Sandy Summers/DN
CAITLAIN McCLEERY, who plays Magenta, belts out a song for the Joyo Theater’s production of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” on
Saturday night while the movie plays behind her.
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^^B “Rocky Horror” in May, actors
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sees a lot of regulars. The theater seats 309 people,
and in the first three weeks the show averaged 250
people a night.
“People refer to ‘Rocky (Horror)’ as a cult, and it's
got kind of a cult following where there are a few peo
ple who are kind of fanatical about it,” Costello said.
“But the average person who goes to ‘Rocky
(Horror)' is just there to have a good time because
they need something to do late at night.”
It’s not uncommon for people to show up early for
the pre-show festivities, when the “Rocky Horror vir
gins” are sacrificed.
“The reason why the virgin sacnfice got started is
because the virgins -the people who have never seen
it before - don’t necessarily know what to expect. So
for their first time we like to get them up and get them
involved so that they loosen up a bit and can have a
good time,” he said.
The Carters are largely responsible for re-igniting
local interest in “Rocky Horror,” something diehard
fans like Costello are thankful for.
“They’re great, and they’re willing to do anything
to make it a good tune for people,” he said. “I think
they’re doing it because they’re having a good tune,
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1 heater makes
‘Picture Show’
come to life
By Jim Zavodny
Staff writer
While the Joyo Theater may not show all the new'
blockbuster movies the weekend they are released, it
still has more character than any megaplex ever will.
As the only independently owned theater in a
town where most are owned by one company, the
aged theater has adapted to survive.
The theater plays a mixture of current and older
hits for a lower price than most theaters that show new
releases: $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and those
16 and under.
By alternating films on their way out of the larger
theaters with older movies, the Joyo hopes to keep
people interested in its lineup.
It also showcases something else unique to
Lincoln’s theater community: “The Rocky Horror
Picture Show.”
The flexibility of the Joyo Theater, 6102
Havelock Ave., prompted owners Donna Carter and
her husband, Dwight, to begin screening the leg
endary cult favorite, which had not been shown on a
regular basis in Lincoln since 1986.
Now it runs every Saturday night at midnight to
an eager crowd.
in acting out parts from the movie on the theater’s
stage as the film progresses. The Carters agreed, and
three weeks later auditions were held.
This unorthodox style of showmg a movie with
live actors is a worldwide phenomenon, but unique
for this area because the closest shows are in Kansas
City, Mo., and Des Moines, Iowa, according to
“Rocky Horror” enthusiast Nic Costello.
Costello won a part in the Joyo’s live productions
Located in Lincoln’s historic Havelock district,
the Joyo originally resided across the street from its
current location and was called the Lyric Theater.
During the early ’20s, the Lyric became the Joyo and
moved into its present building, constructed in 1916.
Carter said almost everything in the Joyo’s audito
rium is original. The Carters purchased the theater in
January from its previous proprietors, Don and Edy
Montgomery, who had run the Joyo since 1979.
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and also because he is the £00(l TI(T)0 |0P P0OP10# it ” Carter said.
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during the show. m # seats and installed a stage in
“I have a striking resemblance to Rocky Horror Picture front of the movie screen
Meatloaf, so I dressed up like Eddie and QhniIJ** afirinnarin during the early ’80s, they
went to the second showing of the show OllUW uTlCtODdUU unwittingly created the per
attheJoyo, Costello said.
People who think they can capture the same effect
of the live movie by renting it on home video are sadly
mistaken, he said. The movie is something you have
to experience with an audience, he said.
“The movie, honestly, is really pretty horrible,” he
said. ‘“Rocky (Horror)’ was the original bad movie. It
was meant to be kind of a spoof on a lot of the ’50s
movies that came out with aliens and other weird
things. And rather than hide sexual innuendoes like
they do in many other movies, they just throw it in
your face.”
“Rocky Horror” fanatics continue to come in
flocks to the Joyo for the live performance, and Carter
feet atmosphere for “Rocky Horror.”
The film has paid off for the new owners, who
plan to continue the tradition of regular screenings.
“We’re going to show ‘Rocky Horror’ until that
things busts apart,” Carter said. “Until there’s one per
son here watching it, we will have it.”
Such conviction is the result of a strong dedica
tion to the continued success of the theater. The
Carters plan to renovate the Joyo and pass it on to their
children, who already are continuing the new family
business as concession-stand workers.
“The Joyo is family owned and operated, and I
think that you get better service because it’s our busi
ness,” Carter said.
Speaker's
fondness lies
with unusual
music style
By Jason Hardy
Senior staff writer
Since its dawn in the early
’70s, rap music has been a source
of infinite offenses for some and a
source of inspiration for others.
Tonight a woman, whose mes
sage has been received in a similar
fashion, brings her views on the
subject of “Rap, Minimalism and
Structures of Time in Late 20th
Century Culture” to the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Susan McClary, chairwoman
of the UCLA Department of
Musicology, will speak at 7 p.m.
in the Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater as this year’s Geske
Lecture, sponsored by the College
of Fine and Performing Arts.
Peggy Holloway, assistant
dean of the college, said McClary
is notorious for her unconvention
al approach to investigating music
and its effects on society.
“She has come at musicology
from a feminist point of view -
how the experiences of being a
woman may color how we experi
ence music,” Holloway said.
“She’s kind of shaken up the status
quo for the musical community.”
In examining the world of
music through a feminist view
point, McQary has found a better
understanding of how the individ
ual relates to music as well,
Holloway said.
“She talks about how a per
son’s life experiences will affect
how they hear music, how they
perform music and how they com
pose music,” she said. “It was kind
of a new way of saying that there is
no consensus - that not everyone
is going to hear the music the
same way.” <
Though it may seem intuitive
to think that each person would
have individual experiences with
music that are unique, Holloway
said, it was a new and somewhat
radical claim in the world of musi
cology.
It was McClary’s focus on the
value and acceptance of the indi
vidual’s musical understanding
that led Holloway and the Geske
committee to recruit McClary for
this year’s Geske Lecture.
“I think it’s very important to
UNL students as we are emphasiz
ing diversity on the campus,”
Holloway said. “Her work vali
dates diversity in the culture and
how it’s expressed in our music.”
Holloway currently teaches
the first course at UNL dedicated
to the study of women in music.
Her class explores the role women
play in music and what kind of
values and ideas women repre
sent.
The class has been reading
some of McClary’s previous work,
and Hnllnwav MrClarv’c
lecture will help students “see if
the representations are accurate,”
Holloway said. “I think it’s impor
tant to examine what music is say
ing about people and if we are
stereotyping them.”
Aside from tonight’s lecture,
McClary will be on campus today
visiting the class on women in
music as well as a women’s studies
class on Wednesday. A reception
will follow the lecture tonight, and
both the reception and lecture are
free and open to the public.