Vanilla Ice brings the noise to Royal Grove
By Jeff Randall
Senior staff writer
If one washed-up rapper has his way Saturday night, all
of Lincoln will be forced to stop, collaborate and listen.
But don’t count on it
Vanilla Ice, the king of wannabe hip-hoppers, will
attempt to pump up the volume at
the Royal Grove this weekend
with a batch of new grooves and
rehashed hits that weren’t all too
palatable the first time around
It has now been nearly a
decade since most people first
heard of Vanilla Ice, the great,
brief white hope of rap.
He burst onto the scene in
late 1990 with “Ice Ice Baby.”
The admittedly catchy song par
layed the distinctive bass riff
from David Bowie and Queen’s
“Under Pressure” into multimil
Iion-dollar sales and worldwide recognition.
What most people failed to notice, however, was that
Vanilla Ice’s ear for a marketable bass line was his only dis
cernible talent.
His major label debut, ‘To the Extreme,” was filled with
bogus posturing, cliched ghetto tales and sub-par rhymes.
Ice only made it worse on himselfby conjuring false tales of
his childhood, turning suburbia into the inner city and his
G.I. Joe collection into a gang of murderous street toughs.
Fortunately, this facade didn’t last, and Vanilla Ice failed
Concert Preview
The Facts IIPP
Who: Vanilla Ice
Where: Royal Grove, 340 W.
Cornhusker Hwy.
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Cost: $12
The Skinny: The unappreciated
stepchild of rap is back again.
to achieve career longevity. Less than a year after his debut,
Ice had fallen off the star map of legitimate musicians.
He grew his hair out, found a new producer and
attempted a comeback in 1994 with the laughable “Mind
Blowin’,” a marijuana-induced romp of rolling bass
lines and half-assed funk. But the public didn’t buy it,
and Ice disappeared for about four more years.
He resurfaced in 1998 with “Hard to Swallow,’’ i
the album for which he is currently
touring.
This time around, he has rein
vented himself as a hard rock/rap
hybrid. Although this sound is
closer to his true upbringing, the
lyrical wordplay (or lack there
of) and obvious posturing are
almost intolerable.
This judgment was reflect
ed in the album’s lackluster
sales and the continued use of
Vanilla Ice as the butt of a
thousand jokes.
For now, Vanilla Ice will
have to be content with his position as a nov
elty act. He’s still getting money, he’s just not
getting respect.
People will still pay to see him perform.
But most of them are only going so they can
say they were there. They’re not going for
musical quality, innovation or outstanding
showmanship.
Well, Vanilla can take some solace from this whole situ
ation. At least they’re paying for it
Matt Haney/DN
TV, radio celebrate black history
By Jeff Randall
Senior staff writer
Recognizing Black History
Month and experiencing another
culture doesn’t have to entail sitting
through countless lectures or watch
ing amateurish video presentations.
In fact, interested parties can
expand their horizons in African and
African-American history by turn
ing a dial or flipping a switch. Local
media outlets have prepared several
special programs in recognition of
Black History Month.
Nebraska ETV has already
begun in this effort, with “I’ll Make
Me a World,” a three-part, six-hour
documentary on African-American
artists in the 20th century. The first
segment of “I’ll Make Me a World”
aired Monday, and the show will
continue tonight and next
Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Another highlight of this
month’s NETV programming is
“The Black Press: Soldiers Without
Swords,” a documentary that chroni
cles the lives of America’s black
journalists, individuals who often
were the only public voice for their
people. This historical chronicle will
air Feb. 8 at 9 p.m.
“Tuskegee, Alabama: Living
Black & White” is an equally infor
mative tale. This documentary tells
the story of post-World War II
Tuskegee and the countless strides in
integration and voting rights that
took place there. “Tuskegee” airs
Feb. 15 at 9 p.m.
Of particular interest to
Nebraskans will be the “Nebraska
Showcase” presentation of “Ernie
Chambers: Still Militant After All
These Years.” Chambers’ early emer
gence as a civil rights activist is
traced all the way to his nearly
three-decade tenure in the state
Legislature in this documentary of
one of Nebraska’s most notorious
and respected sons. The program
will air Feb. 19 at 9 p.m.
While NETV has planned what
should be a visually riveting lineup
for black history month, KZUM
FM (89.3) will do its part to dis
seminate pertinent information and
entertainment over radio waves of
a different sort this month.
Each and every month, KZUM
is a community leader in diversi
fied programming. And Black
History Month is an opportunity to
increase that standard, said Tom
Ineck, news and public affairs
director for the station.
“We always try to recognize
that our audience is made up of
people from all different back
grounds,” Ineck said. “We don’t
turn that idea off and on based on
what month it is.”
