Unflappable 1930s London society girl Flora Post (Kate Beckinsale from Much Ado About Nothing), orphaned and fancying a career as a writer, picks the relatives with whom she'll live next based on who will provide the most grist for her novelistic mill. And in Cold Comfort Farm (rated PG), Flora reaps riches with the extraordinary eccentrics who populate a decrepit spread in the loamy countryside. The BBC once did a version of the book-it aired on Masterpiece Theatre 25 years ago-but this gloriously cheeky BBC-Thames TV adaptation directed by John Schlesinger proves there's a need to retell Gibbons' sly satire, which tweaked the chest-heaving D.H. Lawrence novels of her day. Schlesinger, working with a zingy script by Malcolm Bradbury, has created a burnished little world much like those in his other BBC films, An Englishman Abroad (1983) and A Question of Attribution (1991).
Also showing is a short animated feature from the United Kingdom by Paul Vester, The Abductees, a canorously penetrating probe into the dicey world, or should we say out-of-this-world, of abduction by aliens.
Cold Comfort Farm and The Abductees are showing Dec. 12 through Dec. 15 and again on Dec. 19 through Dec. 22. Screenings are at 7 and 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays; at 1, 3, 7, and 9 p.m. on Saturdays; and at 3, 5, 7, and 9 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $5.50; $4.50 for students; and $3.50 for senior citizens, children, and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.
Consisting of 12,000 objects, the gallery is committed to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting American art, especially of the 20th Century. This exhibition of approximately 50 pieces, consisting of paintings and works on paper, offers an opportunity for the public to view some highlights of the gallery's additions to the permanent collection during the last four years, which total well over 300 works.
Included in the exhibition will be important paintings by Andy Warhol, Robert Motherwell, Morgan Russell, and Milton Resnick, and works on paper by Richard Estes, Richard Diebenkorn, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, and Jackson Pollock. Also included in the exhibition will be works which, although they fall outside the gallery's collecting priorities, are of broader art historical significance, such as paintings by American modernist Hugo Robus, 19th-century American still-life painter Martin Johnson Heade, and an etching by Rembrandt.
"Proud Possessions" will not only provide the gallery's audience with the opportunity to see a selection of its acquisition activities over the last four years, but will reveal the diverse ways in which the gallery acquires new work. Two major pieces in the exhibition - the paintings by Warhol and Motherwell - were made available to the Sheldon Gallery through partial donation from the artists' estates because of the gallery's national reputation and strength of its permanent collection.
The Oldenburg/van Bruggen materials, numbering well over 60 pieces, were donated to the Sheldon Gallery in order to provide a more complete aesthetic context for their monumental commission "Torn Notebook," completed this fall, and out of which these materials were derived.
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 2 to 9 p.m. Special tours can be arranged by calling the Sheldon Gallery at 472-2461. The Sheldon Gift Shop, which offers unique art, jewelry, cards, gift items, and publications related to the collection is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the Sheldon Gallery is free of charge and the building is accessible to those with special needs. Visit the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery's web page at http://sheldon.unl.edu for further information about the Gallery, its collections, and programs.
Wright explains that "each gem has a story that makes it more interesting. For instance, amethysts were used to adorn chalices because the belief was that an amethyst prevented drunkenness." Wright, well known for his jewelry design also will discuss the technical casting and fabrication of gold jewelry manufacturing.
Wright's workshop is sponsored by the Nebraska Art Association's Education Committee and is presented in conjunction with "Wearable Art: Contemporary Artists' Jewelry," for which Wright's Jewelers serves as the corporate sponsor. The special exhibition runs through Feb. 9, 1997, and includes more than fifty pieces of jewelry drawn from both local private collections and the Sheldon's own permanent collection.
Seating for the free workshop is limited to 50 people. Reservations can be made by calling the NAA at 472-2540.
Gallery Hours Gift Shop Hours Dec. 23 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 24 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 25 Closed Closed Dec. 26 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 27 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 28 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 29 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 30 Noon - 4 p.m. Noon - 4 p.m. Dec. 31 Noon - 4 p.m. Closed Jan. 1 Closed Closed
Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, the chain-laden ghost of business partner Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim and the jovial old Mr. Fezziwig are just a few of the perennial characters who will bring the classic story of Christmas spirit to life on the Lied Center stage.
The yuletide tale centers on Scrooge, a "Bah Humbug" man without a shred of kindness or sympathy who has spent his life in single-minded pursuit of wealth. He loves no one and by no one is loved. "For me the big appeal is he gets a second chance. We should all be so lucky to have spirits come down and guide us along the right path," said Robb Hurst, 30, of Monroe, La., who won the starring role of Scrooge in the biannual production by UNL's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.
The work originally was produced by the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and is directed by Brian O'Connor. He has directed many Off-Broadway productions and holds several New York acting credits. Paul Steger will play the role of Scrooge's assistant Bob Cratchit. Narrator Charles Dickens will be played by Kevin Paul Hofeditz, associate dean of UNL's College of Fine and Performing Arts and associate professor of theatre arts.
Tickets for UNL's production of "A Christmas Carol" are $20 and $16. Students with valid identification at UNL, Wesleyan University and Doane College and youth 18 and under pay half price. The Lied Center box office is open for walk-in sales weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 90 minutes before the performances.
Christmas music presented by local high school choirs will be featured in the Lied lobby before each performance. Crete High School's choir will sing from 7:15 to 7:45 p.m. Dec. 13. On Dec. 14, York High School's choir will perform from 1:15 to 1:45 and East High School's choir will perform from 7:15 to 7:45 p.m. Norris High School's singers will perform from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. Dec. 15.
Pictured are Colin Creveling of Lincoln as Tiny Tim and Paul Steger of Lincoln as Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol.
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