©Entertainment
Lied to feature
indoor classics
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
Although warm weather and
springtime beauty may draw
people outdoors this weekend, a
few examples of classic beauty
will shine at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts Friday night at
7.
Andre Previn will conduct the
St. Luke’s Orchestra. Through
out its 21-year history, St. Luke’s
has been known as one of the
musical world’s premier orches
tras. Previn has been composing
and performing worldwide as
both a musician and conductor
for several years.
Lawrence Mallett, professor
and director of the School of
Music, will give two pre-perfor
mance talks; one 55 minutes prior
to curtain, and the second 30
prior.
Mallett said Frevin s ability
as a conductor was overshadowed
only by his musicianship.
“He is truly a fantastic musi
cian, first and foremost,” he said.
“And that is what I believe he
will always be recognized for.”
St. Luke’s Orchestra is remark
able not only because of the tal
- ' ~~-errt<rfttsperformers, Mallett said,
but also because of the diversity
of its repertoire.
“They really run the gamut,”
he said. “Everything from ba
roque to contemporary is within
their range.”
To prepare for his pre-perfor
mance talks, Mallett said, he has
focused on the fact that the three
pieces in Friday’s performance
were written within a 28-year
span.
The program will contain
“Symphony No. 102 in B-flat
Major” by Haydn, “Flute Con
certo No. 1 in G Major, K. 285c
(313)” by Mozart and “Symphony
No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60” by
Beethoven.
“It is amazing that these three
composers, who are three of the
greatest the world has ever
known, wrote these three pieces
in such a short period of time,”
Mallett said.
“Symphony No. 102” was one
of ■■Haydn’s final symphonies,
Mallett said, and it represented a
“culmination of a career” for the
composer. He said the mood of
the piece was characteristic of
Haydn’s other works.
“It’s a very bright piece,”
Mallett said. “It is rich in humor
and light in character.”
“Flute Concerto No. 1” is one
of Mozart’s best-known concer
tos, he said. The mood of this
piece will follow Haydn’s well,
Mallett said, and will be equally
bright.
reopie win easily recognize
this piece from commercials,” he
said. “It’s extremely familiar.”
The mood of Beethoven’s
“Symphony No. 4” was some
what uncharacteristic for the com
poser, Mallett saiti.__ . _ _
“It’s in a definite contrast to
the somber tone of his third and
fifth symphonies,” he said. “The
very light mood of this piece
stands out especially when com
pared with Beethoven’s other
works.”
Attending the St. Luke’s Or
chestra performance is a good
opportunity for fans who are used
to hearing only recorded classi
cal music, Mallett said. He com
See PREVIN on 10
Gruesome ‘Cronos’
depicts immortality
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
“Cronos” is kind of a mixture
of “Death Becomes Her,” “The
Fly” and “Interview With The
Vampire .” Yet it’s still like noth
ing you’ve ever seen before.
The dialogue oscillates from
Spanish to English constantly,
and usually for no reason. It’s
kind of like Klingons who speak
English even when no humans
are around. When Spanish is spo
ken, it is (usually) accompanied
by English subtitles.
At the center of “Cronos” is
Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi), an
antiques dealer who accidentally
stumbles upon an ancient bug
shaped device that forcefully at
taches itself to his hand. He man
ages to rip it off, but not before a
stinger is left in his hand.
Afterward, he finds himself
with a sensitivity for sunlight, an
increased healing rate and a thirst
for blood.
Meanwhile, a dying old man
has sent his vicious nephew,
Angel (Ron Perlman), after Gris
to get die secret of eternal life
from him.
As it turns out, Angel has die
Film: “Cronos”
Director: Tamara
Shanath
Stars: Federico Luppi,
Ron Perlman
Grade: B+ j
Five Words: Benefits —
and costs — of
immortality.
instructions to the device Gris
possesses. (Wasn’t this an epi
sode of “The Greatest American
Hero”?)
The film itself is superb, but
won’t have the widest audience
appeal. It is too gory for the drama
fans, and would be considered
too melodramatic for the horror
buffs.
