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‘Eric Hermannson’s Soul,'
■: based on Cather story,
1 becomes Nebraska's
first original opera
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People are
connected to the
land they live in. In
Nebraska, you feel
as if you can step
through the sunset
into heaven. That
connection with the
sky defines the
people who live
here”
Libby Larsen
“Eric Hermannson’s Soul” composer
ByIjzaHoumeier _
Staff writer -jtk
Opera, an art form born of
Florentine poets, now flows from a dif
ferent fountain of induration.
The Great Plains state provides the
backdrop for Opera Omahak new pro
duction, “Eric Hermannson’s Soul,”
based on the Willa Cather story of die
same name. Wednesday’s premiere
marks the first original opera con
ceived and based in Nebraska.
In an art form dominated by
European cultures and languages, a
Nebraskan opera transcends the realm
of novelty performances to become a
pioneering experiment in fine art
“The doors don’t open easily for us
to tell our own stories on the operatic
stage,” said Libby Larsen, the compos
er of “Erie Hermannson’s Soul.” “We’re
always telling someone else’s story.”
But Opera Omaha’s new work
trades worn-out European fodder such
as ‘‘Marriage of Figaro” for the love
story of a Norwegian immigrant and a
New York aristocrat on the prairie.
The opera’s plot colters on Cather’s
dramatic short story about the love
affair
between an East
Coast cosmopolitan,
rgaret Elliot, and a gifted
uuuid’, Eric Hermannson.
The two meet when Elliot visits her
father’s ranch m Nebraska as she
searches for one final adventure before
marrying her wealthy fiance. In
Hermannson, she finds a passionate
spirit struggling with his religious con
victions and need for worldly plea
sures. The two help each other disrover
die importance of being true to one’s
soul and the need for selfless love.
Like many of Cather :s works, “Eric
Hermannson’s Soul” deals with the
interactions between humans and their
environment
Cather, who moved to Nebraska
with her family around die age of 10,
first compared the state to a bare piece
of sheet iron. However, she began to
appreciate the openness and sense of
infinity she felt on die plains.
Throughout her works, Cather con
nects vitality to the vastness of the
plains and repression to the confines of
the city.
In “Eric Hermannson’s Soul,”
Elliot realizes that Hermannson
belongs in Nebraska because
of his unbridled passion and open
ness.
Larsen believes these qualities
apply to Nebraska and its people today.
“People are connected to die land
they live in. In Nebraska, you feel as if
you can step through the sunsetinto
heaven. That connection with the sky
defines the people who live here,”
Larsen said.
But though Cather’s themes still
resonate today, taking Cather’s words
from die page to the stage proved a
daunting task
Hal France, the opera’s artistic
director and principal conductor, said
the task of assimilating Cather^ words
was compounded by the need to bal
ance the stay Vintimacy with the mag
nitude of due landscape. The opera
needed to feel grand yet familiar, he
explained.
Chas Rader-Shieber, the opera’s
librettist and stage director, said he
worked to write \roids that, because of
their profundity, demanded to be sung
but that continued in Cather’s simple
direct style.
Larsen said Rader-Shieber suc
ceeded, creating verse that is meantto
be sung instead of
.. declaimed.
“There’s nothing
contrived about this opera,”
Larsen said “It’s as organic as the land
is here.**
The opera traces its roots back to a
1994 residency Larsen participated in
at the three University of Nebraska
campuses. During her 11-day project,
the University of Nebraska-Omaha
and Opera Omaha proposed the ideas
ofan opera based on Cather material.
Work on the production officially
began in the fall of 1995 when the
opera’s artistic team held a series of
workshops with Cather experts from
the community.
Originally conceived as a 45
minute one-act, Opera Omaha decided
to expand the opera after its initial
workshop showing. Three years later,
Opera Omaha prepares to open its 40*
season with the world premiere of this
American work.
“Eric Hermannson’s Soul” runs
WednestfyandFriday at 7:30 pan. and
Sunday at 2 p.m. at The Rose Blumkin
Performing Arts Center, 2001 Famam
St in Omaha. All three performances
are sold out
‘Waterboy reveals
new side of Sandler
By Todd Munson
> Staff writer
Dustin Hoffman had “Rain Man,”
Tom Hanks had “Forrest Gump,” and
now Adam Sandler has “The Waterboy.”
