Arts & Entertainment
‘Christmas CaroV to .fill Lied with spirit
By Juiie Naughton
Senior Reporter
The University of Ncbraska-Lin
coln’s performance of “A Christmas
Carol” will be new and improved this
semester, according to one of the
show’s stars.
“More people can see the show
with fewer performances,” said Kevin
Paul Hofeditz, who plays Charles
Dickens. “We used to do two, three
times more performances, and that
was more stressful for students and
faculty involved with performances.”
The bigger space will be more
visually impressive and will reduce
the stress on students and faculty, he
said.
The play will be performed at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts
Thursday through Sunday, with 8 p.m.
performances Thursday through Sat
urday and 2 p.m. shows Saturday and
Sunday.
Hofeditz, an associate professor of
theater arts, and Donovan Dietz head -
line the cast. Dietz, a resident of New
York, is a former Nebraska resident
and has performed in several plays
with the Nebraska Repertory The
atre. Most recently, he was in this
summer’s “And a Nightingale Sang.”
“A Christmas Carol ” is the story of
Ebcnezer Scrooge (played by Dietz)
and how, on Christmas Eve, he is
visited by several spirits. The spirits
show him his past, his present and his
future, and through that, help him
understand the true meaning of Christ
mas.
Hofedilz has done “A Christmas
Carol” at the Missouri Repertory
Theatre and as a guest artist at a small
college in the Saint Louis area. He
said that the Lied Center perform
ance is both similar and different from
his past experiences with the show.
“It’s a larger Christmas Carol than
I’ve been involved with before,” he
said. “The other performances that
I’ve done were the same adaptation,
though.”
There are several adaptations that
theaters perform, he said, but “this
one is the best. It uses Dickens as a
narrator, and includes a scene with
Dickens and family at the beginning
of the show.”
The show also differs from past
UNL performances, he said.
“Our talent pool is very strong, in
terms of talented student actors, and
that is no offense to those we’ve had
in the past,” he said. “All of the roles
are being excellently done this year.”
Hofeditz said the play has endured
because of its classic themes.
“The play has a message about
humanity and looking after people on
this earth that we all know, but need
to be reminded about,” he said.
The cast is all students and chil
dren from the community, except Dietz
and Hofeditz, professional Equity
actors. There were open calls for the
children’s roles.
The show also will contain an
See CAROL on 11
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Long, winding road brings comedian to Lincoln
By John Payne
Senior Reporter_
Journeyman comedian Gary Mule
Deer has had a long and winding road
to mediocrity. But that’s fine with
him. His press releases even cite one
line reviews like “$3.50 cover, two
drink minimum” and “The show runs
through Sunday.” You see, Mule Deer
makes his living opening for headline
acts. Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and
Atlantic City have been the most fre
quent stops throughout his career.
On Thursday night, Mule Deer will
be the featured attraction at the Royal
Grove, 340 West Comhusker.
The Spearfish, S.D., native has a
running joke to sum up his career:
“Show business is my life, but I can’t
prove it.” You hear a lot of cracks
from Mule Deer about his obscurity.
Occasionally he’ll say something
optimistic like “My career is looking
up, though. Bigger things than ever
have been falling through for me
lately.”
Actually, Mule Deer has plenty to
show for his 28 years in the entertain
ment industry. He’s made over 200
television appearances on shows such
as “Late Night with David Letter
man,” been in movies like “Annie
Hall,” and of course, there are the
stage performances.
“I joke about it a lot,” said Mule
Deer in a telephone interview from
his Los Angeles home, “but the enter
tainment industry has been really good
to me.”
One of the benefits of being some
what less than a household name,
according to Mule Deer, is having
time to do what ever he wants, like
return to his home town.
“I try to get back to the Black Hills
when ever I can,” he said. “It’s a place
that I didn’t really appreciate, grow
ing up. Living in L.A. makes you
realize how beautiful the midwest
is.” His love of wildlife even prompted
him to change his name from Miller
to Mule Deer in honor of the animal
that he has so admired all his life.
coiggggin
Although he has opened for every
one from “Sinatra to the Doobic
Brothers,” Mule Deer usually warms
the stage for country/westem artists
like Lee Greenwood or Willie Nel
son. His act is a combination of music
and comedy. Song parodies—among
his more popular is his impersonation
of Johnny Cash singing Gilbert and
Sullivan — are a big part of his act.
