Takeover dominates NWU play
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
It’s about supply and demand, but it
isn’t Econ. 101.
-- “Other People’s
Theater . Money,” a play by
PfPIViPlII Jerry Sterner, will
Ik ric 'take the stage this
__ — mi i . n
(i uuisuay ai o p.m.
at Nebraska Wes
leyan University’s
McDonald Theatre,
51st and Huntington
streets.
Director Henry
-iRlantp accnrial(>
irofessor of theater at Wesleyan, said
Sterner worked in the real estate busi
ness before he started writing plays.
“He was very successful and made
a bundle,” Blankc said. “But like a
thousand other people I know, he
wanted to be a playwright, so he gave
up the business to write plays.”
“Other People’s Money” watches a
Wall Street mogul execute the hostile
takeover of a small wire and cable
company in Rhode Island, Blankc said.
“The whole gist of it, though,” he
added, “is that nobody is buying wire
and cable anymore because of fiber
optics.”
Blankc said be had been very
pleased with the performances of his
five cast members.
“They’re all doing fine,” Blanke
said. “I suppose we could open to
night, but I like to keep it interesting so
they don’t think they’re on top of me.”
Bringing out such fine performances
has taken some time and commitment
from everyone involved, he said.
“I like to try to get in at least 30
rehearsal periods,” Blanke said, “so
we’ve been at it for about 4 1/2
weeks.
“We usually have one every night,
and twice on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Performances will be on Thursday,
Friday and Saturday nights at 8, and
Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. For ticket
information, contact the McDonald
Theatre Box Office at 465-2303.
Cracker
“The Golden Age”
Virgin Records
Grade: B+
Cracker’s “The Golden Age” is
probably destined to be one of
1996’s best country albums. Never
mind that only its rock songs will
receive radio attention.
Singer David Lowery and lead
guitarist Johnny Hickman have per
fected a lonely southwestern tone, a
mournful sound that’s as perfectly
regret ful as Hank Wi 11 iams or Chris
Isaak.
Woeful artistic successes “Dixie
Babylon,” “Big Dipper” and “I
Can’t Forget You” brim over with
the soulful echoes of Hickman’s
guitar. It’s surprising how good he
can make these songs sound de
spite Lowery’s sappy lyrics, which
arc as earnestly and embarrassingly
over-sincere as 1990s Replace
ments.
Lowery’s lyrical failure is not
constant, luckily.
“How can I live without you? If
it means I’ve got to get a job?” is the
kind of bedraggled humor fans ex
pect from the former frontman of
Camper Van Beethoven. His “Take
the Skinheads Bowling” and
“Where the Hell is Bill?” became
revolutionary trailer-park genius in
the ’80s, and it’s nice to know he
can still gush with dark malted
charm.
Similarly, “I Hate My Genera
tion,” “I’m a Little Rocket Ship”
and “ 100 Flower Power Maximum”
are first-rate catchy radio material.
“Generation” probably will become
as much of a radio cliche as “What
the World Needs Now,” but at least
it’s a better song.
As good as the rock anthems arc
on “Golden Age”, they fade fast
compared to Lowery’s southern
lamentations. His slow country
songs resound with fierce nostalgia
and sorrow, transforming him from
a flophouse hero into a new, strange
Edith Piaf of desert highways.
— Kathleen Peistrup
The Rugburns
Taking the world by donkey
Priority Records
Grade: B
The Rugburns hit you over the
head with humor. Mocking, wacky,
but never ironic or insightful, hu
mor. The band is sometimes good
because of its sense of humor, more
often in spite of it.
“The Girl with the Wandering
Eye” is a pretty song that could
probably get some radio play if the
words weren’t so intrusively dippy.
Consider “Your friend with the
subwoofer blew out my tweeter at
that biker partjy downtown” inserted
into your favorite poignant ballad.
Obnoxious, isn’t it?
Then in “Now’s not the right
time for love,” the band is appar
ently trying to be touching-funny,
but Soul Asylum it is not.
The humor works on “The Bal
lad of Tommy and Marla,” a parody
of “Frankie and Johnny” with
gearheads acting out the fable of
the ill-fated lovers.
The worst part is that the melo
dies are good. They have hooks and
all that, but the singer won’t let you
enjoy the music. His sophomoric
lyrics are always perfectly under
standable.
