Brian Priesman
‘X-Men’ fan
makes his
own movie
For years, fans of Marvel Comics’
“X-Men” have been waiting, patiently
(not), for their beloved mutants to take
the big screen.
But considering Marvel’s lack of
success with film and television
projects (like the never-released “Fan
tastic Four” and the god-awful “Cap
tain America,” not to mention the ill
fated “Incredible Hulk” TV movies)
the X-Men won’t be coming to a the
ater anytime soon.
* i>o, with some help trom my tel
low arts and entertainment staffers, I
have decided to make my own “X
Men” Movie — my movie, my story
and my cast.
Jan DeBont, director of “Speed,”
would be tapped to direct the flick. He
knows how to keep the audience on4.
the edge of its seats and he likes to
blow things up, a must for my movie.
Then I’d get Industrial Light and
Magic to be in charge of all of the spe
cial effects, except for the computer
effects. PIXAR, creators of “Toy
Story,” would do all of them.
But who to cast... that’s where we
get into trouble.
Some of the cast is easy. For in
stance, Patrick Stewart is a shoo-in for
Professor X. He commands respect,
he’s noble and he’s bald.
Ana Micnene neiner, mar iero
cious sex-kitten, is a definite shoo-in
for the villainous White Queen. And
just think, she’d get to wear that lacy
white bustier! Schwing!
But after those two, it gets difficult.
Who should I cast as the heroic, all
American Cyclops? What about Val
Kilmer? Or maybe David Duchovny
(X-Files). Harrison Ford? Nah, not
Harrison. He’s cool, but he’s too old.
And what about Cyclops’ lovely
wife, Jean Grey-Summers? My per
sonal pick is Julia Roberts.
Iceman? I’m gonna have to go with
Chris O’Donnell. Heck, with Val
Kilmer and Chris O’Donnell, we
might need to boot out Patrick Stewart
and cast Christopher Reeve. Then it
would be the Superman/Batman X
Men.
Beast? Well... that’s a tough one.
In the end, I think Beast should be
played by an accent-less Jean Claude
Van-Damme.
That ragin’ Cajun, Gambit, has to
be played by Andy Garcia. Or maybe
Steven Seagal. After all, he’s got the
hair.
Colossus? -That’s easy — Ahh
nuld. He’s big, he’s buff and he’s got
the accent. Cool.
But the most difficult X-Man to
cast is, without a doubt, Wolverine.
Robert DeNiro could do it, except he’s
not very buff. George Clooney was
suggested, but I think he’s too pretty.
My choice? Definitely Patrick
Swayze. He’s buff, he’s tough and he’s
got tiie attitude.
But I can’t forget the villains. For
Magneto, I have to go with Sean
Connery. He’s cool. And Apocalypse
would definitely have to be animated.
That’s what PIXAR is around for. But
his voice? James Earl Jones. “Wolver
ine, I’m your father... Now you shall
know the dark side of my mutant abili
ties ...”
Wow. With a cast like this, who
needs a plot?
Prietmaa it a freakmaa theater aad
newt-editorial major aad a Daily Nebrat
kaa staff reporter
Rough ride
Critters and clowns featured at rodeo
manmmm
Photo courtesy of the World’s Toughest Rodeo
Saddlebronc riding will be iust one of the featured events when the World’s Toughest Rodeo arrives at the Pershing
Auditorium, 226 Centennial Mall, this weekend.
By Patrick Hambrecht
Senior Reporter
Billed as an animal “whose cour
age in overcoming a handicap will
amaze you,” In His Glory II is a true
performer.
As only a horse with a twisted
spine can, he will march in place,
smile and hula dance for the World’s
Toughest Rodeo in Pershing Audi
torium, 226 Centennial Mall.
The swaybacked horse is only
one of Tommy G. Lucia’s amazing
animal performers. The former ro
deo clown’s hairy entourage also
will feature Whiplash, a South
American Capuchin monkey who
herds sheep while riding a Scottish
border collie. The monkey is dressed
in a full Hollywood western outfit,
a reminder of his distant evolution
ary kinship to the American cowboy.
“These monkeys have tremen
dous balancing ability,” said Lucia,
speaking of Whiplash’s riding prow
ess. “There’s no danger of him fall
ing off.”
Many of the comedy and stunt
routines are thought up by the ani
mals themselves, Lucia said, and
some of Whiplash’s antics are
wholly improvised.
“The way he throws dirt and
stuff, you don’t teach an animal to
do that,” he said.
