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Arts ©Entertainment
Monday, September 12, 1994 Page 9
Diverse Lied agenda
goal of new director
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
In high school, C. Bruce Marquis produced
and directed theatrical productions. In college,
he turned to opera. Once in a while, he per
formed in the church choir.
Although his love of performing was great,
he chose to abandon it as a career. Now, instead
of being on stage, he works behind the scenes
in arts administration.
On Oct. 10, Marquis (pronounced mar
kwiss) will assume the post of director of the
Lied Center for Performing Arts at the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln. He currently is serv
ing as the director of fine arts programming at
the University of Wiscoasin-Milwaukee.
“I grew up being exposed to a wide variety
of art forms. I personally enjoy just about
everything,” he said.
Marquis said there were some forms of
music, such as rap, that he enjoyed less than
others. But he said he could still appreciate
music he did not prefer.
His personal tastes cover a broad range of
classical music, jazz and traditional music —
music including blucgrass, American gospel.
South American folk. Afro-pop and eastern
European choral music.
Marquis said he enjoyed a variety of theater
and dance, from traditional classical to cutting
edge modem.
Marquis said a great thrill for him was
discovering new artists in all art fields and
.< introducing them to the community.
During his tenure in Mil waukee, he brought
about 50 new artists to the city.
“1 enjoy artists who are moving the arts
forward — who arc creative in exploring new
ground with their arts and not just re-creating
museum pieces,” he said.
“They can still perform established reper
toire, but only if they arc able to do il and place
their own, unique interpretation on it.”
Marquis said he would bring artists to the
Lied Center who excelled and represented the
best in their field.
That approach fits in well with past and
current Lied Center performers. Marquis said.
He plans only to expand, not change, the
center’s programming.
“The Lied has a position in the region as a
multifaceted organization to serve the univer
sity community, the Lincoln community and
the broader Nebraska community,” he said.
The Lied Center must appeal to all of its
constituents. Marquis said, and bring the best of
many fields to Lincoln.
“Wc will continue to present classical mu
sic, Broadway performances and cutting-edge
artists,” he said.
But Marquis said one of his aims was to
expand the Licd’s theater offerings beyond
Broadway touring companies.
“Across the board, I hope to expand in areas
of increased cultural diversity,” he said. “There
are some marvelous world traditions in all
genres that we should be introducing to our
communities.
“It comes back to my personal view that we
need to realize, as we approach the year 2000,
that all great art is not white, western European
art.”
As part of the university system, the Lied
Center has a special challenge to introduce the
university and the surrounding community to
various traditions that make up the current
cultural aesthetics. Marquis said.
Marquis said the Lied Center had a special
duty to broaden students’ horizons and needed
to be responsive to students on several di (Tcrcnl
levels.
“I believe the students already have some
input in programming by being on the Lied
Center advisory board,” he said, “but I think we
can engage in more conversations about what
the students want at the Lied.”
On the other hand, many students have been
responsive to the Lied Center. Nationwide, the
Lied Center has one of the highest percentages
of student attendance.
“I must applaud the students at UNL for
taking an interest in the arts,” Marquis said.
But the Lied Center can go a step further, he
said, by better developing programs to reach out
and stimulate greater interest among students.
Balance, Marquis said, is the key to gauging
what the Lied Center offers the students.
“1 think we will always consider bringing in
artists which arc attractive to students, but we
will also have to be responsible to introduce
students to artists and art forms with which they
may not be entirely familiar.”
Courtesy of Lied Center for Performing Arts
C. Bruce Marquis, the newly chosen director of the Lied Center for
Performing Arts, hopes to introduce students to new and different art
forms. Marquis, who will assume the post on Oct. 10, said he would
like to involve students more in the process of deciding which
performers are brought into the Lied Center.
‘Trial By Jury’ plot belongs in a closed courtroom
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
“Trial By Jury” should be sen
tenced lo death. Or at least to several
consecutive life sentences.
The film’s award-winning cast is
its only positive attribute. Unfortu
nalcly, cast members arc given trans
parent roles and arc unable to sub
stantiate the movie's far-fetched plot.
The story is hardly new. Valeric
Alston(JoanncWhallcy-Kilmcr)isa
single mother and a business owner
in New York City who has somehow
managed to maintain the rigid ideal
Courtesy of Warner Bros
Gabriel Byrne and Joanne Whalley-Kilmer star in “Trial
By Jury,” a psychological courtroom thriller.
_ ___ ] • .~~
ism ofPope John Paul 11. So when she
is called for jury duty, she feels com
pelled to leave her business for two
weeks and find a baby sitter for her 7
ycar-old son to fulfill her obligation.
She quickly finds her idealism
challenged by the defendant. Rusty
Pironc (Armand Assante), a sadistic
mob boss who is on trial for murder
ing 11 people.
Ex-cop Tommy Vcscy (William
Hurt), who is one of Pironc’s hench
men, coerces Alston into voting for
Pirone’s acquittal by threatening her
and her son.
Alston is forced to compromise
her almost naive ideals to protect
herself and her child. She soon is
transformed into a liar and a manip
ulator.
The acclaimed actors that abound
in this film fail to give it bcl ievabil ity,
cither because of poor performances
or the weak characters they must
portray.
Hurt docs a fair job as Pironc’s
henchman, but the hopeless idealism
with which Alston is afflicted seems
to be contagious. Hurt betrays his
Mafia boss to protect the woman he
has been verbally and physically
threatening. This sudden change of
heart makes Vcscy seem superficial.
Assantc and Gabriel Byrne, who
plays prosecuting U.S. Attorney
Daniel Graham, arc convincing in
their courtroom confrontations. But
their performances are not above
mediocre and add little to the film.
Whalley-Kilmer is not bad in her
role of an honest, moral woman who
is forced to transform into the epito
me of everything she is against. But
the change is so drastic that it be
comes almost comic, and Whalley
Kilmer is unable to make the Jckyll
and- Hyde me tamorphosis bcl icvablc.
Others in the supporting cast give
inept del ivcrics that destroy any hope
ofrcalisin that the film might achieve.
The plot has more holes than a
box of donuts. Alston shows her
nervousness during the trial and is
the only one who votes not guilty in
a cut-and-dry ease. No one even
thinks that she might be threatened
by an incredibly rich and powerful
Movie: “Trial By Jury”
Rating: R
Stars: Joanne Whalley-Kilmer.
Armand Assantc, Gabriel
Byrne, William Hurt
Director: Heywood Gould
Grade: D
Five words: Pleading insanity
film’s only defense
Mafia kingpin! Graham, the prose
cutor, finally hits on the idea after
what seems like an eternity.
Plenty of other things arc wrong
with this picture, but it is hoped that
enough evidence has been provided
here to reach a guilty verdict.
“Trial By Jury” docs do a fair job
of portraying the inner workings of
the judicial system—especially the
deliberation of the jury. But its pre
dictable plot, poor acting and incred
ible coincidences make it a film well
worth not seeing.