Arts & Entertainment
Variety of bands perform
Live music in Lincoln to please all tastes
* Courtesy of Dali Records
The Wild Cards
IMBSi
...rtesy of Rounder Records
Zachary Richard
By Mick Dyer
Staff Previewer
J-lere is a run-down oflivc music in
Lincoln for today through Oct. 31.
ALTERNATIVE:
Tonight, Such Sweet Thunder and
the Rhythmic Penguins will play a
double-header of power alternative
rock at Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O Sl
Such Sweet Thunder of Kearney is
first up. The band coils haunting
melodies around furious drumming
to create a sound that forces its way
into souls and then gently coaxes
people to dance. Alternative rock
voodoo.
The Rhythmic Penguins, from
Fargo, N.D., follow up. The band
played at the Drumstick 2 1/2 years
ago and features that clean all
American jingle-jangle guitar sound
that all college students love today. In
other words, the Rhythmic Penguins
are the R.E.M. of North Dakota.
Friday, the Millions and Miracle
Legion will play at Duffy’s.
The Millions, one of the finest
specimens of a Lincoln band that’s
ready to make an impression on the
music scene at the national level,
needs no introduction. The band cur
rently is negotiating a recording con
tract with several major music labels.
Come and see the band play while it
still has time to make local appear
ances. Tell your children about the
experience 20 years from now ...
Miracle Legion is a straightfor
ward pop band with an alternative
edge. The band has released several
albums and has a video on MTV right
now. Some members of the Icelandic
art-band, the Sugar Cubes, have been
known to give surprise performances
along with the Miracle Legion. Who
knows what will happen when the
Miracle Legion marches into town?
Also Friday, three hard-core
bands will play at Fastramp, 300 N.
Second St. They arc Speed Wobble,
S.O.S. and Misosogial. Good, high
energy skate-and-thrash music.
COUNTRY:
Thursday, Sean Benjamin will
play at 9th Street Blues, 421 S. Ninth
St. Outstanding acoustic folk music. ^
Friday, Sean and Laurie Benjamin
will play at the Mountains Bar and
Grill, 311 S. 11th St. Scan is joined by
his wife Laurie, whose passionate
golden voice has overwhelmed audi
ences for a long time now. This pair
of performers is unforgettable.
• Friday and Saturday, Joyce
Durand and Paul Newton will play at
the Sidetrack,935 OSt. The aydience
sings favorite tunes along with Joyce
while she pounds them out on the
piano.
Friday through next Tuesday, the
Sandy Creek Band will perform at the
Prospector, 640 W. Van Dom St.
Picking and grinning-good blucgrass
music.
JAZZ/BLUES:
Tonight, Zachary Richard will
play at die Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St.
Zachary Richard is widely known
as a poet and musician in French
speaking parts of the world. He’s a lot
of things to a lot of people. To some,
he’s the rebellious bad boy of Cajun
music. To others, he’s the mastcrlul
savior of it. To all, he is a hero.
The fact is, Richard (pronounced
Ri-Shard) combines a rock ‘n’ roll,
pop, and rhythm and blues founda
tion with rollicking Cajun and zydeco
sentimentalities to create a compel
ling sound that will infect all within
earshot with the desire to abandon
themselves in the bayou hootenanny.
On stage, Richard is an aggressive
performer. He throws all the tradi
tional and contemporary musical
‘ingredients together in a steaming
and screaming kettle, adds a little bit
of magic and some of his dynamic
personality.
Thursday, Preston Love will per
form jazz music at Julio’s, 132 S.
13th St.
Also Thursday, the Wild Cards
will perform at the Zoo Bar.
The Wild Cards played at the Zoo
last spring. The band was visually
cool, wearing suits that harken back
to the zool suit days and weaving
some tight dance steps all over the
diminutive stage. And the band was
audibly hot, blending funk, jazz,
Swing, Latin and blues elements into
an irresistible sound that had the
whole crowd percolating with the
beat. Good stuff.
Friday and Saturday, the Tony
Brown Band will play reggae music
at the Zoo Bar.
Monday and Tuesday, Magic Slim
and the Teardrops will play at the Zoo
Bar. Magic Slim consistently has
drawn a good crowd over the years
when he plays his smoldering brand
of South Side Chicago Blues.
ROCK:
Friday and Saturday, Bobby Curi
ous will play at Chesterfield’s, Lower
Level 24* N. 13th St.
Saturday, Wrcx will play at the
Mountains Bar and Grill.
-1
Performance never lets go
Momix’s illusions create
unusual, humorous effects
I By F.mily Rosenbaum
Senior Reporter
In the ease of the modern dance
troupe Momix, seeing is not believ
ing. Almost everything in Tuesday
night’s Momix performance was an
illusion created by light, shadow,
sound, props and body.
The effect is unusual, dramatic,
humorous, sensual and often quite
beautiful.
