Albers Prints Next Up at Sheldon

Josef Albers, Formulation: Articulation, an exhibition of 20 prints selected from a double portfolio in the Sheldon's permanent collection, runs through May 7.

Published in 1972, the double portfolio Formulation: Articulation consists of 127 prints that articulate Albers' aesthetic theories of color and formal relations.

Albers, (1888-1976), is one of the most important and influential artists and art educators in the history and development of American art in the 20th century. He was one of the original teachers in the German Bauhaus, which focused on the integration of all the arts into society through an intensive educational curriculum. Although he entered the Weimar Bauhaus as a student in 1920, he took over teaching the foundation course, furniture design, drawing, and calligraphy from 1923 until it was closed by the Nazis in 1933. But it was after he immigrated to the United States in 1933 that Albers, like his fellow art educator Hans Hofmann, would achieve his international reputation.

From 1933 to 1949 Albers taught at the famous Black Mountain College in North Carolina where such important artists as John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Kline studied and taught. After Black Mountain College, Albers was chair of the Department of Design at Yale University from 1950 to 1960.

Albers' early training in stained-glass formed the foundation for his life-long concern, articulated in both his paintings and his teaching, for the formal pictorial problems of space, light, color and their interactions both in the art of the past and the abstract arts of the 20th century.

Formulation: Articulation is a retrospective survey of Albers' research into line and color.

Formulation: Articulation features many aesthetic themes that occupied him throughout his career: the relationships between shape and color, the relationships and optical effects of various color interactions, and the importance of working in a series; that is, working through a single idea via many formal manifestations. Albers has said, "I think art parallels life; it is not a report on nature or an intimate disclosure of inner secrets. Color, in my opinion, behaves like man ­ in two distinct ways: first in self-realization and then in the realizations of relationships with others."

Lied Meets Broadway

Fiddle-de-dee: Who's Up on the Roof?

The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts meets Broadway with the production of Fiddler on the Roof scheduled for April 6-9, at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Show times will be 8 p.m. on April 6 through 8 with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on April 9. Veteran actor Joseph Gallo III stars "Tevye."

Fiddler on the Roof, a Tony Award-winning musical, revolves around Tevye, a pious man, who with his wife Golde, is trying to raise five daughters according to the ways of the Good Book. Yet within the Jewish community of Anatevka, a small peasant town in Czarist Russia, the old "tradition" must make way for the changing world around them. After a pogrom takes place at a daughter's wedding, the community realizes that the old way of life is changed forever and sets out to find new lives in new lands, taking with them their few meager possessions and their abiding faith. Classic songs such as "Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man" and "Sunrise, Sunset" are part of the score.

William Shomos directs the production; Kelly Holdcombe is choregraphing the work and Tyler White conducts the orchestra.

Other contributors are: Xuzheng He, scenic design; William Kenyon, lighting design; Dennis Befeler, Theatre Arts technical director; Janice Stauffer, costume design; Dennis Chandler, sound design; and Brad Buffum, stage manager.

Gallo, who makes his home in Branson, Mo., has portrayed the role of The Auditioner/Narrator in the award-winning production of The Promise in Branson for the last four years, as well as numerous other regional theatrical productions including Hello, Dolly; Destry Rides Again; Damn Yankees and Anything Goes.

The characters of Tevye the dairyman, his wife and five daughters, and other dwellers in the village of anatevka first came to attention in the stories written in Yiddish by the popular fiction writer who called himself Sholom Aleichem (literally "Peace Be with You" in Hebrew). The stories appeared in various publications in eastern Europe and then spread to Yiddish publications in America and elsewhere in the years 1905 through 1910. Over the years, they became world favorites in many languages.

This continuing interest was accelerated in 1953 when Arnold Perl put together a series of short plays based on Aleichem's stories, including one by I.L. Peretz, which under the title of "The World of Sholom Aleichem" dramatically vivified the life of the Jewish shtetls in Czarist Russia, a picturesque, though impoverished life that had disintegrated considerably during World War I and was destroyed in World War II.

The success of "The World of Sholom Aleichem" encouraged Perl and in 1957 he brought out a play about that indomitable milkman of Anatevka, which he called Tevye and His Daughters. Joseph Stein believed the Tevye stories could be made into a musical, and Fiddler on the Roof was the result.

Tickets for the performance are $28, $24 and $20; half-price for students.

Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 for ticket availability.

Holloway Recital April 2

The School of Music presents faculty artist Peggy Holloway, soprano in a recital "Songs for all Seasons," at 3 p.m. April 2 in Kimball Hall. Admission is free.

Holloway will be assisted by Michael Cotton, piano; Diane Cawein, clarinet; and Tom Larson, jazz piano. For this program of "seasonal" songs, Holloway has chosen works by Mozart, Debussy, Copland, Barber, Rodgers and Hart, Lerner and Lowe and many others.

