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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1997)
' : , . Participants get experience of Hollywood business, culture By Gerry Beltz Senior Reporter No glitz. No glamour. Joan Riv ers won’t be asking where a tux edo was from, and Kevin Spacey won’t be impersonating Christo pher Walken. But the 24th Student Academy Awards, which start today, still carry a good deal of importance and recognition, said Dan Ladely, di rector of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. „ “It’s really a great opportunity for students,” Ladely said. “It opens the door for them, and they always | look forward to it.” The entries for the awards come from three different regions; Ne braska is part of Region 2, which consists of 40 states plus the Dis trict of Columbia, Region 3 is made up of New York and Puerto Rico, 4,- and the West Coast makes up Dis trict 1. The Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater is the site for screening all of the Region 2 entries fen* die four .. TT categories: dramatic, animation, Mxrr Haney/DN alternative and documentary. “The ‘dramatic’ category usu ally consists of two-thirds to three fourths of the entries,” he said, “but there usually aren’t too many in animation. “We usually average out at around 100 entries total. This year we have a few less entries, but not much less.” The films are judged by a group of five to 10 people, all of whom are either involved in the film busi ness or have some expertise in the film business. “We ask film scholars, film makers,” said Ladely, “and we also get university professors and Dou glas Theatre employees. “Basically, these are local people who are involved in— or have some kind of expertise in — the film business.” Each film is viewed by the judges, then those filmmakers with high enough scores are flown to the next level of competition in Chi cago at the Chicago Art Institute, Ladely said. Regional winners — one in each of the four categories and one at-large filmmaker — are then flown to Hollywood, where their work is judged by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Ladely said. And even those who don’t grab the big prize from the Academy can enjoy the trip out to Hollywood, Ladely said. “There’s cash prizes,” he said, “plus winners get to visit the stu dios, the writers’ guild and so on. “It’s a chance for them to get some insight and inside informa tion, a chance for them to make contacts.” The screenings of the various films are free and open to the pub lic, Ladely said. “If you’re looking for a cheap date, this is a great way to do it,” he said. Film schedules are available at the theater box office in the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, ' 12th and R streets. _i_fci j i fe i I ' Tragedy key to both plays ByLizaHoltmeier Staff Reporter h r. J: - -c How do people overcome thp sorrow and pain in their lives? This weekend’s "fbeatrix .A~ I^ble Feature end^vors toan&rer this ques tion^ ^ the lives of Tony and Linda are radi^ly upset by the entrance of Denise Savage. The characters in this play are very differ ent from the roles some of the cast members. V~ have traditionally played. “In my other roles, I’m usually the goody two-shoes,” said Leticia Martinez, who plays Linda. “Linda is totally different. She’s kind of • the sleep-around jrirl.” - ; Kristin Hensley, who plays the dynamic but desperate Denise, said, “It’s fun to play a part that in most circumstances I wouldn’t have the chance at playing." Though the roles are new to the actors, the f audience should easily identify with the diar aders. “The characters are so complex butso real,” ~ Hensley said. “The audience should walk away feeling like they expdienced a part of some body else’s life that could be closely rdated to v ~ ^ their wot.” Bucy agreed, “The play deals with the fact that life is only as tragic as we see it,” she said. The second feature is “Defying Gravity,” which is directed by Timothy Scholl. The play was written by Jane Anderson, author of “How To Make An American Quilt” and “It Could Happen To You.” The central event of the play is the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. “It takes different characters in different stages of life from different areas of the coun try and shows how one common event draws Please see THEAMUX on 14 1 • 9 By Ann Stack Senior Reporter v -M Becoming a full-time rock star could be compared to an exercise in speed-reading for Kelly Williams. ~ The Texan-tumed-Atlanta resident quit her day job as a corpo- ^ rate fitness consultant a year ago, after making music her full-time . g H " career. i - "V c m The Kelly Williams Band plays an unusual style of music it 1 likes to call “bluetemative”—kind of bluesy, kind of funky, all Jf the way rock‘n’roll. Jp ... “It’s not so easy to coin us country-rock, although the first §1 album sounds something like that because of the produc tion,” she said. “But we’re not straight-ahead blues either. There’s a lot of stuff in there. I grew up with Texas road- .Jg house blues, and that’s how my voice sounds; Everyone §1 has something different, though — blues and Southern rock, jazz, even funk. fjj “It’s blues with groove — that’s really the best way to describe it.” '5 • Williams picked up the guitar a mere four years ago, after moving to Atlanta and deciding to take some les sons. Her instructor introduced her to another student < of his, Doug Pharris. Doug ana ms orotner were putting together a Dana to play at a roof party,” she said* “We had jammed a ^ * bit, and he asked me if I wanted to sing at it. We did the roof party and thought, ‘Wow. This is fun.’ The next thing we knew, we wCre writing songs and it evolved from there.” , . < v.; r The band comprises Williams, Pharris, ^ keyboardist Thom Mann, bassist Mike Voth and drummer Mike Richardson. They’ve played with the likes of the Chris Duarte Group, Storyville, The Doobie Brothers, Tinsley Ellis, Delbert McClinton and Robert Earl Keen. 2 They’ve been mini-touring»in the wake of their self-titled debut album, , released in July 1995. Plans are in'die works to head into the studio next month to record the next one, Williams said. You can catch the Kelly Williams Band Saturday at the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St. They’ll take the stage around 9:30 p.m., and there’s $4 cover charge. \' ; :y;i •' :■ • • • -t MmSh____ P _______g