‘Chinoiserie’ illustrates
art’s effect on audiences
By Sean McCarthy
Staff Reporter
Judging by audience reaction Fri
day night, it was not difficult to see
that Ping Chong’s “Chinoiseric” struck
a nerve.
The West’s fears and misunder
standings of Eastern culture was the
core message of “Chinoiserie.” The
show began with a humorous tale of
when Chong visited a so-called Chi
nese restaurant; Chong pointed out
the stereotypes he said go into such a
restaurant.
The show’s mood quickly became
darker. By the end of the performance,
some audience members became un
settled as a slide was projected show
ing how the United States returned to
China 20,000 pounds of bones from
Chinese workers on the great railroad.
The world premiere of
“Chinoiserie” at the Kimball Recital
Hall showed how art can challenge an
audience. “Chinoiseric” could have
been seen as just a long condemnation
of Western treatment of the Chinese
people. It could also be seen as a well
performed example on how vital a
role respect and communication play
in understanding other cultures.
The production of “Chinoiseric”
was excellent. Guy Kluccvsck com
posed a wonderful score, and his heavy
use of chimes created a breezy flow
for each of Chong’s stories.
Though Chong used personal ex
amples of racism he has encountered
in the last two years, the majority of
“Chinoiscrie” revolved around two
events in history.
The first was the first encounter
between Lord George McCartney, the
trade emissary from King George III
of England in 1793, and Qianlong, the
Celestial Emperor of China.
The second traced the, origins of
the Opium Wars.
The production was divided into
more than 40 segments.
Though this made the production
easier to follow, “Chinoiscrie” was
still an uneven piece. The segments
featuring tensions between McCartney
and Qianlong were cut abruptly to
scenes depicting opium use.
The performances in “Chinoiserie”
were tight, though it was the first lime
the show was performed in its entirety
before an audience.
Whether or not people took to the
intensity ofChong’s piece, it wasdone
with respect. More importantly,
“Chinoiscrie” stuck with audience
members after the lights went up.
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m 11 r
B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta
“Real Brothas”
OutBurst/Def Jam
Grade: C
Eazy-E is gone but his memory
lives on in the new gangsta rap crew
B.G. Knocc Out & Dresta. Like
Eazy, this duo is plagued by medio
cre rhymes and tracks.
Like the title “Real Brothas” sug
gests, these two are actually broth
ers. It seems that B.G. had been
working with Eazy-E on “It’s On
Dr. Dre 187um Killa” writing
rhymes for his shortness to say.
Meanwhile, older brother
Dresta, or Dre as he is frequently
called... hmmm, interesting... was
on lockdown in upstate California.
This supposedly gave him time to
really hone his lyrical skills.
That still remains to be seen.
Although Dresta is obviously the
better of the two, since B.G. ap
proaches sounding like a B.O.N.E.
rip off, there is more work that
needs to be done.
This is not to say that they fall
flat, just that average rhymes
coupled with played-out (did I say
that?) gangsta funk equals nothing
new.
You mi glit hope for something
better for these guys. Dresta toys
with verbal excellence in “Jealousy”
and “Life’s a Puzzle.”
The best production comes on
the self-titled “B.G. Knocc Out”
where the whining synth approaches
sounding like bagpipes and the lop
ing beat lags in the background.
Too bad this track is wasted on
B.G.
Probably the most shocki ng track
is “d.p.g./k” which, in a tribute to
Eazy-E’s feud with Dr. Dre, is sim
ply a dis rap aimed toward Dr. Dre,
Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate Dogg
and especially Daz and Corrupt of
the Dogg Pound. If the rhymes were
even close to good, those
multiplatinum artists might even
care.
Even hard core fans of gangsta
rap will quickly tire of the monoto
nous funk tracks with R&B chorus
and lcss-than-excellent raps.
—Greg Schick
Showgirls
Continued from Page 9
making it to the big time.
Naturally, she doesn’t make it into
a big show, and instead docs nude
dancing at a low-class place, which
includes doing lewd lapdancing for a
higher price.
To keep the idea of a plot moving
along, Nomi gets noticed by current
headlining Vegas showgirl Cristal
Connors (Gina Gershon; remember
Tom Crui se ’ s photographer girl friend
in “Cocktail?”) and entertainment di
rector Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan).
