Monday, October 22, 1SS4
PcgoO
Dally Nebrasksn
o
n la
,4
0
a I -JS. jm rw.- A7 . 5 T vA I ! f
;
7
"Ifl 11 rft lilitt
James Br&mmels, a poet
Bennett Masi&a library.
ariere
T3
aturesfolkkrrey dance,
By Is& Nattiag
Daily Nehr&s&aua tfiT Reporter
The sun hangs from the left of
the stage. Roof tops of different
shapes and sizes are suspended
from the ceiling but there are
no buildings underneath them.
"That's part of the fancifulness
of the show," conductor-director
Gregg Tailman said.
The UNL Music Theatre pro
duction of The Bartered Bride,"
a classic European love story
opera, will open Thursday at
Kimball Hall. The opera will be
performed at 8 p.m. Oct. 25, 27
and 28. Tailman will hold a "pre
performance" discussion at 7:30
p.m. before each show to explain
t he background of the opera.
The Bartered Bride" was writ
ten in 1866 and is filled with
Chechoslovakian folklore dance,
song and acrobatics. The opera,
sung in English, is entertaining
and fun, Tailman said.
"I think it's the energy the joy
of living that makes the show," he
said. The singing and dancing
reflect that"
The bartered bride, Marenka, is
played by Connie Rock. In the
story, she is in love with Jenik,
played by John De Haan. But
through their parents' previous
arrangements, she has been
pledged to marry Vasek, played
by Gene Cross. In what Tailman
describes as a typical ending,
Jenik turns out to be Vasek's
and novelist firem Wayne, read esse
d Bride love storf op
long-lost brother and Marenka
thus is allowed to merry Jenik.
This is the third time TaHman
has directed The Bssrtered Bride "
though he rarely directs the same
performance twice, he said. The
opera is special to Tailman be
cause this was the first opera (of
many) he directed. Since that
first show, Tailman visited Czech
oslovakia on a two-week trip.
" The Bartered Bride' is very
popular in Czechoslovakia," he
said. "And it's done over and over
in Europe."
Tailman said he chose this
opera because Nebraska has the
largest Czech population in the
country.
Tailman said the typical crowd
is 70 percent community and 30
percent students.
"I've been trying to figure out a
way to get the students to come,"
he said.
In order to not scare students
away, Tailman tries to make
operas as entertaining as possible.
"I think students tend to think
of the opera as being above their
level," he said. "I try to use music
and comedy to make it more
entertaining."
Advance ticket sales are going
well and Tailman said he expects
the show to do welL
The UNL Music Theatre has
two other performances sched
uled for this season.
"A Night in Old Vienna," featur
ing classic operettas and operas
1
1
ot Ms work Tkorsday st the
Kyi
'acrobaUcs.
on Feb. 2 and 3, will begin at 7
p.m. with a Viennese cuisine
dinner in the Great Hall of the
Sheldon Art Gallery.
On April 1 1, 13 and 14, "Albert
Herring," a modern British opera
comedy about men's liberation in
Victorian England, will conclude
the season.
A season ticket series with
one ticket to each show is
available to students and senior
citizens for $25. Regular season
ticket series are $28.
ft STATS
mum VAia
mnwm
6 tH
1
to - ti fffi fft
Dy B&chd Prcd
, Drily NebimsLaa StaJTEeporter
Its a drizzling day in eastDes
Mtrines colder than Nancy Sue
Cunn inghams ' third grade heart
And Amos, the custodian, and I
are alone in thi Happy Cfief
men 's room. But that 's the way it
is in east Des Moines.
FYom the poem "Amos"
by James Brummel3
I have always had preconceiv
ed notions about poetry read
ings, envisioning myself falling off
my chair asleep, or adjusting my
glasses a bit too loud and being
thrown out for a noise distur
bance. But after the poetry read
ing given by James Brummels, I
am glad to report my notions
wrong and the atmosphere was
relaxing and informal
The poetry reading was at
Bennett-Martin Library Thursday
as part of a series, of readings
given by Nebraska poets, spon
sored by the Nebraska Literary
Heritage Society.
James Brummels had a casual
and amusing way of addressing
the audience. His introductions
to the poems were entertaining
as well When reading the poems,
he appeared at ease and the
poetry lent itself to being heard
as well as read.
Brummels opened with the
poem, "Amos " which came to life
as he read it. With a Midwestern
twang he assumed the voice of
the character in the poem. T
When Amos calls over the stall
Imgonnamescmedeoderizer
that '11 be rattier strong for awhile.
It's concentrated1 in one of
those voices that tell you he can
get along with anybody.
Some of the same charac
ters, which show up through dif
ferent poems, give a sense of his
tory and continuity to the work.
As you hear about these people, a
picture can be drawn. You may
be reminded of someone you
know. . -
..'.- . .
The people that you do run
into tend to be real characters
because they have incredible in
dependence and often cultivated
eccentricities. And that's part of
the reason they're out there,"
Brummels said. They dont want
to deal with a bunch of people
saying, 'Look, you're weird.' "
James Brummels has lived in
cities for a time, but most of
his life has been spent living in
the country. He appears to be
Of fR'lC AT We
exfzzrmtmtmms
171 V&T n&Vffitiv .,t,tn!W
teCOMBMGSm.ttlViiS
mm?.
u nut
comfortable living in the country.
"In a sparse population or a
real small town, you can't be
anonymous; you can maintain
your privacy yelling at people to
leave you alone or shoot guns
into the air at night," Brummels
said. "You can be alone, but you're
certainly not anonymous. You're
the crazy person that shoots guns
in the air at night."
Describing the scenery he lives
around, he conjures up pictures
as vivid as the characters he
writes about.
Today it s the coldest it 's been all
winter, last summers grass holds
some snow in its short reach, but
most has escaped the withered
grasps to settle in more substan
tial shelter, a file of young pines.
Even there the depth barely blan
kets what needles the trees have
let go.
"I noticed a lot of things when I
was young. When you're that iso-
luted you look around a lot more."
Brummels said. "Sometimes it (in
spiration) can come just from
what I saw looking out my win
dow yesterday morning."
Along with bcsHtifbl des
criptions and various characters,
Brummel's work is often hum
ourous. His timing was excellent
as he read the anecdotes, and the
audience loved it. They may have
slipped off their chairs chuckling,
but certainly not sleeping.
At times hearing the poems
wad like having a story read ttf"
you,
"I think that poetry has its
roots in the oral tradition, it owes
something to that," Brummels.
said. "Ideally, the poem succeeds
both in somebody's voice and on
the page. The best definition I
ever heard for the difference be
tween poetry and prose is that
the right hand margin differs."
The poems in the reading were
a blend of humor, cf life expe
riences told in a sensitive and
endearing wsy, and cf characters
that Brummels "seems to care
about
Brummels received the 1934
Creative Writing Grant from the
NEA Fellowship, and co-edited
the poetry collection "On Com
mon Ground." Some of his poetry
also appeared in the collection of
poetry "Forty Nebraska Poets."
The next poetry reading, bv
Rov Scheele. is scheduled Nov ik
at 7:30 D.m. in the Heritaa Rnnm
at Bennett-Martin Library.
tvzr
KZZ. HCNKZVr OH,
ponm ymim'r trsizi-
eUZ.IT'S VZXtZZS
7Sa7H7iVs
