Nebraskan
Thursday, October 28,1
Akts@Entertainment
Business offers cure for mall-sick
Halloween apparel
available at Ruby’s
By Bryce Glenn
Staff Reporter
Second-hand clothing — it’s not just for
budget shoppers anymore.
“Shopp ing for second-hand cloth ing isn ’ t
really a question of low income anymore,”
said Jennifer Johnson, owner and manager
of Ruby Begonia’s, 2322 O St.
“I think it’s just kind of smarter.”
“1 don’t think people are as eager to go
mall shopping as they used to be,” she said.
Ruby Begonia’s, which opened last April,
offers a variety of men’s and women’s vin
tage clothing from suits and dress clothes to
jewelry and hats. Although most of the items
in the store come from the 1940s and 1950s,
modem streetwear such as jeans, boots and
flannel also are sold.
The former UNL student said she got
most of her inventory from estate sales and
auctions. She said the uniqueness of the
styles, the quality tailoring of older clothes,
and the low cost combined to make Ruby
Begonia’s a great place for students to shop.
A few items of vintage furniture also are
on display, and Johnson said she planned to
increase her stock in the future.
“I think anyone can find something in
here,” she said.
Those still searching for a Halloween
costume may also want to stop by, as Johnson
has displayed clothing articles that can be
used as to create devils, angels, gangsters or
flappers.
Although Ruby Begonia’s is Johnson’s
first business venture, she said she was no
stranger to the retail business.
The 22-year-old began collecting older
clothes about 10 years ago and her interest
led her to her employment at several of
Lincoln’s vintage clothing stores.
Eventually, she worked her way up to the
manager position at the Haymarket’s Sec
ond wind. That is when she first kicked
around the idea of opening her own store.
“I never really planned todo it," she said.
“But I had so much stuff of my own that I had
collected forever and ever that 1 thought I
better either go into business or seek thera
py."
Once Johnson made up her mind to act on
the idea, it wasn’t long before it became
Therrese Goodie tl/DN
Jennifer Johnson owns Ruby Begonia’s, a vintage-ware clothing store at
2322 O St. She said the name of the store comes from a character por
trayed in black vaudevilles.
reality. She said it took her only a month to
find space for the store, and a month after
that she was ready to open.
Johnson, who was born and raised in
Lincoln, said the city was unique among
most campus towns in that it was not teem
ing with small, student-oriented businesses.
She added, however, that recent develop
ments had been encouraging.
“It’s nice to see places like A Novel Idea
and Eyes of the World opening," she said.
“There’s a lot of smaller, younger busi
nesses cropping up all over the place, and I’d
like to see them be successful because it
makes Lincoln a more interesting place for
students.”
Philharmonic
to take stage
at Lied Center
Concert
preview
By Anne Steyer
Senior Reporter
Friday night, the Lied Center for Performing
Arts will be filled with the sounds of the War
saw Philharmonic Orchestra.
Renowned pianist Ruth Laredo will perform
with the orchestra, which will be led by conduc
tor and music director Kazimierz Kord.
Kord, a native of Poland, has served as the
Philharmonic’s music director since 1977. For
the last 30 years he has made numerous guest
appearances with some of the world’s finest
orchestras.
Laredo, a three-time Grammy winner, has
been hailed as “America’s first lady of the
piano” and has collaborated frequently with the
Tokyo String Quartet.
The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra ranks
among the finest ensembles in Europe. The
orchestra was formed in 1901 and achieved
success early. By the beginning ofWorld World
I, it had risen to prominence as one of Poland’s
leading musical institutions.
Between the two world wars, the orchestra
performed with many of the greatest conduc
tors and soloists of the era, including Pablo
Casals, Vladimir Horowitz and Igor Stravinsky.
The orchestra lost nearly half its members
with the advent of World War II, but was re
established during the 1947-48 season. Seven
years later, the Warsaw Philharmonic was hon
ored with the title “National Philharmonic Or
chestra of Poland.”