Following the lead of these two
Academy Award winners, Sandler
comes off the bench in a late-season
Oscar push with his gripping portrayal
of Bobby Boucher, a deeply tormented
man who finds the drive to conquer his
mental disability and bring an end to his
internal struggles.
In a teleconference last week,
Sandler confided to the Daily
Nebraskan that “the character of Bobby
Boucher is a tribute to every kid who
was ever beat up in gym class,” noting
the departure from his traditional roles
as a “normal” person.
Sandler proves that he is not a one
trick pony with his portrayal as
Boucher. His mannerisms and mental
fits add depth to his character, especial
ly in the suspenseful moments before a
flashback or during a violent rage on the
football field. All said and done,
Sandler’s performance is indicative of
someone conquering adversity and win
ning in the game of life.
Like a fine Persian rug, “The
Waterboy” is intricately woven with a
plethora of subplots and shocking flash
backs. Not pulling any punches, the
film opens with Boucher facing the
most difficult period ofhis life.
As the waterboy for a top college
football team, Boucher is set to start
another season of lowly servitude and
abuse by the players. Just minutes into
the first practice of the season, Coach
Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed of “Smokey
and the Bandit” fame) tired of his bum
bling ways, givesBoucher the ax.
Wrought with disbelief and the feel
ing of being washed up, Boucher sulks
back to his banal existence in a swamp
deep in the heart of Louisiana bayou
country. In these scenes of his tumul
tuous home life, viewers understand that
being the waterboy provided an escape
from the preaching of his overbearing
mother (Kathy Bates).
In her portrayal as Mama Boucher,
Bates is much the same character that
won her an Oscar for “Misery.” Now,
instead of wielding a sledge hammer,
her weapon is her tongue when she
delivers her lines with a surprisingly
good dialect and down-home intensity.
However, Boucher proves he is full
of intestinal fortitude when he arrives at
the door of Coach Klein (Henry “The
Fonz” Winkler) and offers his services
to the town’s other college football team.
On the fust day, Boucher finds out that
although the team is different, the play
ers’ torment ofhim is not But he’s not in
anguish for long as Coach Klein
encourages Boucher to fight back.
Instantly, Bobby is transformed into a
relentlessly sadistic tackling machine
fueled by the haunting memories of his
troubled past
As Coach Klein, Winkler’s portray
al lacks any indication that he was once
the Fonz, which is good because it adds
more depth to Klein, although much is
over the top.
Despite his lengthy screen absence,
Reed, the rival coach, adds a bit of legit
imacy to the film as he’s the only star
actually hum the South. In a flashback
shared with Winkler, Reed gives his best
screen moment since his days as the
snowman.
Ultimately, Boucher enrolls in col
lege, painfully learns that mama’s home
schooling wasn’t the best, learns about
love and leads his team to a Bourbon
Bowl match up against its cross-town
rival and his former employer.
Tying this all together is the direc
tion by Frank Coraci, Sandler’s old
roommate in college. From the begin
ning he sets the stage on which Sandler
shines. The funniest moments of the
film occur during football games when
Coraci truly captures the violent emo
tional release of a pent-up psychopath.
Despite the collective effort, “The
Waterboy” may fall a bit short with
Sandler’s vast college audience. Gone
are many of the grotesquely humorous
gags of “Billy Madison” and “Happy
Gillmore.” instead, there are many
moments which may only seem funny
to an 8-year-old, winch according to
§|andler, is the point
“It’s more of a family picture than
the others, but still not die kind my
mother would be in line for,” he said
from his Manhattan apartment last
Tuesday night
SHY, SOCIALLY INEPT Louisiana bayou native Bobby Boucher (Adam Sandler) is a college football team waterboy
who, after being fired from the team, is hired by the rival coach (Henry Winkler). There he proves to he a waterboy
with a talent fortackling in “The Wbterboy.” fc
The Facts Jp)
TW#: The Watertoy*
Start: Adam Sander, Kathy Bates, Henry
Winkler, Jerry Reed
Director Frank Caraci
Rating: PG-13
Grade: B
Five Words: Try not to wet yourself
Even if Mom won’t go, you could
actually take your little brother to this
and both revel in die comic genius that is
Adam Sandler
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