Godspell, complete with an updated soundtrack, spreads its message at the Lied Center beginning April 6.

Updated Godspell To Enchant Audiences at Lied Center

Broadway favorite Godspell brings its uplifting message to the Lied Center for five performances. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. April 6; 2 and 7:30 p.m. April 7, and 2 and 7 p.m. April 8.

Godspell tells the story of the Gospel according to St. Matthew in an updated, contemporary way, with more modern staging, costumes and attitude.

Godspell has enchanted audiences from its first presentation at Carnegie Mellon University, where its creator, John-Michael Tebelak, staged it for his thesis project in 1971. After staging the show at the Cafe La MaMa to enthusiastic audiences, Godspell then moved off-Broadway. After five successful years, Godspell finally made the move to Broadway's Ambassador Theatre in 1976, where it stayed for 527 performances. In 1973 Godspell became a motion picture starring Victor Garber and David Haskell.

Godspell became the launching pad for two outstanding entertainment careers. John-Michael Tebelak gained substantial recognition, including the 1971 New York Drama Desk citation as Most Promising Director. Tebelak went on to stage many other productions before his death in 1985 at age 36.

Godspell's composer and lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, has achieved an extraordinary career. After winning two Grammy Awards as the producer of the Godspell soundtrack album, Schwartz went on to create Pippin in 1972, as well as other Broadway musicals. More recently, Schwartz was the co-creator of the scores for the movies Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Prince of Egypt. Scott Schwartz, son of the composer, directs this touring production of Godspell.

Fred Stuart, education director of the Lincoln Community Playhouse, will deliver a preperformance talk 30 minutes prior to curtain in the Lied's Steinhart Room.

Tickets are $38, $34 and $30, half price for students. Groups of 25 or more qualify for an additional discount. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.

Oscar-Nominated Riegert Attending April 7 Screening

Acclaimed actor turned director Peter Riegert, whose directorial debut By Courier was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, will be appearing in person at a screening of By Courier at 7:30 p.m. April 7 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater. This will be followed by a screening of Local Hero.

Adapted from an O. Henry story, By Courier is a witty and charming short film demonstrating that love is love in any language-or dialect. This film premiered at the internationally prestigious Telluride Film Festival last fall.

Riegert is well known for his engaging and low key performances in films like National Lampoon's Animal House, Crossing Delancey, and Local Hero - all three of which will be showing at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater on April 7 and 8 - as well as numerous performances on stage and TV, most recently as the star of David Mamet's Broadway play The Old Neighborhood and in a recurring role in HBO's The Sopranos.

Other screenings on April 7 are National Lampoon's Animal House at 1 p.m., and Crossing Delancey at 3 p.m. Screenings on April 8 are Local Hero at 3 p.m., Crossing Delancey at 5 p.m., and National Lampoon's Animal House at 7 p.m. By Courier will be screened before each of the features at all of the screenings. Admission is $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for students, senior citizens, children, and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.

Surrealism in Photography at Sheldon Gallery

A photo exhibition composed of more than 40 works from the Sheldon Gallery's permanent collection demonstrates the influence of Surrealism on 20th century photography. Surrealism in Photography opens April 10 and runs through July 1.

Enrique Martinez Celaya will discuss his photographic work in relation to Surrealism in Photography in a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. April 13.

The relationship between Surrealism and photography in the 20th century is important and complex. Surrealism emerged as a major presence on the international avant-garde stage in 1924 with André Breton's First Surrealist Manifesto. Breton was the driving force behind Surrealism as a literary and visual arts movement, a movement that would continue into the 1940s in New York. A poet who served in World War I as a psychiatrist who carried on lengthy professional correspondence with Sigmund Freud, Breton sought to revolutionize society through the development of literary and visual art forms that would release the creative potential and energy that had been suppressed through the conventions of an overly rationalized modern society.

Art historian Rosalind Krauss has observed that "Surrealist photography exploits the special connection to reality with which all photography is endowed." Following Krauss's lead, Surrealism in Photography explores this "Surrealist vision" inherent in 20th-century photography through the Sheldon Art Gallery's permanent collection. Photographers as diverse as James Alinder, Diane Arbus, Eugene Atget, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Ralph Meatyard, Josef Sudek, and William Wegman show how 20th-century photographic aesthetics have been shaped by Surrealism.

Maurer Featured in Sheldon Exhibition

The first American artist to incorporate European modernist ideas, Alfred H. Maurer (1868-1932) was influential in introducing the innovations of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and other members of the avant-garde to American painters and sculptors.