The Rugburns arc most eompa
rable to Mojo Nixon, but they lack
his bounce. They are good musi
cians, but the words are like a ver
bal wedgie, which most of us don’t
need.
— Kathleen Peistrup
Various Artists
“White Man’s Burden”
Soundtrack
TAG Recordings
Grade: F
Yuck. You’d think the presence
of seven bands that are emerging
into the mainstream would make
the “White Man’s Burden”
soundtrack somewhat good.
You’d be wrong.
At a glance, it looks interesting.
Blues Traveler, Hootie & The
Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band,
Cracker, Bush ,.. talent, right?
Apparently some kind of curse
has infected this compilation be
cause there is really nothing of merit
on this soundtrack. Nothing.
You probably have never heard
a single from this album. Now you
know why.
Blues Traveler bombs with a
miserable track, “Regarding
Steven,” a mass of music missing
melody or appeal. Hootie’s cover
of “Dream Baby” is another big
stinker.
Actually, the only track on this
whole compact disc that qualifies
as decent is Cracker’s “How Can I
Live Without You,” which is the
qual ity of a bad Cracker b-side.
Still, it’s better than the rest of
this album. If you pay $1 for this,
it’s still ninety-nine cents more than
you should have paid for it.
— Cliff Hicks
Book
Review_
“Orca”
Steven Brust
ACE Fantasy
If you have never read any of the
books in the Vlad Taltos series, you
wouldn’t necessarily want to start here.
But if you have read “Jhereg” and its
successors, you should see “Orca” as a
prime return to form for Steven Brust.
If you haven’t, you should.
Brust is a masterful storyteller and
one of the best authors in fantasy to
day. Most of his works have been
nothing short of stupendous.
Vlad Taltos is an assassin, or rather,
was. He has retired from the job, somc
thing that has upset the House of Jhereg,
which is basically the thieves, swin
dlers, assassins and general no-good
of the Seventeen Houses of the Em
pire.
The story of Vlad Taltos has pro
ceeded through several books before
“Orca.” In order of printing, they are
“Jhereg,” “Yendi,” “Teckl a,” “Taltos,”
“Phoenix” and “Athyra.” All of the
names, except “Taltos,” which is obvi
ously Vlad’s name, are taken from
Houses.
“Athyra,” the last novel before
“Orca,” was disappointing because for
the first time, the story was not seen
through Vlad’s eyes.
Instead of the first-person narra
tive, which was the standard for Taltos
novels, the story was given to us from
a third-person point ofview, while still
trying to give a person’s slant on the
story. It simply didn’t work.
Unfortunately, this experimental
approach at point ofview hurt it im
mensely. Even with Brust’susual story
line, it was difficult and not very en
joyable reading.
The point of view in “Orca” is much
more fascinating and much more suc
cessful. At times, a Morton Salt Box
effect comes into play as it becomes a
story within a story. The narrator for
“Orca” is Kiera the Thief, a recurring
character who has never been in the
spotlight this long before.
Still, Kiera is relating the story to
Vlad’s separated wife, Cawti. So at
several points in the story, Vlad re
sumes his role as narrator. He relates
what happened duringhis day to Kiera,
who tells it to Cawti and the reader.
The book starts to show promise in
Vlad’s recovery, as his sharp tongue
and witty humor reappear, having been
exceedingly rare in “Athyra.”
“Orca” also marks the return to the
political intrigue that has made the
Taltos series so engaging. Vlad, while
trying to help a young boy get well, is
forced to uncover one of the largest
financial scandals in the history of the
Empire.
As usual, Vlad keeps one step ahead
of the reader, and each revelation is
breathtaking to say the least. For fans
of the adventures of Vlad, “Orca” con
tains a few surprises that are nothing
short of stunning. To spoil the ending
would be uncouth, but it is very much
worth the reading.
If the Internet buzz is to be be
lieved, Brust is already at work on
“Dragon,” the next of Vlad’s adven
tures, and for fans of the series, it’s
music to the ears. Perhapsthcre will be
a book for each of the Houses. Vlad
has always seemed to be destined for
bigger things, from “Jhereg” all the
way through “Orca.”
The Taltos scries is perhaps the
most fascinating and intriguing series
in fantasy today, and if you haven’t
read the series, you probably shouldn’t
start with “Orca.” But it’s definitely
worth getting into, so go buy “Jhereg”
and join Vlad on his travels.
v j . ]
— Cliff Hicks
http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb
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