Friday night’sprogram includespieces from
composers Sergey Rachmaninoff, Sergey
Prokofiev and Andrzej Panufnik.
Panufnik’s powerful works were banned in
his native Poland until 1976. In 1990 he re
ceived an award for his contribution to Polish
culture.
Panufnik’s Symphony No. 10 was commis
sioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in
1988 for its 100th anniversary.
Following Panufnik’s Symphony No. 10 on
the program is Rachmaninoff’s Concerto for
Piano No. 1 in F sharp minor, Op. 1.
Russian composer and pianist Rachmaninoff
was a 19th-century composer who wrote lush,
romantic epics.
There will be a short intermission before the
orchestra Orchestra returns to the stage to per
form selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and
Juliet.”
The performance begins at 8 p.m. Tickets
are available at the Lied Center Box Office.
Battle between the generations highlighted in ‘Tango’
theater
preview
By Anne Steyer
Senior Reporter
With a steady beat of political and
social turmoil, together with a few
dips of comedy ami drama, “Tango”
opens Thursday night in the UNL
Temple Studio Theatre.
Tne play, written by Polish play
wright Siawomir Mrozek, represents
the second show of the University
Theatre Arts and Dance 1993-94 sea
son.
The action of the play revolves
around an unusual family. The con
stantly changing directions of the tan
f[o — the dance — are the metaphor
or this action.
Arthur is a conservative son who is
appalled by his parents’ wild ways.
He seeks a return to the rigid ways of
old.
“You’ve poisoned the generations
before you and after you with your
freedom! No order, no sense of reali
ty, no decency, no initiative ...he
says to his parents.
H is mother Eleanor's actions seem
to substantiate his viewpoint. She has
an affair with Eddie, a vulgar hooli
gan, while Arthur’s father Stomil looks
the other way.
Stomil’s actions also are peculiar.
He passes the time writing avant
garde plays while Arthur* s grandmoth
er loses the grocery money playing
cards.
Arthur’s dream of a solid, orderly
family seems impossible to realize.
He decides the only way to re-estab
lish tradition is to marry his cousin
Ala.
Julie Hagemeier, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln theatre arts gradu
ate student and company manager for
the Nebraska Repertory Theatre, said
the play straddled the line between
comedy and drama.
“There are moments of comedy
and tragedy blended together,’’ she
said. “You find yourself laughing and
then wondering why because it’s trag
ic.”
The generation gap is a thin dis
guise for Mrozek’s intricate mix of
political commentary and social sat
ire.
“1 think it is very thought-provok
ing,” Hagemeier said. “It challenges
how we view our roles in the world.”
This, she said, is due to the conflict
of ideology between Arthur and his
parents.
“It’s kind of a reversal, because
normally you’d think the child is the
liberal one, but here he wants to bring
form and order back into the family,”
Hagemeier said.
The production is directed by
Alexander Gelman, UNL assistant
professor of theatre arts. Assistant
Professor Dee Hughes set the dance
choreography, while Assistant Pro
fessor Paul Steger choreographed the
fight scenes.
Two UNL fine arts graduate stu
dents contributed to the look of the
production. Set designs were done by
Tom Watson, and costume design
was by Christine Wendell-Chapman.
Marsha Mueller, a UNL theatre arts
undergraduate, provided the lighting
design.
The cast is made up almost entirely
of fine arts graduate students: Jonas
Cohen (Arthur), Mark Klemetsrud
(Stomil), Kristi Covey (Eleanor), Ja
son Richards (Eddie), Julie Fitzgerald
(Arthur’s grandmother, Eugenia), and
Jeremy Kendall (Arthur’s Uncle Eu
gene.) Michelle Eckley, a freshman
theatre major, rounds out the cast as
Cousin Ala.
The show opens Oct. 28, and runs
Oct. 29,30 and Nov. 2-6. All perfor
mances begin at 8 p.m.
Tickets are available at the The
atre/Dance box office on the first
floor of the Temple Building.
Janies
