Nebraskan
Tuesday, February 22,1994
arts@Entertainment
Spellbound able to satisfy
science fiction enthusiasts
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
Spellbound — an unusual collec
tion of necessities for mastering the
world of science fiction and fantasy.
Vulcan ears, comics, books, dice
games and even a tribble or two crowd
the walls qf Spellbound in the Re
union on 16th and W streets.
Scott Rhodes, one of the six owners
of Spellbound, said the store was un
usual in the way it was set up.
“We have a littlebit of everything,”
he said.
Rhodes said each owner special
ized in one aspect of the store’s mer
chandise.
Owner Nate Watt said he special
ized in role-playing, miniatures and
board games.
“We try to carry a large selection of
all fantasy science fiction stuff,” Watt
said.
“We have the largest selection of
miniature figures in Nebraska.”
Miniature fantasy armies with wiz
ards, goblins and skeletons fight each
other, he said.
Watt said the Dungeons and Drag
ons game series was apopular item, as
was a card game called Magic.
Rhodes said he tried to stock as
many comics as he could. Mainstream
and independent titles are featured at
Spellbound, he said. Valuable or rare
comics are a specialty.
“I have a Valient Solar first edi
tion, Magnus Robot Fighter zero edi
tion and a few of the X titles that are
up in value,” he said.
Rhodes said some of his rare com
ics could bring nearly $ 115. The most
popular comic is the 2099 series by
Marvel Comics, he said, while Super
man is still a favorite.
Although he had an interest in
owninghisownbusiness, Rhodes said
his interest in comics motivated his
participation in opening Spellbound.
“I think (comic books) are a fun,
quick read,” he said. “Books are great
too, but comics have a story and art
together.
“A comic is a movie you can open
up and read at any time. It’s cheaper,
too,” Rhodes said.
Aside from offering science fiction
and fantasy merchandise, Spellbound
participated in the WinteiCon ’94 —
the fifth annual gaming convention
sponsored by Midwest Master—and
the Gamer’s Alliance of Miniature
Enthusiasts last month.
Jay Calderon/DN
Nate Watt, a co-owner of Spellbound in the Reunion, holds two of the store’s most popular
comic books.
New book is one to ‘select’
Mysterious medical
institution provides
backdrop for novel
“The Select”
F. Paul Wilson
William Morrow and Company
Best known for his novel “The Keep,” and
the horrible movie made after that book, F. Paul
Wilson has been quietly [Hitting out some of the
best horror fiction for nearly two decades. His
new release, ‘The Select," seems as if it might
be able to match the success of‘The Keep".
“The Select" is the story of Quinn Cleary, a
young woman who desperately wants to become
a doctor, but whose funds are very limited. Enter
The Ingraham, possibly the best medical school
in the United States, which provides free tu
ition, free room and board, free everything. The
only problem is getting in.
Although Quinn does well on the entrance
exam, she is not accepted, but later manages to
weasel her way into tne school. And from here
r . ^ _j_i
Beyond Books
A guide to this week s entertainment
Bar*
Tuaa.: Zoo Bar-Acoustic Jam
Wad.: Duffy's Tavam-Marcy Rule and Ivan’s
HoseZoo Bar Spankin’ Rufus
Thurs.: Duggan's Pub-11th & K: Lash La Rue and
The RagaZoo Bar. Terrance Simian & the Mallet
Playboy*
Frl.: Knickerbockers-901 O. St: Lowlife with Haros
and VlllainsJ. Ryans-27th & HokMdge: Blue &
Boogie Woogie Express Duggan’s Pub: Lash
LaRue and The Rag* plus FAC Mike Douthit Zoo
Bar Kelley Hunt
Sat.: Duggan’s Pub- Owen Mutch and The Debtors
Knickerbockera-Karma wtthCowtown Zoo Bar
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men
Sun.: Duffy’s Tavern-Sun Sawed In Half
Movies Clmema Twin-Reality Bites, Tombstone
Douglas 3-Mrs. Doubtflre, I’ll Do Anything, Blue
Chips The Lincoln-Ace Ventura, Philadelphia, In
things go quickly downhill for Quinn.
The Ingraham is no ordinary school. All of
the rooms arc bugged, and SLI units are in every
room, which play subliminal messages to the
students at night while they sleep. Campus
security is made up of cx-CIA operatives, and
students have disappeared in the past without a
trace.
As the semester goes by, Quinn and her
boyfriend, Tim, slowly discover things that The
Ingraham does not want them to know. Then
Tim disappears.
The book’s premise is very good. The
Ingraham is owned by the Klcederman Founda
tion, a pharmaceutical company. By brain
washing students, Klcederman is able to use
students to do experimental drug testing on
human subjects. Wilson manages to keep the
secrets of The Ingraham under wraps while still
giving away enough tidbits to keep the reader
interested.
