Task force examines local music scene
Key venues, musicians not included in discussions
By Jason Hardy
Staff writer
It is not uncommon to hear
University of Nebraska-Lincoln stu
dents and other Lincoln residents talk
ing about great concerts and events
they’ve seen recently.
But seldom do those events actual
ly happen in Lincoln.
In January, Mayor Don Wesely
formed aConcert/Entertainment Task
Force to study ways to improve concert
and entertainment opportunities in
Lincoln. The group has been meeting
every two weeks since then and recent
ly has created a survey to gain the input
of Lincoln residents on the issue.
The survey, which can be found at
http://www. ci. lincoln. ne. us/city/mayo
r/cic/media/033100a.htm asks ques
tions such as “What types of music
would you like to see more of in
Lincoln (circle all that apply) alterna
tive, blues, country, folk, gospel, jazz,
Latin, Metal, new age, oldies, pop, rap,
reggae, rock, swing, other.”
The task force hopes the questions
will shed some light on what many see
as a dismal concert climate. As of yet,
however, members of the task force
say they have found limited results.
“We haven’t reached any conclu
sions yet,” said Diane Gonzolas, man
ager of the citizen information center,
a division of the mayor’s office. “At
this point we’re still investigating.
Maybe there will be more follow-ups
after we give our report to die mayor.”
In mid-May, the task force will
present the mayor with a report detail
ing its findings.
To compile these findings, the task
force split into five subcommittees:
one for creating the survey, one for
researching Lincoln’s existing venues,
one for researching UNL’s concert
involvement, one for finding possible
corporate support and one to research
the proposed Pinewood Bowl.
Gonzolas said that until each of the
subcommittees had finalized its
results, the task force would have rela
tively no idea as to its options.
The task force has among its 23
members Doug Kuhnel, executive
director of Pershing Auditorium, Tim
Sheridan, program director of KIBZ
radio and C.W. “Butch” Hug, director «
of events for the UNL Athletic
Department.
The task force does not include
any proprietors of local bars which
have regular concerts.
Duffy’s Tavern, Knickerbockers
and The Zoo Bar, all of which have at
least one band or performer per week,
and anyone listed as a local musician
are all absent.
“I don’t think there was a con
scious effort to leave them out,” said
Jennifer Brinkman, an aide to the
mayor who helped compile the task
force. “The meetings are open to the
public and, if they had some interest or
expertise to share with us, we’d cer
tainly like to hear it Just because they
aren’t a member of the task force does
n’t mean we don’t want their input.”
Nevertheless, neither Andy
Fairbaim, who books shows at Duffy’s
Tavern, nor Zoo Bar owner Larry
Boehmer had heard of the task force.
Jim Ritzman, the task force’s
chairman and a representative of Aijay
Advertising, said he was open to out
side interests but also said he felt the
task force was constructed fairly well.
“It might look like we should have
certain people on there, but I think the
parameters that people look at when
they bring in entertainment are cer
tainly represented,” he said. “There’s a
certain format when you look at book
ing entertainment. We spent quite a bit
of time having subcommittees analyze
(die format). If there was a Duffy’s rep
resentative or a Pershing representa
tive, it doesn’t make any difference. It’s
still the same parameters you have to
deal with.”
Heath Macomber, the task-force
* If there was a Duffy’s representative or
a Pershing representative, it doesn’t make
any difference. It’s still the same
parameters you have to deal with.”
JimRitzman
task force chairman
member in charge of investigating the
options of corporate sponsorship, is
also the co-founder of Hamada
Enterprises, a local promotions group.
“We haven’t really launched any
thing yet. Right now we’re working
with the university to figure out where
we can have national acts come play,”
he said. “ The task force for us is just
finding out who the players are in
Lincoln. Hopefully within the next
year, you’ll recognize us on campus.”
Macomber cited venue size as one
of Lincoln’s chief entertainment prob
lems.
“It’s a whole different ball game
doing shows at Knickerbockers than at
Pershing. When you involve ticket
charging and mass advertising it gets
pretty involved,” he said. “I don’t think
Lincoln has the facility to bill large
national acts. I don’t think we have the
population to do it either.”
Gonzolas said after viewing the
results of the survey, the task force
would probably be able to narrow its
focus.
“What we started out with was
‘why can’t we get the bigger shows?’
and that was our initial focus,” she
said. “But I don’t think that’s the total
focus of this task force. (The subcom
mittees) brought in ideas that maybe
Lincoln can’t support those types of
big concerts, and maybe we should
concentrate on smaller venues.
