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Best performing arts: 'Cabaret' hits high note
By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
Thursday, Dec 29, 2005 - 09:13:34 pm CST

Fred Stuart has told me more than once that he wants to direct more than act. But the lure of the stage proves to be too much for the executive director of the Haymarket Theatre.

For that, Lincoln audiences should be thankful.

I know I am.

Stuart is a big reason his theater’s production of Kander and Ebb’s “Cabaret” tops my list of favorite performing arts performances in 2005.

His Emcee was devilishly charismatic.

Stuart also directed “Cabaret” and patterned it after Sam Mendes’ 1998 Broadway revival. It was sleek, stylish and sexy. I won’t soon forget it.

The rest of my top 10 is a mix of theater and music. I didn’t get to everything — that would be nearly impossible (and expensive) — but I try to attend at least one or two performances of each of of the 20-some performing arts organizations in Lincoln.

The following is my list:

1. “Cabaret,” Haymarket Theatre. Stuart was part of a strong ensemble that also included memorable performances from Courtney Piccoli, Laurie Lessman and George Hansen.

2. Cafe Accordion, Lincoln Association for Traditional Arts. Musician Dan Newton dedicated the concert to his father, who had passed away 2½ weeks earlier. As you can imagine, the room was filled with as much emotion as beautiful music.

3. Rastrelli Cello Quartet, Meadowlark Music Festival. The cool thing about this concert was its accessibility. The quartet is known for putting unique spins on recognizable tunes, including the James Bond movie theme and Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.”

4. “Forbidden Broadway,” TADA Productions. The musical comedy featured several inspiring performances, but Cris Rook highlighted the show with her dead-on takes of Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Sarah Brightman and my favorite, Liza Minnelli.

5. “The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial,” L.A. Theatre Works, Lied Center. The Lied’s timing was perfect with the evolution debate taking center stage in Kansas and Pennsylvania. TV actors Ed Asner and John DeLancie were stellar, but it was Francis Guinan as defense attorney Dudley Field Malone who captured the audience’s imagination with a riveting monologue at the end of the first act.

6. “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Lincoln Community Playhouse. This was one of Jeremy Kendall’s best efforts as a director. The drama featured powerful performances from Bob Pinkerton, H. Corkey Ford and Scott R. Glen. Youth actors Leta Mumgaard and Sam Stacy held their own with the experienced adults.

7. Angel Romero, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. The charismatic Romero enthralled the Kimball Recital Hall audience with his signature piece, Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.”

8. “On the Verge,” Flatwater Shakespeare Company. Flatwater staged two Shakespeare plays this past year, but it was the company’s non-Bard production that stuck with me. Veteran director Bob Hall enticed some amazing performances from Melissa Lewis, Amy Jirsa, Andrea Swartz and Brad Boesen.

9. “Summerstock 2,” Angels Theatre Company/Rough Magic Productions. This year’s production featured 12 scripts — most of them by local playwrights — live music and an art show. Lettie Van Hemert stole the night with her over-the-top portrayal as the title character in Christopher Durang’s 10-minute “Medea.”

10. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Lied Center. I could listen to these guys all night long. I found their rhythmic a cappella music not only entertaining but uplifting as well.

Top performing arts headlines for 2005

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln had good reason to change the name of its theater department.

Make that millions of good reasons.

The department was a major beneficiary of Johnny Carson’s estate, which gave UNL $5 million in July for endowed support of programs in theater, film and broadcasting.

The legendary talk-show host passed away in January, just two months after giving UNL $5.3 million to support theater and film programs.

The university renamed the Department of Theatre Arts the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film as a memorial to Carson.

The comedian’s generosity easily was the top story of 2005’s performing arts season.

The following is a rundown of the year’s top headlines, including the Carson donations:

1. Heeeeeeere’s Johnny — The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts will receive 80 percent from the annual income of Carson’s $5 million endowment. The College of Journalism and Mass Communications will get the other 20 percent.

Carson’s latest gift comes on the heels of the first one UNL received in November 2004. Of the initial gift, $4.3 million will be used for renovation and expansion of UNL’s Temple Building. The project is slated to begin sometime this spring.

The additional $1 million created an endowment to keep performance spaces current with the latest advances in lighting and sound technologies, and for general support of students and programs within the theater department.

2. To be or not to be — Veteran director Bob Hall and UNL English professor Stephen Buhler launched the Flatwater Shakespeare Company, a nonprofit professional organization dedicated to presenting Shakespeare and other classic works as well as new plays.

Hall had been regularly producing the Bard’s works for four years in Lincoln. Now he has an official company. Its first production was “Measure for Measure” in March at the Lied Center’s Johnny Carson Theater.

3. There’s a new sheriff (or two) in town — Former UNL theater professor Paul Steger returned in July to become the new Nebraska Repertory Theatre executive director and theater department chair, replacing Jeffery S. Elwell, who left for East Carolina University.

The Rep also named UNL theater professor Virginia Smith its artistic director. The theater saw an 88 percent increase in attendance after her first summer.

4. Speaking of new sheriffs — The Lincoln Community Playhouse also saw a change in leadership with Melissa Epp taking over as executive director in February.

Born and raised in Lincoln, Epp made her theatrical debut on the Playhouse stage, which led to an extensive acting and performance career. She also has more than 20 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience.

5. Chiara is Italian for clear, pure or light — The Chiara String Quartet, which won the hearts and minds at the 2004 Meadowlark Music Festival, accepted an invitation from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music to become artists-in-residence.

The foursome is considered at the forefront of a new generation of exceptional American quartets. The group’s accomplishments include first prize at the 2002 Fischoff Competition and second prize at the 2002 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.

6. Looking to the “Horizon” — The Lied Center commissioned “Horizon,” a new work from performance artist Rinde Eckert, who premiered it in October.

The piece explored one theologian’s crisis of faith — not over his religious convictions, but over the character of his service to those ideals.

7. Beauties, beasts and bowls — TADA Productions, fresh off snagging the rights of “Forbidden Broadway,” hit paydirt again by landing the local premiere of Disney’s “Beauty and Beast.”

TADA again teamed with the city’s parks and recreation department to stage the musical in September at the Pinewood Bowl in Pioneers Park. The two organizations worked together the year before on a successful fall performance at the Bowl.

8. Exit stage right — After 29 years and more than 100 productions, the Born-in-a-Barn Players bid farewell to the old hog barn in Manley the group used as a performance space.

This spring, the Players will be in a new home about two miles west of the old location. The old place had a lot of memories, but the new one will create some new ones. Plus, it will have indoor plumbing.

9. It’s all about the music now — With no fanfare whatsoever, musicians of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra agreed to a new three-year contract.

They received a pay increase, but, more important to them, they retained “guaranteed services,” a provision that triggered controversy and generated headlines during previous negotiations.

Under the provision, each musician is guaranteed payment for a set number of services each year regardless of whether he or she performs them.

The Lincoln Orchestra Association wanted to do away with the provision, while the musicians wanted to keep it.

In other happenings, Barbara Zach was promoted to executive director and the ensemble’s name was changed — from Lincoln Symphony Orchestra to Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra.

10. Broadway bound — Steven C. Rich and Kriste Belt found themselves closer to realizing their Broadway dreams. Both were part of touring companies that passed through Lincoln.

Rich, who grew up in Lincoln, was seen in “Miss Saigon,” while Belt, who earned her master’s degree at UNL, was featured in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.