October 9, 2003

Chad Brown stars as Romeo and Cecilia Stinner is Juliet in the University Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet. The classic Shakespeare tale runs at Howell Theatre through Oct. 19.

Wynton Marsalis will direct the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Marsalis to lead orchestra in Lied performance Oct. 14

Fifteen jazz soloists and ensemble players who make up the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of artistic director Wynton Marsalis, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is one of the performing arms of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of jazz. Jazz at Lincoln Center produces a year-round schedule of concerts, national and international tours, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, and many educational activities.

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has performed with symphony orchestras, ballet troupes, local students and guest artists. The orchestra maintains a vast repertory from historic compositions to new works commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. The educational activities of Jazz at Lincoln Center, many of which involve the jazz orchestra members, annually reach more than 110,000 students, teachers and other audiences.

Marsalis is one of the most acclaimed jazz artists and composers of the modern era. He is also a classically trained trumpeter who has recorded nearly 40 jazz and classical recordings. He has won nine Grammy Awards. In 1983 he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz Grammy Awards in one year, a feat he repeated in 1984. In 1997 he became the first jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize in music for his work Blood on the Fields.

In addition to his work as artistic director of jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis serves as music director of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and tours regularly with them. He also conducts many workshops and master classes each year.

Darryl White, assistant professor of trumpet at the School of Music, will give a lecture 30 minutes before curtain in the Lied's Steinhart Room.

Tickets for this performance are $48, $43 and $38; tickets are half-price for college students and those 18 and younger. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for tickets.

Opening this weekend at the Ross Film Theater

The following films will open Oct. 10 at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.

The Cremaster Cycle (Parts 1-5), by Matthew Barney, is based on the evolution of form. The series eschews chronological order; Cremaster 4 was created first in 1994, with Cremaster 3 being the final installment in 2002. Barney's films explore the evolution of form through allegories and metaphors in biology, mythology, religion and Hollywood culture. Unrated, but discretion is advised.

The Secret Lives of Dentists stars Hope Davis and Campbell Scott as married dentists and is based on the novel The Age of Grief by Jane Smiley. The film focuses on the details of the couple's family life when David (Scott) begins having mounting suspicions about his wife's fidelity. Comedian Denis Leary stars as a cigar-smoking alter-ego in David's jealous mind, expressing the antisocial traits David has repressed. Rated R.

Show times are available on Ross website at <www.theross.org> or by calling the theater's information line at 472-5353.

Zenaty, Zenata in concert Oct. 15

The UNL School of Music will present guest artists Ivan Zenaty, violin, and Katarina Zenata, piano, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Kimball Recital Hall.

Ivan Zenaty is a leader among Czech violinists who performs chamber music with Slovak pianist Katarina Zenata.

Tickets for this performance will be $5 general admission and $3 students and senior citizens, and are available at the door.