Arts
'Entertainment
Friday, March 1, 1996
Page 9
Singer asks people to listen to the earth
Weekend
activities
abundant
In honor (?!?) of Steve Forbes’ big
upset in the Arizona Republican pri
mary earlier this week, we at TGIF
suggest some concerts by bands who
probably never will make the “Forbes
500,” and a few movies starring people
who just might be on the big list al
ready.
At Knickerbockers, 9010 St.,rock
‘n’ roll will never die as long as bands
like Kranic Gravel Band and Wish
keep rolling into town. These two qual
ity acts will rock the house tonight. On
Saturday, Fragile Porcelain Mice and
Wide will take the stage. Both shows
start at 10:30 p.m. and have a $3 cover.
In Room 113 of Westbrook Music
Building, a slightly different music
experience will be taking place to
night. The U.S. Army Band Army Brass
Quintet will perform at 8 p.m. Admis
sion to the concert is free.
The University Chamber Orchestra
and Symphony Orchestra will perform
Sunday at 3 p.m. under the baton of
Tyler White. White, an accomplished
composer as well as conductor, is the
director of orchestral activities at the
Schdfol bf MUsid. Admission to the
concert is free.
At the Mueller Planetarium, the Gin
Blossoms will be the flavor of the
week for the Laser Fantasies show.
The shows run tonight and Saturday at
8 p.m., 9 p.m and 11 p.m. Tickets are
$5 for the general public, $4 for stu
dents with identification.
Only two new movies are showing
up this week. “Up Close and Personal”
pairs up superstars Michelle Pfeiffer
and Robert Redford in a romantic
drama between two newscasters. Also
opening is “Down Periscope,” with
Kelsey Grammer taking the helm of a
submarine populated with misfits.
Returning films include “Waiting
To Exhale,” “Father of the Bride II”
and the multiple-Oscar nominee
“Braveheart.”
^ummuing uus weeKenu is uie rsew
Canadian Cinema film series at the
Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.
Tonight’s schedule includes “Double
Happiness” and “Deadly Deposits” at
3 p.m.; “Dance Me Outside” and
“Bob’s Birthday” at 5 p.m.; “Love and
Human Remains” and “Cactus Swing”
at 7 p.m.; and “Forbidden Love,” “Two
Sisters” and “Ex-Child” at 9 p.m.
Saturday’s films will be “Careful”
and“Blackfly”at 1 p.m.; “When Night
is Falling,” “Lord of the Sky” and
“Resistance” at 3 p.m.; “Kanehsatake:
270 Years of Resistance” at 7 pjn.;
and “Thirty-Two Short Films About
Glenn Gould” and “An Artist” at 9:15
p.m.
Sunday’s schedule includes “Dance
Me Outside” and “Bob’s Birthday” at
3 p.m.; a panel discussion at 4:45 p.m.;
“Exotica” and “The Irises” at 7 p.m.;
and “Double Happiness” and “Deadly
Deposits” at 9 p.m.
Tickets for individual screenings
are $5.50, $4.50 for students with iden
tification and $3.50 for senior citi
zens, children and members of the
Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater. Tickets for the entire series
may be purchased for $15.
Have something to contribute to TGIF?
Send Information to “TGIF,” c/o Daily Ne
braskan Arts and Entertainment, 34 Ne
braska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, Neb.
68588, or fax ns at 472-1761. TGIF Is com
piled by the arts and entertainment staff.
By Patrick Hambrecht
Senior Reporter
Ron Cisar, an ecological musi
cian, will share his “earth songs”
and present an accompanying slide
show Saturday at Pioneers Park
Nature Center, 2740 A St.
Cisar will play some of his favor
ite songs, including “Butterfly
Days,” and “Going Home,” a song
about cranes on the Platte River.
“The songs really help rekindle
some memories,” Cisar said. “Some
people will say after I’m done, ‘I
had a special place when I was a kid
Biology teacher to perform
at Pioneers nature center
where there were butterflies, or ‘I
had a special place, but there’s a
mall there now, and it’s just not the
same.’”
Cisar said he also may sing a new
song, “The Takers,” about people
who thoughtlessly “shoot a wolf, or
cut down an old forest tree, or shoot
an eagle.”
The biology teacher at Omaha
South High School said he began
playing John Denver and Dan
Fogelberg songs about nature for
his friends and students to commu
nicate a reverence for the earth.
Now he writes his own songs and
plays them at nature conferences
around the country for various orga
nizations, including the Wyoming
Yellowstone Grizzly Foundation
conference.
Cisar said he was inspired by the
wisdom ofPaul Winter, another eco
logical musician.
“Paul said you should listen to
the earth with your ear,” Cisar said.
