n r
oom attributed to committee effons
Fne arts b
jc
By Dennis ellermoier
The performing fine arts at UNL
have enjoyed a phenomenal boom in
the past two years, and the Cultural
Affairs Committee apparently has
been instrumental in that explosion.
Established in 1972 by Chancellor
James Zumberge, the Cultural Affairs
Committee since has been trying to
fulfill its function of planning and
arranging a balanced program of
special cultural events.
The committee is chaired by John
Moran, director of the UNL School of
Music, and is composed of faculty,
staff and student members.
In its first year of operation,
1972-73, the Cultural Affairs
Committee sponsored a 4-concert solo
artists series and the residencies of the
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The
Guthrie Theatre Co. and the St. Louis
Symphony Orchestra.
This year it has sponsored a 5-event
Performing Arts series as well as tha
St. "" Louis Symphony residency, a
theatrical presentation by Viveca
Lirtdfors and the upcoming (Catherine
Thomas Singers.
The 850-sept Kimball Recital Hall
was sold out for this year's Performing
Arts series and all three performances
of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Stage seating and standing room were
sold, and people still had to be turned
away from some events,
Moran said the response has been
"phenomenal". He added, "I think the
student, community and state
response to all the cultural events has
been beyond our expectation."
The St. Louis Symphony concert
-t .
1
Ballet West has been just one of several events sponsored by the
UNL Cultural Affairs Committee this year.
sold out in VA days and the
Performing Arts series sold out before
the first concert, he said. He added
that the arts are flourishing
everywhere, not just with the events
the Cultural Affairs Committee
sponsored.
Despite good responsa and sell-cut
crowds, tha Cultural Affairs
Committea still requires a large
subsidy. Ron Bowlin, coordinator for
the committea, indicated that the
costs are high to bring top quality
artists to Lincoln. Fees for most solo
artists range from $1,500 to $4,000,
with soma solo artists costing up to
$10,000 a performance.
A minimum performance fee for a
symphony orchestra is $9,000. A half
week residency for a dance group costs
an average of $7,500. Drama
companies charge from $1,500 to
$5,000 a performance.
For costs to be covered by box
office receipts, Bowling said, it would
be "necessary to charge exorbitant
ticket prices." A single performance of
the St. '.ouis Symphony would cost a
student $13 instead of the $2.50
charged. Sertes prices would be $20
Instead of $7.50.
The programs of the Cultural
Affairs Committee are subsidized by
the University through the College of
Arts and Sciences and the Office of
the Chancellor. Funds have been
committed to some events by the
Nebraska Arts Council, the National
Endowment for the Arts and both
private and public foundations.
More than $5,000 in student fees '
were applied to a reduction of student
ticket prices for events during the
1972-73 school year. The committee
received no student fee support, this
year;
This year's lack of student fee
money forced a reduction in plans.
Bowlin said it first was doubtful the
St. Louis Symphony would be able to
return, but the series sold out so
quickly that there were very few
promotional expenses.
Moran noted that other universities
commit large amounts of student fee
money to fine arts programming.
Nebraska is unusual because there is
no established commitment of student
fees to the fine arts, he said.
A long range financial certainty is
important for effective programming,
according to Bowlin. Some artists are
booked two to three years in advance,
and the only way to plan effectively is
to be able to make a financial
commitment that far ahead.
The newly created UNL Fee
Allocations Board does not make a
decision on fees until the April before
the year they are to be used.
"In any case, April is too late for
notification for the next year since the
best artists are booked by
mid-November or December," said
Bowlin.
Twelve events have been planned
for next year. Four, Bowlin said,
depend directly on student fee
requests. Among them is the return of
the St. Louis Symphony.
Nearly all events sponsored by the
Cultural Affairs Committee include
not just formal performances but also
informal residency activities. Master
classes, question and answer sessions
and miniconcerts are given in
classrooms and living unit lounges.
Taking top quality artists to
locations where "the ' student is
comfortable exposes students who are
not familiar with certain art forms to
something new. Students not only can
see the artist perform, but also may
ask questions and get to know the
artist as a person, Bowlin said,
"I think the residence program has
the potential to become' the most
significant thing we do," he said.
Gambler's
guesses
on Oscar
winners
It's Oscar time again, and this year,
more than in the past couple of years,
Hollywood's .inclination to make the
ceremony a popularity poll, with only
token considerations for film artistry, is
again apparent.
Here ts another's analysis of pictures
that were (and some that weren't)
nominated and a gambler's guess at who
should win and who will win (few people,
think the two coincide). Like most
predictions, they'll probably turn NJt
wrong. But that will be the Academy's
fault.
