Andrew Nickerson
Entertainment Editor

Marvin Hamlisch has had a pretty good resume when it comes to awards.

He has won three Oscars, four Grammys, three Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe Awards. Also he has won a Pulitzer Prize for his groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line.

Hamlisch demonstrated his talents on Saturday, September 29, when he performed in front of a sold out audience at the North Iowa Community Auditorium.

Hamlisch started his performance by playing some patriotic songs that included The Battle Hymn of the Republic and America the Beautiful.

He also mentioned that he was at the O'Hare Airport in Chicago the day of the terrorist attacks.

"Every television in the O'Hare Airport just stopped," Hamlisch said. "So you didn't get the news at the airport. They didn't want to scare anybody. Then people were coming off airplanes because planes were getting stopped."

Hamlisch said then he drove from Chicago to New York during the tragic day. During the drive, he thought about what America means to people.

"In the sixth grade I got the album My Fair Lady. It reminds me of how young I was having a dream of one day going to Broadway," Hamlisch said. "I was only in the sixth grade and I was still thinking Broadway. I'm going to get to Broadway. I want to get to Broadway. I don't know care how I do it. I'm going to Broadway.'

Hamlisch went to Hollywood, California to do films and eventually went to Broadway.

"For me it simply means in this country that you can dream whatever dream you want and you have a very good shot that it will come true," Hamlisch said. "That to me is something that this country does very well. It allows for you to dream."

Stephen Lehew, a tenor, was guest soloist in the performance. Lehew made his Broadway debut in the musical revue Rodgers and Hart. His musical theater performances include title roles in The Student Prince, Candide, and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Also, the Mason City High School Concert Choir performed some songs with Hamlisch accompanying the music.

Hamlisch used humor in his performance. Some examples were where that he played Happy Birthday in Bach, Mozart and Beethoven style of play.

During his performance, a woman in the audience had a call on her cell phone. Hamlisch wanted to know who was on the phone.

Marvin Hamlisch's life in music can best be described in his performance and all of his awards have symbolized the type of composer he is.

Andrew Nickerson
Entertainment Editor

Ever wonder how the Performing Arts and Leadership Series, along with the Student Senate, plan activities here on campus?

Talking with Liz Gales, director of the Performing Arts and Leadership series, she indicated that there are two separate programs.

"With the Leadership Series, we have developed some relationships with agents," Gales said. "And they know what we're doing now and they often call with routes of different speakers." Gales said that the other two leadership speakers after de Klerk will be brought in for business.

"If people in the community give us names of people they heard in conferences, we'll go out and research them," Gales said. "And then the names are brought to President Buettner's attention and he discusses the names with us and the other vice presidents."

Gales said that in the Performing Series, contacting agents and going to conferences is the main thing that the sponsors look for.

"A lot of agencies that didn't know the auditorium existed are now calling and wanting to put their acts in here," Gales said.

Ticket prices range from $10 to $30 for most events and free student tickets are sometimes available from the Business Office as was the case in de Klerk's speech.

During the spring semester of the last school year, students had the opportunity to have their hands waxed as part of an activity sponsored by the Student Senate.

According to Student Senate adviser Catherine Fields, students will once again have another hand waxing experience.

Fields said that planning activities is just a matter of contact with national agents.

"They're a couple of agents that we work with on a regular basis," Fields said. "It's just a matter of communication with the agents and a lot of bookings come from routings."

Fields said that the funds for the campus activities are actually part of the student fees allocation.

"It is hard for us to know what the students want," Fields said. "So we try to do a large variety of things, but it's difficult to please everyone."

Whether it's an individual speaker or an entertainer, or an activity sponsored by the Student Senate, take some time to realize how these entertainers come to NIACC.