Star City Blog

Halloween Release Party: "Touch People" et al at the Bourbon Theatre

By Cory Kibler

There are many sides to Darren Keen. Those who are unfamiliar with his live act are often alarmed, yet fascinated. Those who have followed his musical trajectory have witnessed his undying dedication to a unique aesthetic. Keen's aesthetic is not a narrow one, however; listening to one of Keen's musical monikers means letting go of any expectations.

The Show is the Rainbow, Keen's most popular project, is a frenzied in-your-face rap/dance/electronic act that is best experienced live. He shows his gentler, creepier side with Darren Keen, which is his solo guitar-based music. He's also created electronic dance music under the name Bad Speler. Bad Speler, which isn't anything like popular electronic acts like Deadmau5 or Pretty Lights, can be called schizophrenic, restless, startling, etc. Just as a hurried groove becomes thematic, Darren's on to the next self-produced beat, already bored with anything that's too straightforward. 

Touch People, the newest of Keen's acts, is already starting a ruckus. His debut LP, Show Me Your Dimensions, was officially released on October 25th on the Illegal Art imprint (most notably the home of Girl Talk). Like all of his musical ventures, it is anything but predictable. Unlike most of his acts, it's what some might call "down-tempo." Whereas The Show is the Rainbow and Bad Speler feel like unnerving and exhilarating carnival rides, Touch People takes its time.

That might be a little misleading; Show Me Your Dimensions is sometimes jittery and always unconventional. But throughout the record, Keen allows his beats to build and grow, taking on layers as they culminate. There are also discernible themes that go on for some time, allowing for a more-standard "hook." But it's Keen's MO to never let anything get too standard.

To celebrate the release of Show Me Your Dimensions (as well as a companion EP, Sound Expression), Keen is throwing a Halloween party on Monday, October 31st at the Bourbon Theatre (1415 O Street). Performing alongside Touch People will be local favorites UUVVWWZ, Machete Archive, Bassthoven, and The Outerspacemen. The front room will also feature DJ sets curated by DJ Blac.

Sample Track: Depth Of Width Part1

If you want to get freaked out by a large shirtless red-haired man in a packed room full of costumed weirdos this Halloween, the Bourbon Theatre is the place to be Halloween Eve.

Lincoln, Nebraska: Home on the Prairie | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine

The thing you have to understand about Lincoln is that it falls under the radar. Unless you’re from Nebraska—or possibly South Dakota or Iowa—it’s probably not a place you’d think of visiting, much less moving to. No matter how unaffordable life becomes in Brooklyn or Portland or Austin, Lincoln is unlikely to turn up on a list of “unexpected hipster destinations.” But, being extremely unhip, I moved there anyway. In 1999, when I was 29, I traded New York City for it and stayed nearly four years. This was a strange thing to do, and it perplexed a lot of people, particularly because I did not, contrary to some assumptions, go there for school or a guy or because I was in the witness protection program. As a result, there’s a part of me that feels like an impostor whenever I write or even talk about Lincoln. I’m not from there, I don’t live there now, and when I did live there, I occupied an often awkward middle ground between guest and resident. By this I mean that even though I lived in a house and had friends and a relationship and a book club and a dog, I was always regarded as “the person who moved here from New York for no particular reason.” In Nebraska that translates loosely into “deeply weird person.”

via www.smithsonianmag.com

Excellent article that, to some degree, speaks to my own Lincoln experience (sans farm animals). I'm not “the person who moved here from New [Jersey] for no particular reason.”  (I came to unite my family with my brother's, and to start a new adventure.) Still, there's much I can identify with in Meghan Daum's article about her relationship with this unique place. Enjoy.

Science Odyssey: No Dinosaurs in Heaven?

By Clay Farris Naff

The late Russian biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky famously said, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Today, virtually all professional biologists agree. Yet, evolution continues to be dissed or downplayed by a majority of high school science teachers in America, and even some college biology professors are closet creationists.

Filmmaker Greta Schiller learned this first hand when she enrolled in a graduate program for science teachers. Her encounter with a creationist biology professor led her to make a documentary called "No Dinosaurs in Heaven".

In Part 1, we hear from Schiller about her experience. Then, in Part 2, Professor Randy Moore of the University of Minnesota, a biologist firmly committed to the teaching of evolution, describes his research into the effects of high-school exposure to creationism in the science classroom.

