il
page 16
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, november 8, 1978
arts and entertainment
.,, , ww
Author writes fairy tales
in search for excellence
By B.J. Huchtemann
Somewhere, sometime, chances are that
you have read or been read a classic piece
of children's fantasy literature called A
Wrinkle in Time.
profile
Photo by Tad Kirk.
Madelaine L Tingle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, says fantasy leads to reality.
Choral group sings medleys
They sing, they dance, they "The Scarlet and Cream
entertain. They're not all Singers are the most inspir-
music majors but they re all ing group of people I've ever
performers. They're the
Scarlet and Cream Singers, a
UNL choral ensemble spon
sored by the Alumni Associ
ation. Directed by UNL Asso
ciate Professor of Music,
Ray Miller, the fourteen
member group performs at
various campus and com
munity activities.
Selections in this year's
repertoire include a Satur
day Night Fever medley, a
Lady America medley, and
a medley of television tunes.
"The TV tune medley
consists of 26 or 27 TV
themes and was arranged
by Bob Buckholz, a former
group member, who also
arranged the Saturday Night
Fever medley," Miller said.
The group also performs
a medley from Grease com
plete with '50s costumes.
"We do the Broadway
Grease which is a little diff
erent from the movie Grease
because it is done in the
'50s style rather than a
disco style." the director
explained.
Receive credit
The Scarlet and Cream
Singers is offered as a one
credit class. Members
receive scholarships from
the Alumni Association
each semester.
The group was founded
in 1972 by the Alumni
Association which covers
expenses and lines up per
formances, according to
Barb Hengen. director of
alumni clubs and liaison be
tween the association and
the singers.
worked with and I know of
no other group that can sell
the university as well as
they can," Hengen said.
Other performances this
year have included the
homecoming ethnic celebra
tion, the Beta Theta Pi
Spaghetti Feed, receptions
for the Californians for
Nebraska, and trips to
Gothenberg and Colorado.
The singers took a
four-day tour through
Colorado, performing in
Fort Collins, Denver,
Boulder, and, on the way
home, stopping in Scott s
bluff. Open to anyone
Adutions for the Scarlet
and Cream Singers are in the
spring and open to any
student.
"Next year we hope to
have another group," Miller
said. "It's still only a possib
ility right now, but if we do
have another group, then we
could use one group of
singers as a training group."
Upcoming performances
of the group include an
appearance at the Lincoln
Country Club on Nov. 10,
Red Carpet Days on Nov.
17, and the Chancellor's
Reception on Dec. 1 , as well
as the annual spring concert,
Miller said.
New members of the
group this year are soprano
singers Dawn Penny from
Central City and Jody
Jensen from Lincoln, and
tenors Paul Eschliman and
Chip Carmichael, both i ti
Lincoln.
The other ten members
of the group are Jeff Cox,
Tom Farrell, Sue Gast,
Becky Hanson, Jim Jenkins,
Cindy Longacre, Mary Jane
Mastalir, Ben Salinas, Deb
Schmidt, and Paul Tranisi.
Providing accompani
ment for the singers are
Kathy Tejcka and Carey
Boesiger on the piano, Eric
Johnson on bass, Dave
Fowler, guitar, and Brian
Jefferson, drums. The tech
nicians of the group are
Cooper Hanson and Steve
Booten.
Madeleine L'Engle, who wrote this fan
tasy tale, was in Lincoln early this week
making lecture appearances. L'Engle spoke
to a crowd that ranged from the young to
the young at heart Monday night in the
Nebraska Union Ballroom.
"We no longer breathe real air," she be
gan, ". . .we no longer have real food. . .
there are people who have never known the
smell of freshly brewed coffee. . .But lately
there's been a real rebellion against this
plasticity forced upon us."
Minimum effort immoral
L'Engle said she believes our culture
is beginning to realize making something
less excellent than you're capable of
making it is immoral.
"The search for excellence has no short
cuts," she said.
L'Engle related the significance of this
search for excellence in terms of the fairy
tale. Her definition of fairy tale is
expanded to include science fiction and
fantasy literature, as well as the classical
fairy tale.
The fairy tale breaks down into five
elements, according to L'Engle; the quest,
the younger son, the true princess, the
monster and the happy ending.
L'Engle says this breakdown is in effect
a blueprint of the human psyche. Using
various fairy tales as metaphors, L'Engle
explained that all five elements of the fairy
tale are present in everyone; Why are
we here? Who am I? Does anybody care?
What is the meaning of the quest?
More than we know
"The fairy tale assures us we are more
than we know," L'Engle said. "The fairy
tale assures us we are not alone. We are all
the younger son, who knows he's not quali
fied to follow the quest.
"He looks for help and expects it,"
L'Engle said, "unlike the older brothers on
their do-it-yourself kick. . .The younger
son doesn't have expectations. We don't
always want to do the things we have to do
but we do them anyhow."
L'Engle said it's easier for women to ac
cept all the elements of the fairy tale in us
because women aren't taught to repress
intuition and emotion.
Mish-mash
"Biologically we are all a complicated
mish-mash of male and female genes. . .but
the richness of our being incldes the recog
nition of all our aspects.
"Last summer," L'Engle explained, "my
actor-husband refused to turn on the air
conditioner in the middle of the sweltering
summer in the city because he's a real
princess."
The monster is prejent in all of us as
well.
"When we're monstrous we are at our
least lovable and most in need of love,"
L'Engle said. Part of the "true vocation"
of the younger son and the true princess is
to embrace the monster, she added.
"The happy ending beings with our
recognition of our wholeness, that we are
so much more than we know," she said.
Count your age
This vibrant woman who readily admits
she will turn 60 this month qualifies her
age, saying "I am also 1, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,
9, on up."
"If I do not remain the child that I was
. . .the searching adolescent that I was, I
have lost a part of me. . Part of that added
extraness we sometimes forget we have."
L'Engle started writing when she was 5
years old.
"I was a very solitary, only child. . .
early on, my search for reality was through
story," she explained.
"In the years between 8 and 1 1 I had a
series of dreams in which I was not me,"
L'Engle said. In her dreams she was a
swashbuckling pirate, the daughter of an
English explorer. . .
"I think we neglect our dreams," she
added. "Our nighttime dreams are a part
of our personalities and can help us
recognize the many parts in us."
Published after graduation
Not too long after she graduated from
college L'Engle 's first novel was published.
"My own life is in everything I write be
cause that's all I have to work from,"
L'Engle said.
"To write for a child or to write for a
grown-up is exactly the same process," she
explained, ". . .your reader must believe
what you're telling."
Writing fantasy is the activity of looking
for reality, L'Engle said, seeking for what
we as human beings really are. And the
deepest realities are not found in the realm
of provable fact.
"There's nothing about love that is a
provable fact," L'Engle explained.
lliumi. 4nii)l 1
UNL't Scarlet and Cream Singers perform throughout the midwest.