For Duffy’s cancert-booker
Fairbaim, the problen\isn’t a lack of
entertainment opportunities, it’s a lack
of people utilizing the opportunities
already available.
“It would help a lot, in terms of
getting people out to see big music, if
people in Lincoln would go see some
of the smaller shows,” he said. “It’s a
really hard town to get support, espe
cially with the college students.
There’s 25,000 students, and it feels
like none of them care about live
music.”
Students take stage
at ‘Fiddler’ debut
By Josh Nichols
Staff writer
Professional entertainers from
all across the world consistently
grace the stage at the Lied Center
for Performing Arts.
Last night, students who prob
ably have grown accustomed to
UNL’s Temple building and
Kimball Hall had their first oppor
tunity to show their stuff on the
Lied Stage.
They did so in die University of
Nebraska Hixson-Lied College of
Fine and Performing Arts produc
tion of “Fiddler on the Roof,”
which they will perform all week
end.
Not only are students getting
the opportunity to expand onto a
larger stage, they also get to work
with an established, professional
entertainer.
Joseph Gallo, from Blanson,
Mo., will play the lead role of
Tevye the dairyman.
Charles Bethea, executive
director of the Lied Center for
Performing Arts, said the reason he
brought in a professional per
former was to provide a strong
character for the large role.
Bethea said Gallo fit the part
well and has done an excellent job.
Bethea also mentioned that
having him in the performance has
been a wonderful experience for
the students who have had an
opportunity to work with him.
Director of the performance,
William Shomos, agreed.
“It’s been a real blessing for
us,” he said. “They’ve learned so
much from his talent.”
Judging by Gallo’s record, he
has plenty of experience to share.
He has been in numerous
regional theatrical productions
including “Hello Dolly,” ‘fDestry
Rides Again,” “Damn Yankees”
and “Anything Goes.”
He has been in several Branson
productions as well as performing
a solo act throughout die country.
Blessed with a rich baritone, he
has numerous recordings along
with nominations in 1997 and
1999 for the All American
Entertainment Award for vocalist
wntHt: ued uenter tor
Performing Arts
WHEN: Friday and Saturday
at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.
COST: $28, $24, $20, half
price for students
THE SKINNY: University
students get opportunity to
take the Ued stage.
of the year and gospel artist of the
year.
In the press release for “Fiddler
on the Roof,” he said, “I am very
excited about the opportunity to
fulfill a lifelong dream of playing
Tevye and am looking forward to
working with the staff and per
formers at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.”
The story of Tevye in “Fiddler
on the Roof” has a long history.
The character first came about
in the stories written in Yiddish by
a popular fiction writer called
Sholom Aleichem in the late 19th
century.
The stories were passed around
and began to appear in numerous
publications until 1953, when
Arnold Perl took the stories of
Aleichem and other Yiddish writ
ers and made them into a series of
short plays.
Soon Perl made a full play
about just Tevye, which prompted
Joseph Stein to make the Tevye
stories into a musical, which he
called “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Shomos said the Lied perform
ance has been done in the style of
Marc Chagall, a Jewish painter
who lived in Russia.
That style is very colorful and
vibrant, he said.
The message is that despite the
poverty and oppression the Jews
were experiencing during that
time, they were still able to see
their lives as rich and colorful.
For the College of Fine and
Performing Arts, doing a produc
tion in the Lied Center is a biennial
affair.
Two years ago, they did
“Oklahoma.”
Houston’s actions scrutinized
■ The singer has come
under fire for no-shows
and allegations of drug use.
NEW YORK (AP) - Does
Houston - Whitney Houston - have a
problem?
There was that allegation of mari
juana possession in January, a much
discussed absence at last month’s
Oscars, and a disjointed magazine
interview.
On Monday night, the superstar
singer is scheduled to perform at
Arista Records’ 25th anniversary
party.
Given the tumult in her personal
life in recent months, her appearance
will be heavily scrutinized.
“WHERE WAS WHITNEY?”
asked the New York Post after the
diva’s performance at the Academy
Awards was canceled amid a report
that she was “totally out of it” during a
rehearsal with Burt Bacharach.
The same question applied after
Houston failed to appear at the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame dinner three
weeks earlier. Houston was scheduled
to help induct Clive Davis, the music
impresario who signed her to Arista in
the early ’80s.
