the theater was, I believe, in November 1982 at a strange play that featured a squalid, brick-colored chenille couch being hauled on and off the stage at regular intervals. "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" which also is guaranteed to stick in the memory, opened Friday night as the premiere of the cherished Attic Theatre's 10th season. Indubitably, this production indicates that the Attic Theatre's 10th season will get better by the time of the second production, even if the Attic substitutes, say, something like another demi-memo-rable drama from time past about Rimbaud and Verlaine played by two actors who both had lisps. PATIENCE AND a sense of humor are called for in the viewing of "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" and at least one's patience will be rewarded, because 'he show does come to an end. What a peculiar, awkward play it is.

Ostensibly, it is a political play about the oppressed worker class in Italy but staged as a knockabout farce with desperately poor housewives hiding stolen groceries beneath their coats to make them look suddenly pregnant. Their lumpenproletariat husbands, of CHILDREN: (5 thru 12) $3.50 at the Gate, $2.50 in advance, under 5, free. course, are comically dumbfounded at this. The reputation of the show's Italian author, Dario Fo, testifies that he encourages different interpretations of his plays (unlike Albee and Beckett who get downright nasty when their pearls are fiddled with). Fo, then, is grist for the Attic's mill.

He is ground exceedingly corny by director James Moran. This play's claim to being a keen political satire is roughly as far-fetched as that of "Miss Margarida's Way" Estelle Parson's one-woman performance as a cuckoo American grade school teacher whose author said it was really about revolution in Peru. I DON'T KNOW, perhaps "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" is about revolution in Peru. Could be. From this version, it is honestly difficult to tell.

The hapless ensemble acting is truly like none ever seen before in any of the seasons at the Attict a theater that always has been so scrupulous about quality of For groups of 25 or more, call (313) 645-9640. Located on the wooded grounds of Colombiere Center, Clarkston, I-75 festival performance. Aden Russell yowls and does recurrent, caught-in-the-act guilty grins as the more agitated wife. Phil Rashead, though he has a wonderful, expressive face for farce comedy, has but one note in his performance: noisy. Randall Godwin, playing Italian policemen mainly, has nothing to work with and so he doesn't.

Coming up next at the Attic, on Nov. 15, is "The 1940s Radio Hour" which, word has it, has nothing at all to do with stolen Italian groceries; and, though this probably never occurred to anyone before, that will be a blessing. and Dixie Highway, Waterford Exit 93. FREE PARKING 0 sound judgment on the recoid with our critics pop: Wonder's new album is worth the wait; Marshall Crenshaw's isn't Vandross), "Never in Your Sun" and "Go Home" are downright insight In Square Circle Stevie Wonder (Tamla); Downtown Marshall Crenshaw (Warner Two of the Motor City's top exported tunesmiths both now live elsewhere have ful. And his paean against apartheid, "It's Wrong," makes an intelligent, emotional and spiritual argument that slices through all the political rhetoric.

"In Square Circle" may not qualify as the essential Wonder album to own, but it shows he hasn't been wasting his I released new records after long delays, with decidedly different I results. mm time since 1980. Wonder, of Crenshaw's third record, his first in more than two years, falls victim to some below-par songwriting. It course, is the master of taking his time; "In Square Circle" is his first doesn't help that he established himself as a top pop songwriter on his debut album and "Field Day." But for complete studio album in more Stevie Wonder "Downtown" which is co-produced by T-Bone Burnett he's taken a turn toward country and rockabilly that doesn sound natural or comfortable. To his credit, Crenshaw has turned out than five years, though he has put new compositions on a hits collection Musicquarium" in 1982) and last year's unremarkable sound-rack for "The Woman in Red." Not mrprisingly, this new record is another pleasant pop album jammed with hum-mable hooks and toe-tapping melodies, the kind of deceptively simple-sounding, pop-soul-funk-jazz blend Wonder has always done so well.

He's a flesh-and-blood exhibit of how to tame and maintain control of synthesizers, and when he adds additional instrumentation guitars on "Land of La La" and "Overjoyed" (the latter featuring Earl Klugh), horns on "Go Home" he comes up with some of the record's best tunes. His love-song lyrics occasionally border on sugar-overdose, but others such as "Part Time Lover" (with a co-lead vocal from Luther mm four winning pop tunes to open the album "Little Wild One (No. 5)," "Yvonne," "Blues Is King" and "Terrifying Love" that only serve to underscore the shortcomings of the rest of the album. Gary Graff briefly noted: How Could II Be? Eddie Murphy (Columbia); Good question, Eddie. Maybe because you're a movie star.

