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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1998)
-—-----I -P? i 1 t'Jsfs i, ‘ "i •* i 1 A AHEM ( A H CREW —---—. Qualrty Grooming Prodiicts for Men GNhntiT VO *M**»C* -- JAMAICA OS^nd SSUSS^^ST, szia*ia£?a!ftn «■**•»■ °B*r c«es may qualify for reduction or require surcharge. rS„?!^—~?^tca„°ePafttIf<>.taxas (currently >5?) and $9 handling charge additional. Rates increase $30 on T2/15/98. Peak-week C« ^?M^^“SSe^Wa2SS5£*“ “no*i-ton a*>* “v>"*bi«y- SaW* *> c^f without eoooe. -V..V.. ; . ■■■ - .V , \ , . . ..... *,*. -. . ‘Waltz’ a ride for the senses By Jason Hardy ' 1.: Senior staff writer Beginning this weekend, Nebraska residents are invited to take a trip. Don’t worry, in no way does this trip involve Grandma’s house and leftover turkey as dry as the holiday conversa tion. This Friday, Omaha’s Blue Bam Theatre, 614 S. 11th St., is taking patrons on a whirlwind tour transcend ing time, space and human emotions via a production of Paula Vogel’s award winning play, “The Baltimore Waltz.” Though the title brings to mind images of elegant, relaxing dancing, die play is actually a rock ’em, sock ’em raucous comedy and drama meshed together at breakneck speeds. hi die lV^-hour performance, there are 30 scene changes, numerous cos tumes, constant lighting and music shifts and somewhere in there is a coherent plot as welL Despite a cast that’s only three members strong, this production is in no way a small undertaking. Director Kevin Lawler admitted that this pieced intensity was sometimes hard to handle. “It£ a definite challenge,” Lawler said. “The whole play is like being caught up in a whirlwind, and itb realty challenging for a director to keep that tempo.” He said ultimately it was the three actors who suffered most from the playh wild nature. . “They’re really conditioned. It’s almost like an athletic event for these guys, but they do a great job of sustain ing the energy of die play,” Lawler said. “Basically, they just don’t have time to get tired.” The play itself takes place in the mind of one of the main characters, Anna. She drea ms of a wild trip she wishes to take with her brother, who has been diagnosed with a fatal illness. Tog ether the two jaunt across Europe and come in con tact with a wide variety of wacky characters, ail played by the same guy - Nils Haaland. He said his role required 30 second costume changes and an enormous amou nt of character traits that present ed quite an obsta cle. “It’s like one character to the next in a matter of seconds. It’s verv intense,” Haaland said. “In that regard, you really have to know your lines, because if you mess up on one line, it could realty throw off the whole show.” Playing the part of the ill-stricken brother Carl is Eric Griffith, who said “The Baltimore Waltz” demanded a strong commitment physically and mentally. “It’s kind of exhausting, but at the same time it realty gets you fired up,” Griffith said. “Everything on stage is moved by us three and a stage manager, and since the show realty zips along, it has to become an automatic thing ” Because the show essentially is a dream, it turns into a collage of themes and images derived from a dizzying variety of influences from film noir to dirty jokes. However; at the root of the play is the serious-dealing of grief and death that Lawler said helps make it more understandable to audiences. Matt Haney/DN I “It works on so many different lev- j els at the same time,” Lawler said. “It deals with film styles and different clas sic art styles that we’ve grown to love, but then it also touches very deeply on the AIDS crisis. “You’ll laugh until you cry wife this one.” Griffith said the play’s humor helped to better illustrate more serious implications about life. “The underlying story is very seri ous, but it’s treated with fun,” Griffith said ‘You’re going along laughing and then it snaps and you’re like, ‘wow.’And just when you start laughing again your guard goes down and it’s like, bang, ‘here’s the point’” “The Baltimore Waltz” starts Friday and runs through Dec. 22 at the Blue Bam Theatre. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. The show starts at 8 p.m. Omaha’s ‘Nutcracker’ tradition to continue By Liza Hoitmeier Staff writer Clara and her Nutcracker prince can continue to dancein the Land of Sweets. Thanks to the Omaha Theater Company, the holiday tradition of “The Nutcracker” ballet lives on in Omaha. This weekend, the Dayton Ballet presents its last performances of “The Nutcracker” in Nebraska. OTC plans to mount its own production next year OTC picked up the Dayton Ballet’s contract to perform “The Nutcracker” after Ballet Omaha* the original spon sor, dissolved. Dayton Ballet has performed its rendition of “The Nutcracker” in Omaha the last two years, replacing toe Ballet Omaha performances after the* professional troupe disbanded. But with the demise of Ballet Omaha’s board of directors and school, the Daytonls presence in Omaha ends. Dermot Burke, Dayton Ballet’s artistic director, lamented toe closure of his Company Is Omaha chapter. “The audiences have embraced (Dayton Ballet),” Burke said. “And the people we’ve worked with have been gracious and hospitable.” But Burke is confident that Omaha will not go without a professional ballet company for long. Robin Welch, the director of dance at OTC, plans to audition dancers in New York and Chicago next year. After the Omaha Theater Company forms, it will eventually have two ver sions of “The Nutcracker.” Welch choreographed the first, to be per formed next year, and set it in toe 1920s. The second version, to be performed every two years, will place the ballet in Russia at the turn of the century. Burke said this year’s “Nutcracker” served as a dress rehearsal for the the ater company. The organization could learn about the business and marketing aspects of a show without having to mount a production from scratch. This year’s “Nutcracker” should also help to keep the dance audience ’ | alive in the Lincoln and Omaha area. Many Omaha families have already incorporated the ballet into their holiday traditions. With its famed score by Peter Tchaikovsky, “The Nutcracker” has become one of the most beloved ballets of all time, and most professional com panies have it in their repertoire. The ballet tells the story of a young girl named Clara who travels to the Land of Sweets after falling asleep on Christmas Eve. “It allows the audience to recapture that innocence we lose as we learn the rules oflife,” Welch said. ; t Because of the proliferation of “Nutcrackers,” each company tries to ! make theirs a little different “Even though you may have seen a j miUion Nutcrackers, you’ve never seen the same one. Every company has a slightly different dream,” Welch said. : The Dayton Ballet opens its “Nutcracker” at the Orpheum Theater, 409 S. Hi* St, in Omaha tonight Show times are tonight through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with matinee performances Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 4:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $29, $24.50 and $17.50 for adults. Children’s tickets are $19, $17 and $11.50. For reservations, call Ticketmaster at (402) 422-1212