No dinos, Part 1

No dinos, Part 2

"No Dinosaurs in Heaven" website and movie trailer:

http://www.nodinos.com/

 Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

"Lend Me a Tenor" Hits the Right Notes at the Lincoln Community Playhouse

By Ladd Wendelin

Cleveland, Ohio. 1934.

In a posh hotel suite, a short distance away from opening night of Verdi’s Otello, Tito Merelli (Ed Cutler), the great Italian tenor, “Il Stupendo” himself, lies belly up in bed, dead, the result of an accidental overdose of tranquilizers and wine. Saunders (Mark Kocsis), the opera company manager, and Merelli’s hapless attendant Max (Michael J. Corner) frantically pace about the room wondering how they’ll possibly be able to cover for the recently deceased with only an hour left before the curtain. Fortunately, Max, despite his personal insecurities, can sing opera. After donning a little blackface and Merelli’s Otello costume, he’s ready. Merelli’s adoring public awaits.

“Well, wish me luck,” says Max.

“We don’t need luck, Max. We need a miracle.”

“Lend Me A Tenor is one of my favorite farces,” writes director Morrie Enders in the program notes for Tenor, Ken Ludwig’s classic screwball farce, which opened Friday evening at the Lincoln Community Playhouse. “I totally get it.”

If Ender’s ever needed a foothold inside the doors of the Playhouse, now in its 66^th season, Tenor is it. His love for Ludwig’s script is obvious, as are those moments when you can plainly see his directorial stamp in the actor’s performances. Comedic timing is crucial in order for Tenor to take flight, as is pacing, rhythm, and layering the absurd spectacle of it all. In its most frenzied moments, the cast of Tenor achieved the requisite slapstick cadence and maintained a cartoonish forte throughout -- even if, at times (for example, halfway through Act One), this tone became somewhat subdued.

Luckily, Tenor has drawn some considerable talent from both Omaha and Lincoln, which is the show’s most captivating and appealing element. In fact, it could almost be argued that the show doesn’t take off until Kocsis, fresh from his performance as Vinnie in the Odd Couple at the Omaha Community Playhouse, takes the stage. Joining him are Cutler, who played Oscar, opposite Kocsis, in the Odd Couple (OCP), the debonair Corner as the timid Max, Rachele Brown (Maggie), Karen Statham (Julia), Jen Gleason (Maria), and Nicole Freburg-Hoffmeister (Diana). Playhouse veteran Justin Baldinger nearly steals the show as the Bellhop. His facial expressions and overall stage presence showed both a comedic range and subtlety that was fitting for his character, consistently feeding into the hijinks of each scene.  

Also of note, Aaron Wong’s art deco set, lined with six matching doors, was entirely functional and complimented the ensuing action nicely, even if the walls seemed rather stark and otherwise bare. It kept the focus on the performances, which is where it belonged.  

It’s been a while since I’ve attended a Playhouse production and, despite my initial reservations, Lend Me a Tenor proves there’s still blood pumping through the heart of LCP, passionate for theater and community while cultivating the legacy of one of Lincoln’s oldest theatrical institutions. With a mature, accomplished cast, Ludwig’s hilarious time-tested script and Ender’s informed direction, Tenor hits all the right notes.

Lend Me A Tenor runs Oct. 29^th, 30^th, and Nov. 3^rd-6^th with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thurs. – Sat. and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $10 for students, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 402-489-7529 or ingby order online at www.lincolnplayhouse.com

MOVIE REVIEW: Adventures in Unemployment: The “Westend” Films

By Justin Senkbile

Even if you already know a bit about German cinema, you probably haven't heard of the Kölner Gruppe (Cologne Group), much less seen any of the films by this loose-knit group of independent filmmakers. That's about to change, as The Ross, with the help of UNL Film Studies professor Marco Abel (who brought the films of the Berlin School to Lincoln a few years back, and who is himself a native of Cologne) will be hosting two of the filmmakers and their work this week.

Screened as a single program, this series includes the five shorts and one feature that make up the “Westend” cycle, a group of movies made between 1996 and 2010 by stars and co-directors Markus Mischkowski and Kai Maria Steinkühler. This will actually be the first U.S. screening of the cycle in its entirety, and the filmmakers will be on-hand for Q&A's following the Friday night and Sunday afternoon screenings.

