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Carnaval Do Brasil Fisher Theatre

Carnaval Do Brasil Fisher Theatre image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
September
Year
1976
OCR Text

Brazilian culture represents an ethnic mixture of native Indian, African and Portuguese peoples. Each group has contributed parts of its own unique heritage to create a South American culture rich in folklore.
Like other cultures which hold kinship with Brazil, the South American country each year mounts a carnival rich in color, music and dancing skills which originally had its roots in various religious ceremonies and pageants.
Enterprising producers, seeing an "extravaganza" in the making and flashing dollar signs in the eyes, choreographed and organized the excitement of the Rio De Janeiro carnival into a slick revue to tour staid North American theatres. Called the Carnaval do Brasil, the show is currently showing at the Fisher Theatre.
Carnaval has a lot of the same pomp and flash as a Las Vegas production number. The costuming and settings are lavish, including a scene originally adapted from Native Indian folklore which has chorus girls dressed in brief, colorful, billowing silks, chiffons, sequins, gold and silver lame and feathers- representing the sun, moon, insects, butterflies and peacock birds. The dancing in many of these costumes, including huge voluptuous hoop skirts, is basic but adequate, although better skilled jugglers, acrobats and dancers take many solos.
Much of the music is rather pop-ish, like the medley of Hit Parade imports from Brazil ranging from a Latin and English version of "The Girl from Ipanema" to the lively "Morning of the Carnival" (from Black Orpheus). Most of this was sung by an . Americanized, Las Vegas-styled Bobby Darinish man and his equally Charo/Ann-Margaret-inspired female partner. Neither of these featured soloists (nor the other members of the Carnaval troupe) were credited in the program.
The Carnaval strikes its best musical notes with the Latin-influenced samba and salsa beats, especially the versions not watered down for Yankee ears. Americans must get a chili down their backbones listening to the beautiful Brazilian lyrics without understanding one iota of what they were singing.
For the audience, much of the real fun of the Carnaval do Brasil comes at the end. The finale, featuring the 1940's hit tune "Brasil," feathered headdresses and a swirling-array of colorful silks, is an audience-participation number featuring general hoopla from the scantily-dressed and rhythmically-inclined cast and the generally clumsy Americans.
After coming into the audience and dragging its more willing members on stage, the chorus girls attempted to teach the Americans how to bump and grind, wriggle and gyrate to a Latin beat, with varying degrees of success. Opening night featured such noteworthy Detroiters as Joyce Garrett, Charley Manos and Molly Abraham attempting to bump on beat to the pulsating salsa rhythm.
The audience participants, flushed and excited from their workout, clung to the Brazilian chorus members and gushed their enjoyment to them in English, never stopping to think that most of the cast could not understand them.
In many ways they were lucky they couldn't understand- if they had, they may have been permanently stuck with a tambourine-toting older lady in a polyester knit dress who acted as if she had found Nirvana within the distinct, compelling Latin beat and fervor.

- Sheri Terebelo