Arts ^Entertainment
Monday, February 13,1995 Page 9
Under-21 crowd
wants live music
Speaking as a new addition to the
Lincoln population, I must say that I
have been somewhat satisfied with my
surroundings. But I do have one request.
I want live music.
“Live music? But Lincoln has live
music,” you may say. “Look at all the
concerts that take place every weekend.
“Jeepers,” you may add emphatically,
“what more could you possibly want?”
Well, Lincoln does have music-a
plenty. But for those of us who are unfor
tunate enough to fall into the under-21
segment of society, that music happens
to be a frequently inaccessible resource.
With the exception of Le Cafe Shakes,
Lincoln has no live music venues that put
on exclusive all-ages shows. The bar
scene has drawn a curtain between local
bands and those who would most avidly
support them — the youngsters.
Simply taking a look at one of Le Cafe
Shakes’ successful shows should provide
some clue to owners of local bars and
clubs. These shows frequently sell out to
audiences that are actually paying atten
tion to the bands... . _....
Taking a look at all-ages shows in
larger venues may also reveal exactly
how eager the minor population is to get
involved in music. Go to the Nine Inch
Nails concert being held tonight at
Omaha’s Civic Auditorium. I can guar
antee that a great majority of those in
attendance will be high school students
and younger college students.
This proves that, when given the
chance, minors will pay to hear good
music. And there is a difference between
simply paying to get into a bar and pay
ing to get in for the music.
i once auenaea a zi-ana-over snow.
A friend of mine had harassed the bar’s
owner enough to allow us admittance
into a secluded alcohol-free area in the
back of the establishment.
That show contained one of the most
unenthusiastic crowds I have ever had
the misfortune of witnessing. The major
ity of the audience members stood in
small clusters, with their backs to the
stage, attempting to maintain their con
versations.
Although I’m sure that this type of
scene is not reminiscent of every 21-and
over show, it served as a sharp contrast to
the crowd I have seen at every all-ages
show I have attended.
People who attend all-ages shows
know why they are there. They have
plunked down $3 or $4 of their hard
earned cash to hear good music.
When people go to a bar, they fre
quently will pay the cover charge regard
less of who is playing. A large number of
bar patrons don’t want to hear music;
they want to drink and perhaps engage in
some quasi-conversation with complete
strangers.
Giving minors the opportunity to at
tend these shows would inject new en
thusiasm and energy into Lincoln’s
weekly musical experiences. We won’t
even care if we have to huddle in a back
comer, at a safe distance from the alco
hol. We just want the music.
I propose that the owners of local bars
take advantage of the bloodthirsty lust
for live music that runs rampant in the
under-21 population. Open your doors to
younger audiences. You won’t regret it,
and neither will the local music scene.
Randall Is a freshman news-editorial major
and a Dally Nebraskan staff reporter.
- . _ _ . ... .. .. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
Adam Sandler goes back to grade school in “Billy Madison.
‘Billy ' ’ goes back to school ,
By Joel Strauch
Film Critic
“Billy Madison” has its share of humor
ous moments, but it has the annoying feel of
a 90-minute Saturday Night Live sketch.
Sandler, as co-writer, interjects his unique
brand of humor into the film, twit at times it
almost seems he was forced in.
Some of the scenes aren’t funny at all and
add nothing to the movie. In addition, the
camera pauses way too long at the end of
many scenes.
It’s like the producers came up with a
pretty good hour of material and then had to
stretch it to bring it up to feature-film length.
The story itself is fairly original, al
' though a bit far-fetched.
Ambitionless Billy Madison is the son of
the ultra-rich Madison Hotels owner (Darren
McGavin).
For the first 27 years of his life,Billy has
been content to drink countless daiquiris,
read nudie magazines and chase an imagi
“Billy Madison”
Rating: PG-13
Stars: Adam Sandler
Director: Tamra Davis <
Grade: C+
Five Words: “Opera Man” film
doesn’t sing.
nary six-foot penguin across his father’s
estate.
But then he discovers that his father
plans to retire and leave control of his
company to ruthless Vice President Eric
Gordon (Brad Whitford) instead of Billy.
Billy wants to show his father that he is
competent enough to take over.
Because his father bribed Billy’s way
through school the first time, Billy vows to
complete each grade in two weeks and re
earn his diploma.
Sandler is perfect for the part with his
childish facial expressions and insane char
acterizations. With anyone else, the movie
would have been a total flop.
Sandler makes a lot of mediocre scenes
really hilarious and does give the audience
some real laughs.
Most of the other characters are lacklus
ter. They either end up being Sandler’s
straight men or they fail at being funny
themselves.
The exception to this was the Madison’s
maid Juanita (Theresa Merritt). Her con
stant advances toward Billy and the endless
barrage of sexual innuendoes that she spouts
off are bitterly funny.
Her role earned this movie the plus.
“Billy Madison” is an hour and a half of
near-mindless entertainment. On the Jim
Carrey scale of weird character acting, it’s
no “Ace Ventura,” but it should hold its own
against “Dumb and Dumber.”
Performers express a need for love
Dance troupe explores
necessity of closeness
By Kristin Armstrong
Senior Editor ~
Hold me. Touch me. Love me. Stroke me
am alone.
This was the message
David Rousseve’s
.que dance/expres
sionistic theater trouDe
REALITY brought to
the Johnny Carson The
atre Friday and Satur
day nights.
Through a mix of
songs, monologues and
I_1 various dance styles, the
group explored the idea of love and being
loved, by someone of the opposite sex, the
same sex or even a rat.
Opening with a piece titled “Colored
Children Flyin’ By,” Rousseve performed a
monologue about a small white rat he used
to own, a rat that curled up in the hollow of
his shoulder as a boy.
When that rat died, Rousseve explained
while the troupe stood behind him on the
stage, he thought he’d never feel that un
conditional love again.
But later in life, he discovered that the
same feeling could be achieved with a lover
“spooned” behind him, breathing into that
same hollow.
The evening was filled with this need for
love, but also explored issues such as rac
ism, sexism, homophobia and AIDS.
Rousseve explained the performance’s mis
sion in the program with an artistic director’s
note:
“I’m trying to create a unique form of
expressionistic dance/theater that uses the
African American culture I grew up in to
communicate on universal matters of the
heart. REALITY is a group of divergent
individuals...trying to maintain our indi
viduality while finding the deeper, intan
gible ground that unites us.”
The next piece, titled “Dry Each Other’s
Tears in the Stillness of the Night,” re
counted Rousseve’s grandmother’s experi
ences as a Louisiana sharecropper.
Dancers Donna Duplantier, Charmaine
Warren, Julie Tolentino-Wood, Greg
Hubbard, Renee Redding-Jones, Keigwin,
Leah Nelson, Kyle Sheldon and Rousseve
conveyed this hopelessness. B.J. Crosby
performed the grandmother’s croaky voice,
a voice that had seen and felt far too much.
The dancing ranged from classical lifts,
performed by both males and females, to a
flowing post-modern style to snappy hip
hop club dances.
Music also set the pace for the evening,
with original works by the troupe and works
by well-known musicians such as Marvin
Gaye and Public Enemy.
The evening ended with a return to the
sharecroppers’ lives, when a cousin was
raped by a white man. The cousins,-al
though they are ripped apart, know they will
be all right, because they know they have
found the thing that unites them — love.