Holloway earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance from UNL, where she was a student of Donna Harler-Smith.

Holloway was selected in 1994 for the prestigious National Association of Teachers of Singing Internship Program. She currently teaches applied voice and voice pedagogy at UNL. She was the instructor of voice at Peru State College for three years and is in her third year as an adjunct voice instructor at Dana College.

Holloway has performed as a soloist with the Clarion Chamber Chorale, The Nebraska Choral Arts Society and The Voices of Omaha. Her recent concert appearances include the Faure Requiem, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, the Vivaldi Gloria, Handel's Messiah, and Bach's Cantata 81. She has appeared frequently as a recitalist on concert series in Nebraska and Kansas and is active in musical theatre. Principal roles include Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Tytania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and ingenue leads in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan productions. She received a 1996 Omaha Theatre Arts Guild award nomination for her portrayal of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance.

Holloway is a regular performer of contemporary music. In 1996, she premiered song cycles by Nebraska composers Randall Snyder and Thomas Ediger. In the spring of 1997, she premiered the song cycle Days: Three Songs for Soprano which was composed specifically for her by Thomas Ediger. As the leading authority on the art songs of composer Marion Bauer, she has presented lecture recitals at the regional and national level.

Clarinetist MacDowell Recital April 13

The School of Music presents guest clarinetist Richard MacDowell in recital at 8 p.m. April 13 in Kimball Hall. Admission is free. He will be assisted by Nicole Narboni, piano; Mark Clinton, piano; and Diane Cawein, E-flat clarinet. For his program, MacDowell has chosen works by Schumann, Leslie Bassett, Dan Welcher, Bassi and Francaix.

MacDowell has taught and performed extensively throughout the United States. He has performed in festivals in Killington, Vt., Columbus, Ga., Victoria, Texas, Claremont, Calif., Monadnock, N.H., Northwood Orchestra, Mich., Harvard University, the Greek Islands and Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He has toured New England and the southern United States with the Catskill Quintet.

MacDowell has taught at Ithaca College, State University of New York at Oneonta, Colgate, Cornell and Florida State, Interlochen Arts Academy and the National Music Camp. His study and degrees are from Eastman, New England Conservatory, Northwestern University, Florida State University, where he was a student of Robert Marcellus, Stanley Hasty, and Fred Ormand.

MacDowell is on the faculty of University of Texas at Austin, where he is a member of The Solar Winds Woodwind Quintet, and frequently performs in faculty chamber music ensembles.

Nebraska Rep Theatre Individual Tickets Available

Nebraska Repertory Theatre individual show ticket sales began March 27.

Tickets for performances of the Children's Summer Theatre production of Frederick Gaines' Sleeping Beauty are available at the box office in the Temple Theatre Buiding, 472-2073. Sleeping Beauty, the tale of a beautiful young princess placed under a spell at birth by an evil fairy, will be performed at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. May 18, 19 and 20 on the Howell Theatre stage. Tickets are $6.

Tickets for The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Picnic are sold through the Lied Center box office, 472-4747. The Last Night of Ballyhoo, the 1939 story of Atlanta's high society German Jews, explores the Fritag family's search for love in the midst of Hitler's invasion of Poland, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. July 7, 8, 20, 22, 26, 28 and Aug. 3 and 5, and at 3 p.m. July 30 in the Johnny Carson theater. The July 6 and 14 performances are sold out.

Picnic, in rotating repertory with Ballyhoo, is the story of neighbors who have at least one thing in common ­ they are living in all-female households. This provides an interesting challenge for Hal Carter who enters the scene with animalistic vitality. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. July 13, 15, 21, 27, 29 and Aug. 2 and 4, and at 3 p.m. July 23 and Aug. 6 in the Howell Theatre.

Picnic and The Last Night of Ballyhoo individual tickets are $7 for students/youth; $18 for faculty/staff/senior citizens, and $20 all others.

Nebraska Public Radio Network Issues Call For War Letters

Nebraska Public Radio is asking Nebraskans to send copies of letters written by servicemen and women from the front-lines of war for a Nebraska Public Radio Network special to be broadcast on Memorial Day 2000.

Nebraska Public Radio, in cooperation with The Legacy Project and the UNL Department of Theatre Arts plans to bring these compelling stories of America's sons and daughters to life through a special program titled The War Letters.

Andrew Carroll, a young historian based in Washington, D.C., has amassed more than 15,000 letters written from servicemen and women to family and friends. Last year, he began The Legacy Project, which will house an archive of millions of unpublished letters from America's soldiers, sailors and air crew recounting their experiences. The New Yorker magazine published 15 of them in its December 1999 issue. Each letter depicts in a highly dramatic and literary fashion the mental, emotional and physical battles of our troops.

