Entertainment Editor- Laura Ostrander
 
Volume 26, Issue #1
North Iowa Area Community College
September 8, 1999
[ Buy Tickets ]  [ Performing Arts Series ]  [ Grease to Light Up Stage ]
  CHECK IT OUT...  column by Laura Ostrander, entertainment editor

As the fall semester opens, I strongly encourage all NIACC students to do one simple thing - buy tickets. 
These are not tickets to a sporting event or a popular new movie, but  tickets for the 1999-2000 NIACC Performing Arts Series.
Purchasing tickets to attend these events may seem like an unnecessary financial burden to the typical college student after a depressing, expensive trip to the bookstore and the Business Office to pay bills, but it will be well worth your money.
Lounging in a comfortable auditorium seat absorbing some unparalleled entertainment will broaden your cultural horizons far more than vegetating in front of the television watching reruns.
If you buy your tickets in advance, you can atttend any event you wish for under $30 (with the exception of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, which costs $32 in advance). 
I fully intend to take advantage of these opportunities which NIACC has provided for the upcoming year.
While I am a supporter of classical music and a fan of musicians who have been dead for hundreds of years, as a pianist I feel I am entitled to my quirks.
I have found that despite my atypical taste in music, NIACC has provided something for me as well with Lorie Line, a new age pianist, Summit Brass and Gaelic Storm, an Irish band.
The 1999-2000 NIACC Performing Arts series will also feature country singer Lila McCann, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, the touring company Second City, A Christmas Carol, Tap Dogs, and several others. 
The lineup this year provides entertainment for all tastes, even classical music.
 I challenge you this year to attend some events you usually would not consider.  Broaden your cultural horizons, buy some tickets, and come check it out.
 Back To Top
 
PERFORMING ARTS SERIES ...   by Laura Ostrander, entertainment editor

In the course of four nights, four unique lives will unfold before four different audiences.
Just ask Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and winnner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Tom Osborne, the most successful football coach in Division 1-A, Cokie Roberts, a journalist with ABC News, and Lyn St. James, a competitor in the Indianapolis 500 if they have anything to say.
These four notable speakers will be part of NIACC’s 1999-2000 Performing Arts Series.
According to Elizabeth Gales, director of Business Leadership and Cultural Events, the majority of NIACC students fail to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to experience influential public figures when they come to NIACC.
“I think a lot of students are missing out,” Gales said.  “There are a lot of interesting stories—all very different.”
Gales mentioned that NIACC usually offers some free tickets to NIACC students who wish to attend these speakers, but most sudents don’t take this opportunity.
“The main reason we have speakers come to NIACC is to try to expose people to leaders throughout the world,” Gales said.  “If you come with an open mind and want to learn, you will learn.”
Some NIACC instructors offer incentives for their students to attend these speakers, offering extra credit for papers written about students’ experience listening to a public figure.
Gales said that instructors are not required to offer extra credit for attending a speaker, but it is her hope that they will take advantage of the speakers coming to NIACC and integrate their visit into the classroom.
Gales said that she hopes to have some speakers visit  classrooms in the future, but it is difficult to arrange this with the speakers’ schedules.
Speakers are usually chosen based on their availability to come to NIACC, but Gales said that some of NIACC’s choices are based on the input of community members who express interest in certain potential speakers.
Walesa will be at NIACC October 5 at 7 p.m., Osborne on November 9, Roberts on February 22, and St. James on April 5. 
According to Gales, each speaker will allow time for a question and answer forum, so the audience should come prepared with questions.
 
Back To Top
 
NAPSTER CONTROVERSY...   by Laura Ostrander, entertainment editor

Although John Travolta will not be strutting the stage during the NIACC theatre department’s production of Grease on November 5 and 6 at 8:00 pm, Tim Slaven, Director of the Theatre Department, hopes to offer his audience a taste of the enthusiasm and spirit inherent in this popular musical.
“Usually we do straight plays,” Slaven said, “but what sets this musical apart from other plays is its popularity with young audiences.”
Slaven said that his production of Grease will be very different from the movie because he will perform the musical from the script without adding anything from movie or editing any of the scenes for strong language.
According to Slaven, student cast members will spend many hours preparing for such a large production.  “Easily anyone who has a role puts in approximately 90 hours,” Slaven said.
According to Slaven, Grease will draw a large audience due to its popularity, and he said that college students should take advantage of the opportunity to see this production.
“It will be a wonderful production,” Slaven said.  “It’s so popular that I think it might help to build enthusiasm for both the actors and actresses and the audience.”
NIACC students receive free admission with a college ID while tickets for high school age students and younger are $2.  Adult admission is $4. 
    
Back To Top
 
[ HOME ]  [ BACK ISSUES ]  [ STAFF ]  [ NIACC ]
This page created and maintained by Justin VanLaere