The only real problem with the book is that
for readers familiar with the genre, it may be
somewhat predictable. The ending seems rather
sudden, and all parties involved live happily
ever after. Another downfall is that the charac
ters never really seem to be in any true danger.
Those complaints aside, “The Select" is an
entertaining read, and Wilson’s writing, as
always, is simple and matter-of-fact. He wastes
no time jumping right into the story, which is
very refreshing in these days of books with 50
pages of filler in every chapter. This is one book
worth picking up.
—William Harms
the Name of the Father Plaza 4-Blank Check, My
Father the Hero, The Qetaway, On Deadly
Ground Roes Film Theater-The Long Day Closes,
Women and Words Rim Series featuring Mltsuye
and Nellie: Aslan American Poets Star Ship 0-3
Musketeers, A Perfect World, Dazed and
Confused, My Life, Demolition Man, Beverly
Hillbillies, Malice, Jurassic Park, Cool
RunningsStuart-Schlndler's List
Theater Wed-Sat Talley's Folly 8 p.m., Studio
301, Temple Bldg. The Tuea-Sat. Heidi Chroni
cles 8p.m., HoweN Theater, 12th&R
Dance Frl. High Caitiber 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.
Pta-Mor Sat. Sandy Creek and Kovar and Kerns 8
p.m.-12 a.m.—free dance lessons at 7 p.m.
Dtscuaalona Frl. 3 p.m. Burke Casarl talks about
Lady Isabel Burton: Victorian Woman of Letters
and Wife of Sir Richard Burton Center for Great
Plains Studies 2nd Floor, Love Library
Laser Shows Frt-Sat.-Aeroemlth 8, 9:30 & 11
p.m., Mueller Planetarium Music Sat. 7 p.m.
Korean
Mualc and Dance 7 p.m. Kimball Recital Hall
Sports Frl. 7:30 p.m. 1993-1994 World Cup
Figure Skating Champions, Pershing AucBtorlum
Special Events Jack Gladstone, Native American
Singer & Storyteller, 11:45 a.m.,Nebraska Union,
The Crib Event of the Week The Nylons, 8 p.m.
Sat.
Ued Center Compiled by Seen McCarthy
James Mehsling/DN
‘Chronicles’ is a winner
theater \
review \
J
By Paula Lavlgne
Senior Reporter
Little did women know when they were
burning their bras in the 60s that they would
be wearing business suits in the 80s.
This disillusion of the women’s move
ment was the focal point of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln theatre production of‘The
Heidi Chronicles” this weekend.
This emotional, yet comical, play took the
audience through the life of art historian
Heidi Holland from her high school years to
her mid-40s. Heidi, played by actress Sharon
Bigelow, embraced tire true plight of the
modem woman.
The fight for egual rights and equality
was distorted in Heidi’s view. Women didn’t
become equal; they became men. 11 wasn ’ t an
issue of “cither you shave your legs or you
don’t” as her women friends kept telling her.
It was a real portrayal of women’s issues,
not a radical one. Heidi wanted everyone to
become a humanist, not a feminist.
Aside from being an excellent and even
disturbing look into what has happened to
women in the past three decades, the play
provided a touchingly real look into what
happened to the baby-boom generation.
Through her journalist friend Scoop
Rosenbaum, played by always outstanding
actor Jonas Cohen, yuppies and cellular
phones were bom. Peter Patrone’s (Patrick
Tuttle) alternative lifestyle exposed Heidi to
the realities of homosexuals. In her execu
tive “power-lunch” buddy Susan Johnston
(Julie Fitzgerald), Heidi realized the de
structive path women had chosen.
All the actors were strikingly convincing
in their portrayals. The character relation
ships, a vital element in this type of play,
were exceptionally strong.
Bigelow’s performance was so calm and
collected, allowing Heidi to come off as a girl
who was being hit by all these elements, yet
was holding it all together. In her final
speech, the passion of a woman who felt
stranded by society was emotionally over
coming.
wim au mis passion and emotion, it
seems as if people were crying in the aisles—
maybe, but only when they weren’t laugh
ing. Although it addressed some very serious
issues, the humor was always there to pull it
along.
Cohen’s performance of Scoop was the
comic relief of the evening. Cohen under
took one of the greatest acting feats while
addressing Heidi with “Are you a virgin?” at
a McCarthy-for-president rally and keeping
a straight face.
The analytical, arrogant and insultingly
honest Cohen, who “grades” everyone he
meets, “A plus personality, B minus atti
tude,” brings out the willpower in a very shy
Heidi.
Heidi’s rather bizarre neofeminist friends,
complete with bell-bottoms and love beads,
gathered for a farewell John Lennon party
which made me feel good to be a part of the
80s generation.
The “Heidi Chronicles”—A plus acting,
A plus entertainment — will be performed
again this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at
8 p.m. at the Howell Theatre.