If you are a fan of dark humor
(we’re talking about people who
can laugh at a corpse’s nose be1
ing pinched at a funeral), then a
great deal of this movie will have
you rolling. The funeral home’s
See CRONOS on TO
Red hairing
Courtesy of Creative Entertainment
Comedian Carrot Top will perform at Nebraska Wesleyan University tonight.
Carrot Top stops in Lincoln
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
If a rumor were roaming around
that stand-up comedian Scott Th
ompson was coming to Lincoln,
people probably wouldn’t trip over
each other getting a front row seat
at the performance.
But if they knew Carrot Top
was coming, now that’s a different
story.
Often used as a derogatory nick
name, this moniker has helped pro
pel the red-headed comedian to
being named Campus Entertainer
of the Year in 1993 and America’s
Most Popular Nightclub Comic by
the American Comedy Awards in
1994.
Pam Bourne, the Union
Program’s Big Event chair person
at Nebraska Wesleyan University,
• said Carrot Top would bring in a
-
huge crowd.
“We knew it would be great to
get him to come here,” Bourne
said. “We can get a lot of people
here just by his name.”
But it’s not just his name that
attracts people to his show; it’s his
insane humor that has audiences
laughing so hard it hurts.
“He is so off the wall,” Bourne
said. “You never know what he’s
going to do.”
His full head of wild, bright
red-orange hair is just one indica
tion of the high intensity of his
stand-up — as anyone who has
seen him do his Wendy’s girl imi
tation (complete with pigtails and
silly smile) will attest.
“He’s just crazy,” Bourne said.
“Most comedians have funny parts
and not so funny parts, but he is
constantly funny.”
It was fairly difficult for the Big
Event committee to land such a big
act, Bourne said, but persistence
and some luck helped them get
Carrot Top.
“His price has gone up giganti
cally in the last couple of years,
and we thought that he was out of
our price range,” Bourne said.
“But he is performing at UNK
(University of Nebraska at
Kearney) Wednesday night and
UNO (University of Nebraska at
Omaha) on Friday, so he had an
open date that panned out between
these major dates,” she said.
Carrot Top can be seen at the
O’Donnell Auditorium tonight at
10. Tickets are $7 and can be pur
chased at the Nebraska Wesleyan
Student Center Office or at the
downtown Homer’s Music and
Gifts. * '
Shakespeare delights, as always
By Gerry Beltz
Theater Critic
Shakespeare is in the house ...
.again. The Lincoln Community
Playhouse, that is.
“The Taming of the Shrew” will
show tonight and Satuiday, April
13-16 and April 20-23 at the play
house, 2500 S. 56th St.
Starting and ending outside of a
“Girls, Girls” bar with Aerosmith’s
“Dude Looks Like A Lady,” this
look at Shakespeare’s view of
marital bliss takes place in the
1950s, but still in the same place
— Padua and Verona, Italy.
Several threads of marital
longings are woven together in a
bizarre tapestry of love, deceit and
confusion. Would Shakespeare
have it any other way?
In the main focus is Katharina
(Susan Garrett), a very spirited
woman who refuses to bend to the
will of her father Baptista (Keith
Ghormley) that she be married
before her younger sister.
This causes great heartache for
Gremio and Hortensio (David
Chappelle and Michael Trutna, re
spectively) who are both campaign
ing for the heart of Katharina’s
younger sister Bianca (Stephanie
Beerling).
Things really start to get hairy
when Petruchio (Ioel Story) shows
up, and vows to win and tame
Katharina’s wild heart.
Overall, the production was
handled very well. Costume de
signer Marzia Mugnai Caporale
had loads of fun dressing up char
acters in zoot suits and ascots, and
whoever picked out the music to
play in between scenes had a blast,
too, including stuff ranging from
“Never Can Tell” from the “Pulp
Fiction” soundtrack to “Chances
Are.”
However, the dialogue was a
little fast-paced, even for
Shakespeare.
The highlight of the show is
Daniel Reinehr as Grumio,
Petruchio’s servant. He had a blast
from beginning to end, and deliv
ered the greatest amount of laugh
ter throughout the entire play.