Kupcakes cook up theatre act
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
Priscilla may be queen of the desert,
but the Screaming Kupcakes are the
royal entertainers here in Lincoln.
Paul Pearson, co-director of the
lip-synch comedy troupe, said the
group was the ultimate bad lounge act.
“We do a lot of glamorous things
with nice costumes as well as some
tasteless stuff,” Pearson said. “We use
a lot of quick costume change and a lot
of gender mix-up as well.
“It’s a variety of men and women
playing a variety of men and women in
a variety of ways.”
The Kupcakes began performing
in the late 1980s, appearing mostly in
bars and nightclubs, he said.
But since 1990, they have moved
their act into theaters.
“We had the feeling that it had the
capability to reach a larger, more di
verse audience,” Pearson said. “It gave
our act theatrical legitimacy. It made
it make more sense.”
The Kupcakes lip-synch to con
temporary pop music as well as lesser
known songs.
“Basically, we like to take popular
top-40 stuff and recreate it in a way
you haven’t thought of before.
“And we also use some more ob
scure music,” Pearson said. “We use a
lot of novelty music from the ’40s and
early ’50s that we have some real fun
with.”
The Kupcakes will take the stage at
the upcoming fund-raiser for the Futz
Theater, “April Futz!,” hosted by
Sheza Mann.
“We’re going to take out some fa
vorites from the past five years of
shows and try out some new material
for a forthcoming show called ‘Taste
is No Object.’”
The Kupcakes will give at least six
presentations for the show, Pearson
said.
“We’re going to tackle bad lounge
acts, big-city culture and recent Lin
coln politics, especially the visit from
Rev. Phelps from Topeka.
“We’re ready to take that on,” he
said. “We found a piece of material
that fits that perfectly.”
The number of performers in the
Kupcakes varies from show to show.
“We have six regular members, but
depending on what we need, we have
casts as large as 11,” Pearson said.
“We added some members of the board
of directors ofthe Futz. Since it’s their
fund-raiser, we’re makingthemwork,
too.
“We’re turning them into
Kupcakes.”
April Futz! will be at the Mission
Arts Building, 124 S. Ninth St. Thurs
day through Saturday at 8 p.m. Tick
ets are $6.
Week’s releases are all winners
By Gerry Beltz
Film Critic
This week’s five new releases
were all nominated for an Oscar at
this year’s Academy Awards Pre
sentation. The pick of the week also
has an Academy Award connec
tion.
“The Shawshank Redemption”
—Nominated for seven Academy
Awards, but winner of none, “The
Shawshank Redemption” is a defi-'
nite must-see.
Tim Robbins is Andy, a man
who has been wrongfully impris
oned for the deaths of his wife and
her lover. The movie tracks his fight
for survival inside the walls of the
Shawshank Penitentiary.
Morgan Freeman was nominated
for Best Actor for his role as Red,
who befriends Andy and shows him
how to survive. Great music, great
story, great everything. Find it.
“Ed Wood”—Although a two
time winner for Best Make-up and
Best Supporting Actor for Martin
Landau, “Ed Wood” didn’t find a
lot of success in the box office.
That’s a shame, too. Director
Tim Burton made a very good film
detailing key moments in the life of
one of Hollywood’s most infamous
— and awful — movie directors:
Ed Wood (Johnny Depp).
“Ed Wood” also features a phe
nomenal all-star cast, including Jef
frey Jones, former professional
wrestler George Steele and the
crown jewel of Landau as the heroin
addicted Lugosi.
“Quiz Show” — Another film
that received multiple nominations
and got squat, “Quiz Show” is a
slice of real life put up on the big
screen.
Back in the ’50s, the quiz show
“Twenty-One” was fixed, unbe
knownst to the American public,
and the discovery rocked the coun
try like an earthquake.
“Blue Sky” — Even though the
film was made back in 1990, “Blue
Sky” just came out last year after
sitting and gathering di A on a shelf
at Orion Pictures.
It was good timing too, because
Jessica Lange won an Academy
Award for Best Actress for her work
in the film opposite Tommy Lee
Jones.
PICK OF THE WEEK—Clint
Eastwood received a Lifetime
Achievement Award at this year’s
Academy Awards, present ed to him
for his work as an actor, director
and producer.
In “Firefox,” Eastwood plays a
pilot sent to Russia to steal a super
plane that has been perfected by the
Russians. Naturally he’s the only
one who has the qualifications to
make the mission a success.
A very “just-sit-back-and-enjoy ”
film that requires no real brain work,
“Firefox” is a nice break before
Dead Week.
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