■afe. ARTSiSENTERTAINMENT
Shaun Sartin/DN
Jeff Protextor lays down in one of the booths at La Nuovo Paradiso, a new eatery at 1140 O St. Protextor,
a sophomore political science major, will be one of the Paradiso’s managers when it opens later this
month.
Goal on hold
Owners have 'no clue 'when their restaurant will open
What happens to a dream deferred?
That is a question the owners of La
Nouvo Paradiso might ask themselves.
The Paradiso, a restaurant which will
occupy the old Hospc building, 1140 O St.,
is still under construction a month after its
planned opening date.
The Paradiso is the dream of Kevin Casey
and Jean-Pierre Puchcu.
Casey was the final proprietor of the old
Red and Black Cafe, after the cooperative
that opened it folded. The Paradiso could
be considered a continuation of that dream.
“We’re bringing in basically the same
ideas with us to this place,” Casey said.
“Our old building was collapsing around
us. The day we moved out of there the
ceiling collapsed.”
But the Paradiso “won’t just be the new
Red and Black,” Casey said.
“We’ll be looking for a crowd with a
little more disposable cash,” he said.
“I’ve been cooking for over 20 years,
and I really wasn’t able to do the kind of
food there that I wanted to.
“Plus the fact that we’re going to have a
liquor license here.”
Management agreed.
John Lcwy, who worked with Casey in
his Red and Black days, will be general day
manager for the Paradiso.
“To give you an analogy,” Lcwy said,
“the old Red and Black turned into a com
munity center.
“The Paradiso will be an upscale, mod
erately priced restaurant. We’ll be trying to
get a more upscale clientele.
“No more getting a 25-ccnl cup of cof
fee and sitting around all day.”
The Paradiso will offer fine Italian food,
he said.
“There’s no one in Lincoln offering what
we (will) have to offer.”
But the Paradiso still faces several hur
dles. It still has to pass fire and safely
inspections.
“Not only the inspections,” Lcwy said,
“but we’ve got some odds and ends we’ve
got to put together: touching up the paint
and finishing the booths.”
He said he had “no clue” when the
Paradiso might be ready to face inspection
and then open.
“They haven’t set a new date yet,” he
said. “I would guess some time next week.”
Part of the reason it has taken so long is
that management and owners have been
doing so much of the work themselves.
Sanding and laying tile have given Lcwy
a new perspective on the amount of work
that’s been done, he said.
But the owners arc hopeful.
“I’m hoping to be finished with this this
week,” Casey said.
“I think we can pull this off.”
He said the remodeling had been fi
nanced “by the skin of our teeth.” But he
has high hopes for the new venue.
“Now that the Lied Center is downtown,
the downtown area has become a kind of
entertainment center.”
He said downtown offered a lot to
Lincolnites, with its theaters, restaurants
and coffee shops.
“Plus the buildings downtown are a lot
more interesting than some little cubicle in
a mall. Here we have 25-foot ceilings.”
Casey hopes to make his building even
more interesting.
The Paradiso plans for the future include
an after-hours dance club on the second
floor and a concert hall on the third floor.
But all that will have to wait until the
Paradiso can get on its feet.
It’s a risky proposition whenever you try
to make your dreams real. But sometimes
the risks have to be taken, Puchcu said.
He put it this way:
“Remember that movie ‘Field of
Dreams’? Well, what if the guy never built
it?”
Performance
has wizardry
of the original
Watching Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin
Man and Lion follow the yellow brick road
was a trip down nostalgia lane, with a few new
tricks added.
The Royal Shakespeare Company's ver
sion of “The Wizard of Oz” played the Lied
Center stage this weekend to a full house of
children and adults alike.
The Royal Shakespeare Company adapted
the 1939 film classic for the stage in 19N2 -
and kept most of the dialog intact.
It was eerie how each line, each inflection,
and even many of the actors’ movements could
be anticipated from one moment to the next.
That didn’t detract from the originality of the
performance, though, as the stage version com
bines new and old tricks alike.
The acting was, on the whole, terrific. Kim
Smith’s Dorothy — easily the hardest part to
pull off, considering the magnitude of Judy
Garland’s popularity — was very good, even
when it seemed she did her best to recreate
Garland’s voice. Her rendition of the classic
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was enough
to raise goose pimples.
Matthew MacDougall, Brad Wills and
Lennie Watts, as Scarecrow, Tin Man and
Lion respectively, were all first-rate. Together
with Dorothy, the lead ensemble was wonder
ful to watch — they were completely in sync,
and the chemistry was right on target.
