Arts ©Entertainment
Friday, March 10, 1995 Page 9
Michelle Wylie practices at a “Song and Dance” dress rehearsal Wednesday night. JayCaideron/DN
J itters don’t shake ‘SongandDance’
By Paula Lavlgne
Senior Reporter ~
Although it has a deceptively simple
name, “Song and Dance” brings together a
dazzling package of professionally polished
entertainment.
The performance had a few opening
night kinks to work out Thursday night, but
overall, the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln College of Fine and Performing Arts
production was incredible.
Created by Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Song
and Dance” opens up a whole world of
creativity for directors and choreographers.
The show’s two parts feature a lone
singer in the first act and a large dance
ensemble in the second. The live music
throughout both acts energized the entire
performance.
The electric guitar, keyboards, cello and
other instruments added a whole new di
mension to the performance — topped off
by suave pianist/director Vincent Learned.
They opened the way for singer Michelle
Wylie to create Emma, a naive English girl,
who comes to soak up America, via New
York and her friend Viv.
Emma slowly loses her innocence as she
goes through lovers in New York, Los An
geles and even Nebraska.
All other roles are imagined and not
played by real people. But State Sen. Dave
Landis, who was in the audience Thursday
night, had a cameo appearance as a cheesy
tennis player. Confused? You’ll see.
Wylie knew how to work an audience
with vivacity and intense, telling facial
expressions, especially in “English Girls”
and “Tell Me on a Sunday.”
Her voice was strong, except for a few
times when she dropped the initial lines of
a song — a problem that could have been
avoided by fixing her remote microphone.
The second act begins with a full-force
ensemble of dancers. Because there were so
many dancers, a few lines were out of order
Thursday night, and timing was a little off.
But, hey, chalk it up to opening-night nerves.
The dance department, directed by Lisa
Fusillo, rarely gets a chance to shine, but
dio so Thursday night.
It was also nice to see a revival of tap
dancing, which is always full of energy.
As the performance reached it’s end
zone peak, the dancers donned red Husker
jerseys and did a jazzed-up dance interpre
tation of their National Championship coun
terparts.
Wylie joined the dancers and musicians
for a final “Song and Dance” that put the
bow on Thursday night’s entertainment
package.
The show will run again tonight and
Saturday night at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m. and
March 15-18 at 8 p.m.
Benefit
concert
planned
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
Lincoln resident Kris Lavedas dis
covered six months ago that she had
breast cancer.
Surgery removed Lavedas’ tumors,
said friend Sophia John of Lincoln, but
Lavedas had been undergoing chemo
therapy since September. The cancer
had spread to her lymph nodes, and a
bone marrow transplant was needed.
If that news wasn’t bad enough,
Lavedas found out her employer-pro
vided health insurance wouldn’t pay for
the transplant required to save her life.
Lavedas’ insurance plan considered
bone marrow transplants an experimen
tal procedure, John said. As the 32-year
old single mother of a newborn daugh
ter, Lavedas was facing disaster.
That’s when music entered the pic
ture.
Employees of local radio station
KKNB-FM (104.1, the Planet), where
John works as a disc jockey, have orga
nized fund-raising events to help Lavedas
pay for the medical costs, which are
estimated to be between $60,000 and
$100,000.
The first of those events is a benefit
concert, which will be Sunday night at
the Hurricane, 1118 O St. The 1 hand
over show will feature local bands Mercy
Rule, Sideshow and Polecat. Future
events are still in the planning stages,
said Dave Douglas, program director for
KKNB.
“We’re brainstorming ideas and try
ing to get things together,” Douglas said.
“Obviously, we have a long way to go.”
He said Lavedas’ only previous con
nection to the radio station had been over
the airwaves.
“She is a listener,” Douglas said, “and
she had been able to get to know a
number of people here at the station just
by listening and calling in.
“When we heard about her situation,
helping out seemed like the best thanks
we could possibly give her.”
John attends the Greek Orthodox
Church of the Annunciation, where
Lavedas is a member. She said she was
eager to help after hearing of Lavedas’
plight.
“I saw a flier, and the name looked
See CONCERT on 10
Billy’s among bands
on stage this weekend
From Staff Reports
The Billy’s will offer a musi
cal experience that erases the
barriers between country and rock
Saturday night at
Knickerbockers, 901 O St.
The Billy’s sound walks the
line between country and rock,
said guitarist and vocalist Eric
Roberts.
“We have the Minneapolis
rock sound with a Tom Petty
edge,” Roberts said.
Saturday’s show will mix
music from their previous and
upcoming albums with a few
cover songs, Roberts said.
Lincoln band Think will open
for the Billy’s Saturday at 10:30
p.m. The cover charge for this
show is $3.
Friday night, Knickerbockers
will host Omaha’s Gauge and
Wide.
Guzzard, As Good As Dead
and Glass Pack Jack take the
stage tonight at Le Cafe Shakes,
1418 O St. Saturday night, Shakes
will feature God Head Silo, Ova
rian Trolley and St. Nicklehead.
Peace Nation and Punkinhead
will take over the Hurricane, 1118
O St., tonight. And Saturday,
Stick will play a 19-and-over
show. Local favorites Mercy
Rule, Sideshow and Polecat will
play at the Hurricane Sunday
night.
At the Royal Grove, 340 W.
Comhusker Highway, Step Child
will play tonight and Saturday.
And Monkey Meat will play
at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St.,
tonight and Saturday.
/ • _•___
‘Some things’ is funny at Futz
By Jeff Randall
Theater Critic ~
“Some Things You Need to
Know Before the World Ends (A
Final Evening With the Illumi
nati)” at the Futz, Inc. proved the
budget of a theater production
doesn’t necessarily determine its
quality.
Comers may have been cut in
the wardrobe and set construc
tion, but the outsta iding Thurs
day performances by Kent
Kreuger and Ward Lewis were
worth millions.
As the domineering and ho
lier-than-thou Lutheran minister,
Rev. Eddie, the wild-eyed
Kreuger was a constantly active
and emotional presence. The
somewhat cramped stage area
could barely contain his manic
behavior. In fact, sometimes it
didn’t.
On several occasions, Kreuger
had to lunge forward, violating
the traditionally sacred audience
zone. His only weakness was his
questionable Southern accent,
which drew attention from his
otherwise flawless acting.
Lewis was also energetic as
Brother Lawrence, the hunch
backed cronie to Eddie. He pro
vided comic relief and moronic
hilarity in contrast to Kreuger’s
out-of-control, semi-intellectual
behavior.
The two actors sunk whole
heartedly into their respective
stage personalities, and then
jumped into the roles of entirely
different characters who high
lighted the action of the main
storyline.
The main storyline followed
the Rev. Eddie and Brother
Lawrence’s preparation and de
livery of a post-apocalyptic ser
mon that compared life and sal
vation to a basketball game.
The sideline scenes were
mostly biblical, humorous dia
logues and songs by a wide-rang
ing gallery of characters, includ
ing a potential saint undergoing a
job interview and a pair of
apostles/construction workers on
lunch break.
This irreverent look at reli
gion and the earthbound ambas
sadors of God was a thought
provoking play that presented
both dramatic and comic ele
ments, the latter a bit more often
than the former. “Some Things
You Need to Know Before the
World Ends (A Final Evening
With the Illuminati)” is showing
at the Futz, Inc., 124 S. Ninth St.,
tonight, Saturday and March 16
18 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $10. Seating is
limited, but reservations can be
made by calling 435-6307.
