Arts
'Ragtime' an ambitious, disturbingly real epic
BY BILLY SMUCK
If you only plan on seeing one show
at the Lied Center this season, this
week’s feature, “Ragtime,” is not one to
be missed.
The musical adaptation of E.L.
Doctorow’s novel highlights issues
apparent at the dawn of the 20th
Century that still exist today despite the
100-year time span.
“Ragtime” portrays three different
familial ethnic groups in a very stereo
typical fashion. In the opening number
featuring the titled song, the first group
to be introduced are the white Anglo
Saxon Protestants who are dressed in
white, which is symbolic for purity and
innocence.
The family within this group
includes Father, Mother, Little Boy, and
Mother’s Younger Brother - none of
whom have hames because they repre
sent a group during a time that was
highly determined by gender and age.
The next bunch to share the stage are
the blacks from Harlem. The two high
lighted characters in this gang are
Coalhouse Walker Jr. and Sarah, two
lovers looking for a better life in a coun
try that is supposed to be nearing a time
of lessening prejudices.
Finally come the immigrants, main
ly Jewish, who are dressed in rags and
dirty, with their eyes wide open to the
new possibilities that await them in
America.
Tateh and his Little Girl are opti
mistic and also look forward to change
in their new homeland of opportunity.
This prologue in Act 1 is an introduc
tion to all the characters in what is
arguably the best number of the show.
All three groups are dancing togeth
er not in a fashion that portrays a har
monious melting pot but in a fashion
that brings these ethnic and racially
diverse groups together.
Instead, a mood of conflict and
opposition is presented, which is rela
tive to the tensions in America at a time
that was cursed by the ugliness of big
otry, discrimination and intolerance.
, From there, "Ragtime” dives further
into the story, taking the audience
through a number of different scenes
that give credit to superb production
design and bring to life a sequence of
various events such as a political rally, a
baseball game, union demonstrations
and Atlantic City.
The superb cast of 43 has such pres
ence on stage that, when supplemented
—
with their voices, commands the atten
tion of the audience.
Like seasoning to go on the main
course, real and prominent characters
like educator Booker T. Washington,
escape artist Harry Houdini, anarchist
reformer Emma Goldman and mass
production visionary Henry Ford are
thrown into this cast that mixes fiction
with nonfiction.
There aren't any real standout char
acters to steal the show, but Lawrence
Hamilton as Coalhouse Walker Jr. comes
close. That was made obvious by the
audience’s vocal response during the
standing ovation.
“Ragtime” deeply explores human
relations. Don’t be fooled by the ^tle -
this isn’t a show that only entertains and
has good music. Itprovokes thought and
examines the human condition on
many levels.
It blends many moods and feelings,
taking audience members through a
whirlwind of varying emotions bringing
them to laughter, tears and shock.
The musical collaboration of songs
like “Journey On,” "Your Daddy’s Son,”
"Wheels Of A Dream,” “He Wanted To
Say” and “Make Them Hear You” are the
ultimate triumph of this classical show.
So many elements were right on in
this show that I can hardly complain. If
forced to make a suggestion, a little
more dancing would have been nice, but
I'm only nitpicking really.
“Ragtime” is certainly a classic musi
cal that can hold its own with the best of
them. It is a masterpiece that can be
musically adored for its magnificent
beauty and equally appreciated for its
disturbing depiction of real social issues.
Melanie Falk/DN
The (un)sDunds of silence
,v ^ 4 •
Music has become another outlet of noise for apathetic listeners
BY ANDREW SHAW
In Greg Kuzma’s advanced poetry writing class, all the
students were to write a poem and submit a copy to
everyone in the class.
We all gathered our new anthology and curled up into
our molded plastic chairs for some nice quiet reading
time. It was so quiet you could hear the lights buzz and
students’ feet crush gravel outside the window.
After ten minutes, the first whispers were passed
around the class like everyone's favorite “telephone”
game, followed by stifled giggles and curious eyes scan
ning to see if anyone else found the silence amusing.
When their eyes found acceptance from another pair
across the room, they would explode into laughter, which
grew from person to person until everyone was shouting
in a vain attempt to erase the silence of the previous 10
minutes.
In George Wolf’s gay and lesbian drama class, the stu
dents were given an assignment to read through “The
Second Coming of Joan of Arc” and find a passage to act
out.
While we did so, a recording of Norman Dello Joio’s
“Triumph of St. Joan” played on the stereo. Although I
didn’t concentrate on the music, it had a way of filling the
recesses of my head, plentiful as they may be, and
soothed me into a happy world of melodic noise.
