‘Zoo Story’ tells unconventional tale
Play’s director says story
challenges cast, audience
By Sarah Baker
Senior Reporter
It’s got more excitement,
action and suspense than the
average trip to the zoo will ever
have.
But those weren’t the reasons
that Director Dana Wall chose to
undertake a production of
Edward Albee's “Zoo Story."
“1 chose it because it was
weird," Wall said.
Albee’s 1958 play “Zoo
Story" begins its run tonight in
the University of Nebraska
Lincoln Studio Theatre.
“Zoo Story,” the play that
began three-time Pulitzer Prize
winner Albee's fame, tells the
story of a bum who entices an
executive to commit murder.
Wall said he stuck to the orig
inal script for this production.
“There were no real chal
lenges aside from the fact that
the play is just really difficult to
act,” Wall said. “The show is
based on dialogue, and it’s hard
to come up with action to go
along with it.”
Wrall said he likes the show
because it challenges many peo
ple’s domestic values.
“The show really challenges
building up a cozy, little nest sort
of a life,” he said.Wall said the
script itself posed some chal
lenges for the two actors who
make up the cast.
“The part of Jerry is techni
cally difficult just because there
is an incredible amount of lines,”
Wall said. “There is a lot more to
the character than what’s just at
the base level. It's a more intel
lectual part, and Jerry goes to a
lot of difficult levels."
Wall said audience members
can expect to be surprised when
they see the show.
“They will come out with
more understanding of life for
several reasons,” he said. “This is
an important show by an impor
tant playwright, and it says a lot
of good things.”
Wall said he hopes the show
changes the way people think
about their own lives.
“Since it does challenge so
many values, it can help people
to drop the values that are wrong
and strengthen others.”
“Zoo Story” opens Thursday
in the Studio Theatre located in
the Temple Building. Show times
are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.
and Saturday at 8 p.m. and 10
p.m. Tickets are $3 at the door.
For more information, call the
theater department graduate
office at (402) 472-1610.
Courtesy Photo
DRUMMER BILL STEWART is a featured player in A Band in All Hope, a jazz trio that will perform tonight at
Westbrook Recital Hall. The band’s lineup also includes pianist Bill Carrothers and saxophonist Anton Denner.
Trio hopes to revive live jazz in Lincoln
Courtesy Photo
DRUMMER BILL STEWART is a featured player in A Band in All Hope, a jazz
trio that will perform tonight at Westbrook Recital Hall. The band’s lineup
also includes pianist Bill Carrothers and saxophonist Anton Denner.
By Barb Churchill
Assignment Reporter
Live jazz in Lincoln may be on life
support, but it is not quite dead.
At least, that is what Ray Gehring
believes.
Gehnng is the good friend and jazz
disciple of Bill Carrothers, pianist for
jazz tno A Band in All Hope, which is in
town for a concert and masterclass
tonight in Westbrook Recital Hall.
Gehring serves as tour manager, repre
sentative and (as he put it) “bitch” for
the jazz trio.
Gehring is pleased to promote this
concert and help this band because he
believes the members to be unsung jazz
masters.
“I’ve never heard three players inter
act like this,” Gehring said. “I’ve never
heard a pianist like Bill Carrothers, a
drummer like Bill Stewart or a saxo
phonist with the sensitivity of Anton
Denner.
“After getting to know Bill
(Carrothers), I wanted to create an inter
est in their music. I wanted to get these
guys heard and get them some recogni
tion.”
Gehring said A Band in All Hope
enjoys playing at universities, because
“they need this music. They want it, they
appreciate it, and they will pay for it,” he
said.
“After all, what else are (the univer
sities) going to use as an example of the
music they play and study, other than by
hearing live performances?”
Gehring said he thinks too many
people miss out on hearing live jazz,
because the popularity of the jazz idiom
just can’t compete with more popular
types of music.
And that’s a shame, he said, because
jazz is creative music.
“(A Band in All Hope) play differ
ent styles easily. They play Broadway
standards, Civil War pieces and origi
nals. They can use anything as a starting
point because their music is pure
expression based off of the jazz style,”
Gehring said.
A Band in All Hope has several inter
esting things going for it, Gehring said.
First is its name, a clever play on
words based off the phrase “Abandon all
hope, ye who enter here,” from Dante’s
“Inferno.”
Second is its unusual style. Gehring
compared pianist Carrothers to his
much more famous counterpart Herbie
Hancock, saying Carrothers' stylistic
influence is “profound."
Third is its atypical structure. A Band
in All Hope is a bassless tno, which con
sists of pianist Carrothers, drummer
Stewart and saxophonist Denner.
Usually, the doublebass is used to help
keep the rhythmic motivation going in
jazz. Playing without a bass shows a
marked convergence from the norm.
Fourth is its refusal to play more
remunerative forms of music.
Carrothers is in demand as a pianist,
Gehring said, and has many projects
going at any given time.
However, Carrothers really enjoys
playmg what he terms “chamber jazz,”
or jazz in a small-group setting meant
for the concert hall.
This enthusiasm has helped keep
Carrothers on the road for A Band in All
Hope’s tour, which stopped in Saint
Paul, Minn., Monday and continues in
Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday.
Of course, no concert happens in a
vacuum. One University of Nebraska
Lincoln professor, as well as the influ
ential Butch Berman Jazz Music
Foundation, has helped bring A Band in
AfHtepcTKXU inco In for its coftflMiiil
masterclass.
The professor who took an interest
was Rusty White.
White, professor of doublebass and
jazz at UNL, “really took an interest in
this band, and helped get them into
Lincoln. He also has helped to coordi
nate this concert,” Gehring said.
A Band in All Hope’s masterclass is
at 5 p.m. in Westbrook Recital Hall,
located on the first floor of the
Westbrook Music Building. The class is
free and open to the public.
A Band in All Hope’s concert is at 8
p.m., also in Westbrook Recital Hall.
Admission is $10, $5 for students with
ID.
Actor to
appear at
screening
From Staff Reports
John Beasley, who plays the
role of Brother Blackwell in “The
Apostle,” makes a pilgrimage to
Lincoln tonight.
Beasley will speak with audi
ence members about his work after
a 7 p.m. screening of “The
Apostle” at the Mary Riepma Ross
Film Theatre, located in the
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.
Beasley, who was professional
ly trained with the renowned Royal
Shakespeare Company, lives in
Omaha.
Beasley has starred in many
movies, including “Rudy,” “Losing
Issaiah” and “Untamed Heart.”
senior citizens, children and mem
bers of the Friends of the Mary
Riepma Ross Film Theatre.
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