In addition to the station’s regu
lar lineup of ethnically and cultur
ally diverse music programs -
which include jazz, blues, R&B,
reggae and hip-hop - KZUM will
broadcast a pair of syndicated doc
umentary series.
The first of these series is “One
Nation, Indivisible: Dr. King’s
Dream Yesterday and Today.” The
three-hour documentary program
will air in six half-hour installments
at 3 p.m. Feb. 8-13. The full program
will air Feb. 14 from 9 p.m. to mid
night.
The second series is “Pleading
Our Own Cause: The Black Press in
America.” This documentary will
also run in six parts, beginning f eb.
22 at 6:30 p.m. and ending Feb. 27.
The complete program will run from
9 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 28.
A 28-part series of five-minute
profiles will also run on KZUM.
These locally produced segments,
which feature significant African
Americans in the Lincoln communi
ty past and present, run daily at 10
a.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. The seg
ments change daily.
Broadcast Calendar lor
Black History Month
Nebraska ETV
Tonight
Tlf Make Me a World,” 8 p.m.
“CeCe Winans, Glorious Gospel,”
7 p.m.
Feb. 8
“The Black Press: Soldiers Without
Swords,” 9 p.m.
Feb. 15
“Tuskegee, Alabama: Living Black &
White, 9 p.m.
Feb. 19
“Dance in America: A Hymn for Alvin
Ailey,” 9 p.m.
Feb. 20
“Bill Cosby: Mr. Spolsky, With Love,"
8 p.m.
Feb. 21
The ACLU: A History," 5 p.m.
Feb. 28
“Paul Robeson: Here I Stand, An
American Masters Special,” 5 p.m.
KZUM (89.3 FM)
“One Nation Indivisible: Dr. King’s
Dream Yesterday and Today” segments
air Feb. 8-13 at 3 p.m., complete
program airs Feb. 14 at 9 p.m.
“Pleading Our Own Cause: The Black
Press in America” segments air Feb. 22
27 at 6:30 p.m., complete program airs
Feb. 28 at 9 p.m.
Locally produced profiles air daily at
10 a.m., 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
JonFrank/DN
Epic ‘Aida’ to make
elephantine return
By Liza Holtmeier
Senior staff writer
Elephants can remember.
And Omaha audiences can remem
ber elephants - or one in particular.
Audiences at Opera Omaha’s 1983
production of “Aida” remember a
spooked elephant who charged toward
them on opening night before being
calmed and captured.
The excitement of the event has
become a tall tale around the offices of
Opera Omaha.
But this weekend, the company
wants audiences to forget the pachy
derm’s 1983 performance. When it
opens its latest version of the Giuseppi
Verdi opera “Aida,” the company for
goes exotic menageries in favor of an
intimate love story.
“Often times, the very intense love
story gets lost in all that pageantry and
spectacle,” said Kevin Gibbs, a member
of Opera Omaha’s marketing staff.
“This production avoids all the cliche
elements.”
For example, Gibbs said, the
designers for this production have aban
doned towering, hieroglyphic-covered
columns for a single imposing set
piece: a 5-ton golden falcon that rotates
on a large turntable.
The production also zeroes in on the
heart of the opera: the tragic love story
of an Ethiopian slave girl and an
Egyptian warrior.
The opera’s dramatic substance is
one reason why it has remained so pop
ular, Gibbs said. Many music historians
believe “Aida” to be the most-per
formed opera of all time.
Theatre Preview i*<L,
The Facts
What: 'Aida'
Where: Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th., Omaha
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, 2 p.m.
Sunday
Cost: $12-$62. call (402) 34-OPERA for tickets
The Skinny: Opera Omaha presents the most
performed opera of all time
The opera’s setting in exotic ancient
Egypt adds to the dramatic elements of
the story.
“People are fascinated with Egypt.
Throughout this century, we have had
interest in the Egyptian tombs and their
hidden treasures," Gibbs said.
The regalia of the period is fully
expressed by Verdi, who was at the
prime of his career when he wrote the
historical love story.
“He applied every bit of knowledge
he had about music and drama,” he said
In order Amount such a grand pro
duction, Opera Omaha joined a consor
tium of 11 other North American opera
companies. The companies combined
their resources to mount a production
financially unfeasible for a lone compa
ny: the physical production cost more
than half a million dollars.
Opera Omaha’s production is also
big in terms of cast size; it uses 100 on
stage performers, eight backstage band
members and 52 Omaha Symphony
musicians.
So although no pachyderms will
actually thunder across the stage,
“Aida” will remain an elephantine pro
duction.