Gosh, will Nomi be pulled down
into the cold, backstabbing lifestyles
of the other Vegas personalities, or
will she rise above it to claim her
individuality?
Who cares? As far as a story goes,
this movie sucks. We have more than
two hours to learn one thing: Lots of
show business people have the ethics
and conscience of clam dip.
The acting in this film is pretty
deplorable as well, with Berkley stand
ing out proudly as the leader of this
gang of overacting twits.
The only savinggracesofthismovie
are the music and dance sequences.
The choreography and music in this
film blend together with a passion and
power that has to be experienced to be
believed.
But it’s not playing in Lincoln. So
is it worth an hour’s drive to sec?
Probably not.
Is it worth renting once it comes
out on video? Maybe, but the scale of
the show will be lost on a small screen.
Kids
Continued from Page 9
audiences’ heads without them ever
even knowing it.
This film focuses on one day’s ad
ventures with Telly (played by Leo
Fitzpatrick), his best friend Casper
(played by Justin Pierce) and Telly’s
former girlfriend Jenny (played by
Chloe Sevigny).
Nearly every character in this film,
with the exception of Jenny, is virtu
ally facing moral bankruptcy.
Telly is an HIV-positive high
school student who has made a hobby
of deflowering virgins, preferably
those who are around the ripe age of
13.
Casper is an alcoholic,
homophobic, drug-using skateboard
punk who shoplifts on a daily basis
and marvels at Telly’s ability to ma
nipulate members of the opposite sex.
Jenny, the only character that shows
signs of redemption, finds out that she
is HIV-positive and spends the rest of
the film trying to find Telly and deal
with her own emotions at the same
time.
By the time the final scene is played
out, and Telly’s voice-over regarding
his philosophy on life is spoken, the
film has done its damage and revealed
its message many times over—even
though no one in the audience may
know it.
“Kids” is one of this year’s most
powerful and realistic films. From the
acting to the writing to the directing,
every aspect of the film hits with full
force. And if you don’t think that you
can handle that, then you’re exactly
the person who needs to see this film.
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Come to one of our
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228 N. 12th
LINCOLN
■■■■■■
NC-17
Continued from Page 9
“Showgirls.”
Gina Miller, assistant manager at
the Dundee, said moviegoers should
be allowed to watch what they want
to watch.
“Censorship is a bad thing,”
Miller said. “It’s just wrong to want
to censor movies for everybody.”
Although both positive and nega
tive responses have come to the em
ployees of the Dundee over various
NC-17 movies. Miller said the ma
jority had been favorable.
Steve Herrlcy, manager of the
Dundee, agreed.
“We’ve gotten a lot of positive
comments about running this
movie,” Herrley said. “As far as
negative comments go, I myselfhave
not heard any.”
There haven’t been too many
problems with enforcement of the
NC-17 rating, Herrley said.
“We’ve had to turn away a few
kids who have tried to gel in,”
Herrley said. “I had one kid who
tried to tell me his driver’s license
said ‘1975’ when it was really
‘1979.’
“They (moviegoers) are pretty
understanding. A lot of people are
just happy that the movie is showing
nere.
Enforcement ofthe NC-17 rating
didn’t go so well at the AMC 8
Westroads Theaters. Manager Jenny
Rands said the crowd was fairly
calm, but tense.
“The big thing was that we had to
card everyone,” she said, “and a few
just got real snotty about it.”
Rands said she didn’t anticipate
any further problems except possi
bly on the weekends.
“It takes awhile for people to get
in,” she said.
Employees at the AMC
Westroads 8 also had their share of
opinions about the NC-17 rating and
the release of “Showgirls.”
“I’ve never seen so many men in
one theater at one time,” said Heidi
Juersivich, 18.
“A lot of the older crowd is kind
of flattered when we ask to seedpiju
ID,” said Amanda Blake, 20, “but a
lot of people just think it’s ridicu
lous.”
A rating such as NC-17 does not
allow for mistakes on judgment calls
on a person’s age, Blake said, and
she isn’t doing her job if someone
who isn’t 17 years old gets into the
theater.
“If we card them all, then we
won’t miss anyone,” Blake said.
One employee said he found the
new person-to-person relationship
refreshing.
“I’m more in touch with these
people now because I’m talking to
each one of them,” said Nate Agui lar,
16.
But Aguilar said he wished he
hadn’t talked to so many people.
“It is a pretty sad comment on
society that we almost sold out.”
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