A scene from God's Country at the Howell Theatre through Oct. 21. The cast includes Justin Rae (left) and Steve Barth.

God's Country explores religious hatred

University Theatre opens its 101st season with the evocative drama God's Country by Steven Dietz. Directed by UNL assistant professor of theatre arts Harris Smith, performances are at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and at 2 p.m. Oct. 21 in Howell Theatre.

God's Country is a theatrical look at those who are dedicated to violent revolution and the expulsion from "God's country" of non-Aryans. Based on true incidents of the growing white-supremacist movement in America, three related story lines form the plot.

One plot line concerns the life of Robert Jay Matthews; founder of the white supremacist group called The Order. A second plot concerns the events in the life of Jewish Denver radio talk show host Alan Berg, who was murdered by members of The Order in June 1984. The third and primary plot line concerns the trial of members of The Order for the hate-crime, machine-gun murder of Berg outside his Denver home. The play begins with the third plot line and reveals the story of Denver Parmenter, a member of The Order, who testified for the state in the trial.

The play flashes back and forth to reveal elements of all three plot lines. We see the trial of the members of The Order, which reveals the history of their philosophies and rationales for racial hatred. We hear Alan Berg, a popular and inflammatory talk show celebrity who engaged in angry and volatile conversations with callers. Lastly, we learn the story of Robert Jay Matthews, who directed and motivated his followers until his fiery death in a two-day government siege on his Whidbey Island compound near Seattle.

Eleven actors portray many characters throughout the drama. UNL undergraduate theatre students in the cast are John Marinovich, Jessica Hutchinson, Layne Manzer, J. Eric Lauritzen, Justin Rae and Aaron Foster DuPree. UNL graduate theatre students cast are Richard Smith, Joan Lauckner, Amber C. Irvin, Timothy Hornor, and Steve Barth. Greg Veys plays the young "Boy." Designers are undergraduate theatre students Scott Raymond (lighting) and Renee Tuchscher (scenery), and graduate students Kristie Gordon (sound) and Kathryn Burton (costumes).

Tickets are available from the Lied Center Box Office, or at 472-4747 or toll free at (800) 432-3231 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Individual tickets are $12 patrons, $10 UNL faculty/staff and senior citizens, and $8 students. Six-pack season tickets are also available for $50. The season tickets are redeemable for six admissions in any combination.

Rent will play Oct. 12-14 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Lied features musical phenomenon Rent

Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical, makes its debut at the Lied Center in October.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13; and 2 p.m. Oct. 14.

Inspired by Puccini's La Boheme, Rent is a joyous and often bittersweet musical that shares the stories of a community of artists as they struggle with the hopes and realities of today's world. Written by Jonathan Larson, Rent is considered by many to be the most original American musical in decades.

Rent received its world premiere off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on Feb. 13, 1996, to ecstatic reviews and rapidly sold out all performances. The show transferred to Broadway on April 29, 1996, and continues to play to standing room only audiences. Rent swept all major theater awards that season including the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The phenomenal success of Rent has been tempered by the death of its creator, Jonathan Larson, who died of an aortic aneurysm on the morning of Jan. 25, 1996, just hours after the final dress rehearsal and 10 days before his 36th birthday.

Pre-performance talks will occur in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $48, $44 and $38. Students can buy section 3 tickets for $30 for the two matinees only.

Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.

National Ballet of China cancels U.S. tour

The National Ballet of China has canceled its U.S. tour, thus canceling an Oct. 9 appearance at the Lied Center.

The ballet withdrew the tour after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., because of "the tense and unpredictable situation in many parts of the world," according to a statement by the Heartland Arts Fund, a joint venture between Mid-America Alliance and Arts Midwest.

In addition, the Chinese company also expressed its desire to "respect the mood of the American people."

"When we learned of the concerns of the parents of the young dancers in the Chinese company, we recognized that the fear and insecurity felt by many Americans at this time is also being felt around the world," said Henry Moran, executive director of Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Ticket holders may obtain refunds or exchange tickets for a different event in the 2001-2002 season. Tickets must be returned to the Lied Center box office at 12th and Q streets by Oct. 31 in either case. Call the box office for a refund or exchange at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231. The Lied Center regrets any inconvenience this change may cause.

Cartoonists set for convention Oct. 13

Cartoonists from throughout the Midwest will converge on the Great Plains Art Collection in the Christlieb Gallery Oct. 13 for the fall meeting and workshops of the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society.

