Kansas.com: Entertainment

Actress, singer Melba Moore 'Still Standing'

BOB CURTRIGHT — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

Melba Moore hit the heights as a Tony-winning actress on Broadway in 1970 and Grammy-winner in the '70s and '80s, then plunged to the depths of a nasty divorce and loss of her daughter, ending up on welfare in 1992.

Now, Moore, 63, is unabashedly singing about all the highs and lows of her life in "Still Standing," a new, autobiographical musical that will receive its world premiere in Wichita this week.

Why preview the show here?

"I've never been to Wichita, but my producers say you are very theater-friendly people who embrace new works," Moore said by phone from her New York home. "We want to take advantage of that so we can see what we might need to do, based on both audiences and critics, before taking the show to Broadway.

"This is my maiden voyage for something like this but I am prepared for whatever people say. I don't have thin skin anymore."

Her music career just strumming right along

JOE STUMPE — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

The electric bass guitar was just sitting there, unused, in the Wamego High School band room.

Miki Masuda picked it up and suddenly found what she'd been looking -- or listening -- for.

"You can hear the whole music," Masuda said of what she likes about playing bass. "And giving the pulse to the band feels so good."

Masuda, 31, is today one of the busiest bassists in Wichita, playing everything from traditional jazz with some of the city's most experienced musicians to avant-garde compositions with younger counterparts.

"You could say she's sort of carrying our music scene here," said Craig Owens, who teaches guitar at Wichita State University.

Art, math coexist in 'Realistic Pluralism'

JOANNA MIX — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:43 CDT

The relationship between art and science has often been an uneasy one. For the most part, the ideals of creative expression have struggled to harmonize with the black and white truths of science and math.

But a new exhibit at the Wichita Art Museum titled "Realistic Pluralism" challenges viewers to reconcile artistic richness and Renaissance ideals with mathematical complexities and scientific principles.

"Realistic Pluralism" is a retrospective of the life and work of Wichita artist Nicholas Trabue. His pieces could be viewed as a reflection of his life -- rich, colorful and filled with diversity. Accidentally shot by a playmate at the age of 9, Trabue has spent his life since in a wheelchair.

For many people, that might have hindered their ability to see the world. Not for Trabue, who has

lived in Europe, founded an advertising agency, created a film company that made documentaries in Africa, and lived and worked among the Masai tribe in Kenya and Tanzania.

Hynde gets to the roots

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

THE PRETENDERS

'Break Up the Concrete'

(Wingdings 171) (Shangri-La)

From its first track, "Boots of Spanish Plastic," the ninth Pretenders album announces itself as a roots record. After opening with a big greasy rockabilly chord, the tune barrels into a mean roadhouse stomp -- part "Highway 61" Dylan, part early-'90s Morrissey.

The next 11 songs have their share of pedal-steel guitar and tough Americana twang, but what really gives this album its backward-looking feel is Chrissie Hynde's lyrical tone. Frustrated by phonies and craving authenticity, she makes repeated reference to Akron, Ohio, the hometown she left in her 20s.

Wit, charm and musical stylings make Michael Buble a hit at the Coliseum

JEFFREY LUTZ — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:37 CDT

Podiatrists probably see a spike in business the day after a Michael Buble concert. As innocent as toe tapping is, it could cause damage when done nonstop for 90 minutes.

But it's almost impossible not to keep the beat to a Buble song, and toe tapping was in full swing on Friday night when Buble performed at the Kansas Coliseum in front of 6,500 fans — many of them shrieking females of all ages.

Buble, a Grammy award-winning Canadian crooner, could get by during live shows on music alone. His versatile voice swings easily from jazz to R&B to pop standards sung in the key of Frank Sinatra.

But he keeps those who might be only marginally interested in his music (translation: some men tagging along with their significant others) entertained by incorporating audience interaction and comedy into his shows.

His first such encounter involved a couple seated in the first few rows. After guessing that the man would probably score some points with his partner for accompanying her to the concert, Buble had a favor to ask of the woman:

Not enough heat in 'Ember'

RICK BENTLEY — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:38 CDT

Life in a postapocalyptic world is not a new film theme. Humans have dug themselves out of the ashes in movies from "Logan's Run" to "A Boy and His Dog." The only difference is how deep society has been buried.

