The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 06, 1995, Page 9, Image 9
©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.