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"'
