Arts & Entertainment
‘Sweeney Todd’ comes together in Kimball
assistant professor of theater, and
Harold Chin, Kimball's stage
manager. Chin helped the actors
through the set
The key to not getting hurt is
leaning back and letting your butt
hit the cushion,” he told the actors.
The space between the trap door
and the first ramp is small; it’s easy
to miscalculate and hit the edge of
the trap.
“It’s really fun,” said Danny
Kubert, a high school senior per
forming in the musical. “Except
when you hit your head.”
The trap opens with a loud
thump, the door to Mrs. Lovett’s
bakei7 with a loud whump. It
sounds like a gui Uotinc. Chin asked
Gram if he wanted the doors to
open quietly, but Grant said he was
pleased with the sound.
Both Gram and Heather Flock,
the assistant director, said the
musical was challenging.
' Almost everything in “Sweeney
dd” is accompanied by music,
actor can’t just walk to a place;
,or she must time the walk to
h the music.
first, the cast practiced with a
len a piano accompanist,
.conductor. The final step
rformance is practicing
chestra.
; b had been cutting off
(t staying strictly with
jUSiPi ausc the accoinpa
)PjjtLn;; , eep up. Flock said.
re orchestra isn’t
abtetofoi singers.
™jff t still has some
11 the bugs.
Sweeney T*i lys at Kimball
on Nov,4d~ 17:30 p.m.
Butch Ireland/Dauy Nebraskan
Paul Dunn, graduate student, works on the “Sweeney Todd” set Thursday at Kimball
Recital Hall.
‘Sweeney Todd’ at Kimball Nov. 4;
musical criticizes industrial England
"Tx Rape, multiple murders, canni
balism and assorted mayhem litter
a musical about revenge and love.
The University of Nebraska-Lin
coln School of Music and the
Department of Theater Arts and
Dance are cooperating to produce
Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney
Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet
sS3*” \
fhe musical will be at Kimball
Recital Hall Nov. 4,5 and 6 at 7:30
p.m. Xx
The story ta}Ls of a 19th century®
barber who wa^unjustly impris-ljl
oned in Australia'by a lecherous 1
judge who coveted Styeeney’s
wife. XX
The judge rapes the wife and
becomes the ward of Sweeney’s
daughter, Johanna.
But after 15 long years,
Sweeney returns to England to
avenge his wrongful incarceration.
While he waits for his chance to
slay the judge, he begins to practice
on “less honorable’rfolks, slitting
throats and sending them down to
Mrs. Lovett, the baJker who lives in
the apartment under his.
Because of the severe meat
shortage in London, Mrs. Lovett
begins baking the bodies into meat
pies, and her busiq00Bkives.
The judge, meanwhile, intends
to marry Johanna, who has metji
young sailor. Sweeney helps tMfl
sailor, Anthony, 'elope with^
Johanna, in hopes of luring the
judge to his “tonsorial parlot/^*
The unusual plot is intertvflp^
|with Sondheim's lyrical melodies,
pi swell as comic renditions of the
Fmore gruesome aspects of the
SondAfits the premier Ameri
can music theater composer of
today; his credits include A
Night Music” and “Send jfiipBLl
Clowns.”
Sondheim makes social com
ments on industrial age England.
The corrupt old order is repre
sented by the judge, and the heart
less new business clas& ts embod
ied by Mrs. Lovett.
The story of Sweeney Todd and
demon butchers is an old one.
There is no proof that Todd was a
real person, but he has become a
British legend.
Some believe the story has its
in a 14th-c&ttPvJFrench
a ParisiaroRroer and a
tale to
committed by a 9
1800. 3
£
I
1
C
n
New York on March 1,1879.
A pre-pertormancc tafifc will be
given at 7 p.m. in 119 Westbrook
Music Building. Tickets are $10
and $8; senior citizens and student
tickets are half price.
Courtesy of Kimball Box Office
Punk style, political lyrics permeate new six-band LP
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter__
Their eyes seem to tell the story of
a nation in poverty! They don’t need,
your apathy—they need your sympa
thy"
— Desecration, “In a Child’s
Eyes”
The folks who produce Arizona’s
Hippycore fanzine have begun re
leasing records on their own label,
Hippycore Records. Their firs* re
lease, “Metal Gives Us a Headache’’,
is a six-band, seven-inch record.
All six bands contribute songs with
a punk style and political lyrics. The
record is 9 benefit for an Arizona
animal rights group, but only one of
the songs n about animal rights. A 20
page booklet of lyrics and other infor
mation is provided with the record.
“What Does It Mean?” by
Washington’s Subvert is the bestsong
on the record, although there are no
sleepers.
The most annoying song is by
Stikky, who mixes Barry Manilow
lyrics with questions about bands who
sing about political issues. Dead Si
lence, Cringer, Desecration, and Dis
sent also have songs on the record, all
of which are solid punk tunes which
avoid sounding generic.
“Why must we all be so serious?/
Too many bands seem so furious/
Sure it’s important to be concerned/
But why can’t we all laugh and
learn!?”
Such lyrics seem out of piac<*
among five songs full of political
lyrics, but also serve as a reminder for
some bands to lighten up a bit After
all, it is hard enough listening to in
comprehensible punk ramblings
without being addressed in a sermon.
But is it preaching or merely
communicating ideas? There is
probably some of each involved. The
songs deal with vivisection, a crum
bling America, child abuse, home
lessness, sexism and the role of politi
cal bands.
Any collection of songs about such
topics requires people to pay attention
to the lyrics. Some will call it preach
ing; but they do not have to listen.
Others will see it as a forum for politi
cal or social ideas, and they will enjoy
this record if they enjoy the punk style
of the bands.
This is more than a collection of
songs by si a ran ting punk bands on the
compilation. There are a few poems
placed in between the songs.
Pages of information concerning
animal rights are also included. There
is also a thought-provoking story
about a “superior" alien who eats
humans just as humans eat animals.
This story, because it is so acces
stole, is the best presentation of ani
mal rights ideas in the entire package.
Not many people listen to hardcore
bands, but nearly everyone is willing
to read a benign little story. Some
challenging ideas are packed into this
simple tale.
The music and topics presented are
good, but I wish the bands would take
less rigid views in their songs. All the
issues are seen .in black and white,
with no moderation or middle ground.
The band members would reply
that moderation and middle ground
lead to complacency and the slow rate
of progress made by the world in
dealing with these issues. And we
probably are both partly right
"But what? Foolish mortal, you
talk in rhyme, your arguments are all
double standards, you find your rea
sons for you to consume animals, and
reject mine for consuming humans"
- from the record booklet
v i
Z a^um review