The gathering of lampoonists will be in conjunction with an exhibition of cartoon art at the Christlieb Gallery titled Low Art: The Serious Business of Funny Pictures.

The day will open with a "Meet the Cartoonists" event from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Christlieb Gallery, 1155 Q St., which is open to the public. Local cartoonists Paul Fell of the Lincoln Journal Star and comic book creator Bob Hall will team up with Bob Staake, award-winning cartoonist and illustrator from St. Louis who counts Mad Magazine among his myriad clients.

The afternoon sessions, which are open to registered cartoonists, fans and students, will be on the mezzanine level of the Christlieb Gallery. Presentations will include: "The Greeting Card Business for Cartoonists," "Editorial Cartooning for the Local Market," "The State of the Comic Book Business" and Staake doing a step-by-step presentation of how he creates one of his Mad Magazine cartoons.

The day will conclude with an informal cartoon portfolio "show-and-tell" refreshment hour and a buffet dinner. Both of these activities will take place at the "Pinups" room at the Rock and Roll Runza restaurant, 14th and P streets. There is a registration fee for the cartoonist meeting and workshops.

For more information, contact Fell at 420-6789, or email paulfellcartoons@alltel.net .

Woven on the Wind anthology reading Oct. 21

The University of Nebraska's Center for Great Plains Studies will host a reading from the anthology Woven on the Wind: Women Write About Friendship in the Sagebrush West from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Great Plains Art Collection in the Christlieb Gallery, 1155 Q St.

The book, published this year by Houghton Mifflin, contains stories, poems and essays by 150 writers from the plains and western United States and Canada, including 12 from Nebraska. Its three editors - Linda Hasselstrom, Gaydell Collier and Nancy Curtis - earlier published the highly successful anthology Leaning into the Wind: Women Write from the Heart of the West (Houghton Mifflin, 1997). The event is free and open to the public.

Hasselstrom, Collier and Curtis, all of whom are award-winning writers and ranchers from Wyoming, will provide background on the book and read their own work along with 15 invited contributors. A book signing and reception will follow the reading.

Other writers are Lucy Adkins, Saundra DeRemer, Twyla Hansen and Marjorie Saiser of Lincoln, Julene Bair of Laramie, Wyo., Shannon Dyer of Hyannis, Maureen Tolman Flannery of Evanston, Ill., Kathryn Kelley of Omaha, Laurie Kutchins of Singers Glen, Va., Janelle Masters of Mandan, N.D., Lois Jean Moore of Long Pine, Cindy Prater of Elgin, Candi Red Cloud of Pine Ridge, S.D., Lora K. Reiter of Ottawa, Kan., and Sureva Towler of Lawrence, Kan.

Hansen said Woven on the Wind contains "true stories," essays and poems focusing on women's friendships. James Stubbendieck, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, said, "In 1997 we hosted a highly successful reading for Leaning into the Wind, and I am pleased that this fall we will present the major reading in this region for Woven on the Wind."

Sponsors of the reading include the Nebraska Humanities Council, Friends of the Center for Great Plains Studies, Friends of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association/Lincoln City Library Foundation, the UNL department of English, Prairie Schooner, UNL Women's Studies, and the UNL College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Program.

For more information, contact the Center for Great Plains Studies at 1155 Q St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0214, or call 472-3082; or visit the site on the Web at http://www.unl.edu/plains.

Lee Booksellers will provide books for sale at the reading.

Jack Botts novel in stores now

Jack Botts, emeritus professor of journalism, published his first novel. Play Action is about an international jewel robbery. A crucial segment of the novel takes place in Lincoln. The story lays a trail half-way around the world and ends in an FBI chase, a plane crash and a struggle for survival in the Bitter Root Mountains.

Botts is the author of three earlier books, but this is his first novel.

The book is available through Barnes & Noble, Borders stores and Baker & Taylor by direct order, and through barnes&noble.com, borders.com and amazon.com.

Startup.com documents rise, fall of dot-coms

It's not every day, or even every decade, that you get to see a film as eye-opening in its timeliness as Startup.com, opening Oct. 4 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.

Startup.com, which documents the heady rise and spectacular fall of an Internet start-up company, feels as if it had been shot through a crystal ball. The film seems to anatomize the whole debacle of the dotcom universe.

Startup.com is showing Oct. 4 through 7. Screenings are at 7 and 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday; at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 p.m. on Saturday; and at 3, 5, 7 and 9 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens, children, and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.