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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1994)
Daily Nebraskan Thursday, August 4,1994 Arts ® Entertainment Sitcom-like play takes shocking look at distorted ’90s By Paula Lavigne Staff Reporter Barbie beware, the library janitor wants to be a heavy-metal rocker and he won’t let you go until you “Say You Love Satin!!!” at the Omaha Magic Theatre this weekend. David Brink’s play “Say You Love Satin!!!” will shock,amuse,bewilder and frighten the spandex off anyone who dares to dismiss Brink’s peck at the distorted ’90s. An Omaha native. Brink has been writing plays for the Magic Theatre since he was 16. At 24, Brink is cer tain theatre is his dream, although he maintains an interest in documentary production and philosophy. He said the plays he has written weren’t exactly “avant-garde.” How ever, he does like their unusual style. “I think (the play) is just like a television sitcom,” he said. “The only ‘art’ I like to hear is Art Linkletter.” The entire effort went very smooth ly, he said, and became a very positive experience. How would Brink sum it up in one word? “Bitchin’.” Brink’s mastermind lies in the ex tremely bizarre nature of his “zany” characters—many of whom are por trayed by first-time actors. Enter Fred — the Alice Cooper wanna-be dressed in tiger-striped spandex and red knee pads, played by Larry Tarkington. This tongue-waggling, disillu sioned rock star bangs on his manne quin guitar and greedily disassembles an innocent Barbie — when he’s not moonlighting as the local library jan itor. This is much to the dismay of the roach-clip beauty Amber, played by Stacy White. A dead ringer for ice tramp Tonya Harding, Amber, dressed in her ripped Guess jeans and six-inch make-up, wants a “normal life” while begging for a spot on “Hard Copy.” Shouting “your rock-and-roll fan tasy has become my heavy metal night mare,” she leaves Fred without an audience. So, Fred does the next best thing — he kidnaps the librarian, Maryann (Megan Millea). But never fear, Trinity Lead (Gretchen Venteicher) is on the trail. A savvy private eye who punctuates every sentence with a karate chop, Lead makes “Miami Vice” look like “Reading Rainbow.” This femme fatale falls for the de ranged librarian, Bill (Anthony Cham bers), because they share an under standing for “high fashion and serial murders.” In a completely parallel universe. Amber runsoffwith television psycho, Skip Winter (Charles Gould). Winter is the QVC king in his satin bell-boy suit with a program for nutrition, ex ercise and financial security—all in one. It’s too bad Fred couldn’t have been as accomplished a performer as the play’s live musicians and their band “Funkemickel.” Their versatili ty and sound were amazing, making a significant contribution to the climac tic action on stage. The stage and special effects, de signed by Sora Kimbcrlain and JoAnn Schmidman, heightened the sensory overload with gold-plated stationary bikes, neon lights and dangling strips of film. An Omaha Magic Theatre experi ence is one never to forget. It’s unique atmosphere, hypnotizing effects and absurdly entertaining actors stun the aud ience and “Say You Love Sat in!!! ” is no exception. “Say You Love Satin!!!” will be performed August 5,6,12,13 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $ 12 for adults and $7 for students. The theater is located on 325 So. 16th St. in the old Lemer’s clothing store in Omaha. Cage, Fonda star in funny, romantic film “It Could Happen To You” 'ir r r \ ^ r ' By Ann Stack Staff Reporter “ItCould Happen To You,” aheart warming romantic comedy, is a sure pick to be this summer’s sleeper hit. Charlie Lang, played by Nicholas Cage (“Guarding Tcss”) is a good samaritan cop in New York City who only wants to do his job well. His annoying, materialistic wife, Muriel (Rosie Perez, “Do The Right Thing”), is less than pleased with her husband’s constant generosity and dreams of leaving him and the city for a better life. Enter Y vonne Biasi (Bridget Fonda “Singles”), a waitress at a coffee shop where Charlie stops for lunch one day. A l ittle short on cash, he leaves her a lottery ticket as a tip. He promises her that if it wins, he’ 11 split the money with her. Of course, the ticket wins, pulling in $4 million for Charlie and Muriel — and Yvonne. And that’s when the fun starts. Perez’s performance as the spoiled, gold-digging wife is cliched and over done, as are Muriel’s frequent tan trums. Also, the movie is entirely loo pre dictable — it has “happy ending” written all over it. But it does score points for the incredible cinematography. Filmed at more than 100 locations around New York City, there are some truly spec tacular glimpses of the city’s nigh points. The soundtrack also earns a star for songs by favorites such as Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. Overall, “ItCould Happen To You” is an endearing, sappy feel-good mov ie, a good one to view with that signif icant other. Courtesy of New Line Productions Jim Carrey teams up with amazing special effects when he is transformed into the title character in “The Mask. Carrey, effects cover up film s low points “The Mask” k'k'k'k By Gerry Beltz Staff Reporter Even if you don’t particularly like Jim Carrey very much, you may still enjoy “The Mask”. After the stupid-but-successful “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” Carrey has begun to solidify as a bankable movie star. Carrey’s Silly-Putty face works perfectly in “The Mask,” perhaps, m part, because of the masks de signed to ensure that his expres sions would not be stifled. Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) is the clas sic geek who has been put down by society. He lets everyone run him over, and he has no luck with women be cause he’s such “a good friend.” However, Ipkiss stumbles onto an ancient mask, which brings out the innermost desires of its wearer. When Ipkiss puts it on, he becomes very gallant, has a snappy comeback to everyone, wears a devious smile that could get him elected to office and gains the abilities—and reactions — of a cartoon character. The film is hilarious from start to finish, with only a few slow spots towards the end. Carrey is priceless; anyone else in the lead would have brought the movie down a level or two. After all, who else could lead an entire police precinct through a conga line? An integral part to both the mo v ie ’ s comedy and the movie itself are the special effects. Carrey, through his natural mask, is able to pull off a lot of facial expression jokes, but even he has limits. And that’s where Industrial Light and Magic comes in. The company, responsible for the incredible effects in “Jurassic Park,” “Terminator 2” and “The Abyss,” to name a few, makes it possible for Carrey’s eyes to bug out (as The Mask, of course), for his jaw to drop to the floor and much more. But the movie doesn’t begin and end with the special effects. Cameron Diaz makes an im pressive screen debut as Tina, a lounge singer after whom Ipkiss lusts. Also appearing is Amy Yasbeck (“Robin Hood: Men In Tights”) as a reporter covering the Mask story. However, there is also a new sidekick in town; it isn’t Robin or Tom Arnold, but Milo, Ipkiss’ dog. This dog provides almost as much laughter as Carrey does, especially when ... whoops, almost said too much. “The Mask” is full of hoots and hollers. Check it out.