Gently absurd and aggressively matter-of-fact, these comedies all focus on two persistently unemployed friends: Mike (Mischkowski) and Alfred (Steinkühler). They spend a lot of their time drinking beer outside a little bar nestled among project housing high-rises and searching for employment with honest resolve, only to consistently find themselves hopelessly out of place in the working world.

Their friend Rasto (Jens Classen), peddler of cheap organizer notebooks and enthusiast of getting rich quick, also factors in frequently. In 2010's “Wellenreiter” (“Waveriders”) Rasto recruits the guys to sell ice cream on the beach, a playful illustration of ideas from economist Harold Hotelling's essay “Stability in Competition”. And much of the 2001 feature “Westend” involves Mike and Alfred's less-than-gainful employment at a convenience store dubbed “Rast-O-Mania”.

The grainy, black and white aesthetic echoes early Jim Jarmusch and (on the lower end of the spectrum) Kevin Smith. And the deliberate, no-frills structure of the movies harkens back to the days of short one-reel comedies of the silent era. Jacques Tati seems to be an influence as well, both in the use of sound-effects in 2003's “Wolga” and also in the general pervading sense of a dysfunctional modernity.

But all that isn't to say that these are just some exercises in movie citation: Mischkowski and Steinkühler's sensitivity to their own particular place and time provides is what resonates. They're effective comedies, to be sure, and the funniest and most valuable moments come from the small truths revealed about lives lived in the margins, one day at a time, with nothing really special going on.

The “Westend” cycle is playing at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts center, 13^th and R streets, through November 2. A Q&A with the filmmakers will be held after the 6pm screening on Friday, October 28, and after the 3pm screening on Sunday, October 30.

 

It's a Bar, It's an Arcade, It's "Mix Barcade"

By Dustin Hunke

Arcade game enthusiasts have few options in downtown Lincoln. The closest real arcade has been Champion Fun Center.  As of last week, Lincoln residents have a new option.

Mix Barcade opened to the public last Thursday, October 20th, at 1427 O St.  The location formerly housed the Bricktop dance club for many years before The District briefly occupied the property early this year.  The barcade will be open from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., Monday through Saturday.

The business features a wide assortment of arcade games, including the fighting games Mortal Kombat 4, the racing game Daytona USA, a Player’s Choice machine featuring an assortment of classic Nintendo Entertainment System games and many more.  Most of the machines are set at 50 cents per play, with some machines costing less.  In addition to their impressive selection of games, Mix Barcade has alcohol for those that choose to partake.  In addition to a selection of tap beers (arriving soon) and typical bar drinks, Mix also offers two house sangrias.  Mix Sangria is a “classic” wine sangria, and they also offer a white sangria called White Lightening

The owners of Mix Barcade, Jamie and Josh Root, have completely remodeled the location since The District closed in May.  The renovations include the bar, taking tables and booths out for space where the arcade machines currently stand, the bathrooms and a complete overhaul of the stage and sound system in the building.  The sound system was custom designed by sound engineer Bryan Ruhs, the sound engineer and facility operations manager at The Bourbon Theatre and a stage technician at UNL.

“Mix has a 15,000 watt high energy sound system with state of the art QSC audio amplifiers and Grundorf audio speakers.  All custom engineered,” Ruhs said.

The Roots are also the owners and operators of The Fat Toad Pub at 1409 O St.  They plan on having DJs play electronic music at Mix on Friday nights, but the focus will not be on dance music.

“We aren't focusing to be another dance bar.  The DJs won't start until late at night, maybe around midnight,” Jamie said.

Mix Barcade was advertised to open during the weekend of Lincoln Calling, but, despite their best efforts, the Roots couldn't make it happen.

“Josh had an image in his head and he made it a reality.  Even with him working 18-hour days he just couldn't get it done in time.  We were sad it wasn't ready,” Jamie said.

Mix Barcade is still a work in progress.  There are more machines to be worked on, and the Roots plan on renovating the property further.

 As for the name of the establishment, Jamie Root explains, “We kept on trying to come up with some kind of description to help us give it a name.  We kept on saying that we have a mix of things going on.  Creating a space for a mix of different people to feel comfortable in, having a mix of things to do or to entertain. Then of course DJs relate to the term mixing.  We stretched it as long as we could without selecting a name and then Randy from the liquor commission called me up and said we had to have a name by the end of the day, so we just went with Mix.  Mix Barcade.”

