March 14, 2002

'Humpback Horse' prepares to take the stage Joel Egger as Humpy and Brett Waldon as Ivan chase the elusive firebird in the UNL family musical play The Little Humpback Horse. The play, written by UNL professor Virginia Smith, will be staged at 7 p.m. March 14 and 15 and 2 and 5 p.m. March 16 and 17 in the Studio Theatre, third floor of the Temple Building.

Aquila to stage The Tempest, Wrath of Achilles

The Aquila Theatre Company will return to the Lied Center to display its imaginative productions April 3-5. The company will perform Homer's The Wrath of Achilles at 7:30 p.m. April 3 and two performances of Shakespeare's The Tempest at 7:30 p.m. April 4 and 5.

Founded in London in 1991, the Aquila Theatre Company has earned an international reputation as one of the foremost producers of touring classical theater. Company members have performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal National Theatre and London's West End, as well as the cutting edge of Off-Broadway and the London Fringe.

Now based in New York, Aquila has been named Company in Residence at the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University and has performed at more than 200 North American and European theatres and universities, including Columbia, Stanford and Dartmouth College. Recent shows include Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing and Julius Caesar, Homer's The Odyssey and Sophocles' Oedipus the King. For its Lied Center performances in 2000, Aquila Theatre Company presented Shakespeare's King Lear and Homer's The Iliad.

For the upcoming Lied Center engagement, Aquila Theatre Company will revisit the plains of Troy in The Wrath of Achilles. Based on books 16-19 of Homer's The Iliad, The Wrath of Achilles tells the story of the Greeks' near defeat by the Trojans, Achilles' refusal to fight in the war, the tragic death of Patroclus, and Achilles' eventual return to the battlefield to face the Trojan warrior, Hector. Using dynamic movement and an original musical score, Aquila will bring the Lied audience face-to-face with a world at war where the struggle for survival tests the courage of great heroes.

The Tempest tells the story of a band of shipwrecked survivors who land on an enchanted isle and how the magician Prospero skillfully manipulates the lost travelers as they each conspire to rule the island.

Steve Buhler, associate professor of English, will deliver a pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $32, half price for students. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.

Judy Stone Nunneley "are formed when" (detail), intaglio and lithograph, 2001. From the MFA Thesis Exhibition on display at the Eisentrager·Howard Gallery March 25 to April 6.

MFA thesis exhibition opens March 25

The first of three MFA Thesis exhibitions opens March 25 in the Eisentrager·Howard Gallery in Richards Hall. Jerry Sumpter, painting, and Judy Stone Nunneley, printmaking, will present their work. The exhibition runs through April 6.

Gallery hours for the MFA Thesis exhibitions are noon to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 5-7 p.m. Thursdays. A reception for the artists will be from 3-5 p.m. April 6 in the gallery.

Sumpter's MFA Thesis exhibition is titled Between the Altar and the Sheets: Love in the New Barbaresque. His recent body of work addresses the relationships between physical and spiritual desires in modern society.

In his current work, he has extended the interactivity to include multiple works. For example, a figure in one painting may seek the attention of a nonchalant other in a nearby painting.

Sumpter received his BFA in studio art from UNL in 1998. He studied abroad at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Clementina, at the University of Bologna, Italy. He has received a Kimmel Graduate Fellowship from 1999-2002 at UNL.

His exhibitions include the Kimmel Fellows Exhibition in Nebraska City in 1999 and 2001; the National Figurative Small Works in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he received an Award of Merit; and the MFA Studio Biennial at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.

Nunneley's MFA thesis exhibition is entitled Mending and includes printmaking (etchings, lithographs and screenprints) and textiles.

Nunneley has been a professional artist and educator for more than 20 years. She came to UNL to study and do research and complete a second master's degree in printmaking and textiles. She is a member of the Nebraska Women's Caucus for Art.

She was awarded an Othmer Fellowship in 2000 to study at UNL and was also awarded a Graduate Teaching Assistantship, which is the Gallery Assistant position she holds in the Eisentrager·Howard Gallery. She was awarded the Thomas P. Coleman Memorial Scholarship in Printmaking in 2001.

Her work focuses on the ideas of connection and relationship - her connection to the natural world and life cycles - and the images of continuity that are shared by diverse spiritual traditions and sacred iconography.

Disaster at sea finds safe harbor at Lied

Titanic - The Musical is the depiction of the 20th century's legendary tale of romance, adventure, greed and ambition told live on stage.

This joyous yet often heartbreaking Broadway musical dramatically captures the events that occurred during the ship's historic voyage. Titanic sails at the Lied Center for Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. March 26 and March 27.

Titanic - The Musical swept the 1997 Tony Awards for Best Book, Best Score, Best Sets and Best Musical of the Year.

Charles Spencer of the London Daily Telegraph raved over the production in New York: "Eighty-five years ago the Titanic left Southhampton on her maiden voyage to New York. Now at last she has arrived at her intended destination, as the star of a new musical. The idea of a tune-and-toe show about this great maritime disaster sounds preposterous. And against all odds, Titanic works. This is one of those rare musicals that achieve tragic dignity. You leave this huge, ambitious production feeling something approaching awe."

The book for Titanic was written by Academy Award and Tony Award winner Peter Stone with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Maury Yeston. Previously, the duo had collaborated on the award-winning Grand Hotel.

Bob Rook will present a pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $42, $38, and $32, half-price for students. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability.

Play ball! Nebraska baseball featured on NETV, NETV2

Nebraska baseball fans will be able to relive the NU baseball team's 2001 season and look forward to the future with programming this week on the Nebraska ETV Network and NETV2 channels.

2001 Husker Baseball Highlights Show, airing at 7 p.m. March 19 on Nebraska ETV, will provide a look back at last year's successful season and the Huskers' participation in the College World Series.

The hour-long special is a comprehensive look at last season and includes highlights from every series played by the Huskers, as well as player and coach interviews. Baseball America magazine named Husker coach Dave Van Horn its national coach of the year in 2001.

The Dave Van Horn Show airs at 8 p.m. beginning March 22 on Nebraska ETV, repeating at 4:30 p.m. Saturdays on NETV2 beginning March 23.

The 30-minute series provides Nebraska baseball fans with weekly game highlights, analysis from Van Horn, updated standings and special off-the-field features on Husker players.

Nebraska opened this season ranked in the Top 10 nationally by Baseball America and USA Today/Baseball Weekly. Several Huskers - led by pitcher Shane Komine and first-baseman Matt Hopper - have been tabbed for national and Big 12 Conference honors.