In the surreal world of a Momix
performance, anything can happen
and nothing seems too bizarre. Any
one with a preconception of what
should happen at a dance perform
ance might as well throw it out the
window. Momix definitely breaks
from the basic to startle and delight.
The dancers’ performance is one of
athletic grace and theatrical talent.
Momix is a magic trick that grabs you
from the start and never lets go.
I Simply reading the program gives
a hint to Momix’s uniqueness. Names
of pieces appear like, “Kiss Off Spi
kier Woman’’ (in which a woman is
[dragged across the stage in a bag and
[then emerges to wriggle around),
[‘Spawning’’ (which is performed by
Iwo women and two helium-filled
balloons) and “Venus Envy’’ (in
which a giant clam opens and closes
revealing two women whose posi
tions are ever-shifting).
I Momix performed many of (he
fcamc pieces Tuesday night that they
■sed in last year’s* Lincoln perform
ance, as well as a few new ones. The
■udiencc that nearly filled Kimball
■tecital Hall, alternately laughed anti
sal in silent awe as tne dancers per
formed 13 pieces, each one different
and creative.
One of the most impressive pieces
was "Skiva,” in which two dancers
wearing snow skis amazingly contort
their bodies. Their undulating upper
bodies move in a sensual manner
while their feet remain encased in the
ski bools.
Another impressive piece is ‘ ‘Cir
clcwalkcr,” which uses a steel pipe
configuration of circles that looks
something like a portable jungle
gym. Alan Boeding, who created the
sculpture, moves in and around the
prop, controlling the direction and
speed of its rolling.
The fun of Momix is that you’re
never completely certain what you’re
seeing and half of that fun is figuring
out what everything is supposed to
be. Even if you never discover
Momix’s secrets, you sull can sit
back and enjoy two hours of pure
fantasy. . .
Parental discretion is advised lor
Momix’s performances because
some of the pieces involve partial
nudity. The two women dancers per
form several of the pieces naked from
the waist up, but it’s not used in an
offensive manner. It merely accentu
ates the beauty and skill of the
dancer’s movements.
Momix is scheduled for perform
ances at Kimball Hall 8 p.m. Thurs
day, Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m.
Sunday. Tickets arc $13 and $9 and
are half price for University of Ne
braska-Lincoln students and those 18
and under.
Pre-performance talks will be held
30 minutes before each curtain time
in 119 Westbrook Music Building.
UNL dancers will demonstrate the
process choreographers and dancers
go through in creating a dance piece.
High school play grows; changes;
group now performs worldwide
By Emily Rosenbaum
Senior Reporter
It seems fitting that the name of
the stage production being per
formed in Lincoln tonight has the
word “dream” in it.
“Toymaker’s Dream” started
out as a play in a Tulsa, Okla., high
school and was scheduled for three
performances.
That was in 1982.
Since that first performance in
Tulsa, the cast and crew of the
show have been touring across the
United Stales and have performed
in Canada, Mexico, England,
Scotland, Costa Rica, Panama and
two tours of the Soviet Union.
They also have received invita
tions to perform in India, Germany
and Romania.
“We never expected anything
like this to happen when we first
started out,” said Andrea Jobe,
choreographer of the show and one
of the original cast members.
As the show grew and changed,,
a production company grew along
with it. Impact Productions was
started in the latter part of 1982 to
produce ‘‘Toymakcr’s Dream”
and still is handling the show.
Jobe said the original cast, crew
and the production company had
almost no experience in putting on
a professional stage production.
But she said everyone knew what
they wanted to accomplish with
the show and they worked hard to
achieve it.
When Jobe first joined the
show, she said, her only dance
training was six months of ballet.
Now she’s choreographing acro
batics, karate and modem dance
pieces, as well as ballet for the
show.
The story line for * ‘Toymaker’s
Dream” originally was created by
Colin Harbinson of Toronto, Can
ada, and over the years has evolved
into a high-technology stage pro
auction witn compuierizca iire
works, a digitally mastered sound
track and a story told on stage by
pantomime.
When the cast performs the
show in foreign countries, the
soundtrack narration is translated
to the native language.
Michele DcLong, a cast mem
ber for 3 1/2 years who is originally
from Beaver Crossing, described
the show’s story as an allegory of
the gospel focusing on the creation
of man and the earth. She said the
toymakcr represents God, his son
represents Jesus and the toys repre
sent the people of the world.
“What we have to share with
everyone is much more than just a
stage production,” DeLong said.
“Toymaker’s Dream ’ ’ is being
Cerformed tonight at 7:30 in Ne
raska Wesleyan University’s
O’Donnell Auditorium, 51st and
Huntington streets. Tickets are
available at Maranatha Christian
Supply, 1265 S. Corner Boulevard,
and the auditorium. Prices are $2
an advance, and $3 at the door.