Nominees for Best Supporting
Actress; Linda Blair, The Exorcist; Candy
Clark, American Graffiti; Madeline Kahn,
Paper Moon; Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon;
Sylvia Sydney, Summer Wishess, Winter
Dreams.
If t a sure bet that one of this year's
two wonder kids, Blair and O'Neal, will
Wirt. Kahn and Clark seem there only
because someone had to be nominated.
!f s :hm that fina actress like Sydney,
who played a sharp tongued, upper class
remnant (she had a tarrific death scene),
should be overlooked In tha race. Blair's
deviltry has been the news lately, but she
probably won't be able to overtake
Tatum's bouncing brat.
Nominees for Best Supporting Actor:
Vincent Gardenia, Bang the Drum
Slowly; Jack Gilford, Save the Tiger;
John Houseman, The Paper Chase; Jason
Miller, The Exorcist; Randy Quaid, The
Last Detail,
Throw out Gardenia and Quaid.
Houseman did little but act sternly and
stately, but he did it well and seems a
popular pick. If The Exorcist sweeps
awards like Cabaret did last year, Miller
will win. He also has the advantage of
being a novdty-a playwrite making a
film debut. Noted In the pait for co;nic
roles, Gilford was mai vtlou'i in a dramatic
one and deserves this Oscar, So what
Houseman.
Nominees for Best Director: Ingmar
Bergman, Cries and Whispers; Bernardo
Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris; William
Friedkin, The Exorcist; George Roy Hill,
The Sting; George Lucas, American
Graffiti.
Hill hasn't made his name big enough
yet. Bergman and Bertolucci are tops on
the list, but I can't see Hollywood giving
it to a foreign director. That leaves
Friedkin (who won two years ago for the
French Connection, newcomer Lucas
and a tough decision Once again, if
voters go all our for The Exorcist,
Friedkin wi!l win. I don't think there will
be a sweep, but even so, the movie's
bound to pull in a couple. Friedkin
should be one.
greg lukow
bWvJ jf ,a fc. ''if
Nominees for Best Actress: Ellen
Burstyn, The Exorcist; Glenda Jackson, A
Touch of Class; Marsha Mason, Cinderella
Liberty; Barbra Streisand, The Way We
Were; Joanne Woodward, Summer
Wishes, Winter Dreams.
The biggest injustice in this year's
awards was not finding Liv Ullmann's
name listed here. Ulimann was the actress
in a drought year for female roles and
should have received a bid for The New
Land Jackson and Mason were OK but
can forget about the Oscar. Burstyn was
great In her 1 -dimensional role of creating
hysteria, but the race should come down
to previous winners Streisand and
Woodward. It's glamour vs. frigidity, and
I think the Academy could surprise
people and give it to Woodward.
Nominees for Best Actor: Marlon
Brando, Last Tango in Paris; Jack
Lemmon.Save the Tiger; Jack Nicholson,
The Last Detail; A I Pacino, Serpico;
Robert Redford, The Sting.
The choice hers is between one silly
nomination, Redford; one ; OK
performance, Nicholson; two very good,
Lemmon and Pacino; and tha finest
acting job of the year, Brando. If tha
Academy wants to pull a shocker, here's
its opportunity. But I can't lmslm them
giving Brando another chance to refuse an
Oscar, or giving Lemmon the recognition
he warrants. Pacino saved Serpico from
failure and should receive compensation
for being close last year.
Nominees for Best Picture: American
Graffiti; Cries end Whispers; The
Exorcist; The Sting; A Touch of Class.
Like the Godfather and Cabaret last
year, The Exorcist and The Sting are
popular blockbusters. Neither is as good
though. What Cries and Whispers is doing
here is a mystery to me. Except tor a late
opening date in Los Angeles, it should
have been included in last year's
ceremony. Regardless, it belongs in the
foreign fiiin category which, Tmffaut's
Day for Night seems to have wrapped
up).
A Touch of Class is the dumbest
nomination in the works. What happened
to Last Tango in Paris, The Long
Goodbye, Mean Streets (which is finally
coming to Lincoln this Friday), Save the
Tiger or even Woody Allen's Sleeper?
Also the lack of any nominees from the
American Film Theater must have hurt
Ely Landau's pride, especially after going
to so much effort to get his first threa
shows to qualify.
It's possible that The Sting and The
Exorcist (both leading in total
nominations with 10 each) could cancel
each other out and let the nostalgic
American Graffiti slip by. Graffiti has all
tha ingredients, It was a success and a lot
of fun. It's as American as any movie of
this decade, and above a!!, it s a well
made little film. Given tha tifternstives, it
should satisfy everyone.
page? 8
daily ncbraskan
Thursday, march 21, 1974
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