Matt Woody
DN creates
new site on
the Internet
The Daily Nebraskan is online!
It brings me great joy to announce
that the Daily Nebraskan can now be
read on the World Wide Web.
Being online is something we’ve
wanted to do for quite a while, and
this semester we finally tnade the
plunge.
We still haven’t hit the bottom.
Then again, maybe we never will.
Because there arc limitless possibili
ties.
We can’t pronvse we’ll deliver
that, but we’re hoping to offer a num
ber of services beyond what is avail
able in the printed Daily Nebraskan.
It’s my duty, as an online editor
and employee of the Daily Nebras
kan, to shamelessly promote this site.
So I’ve created a few catchy slo
gans to help lure readers in. Look out
Madison Avenue!
The Daily Nebraskan Online: You
won’t get newsprint on your fingers!!
The Daily Nebraskan Online: It’s
not just for breakfast anymore!!
The Daily Nebraskan Online: You
wantcha pornography? We gotcha
pomogrupny::
Stop by and read the Daily Ne
braskan Online at <htlp://
www. unl.edu/DailyNeb>.
By the way, there isn’t actually
any pornography in the Daily Ne
braskan Online. But you know what
they say, sex sells.
In just three days, the Daily Ne
braskan Online has been read by any
where from three to 400,000 people.
We’re still working on that estimate.
After you read the Daily Nebras
kan Online (which, by the way, is
Nebraska’s second online newspa
per, and the first in either Lincoln or
Omaha), feel free to look at other
online news sources.
One of my favorites is CNN Inter
active, located at <htip://
www.cnn.com>.
This place is chock full of news —
everything one could want, includ
ing Elsa Klensch’s style reports.
Being the news dork I am, I can’t
live without my CNN. And CNN
Interactive just makes life a little
easier.
Also check out C NN s otten-part
ner in coverage, USA TODAY. It’s
not quite as visually attractive as the
newspaper, but it’s by no means bad.
It’s located at <http://
www. usatoday. com >.
There are, of course, dozens of
newspapers across this great land that
have established online versions.
Two of the best are NandO (The
News & Observer from Raleigh, N.C.)
at <http://www.nando.net> and the
Mercury Center (the San Jose Mer
cury News) at <http://
www. sjmercury. com >.
These two were online newspaper
pioneers and remain at the top of the
heap.
. I want to meet them there.
Cyberscape is a weekly column focus
ing on computers, with a heavy emphasis
on the Internet. Send ideas, questions or
comments to Matt Woody at
<dn@unlinfo. unl.edu>
i I
Rockin’ role
strikes chord
in lead actor
!
I
By Paula Lavigne
Senior Reporter
It doesn’t take a pinball wizard to make
i “Tommy" come alive.
For actor Michael Seelbach, it was simply a
matter of finding out “Who” he was.
Seelbach, the 18-year-old star of the The
Who’s touring rock-opera “Tommy," will pol
ish his pinball magic at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts Friday night.
The brainchild of The Who leader Pete
Townshend, “Tommy” tells the story of a young
boy’s life from age 4 to 20. He witnesses his
father’s murder and the shock turns him into a
oeat, Dima mute.
He develops a passion for pinball, and be
comes the proverbial “Pinball Wizard," and
thus slowly eases himself back to normalcy.
“Tommy" was made into a full-length fea
ture film in 1975. It premiered on Broadway in
1993 and took away five Tony Awards, includ
ing Best Original Score and Best Director.
But for Seelbach, The Who wasn’t talking
about his generation.
i “I really don’t know much about The Who at
all,” he said. “1 knew the Broadway recording
and listened to a couple of earlier albums.”
And after he found out who The Who was?
“Uh, it’s interesting,” he said, laughing.
Seelbach personally likes acoustic guitar and
performers such as Simon and Garfunkel and
i Joni Mitchell.
Pinball wasn’t his game either, Seelbach
said, but he could identify with Tommy’s
struggle.
“I was always the weird theater kid in high
school," he said.
And “Tommy” is a stage everybody goes
through at some point, he said.
“I think it’s a teenage thing,” he said. “A lot
of teens are able to identify with the outcast kid
who becomes well-liked and survives.”
Seelbach said he was chosen for the role
because he could make the touring Tommy
more likable than the Broadway Tommy.
“He lets the audience experience witfr him,”
he said. “A lot of Broadway performances were
a little cold.”
On Broadway, the music and the pyrotech
nics stole the show, he said. The touring produc
tion doesn’t have those effects and has to rely on
the character’s charisma.
i ’ \
Courtesy of Big League Theatricals
Michael Seelbach plays the title role in The Who’s “Tommy,” running at the Lied
Center for Performing Arts this weekend.
“It feels a lot sexier,” he said.
Tommy, after being mute for much of his
childhood, has to draw the audience into his
recovery, Seelbach said.
“When he wakes up, he’s kind of being first
bom into sight and sound,” he said. “He realizes
how incredible it is to be normal, how wonderful
life is.”
Tommy strives to convince people to not
take their lives for granted, he said.
And people who haven’t heard The Who or
dislike classic rock shouldn’t shy away from its
rock-opera billing, he said.
“It has a lot of the rock concert feel,” he said,
“but the experience as a regular Broadway mu
sical is something for everybody.”
And Seelbach, being new to The Who, learned
from that experience.
“It’s really fast-paced, really striking whether
you know the music or not.”
“Tommy” opens at 8 p.m. Friday, with addi
tional performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on
Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are
$34, $30 and $26 and half price for students.
‘Oleanna’ explores sexual harrasment on campus
By Brian Priesman
Theater Critic
Theatrix opened its 1995 season with a bang
Wednesday night with David Mamet’s contro
versial and thought-provoking drama “Oleanna.”
Dealing with sexual harass
ment, “Oleanna” doesn’t shy
from a difficult topic,
this time, the harass
ment takes place on a col
lege campus between a pro
lessor ana ms student, mak
ing the story all the more
relevant in a campus setting.
Director Amy K. Rohr has
assembled a top-notch cast
wmi jasun i. isjcuaius as
John, the accused professor, and Colene Byrd as
i* Carol, the accuser. The fast-moving play leaves
the audience gasping as it grinds to a halt in a
violent conclusion.
In the play, John attempts to help Carol
improve her grade, but their inability to commu
nicate leads Carol to believe she has been ha
rassed. Later, Carol, and a mysterious group that
she represents, is prepared to recant the charges,
if John removes certain books from the curricu
lum and the university.
Richards does an outstanding job as John. He
brings a sense of holier-than-thou maturity to
the role, which is just what John needs.
Byrd brings a sense of confusion and bewil
derment to Carol, which draws sympathy from
the audience. As the play draws to its conclu
sion, Byrd brings power and confidence toCarol,
power taken from John.
The performance space is particularly effec
tive. The decision to use a classroom brings a
sense of realism that is often lacking on a
Play: “Oleanna”
Company: UNL theatrix
Director: Amy K. Rohr
Grade: A
Five Words: Thought-provoking play
examines harassment _
conventional stage. And the closeness of the
audience forces die actors and the audience to
work together.
The emotional rollercoaster that is“01eanna”
runs Oct. 5,6,7 at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. shows on
Oct. 7 and 8, in Studio 221 in the Temple
Building at 12th and R streets. Leaving the
audience wondering just who’s harassing whom,
it is definitely not to be missed.
