Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 23

fr Chicago Tribune, Friday, May 6, 1977 Section 2 3 f.lovies People Bobbi Wilsyn: One of a kind Allen takes' critical aim with Annie' "I 1 VX- 1 Stir I 1 i fTT rv A i I i- in 1 1 lei Woody Allen as Alvy Singer, alone again, in a scene from "Annie Hall." UNLESS THE RITZ-Carlton Bar has been placing sprigs of loco weed in its drinks, Bobbi Wilsyn is that rare show business phenomenon, a star in the making! She is the best new pop-jazz singer since well, let's not make comparisons. Bobbi Wilsyn doesn't sound like anyone but herself, and that's the way she wants it. "A lot of people come up to me and say, 'You remind me a bit of Billie Holiday, or Diana Ross, or Barbra she says. "But that's not a compliment. They don't know they're hurting my feelings." The first thing to notice is her exceptional vocal technique.

She has a legitimate three-octave range, a sense of pitch that makes every note ring as true as a bell, and a rhythmic ease that enables her to stretch phrases like warm taffy. THESE ARE dazzling skills from a purely musical perspective; but most of all, as they say in the business, "She really sells a song." And Wilsyn does it with a freshness that convinces audiences she finds entertaining an unalloyed pleasure. As one Ritz patron said in the middle. of the set, "I haven't stopped smiling since she started singing." Her material ranges from such standards as "There Will Never Ever Be Another You," to the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life," Simon and Garfun-kel's "Feelin' Groovy," and Stevie Wonder tunes. All come out transformed but valid, the mark of a true stylist.

A partcular gem is her meditative, almost conversational version of Streisand's "Evergreen," quite different from the composer's bravura interpretation. "I REGARD IT as a challenge to do things other performers have sung and make them over in my image. In a way, that's how my desire to entertain professionally was born. I used to watch TV all the time and see people who were And they'd leave me absolutely cold. I'd close my eyes and say, 'I can do that I can sell that song better than she But before a performer can win over an audience with music, she first must get its attention.

The task can, be troublesome at the Ritz-Carlton Bar, where a fair share of the customers have come to transact business or socialize. Bobbi Wilsyn accomplishes it so smoothly, quieting noisy tables without ruffling egos, that you hardly notice it has been done. "SOME OF THAT comes from working as a customer representative for the telephone company in California, where I grew up," she says, "People call in and you're their target. I really enjoyed calming the irate ones. "Now at the Ritz I see a group enter, and one member of the party, probably the dominant figure, will sit like this arms folded and scowling.

And I hope it's a manand I hope he's sitting down front, and I hope I have a number planned where I can go over and touch him. Because I'm out for that irate customer. I'll do anything to get him to smile. And if it doesn't work, that's all right done my bit. "I feel very comfortable trying to give of myself.

My consciousness is high enough that, I'm willing to take you with me. "I LIKE to entertain on a 1-to-l basis. I feel that if I project to an individual, then it doesn't make it so scary. It's not like I have to get to everyone, even though I want to. I'm being a little campy when I do that; but I'm like that every day, just a little flirtatious.

"My mother was here last night, visiting from the coast with a girlfriend of mine, and in the middle of the performance she turned to her and said, 'Girl, you would have thought that Bobbi was in the living room IN PREVIOUS films Woody Allen's characters have had oddball names like Virgil Starkwell the Money and and Fielding Mellish That's not the case with Allen's latest picture, "Annie Hall." In Allen's previous firms, his modern, ner-vous-nebbish presence has been plunked down into surroundings as strange as 22d Century America and 19th-century Russia and Not so in "Annie Hall." Here Allen plays a contemporary character named Alvy Singer nothing funny about that name. He's a famous New York comedy writer-turned-standup comedian. Just like Woody Allen himself. ALVY SINGER also is a trapped man. He distrusts the world, even a world in which he is famous.

He's paranoid about being a Jew, a success, and a man with a sex drive. You would think he would be more comfortable being an impotent, WASP failure but maybe not. I don't think he could handle being comfortable. Alvy's problems are heightened when he tries to relate to women. He has significant relationships with three women in the film.

With his first wife (Carol Kane), who's eager to have sex, Alvy prefers to talk about the Kennedy assassination report. With his second wife (Janet Margolin), he wants to roll in the sack but she'd rather talk about famous authors. And then along comes Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, Al Pacino's wife in "The Godfather" films; Allen's costar in four films; and his real-life companion for many years). Annie Hall has problems of her own. She borders on the illiterate by Alvy's East Side New York standards.

