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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1990)
Arts & Entertainment uo provides traditional cabaret sounds By John Payne Staff Reporter Tuesday nights bring further di versity to Lincoln’s live music scene, as 9th Street Blues, 421 S. 9th St., offers the cabaret stylings of pianist Jon Ranard and vocalist Kathy Pittman. The duo plays a mixture of tunes ranging from traditional cabaret to softer blues and jazz. According to Pittman, the selec tion depends greatly on ‘ ‘the mood of the crowd,” and an attentive audi ence is required. “We don’t want to be background music,” she said. ‘‘So often that is the image people get when they think of lounge music. But at the same time, we don’t want to be so intrusive that we drown out every con versation in the room.” 9th Street Blues owner Sabre agrees. “What we’re trying to do is to present something a little different, a style of music that a lot of people maybe aren’t accustomed to. This atmosphere differs in that it isn’t in timidating. People can just come and listen to the music.” Pittman and Ranard met at Lin coln East High School last month, where Ranard works as a music teacher. Pittman, who also is a professional choreographer, shared Ranard’s love for show tunes and contemporary jazz. According to Pittman, the two had only five days to put together enough songs for an act, after being approached by Sabre. ‘‘We found that our musical inter ests were so common that it was like we had worked together for a long time,” Pittman said. ‘‘I love doing musical theater, showtuncs,and Jon’s favorites tend to be mostly jazz. I think the mixture works well, and we try very hard to be crowd plcascrs.” Pittman’s musical experience in cludes a six-month stint on a cruise ship, but she says she prefers the audience’s reaction at 9th Street. “Right now we’re building a steady clientele of knowledgeable regulars and folks who coming in to find out what it’s all about.” If you’d like to find out what caba ret music is all about, Kathy Pittman and Jon Ranard can be seen between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. Tuesdays at 9th Street Blues. There is no cover charge. 1 Jon Ramard and Kathy Pittman deliver their cabaret-style show at 9th Street Blues, 421S. Ninth improbable situations make film a B’ movie ■Lambada9 has good dancing but weak plot Julie Naughton Sm>or Reporter Picture this. I You’re a rich female student at a ! Aouy Beverly Hills prep school. You ■end your time driving around in ■ur forsche convertible and talking ■ your equally rich boyfriend on the Hliular car phone. You often go cruis ■g down Rodeo Drive with your ■ends. You shop at Gucci and Gior ■d. Life is great. I But wait. You have to take trigo Bjbmciry. Bogus but true, the Univcr ■y of California system requires 3 1/ ■years of math, and you want to gc ■ere, so you’re taking the sketchy Hath course. | I But there is an element of intcrcsi introduced into the horrible math. By going to an cast Los Angeles dance club one night, you find that the man who is your straightlaced trig teacher, Mr. Laird, is actually “Blade,” a Latin lovcr/danccr, at night. Oh, and you also find out that he’s teaching a group of underprivileged kids in the back of the dance club, so they can get their GEDs. But it has to be secret, because the principal of your high school would happily fire your teacher if he found out about the club school. Yeah. This is the premise of “Lambada,” which basically chronicles the noble efforts of 32-year old Kevin Laird (J. Eddie Peck) to teach two groups of students — the rich kids at the cxclu sive (and fictitious) Stoncwood High School, and the disadvantaged but eager-to-learn students taught in the back of the “No-Man’s Land” dance club, the kids that call themselves “Galaxy High.” Laird is a preppy math teacher moyip~~ who was bom Carlos Gutierrez, a man from the barrios of East Los Angeles who was able to gel an edu cation and, as he says, “make some thing” of himself. He iscommitted to doing the same for others. While teaching his students, Laird also has todcal with the rather graphic “Dirty Dancing” fantasies of his above-mentioned student, Sandy (Melora Hardin). The plot deals with how Laird teaches his students, how the superin tendent of schools commends his leaching, how the principal of Slone wood finds out about Laird’s secret school, how the two groups of stu dents get into a fistfightand then into a battle of the brains, how Laird gets fired and rehired. Interspersed with the “plot” arc frequent — and actually quite good — dance scenes. The choreography is by Shabba-Doo. Also interspersed with the “plot” arc Sandy’s frequent attempts to se duce her math teacher. These arc annoying and have little relevance to the story. J. Eddie Peek, as the well-mean ing Laird, is appealing in this film, but the plot and weak cast do him no favors. MeJora Hardin, as Sandy, is trying a little loo hard to be Jennifer Grey’s “Baby” character from “Dirty Danc ing.” Hardin emulates the poul/snccr/ empathy act that won Grey acclaim in “Dirty Dancing,” but Hardin doesn’t quite pull it off. The plot and scrccnwriling are very weak, and the actors have to try very hard to overcome these obstacles. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work. This is a definite *‘B” movie that features some great dancing, but very little else. “Lambada” is playing at the Slate Theatre, 1415 O St. Woctor says event designed to dispel fears Bpring Break site for National Orgasm Week Ily Matt Burton >enior Reporter Gel ready to reach for your ciga* cues — it is now officially, oh so officially -• National Orgasm Week. To mark the first week of spring, a raditional lime of youth and love, )r. Roger Libby has organized Na ional Orgasm Week, which will be clcbrated this week. The events of National Orgasm Vcek will occur in the Spring Break haven of Dayiona Beach, Fla. Libby, a former professor of hu man sexuality at the University of Massachusetts, Syracuse University and the University of Georgia, will disiributccondoms.alubricantcallcd non-oxynol 9 and various buttons and bumper slickers to spring breakers. National Orgasm Week, now in its fourth year, is an event devoted to shaking many of the misconceptions society has regarding sex. Libby has organized this fun and light-hearted event because of the preconceived ideas people have be cause of such modem sexual prob lems as the AIDS crisis and the para noia that goes with it. Libby, a nationally renowned sex ologist, has recently made appearances on Sally Jessy Raphael, Gcraldo, Morion Downey Jr., Oprah Winfrey and vyas featured in “Playboy’s Year in Sex" issue with Roxanne Ribbit. Roxanne Ribbit is Libby’s safe sex mascot. Dubbed a homy-toad, Ribbit is a mechanical partner of Libby’s. During his lectures, Ribbit and Libby mock a Pre-Sex Discus sion” between two sexually inter ested college students. 4‘College students can be sexually active and not be paranoid about it,’ ’ Libby said in a phone interview from Atlanta. Libby is quick to point out that the media in general has jumped on the AIDS paranoia bandwagon, which creates an unnecessary fear among the sexually active population. “We don’t have an epidemic among the general population; there arc spe cific risk groups,” Libby said. Libby is concerned that most of the media recently has become more conservative concerning sexuality. With the exception of college papers and the radio, the media, especially family-oriented newspapers, has be come more pessimistic toward sex, Libby said. “even Playboy has become more conservative,” Libby said. One of the items Libby promotes is the lubricant non-oxynol 9, a deter gent that kills many sexually trans mitted diseases on contact. In addition to the National Orgasm Week, Libby has organized the Na tional Organization of Sexual Enthu siasts, or N.O.S.E. and the DW A club, or Driving While Aroused. Libby will appear at Finky’s Night club in Daytona during National Orgasm Week, performing comedic antecdotes about sexuality with Roxanne Ribbit. Libby will be distributing pins that say “I Came for National Orgasm Week” and “Just Say Yes to Safe Sex.” -•*- . College students can be sexually active and not be paranoid about it. Libby I organizer of National Orgasm Week ^OURE GREEN SKIN GLISTENS IN THIS LIGHT. 3 —
