Works rescued from shredder
finally make it into publication
It is almost inevitable that Hi
VVJUliC
of a semester some things you start to write
about never make it into publication. Some get
cut for lack of space, or lack of timeliness. More
often than not, the pieces withheld simply aren't
good enough to be printed and so are consigned
mercifully to the circular file.
As one might guess, I have more than my fair
share of these little bits and snatches which were
spared the indignity of a trip to the official office
document shredder. Herewith are a few of the
ones dearest to my heart, all being the last
vestiges of grander things that either petered out
or collapsed under their own weight, never to see
the light of day.
A late-night screening of the Titanic story
according to Shepperton Studios, A Night to
Remember, again brings home how much better
the British are at making disaster movies than we
are. Looking back at the past several years' spate
of crisis cinema, it seems strange that the only
one which has been able to connect with the
audience on a really human level was Irwin
Allen's The Poseidon Adventure, which was
directed by a Britisher.
dove wore
strii&uptho bond
Seeing the surreal, gripping reinundation of
the doomed liner also proved to be a reminder of
how a disaster movie can draw out the emotions
of almost any audience, causing tears and
unsuppressable sniffling. It seems a shame that
recent efforts haven't been able to accomplish
the same.
Is the world ready for a revival of The Green
Pastures'! Seeing the way the world is generally
going headlong into the glory hole, it is about
time someone restaged this, possibly America's
finest comedy. The only thing working against it,
apart from the large cast, is the language of the
piece, which has proved to be offensive to black
critics. Those critics have charged that Marc
Connelly rudely caricatured the rural black and
exploited him shamelessly, as well as assumed a
condescending attitude.
The answer to these charges is of course
"sheer rubbish," since, in the first . place,
Connelly strove hard to reproduce faithfully the
speech patterns and attitudes of rural Louisiana
blacks, and in the second place, any
condescension present is on the part of the
preseijt-day critics, who refuse to stoop so low as
to give The Green Pastures some serious study.
If they would do so, they would find no
vicious stereotypes or haughty looking down, but
rather a genuinely funny comedy that is both
gentle and uncompromising in its wry view of
God and his wayward children. A fine film
starring several of the Broadway cast members is
seen on television from time to time, so why not
give it a careful and loving stage treatment,
possibly in Howell Theatre or even (dare I be so
bold?) at the Community Playhouse? Such a
production, I hope, would draw Lincoln's black
community.
There is a large pile of albums that I never
found the time or words to discuss, but which
deserve at least some passing mention for one
reason or another. At the top of my list is Hijack,
done by a handful of bolshie krauts calling
themselves Anion Duul. The album has its high
points, (both of which are on the first side), but
to be quite honest, justice demands the addition
of an "L" and the subtraction of an extraneous
"U" from their name.
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, by
British rockers Genesis, proves that you too can
achieve a certain measure of success by cobbling
elements of the Who's Tommy and
Quadrophenia together, adding a touch of
"Rael" from The Who Sell Out, and binding the
whole unwieldy mess together with vocals that
sound like a cross between Roger Daltrey and
John Entwhistle. This double album should serve
as a warning to all ambitious groups that if you
really must do an ambitious concept album,
make bloody well sure you steal from more than
one source. Nice pastiche work, though.
Bowie's Young Americans need no comment
from these quarters, but Lou Reed Live deserves
notice, if only for the reinforcement of the
impression that Reed is a jackanapes in the
recording studio and is only comfortable on
stage, where he can perform his exercises in
self-abuse set to nonmusic in full view of his
audience. As a purveyor of primal garbage, Reed
has no peer save possibly the mercifully
lorgotten Jobnatn.
Anyone who finds himself purchasing tickets
to the Alice Cooper Show which is touring the
country this summer as a sort of comeback
venture for Mr. Nice Guy, will be pleased to learn
that he also will be treated to a performance by
the smashing (here a heartthrob or two) Suzi
Quatro. At last, we get what we've been asking
for.
Sheldon exhibits
include weaving
Three new shows will open at Sheldon Art
Gallery in May. In addition, a sale of blown glass
by three midwestern artists will run until May
18.
Don Hazelrigg and Richard Stauffer, from
Emporia State Teachers College, and Raymond
Schultze of Kearney State are selling examples of
their blown glass in the Sheldon Art Shop.
Illustrations by contemporary artists for
books by Thomas Mann, Henry James and Franz
Kafka will be displayed from May 5 thru June 1.
Weavings by Omaha artist Mary Kester will be
shown May 13 to June 8. A graduate of the
University of Northern Iowa, Kester is a member
of the teaching staff of the Old Market
Craftsmen Guild in Omaha.
Gary Zaruba will have his ceramics on sale and
display in the art shop from May 20 until June
15.
1 I
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page 17