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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (June 9, 1994)
Arts ©Entertainment Nebraskan Thursday, June 9,1994 Nebraska Rep opens with4art vs. reason’ By Paula Lavigne Senior Reporter The ambiguous line between art and reason is repeatedly crossed in Patricia Montley’s play “Dancing.the God,” the featured performance in the Nebraska Repertory Theatre New Plays Festival on June 7. DirectorCynthiaTottcn.whocurrcntly teach es at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., said the play was poignant and full of real relation ships between people. “Itexplorcs the student/teachcr relationship, the professional working relationship and bound aries that are crossed,” Totten said. “I t explores the rational vs. passionate, reason vs. intuition, art vs. reason.” Actors Equity Association actress Terry Donahoe plays Dana, a college dance instructor accused of sexually harassing one of her stu dents, Kali (Rachael Warren). Lawyer Deborah Pallas, (Sharon Bigelow) who graduated from the same college, comes to investigate. The instructor refuses to defend herself. The lawyer’s investigation is revealed during a series of flashbacks told through pas sionate, sometimes humorous, dances. Totten said “Dancing the God” is seen through the eyes of the lawyer as narrator, while the teacher and student tell their story through dance. “It interweaves dance throughout and uses it as a vehicle for story telling and memory work and recreating scenes that happened in the past,” she said. One major dance piece present throughout, called “Vocalise” relays the relationship be tween Kali and Dana. “There’s a lot of dance bantering between the student and the teacher who arc passionate in the sense of caring about the artwork and caring out the other sexual involvement,” she said. Donahoe has been in the acting profession for 15 years and has bounced from television soap operas and pilot shows to theater produc tions across the country. She said she enjoyed the company of writers, actors, directors and choreographers—and her two dogs. Donahoe said her role as Dana was very much like her in the way she feels about art and passion. “She’s very disciplined and encourages oth ers around her to be professional, although she does it in a nice way,” Donahoc said. “She encourages people to put dreams into action, not just keep them up in la-la-land.” Also about Dana, Donahoe said, “She’s a lesbian, although I don’t know if that has anything to do with anything.” Even though Donahoe said her character’s sexual preference did not put the play in a different 1 ight, it did add to the scries of events. Dana’s past lover was killed, Donahoe said, and Dana wished she could have been there to prevent it. “Her way of dealing with it is to' put her energy into her students,” she said. Donahoe said her character’s challenge laid in the aspect of dance and emotion. “Her character is a much better dancer than I am,” she said. “It was challenging to get inside her. “I have logo toemotional places. I’m angry. I’m happy. I’m laughing. I’m loving. I’m screaming. I’m dancing and doing everything I can emotionally on stage.” The audience will both show anger and sympathy towards Dana, until they know the full story. “As an actress, I have to personalize it and expose it and that’s the only way to do it,” Donahoe said. This flood of expression is off-set by the lawyer who has rejected passion and intuition. “Through this case she’s going through some personal things cut off from her womanly side and the thought she could do art arises to where she ends up dancing in a dream,” Totten said. “She determines what education should be and intimacy should be about and that life is not all easily compartmentalized. There arc a lot of gray areas.” “Dancing the God” opens Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Additional performances arc June 8-11 at 8 p.m. and June 12 at 3 p.m. in the Studio Theatre in the Temple Building. All scats are $ 10 and reservations may be obtained at the Rep box office. Jason Levkulich/DN Terry Donahoe, left, and Rachael Warren star in the Nebraska Repertory Theatre production of “Dancing the God.” Early summer movie review By Gerry Beltz and Joel Strauch Staff Reporters It’s been over a month since the last issue of the Daily Nebraskan, and a good number of movies have been released during the hiatus. Since some people haven’t heard anything about these films, yet have been released for too long to merit a full review, a quick sum-up should work quite nicely. “Beverly Hills Cop III”: Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley, this time chasing a murderer through an amusement park in Beverly Hills. It’s not worth it. Go sec some thing else. RATING: 2 stars (out of five). “The Flintstones”: Low on plot but high on special effects and kid appeal. Take the little ones to it. However, it’sanybody’sguesswhy Rosie O’Donnell wasplaying Betty Rubble instead of Barney Rubble. RATING: 2 1/2 stars. “Maverick”: Lots and lots of fun. It features the always-enjoy able Mel Gibson in the title role, and an incredible number of cam cos throughout the film (watch for director Richard Donner as a bank robber). A few jokes may fly over the kids’ heads, but it’s worth see ing twice. RATING: 3 1/2 stars. “The Crow”: The last film to feature the late Brandon Lee, who died during the filming. A very dark film in the style of “Blade Runner’’ that leaves a great deal of what happens to the bad guys to the imagination. Lee is great. RAT ING: 3 stars. “When a Man Loves a Wom an”: A very gripping and emotion al story about a family dealing with the mother’s alcohol ism. Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia deliver incredi ble performances. Bring a hankie. RATING: 4 stars. “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”: a pathetic tribute to what was a fine novel by Tom Robbins. Gus Van Sant tries, but even Robbins’ narra tion doesn’t help this mish-mash of loosely connected scenes. RAT ING: 2 stars. Book selection high in Lincoln By Joel Strauch Staff Reporter Looking for a good read to help pass the summer months? Lincoln offers many new and used bookstores for readers of all genres. One of the newest bookstores in town is a link in a nation-wide chain, Barnes and Noble, located at 52nd and O streets. Jim VanNatter, Barnes and Noble district manager, said, “We’re a gen eral bookstore. We cater to all “We’ve got 100,000 titles in 1400 different subject and we have access to all books in print,” he said. “We offer the largest selection of books in Ne braska.” Barnes and Noble sells new books, mostly at publishers’ list prices, but docs offer some substantial discounts. “All our hardcover books arc dis counted 10 percent and New York Times bestsellers and recommenda tions by our staff arc discounted 30 percent,” VanNatter said. One of the things that makes Barnes and Noble unique as a bookstore is its browsing atmosphere, he said. “We want to be aplace of entertain ment,” he said. “We’ve got a cafe that serves Starbucks coffee and we don’t mind if people hang out here all day.” A Novel Idea, one of the numerous used bookstores in Lincoln, is located downtown at 118 N. 14th St. Bryan Peterson, co-owner of A Novel Idea, said, “We’vegot over30,00() paperback and hardcover books in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction. “Our stronger areas are literature and science fiction, and we try toavoid romance novels.” Since the books arc used, they arc offered at inexpensive prices. “Our paperbacks start at one-half cover price and our hardcover books arc around $2 to $5,” Peterson said. A Novel Idea specializes in certain areas of particular interests, he said. “We’ve got a wide variety of books on chess and the martial arts,” he said. “There is always a demand for books in some smaller areas like these and we try to keep them stocked up.” Another general bookstore that sells retail books is Lee Booksellers. Linda Hillegass, co-owner of Lee, said, “We specialize in science fic tion, mysteries, children’s books and cookbooks.” Locally owned, Lee Booksellers has three Lincoln locations: at East Park Plaza, at the Piedmont Shops and at the Edgewood Center. Most of Lee’s books are at publ ish ers’ list prices, but bestselling paper backs arc discounted, Hillegass said. “We deliver really good service frotn our knowledgeable and well read staff,” she said. One aspect of this service is the rapidity of obtaining customers’ spe cial orders. “We can get most special orders within three days,” she said. Another service that Lee’s offers is free mailing of books purchased Ho anywhere in the solar system. “If you want us to send it to Pluto, we’ll send it to Pluto,” Hillegass said. All that avid readers in Lincoln need to do is pull their noses out of their books to find a bookstore that will suit their needs.