He describes himself as a “funny
musician,” rather than a comic who
dabbles in music.
At one time, he was the lead singer
in a rock band. And as part a popular
folk group, he had a contract with
Epic Records, putting out five al
bums.
During some of his lean years,
Mule Deer shared an apartment with
another struggling young artist —
Steve Martin. Mule Deer got his start
in show business at the same time
artists like Martin and David Letter
man were just starting out.
“I’ve known David since he moved
out to L. A. in*l 976,” he said. “I loved
his stand-up routine, and I still think
he’s one of the best stand-up comedi
ans working.
Mule Deer's humor, he claims,
started out as a way of compensating
for his musical inabilities. From there,
his act began to mushroom into a “50
50 mix.” Mule Deer’s show is often a
cerebral one, in which he likes to
satirize current events, sending them
up in mock news reports.
But he has been known to resort to
slapstick from time to time as well,
like shooting arrows at a rubber
chicken. His guitar usually serves asa
bow, as the comedian gives the bird a
final cigarette before the execution.
Mostly what Mule Deer does though,
is to find the absurd in everyday life,
and expand upon it.
“I think what maybe sets my act
apart,” he theorizes, “is simply the
experience I bring to it. I’ve been
around, and I bring all those experi
ences into my routine in a way that I
think people enjoy.”
Tickets for Gary Mule Deer are S4
at the door. The show starts at 9:30
p.m.
Time off profits regrouped band;
‘Chain9 to attract larger audience
Pylon
“Chain”
Sky Records
By Jeffrey Frey
Staff Reporter
In the early 1980s, the archetypal
college bands R.E.M. and the B-52s
were stirring things up in Athens, Ga.
Right along side those two bands was
Pylon.
Toward the mid-1980s, R.E.M. and
the B-52s began stirring things up on
the college music scene ail over the
country. And while Pylon gained a
strong following, the band basically
remained a permanent part of the
local Athens scene. Not long after,
Pylon disbanded.
However, when the film “Athens,
GA Inside/Oul” was released — which
g chronicled the impressive music scene
k — a few years after Pylon’s demise,
$ there came a renewed surge of inter
's est in the band’s music,
g* Pylon had been included in the
f film even though the members no
g longer worked together as a band.
3 And the rejuvenated interest the group
received proved to be the catalyst to
get things going once again.
The members of the band got to
gether to release a compilation of
their previous work, called “Pylon:
The Hits.” Soon after, Pylon regrouped
and decided to do some recording.
After opening for R.E.M. on the
last stage of the Greer. World Tour
last year, the band recorded and then
put together a new batch of songs
which comprises its latest release,
“Chain.”
A few years off have done some
thing worth noting. It has, in a sense,
made the group much better. But that
is not entirely accurate because, for
merly, the band was impressive. If
the band seems improved, it’s be
cause its return to songwriting is one
of startling precision and complete
success.
Pylon has done almost nothing
different with the sound of its new
songs. Its distinguished brand of pop
music retains all of its original quali
ties. And now, with a new batch of
songs as equally satisfying as the older
compositions, the band is poised to
show that what it’s doing now — and
wiiat it did before — is going to
impress a much larger audience.
If you can imagine a robot with its
constricted, erratic movements trying
to play the trademark jingle-jangle
sound of early R.E.M. songs, you can
understand a little of what Pylon sounds
like.
The comparisons stop here, though.
T he only thing Pylon has in common
with R.E.M., or any band, is that
when the musicians pick up their
instruments, they make a certain type
of noise. Some better than others.
Pylon falls into the better category.
Guitarist Randy Bewley carves out
the same loose, yet biting chords on
the new songs as he did with older
Pylon hits like “Crazy,” “NoClocks,”
and “Stop.” His guitar is minimal and
See PYLON on 11