Y&E weekend()i hook
Tom Mainelli
Talented students
‘unmask’ abilities
ooking for a little variety this week
end? How about a 16-act talent show
for the low, low cost of only $5?
_ Saturday night the Nebraska
Masquers will present “An evening with the
Masques,” a variety show at the Howell The
atre in the Temple Building, 12th and R streets.
The show will feature dancers, comedy
sketches, speeches and a multitude of talented
musicians and singers, said Dean Houser, a
senior theater major and president of the
Masquers.
■ “It is a real eclectic group of performers,” j
he said.
The variety should appeal to most people
who are interested in the arts, which is what
the Nebraska Masquers organization is all
about.
The organization is celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year, Houser said. For 47 of i
those years, the group was populated by only j
theater students. In the last few years students
from other arts-rclated majors have also joined. 1
This year the organization has opened its
membership to anyone interested in die arts. <
we are an arts orga
nization that represents
students who want to !
participate in or just
support the arts,” he
said.
The open policy on
membership has
i mcijkju ui mutant me
group’s numbers,
Houser said. Currently there are about 25
active members — and the group is always
looking for more. i
The Masquers don’t receive any financial
support from the university, so fund-raising
events like Saturday night’s show, as well as
frequent bake sales, are necessary if the group
is to carry out its various activities, Houser
said.
Much of the money the group raises goes
toward the creation of workshops. University
students, with assistance from faculty mem
bers, put together acting, comedy and music
workshops which they present to area high
schools and other interested groups.
“We will put together a workshop on just
about any aspect of the arts that people are
interested in,” Houser said.
Funds are also used towards participation
in the American College Theatre Festival, he
said.
The festival is a scholarship program that
reviews student artists and picks contestants
for regional and national competitions, Houser
said.
While the fund-raising aspect is important,
it is definitely not the only reason for Saturday's
show, Houser said.
“It really gives us an opportunity to show
case our talents,” he said.
The show begins at 8 p.m., and will be
preceded by an art show featuring the works of
local artists in the Howell Theatre lobby. Tick
ets arc available Saturday. ,
It a scalar aews-editorlal major aad the Dally
Nebraskaa’s Arts aad Eatertaiameat editor.
'Hairy,
scary
Lincoln’s haunts offer thrills,
chills, giggles ana gore
By Paula Lavigne
o you have too much pride
to throw a sheet over your
head, knock on a stranger’s
door and yell “trick or treat”
in the hope you will receive
a soggy caramel apple?
Other Lincoln haunts can provide a less humili
ating way to enjoy the Halloween season, and they
range from funny to frightening.
One such alternative is “The Chamber ofTerror,”
1023 O St., sponsored by the Lincoln Jaycees and
KFRX-FM, 102.7.
Coleen Warner, Lincoln Jaycees president, said
; the haunted house was in its 19th year. Work began
on this year’s production in June.
I “We figured it took us 5,000 manpower hours of
work before we could open,” she said. “It takes us 30
volunteers per night to run the house.”
Warner said committee chairmen with 21 years
of experience in creating haunted houses visited
houses in Kansas City and Chicago for new ideas
every year.
The permanent location of the Chamber ofTerror
is what makes the house unique, she said.
“We can do more with it since it is a permanent
location with permanent fixtures,” she said. “We
have 15 rooms, and we can reconstruct four or five
rooms a year.
Warner said new additions this year include an
electric chair, a wax museum, beast cages and cem
etery exhibits.
uIt is definitely supposed to be scary,” she said.
“Let’s see, Saturday night we had three people wet
their pants. It’s kind of a victory on our part.”
Warner said the Chamber of Terror attracts a
wide variety of customers, ages 13 to 30.
“Basically, it attracts people who want to be
scared,” she said. “Some run out screaming, some
laugh. It depends on your mood.”
The Chamber of Terror runs Wednesday through
Saturday, from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays
and until midnight on weekends and Halloween.
Admission is $3.
Another Halloween attraction is The Asylum,
located at 12th and Q streets, next to Spaghetti
Works. The Asylum is sponsored by the Lighthouse
Foundation for “at-risk” teenagers.
Pete Allman, Lighthouse director, said the draw
to The Asylum involved more illusions than actual
fright quality.
“It doesn’t just have the element of scared,” he
said. “It’s scared and weird.”
Features ofThe Asylum include the Living Head,
who narrates the travel through the upcoming maze.
Other attractions include the human sacrificer, hu
man shishkabob, sewer man, and the guillotine.
“The main attraction is the Mad Doctor’s room,”
Allman said. “The scariest part is the maze with the
| strobe lights.
u s a good place 10 taice a aaie, Decause me
female usually gets scared,” he joked.
Allman said The Asylum had attracted a number
of college students.
“They like it a lot,” he said. “We had the woman’s
basketball team down here. Afterwards, they talked
about who screamed the loudest and who was scared.”
The Asylum is open from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on
weekdays and from 7 p.m to 11:30 p.m. on week
ends. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is $3.
For a variation from the standard haunted house
format, the Ride of Terror, behind the Acreage Gift
Shop, 2601 Saltillo Rd., features a hayrack ride
through a haunted forest.
The Ride of Terror is sponsored by the Lincoln
Sertoma Club, dedicated to funding for community
service projects.
Craig Rosenberg, a member of the Sertoma Club’s
Special Projects Board, said the Ride of Terror was
different from other Halloween-related events.
“It’s different from other ‘spook’ things,”
Rosenberg said. “It’s out
uuuis. it s ihm in a
bam or a house.
It’s a forest. It's
1 s o
cheaper.”
k It’s
David Badders/DN