Chicana artist acts multiple personas in show
uyjoMi mcnois
Staffwriter
For many performers, it’s difficult
to portray just one character in a pro
duction.
But imagine playing more than a
dozen different personalities in one
production, including a landscaper,
restaurant owner and even Satan.
This is what Ruby Nelda Perez does
in “Dona Rosita’s Jalapeno Kitchen,” a
piece written by Rodrigo Duarte Clark.
The Chicana performance artist
from San Antonio will bring her solo
act to the Nebraska Wesleyan
University McDonald Theater tonight
and Friday night.
“Dona Rosita’s Jalapeno Kitchen”
is a comic story about a woman who
has run a barrio restaurant for 23 years.
Developers are trying to force her to
shut down her restaurant so a shopping
mall can be built on the land it occupies.
Rosita refuses to sign the agree
ment, but her time has run out.
On her final day in the restaurant,
Dona Rosita begins to reminisce and
relive the memories of people she has
had in her restaurant in the past 23
years.
Perez herself takes on the charac
ters of the many different people that
have been in and out of the restaurant.
Each person who comes in has his
or her own story to tell.
Perez said she considers herself
more of a storyteller than an actor.
By expressing different emotions
and using different tones of voice, she
; Dona Rositar
: Jalapeiio Kitchen
WHERE: Nebraska Weslyar
University, McDonald Theate
51 and Huntington streets
WHEN: Tonight and
tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.
COST: $5 for students
THE SKINNY: Performance
artist brings to life wide
array of characters.
said she is able to create an image of
many different characters, including a
town gossip and what she described as a
“social climber.”
The social climber is a woman who
has moved out of the barrio and into the
suburbs because of her dissatisfaction
with life in the rural Mexican commu
nity.
Amy Lamphere, director of the
Wagon Train Project, said watching
Perez portray these different characters
is a hilarious experience.
“For 80 minutes, you will laugh at
yourself and with Ruby,” Lamphere
said. “You will laugh and laugh, and
then all of a sudden stop when she says
something moving.”
Lamphere said Perez’s naturally fun
personality helps the characters she
portrays come across effectively.
“She is very entertaining and fun,”
she said. “It is that lively spirit that
makes it fun for the audience.”
Although the show is based in a
Mexican community and has many
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r—
characteristics of Hispanic culture,
Lamphere said the story is still some
thing everyone can enjoy.
“Perez is popular with large
Hispanic audiences as well as a small
Hispanic audience,” she said.
She also said people will be able to
relate to the situation in the perfor
mance.
Dona Rosita’s losing her kitchen
can compare to the loss of the family
farm and small businesses going under
when a Wal-Mart is built in a small
community, she said.
Because Dona Rosita doesn’t give
in to the developers, Perez said she
Courtesy photo
wants to get across in her performance
that all people can stand up for them
selves.
“People should have the courage to
make their own decisions and follow
through with them,” Perez said.
“People don’t always have to go with
the norm.”
Oasis release is lackluster effort
By Cliff Hicks
Staff writer
The poor Gallagher brothers.
After their debut album, the stel
lar “Definitely Maybe,” the brothers
and their band, Oasis, have been
struggling to recapture that glory,
where songs were solid and the
hooks were catchy.
Their sophomore album,
“(What’s the Story) Morning Glory,”
was pretty close, but their third
album, “Be Here Now,” quickly
grew shallow on repeated listening.
1999’s “The Masterplan” simply
revealed that a lot of the band’s b
sides were better than some of its
album material.
The band’s had two years since
“Be Here Now” to get a good album
out of its system, and “Standing On
the Shoulder of Giants” is a mostly
solid effort that falters every so
often, but it shows a good start for
the band climbing out of pomposity.
“Standing on the Shoulder Of
Giants” opens with the raucous
“Fuckin’ In The Bushes,” an instru
mental showing that the band is will
ing to learn a few new tricks.
Sampling a 1970 film, the first song
is the most experimental piece on the
album - the dirty old man’s gruff
grumblings make for a light starter.
It’s mostly old hat stuff for the
rest of the album, which is tradition
al Oasis.
During the past six months, both
of the Gallagher brothers had
claimed the new album would fea
ture lots of drum loops and hip-hop
influences, but they stretched the
truth more than a little.
A few of the tracks have drum
loops, but for the most part, this is
classic Oasis that shows more signs
of being influenced by Kula Shaker
than the Chemical Brothers.
About two-thirds of the album is
composed of ballads and crooners,
with a few scattered rockers to break
up the slow monotony.
This isn’t to say some of the bal
lads aren’t great. “Where Did It All
Go Wrong?”^ertainly isn’t where
the album went wrong, as it’s one of
the band’s best songs ever. But
there’s simply so many ballads that
l
Oasis
TITLE: Standing on the
Shoulders of Giants
LABEL: Epic Records
GRADE: B
FIVE WORDS: Oasis
returns with lackluster
’ album.
they drag the album down.
Another big problem with the
album is how short it is, clocking in
at about 45 minutes. Noel Gallagher,
the band’s principal songwriter,
can’t claim lack of material. The sin
gle for “Go Let It Out” features two
b-sides, “Let’s All Make Believe”
and the magnificently graceful “(As
Long As They Have) Cigarettes In
Hell,” both of which would have
been welcome additions to the
album.
“Standing On The Shoulder of
Giants” also features the first song
written by Liam Gallagher, a pleas
ing but unmemorable song to his
adopted son, “Little James.”
Oasis isn’t going to win any new
fans with “Standing On the Shoulder
of Giants,” but it should keep old
fans appeased for a while longer.
Before you shell out $5 for a movie,
check out our movie reviews at
dailyneb.com