Musical tells
traditional tale
of Christmas
MUSIK from page 15
voice, and Bill Shomos, assistant pro
fessor of voice and opera, are also in
the performance.
Greg Tallman serves Abendmusik
as the stage director for “The Nativ
ity.” He was professor of opera at UNL
from 1980 to 1985, and considers this
performance a homecoming since re
turning to Lincoln a year and a half ago.
The seven-scene musical is easy to
follow, even if people are not into clas
sical music, Buss said.
Tallman said “The Nativity” fea
tures a multi-media feast.
“The music’s beautiful, the
orchestra’s beautiful, there are excel
lent soloists with beautiful costumes
and lighting,” Tallman said. “It’s a feast
for all the senses. Also, it’s a very beau
tiful kind of a spiritual experience for
this time of year.”
Tickets are still available for both
performances of “The Nativity” and
can be obtained by calling 476-9933.
They will also be sold at the door start
ing at 6:30 the night of the concert.
Tickets cost $9 for students and 518
for adults. 1
Abendmusik will also hold a New
Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31 at 9
p.m. The Plymouth Brass will play
jazz, Dixieland, pops and other music.
Ticket for this performance may also
be obtained by calling 476-9933.
Hollywood stars accuse China
of censoring Dalai Lama movie
BEIJING (AP) — Hollywood
stars have condemned China for try
ing to block a movie about the Dalai
Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual
leader, accusing Beijing of attempt
ing to “impose worldwide censor
ship.”
Barbra Streisand, Paul Newman,
Susan Sarandon and Oliver Stone
were among 41 celebrities who
signed a letter sent this week to
Chinese Ambassador Li Daoyu in
Washington.
China has told the Walt Disney
Co. it opposes plans to distribute
“Kundun,” a new film about the
Dalai Lama, whom China accuses
of trying to split Tibet from China.
China annexed the Himalayan re
gion in 1951.
China’s objections were consid
ered a veiled threat that Beijing
would block Disney’s plans to ex
pand in the Chinese market if the
company did not scrap the film. Last
month, Disney said it would go
ahead with the movifi.
The celebrities’ letter, released
by Human Rights Watch-Asia, ac
cused China of trying “to impose
M
The Chinese government and Chinese
officials have never put any kind of
pressure on Disney
Shen Guofang
spokesman for Chinese government
worldwide censorship on any artis
tic production that does not meet
with official approval.”
Government spokesman Shen
Guofang said Thursday the letter’s
authors did not understand China’s
views or its film industry.
“The Chinese government and
Chinese officials have never put any
kind of pressure on Disney. We just
hope Disney can carry out even bet
ter cooperation with relevant Chi
nese elements,” he said.
Shen also added that in China,
“there is no system of film censor
ship. China produces many films
■i
every year without any censorship
problems.”
The letter — also signed by
Bernardo Bertolucci, Jonathan
Demme, Richard Dreyfuss, Spike
Lee and others — listed a dozen
Chinese government attempts in
recent years to ban films or prevent
filmmakers from working.
China prevented Stone from
making a movie about Mao Tse
tung in China in 1993 and banned
the Academy Award-winning Chi
nese movie “Farewell, My Concu
bine” in 1994 until substantial cuts
were made.
Disney’s No. 2
executive resigns
DISNEY from page 16_
that there is a position for Ovitz at this
Japanese consumer electronics and en
tertainment company.
The Journal said Ovitz also met
earlier this week with Viacom Inc.
Chairman Sumner Redstone and left
people at Viacom with the impression
he was looking for another job.
Eisner has been chairman and chief
executive of Burbank-based Disney
since 1984, building on its theme park
and family-movie base to create a
worldwide powerhouse in film and
television production, home video,
broadcasting, sports, resorts and con
sumer products.
Before joining Disney, Ovitz had
been mentioned as a candidate to run
Universal Studios Inc. when Canada’s
Seagram Co. took it over from Japan’s
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.
At Creative Artists Agency, which
he helped build into Hollywood’s top
talent agency, Ovitz was known as
Hollywood’s pre-eminent packager of
movies. But he was much more than
just a top talent agent, serving as an
advertising consultant for Coca-Cola
Co. and an adviser to foreign compa
nies looking to invest in entertainment.
Those deals included Sony’s pur
chase of Columbia Pictures Entertain
ment from Coca-Cola, which turned
out disastrously. Two years ago, Sony
took a $3.2 billion hit to earnings stem
ming from writeoffs at the studio.
.
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I
A
GIFT
that
remembers
...by helping
others
to live
When you lose someone
dear to you-or when a
special person has a
birthday, quits smoking, or
has some other occasion to
celebrate-memorial gifts or
tribute gifts made for them
to your Lung Association
help prevent lung disease
and improve the care of
those suffering from it.
t AMERICAN
LUNG
ASSOCIATION*
of Nebraska
7101 Newport Ave., #303
Omaha, NE 68152
1-800-LUNG-USA
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