The hole is pretty deep for "City of Ember."

Far below the surface of the Earth, a city was built 200 years ago. Mankind was on the verge of wiping itself out (as if this were the first time). A think tank came up with the plan to create the underground city.

Society was not to be left for dead and buried. A plan for future generations to follow to find an escape was created. The only problem was the information got misplaced over the passing decades. The city, designed to last only 200 years, is now falling apart.

Director Gil ("Monster House") Kenan's version of the book by Jeanne DuPrau skips between political jabs and a Nancy Drew mystery. A miscast Bill Murray plays the mayor, whose only real concern is himself.

Clay is rolling Dice once more

KEVIN AMORIM — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:37 CDT

Unbelievable. A new Dice Age could be dawning. It's not due to climate change, though. The return of Andrew Dice Clay is more due to the economy.

"Because of the times we're living in, the state of the world, gas prices, the recession -- people are responding," he says from his Los Angeles home. "They are going nuts at the shows."

The profane Brooklyn-born comic, 51, with the accent as thick as a Peter Luger porterhouse, rose to stardom during tough times in the late '80s, hit it big with his naughty nursery rhymes (in 1990, he became the first comic to sell out Madison Square Garden for two shows in a row) and then left the limelight to raise two sons.

After a short-lived VH1 reality series last year, Dice decided to roll out on the road again. He recently finished a north-of-the-border tour, and the good news (or bad, depending on your political-correctness level): Dice vows to be back playing arenas soon.

What's up with the new material?

Try to keep the table guessing

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:37 CDT

Players bet the river for a lot of reasons. Sometimes they do it because they believe they have the best hand. Sometimes they do it because they don't, but they're trying to steal the pot.

Sometimes they bet on the end because they have the best hand but don't want to show it, as Swedish pro Martin de Knijff did at the $25,000-buy-in World Poker Tour Championship at Las Vegas' Bellagio in April. With blinds at $2,000-$4,000 plus a $500 ante, the player in Seat 7 limped after raising a lot of hands.

"It looked like he was trying something new," de Knijff said. "It was the result of being smacked around. He was raising too many hands. If he continued to raise, people wouldn't give him credit for a big hand."

De Knijff, who won the WPT Championship in 2004, found A-Q offsuit in the small blind and called.

"He's very deep-stacked," de Knijff said. "I don't want to raise $20,000 more from the small blind and play a big pot against him without position. Let's say he calls me and we're both very deep-stacked, then I have to play a big pot out of position. So, I only had to put another $2,000 in there."

Winfield festival to stay at fairgrounds

JOE STUMPE — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

The Walnut Valley Festival is not going anywhere next year.

"There have been all kinds of rumors, but we have no intention of moving to the (Winfield) City Lake," organizer Rex Flottman said. "It would just not work for us."

Instead, the festival known around the world for its bluegrass performances and competitions will continue to be held at the Cowley County Fairgrounds.

Last month, flooding on the fairgrounds forced thousands of people who normally camp there to find spots elsewhere. With the help of festival and city officials, the biggest group relocated to City Lake, about 10 miles northwest of the fairgrounds.

They held round-the-clock jam sessions around campsites and set up the festival's "unofficial" stages. Some campers said they enjoyed the new site so much they'd like the festival to be held there.

It's over for Hef and Holly

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:41 CDT

Hugh Hefner is down a girlfriend.

Hefner and Holly Madison, one of E!' s "The Girls Next Door," are no longer dating. Hefner said he's been "down in the dumps" about the split.

The 28-year-old model-actress stars in the reality series with Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt as one of the 82-year-old publisher's girlfriends who live with Hefner in the Playboy Mansion.

"If Holly says it's over, I guess it's over," Hefner said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "She's still here in the house. Until a few days ago, we were still sharing the same bed."

In a video posted on TMZ.com Tuesday, Madison said she's no longer with Hefner. She also said she is "still filming stuff" with Wilkinson and Marquardt.

