Jim Mehsung/DN
Omanaii_„
New movie complex presents
The 20 Grand Theatre, the newest
addition to the Douglas Theatre
Company's £hain, opens today in
Omaha.
The 20 Grand is the largest movie
complex in Nebraska, but it isn't just a
movie theater, Douglas Theatre Com
pany president David Livingston said.
“We wanted to create an entertain
ment complex,” he said.
The theater is at 144th Street and
West Maple Road in Omaha, a prime
location because of the area's growth,
Livingston said.
More than two years of planning
have gone into the complex, Livingston
said, which features 20 screens, a cafe
and a simulator room.
The cafe, aptly named the Cinema
Cafe, offers an alternative to typical
movie-going eats. It includes a selec
tion of gourmet coffees, sparkling and
bottled water, pastries, gourmet and
boxed candies and ice slushes.
“It’s a siWown area where people
who may want to take in multiple mov
ies can relax over a cup of coffee or a
i— --—r~:,‘ .
cappuccino, he said. It offers ncn
traditicnal theater foods and beverages
anfa place to sit down and relax.” -
If that isn’t enough, the 20 Grand
has 14 concession stations in the Re
freshment Center that will offer more
traditional movie food, with the main
counter stretching 52 feet.
Along with the popcorn, candy and
soda, the Refreshment Center will of
fer mini pizzas, hot dogs, nachos and
ice cream, Livingston said. He added
that there would be an auxiliary center
near the largest auditoriums for easier
access during showings.
Another feature of the 20 Grand is
the simulator room, an 18-seat audito
rium designed to provide a full-sensory
experience.
“The simulator ride is a computer
ized link-up between audiovisual and
the seats,” he said. “If the movie is a
bobsled ride, you’ll feel the seats
move.” v
The ride lasts between four and rive
minutes long costs $3.
Something else unique about the 20
Grand is the stadium-style seating the
theater uses. Livngston compared it to
the Devaney Center’s seating. There
are no theaters in Omaha that have sta
dium seating. $■
“Stacfium seating is our method of
assuring patrons there’s not a bad seat
in the house,” he said.
The front portions of the auditori
ums have the traditional, sloping aisles,
while the rear has the stadium seating.
Also unique to 20 Grand is the
theater’s cutting-edge digital sound
technology—the Sony Dynamic Digi
tal Sound, the Dolby Digital System
and the Digital Theater Sound.
Although not every auditorium has
all three, they are represented in the
complex, Livingston said.
“There’s only three on the market,
and we have all of them,” he said.
“When the movie is supposed to be
silent, there’s absolute silence. Die
sound is crystal clear—the dynamic
range of the sound is much more ex
tensive.”
The complex will open today with
11 screens showing films. Die rest will
be completed by Christmas, Livingston
said. The films showing will be “Ran
som,” “William Shakespeare’s Romeo
and Juliet,” “Space Jam,” “The Mirror
Has Two Faces” and “Looking For
Richard,” an independent film.
Jackson marries nurse
in private ceremony
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Who
could have imagined Michael Jack
son would do something
so...conventional?
The Gloved One gave matrimony
another chance Thursday and married
the woman carrying his baby.
“They did it,” a frazzled Jackson
publicist Christine Hblevas con
firmed here on Thursday. That was
it, no other details.
Word first came in a statement
saying he would exchange vows with
Debbie Rowe—his plastic surgeon’s
nurse — during a private ceremony
after his concert Thursday in Austra
lia. She is six months’ pregnant.
“Please respect our privacy and
let us enjoy this wonderful and excit
ing time,” Jackson said in a statement.
The announcement led to bedlam
in Sydney, where reporters scrambled
for details and camped out outside
Jackson’s hotel. But the happy couple
wasn’t talking. A concert official
blamed Australia’s sunny weather.
“He’s basically been staying in the
hotel, watching videos, reading, that
kind of thing,” Dainty Consolidated
Entertainment spokesman Brett
Hlywa said. “He’s just been taking it
easy. Because the weather’s been so
hot, he’s decided to stay inside.”
Jackson disclosed Nov. 4 that
Rowe was pregnant with his child,
and he denied a tabloid report that
the couple used artificial insemina
tion and that Rowe was paid
$528,000 to carry the baby. The child
is due in February.
I 1
Local rock band compares
songwriting to molding day
1 * *
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
The Webster’s Dictionary de
fines cadmium as a silver-white,
metallic, highly toxic chemical ele
ment used in electroplating and re
charging batteries.
That’s all well and good, but
Webster missed one: Cadmium is
also a rock band from Lincoln.
Of course, die members of the
eclectic group will saysomething
completely different about the
chemical composition of the band:
They’ll liken themselves to a lump
of clay.
Lead vocalist Evan Rail was the
first to make the connection, com
paring the songwriting process to
molding clay.