Other standouts in the cast include Joe Doyle
as Uncle Henry, Pall Gale as the Munchkin
Coroner and Michael J. Isennock as the
Munchkin Mayor.
Ellen Martin’s dual role as Miss Gulch and
the Wicked Witch of the West was a bit lack
ing in the menace department. However, it
was not altogether her fault, as Margaret
Hamilton’s film rendition would be nearly
impossible to top.
Her monkeys were great.
Puppets were used to complete the
munchkin ensemble and create the Wizard of
Oz. While the Wizard was an effective use of
puppetry, the munchkin additions were more
distracting than complimentary. The children
in the audience responded well, but for the
grown-up viewer it took away from the reality
of the production.
The technical aspects were successful, es
pecially the special effects and costuming.
The effects were very good, from the witch’s
fireballs to the flying monkeys. Lighting also
was used to advantage, particularly with the
tornado effect.
Aside from the familiar story and the lead
ensemble, the song and dance numbers were
the stars of the show. Harold Arlen and Yip
Yarburg’s memorable musical score was beau
tifully performed.
“The Wizard of Oz” stage presentation was
a wonderful tribute to the beloved movie clas
sic.
—Anne Steyer
Dead Milkmen stop in Omaha on crusade to rule world
preview
By Paula Lavigne
Staff Reporter
If Rodney “Anonymous” could
dominate the world for 10 minutes,
he would do one thing — eliminate
all Family Circus cartoons.
“If I ever meet Bill Keene, I think
I’m going to have to hurl him,”
Rodney said. “His cartoons arc so
nauseating and so unrealistic with
these kids saying all these ‘cutesy’
things.”
Rodney, lead singer and
keyboardist for The Dead Milkmen
—• who will be in Omaha on Monday
night—said theband’sgoal for world
domination by the turn of the century
wasn’t a new one.
“It’s kind of like Andy Warhol’s
15 seconds of fame,” he said. “Ev
eryone should be allowed to domi
nate the world for 10 minutes. It’s
the whole theory of the Global Vil
lage.”
Rodney said success would be a
good bonus, but was not vital to the
band.
“As long as we didn’t let it change
our music, it would be alright,” he
said.
Rodney said if The Dead Milk
men ever made it big, they’d have
fun with the system.
“If we ever sold millions of
records, we’d give the money to a
street gang to buy an atomic bomb,”
Rodney said.
Rodney said he had seen too many
bands destroyed by fame.
“These good musicians must have
been replaced by robots,” he said.
It s the only logical explanation.
Although The Dead Milkmen may
be far from world domination them
selves, Rodney said the band had
plans for its future.
“We’re not all that popular,” he
said. “Right now we’re just experi
menting.”
Aside from Rodney, the Milkmen
include Butterfly Fairweather, vocals
and guitar; 11070 (Dave Blood), bass;
and Dean Clean, drums.
The Dead Milkmen started their
experiments with their First album,
“Big Lizard in My Backyard” in
1985. Five albums later, the band
released “Not Richard, But Dick” the
album they arc currently touring to
support.
“We’re all from around Philadel
phia, and we’ve been playing togeth
er since high school,” he said. “We
just went out and found other people
who wanted to be in a band.”
This kind of spontaneity is what
— ••
If we ever sold millions of records, we d give the
money to a street gang to buy an atomic bomb.
— Rodney “Anonymous"
The Dead Milkmen
-—- •• —
gave the band its altitude, Rodney
said. It also means The Dead Milk
men’s music doesn’t fit any specific
category.
“It’s not top 40, heavy metal, con
tinental Christian rock, or 15th Cen
tury Monastic chants,” Rodney said.
“I guess what’s left over is what it is.
It’s not one thing all night long.”
Rodney said The Dead Milkmen’s
originality may be attributed to his
personal inspiration, Frank Zappa.
Rodney said several of the songs
come from articles the band reads.
He said the song “Leggo My Ego”
came from an article in Time maga
w w
zinc on psychology.
Rodney said several ol the Milk
men’s songs were based on world
events. He said The Dead Milkmen’s
trip to Yugoslavia placed them in the
middle of one.
“We were there right before the
fighting jrokc out,” he said. “I think
a Tot of people might blame us for it.
Thinking back on it, it was very fright
ening.”
The Dead Milkmen will be per
forming at the Ranch Bowl. Doors
open at 8 p.m. The opening band,
Possum Dixon, starts the show at
9:15. Tickets are $10.50.