Fall ballet at Friends

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:41 CDT

Friends University Ballet will present its annual Fall Ballet today through Sunday at Sebits Auditorium. Here are the details you need to know:

1) The performance will feature four contemporary ballets, including two works created by ballet director Stan Rogers this fall. The first, set to Bizet's "L'Arlesienne Suite," will be performed by nine ballerinas wearing traditional tutus.

2) Rogers' second new dance is "7 Eleven," a jazzy number set to music by Bushwacka. It uses seven men recruited from a non-major dance class at Friends along with 11 women ballet majors.

3) Also included will be a comic modern ballet by Sara Semonis from Illinois State University set to music by Kronos Quartet and David Byrne; and "Weeping Woman," an emotionally charged ballet by Francisco Martinez from Los Angeles making its return to Friends.

The Fall Ballet performances will be at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in Sebits Auditorium in the Riney Fine Arts Center at Friends.

Reasons to eat at St. George's dinner

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

The food. For $15, you get a big meal of Lebanese specialties prepared by St. George parishioners, including stuffed grape leaves, kibbe, baklava and more. There are also homemade baked goods for sale, featuring recipes from around the world.

The tours. The focus of this year's tours are new tile mosaics on the cathedral's exterior.

Tradition. With the event now 75 years old, many of the cathedral's families have been helping stage it for four generations.

St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral is at 7515 E. 13th St. The dinner is held from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Dine-in and takeout available. Tours are held during the same time.

A GOOD DEAL

The best Buble is live Buble

ED CONDRAN — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

Michael Buble appears to be the epitome of cool. The successful Canadian crooner, who will perform tonight at the Kansas Coliseum, has the looks, pipes and style.

But the suave entertainer admitted recently that he was terrified while making "Call Me Irresponsible," his especially after his mega-platinum breakthrough disc, 2005's "It's Time." In an interview, the candid Buble also talked about his love of pop classics and big band style of music, why his songs stand out today and what inspired his career.

What was it like following up a career-breaking disc?

It was very, very scary. I was very nervous. I didn't have a lot of fun making this record.

Why?

TV shows

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

You Don't Mess With the Zohan (PG-13) ** (2 hrs) An Israeli Special Forces Soldier fakes his death so he can re-emerge in New York City as a hairstylist.

The Happening (R) ** (1 hr 52 min) _ Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the movie stars Mark Wahlberg as a scientist who tries to get his family to safety when a mysterious airborne virus attacks the country.

The Visitor (PG-13) (1 hr 44 min) _ Richard Jenkins ("Six Feet Under") stars as Walter, a disaffected college professor who has been drifting aimlessly through his life. When he discovers a couple has taken up residence in his apartment in the city, he develops an unexpected and profound connection to them that will change his life forever.

TV shows

2nd season -- "30 Rock"

Dining out from A to Z

JOE STUMPE — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

When it came to dining out, Pam and Paul Bush were stuck in a comfortable rut familiar to many.

"We were ordering the same food at our favorite restaurants," Pam says. "I guess there's safety in the same."

But the Derby couple came up with a way to inject a little pizzazz into their culinary lives. This summer, they started visiting restaurants in alphabetical order.

They've made it to "K" (Knolla's Pizza) and have already discovered "there's a whole lot of variety in town that you need to experience," Paul said.

The Bushes -- he works in computer network support, she's a school psychologist -- describe themselves as fairly typical restaurant customers. They usually eat out once or twice a week.

Paul Newman films worth viewing again

R.D. HELDENFELS — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

The eulogies keep coming for Paul Newman, the beacon for movie fans everywhere.

People magazine has him on its cover, and has issued a 96-page tribute book. Turner Classic Movies will devote 24 hours to Newman movies beginning Sunday.

Before then, here are some titles to check out on DVD:

"Nobody's Fool" (1994)

Newman plays a construction worker who seems to know everybody in his small town but knows nothing about life; he has been skating by on charm and a larcenous streak. The movie offers him some chances to be a grownup at last, and to see if that changes his luck. One of Newman's best performances ever.

The three faces of 'Evil'

JEN CHANEY — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

How many consecutive times can a person watch "Touch of Evil"? That might sound like a riddle or a philosophical question, but it's an issue one might address before purchasing the "Touch of Evil: 50th Anniversary Edition" DVD ($27), released Tuesday.

