Tuesday, September 10, 1985 Daiy Nebraskan Page 9
Arts
(5
World's comedian Bob Berky
is out to 'rattle some cages'
By Deb Pederson
Senior Reporter
The world is his stage, but Lin
coln will shine the footlights
on international mime artist
Bob Berky this week. Berky will
work as a resident artist with the
UNL Kimball Performance Series
and give a number of local perfor
mances throughout the week.
Berky said he didn't think about
becoming a mime until he was in
college. He started out as a french
horn player at the Eastman School
of Music.
"My parents always said do what
you like doing. If you don't like
doing it, stop it," Berky said. So he
stopped playing the horn.
"When I put the horn down, I
needed some way of expressing
myself," Berky said. "I did a lot of
speaking theater first, and I was an
athlete so I became very physical in
whatever theater I was doing. That
led me to one of the most physical
forms of theater, which is mime.
And then theatrical clowning is also
very physical."
Berky began studying mime tech
nique with a member of the Ameri
can Mime Theatre in 1970. After one
year he went to Rochester, N.Y., and
worked as a research assistant in
the University of Rochester psych
ology department, using theater
techniques with emotionally disturb
ed and delinquent children. During
this period he continued studying
mime at Cornell University with
Paul Curtis, director of the Ameri
can Mime Theatre, and founded and
directed the Rochester Children's
Theatre.
In 1973, Berky studied with Tony
Montanaro, a contemporary of French
mime master Marcel Marceau. He
was then asked to join Montanaro's
company of nine performers in the
formation of the Celebration Mime
Theatre. As a member of Celebra
tion, he traveled throughout the
United States and Canada, perform
ing and giving workshops at univer
sities, theaters and schools. He also
established an intensive clowning
workshop at the Celebration Mime
Theatre, with co-instructor Fred
Garver.
Berky said he never really made
a conscious decision to pursue
mime as a career, it just fell in
place.
"I pursued it and before long I
found myself in a company, working,
making a little bit of money," Berky
said. "It's just sort of taken care of
itself.
"I'm not a mime, really, in the
normal sense of that word. I don't
wear a white face," he said.
"People really have no under
standing of the art form," Berky
said. "When you say the word 'music,
you don't think that it's just rock 'n'
roll. You say what kind of music. So
when people hear the word 'mime'
they think of one thing, one style. So
I don't even use the word any longer.
I'm a physical comedian. As such I
can explore just about anything I
Physical comedianmime Bob
want to."
Berky said he liked performing in
different countries because "when
you get right down to it, no matter
what color they are, or what lan
guage they speak, they're all human
beings." 1
Television is a bunch of gar
bage, he said. He suggested
drawing a timeline of a life
span and then cutting off all of the
hours spent watching television.
"When you look at it that way, it's
scary," Berky said. "It's like some
body's chopping your body off piece
by piece."
Americans have lost some of the
richness of their culture because of
their fascination with high technol
ogy, he said.
"You notice in any city, even New
York which is supposedly sophis
ticated, and I would beg to differ
with that if you have a television
in a store window, many people will
stop to watch it," Berky said. "It
doesn't matter what it is. It's this
fascination with flickering and
images."
What is important to Berky is
exposing people not only to mime
and clowning, but using the art
forms to expand people's ability to
have ideas for themselves and to
make them think, he said.
"I'm just going to rattle people's
cages all week," Berky said.
He said he enjoys teaching but
doesn't have the time right now
because he's so busy performing.
"I'll teach later when I can't
move so much," Berky said.
Berky said his lifestyle is like
anyone else's except that it's not a
Berky
7 t
A r
i V I
Courtesy oi KlmbalfPeriormanct Series
Berky performs in costume.
nine-to-five situation and he has a
lot of freedom and responsibility.
"If you do something wrong, then
you can fix it," he said, "But if
you're not responsible for your own
actions and you do something wrong,
then it's up to someone else to fix it
and it may never get fixed. That's
the problem with institutional liv
ing." When it comes to his philoso
phies and the messages he sends to
audiences, Berky said "you can only
be stimualted and stimulate others.
You can't change the whole world."
B
erky is scheduled to perform:
O Today East Campus
Union (informal performances)
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Harper-Schramm-Smith
Informance, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Broyhill Fountain "Fire on the Plaza,"
8:30 p.m.
O Wednesday Theatre Work
shop, 10:30 am. to 12:30 p.m., Cather-Pound-Neihardt
Informance, 6:30
p.m., Chesterfield's Comedy Night,
8:30 p.m. ($2 cover).
Thursday Abel-Sandoz In
formance 6:30 p.m. Juggling Work
shop Nebraska Union Ballroom, 8
p.m.
Friday Selleck Informance
6:30 p.m.
Sunday Picnic in Sheldon
Sculpture Gardens, 6 to 8 p.m. Final
performance at Kimball Hall, 8 p.m.
($5 for students, $8 general admis
sion). Tickets for the final performance
can be purchased at Kimball Box
Office in Westbrook Music Building
from 1 1 a.m. to 5 p.m. or at the booth
in the Nebraska Union from 7:30
a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays.
Dan DulaneyDaily Nebraskan
Pure talent, no gimmicks
show why he is Willie
By Mike Grant
Staff Reporter
Next time you go to a Willie Nelson
concert, take along a hat. If you throw
it up on stage, Nelson will wear it for a
while then throw it back to you.
But this isn't surprising. Nelson
wears many hats.
From the moment Nelson and his
seven member band stepped on stage
at the Devaney Sports Center Sunday
night before a nearly full house, he was
in fine form.
