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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1991)
XT lPaily 1 Page Arts & Entertainment 9 UNL graduate’s work showcased Community Playhouse to premiere comedy By Sean Green Staff Reporter Lincolnites will have the chance to see a king looking for a wife and a family looking for its identity this week, as the Lincoln Community Playhouse presents its latest series. The Playhouse’s Gallery Series will present two comedies April 3-6, one written by a University of Nebraska Lincoln graduate. “Fools Rush In” by Rand Whipple and “Jiggety Jig” by UNL graduate Peg Sheldrick will be performed at the Lincoln Community Playhouse at 2500 S. 56th St. Each character finds out some thing new about themselves during the play, Sheldrick said. “'Jiggety Jig’ started out as a play about the way society views the eld erly, but became a play about people deciding who they are and believing in that person despite what other people think,” Sheldrick said. Her first draft of “Jiggety Jig” was a finalist in the 1988 Festival of Emerging Theatre competition in Indianapolis and was a feature of the Playhouse’s March 1990 Festival of ’ Women in Theatre. Although the play has won several . awards, Thursday night will be the debut performance of “Jiggety Jig.” The play takes place in die course of one August day in the life of the Hart family. Sheldrick said the play will appeal to college students be cause of its characters and the humor ous theme. “Jiggety Jig” is directed by George Churley who is assisted by Don O’Neill. ■ Currently, Sheldrick is serving as associate director and script develop ment assistant with the Playhouse s substance abuse resistance project ACT OUT! and is working on an original musical comedy to be performed at the Forte Wayne Civic Theatre. “Fools Rush In” was first presented in Lincoln during the 1989 season as a staged reading by the Lincoln Ac tors Guild. Director Bob Exquivel describes the play as a “fairy tale run amuck.” The play revolves around a king who is searching for a wife, believing that a wife would provide stability to his life, his kingdom and the acting company he owns. Queenly candidates include sweet ' and innocent Claire (Johnette Toye), bombastic Sophie (Lori Toren) and King Bill’s childhood sweetheart Angela (Sally Erickson). Bom in Nebraska and raised in Texas, “Fools Rush In” author Whipple was one of the first six theater artists to be awarded an Individual Artistic Development grant from the Penn sylvania Council of the Arts. “Fools Rush In” will be performed at 8 p.m. tonight and “Jiggety Jig” will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursday, -j. On Friday “Jiggety Jig” will be a performed at 7 p.m. followed by “Fools Rush In” at 9:30. The order will be 1 reversed Saturday with “Fools Rush □ In” at 7 p.m. and “Jiggety Jig” at9:30. 3 Tickets are S5 for adults and $3 for ft students, and a SI discount is avail « able for playhouse members. Tickets can be reserved in advance or pur chased at the door, beginning at 6 an p.m. each night of the performances. New female vocalist set for Top 40 charts By Robert Richardson Senior Reporter She’s sexy, with long black hair and an attitude. But beneath all the hairspray, the drum machine, and the funky name — can Safire sing? Her opening track “Made Up My Mind,” begins with an upbeat, catchy, fast dance mix. Her Madonna-like vocals and expression don’t copy, but rather imitate the pop star. On the title track “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday,” Safire sings with convic tion as she shows her musical versa tility with rap lyrics to enhance the song. But “I Wasn’t Bom Yesterday” doesn’t have the consistent intensity that pop music listeners have come to expect. Instead, the choppy sound is missing the smooth transitions that could set Safire apart on the musical Safire “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday” PolyGram Rating: 3 Ratings are 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). battlefield. As she combines with Tony Mo ran and Lilias White, on background vocals, Safire quickly jumps in the spotlight with a striking harmony and See SAFIRE on 10 Bad taste, wretched lyrics run through pitiful album By Jim Hanna Senior Reporter Someone please stop the madness. The world simply does not need another miserable, whiny, woman hating, leather-wearing, mousse headed pseudo-heavy metal band. This distinct lack of need was not enough, however, to halt the creation of Southgang, the music scene’s lat est expulsion of bile. Southgang’s new album “Tainted Angel” is boring, uncreative and bad. If we’re lucky, it won’t even make it into local record stores and its circu lation will be limited to the entertain ment publications across the country that get the album free. Southgang is made up of four musicians (and the word is used with much chagrin) who specialize in play Southyang “Tainted Angel” Atlantic Rating: 0 Ratings are 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). jj ing bad music and singing throaty, jfl mournful lyrics. Their cassette insert lists the really cute band members and their equally ■ cute roles in the band. They are: Jesse See SOUTHGANG on 10 Band from legendary jazz hall revives New Orleans music By Michael Stock Staff Reporter__ A piece of New Orleans will be in Lincoln tonight, as Lied Center audiences are exposed to the Humphrey Band, one of several bands touring from the jazz leg end-making Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Founded in 1961, the Preserva tion Hall has made classic jazz popular again. Preservation Hall makes it clear that the music is not Dixieland music. The music, created in street parades and saloons at die lum of the century, celebrates everyday New Orleans life, with a gentler and slower tempo than most other jazz styles. The music is formed simply, making each piece as in i hiwiiiiwiimiwi m immimii iwhihii mm complicated as the musician cares to improvise. In fact, each song varies from one set to the next. Preservation Hall jazz bands never have printed program lists, allowing the music to flow natu rally from song to song. No two concerts are the same. Typically, Preservation numbers include “Bourbon Street Parade,” “Basin Street Blues,” “Tiger Rag,” “Careless Love,” “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” and “Over in Glory Land.” The Humphrey Band is headed by trumpet player, Percy G. Humphrey. Humphrey has been with the Preservation Hall since its found ing but has olaved in iazz bands since 1925. Most Preservation Hall musicians have been playing jazz for more than 50 years. Other Humphrey players include Frank Demond, trombone; Joe Lastie, drums; James Prevost, bass; Lars Edegran, piano; Narvin Kim ball, banjo; and David Griller, clari net. Built in 1750 in the heart of the French Quarter, Preservation Hall has grown into much more than a building. During the War of 1812, the Hall served as a tavern. Since then, it has been a home for artists, writers and an art gallery. That was when the Hall's jazz tradition began. In 1952 when the building was still a gallery, the owner, a New Orleans jazz buff, invited musi cians over to rehearse for friends at See HALL on 10 I ■ Wmmmm i Southpang Courtly ol Charisma