If you answer, "At least six or seven," then consider yourself part of the target market for this two-disc set, which contains all three previously released versions of Orson Welles' ahead-of-its-time noir classic, accompanied by a quartet of commentary tracks.

For those unfamiliar with the complicated backstory behind this project, the three faces of "Evil," so to speak, break down like this. There is the 96-minute theatrical version released by Universal in 1958, which contains changes Welles did not approve; the 109-minute preview version, with some Welles elements added, which was discovered by the studio in 1976; and the restored version, issued in 1998 and based on explicit modifications requested by Welles in a famous 58-page memo he drafted in 1957. (A reprinted copy of that memo comes with the package.)

If all those details make this DVD sound like a nitpicky, academic enterprise, well, it is. But that's exactly why any student of Welles' body of work or cinema in general will treasure it. This release marks the first time that all three of the movie's incarnations have been included in a single collection. And that means film school wannabes everywhere can easily examine the decisions the studio made in that '58 release and immediately compare them with Welles' choices -- such as his removal of Henry Mancini's music from the stunning tracking shot that opens the picture -- as reflected in the '98 restoration. For some, the joy of that exercise will provide reason enough to add this DVD to their movie collections.

Those who haven't seen "Touch of Evil" should at least insert this anniversary version into their rental queues. While the film's plot -- which features Charlton Heston as a Mexican narcotics agent who butts heads with a crusty, crooked police chief (Welles) --may not stick in the memory, its craftsmanship is unforgettable. As forward-thinking here as he was in his masterpiece, "Citizen Kane," Welles uses techniques, from handheld cameras to crane shots, that still look fresh and modern even by today's standards.

Head to Winfield for Old-Time Music Fest

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

Winfield's Fun Barn is in the midst of an Old-Time Music Festival, a new event that continues through Saturday.

The festival, which organizers hope will become an annual event, will feature a lineup of bands and singers performing traditional country, bluegrass and old-timey music.

Among the performers on tap are Daryl Schiff & Co., a country band headed by Martina McBride's father; kid fiddler/teen yodeler duo Jake Simpson and Chelsea Beck; country musicians Tex and Mary Shutz; and The Mudbugs, a Wichita-based Cajun and Zydeco band.

The music lasts from 1 to 9:30 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday. New bands will appear every 30 minutes or so.

Day passes are $15 a day. Evening passes are $8. Discounts are available for seniors 62 and over and for children 16 and under. Children 11 and under are admitted free with adults. All passes are available at the door.

New this week

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

• Indie alert! Keira Knightley is no stranger to classy period films ("Pride and Prejudice"), and she squeezes into yet another corset (like she even has a belly to contain) in "The Duchess," a chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. Jealous much?

• Indie alert, part two: Politically incorrect comedian Bill Maher (of TV's "Real Time with Bill Maher") tackles the state of worldwide religion in the no-holds-barred documentary "Religulous." Wichita is lucky to get the film, so now's your chance.

• "Body of Lies" pairs Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio in director Ridley Scott's adaptation of the novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who uncovered evidence of a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.

• Bill Murray and Tim Robbins star in "City of Ember," a fantasy about an underground city of lights that is in danger of ruin when its massive generator begins to fail. Looks like someone didn't pay their electric bill.

• "The Express" is a sports drama based on the story of real-life college football hero Ernie Davis, who was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Temptations in Wichita

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42 CDT

The Temptations, that suave and stylish quintet of hitmakers from the '60s, will perform tonight at the Orpheum Theatre. Here are all the details:

1) Only one of the original members, Otis Williams, is still part of the group. The other original members were Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. Today's Temptations also include Terry Weeks, G.C. Cameron, Ron Tyson and Joe Herndon.

2) The Temptations' hits included timeless songs such as "My Girl," "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "Get Ready" "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg."

3) The Detroit quintet was signed to Motown in 1961. The group was known for its smooth harmony, slick choreography and stylish suits. The first Top 20 hit for the Temps was "The Way You Do the Things You Do" in 1964. "My Girl," which hit No. 1 in 1965, became their signature song.

The Temptations will perform at 8 p.m. today at the Orpheum, 200 N. Broadway.