Through prescient acquisitions by the Nebraska Art Association from the 1950s and a bequest by New York gallery dealer Bertha Schaefer, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery owns 29 Maurer paintings dating from his earliest mature work to the end of his career. A selection of approximately 20 works from this collection, representing all phases of the artist's development, is featured in Alfred H. Maurer: American Modernist, on view April 10 through July 1 at the Sheldon. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The son of an illustrator, Maurer was reared in an artistic environment and apprenticed to a lithographer as a youth. In 1897, he traveled to Paris, where he studied briefly, then largely trained himself by sketching at the Louvre. Influenced by artists James McNeill Whistler and William Merritt Chase, whose paintings attracted the attention of many young Americans studying in France, by the turn of the century Maurer was producing dark-toned canvases depicting female figures and Paris cafes. In 1901 he received a first prize from the prestigious Carnegie Museum (Pittsburgh) and during the next four years, Maurer earned additional medals and accolades in the United States and abroad.

Although many of Maurer's works from this period were destroyed when he left Paris at the outbreak of World War I, several rare examples are in the Sheldon's collection. Study for Jeanne, a canvas made in preparation for a well-known larger painting, and Cafe Interior of 1904 are insights into the artist's early style and his interest in scenes of daily life.

By 1906 Maurer was adopting the vibrant colors and schematic rendering of the emerging French painters dubbed "Fauves" (or "Wild Beasts") in his canvases, including his famous Woman with Hat and Landscape with Farm (both 1907), also on view. These paintings reflect his exposure to the work of such artists as Matisse in the pivotal 1905 Salon d'Automne exhibition and at the apartment of American collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. Maurer first presented his new work in European exhibitions, but in 1909 with John Marin was the first American modernist painter to have his work exhibited at Alfred Stielglitz's avant-garde Fifth Avenue gallery, 291. Despite the severe criticism his work received in art reviews in the United States, Maurer persisted in exploring modernist principles in colorful landscapes and still-lifes.

When Maurer was forced to leave Europe in 1914, he anticipated returning to Paris, but in fact stayed in the United States for the rest of his life. He settled with his aging father and, although isolated from European modernist developments, continued to explore new styles. Maurer investigated the approaches of Cezanne and cubist artists and by the mid 1920s, he was creating a series of "portraits" that focused first on half-length figures and then on heads presented in increasingly abstract form.

Maurer's relationship with his aging father has been characterized as tumultuous and was especially stressful after the elder, conservative artist was rediscovered by the popular press in the mid-1920s. Although Maurer gained New York gallery representation at about the same time, his experimental work never provided him the support he envisioned and was dismissed by his parent. Shortly after his father's death at the age of 100, a discouraged Maurer took his own life.

On May 16, as part of Sheldon's free "Wednesday Walk" series, Sheldon Director Jan Driesbach will discuss works in Alfred H. Maurer: American Modernist from 12:15 to 1 p.m.

School of Music Offers Up April Selections

April performances at the School of Music include faculty and student recitals, a dance recital, a comedic musical and the Scarlet and Cream singers.

General admission tickets for Kimball Hall performances are $5 for adults and $3 for students, and are available at the door one hour before the performance.

Once Upon a Mattress will be performed at 2:30 p.m. April 1; 7:30 p.m. April 5, 6, 7 and 2:30 p.m. April 8, at the Star City Dinner Theatre, 8th and Q streets. Call 477-8277 for ticket information.

A Dance Concert will be performed at 2 and 7 p.m. April 1 in Kimball Hall. Tickets are $10 adults, $5 students and are available at the door beginning one hour before the performance.

Faculty artists Diane Cawein, clarinet, and Tony Falcone, percussion, will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 3 in Kimball Hall. The performance is free.

On April 5, faculty artists, the Clinton/Narboni Duo, piano, will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall in a free concert.

The Scarlet and Cream Singers will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. April 7 in Kimball Hall. Tickets are $12 adults, $10 Nebraska Alumni Members and $6 students, and are available at the Lied Center Box Office.

Flute Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 9. Primarily for high school and college flutists, it includes master classes, recitals and exhibits. Call John Bailey at 472-2651, e-mail <jbailey1@unl.edu> for more information. A finale concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall. The concert is free.

The Campus Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 10 in Kimball Hall. General admission.

The Music of Student Composers will be presented at 7:30 p.m. April 11 in Kimball Hall in a free concert.

The Percussion Ensemble, with Al Rometo and Anthony Falcone conducting, will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 12 in Kimball Hall. The concert is free.

The Jazz Ensemble II and Jazz Vocal Ensembles will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 17 in Kimball Hall. Sheryl Monkelien and Arthur White will conduct. General admission.

Jazz Ensemble I will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. April 18 in Kimball Hall. Gene Smith will conduct the showcase ensemble of the Jazz Studies program. General admission tickets are $5 adults, $3 students and are available at the door.

The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 20 in Kimball Hall. General admission.

The University Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 21 in Kimball Hall. Michael Cochran, tenor, and Allen French, horn, join director Tyler White and the orchestra in Britten's haunting Serenade for tenor, horn and strings. Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Sibelius' Symphony No. 2 will also be performed. General admission.