Carrying his worn guitar, Nelson
quietly walked up to the stage with
little fanfare. The audience, possibly
expecting an opening band or some
kind of announcement, took a few
moments to realize that the main
attraction had begun.
Concert Review
In faded jeans, a black T-shirt and
tennis shoes, Nelson ripped into "Whisky
River" and didn't let up for two hours,
when he closed with the same song.
Willie Nelson and Family is no mis
nomer. Not only does Nelson's sister
Bobby Emmons play piano for the band,
but brothers Paul and Billy English
handle the percussion section. A
family-like friendly atmosphere per
vaded the whole performance which
covered all the facets of Nelson's career.
First was a showcase for the songs
Nelson has written for other singers,
tunes such as "Crazy", written early on
in his career for the late Patsy Cline.
He also did "Night Life" a blues tune
which B.B. King performs in his live act.
King and Nelson both have a sweeping,
throbbing guitar technique, which
punctuates the lyrics.
Next Nelson did selections from the
album that first gave him critical
praise, "The Red Headed Stranger".
The record weaves ballads like "Time
of the Preacher" and "Blue Eyes Crying
in the Rain" together to tell a story.
Nelson received most of his com
mercial success from pop classics like
"Georgia", and "Star Dust Memories".
He performed these with mellowness
and class. Although some people com
plain that these remakes show little
novelty, Nelson does them better than
Great Plains series
centers on Capitol
By Kris Leach
Staff Reporter
Everything you ever wanted to know
about the state capitol will be covered
in "The Evolution of the Capitol," this
year's series of lectures by the Center
for Great Plain's Studies. This is the
fourth year the free lecture series has
been offered.
This year's series consists of six lec
tures, beginning today. They will be
every Tuesday in September and Oct
ober, center spokesman Jon Nelson
said.
All lectures are at 7:30 p.m. in the
Capitol's east Legislative Chamber.
The lectures will include informa
tion on the history, architecture, art,
landscaping and future of the Capitol
and the surrounding area, Nelson said.
Frederick Luebke, center director
and professor of history at UNL will
open the series. His lecture, "The Capi
tals and Capitols of Nebraska" will
discuss the territorial capitols that
existed in Omaha, and the political
struggles that occurred in the 1850s to
1870s when the state tried to select a
site for the capitol building, Nelson
said.
The second lecture, presented on
Sept. 17, is "The Evolution of a Capitol."
The speaker will be Keith Sawyers of
the UNL College of Architecture. This
lecture will discuss the two Capitol
buildings that existed before the pres
ent structure. It also covers the Capitol
anyone. It is no wonder Nelson is popu
lar with older audiences. Not even
Sinatra could perform the songs better
than Nelson does.
With bandmembers like drummer
Paul English, whom the singer paid
tribute to on his latest album "Me and
Paul", Nelson can't go wrong. Jody
Payne is a fine lead electric guitarist
and Emmons' honky tonk-style piano
playing proves she didn't get the job
out of nepotism.
My favorite part of the show carm'
when they turned the lights low for
smooth standards like "Funny How
Time Slips Away".
Nelson has a strong, nasal voice that
works simply because he is Willie. You
never doubt his sincerity. He's out
there to do a job, and he docs it well.
The last part of the show alternated
between the sacred and the profane.
Kicking off the set was "Amazing
Grace". While many country singers
throw gospel songs in their repertoire
as a nod to tradition, Nelson did it with
feeling and purpose.
He moved easily from the gospel "I'll
Fly Away" to the folkish "City of New
Orleans" without missing a beat.
The only weak point in the concert
came at the introduction to Kris Kris
tofferson's "Me and Bobbie McGee",
which sounded sloppy.
Also, Nelson seems caught up in
'duo-mania. That isn't so bad when he
does songs with Waylon Jennings, but
lame material like "To All the Girls I've
Loved Before", done with Julio Ingle
sias definitely lowers Nelson's stand
ards. Fortunately, Inglesias couldn't
make the concert.
Still, Nelson's driving, honest vocals,
punctuated by his underrated driving
guitar style make him one of the most
talented performers in the country
today. And, most refreshing, he per
forms without gimmickry just pure
talent and a friendly persona that
didn't pander to Lincoln audiences by
invoking everything from Big Red to
patriotism. He simply wowed the
audience by putting on a great show.
I'm looking forward to seeing Nelson
again. Since he's perpetually on tour or
in the recording studio, the chances
are always good that Nelson will be
back soon. And I'll be sure to take a
hat.
as a memorial to Nebraska soldiers who
lost their lives in WWI and as the state
house for Nebraska residents, Nelson
said.
The lectures continue in a progres
sive manner, each building on the pre
vious lecture. The final lecture dis
cusses the future plans for the capitol,
Nelson said.
The remaining lectures are: Sept. 24
"Hartley Burr Alexander Architec
ture and Poetic Vision," presented by
David Murphy of the State Historical
Society.
Oct. 1 "The Nebraska State
Capitol: Art, Architecture and Huma
nism" by Dale Gibbs of the UNL College
of Architecture.
Oct. 8 "The Capitol Mural Deco
rations," by Norman Geske, director of
the Sheldon Art Gallery.
Oct. 15 "The Landscaping of the
Capitol," by Robert Ripley of Capitol
Restoration and Promotion, State Build
ing Division.
The lectures will be moderated by
Nelson, who, along with Ripley, coordi
nated all the guest speakers and the
idea for this year's lecture series.
Entertainment
shorts
Singer Melissa Manchester will
appear in concert Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
in Omaha's Orpheum Theater.
Tickets for reserved seats are $15.50,
$13.50 and $11.50.
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