“And that if you put an “h” in front
of ear, you hear. And if you put “t”
on the end of that, you get heart, so
always listen to the earth with your
heart. Because if you take the “h”
from heart and put it on the on the
end, you get earth.”
People need to listen to the earth
with their ears, and not just experi
ence it with their eyes, Cisar said.
Cisar said he will help people
listen to the earth at his free show on
Saturday at 10 a.m. On March 5, he
will appear at the Children’s Ground
water Convention in Grand Island’s
Nature Center.
Italian opera, ‘La Traviata,’
mixes different eras together
Acrobats
amaze
audience
By Lane Hickenbottom
Theater Critic
Wow!
That is the only word to
describe The Peking Acro
bats’
Thursday
night per
formance.
China’s
premiere
acrobatic
troupe dis
played in
crediblc
acts of hu
man, some
times super-human
athleticism, grace, and cour
age. The 22-member team fre
quently left the audience for
getting they really are human.
Act after act, the Peking
Acrobats, who are made up of
gymnasts, tumblers, contor
tionists and jugglers, even
outperformed each other.
One contortionist act dis
played flexibility that one
would think could be found
only in rubber. Standing on
her hands, facing the audience,
she arched her back to the
point that her butt was sitting
on top of her head. Her toes
nearly touched the floor.
Later a cyclist shared his
bicycle with 11 other acro
bats, all supporting each other
in the air.
The Peking Acrobats were
nearly flawless. The audience
spent two hours applauding,
all the while “ooh” and “ahh”
were their exclamations of
choice. They were entirely
captured by the spectacle.
So hot was the performance
that the Lincoln Fire Depart
ment was called to the scene
during intermission. It turned
out to be a false alarm. Per
haps somebody saw smoke
emitting from some of the per
formers after one of the many
incredible acts.
From Staff Reports
A little bit of New Y ork, mingled
with a little bit of Italy and a dash of
Louis XlV-era France, will arrive
Sunday at the Lied Center courtesy
of the New York City Opera Na-.
tional Company and their produc
tion of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La
Traviata.”
The story of a woman with a
checkered past who leaves the man
she loves to save his family’s social
position, “La Traviata” is consid
ered by many to be one of Verdi’s
true masterpieces.
This work’s blend of romance,
tragedy and intricate characteriza
tions, when combined with Verdi’s
skills as composer, make for a thor- ,
oughly entertaining and passionate
score.
The opera will be performed in
its original Italian, and “supertitlcs”
will provide English translations
above the stage to allow audience
members to follow the action more
easily. w
Sunday’s performance of “La
Traviata” will start at 8 p.m. and will
be preceded by two pre-performance j
talks from William Shomos, assis
tant professor of voice and opera.
The talks will take place at 55 min
utes and 30 minutes before curtain.
Tickets for the performance are
$38, $34 and $30; half price for
children and students with identifi
cation.
Theatrix’s show mixes dance,
rhythm and human experience
By Brian Priesman
Theater Critic
Theatrix’slatest production,“The
Night We Moved,” isn’t your nor
mal theater experience.
m® * Made up of dance
; and rhythmic
;_'movement, “The
iineater ;Night we
Pillow 4 Moved”takes the
audience on a
;journey through
»", II;three different as
^lfefcj?ipects ofthe human
[experience.
]A 1 t h o u g h
Thursday’s per
formance had a few small technical
problems, the energy of the nine
performers overcame these minor
setbacks.
Presented in three parts, “The
Night We Moved” is an ensemble
piece through and through.
The first part, “Greetings,” ex
plores the various ways people meet
and greet each other. Using music
by Trip Shakespeare and Angelo
Bodalamenti, “Greetings” is a fun,
fast-paced piece.
Part two, “Art,” takes the audi
ence to an art museum as the com
pany shows the creative experience
at work as famous paintings are
“built” on stage.
Using artwork by Vincent Van
Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali,
Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper and
Henri Matisse and music ranging
from Mozart to Doris Day, “Art” is
a delightful showing of the creative
process at work. Particularly fun
moments to watch were Amy Jirsa’s
building of Dali’s “Persistence of
Memory” and Jude Hickey in
Warhol’s ‘Tomato Soup.”
“Tango, Please” concluded the
evening and was by far the most fun
of the three parts. With music by the
Bogo Pogo Orchestra, “Tango,
Please” shows what happens when
The Facts
Play: “The Night We Moved”
Director: Lisa Mercer
Company: UNL Theatrix
Grade: B+
f
Five Words: Not your average
dance concert
societal facades are stripped away
by pure animal attraction.
“The Night We Moved” is a hys
terical, moving and fun experience.
Although it’s short, with a running
time of around 45 minutes, it is worth
the time spent to get down to the
Wagon Train Project, 512 S. Sev
enth St., to see it.