“Whitney is in good spirits and
looking forward to Monday’s event,”
says her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, who
had earlier blamed a sore throat for
the Oscar incident and “voice prob
lems” for the Hall of Fame flameout.
But the bad news continues. The
upcoming People magazine features a
cover story about “Whitney’s
Troubled Times.” Citing anonymous
sources, it suggests a drug problem -
an allegation Houston has denied in
the past.
“If a performer gets a reputation
for being unreliable or canceling at
the last minute, that’s a problem,” says
Richard Johnson, a veteran Houston
watcher at the Post. “It seems that’s
been happening with Whitney
Houston.”
Houston’s husband of seven years,
singer Bobby Brown, has his own
litany of woes: a 1995 Betty Ford
Clinic visit for alcohol abuse, a 1997
report that he punched Houston in a
Honolulu parking lot, and a 1998
five-day jail term for drunken driving.
The bad publicity is a relatively
new experience for a gospel singer’s
daughter, the all-American girl whose
1991 version of “The Star Spangled
Banner” improbably turned Francis
Scott Key into a best-selling song
writer.
The recent rash of incidents began
in January, when airport security offi
cers in Hawaii said they found a half
ounce of marijuana in Houston’s bag.
Rather than wait for police to arrive,
the 36-year-old Houston boarded her
flight and left the islands.
Adding to Whitney’s woes was a
cover story in the May issue of Jane
magazine.
The piece described an “extreme
ly unfocused” Houston showing up
four hours late for a photo shoot.
Once there, the singer responsible
for 11 No. 1 singles had “trouble
keeping her eyes open” and intermit
tently played an imaginary piano,
according to the Story.
Whitney’s explanation: She had
just arrived from a visit to the dentist
to repair a cracked tooth.
During an interview for Jane,
Houston tossed around four-letter
words, compared meeting the presi
dent to hanging out with a junkie
(“They’re just men, you dig?”), and
denied having a “lesbo” affair with
her executive assistant.
Seltzer said the article was not “a
fair portrait of Whitney Houston as I
know her.”
Wrong, says Daily News gossip
guru Mitchell Fink.
“Look at her behavior over the last
few years,” Fink says. “If you did a
timeline over the last few years, you’d
see that this particular pattern of
behavior is not at all shocking.”
The problems and tabloid rum
blings have had little effect on her
recording career. Houston’s 1998
album “My Love is Your Love” was a
platinum seller and spawned several
hit singles: the title track, “Heartbreak
Hotel,” “When You Believe,” “It’s Not
Right But It’s OK.”
In May, she will release a greatest
hits album that is expected to top the
charts.
O’Rourke’s has kept its homey feel
BAR from page 9
not out of place. They are talking, laugh
ing and smoking cigarettes in a comer
table. Sunny’s hair is blonde, and Flag
wears his long gray hair in a ponytail.
Sunny has been coming to
O’Rourke’s for a few years, and that’s
more than enough time to get comfort
able. She said the flowers drew her to
O’Rourke’s, pointing to a vase of fresh
flowers on the bar.
‘ ‘How many bars do you go to do you
see fresh flowers?” she asks. “That’s
what’s kept me coming back.”
Sunny calls O’Rourke’s patrons
“true people” who say hello every time
they see you.
“The variety of people here is great,”
she says, “from college-age to as old as
dirt like I am.”
“There’s a lot of regulars, and we’re
all friends,” Flag responds. “We have a
chapter of the old farts club here.
Nobody wants to be president.
Everybody wants to be secretary of the
treasury.”
The staff contribute as much as the
customers, McLeese said. A few of the
bartenders, such as McAndrews, have
worked for 10 years, and McLeese said
he couldn’t have done it without them..
Thanks to regulars and the staff,
O’Rourke’s is approaching its 20th
anniversary, but it hasn’t changed much
since it opened, McLeese said. He said
the only real changes are better business,
14 beers on tap instead of the two it start
ed with and CDs in the jukebox instead
of the old 45s.
“People know what to expect when
they come in here,” he said.
McLeese said O Street has changed
even if his bar has kept the same spirit.
How many bars
do you go to do
you see fresh
flowers? ”
Sunny
O’Rourke’s regular
It’s home to a lot more bars, but
McLeese said that doesn’t worry him.
“The bar owners all get along,” he
said. “We’re not out peeking to see who’s
doing business and who’s not doing
business.”
McLeese wouldn’t have to peek
even if he wanted to. O’Rourke’s has
withstood the test of time, becoming an
O Street staple.
I