Maurice White (Columbia): The Earth and Wind are still here, but where's the fire? The Family (Paisley Park): From the ashes of the Time comes another Prince-styled dance-funk outfit that grooves, but without the good humor of its predecessor. Mum Toy DOLL OUTFITS SPORTS ACTIVITY il Q7 4 EACH jT ch CABBAGE PATCH I 9 each CABBAGE PATCH Coleco KOOSAS Coleco CABBAGE PATCH KIDS HUG SQUEEK FIRST BIRTHDAY Ages 3 and up I Ages 3 and up Ages 3 and up Country: The emotions run deep when Lorctta Lynn sings of love Tyco TRANSFORMER ROAD RACE SET Hasbro MY BUDDY PLAY PAL Just a Woman Loretta Lynn (MCA): Good recordings have different ways of getting to a listener. Some zap you right between the ears the first time you hear them; others seep into your mind as you hear them repeatedly, and one day you surprise yourself by humming songs you hadn't realized you knew. Loretta Lynn has done plenty of both kinds over a couple of decades. On this album, the songs fall into the second category.

The pleasure is in listening to the shadings of emotion as Lynn runs through a cross section of love songs. She's the feisty woman wronged but not whipped for "I Can't Say It on the Radio" and liberated but within limits on "Adam's Rib." She's sweet when she pleads, "Take Me in Your Arms" and "Heart, Don't Do This to Me," and even more vulnerable when she wonders, "Is it me, or just a woman, you need tonight?" She's serenely happy on "One Man Band" and raucously so on "Stop the Clock." Backing it all up is some good picking and get used to it a synthesizer. The arrangements have a bit more of the modern country sound than previous Lynn recordings. But the songs and especially the voice are still solid country. She's not just a woman she's Loretta Lynn, and that's something special.

Jean Calmen UN VOLTRON GIANT LION REMOTE CONTROL 3497 Ages 4 and up Hasbro TRANSFORMER TRANSAUTOBOT DEFENSE 3997 Ages 5 and up 97 197 34 191 Ages 6 and up Ages 2 to 5 top hitsStevie Wonder Nikko Coleco Detroit U.a Previous Current Week Week Detroit Current Week Detroit U.S. Detroit Previous Current Current Week Week Week Schaper STOMPER MONSTER Fisher-Price ZOO Our Low Price 17.97. Less Mfr. Rebate 3.00 WATER DEMONS TOP ALBUMS Schaper STOMPER BULLY 4x4 VEHICLE 1997 Ages 4 and up 16" CABBAGE PATCH RIDE-ON 2197 Ages 3 to 7 RADIO CONTROL 4x4 RANGER 5997 Ages 8 and up 197 97 19! EA Your Final Cost 14 Ages 2 to 6 Ages 4 and up SOME ITEMS REQUIRE BATTERIES SOME ITEMS REQUIRE ASSEMBLY WE ARE HIRING FOR NOW! Born In the U.S.A. 1 4 Bruce Springsteen (Columbia) 2.

Brothers In Arms 5 1 Dire Straits (Warner Bros.) 3. Songs from the Big Chair 6 3 Tears for Fears (Mercury) 4. Whitney Houston 7 5 Whitney Houston (Arista) 1 5. The Dream of the Blue Turtles 2 2 Sting (A M) 6 No Jacket Required 3 8 Phil Collins (Atlantic) mnmtio ri Hi lie nw iIVVIIIIIblU lllll Dearborn Fatrlane Town Center 780 Town Center Drive Moo thru Sat. 9:30 A.M.-9:30 P.M.

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Granger Across from University Park Mai Mon. thru Sat. 9:30 A.M. 9:30 P.M. Sunday 12:00 N- 5:00 P.M.

SINGLES 1. Part Time Lover 1 10 Stevie Wonder (Tamla) 2. Miami Vice Theme 3 13 Jan Hammer (MCA) 3. Saving All My Love for You 4 6 Whitney Houston (Arista) 4. Oh, Sheila 6 3 Ready tor the World (MCA) 5.

Take On Me 7 4 A-Ha (Warner Bros.) 6. Money for Nothing 2 1 Dire Straits (Warner Bros.) 7. Dancing In the Street 5 9 David Bowie, Mick Jagger (EMI-Amer- ica) 8. You Look Marvelous Billy Crystal (A M) 9. Cherish 2 Kool the Gang (De-Lite) 10.

I'm Goln' Down 14 Bruce Springsteen (Columbia) Dress You Up 5 Madonna (Sire) Freedom 7 Wham! (Columbia) Lonely 01' Night 8 Scarecrow 9 7. Toledo John Cougar Mellencamp (Riva) Reckless 9 7 Fort Wayne Macomb 4320 Coldwater Road 31900 Gratiot. Rosevie Mon. thru Sat. 9:30 A.M.-930 P.M.

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4525 Monroe St. Mon. thru Sat. 9:30 A P.M. Sunday 11:00 A 00 P.M.

I Bryan Adams (A M) Greatest Hits Vol. I II 4 6 Billy Joel (Columbia) In Square Circle Stevie Wonder (Tamla) Heart 10 Heart (Capitol) 10. NOW OPEN! NOW OPEN! ROSEVILLE Macomb Mall 31900 Gratiot Open 9:30 AM to 9:30 PM Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM LAKESIDE Hall Road Crossing Hall Road Schoenherr SOUTHLAND Southtowne Crossing Shopping Center Eureka Dix John Cougar Mellencamp (Riva) The Detroit list is based on a survey of area record stores. The national list is compiled by Billboard magazine..