Nebraska Public Radio is producing a documentary that will dramatize the letters published in The New Yorker. NPRN General Manager Steve Robinson is seeking similar letters from Nebraska families to incorporate into the program. He plans to use UNL theatre majors to portray the letter writers.

The program will air in the morning, afternoon and evening on May 29. In addition to the three broadcasts, there will be a live call-in program at noon CT/11 a.m. MT.

"They are extraordinarily powerful and moving (letters), unlike anything I've ever read," Robinson said. "The letters not only reveal the horror of war, many also reveal the extreme patriotism and bravery of these men and women."

The letters already selected reveal astounding heroism, deep patriotism, compassion, even humor, embedded in the horrors of war. Without exception, the letters are superbly written historical war documents that tell the story of America in the 20th century.

Nebraskans who wish to share their letters or the letters of their loved ones are asked to send copies -- not the original documents -- to Robinson by April 15. Submissions should include the name, rank and branch of service of the letter writer, the approximate date the letter was written or received, the location of the serviceman or woman at the time the letter was written and any other information that would help tell his or her story.

Copies should be mailed to: Steve Robinson, Nebraska Public Radio Network, PO Box 83111, Lincoln, NE 68501

Questions may be directed to Robinson at (402) 472-9333, ext. 346.

Grammy-winning Brave Combo on Backstage Pass

Brave Combo ­ this year's Grammy Award winner for Best Polka Album ­ will appear on the Backstage Pass program airing at 9 p.m. April 7 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. This Backstage Pass will also be telecast on EduCable at 8 p.m. April 10.

A band that's not afraid to take musical chances, Brave Combo "likes to break down people's perceptions about what's cool to like in music," says founder Carl Finch. By combining jazz, pop, world music, polka, zydeco, salsa, cumbia and conjunto, the band has shattered stylistic barriers and scrambled musical genres.

With several albums to their credit ­ including Polkasonic, which won the Grammy ­ the high-energy band was captured in performance at Lincoln's legendary blues establishment, the Zoo Bar.

Among the songs featured on Brave Combo's Backstage Pass appearance are "Habanera," "Beer Barrel Polka," "High Pounce Polka," "The Teletubbies Theme," "16 Tons" and the notorious "Hokey Pokey."

CandidatE Moore Appears on ETV, NPRN: Nebraska Secretary of State Scott Moore will discuss his candidacy for the Nebraska Republican Party's U.S. Senate nomination when he appears on Q&A, the statewide Nebraska ETV Network's weekly interview series, at 7 p.m. April 6.

Ward Jacobson, Q&A host, and Nancy Finken, Nebraska Public Radio Network news director, will interview Moore. The interview will be re-broadcast on Nebraska Public Radio at 6 p.m. April 7.

Each edition of Q&A repeats on EduCable on the following Sunday at 3:30 p.m., and on the following Tuesday at 8 a.m.

Moore, a native of York, was elected to the Nebraska State Legislature in 1986 at the age of 26. He was elected secretary of state, the officer responsible for overseeing state elections and managing official state records, in 1994 and re-elected in 1998.

Moore is one of six candidates for the GOP nomination who have agreed to appear on Q&A.

Welsch Talks with Author Authors

Gerry Cox and Carol MacDaniels, co-authors of Guide to Nebraska Authors, are the guests on ROGER WELSCH & when the interview series airs at 8:30 p.m. April 7 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. The program will repeat on EduCable, at 4 p.m. April 16, at 4 p.m.

Authors Cox and MacDaniels, with the assistance of the Nebraska English Language Arts Council have produced a Guide to Nebraska Authors, featuring short biographies of more than 700 notable past and contemporary Nebraska authors. The painstakingly researched book features those authors earning national and international recognition for their work as well as those lesser-known. It is published by Dageforde Publishing, Inc.

Between the Lions Premieres on Nebraska ETV

As every parent knows, it's a jungle out there if you don't know how to read!

Literacy is a serious issue, but Between the Lions, a new public television series airing weekdays at 11 a.m., beginning April 3 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network, makes learning to read a laughing matter with a menagerie of colorful characters and a zany mix of songs, stories, skits, puppets, animation and live action. Between the Lions can also be seen on EduCable at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning April 4.

The half-hour series ­ designed to open up a world of literature and learning for four-to-seven-year-old children ­ is named for a family of lions: Theo and Cleo and their cubs, Lionel and Leona. They run a library where books, words and story characters come vividly and magically to life, transforming the sometimes confusing process of learning to read into an entertaining adventure for young viewers.

Each episode of Between the Lions centers on a book or other reading material that the lions and their friends discover in the library and at the core of each show is a state-of-the-art curriculum designed to teach reading skills.