Heroes, humor
make most of
‘mellerdrama’
theater
preview
By Bryce Glenn
Staff Reporter
If you enjoy a plot where the good guys are
good, the bad guys are bad and justice prevails,
you have one more chance to see the old
fashioned play “Goodbody’s Gold.”
The play, which opened Oct. 3 and was
performed again Oct. 10, makes its final ap
pearance Sunday at 8 p.m. at Duggan’s Pub,
11 th and K streets.
Writer and director David Chapelle said
although the play generally follows the stan
dard melodramatic good guy vs. bad guy for
mula, there’s more to it than that. *
“The term ‘mellerdrama’ is really a designa
tion more than anything else,” he said. “A
melodrama is like an old Bette Davis movie
from the late thirties or early forties where you
have a villain and a hero do combat, whereas a
mellerdrama is more broad.”
What makes “Goodbody’s Gold” more broad
is its comedy, Chapelle said.
“The form’s been punched up quite a bit
with hymor,” he said. “There’s a few groaner
jokes and some double-entendres tossed in to
keep things rolling.”
“Goodbody’s Gold” is the story of the pure,
upstanding Goodbody family—and its seem
ingly worthless silver mine.
The villainous I.B. Fowler conspires to get
possession of the mine with the help of the
alluring Teddi Bustier. Her job is to seduce the
Goodbody banker and financial adviser, Grant
Cash, into a compromising position so Fowler
can blackmail him.
It is left to the stalwart Bob Faithful to come
to the rescue and foil Fowler’s dastardly plans.
This is the second production for Exit Stage
Left Productions, which Chapelle put together
last August to present “Bleacher Bums" at the
Zoo Bar. That play was performed in front of
three standing-room-only houses.
Chapelle said Duggan rs Puboriginally want
ed to run “Bleacher Bums” too, but Exit Stage
LeA Productions members decided it had made
a full run.
“Rather than take a stale show to Duggan’s,
we offered to do the mellerdrama for them,” he
said.
Tickets arc S3.
Art expresses a Japanese generation
Dance form stresses
strong bodily feeling
By Sean McCarthy
Staff Reporter
The Japanese art form Sankai Juku will
be performed at the Lied Center on Sunday
at 5 p.m.
Sankai Juku means “studio of mountain
and sea,” and the dance form is known for
bringing striking images, technical marvel
and innovative physical artistry to its audi
ence.
Sankai Juku and the program’s artistic
director, Ushio Amaqatsu, are part of the
second generation of Butoh dancers in Ja
pan.
Butoh evolved in the 1960s as part of an
expression of humanitarian awareness by
the country’s post-war generation.
Led by Tatsumi Hij ikata and Kazuo Ohno,
both world-known practitioners of Butoh,
Japanese dancers rejected the traditional
forms of Western and Eastern dance.
Instead, they investigated a method of
expression which could reflect the body and
feeling of their generation.
Director Amaqatsu said Butoh expressed
the language of the body rather than the
theoretical meaning of movement.
With this form, each individual is able to
bring their own physical history and method
of expression to the art form, he said.
The power and inner beauty identified
within Sankai Juku is traced to a person’s
inner life as a spiritual being, which stems
from all elements surrounding humanity.
“Once you come to it. it is an incredibly
moving experience,” said Norah Goebel
George, assistant director of marketing and
public relations at the Lied Center.
Robert Chumbley, the Lied’s executive
and artistic director, also gave the dancers
high praise.
“I would like to remind patrons that <
Sankai Juku performed in Kimball Recital <
Hall in 1988 to an intrigued audience,” he I
said. 1
“I have been told it was the most powerful <
Courtesy of IPA
Ushk> Amaqatsu and other Japanese dancers will perform Sankai
Juku at the Lied Center for Performing Arts Sunday.
i
evening of theatrical dance Lincoln has ever
experienced. Their work is visually stimu
ating and technically overwhelming. 1 in
rite everyone to join and experience a part of
>riental culture performed at its highest.”
Locally sponsored by the Asian Arts and
Culture Guild, the evening program is
titled"Shijima-The Darkness Calms Down
in Space." Tickets are $20, $16 and $12.
Students tickets are half-price.
even
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Dracula
Continued from Page 9
ken and angular style of movement.**
Scott said he was very impressed
with the consistency of the choreog
raphy.
“It builds to a point with tender
movements and animalistic move
ments,” he said.
Bahr said Dracula’s most monu
mental movement was when the vam
pire takes flight. She said the flying
technique was a patented process that
further enforces the theatrics in the
play.
Scott said he enjoyed flying, ex
cept for a few bruises he received
from the harness.
‘‘It is a completely new experi
ence. It’s fun,” Scott said. “It also has
gotten to be very dramatic.”
Bahr said the ballet also was
brought into the light by the recent
vampire craze revolving around pop
ular vampire novels and movies.
Bahr said ha v ing performance dates
close to Halloween gave the ballet
more of a seasonal appeal to the audi
ence, similar to the “Nutcracker”
play’s relationship to Christmas.
Whether “Dracula” will become a
a seasonal procuction for Ballet Oma
ha has yet to be decided, Bahr said.
The Lied Center performance of
Dracula will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $24, $20, and $16.
Student admission is half price.
Lewis
Continued from Page 9
Doomed and blessed because he nev
er sees life’s impossibilities, he inev
itably trips past them.
Lewis has little left to prove to the
world. His mark is made on cinema
tography. He has performed with
Sammy Davis Jr., Robert DeNiro and
Sandra Bernhardt. His legacy is visi
ble in movies like ‘The Jerk” and
“National Lampoon’s Vacation.’’
At the end of his press biography,
Lewis states melodramatically: “I shall
pass through this world but once.... I
shall not pass this way again."
On that ominous note, make sure
to see him at the Lied while you can.
—Patrick Hambrecht
Spend a year in japani
The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program
knowledge of English, bold a
bachelor’s degree (or will receive one by
June 30,1994), and are a U.S. citizen,
the J.E.T. Program needs you!
Opportunities are available
in Japanese schools and
government offices.
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