In “Dancer in the Dark,” Selma gets lost in her world of
noise. The sounds of a passing train, heavy machinery
and squeaking shoes turn into a full-fledged Broadway
musical, fueled by Selma’s wild imagination and need to
escape from the realities of her impoverished life.
Once upon a time, music might have been used to
pass down stories from generation to generation or
record history in a memorable fashion, but since printing
was invented, the song as a recording device has become
obsolete.
In the time of widespread American protest, songs
carried political messages against war and in support of
Music Commentary
racial integration, uniting people behind a common goal.
But Christina Aguilera doesn't have a political agenda;
she just wants to shake her ass and make a buck (and she
does a mighty good job of both).
But she also fills the silence of our lives, and that may
be the most important function music has at the turn of
the millennium.
In silence comes the pressure to make noise.
Sometimes you fill the space with giddy laughter. The
silence between two people can lead to the most honest
conversations and the loudest fights. Other times, the
silence is filled with thought, and nothing can be scarier
than a head full of silent thoughts.
I think about the test I just took and whether I calcu
lated the derivative of the function of g over .he square
root of h correctly. I think of that girl that never gets out of
my head and how she never gets out of my head and won
der if my obsession with her is unnatural or uncommon
and whether I should go see CAPS right away to confess
my obsessive thoughts and purge the evil from my silent
mind.
I think about the guy who lives two doors down who
never opens his door but there’s that strange smell leak
ing out that might be cat poop, might be marijuana,
might be a Tyson’s chicken dinner or might be a combi
nation of all three. Sometimes I think about how much I
miss my dog, love my family and how lucky I am to have
grown up the way I did.
But I turn to the radio because thought has the poten
tial for cognitive dissonance. Shaggy, Britney, Macy Gray,
anything becomes better than the risk of thinking. The
music fills that unconscious space before the space
where thoughts are formed.
I remember listening to The Smashing Pumpkins
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” lying flat on my
In the time of widespread American
protest, songs carried political
messages against war and in support
of racial integration, uniting people
behind a common goal. But Christina
Aguilera doesn’t have a political
agenda; she just wants to shake her ass
and make a buck (and she does a
mighty good job of both).
But she also fills the silence of our lives,
and that may be the most important
function music has at the turn of the
millennium
back in my parents’ basement and truly listening to what
Billy Corgan was singing to me. I remember how he knew
my grief and how listening to “thirty-three” would make
me cry because he said it was OK to feel the way I did.
But now the radio inundates the basic of primal
thoughts, leaving me only with capacity to dance, drive or
drink. Now it just complacently fills that void that might
make me giggle or feel compelled to whisper to my neigh
bor, and my eyes glaze over.
I have become Selma, folding joyful beats and attract
ing people singing redundant and catchy melodies over
the reality of life, hiding the silence that has the potential
to make one insane, uncomfortable or inspired.
Music has been reduced to filling the silence of our
lives.
And if you think that's frightening, how about
Major
dissects
films
■Studentsand professors
agree that studying cinema is
more than"watching movies."
BY CHRIS JACOBS
New programs bring new
flair. With the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln’s installation
of Film Studies and Production
programs,
students have
the opportu
nity to expand
their academ
ic horizons,
and the class
es are filling
“We're
working
with a new
media,
up. and there’s
"The film .IW1:i.K
studies major ^ Similar
is intended offering
fou pe°ple anywhere
who under- . ' .
stand that &lse in
film has a Nebraska
strong histori
cal, theoreti
cal and criti
cal construe- Olney
tion,” said UNL professor
Professor
Wheeler
Winston Dixon, chairman of the
film studies program. "We’re
looking for students who seri
ously want to talk about film as a
discipline."
And it appears Dixon has
found a few - about 50 - for the
major that’s been available for
one year.
The Film Studies major is
Please see FILM on 6
Reggae
back at
the Zoo
■ Award-winning Dred I
Dread brings sound back to
Lincoln.
BY CRYSTAL K. WIEBE
Dedication and a song writ
ten 15 years ago are setting up
reggae band Dred I Dread for
success.
The
Minneapolis
based group will
perform at 9:30
tonight at The
Zoo Bar, 136 N.
14th St., for a
growing core of
Lincoln fans
who should
expect to hear
the group's sig
nature
reggae/hip-hop
sound in a mix
ture of old and
new songs.
Lead vocalist
Pee Wee Dred said while many
of the band’s songs have been
around for years, the message
“We’re
coming
at you,
and
we’re not
about to
bite our
tongue.’’
Pee Wee
Dred
lead vocalist
Please see DREAD on 6