“I also had this horse who did this
thing I called the ‘Bunny Hop’
where he would gallop in a circle,
and sort of jump in and out to to the
music,” Lucia said. “It was really
sensational. The crowd loved it, but
he came up with it himself.”
Whiplash’s spontaneous mug
ging and rodeo skills have made him
a media celebrity, as he has appeared
on Dairy Queen commercials and
the television shows “That’s Incred
ible” and “Rogan’s Heroes.”
The monkey’s trainer also was
featured as a rodeo clown in the film
“Jr. Bonner,” with Steve McQueen.
Lucia began training animals
full-time after 20 years of being
chased by bulls as a rodeo clown.
Rodeo clowns distract the bull af
ter the rider is thrown in bull-riding
competitions. Dressed in circus
makeup, the daredevils have to risk
their lives in front of the homed ani
mal long enough for the bull rider
to escape.
“I’d run around the bull and get
stepped on and hooked and gored
and laughed at by the crowd, and all
the normal things,” Lucia said.
Lucia said his 27-year-old son,
Tommy Joe Lucia, works as a “bar
rel man.” Such clowns jump in and
out of barrels to draw the bull’s at
tention to the barrel and away from
the rider.
Often, however, barrel men do
not escape in time, Lucia said.
“A lot of times, those bulls knock
those barrels 20 or 30 feet in the air,”
Lucia said. “I’ve been inside when
that’s happened.
“I’ve had severe head concus
sions, broken my nose and ribs. That
bull might take that barrel 50 or 60
feet, all the way down the field, with
someone inside.”
Lucia said rodeo clowns and ani
mal acts were just a small part of the
event, which also features calf rop
ing, steer wrestling, bareback
bronco riding, “those cowgirls
riding around on their fast horses”
and clowns.
The World’s Toughest Rodeo will
run at Pershing Auditorium this Fri
day, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets
are $16 and $12. Those interested
should call 441-7500 for more in
formation.
The Glass Menagerie’ conveys lire story
By Brian Priesman
Staff Reporter
“I have tricks in my pocket, I
have things up my sleeve. But I am
the opposite of
a stage magi
cian. He gives
illusion that
has the ap
pearance of
truth. I give
you truth in
the pleasant
disguise of il
lusion”
Starting to
night, theater
fans will have the opportunity to see
that truth as presented in the Ten
nessee Williams classic, “The Glass
Menagerie.”
“The Glass Menagerie” tells the
story of Amanda Wingfield and her
family. Caught between the fantasy
of Southern gentility and the reality
of abject poverty, Amanda strives to
give meaning and direction to the
lives of her children, Tom and Laura.
Tom, the narrator of the play, is a
poet with a job in a warehouse.
Driven to distraction by his mother’s
wheedling, he escapes reality
through alcohol and the world of
fantasies found in the movies.
Laura also is trapped in her world
of illusions. A childhood illness has
left her with a limp.
“Most of Laura’s problem is in
side,” said Tice Miller, the play’s di
rector and chair of the theatre de
partment. “The problem is that she
thinks of herself as crippled.
“It’s a very moving piece.”
For Williams, the play was very
autobiographical, Miller said. Tom
is Williams; Laura represents the
playwright’s sister; Rose and
Amanda represent his mother.
Williams’ sister Rose was com
mitted to an asylum and given a
frontal lobotomy in the early 1940s.
Also, Williams’ father was not
very involved in his family’s life. In
“The Glass Menagerie,” the father
is often referred to. but the audience
only sees a picture of him.
“The father still has a lingering
presence in the household,” Miller
said.
The play is told through flash
back.
“Tom is in 1944, and the play
takes place in 1937,” she said. “In
many ways, for 1945, the form is
very cinematic.”
Miller said the last character of
the play, the gentleman caller, sym
bolized the reality that invaded the
Wingfields’ fantasy world.
“The one man that Laura had a
crush on in high school is all of a
sudden in her living roomshe said.
The character is important
enough to the story that the play
originally was called “The Gentle
man Caller.”
“The gentleman caller is on for
about 15 to 20 minutes,” Miller said,
“but he leaves an incredible impres
sion on the audience and the char
acters.”
“The Glass Menagerie” runs to
night through Feb. 17 and February
20-24 in the Howell Theatre at 12th
and R streets. All show times are 8
p.m.
Two 10:30 a.m. matinees are
scheduled for Feb. 19 and Feb. 21
for high school students in Lincoln.
Tickets are $6 for students, $7 for
faculty, staff and senior citizens and
$9 for die public. They are available
at the Temple Theatre box office,
472-2073.