MOVIE REVIEW: “Senna” Lives Life in the Fast Lane

By Justin Senkbile

At first glance, Ayrton Senna's dark, sullen features might lead you to believe he's a European movie star (he actually looks quite a bit like a cleaned-up Javier Bardem), or some kind of vaguely tormented artist. Truth is, Asif Kapadia's new documentary “Senna” reveals him to be a little bit of both.

But, as many may know, Senna was first and foremost a racing driver: a three-time Formula One world champion, to be exact. And this film traces the entirety of the man's career: from his early go-karting days in his home country of Brazil, to his quick ascent in the Formula One ranks, to his tragic end on an Italian racecourse.

All the political jockeying and ego preening inherent to professional sports are detailed as well. And its all anathema to the religious and poetically inclined Senna, who often seems (and confesses to be) restless and unfulfilled, even while he's at the peak of his fame.

Much of this story takes place in the late-eighties to the mid-nineties, the stretch of time where VCR's and consumer-grade camcorders started to get cheap and omnipresent. Which goes a long way in explaining the deep impact of “Senna”, and the level of intimacy Kapadia is able to achieve.

Not only do we get the insights offered from buckets of TV race footage (including several heart-stopping bits of video from Senna's in-car camera), but we also see him after the TV cameras had been put away: on vacation with his family, being feted back in Brazil, and in taut pre- and post-race meetings. Most profound of all, the film ends with extended and detailed scenes of the tense moments leading up to what would be his final race. As much as he was a star and a top form racer, Kapadia also reveals Senna to be a man who virtually lived and literally died on camera.

With such a wealth of material, the famous rivalry between Senna and French racer Alain Prost, for example, is therefore able to be played out for us as much through their glances and body language as through footage of the actual races. We've seen plenty of fiction films that act like documentaries; “Senna” is a documentary that looks and feels like a high-stakes studio thriller.

So the footage is a goldmine, but its what Kapadia and his editors were able to do with all of it that makes this such a polished piece of pure film craftsmanship. Whittling a career of ten years and countless races into a movie less than two hours long is no easy feat, and the fact that every second of it pulses with energy and ripples with tension is what makes “Senna” the sports movie of the year.

“Senna” is playing at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 13th and R streets, Friday, October 28 through Thursday, November 10.

Abendmusik Presents a Tribute to Veterans November 6

The Abendmusik Chorus and Orchestra will collaborate with the Doane College Choir to honor our veterans with beloved American music as well as the powerful and poignant setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry in Dona Nobis Pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams on Sunday, November 6 at 4:00p.m. at First-Plymouth Church, 20^th and D Streets in Lincoln.

The concert will open with Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” and then be followed by the Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem. This large six movement work for choir, orchestra and soprano and baritone soloists combines phrases from the Latin Mass (Dona nobis pacem translates as “Grant us peace”) with three poems by Walt Whitman, a political speech and selected biblical verses. This performance will feature soloists Zuri, soprano and Kevin Smith, baritone.  

The second half will include patriotic selections such as “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” along with selections that continue the hopeful theme of peace – “Let Peace then Still the Strife,” “Saints Bound for Heaven” by Mack Wilbert and the famous F. Melius Christiansen setting of “O Day Full of Grace.”

Tickets are $20 for Adults; $18 for Senior Citizens (age 62 and over) and $10 for Students (grade school through full-time college students.) Special rates are available for groups of ten or more.  For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.abendmusik.org or call (402) 476-9933.

Lincoln Halloween Tradition "BOO at the ZOO", October 26-30

BOO at the ZOO is Lincoln's largest and oldest Halloween tradition.  Families from around the community experience the Zoo at night for this 'merry not scary' event and children of all ages enjoy trick-or-treating in a safe environment surrounded by the Zoo's animals.  This event is the Lincoln Children's Zoo's main fundraising activity and allows the Zoo to provide quality care to our animals throughout the winter.  