A Choral Concert will be presented at 6:30 p.m. April 22 in Kimball Hall. University Chorale, Varsity Chorus, University Singers, Collegiate Chorus, and Concert Choir will perform. General admission.

U Chorale Seeks Alumnae for Reunion Concert

University Chorale is looking for some 2,000 past members of the School of Music singing group for a reunion concert set for 3 p.m. April 29.

The concert will celebrate the retirement of Carolee Curtright, a professor of music education who has conducted the choir for 23 years.

University Chorale has traditionally included some music majors, but the majority of the all-woman membership comes from other disciplines across campus. Most sang in high school and wanted to continue singing during college years.

If you sang in the Chorale during your college years, you are invited to be part of the concert. Former members will meet at 1 p.m. on April 29 for a rehearsal of some chosen pieces for the concert. The present Chorale will perform alone and with the alumni. The concert is designed with a variety of music from years past.

Notify notify Curtright as soon as possible by phone, 472.3349, or email: ccurtright1@unl.edu if you wish to participate.

Curtright began conducting of the University Chorale in the Fall of 1978. Initially the Chorale had 25 women but it has grown to a consistent participation of 45-50 singers per semester. Often more than half of the ensemble changes each semester because of course conflicts but singers continue to return to the ensemble year after year.

Clinton/Narboni Duo to Perform April 5

The Clinton/Narboni Duo present a faculty piano recital, Masterworks for Two Pianos by Brahms at 7:30 p.m. April 5 in Kimball Recital Hall. Admission is free. For their program, they have selected Brahms's Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Opus 56b and Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, Opus 34b.

Mark Clinton and Nicole Narboni have been collaborating at the keyboard since 1986 when they met as colleagues in the studio of famed artist teacher John Perry. The Clinton/Narboni Duo has received stellar reviews for their performances in such cities as Houston, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and San Antonio and the team has been feature on many radio and television broadcasts, including National Public Radio's Performance Today. Clinton and Narboni have also captured top prizes in the 1994 ProPiano New York Recital Series, the 1995 National Federation of Music Clubs Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists, the 1995 Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition, and the 1996 Concorso Internazionale Carlo Soliva in Casale Monferrato, Italy.

Clinton and Narboni maintain an active performance schedule as recitalists and guest soloists with orchestra. The Clinton/Narboni duo made their New York debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in February 1995, their Chicago debut on the prestigious Dame Myra Hess series in July 1996, and their European recital debut in Paris in June 1997.

Highlights of their recent concert calendar include a recital sponsored by the French Embassy at the Maison Franáaise in Washington, D.C., as well as performances in San Antonio, Texas, Lincoln, Neb., Austin, Texas, Miami, and Nice (France).

Their debut compact disc recording of Works for Two Pianos and Piano Four-hands by Germaine Tailleferre was selected by Gramophone magazine as an "editor's choice" selection in November 1997, while their recently released world premiere recording of the Concerto Grosso for Two Pianos by Germaine Tailleferre received a five-star rating from BBC Music Magazine in February 1999.

Cawein and Falcone in Concert April 3

Faculty artists Diane Cawein, clarinet, and Anthony Falcone, percussion, perform in recital at 7:30 p.m. April 3 in Kimball Recital Hall. Admission to this concert is free.

Cawein and Falcone will be assisted by Mark Clinton, piano, and the UNL Percussion Ensemble, in works by Mark Schultz, Christopher Deane, Nikola Resanovic, Dave Hollinden, and Philip Parker. Schultz's CaweinLair was commissioned for Cawein by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association for premiere at the NMTA conference in Lincoln last October.

Cawein (shown at left) is associate professor of Clarinet at the University of Nebraska School of Music and a member of the Moran Woodwind Quintet. Prior to that appointment in 1994, Cawein held positions in the Florida Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, the Tampa Bay Opera Orchestra, the Tallahassee Symphony and the Chicago Civic Orchestra.

Cawein received her Doctor of Music (1999) and Bachelor of Music (1988) degrees from the Florida State University where she was a student of Frank Kowalsky. While completing her Graduate Certificate in Performance (1990) and Master of Music (1989) degrees from Northwestern University where she was a student of Robert Marcellus.

Falcone (shown at right) is assistant band director and Percussion instructor at the University of Nebraska School of Music. His duties include arranging for and instructing the Cornhusker Marching Band drumline, working with the percussion studio and assisting with all university bands. He has held previous appointments at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville; Truman State University and James Madison University.

He received his Master of Music degree, cum laude, and Bachelor of Music Education degree from James Madison University.

Falcone has performed across the nation as a percussionist and percussion soloist. He has appeared on national television, radio and motion pictures, and has performed with noted entertainers Shirley Maclaine, Mac Davis, Mark O'Conner, and Marvin Hamlisch. He has been a member of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, the All-American College Marching Band at Walt Disney, bands for the 50th Presidential Inaugural, and Statue of Liberty 100th Anniversary, and the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps.