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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1995)
Arts ©Entertainment Wednesday, March 1, 1995 Page 9 Ross Theater to debut new downtown home By Jeff Randall Staff Reporter After 30 years in the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater is moving out. The Ross has been just one of the film series held in the Sheldon auditorium since 1965, when the Ross’ first screening was held, said Dan Ladely, director of the theater since 1973. But times have changed, and it is time for the Ross Film Theater to change as well, Ladely said. “It was about two or three years ago, maybe longer, when I realized that some thing had to be done,” he said. “Our ambi tions had outgrown the space available to us within the Sheldon.” The Ross Theater had become completely separate from the museum, Ladely said. It is now a part of the University of Nebraska Lincoln College of Fine and Performing Arts. Approval and funding from Mary Riepma Ross herself made the desire to change the theater’s location a reality, Ladely said. Ross ’ $3.6 million donation will cover construc tion and opening costs. “I approached her with the proposal, and she said ‘Why not?’ so we got under way with our plans,” he said. The theater will find its new home at the comer of 13th and R streets, where the building that once housed Taco Inn now sits. The construction of the new theater won’t be the only construction on 13th and R streets, Ladely said. “The entire block will become a sort of gateway to the university,” he said. The proposed area will contain a new visitor center, a sculpture and, if funding is discovered, an expansion to the Temple Building. The remainder of the area would be used for a park, Ladely said. “It’s the perfect location for our theater,” he said, “and I think that reflects the impor tance that the university places not only in the film theater, but also in the arts in gen eral. “I really see it as a vote of confidence.” The Ross Theater may be leaving, Ladely said, but Sheldon’s auditorium won’t be vacant. “It’s a terrific facility, ideal for lectures, readings and some concerts,” Ladely said, “and I suspect that it will continue to be used frequently for many years to come.” No date has been set for the completion and opening of the new Ross Theater. But Ladely said he hoped the project would be finished within two years. Once completed, the new theater will have two separate auditoriums, he said. The larger auditorium will seat about 350 people and will show mainstream movies, Ladely said. “But, of course, our idea of mainstream isn’t exactly normal,” he said. “We won’t be showing Hollywood pictures by any means. “It will mostly be films that normally are played in commercial art houses in larger cities. But since Lincoln doesn’t have a big enough market for those films, we will show them.” The screenings will be held seven nights each week with matinees on weekends. The Ross Theater’s current schedule doesn’t al low screenings on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The smaller auditorium, which will seat between 100 and 125 people, will feature “more esoteric” films, Ladely said. Among those will be historical documentaries, film classics and avant-garde, experimental films. See ROSS on 10 Laser flicks By Gerry Beltz Senior Reporter They’re flat, round and shiny, and they could be the next big thing in home video entertainment. Laser-disc movies are in again. In the past month, three Lincoln movie rental stores have begun to carry films in laser-disc format. Both Audio-Visual stores and the Video Zone have started carrying the discs. Previously, only one Video Station location offered laser discs. But this isn’t the first time laser discs have been available in the open market, said Randy Abel, manager of Audio Visual South, 3219 S. 13th St. “They were available about seven years ago or so,” Abel said. “They were available in a cartridge format where you inserted the entire cartridge into the player. However, the high quality offered by laser discs wasn’t worth the high price, Abel said. “With the televisions and sound sys tems that people had then,” Abel said, “you didn’t get that much benefit from them, and you couldn’t record on the laser discs. “So that’s why everybody went to VHS.” However, recent technological ad vances — including home-theater sys tems and surround sound — are bringing laser disc movies back into the main stream, he said. “As the home-theater systems are be coming more and more common,” Abel said, “people want the quality of movies that they see in the theaters.” Laser-disc movies feature surround sound and a letterboxed format, which shows the film in the same dimensions as a movie-theater screen. “In the normal format, like most VHS cassettes, you lose 20 to 25 percent of the picture,” Abel said. “Laser-disc movies are in a wide screen format, which means you’re see ing the movie in the way the director wanted you to see it.” Audio-Visual’s North location, at 2301 N. 33rd St., has carried laser-disc movies for about two weeks, and each location has approximately 25 different movies on laser disc available for rental, Abel said, with more on the way. “We are getting the standard packages (of new releases),” Abel said. “Plus we are taking requests from customers for special orders, so that they can either buy it or we just put it in with our rentals.” One Video Station location, 3900 Old Cheney Road, has carried laser-disc mov ies for about five years, and has approxi mately 500 different laser-disc movies See DISCS on 10 BretGottschall/DN Wahoo Wieners spice up Nebraska By Joel Strauch Senior Reporter After taking a bite of an ordinary hot dog, even a good hot dog, one might smile or even say, “Mmmmmmmm.’’ But some who have tried Wahoo Wieners say that taking a bite of the Nebraska dogs usually elicits a more enthusiastic response. Maybe even a “Wahoo!” Patty Scholl, a freshman science major from Wahoo, described Wahoo Wieners as a cross between a Polish sausage and a hot dog. “It’s like putting A-l on a hamburger,” she said. “It’s got just a little bit of spice.” The wieners are made in Wahoo, a town about 20 miles north of Lincoln, but they are enjoyed by consumers around the state and the nation. Barb Coehen owns the OK Meat Market, where the unusual wieners are made. Coehen said the wieners were shipped to many places in Nebraska. “We’ve sent them as far away as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska — all 50 states,” she said. The OK Meat Market has been named a state and national historic site, and Coehen has recently been entered in “Who’s Who in America” because of her dedication to the meat product. “The building has been around since 1917, and Wahoo Wieners have been made in this establishment since 1926,” Coehen said. Coehen said the wieners’ special taste came from the preparation. “They’re made of 100 percent meat,” she said. “They’re not made with by-products and fillers.” And the dogs come in six different fla vors. “We make a fine grind, a coarse grind, garlic and three levels of jalapeno,” Coehen said. “We try to hit everybody’s taste buds.” Wahoo Wieners are available in Lincoln at Fat Pat’s Pizza and Subs, 838 N. 27th St. Pat Gillispie, the owner of Fat Pat’s, said he served the wieners because they were better than normal hot dogs. “We have them as appetizers on Tues days, three for a dollar, and they’ve been quite popular,” he said. But the wieners have special meaning for those who grew up eating them. Kelly Weis, a senior secondary educa tion major from Wahoo, said the wieners were wonderful. “I don’t like normal hot dogs,” she said. “But I’d die for a Wahoo Wiener.” The Wahoo Wiener has become some thing of a tradition in the town of its birth. Scholl said everyone in Wahoo was a Wahoo Wiener fan. “If you have a family gathering, you get Wahoo Wieners. They’re all strung together “I don't like normal hot dogs. But I'd die for a Wahoo Wiener." ■ KELLY WEIS senior secondary education major like in the cartoons,” she said. It seems the town also gets a little touchy if someone prefers another type of hot dog. “If you were a true Wahooian, then you had your freezer stocked with Wahoo Wieners,” Scholl said. “Otherwise you might get a reaction like, ‘Oh my God, you’re eating Hormel!’” Coehen said she believed the wieners were popular because they were original. “A lot of people grew up around here and remembered the taste,” she said. “And a lot of people are looking for a good product and hear about us by word of mouth.” Scholl said there was no reason to eat the same old hot dog when one could have a Wahoo Wiener. “It’s kind of like a Zima,” she said. “It’s something different.”