Tickets are available now to meet some of your favorite costumed characters and fill your bag full of treats.  They can be purchased at the Lincoln Children's Zoo office Monday through Friday, 9am-4:30pm.  On Saturday October 22nd and Sunday October 23rd tickets will be available for purchase at the Zoo's gift shop from 12-4pm.   Ticket prices are as follows:

• Admission: $5 per person (admission is FREE for Lincoln Children's Zoo members)
• Early Bird Tickets: $4 per person (early entry to Boo at the Zoo) 
• Treat Bags: $3 per person (must be purchased for anyone planning to trick-or-treat)
• Train Rides: $2 per person
• Children under 2 years of age receive free admission and free train rides

Admission increases to $6 per person after the event starts, so be sure to purchase your tickets in advance.

Trick-or-treaters will be able to visit 40 Boo Stations generously sponsored by local businesses and organizations, including Bryan LGH Medical Center, Verizon Wireless, R.U. Nuts?, Union College and Cherry on Top. 

Parking is available in the north lot of Antelope Park, Lincoln High School and QP Ace Hardware/Ideal Grocery.  Star Tran shuttle buses will be running from these parking areas to the Zoo every 15 minutes.

For more information on the event visit the Boo at the Zoo web page.  

 

Wesleyan's "Enron" is a Safe Investment

By Ladd Wendelin

Whenever I see a play, I lend an ear and try to handpick a few quotes spoken by the actors that lend themselves to a broader interpretation of the action. Enron, which opened Thursday evening in the Miller Lab Theatre at Wesleyan (51^st & Huntington), is fully-equipped with such lines, so much so that they’d often whiz past me before I had a chance to scribble them in shorthand on my program. That was until the end of the play, when Enron president Jeff Skilling (Patrick O’Hare) quoted Mark Twain; “Do not part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”

Ideas, especially those dreamed up by “extraordinary men at four in the morning”, can sometimes be too powerful to let go, not to mention dangerous. Such is the reasoning of the guilty parties who rode the widening gyre of Enron during its inconceivable rise and inevitable, tragic collapse during the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. In 2008, a few years after the sentencing of Skilling, CFO Andrew Fastow (Richard Eisloeffel) and the death of CEO Ken Lay (Patrick Reese), British playwright Lucy Prebble premiered Enron on Broadway, where it closed to mixed reviews and zero Tony nominations after only a month.

In light of repeated economic downturns, corporate bailouts and a new movement spurred by the voices of disgruntled working Americans, it’s refreshing that Enron, directed by Jay Scott Chipman, is finding a second life in Wesleyan’s ’11-’12 season. Satirical, hard-hitting and performed with polish and finesse by a sizable cast, including the latest crop of Wesleyan’s standout actors and actresses, Enron is richly entertaining as it recounts the “truth” of the events as they took place inside the bubble of a corporate giant so big it was bound to burst. 

Wesleyan’s production staff never skimps on details nor concept when they can get away with it, and Michael Reese’s set design is a prime example of that. The world of Skilling, Fastow and Lay is composed of tiered platforms that rise above the audience’s heads, and all too soon is it clear that you’re in a thicket of color-coated bar and line graphs with the menacing, forked “E” Enron logo leering down at you from almost every angle. Status and rank amongst those along Enron’s corporate ladder are striking in this highly effective and engaging set, as Chipman expertly weaves his cast in and out of the escalating stakes of each scene.

 O’Hare is for the most part convincing as Skilling, the smartest guy in the room, the self-proclaimed visionary who, in cahoots with his fellow conspirators, sought to eradicate Enron’s bad stocks to improve their financial statements by doing business with and within the company itself. Along with Reese, a confident performance by Esloeffel and Kelsey Arendt as the sexy, savvy Rebecca Mark (former head of Enron International), it’s difficult to fault consistently good performances. At times, O’Hare skimps on the gravitas and instead seems a bit too jolly in his character interp. The rest of the cast, a rogue’s gallery of suits and ties swimming in martinis, is on fire during trading floor scenes as a they morph into a chorus of cutthroat traders eager to secure their place in the quagmire of Enron.

Like last season’s Listen to Me, Enron is a bold, challenging script, and once again Wesleyan has assembled a cast, crew, and director to tell the haunting story of a time and place where illusions, fragile and fleeting as they are, were the safest bet.

Enron runs this weekend, Oct. 21 - 23 and next weekend, Oct.  27 - 30, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2:00 p.m. Sundays in the Miller Lab Theatre (51st and Huntington). Tickets are $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and $5 for students, and can be purchased by calling the box office at 402.465.2384. Contains strong language, adult themes.