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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1998)
-1^ ream ea ver ‘Joseph/ coat arrive at Lied By Barb Churchill Assignment Reporter When the King of Rock ’n’ Roll is an Egyptian pharaoh, and a 12-man shepherd team becomes a doo-wop group, it’s safe to say that you’re not watch ing the usual musical based on the Bible. But Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice aren’t the usual songwriters, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoaf’ is proof. This weekend, “Joseph” is coming to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, and Charles Henry Bethea, executive director of the Lied Center for the Performing Arts, said the show should be one worth seeing. “(‘Joseph’) has been touring for a few years now. We had a chance to bring it in to Lincoln,” Bethea said. “It has continuing appeal, it’s good entertainment and people keep coming back to it” The “Joseph” story comes from several chapters of the book of Genesis, Bethea said. But the typical solemn drama and choir numbers found in religious melodramas are forsaken for Hollywood-styled showmanship. “This isn’t exactly the same show you’d see in a church,” Bethea said. “It’s full of glitz and glamor, and it’s highly energetic and fast-paced.” The story of Joseph and his coat of many colors is marketed as “a complex tale of love, betrayal, hardship, redemption and forgiveness.” In case it’s been a few years since you’ve read your Bible, here is a synopsis of the plot: Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, so Jacob gives Joseph a coat of many colors. But Joseph’s brothers highly resent Jacob’s favoritism. When Joseph mentions a prophetic dream in which he becomes more impor tant than they, the brothers start to conspire against him. They steal Joseph’s coat, sell him into slavery and tell Jacob that Joseph had died, presenting the teed success. “(The Lincoln location) could help us. This is a Biblical story, told in a very up-tempo, late-20th century way,” Bethea said. “It’s fun and funny, very in-your-face in some ways, but not sacrilegious.” One thing different about this presentation of “Joseph,” Bethea said, is an additional number bloody coat as evidence. Joseph ends up in jail, where he becomes known for his dream interpretation skills. The Egyptian pharoah calls on Joseph to predict the pharoah’s dreams, while Joseph is still in jail. Joseph rises to become the pharoah’s chief assis tant, with Egypt surviv ing because of his fore «— Its fun and funny; very in-your-face in some ways, but not sacrilegious” Charles Henry Bethea Lied Center executive director added to the end of the show. “There is an extra scene added called ‘Joseph’s mega-mix.’ It’s kind of a retro-disco scene, featuring lights, singing and high-energy performances,” he said. Revivals need to walk a fme line between the familiar and the novel, Bethea said, other signt. Joseph’s family, however, has fallen on hard times. And when they go to Egypt, Joseph must decide whether or not to forgive them. This story is extremely powerful and moving, Bethea said, without ever being boring. “This is a very interesting show, both lyrically and musically,” he said “You see these Biblical-style Egyptians singing a solo in the style of Elvis. Where else are you going to see this but here?” And because of Lincoln’s strong religious com munity, Bethea said, “Joseph” is almost a guaran wise people just won t come to see them. “Part of the reason revivals succeed is to give people what they want to remember, while trying to keep (the material) fresh,” he said. “I think they’ve succeeded here.” The Lincoln presentation of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” will be held at the Lied Center on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are still available but going fast, Bethea said, and should be ordered as early as possible. Ticket prices for all performances are $36, $32 and $28, half-price for students. Jazz group to perform at Ramada By Barb Churchill Assignment Reporter In the realm of popular music, jazz may be considered an old art form. The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra would beg to differ. Tonight, the NJO will present “You’re Never Too Young,” a concert that features two bands for the price of one: the 1998 Young Lions Band, an audition-only band made up of young jazz musicians throughout the state of Nebraska, as well as the NJO. “The Young Lions band is doing a couple of Count Basie tunes, a newer piece by Bob Mintzer and a funk piece,” said Ed Love, music director of the NJO. The musicians in the Young Lions band are all in high school, Love said, and were picked on an audition-only basis. Only half of the musicians who audi tioned to play were actually picked to play in the band. Schools represented in this year’s all-star band include Omaha Central, Omaha Northwest, Gretna, Seward, Lincoln High, Lincoln Southeast, Lincoln East and Lincoln Pius X. The Young Lions band will play four charts, Love said, with the NJO playing seven or eight. “We have some things we’ll put in if the audience is receptive. The program can be tailored for the mood of the audi ence,” he said. The NJO is one of the Midwest’s best big bands, receiving write-ups in presti gious jazz magazines Down Beat and Jazz Times. Its concerts feature the best jazz standards by composers such as Count Basie, Woody Herman and Duke Please see JAZZ on 12 Waters Edge release touts Christian tunes By Jason Hardy Senior Reporter Peace is flowing like a river, and one Lincoln band is bringing the river’s edge a ; little closer to UNL students. The Waters Edge, a local band com prised mostly of UNL students, has been singing the praises of Christianity for the past two years andfhas recently released its first com pact disc. The album will be on sale today and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union. The band includes Casey Kinnan on drums, Jenny Reece on backup vocals, Ajit Ninan on guitar, bass and backup vocals and Colby Schaub on guitar and lead vocals. The group can best be described as a Christian rock band, a label Ninan, a computer engineering graduate stu dent at UNL, has no problem with. “We’re Christian rock pretty much just because our audience is pretty much a Christian audience,” Ninan said. He said he wasn’t afraid of claiming Christianity as the band’s motive because it was the driving force behind the band’s inspiration and there were so many good Christian bands today. “Just because of the fact that there are so many bands out there with a Christian message that are so good,” Ninan said. “We’re Christian and that’s our whole motive behind the band. “We’re not going to win (listeners) over by fooling mem. Schaub, a communications studies major at UNL, said he hoped people would hear The Waters Edge and lose their preconceived notions that Christian music was bad music. “We’re one of the thousands of bands that are trying to change that,” Schaub said. He said bands such as Rusted Root and DC Talk had helped bring Christian music into the mainstream over the past six or seven years. Ninan said that while the band’s songs all had some thing to do with Christianity, he didn’t feel any limitations as far as creative leeway in lyrical content “We don’t run into that problem because there’s so many things to cover about the Christian faith,” Ninan said. “We can’t make up a song that’s not Christian-ori Please see WATERS on 12