The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 18, 1998, Page 7, Image 7
Lecture commemorates locomotive I By Sarah Baker Senior Reporter To hear the sound of trains, take a walk down to the Harper-Sehramm-Smith Complex. But to hear the lustorx ol a d\ mg piece of American culture, the steam locomotive, take a walk to the Sheldon Memorial Art ikillers Tom Career, guest curatorai the Sheldor,. will present a public lecture. "Steam Locomotix es and the (iood 1 ife 1 he Photographs of <) \\ i n s 11 • n 1 mk at the Sheldon 1 hursdax exemne Carxet comes to the Cnr.ersitx o! Nebraska-LitKoIn in conjunction with the current exhibition a! the Sheldon, entitled "Trains lh.it Passed m the Night. The Railroad Photographs oft) W'mston L ink " (ieorge Neubert. director at the Sheldon, said this speech is something special tor the gallery. "We are xerx fortunate to haxe this talk." Neuhert said. "Both because (iarxer is the guest curator for the show, and because he has worked with the photographer directK as an assistant." (iarxer serxed as L ink's studio assistant during the ld5()s and has since documented i.ink's railroad photographs m two books. "[.ink's photos document a section of rail road in Virginia. He reallx focuses on a peri i >d m the ' Nis and b()s w hen the steam engine was m xerx ice." Neuhert said 'Won could sax tank xxas obsessed with the steam engine." ! his exhibit is the ! 11 st nationalix touring exhibition of Link's Norfolk and Western Railwax photos since IdS.s Neuhert said (iarx et'> talk will focus on a sub|ect that just recentlx started to gather more interest. "When Hank) first started, no tine reallx paid attention to his work, but now that steam engines are beginning to disappear, this part of American history has become very hot," he said "These works are really of value now." Neubert said (iarver's talk should prove to be interesting to anyone. "Tom can really give an aesthetic point of < view on the photos as art." he said. "He is a good entertaining speaker "Anything that exposes an idea like tins in | an artistic way is relev ant to both students and ; the public alike." Neubert said (iarv er's lecture takes place f ridav at 3-.30 pm in the Sheldon ( cillery Auditorium I he j lecture is free and open to the public " I rains I hat Passed in the Night. \ he ! Railroad Photographs of () Winston Link" I runs until March 22 at the Sheldon Memorial 1 Art (cillery. 12th and R streets for more information or to arrange a tour | of the exhibit, call the Sheldon at (402) 4"2 2461 Play describes lives of Gen X By Sarah Baker Senior Reporter i he best wav to make Gen X'ers come to the theater is to make a show' about their lives. "Look Back in Anger.” the first mam stage show ot the semester, does just that It opens in the 1 lowed Theatre on Friday. Although the play was originally written in the 1950s, this production has been updated to take place in the early 1990s. The show, which utilizes a five-person cast, tells the story of Jimmy Porter, an angrv young Please see ANGER on 8 r 1 wo clrag Queens vie for pageant title of Miss City Sweetheart By Brkt Schultk Senior Reporter Most Lincolmtes don't know it. but thev have a new queen Her name is Jeff. Sunday night at the Q. 226 S Ninth St., two Lincoln drag queens vied for the crown (or tiara, as the case may be) of Lincoln's longest running pageant and talent competition The Miss City Sweetheart contest. This year, two queens, one tall and one short, one dressed in a black chemise and the other as a popular Disney character, jousted for the most coveted title of the city's cross-dress ing community. They go by Adore Mi and Talaya Mann, names created from a drag queen tradition of sexual innuendo and tongue-in-cheek mas culinity that follows in the footsteps of Lincoln royalty like Sheza Mann and Miss Sinnomen. Like any other beauty and talent contest. The Miss City Sweetheart of Lincoln Pageant is divided into areas ot competition: presentation, evening wear, question and answer, and most importantly talent. A panel of past performers judge contes tants based on style, dress, movement and talent even things like the ability to match pumps to a gow n The contest limits itself exclusively to resi dents of Lincoln, an idea that pageant ow ner ADORE Ml WON SUNDAY S Miss City Sweetheart beauty pageant and talent competition at the Q, 226 S. Ninth St. The Miss City Sweetheart con test, which is open only to drag queens who are Lincoln residents, is Lincoln’s longest-running beauty pageant and talent competition. Rick Swank beneves lusters the success and popularity of the competition. "1 think because it's a city title that all the Miss ( ltv Sweethearts support each other and stand behind each other. Swank said, himself a winner m 19X8. "It's almost like a bonding thing." Past champions such as Dee Dee DeKarr. Freida Lae. Mercedes and Tasha Davor appeared Sunday night to support the two con testants and perform in-between their competi tions. With six American Hags stuck in her red wig, 1994 winner Dee Dee DeKarr announced the beginning of the contest with "God Bless America," immediately followed by resounding applause as the two contestants introduced themselves. Although Talaya Mann, bedecked in a black chemise and a Manah Carey haircut, received a warm welcome. Adore Mi's entrance in a black evening gown set the crowd aflame. Although not a drag queen himself, Q co owner Jim Friedman said being successful in the pageant takes more than just wearing the right clothes. "People have said it's easy to do it. and they get up there and realize it's hard," he said. “It's hard to act like a woman, to tilt your head the right way. to move your body like a woman and dance the right way. It's extremely challenging" Former winner Mercedes said local pageants experienced a few low years recently when queens didn't put much effort into their performances T hat is. until Sunday night. “A lot of people who do the pageants now just do it to hold a title," she said “but 1 think the main reason is to show you do have talent and to entertain people." Mercedes said she was impressed and happy to see how' the two contestants sub mersed themselves in their characters Intermixed with crowd-pleasing and occa sionally exotic performances by veteran drag queens doing popular acts like Madonna, Celine Dion and Tina Turner, (“the divas,” according to Friedman) Talaya Mann and Adore Mi challenged the limits of the pageant with their talent competitions. Mann wowed the crowd with an extremely tiny black vinyl dominatrix outfit that forced Friedman to ask the question the entire audi ence was thinking: “Did he just cut it off.’” It definitely seemed so as Mann freely paraded around the stage in her fishnet stock ings and high-cut thong suit to a Ru-Paul song. Swank, who emceed the evening, kept the crowd going in between the barrage of heels, sequins and vinyl wath comments to members of the audience like: “Oh, 1 remember you. 1 never forget a face once 1 sit down on it.” And so on. Meanwhile, audience members kept active during the three-hour show by approaching the stage to offer tokens of gratitude to the per forming queens usually in the form of SI bills. 1 he two contestants were barred from accepting tips at the risk of disqualification, but it didn't stop those w ho were there for the fun like Mercedes, who easilv collected $50 in cash. “Money,'’ was Swank's answer when asked why he started doing drag i 2 years ago. “Drag makes money, and it's what people want to see." he said The Q realized this a few years ago and began having drag shows nearly e\ery Sunday night, where a percentage of the profits from the door go to the performers along with their tips. “Tips vary depending on how good you are," Friedman said. “(Drag queens) have walked out of here with over $100, and that’s only after doing two or three songs" The Miss City Sweetheart goes home with $150, but that wasn’t what was on Adore Mi's mind after she won the title. Finishing her set with a song from “The Little Mermaid,” Mi's rendition of LJrsula, com plete with a white wig and strobe light effect, put the audience on its feet and the tiara finally on her head. Nearly in tears as she was crowned. Mi later said. “I think the audience perceived me realK well" Mi, whose family attended the pageant, attributed her success to her mom. “1 told my mom I w;as going to do drag, and she said ‘Let's get you a dress"'