She's physically awkward, though very pretty. But most of all, she hasn't learned how to say what's on her mind. Nor has Alvy. When the two of them get together, you need English subtitles to understand what they're really saying. Fortunately Woody Allen, the director, provides them in one of the film's more clever alterations of traditional moviemaking.

"ANNIE HALL" follows the relationship between Annie and Alvy as it comically pulls together and then tragicomically pulls apart. Annie pursues a singing career (Keaton sings two songs ineptly), which pulls her to Hollywood and away from Alvy. Naturally he chases her, which gives New York writer Allen a chance to zing Lotus-land with a couple of one-liners. Says Alvy: "What can you say about a state whose only contribution to culture is you can turn right at a red light?" If the somber tone of this review surprises TRIBUNE MINI-REVIEW The way he was and Is "ANNIE HALL" Directed by Weedy Allen; written by Weedy Allen end Marshall Brtckm-n; photographed by Gordon Willie; edited by Ralph Roeenblum; produced by Cnerlee H. Jotlt; United Artists release at the McClurg Court snd outlying thenars.

Rated PG. THE CAST Alvy Singer Woody Allen Annie Hall Diane Keaton Rob Tony Roberts Allison Carol Kane Tony Lacey Paul Simon Mom Hall Colleen Dewhuret Robin Janet Margolin Pam Shelley Duvail Duano Hall Christopher Walken Grammy Hall Helen ludlam Tribune Photo by Ovle Carter Bobbi Wilsyn: No need for comparisons. talking to She was surprised that I was as crazy onstage as I am when I'm off." What is most surprising about her elfin charm is that it comes from a singer who has been performing professionally for only five years. Born in she sang in church and school and after an early marriage began to perform off-nights in Los Angeles area clubs. Milt Trenier, leader of a Las Vegas-style lounge act, heard her one night, and in 1972 she joined his show.

Her marriage had broken up, which led to her present name. "ONE REASON MY husband and I got a divorce is that I was trying to break into show biz and he didn't want that at all. My married name was Wilson I've always been called Bobbi and at the time I was a little vindictive. "I said to him, 'If you don't want to go along with my program, I don't want you to have any part of it; but I must keep this name because some people know me as Bobbi So I kept the sound but changed the spelling." After four years with Trenier she struck off on her own, opening at the Backroom in January. In addition to an immediate following, she found a fine backup trio led by pianist-arranger Don Walker.

By early spring she was at the Ritz. When that twice-extended engagement ends May 29, she will be at the Top of the Hilton in Arlington Heights. And if talent has anything to do with it, Bobbi Wilsyn soon will be at the top in another sense, too. "I think about that every day of my life, but the only thing I have planned is that I will persevere. I feel I can get anything I want, so I might as well ask for exactly what I want.

I don't need anyone to be slow about handing me the arrows when I'm shooting for the stars." Larry Kart In an interview in the May issue of Esquire magazine, Allen talks about the serious side of "Annie He considers the film different from his previous gag shows, although not nearly as serious as a script he's working on. "I'VE ALWAYS FELT I was indictable as a filmmaker on the basis of triviality," he tells critic Frank Rich. "That's my biggest self-criticism and one that I accept unhesitatingly from anyone who wants to level it." That's strong stuff from our country's brightest comic mind. But Allen means it, and "Annie Hall" is rife with self-criticism. Don't be alarmed it's as funny as most of his other pictures.

It's also a great-looking film as photographed by "Godfather" cinematographer Gordon Willis. But I didn't pay much attention to technical matters. When not laughing, I thought of the similarities between "Annie Hall" and the inferior "They Way We Were." Woody Allen plays the Barbra Streisand role, but Allen is capable of self-criticism. Diane Keaton plays the WASPish Robert Redford role, but not as deeply. No question about it: "Annie Hall" takes a at bright people in conflict.

It's very serious about its comedy Gene Siskel Gene Siskel reviews the movie scene Monday, and Friday on Channel 2 News at and 10 p.m. you and gives you the idea "Annie Hall" is a serious movie, that's OK because I think it is. Beneath the constant gag lines, there's something deadly serious and thoroughly tender about the picture. Running through the film are scenes of how Woody-Alvy would like the world to be. Those scenes are matched with images of how inauthentic the world really is.

Alvy walks through the streets of New York and asks strangers for advice. They give it to him with some measure of wisdom. So much for fantasy. As for inauthenticity, Alvy and Annie repeatedly talk to us in voice-over narration of their true feelings. The difference between what they say and mean is funny, but it's not funny that their real feelings are kept private.

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