Song and Dance Man Hines Brings Star Power to Lied

Broadway, movie and television star Gregory Hines brings his abundant talents to Lincoln for two performances at 8 p.m. April 28 and 29 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Local comedian Juli Burney will open both shows.

Hines personifies the term "multi-talented." He has a dance style so controlled it appears effortless; an ease with a song and an acting talent that lends itself to the Broadway stage, film and television. Hines won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his riveting portrayal of jazz man "Jelly Roll" Morton in the Broadway production of Jelly's Last Jam.

When he was almost 3 years old, Hines began dancing with big brother Maurice, under the tutelage of tap master Henry LeTang. As soon as Hines turned 5, the brothers went professional as the Hines Kids, making nightclub appearances around the country and virtually growing up at the Apollo Theater. There they were witness to the performances and advice of tap dance legends like Honi Coles, Sandman Sims, the Nicholas Brothers and Teddy Hale (Hines' personal source of inspiration). Gregory and Maurice grew into the Hines Brothers and when Gregory was 18, they were joined by Maurice Sr. on drums to become Hines, Hines and Dad.

They toured internationally and appeared frequently on The Tonight Show, but Hines was restless to get away from the non-stop years on the road. He moved to California and for a time left dancing behind, exploring alternatives that included his forming a jazz-rock band, "Severance."

Hines moved back to New York City and immediately landed a role in The Last Minstrel Show. The show closed in Philadelphia, but launched Hines back into the performing arts, and just a month later came Eubie, a certified Broadway hit and the first of four Tony nominations. Comin' Uptown, though not a success, led to another nomination and Sophisticated Ladies to a third.

Hines made the initial transition from dancer/singer to film actor in Mel Brooks' The History of the World, Part I, having been suggested to the director by co-star Madeline Kahn. He followed that in quick succession with The Wolfen (now a cult classic).

In 1988, Hines starred in Tap, a film which combined his love of both dance and drama. With full-scale production numbers filmed on location in New York City and Hollywood, with an original soundtrack created especially for the look and style of the film, Tap became the first dance musical to merge tap dancing with contemporary rock and funk musical styles. It also featured a host of tap dance legends, including Sandman Sims, Bunny Briggs, Harold Nicholas and Hines' co-star, Sammy Davis Jr.

In 1990 Hines teamed with Forrest Whitaker, Danny Glover and Robin Givens in Bill Dukes' stylish film adaptation of A Rage in Harlem. In 1987 he starred with Willem Dafoe in 20th Century Fox's action thriller, Off Limits. Set against the political backdrop of Saigon in 1968, Hines and Dafoe played military investigators tracking a killer through the war zone. The release of the hit comedy Running Scared in 1986 teamed Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines as two irreverent, but effective, Chicago policemen.

Other film roles range from White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Isabella Rossellini to Francis Ford Coppola's The Cotton Club (both of which blended dance into the dramatic framework of their stories) to Deal of the Century, a wickedly dark comedy co-starring Sigourney Weaver and Chevy Chase.Hines' work in television includes an Emmy-nominated performance on Motown Return to the Apollo, an on-camera stint as host for Showtime's Dance of the Decade series and a guest starring role in the first season of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. His PBS special, Gregory Hines: Tap Dance in America, won an Emmy Award in 1989. Hines has also starred in numerous television movies including his most recent performance as Mr. Bojangles in The Bill Robinson Story on Showtime.

In 1995 Hines expanded his talents to include the role of film director. His directorial debut was the independent feature film Bleeding Hearts. A contemporary romantic drama, it explores the precarious relationship between a 30-year-old white male radical and a black female high school student.

Opening act Juli Burney is well known to Nebraska audiences. For 15 years Burney has been performing her witty brand of comedy as well as serving the community as a motivational speaker, communication consultant and college professor. Burney has toured the country as a headlining performer at numerous comedy clubs and private bookings. She has been featured in comedy specials on Showtime and HBO and was one of the co-stars of the successful comedy special Humor from the Heartland, which filmed before a sold-out audience at the Lied Center. In addition to her many other commitments, Burney has been seen as the "Monday Morning Motivator" on Lincoln's KOLN/KGIN and often drops in for guest appearances with the popular "Donut Holes" morning program on Lincoln radio station KFRX.

Pre-performance talks begin 55 and 30 minutes prior to curtain in the Lied's Steinhart Room.

Tickets are $39, $35 and $31; half-price for students. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 for ticket availability.

A camp participant plays flute in an ensemble, part of the Summer Great Plains Music Camp experience.

Developing Musical Leadership

Great Plains Music Camp June 10-17

Musicians in grades 9-12 who are interested in developing their musical leadership qualities are invited to attend the Great Plains Music Camp June 10-17 at the UNL School of Music. Campers will have exceptional opportunities to develop individual musical skills and interests by working closely with Nebraska's largest faculty of professional musicians and teachers.

All students participate in one large ensemble and a music theory class or two large ensembles. In addition students may choose from a variety of electives, including vocal and instrumental jazz ensembles, vocal and instrumental chamber ensembles, show choir, keyboard study, music and computers, jazz basics and understanding music. Evening activities include concerts presented by UNL faculty, students, and guest artists; a production by the Nebraska Repertory Theatre (admission charge); student talent show and dance party. The camp concludes with a concert by the band, orchestra, and chorus in the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The camp fee is $310 which includes two private lessons, room and meals in a university residence hall and the use of recreational facilities on campus. Fee excluding over-night housing and breakfast is $230.

Application forms are available from Janet Sievert, Great Plains Camp Coordinator, 121 Westbrook Music Building, Lincoln, NE 68588-0100, (402) 472-6830, or e-mail jsievert1@unl.edu.

Fig Eater Author Reading April 21

Jody Shields, a Lincoln native and UNL graduate, will read from her highly acclaimed first novel The Fig Eater at 7:30 p.m. April 21 in the Dudley Bailey Library, 228 Andrews Hall. The reading, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the English department and the Creative Writing Program. Shields has worked as an editor at The New York Times, House and Garden, Details and Vogue ans is the author of two nonfiction fashion books. The Fig Eater was inspired by one of Freud's case histories.

Welsch Guest Is Nebraska Author Ron Block

Ron Block, a Nebraska-born author who now teaches English at Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte, will be the guest on Roger Welsch & when the interview series airs at 8:30 p.m. April 28 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. The program will repeat on EduCable at 4 p.m. May 7.

Block is a poet and fiction writer who was born in Gothenburg, "a town of 3,500 that lists no fewer than 34 Blocks in the phone directory," according to the author. His most recent book, The Dirty Shame Hotel, is a collection of short stories that won the 1998 Minnesota Voices Project.

According to Kirkus Reviews, "Poet Block's story debut is a find: droll tales full of real, rumpled, irony-laden life ­ at his very best, Block turns the dreariness of existence in Nebraska or the Dakotas into something approaching musical hymns to humanity. A Sherwood Anderson for our time ­ funny, ironic, inventive, brimming with sympathy."

Besides teaching, Block has held a variety of jobs ­ constructing a rodeo, binding books, writing film reviews, tooling leather and farming with his father ­ and has lived in locations as diverse as Maine, New Orleans and Fargo, N.D., before coming full-circle back to Nebraska.