“All the songs start as a lump of
clay,” he said. “They come together,
take shape from the interior. We pull
the ideas for the lyrics from the
songs; they take on the meaning of
what we were playing.”
Guitarist Lance Lehman hooked
onto the analogy and expanded it
to encompass the creative process.
“Whoever makes the first sound
is the one who has the clay,” he said.
“Then everyone gets to add to it;
yank and pull cm it.”
“It’s a four-way creation,” drum
mer Travis Samuel son said.
The creation results in a sound
that’s been compared to Living
Colour, which bassist Cris Trautner
said delighted her.
“We’ve been compared to them
because of the way the bass and the
guitar work together,” she said. “I
took that as quite a compliment;
they’re one of my favorite bands.
But I don’t hear that in our music.”
Although all the members con
tribute to the songwriting process,
jt’sRail who composes the lyrics.
“Most of what I write about is
tft
Most of what I
write about is from
personal
experience”
Evan Rail
lead vocalist for Cadmium
from personal experience,” he said.
“It’s a fix; it helps me express what
I need to get out of my mind.”
Cadmium formed last Decem
ber, in the wake of the breakup of
two other Lincoln bands.
Samuel son and Trautner were part
of Orange Cubed, and Rail and
Lehman were in Karma.
The two bands often played
shows together, and when other
members of Karma and Orange
Cubed left, the survivors formed
Cadmium.
“The music I’ve made in this
band has far surpassed anything else
I’ve ever done in any other band,”
Rail said. “We get along amazingly
well together.”
Cadmium is currently getting to
gether a recording to send out to la
bels. Finding time to record—and
even rehearse — is hard for this
group. All the members have at least
one job, two of them have three. But
they have made a commitment to
the band, and are planning to make
touring a priority.
“It’s wacky enough when you
have four people who are so busy,”
Lehman said. “Whenever there’s an
opportunity to play, we have to
double-check everyone’s schedules
to see if we can do it. I’m amazed
how other bands can do it.”
Qadnftum will be playing with
Smiliii’ Jack of Des Moines this Sat
urday at Knickerbockers, 901 O St.
Musical ideas will mix with conch shells
cicvenr musicians, ju concn sneiis and
one Saturday Night Live trombonist will
bring their sounds to the Lied Center for Per
forming Arts tonight.
Steve Thrre, the trombonist for Saturday
Night Live, will lead the group in an 8 pjn.
performance at the Lied.
His group will blend ideas from Latin
jazz, hard bop, folk music and a seashell choir
into a program that will be announced from
the stage. ,
“The first time I blew into the shell, it
made me tingle,” said TUrre in a press re
lease. I knew I had to get one.”
The 30 shells in the performance will be
featured for orchestral coloring to lend a
spiritual vibe to his music. David Sharp,
jazz studies director at the UNL School of
Music will give two pre-performance talks
at 7:05 and 7:25 pjn.
Tickets for the Steve Turre and Sancti
fied Shells are available for $24, $20 and $16.
Tickets can be obtained for half price with a
student I.D. by calling 472-4747.
—Emily Wny
Dancers execute fluid choreography
DANCE from page s ,,
i- • ’
cally stylistic, serving as the perfect opportu
nity to showcase Robidoux’s grace.
The partnering of Farren and Robidoux was
also much stronger in this piece. Their move
ments remained synchronized throughout the
piece, and the audience finally saw some true
dancing from the heart. '•• •"’ Va.
The arabesque line? and layouts of Robidoux
revealed her strength add grace,.but Farren’s
over-afch$d back ledto an awkwardness in some -
.. of their paired moves. Farren did prove that he
wascapable both of the weightiness of Adams’
cboreographyand the lightness ofFusillo’s,
“Daughters of Copper Woman” was the third
; piece performed, It waschoreographedby guest
artist Gail Chodera.
The Choreography of this piece provided
: tnore concrete characters than the previous two.
Although thC dancers were slightly out of sync
ip thebeginning, their flexibility and the quick
ness of their legs made up for it.
The highlight of the evening was visiting
A
The formations in which she placed the dancers
and the repetition of key elements created the
most holistically-efifective piece of the evening.
The six dancer^’ beautiful layouts, coupled
with their abilityfto use the entire measure of
music through extension and plie, provided an
ethereal quality to the piece.
' The other dancers exhibited beautiful ara
besques, and though there was some trouble in
the turning sequence,in the circle formation, the
dancers complemented each other well.
/ The final piece was “Fast TVack,” also cho
reographed by Adams. The choreography of this
piece mastered die tension and headaches of the
modem world while showcasing Adam's cre
ativity. The lifts performed by the dancers used
a variety of levelsand created some interesting
pictures. ■
The dance poncert will continue tonight
through Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 7 in the
Howell Theatre. Tickets are $6 for students, $9
for faculty, staff and senior citizens and $10 for
all others.