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This year will be the Springfield Ballet Company’s tenth anniversary of Rockballet. Rockballet will be at Sangamon Auditorium Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.

This SBC production blends classic ballet with the top ten rock artists of all time as voted by listeners of WYMG, a local radio station that plays classic hits. Rockballet will include music from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, U2, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, Elton John, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

There will be live accompaniment for some of the songs featured in Rockballet provided by David Cain’s band, “Senses.” “Senses” includes David Cain on vocals, tenor, sax and synths, Kevin Hawkins, Jill Manning and Suzanne Carnes on background vocals, Bob Cain on guitar, Chris Noonan on drums, Howard Freitag on lead guitar, and Jeff Cunningham on bass.

According to the SBC website, Senses “will intrigue, entertain and challenge audiences with multi-media performances and art-radio-music sensibilities.”

“Rockballet is a vivid and exciting mix of adventurous choreography, memorable music and high-intensity dancing,” states the SBC website. “A multimedia celebration of dance and rock music, Rockballet has had a stunning impact on the way Springfield views classical dance.”

Rockballet is the creation of the SBC’s Artistic Director Julie Guttas. Guttas has been artistic director since January 1997. Before that she was co-artistic director in 1996 and ballet mistress from 1991-1996.

The SBC has been in existence since 1975. It is a not-for-profit ballet company with a 22 member volunteer board of directors and about 30 intermediate or advanced level dancers in the company. The SBC performs three major productions a year – Rockballet in October, The Nutcracker in December, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Romeo and Juliet in April. All of these main productions are performed at Sangamon Auditorium.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for senior citizens, and $15 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Sangamon Auditorium Box Office at 217.206.6160 or www.sangamonauditorium.org. You can also find more information at the Springfield Ballet Company website http://www.springfieldballetco.org.

College of Liberal Laughs and Satire:
Capital Steps delivers laughs at Sangamon, satirizes current events

The Capitol Steps kept the audience laughing for two hours last Friday at Sangamon Auditorium.

Five performers rework the lyrics of pop songs and musical classics to satirize current events.

From its beginning as a few sketches for the 1981 Christmas Party of Senator Charles Percy to its multiple national tours today, the Capitol Steps claim to have outlasted more than 500 “defeated or indicted” Congressmen in its 23-year history.

The show began with a “Bush supporter” and a “Kerry supporter” trying to rally the crowd. The Republican stole the segment with his tax rap, “I like big cuts and I cannot lie.” Hearing a conservative rapping about fiscal policy to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” was wickedly funny on several levels.

The Steps are equal opportunity offenders, and in the span of a few minutes insulted Ted Kennedy, John Ashcroft and Martha Stewart (whose orange jumpsuit was said to be from her Governor Ryan collection).

John Edwards, the well coiffed vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, sang “I’m So Pretty,” from “West Side Story.”

Unfortunately for the president, the actor portraying George W. Bush was the funniest person on stage. He told the audience, “uncertain times call for uncertain leadership,” blissfully peppering his comments with “self-defecating humor.”

In a nod to the first debate, Bush told the audience that the show was really hard work.

Later, Vice President Cheney joined Bush on stage, repeatedly jabbing his chest to revive his heart.

“There are those who say Dick can use a defibrillator, but I think he tells the truth most of the time,” said Bush.

One of the Steps’ best songs in recent memory skewers the absurd post-9/11 spectacle of the ever-larger Ford Subdivision driving around with a flag flapping from its antenna:

“And I’m proud to be an America, who gets just 5 m.p.g. Though I live alone, the car I own, can seat a hundred-three.

“And I’ll gladly park so close to you, when you pull out, you can’t see. No I’ll never trade my Escalade, God bless my S.U.V.”

Another consistently funny bit is “Lirty Dies,” translated from “Dirty Lies.” The audience is told, “Just whip your flurds, and you’ll figure it out.”

It takes a special gift to come up with a pair of flurds that, when whipped, do a better job of vaguely connoting a feeling than do the original words themselves.

For example, America went into Iraq with “buns glazing,” looking for “wig beapons of ass mannihilation.”

Some combinations drew groans for how close they sounded to being offensive. Upon closer inspection, however, people usually got around to laughing.

Saddam Hussein, for example, would eventually find himself in hell, where they keep “foking you in the putt with a bitchfork.”

“First Daughter” is only a little bit better then Mandy Moore’s January “Chasing Liberty” fiasco, which is not saying much.

Katie Holmes (“Dawson’s Creek”) stars as Samantha Mackenzie, who just wants a normal college experience. One small problem- her father is the leader of the free world and is in the process of running for re-election.

Sam attends a university in California. She hopes that the distance from the White House will mean more freedom. Unfortunately, it seems everywhere she turns is another Secret Service agent. Her fellow classmates refuse to let her forget who her father is and her roommate Mia, played by Amerie Rogers (a rhythm and blues singer who should stick to what she does best-singing) is not wild about sharing a room and attention with the famous first daughter.

All is not lost however, because Sam’s hottie resident advisor, James, seems to be just the answer to her prayers. They ditch Sam’s Secret Service agents, run from the paparazzi, watch old movies, and of course, fall in love. But nothing is as it seems, as Sam soon learns. “First Daughter” is a sad attempt to portray a woman’s coming of age story.

Sam’s father, the president, is played by Michael Keaton (“Multiplicity,” “Batman Returns,” “Jack Frost”). Keaton is not at all presidential. He fails to capture the essence of the most powerful man in the world. I’m actually more impressed by Sam’s mother, played by Margaret Colin.

Sam’s super hot RA/love interest is played unremarkably by Marc Blucas (“They,” “I Capture the Castle.”) His acting was not bad, nor was it overly good. It kind of just was. His performance did prompt me to look at RAs in a whole new way.

Katie Holmes’ portrayal of the first daughter is sickeningly sweet and I found her character inconsistent. Half of the time, she’s whining about wanting to lead a normal life and the other half of the time she is flying around on Air Force One with her friends and getting Vera Wang to design dresses for her on a moment’s notice.

“First Daughter” was written by Jessica Bendinger and Jerry O’Connell. That’s right, Jerry O’Connell of “Kangaroo Jack” and that one Mariah Carey music video (“Heartbreaker”) fame. O’Connell was also executive producer for “First Daughter.” Hopefully, this will be a one-time thing and Jerry will stick to acting.

“First Daughter” was supposed to be released this spring, but when “Chasing Liberty” bombed at the box office the release date was pushed back, closer to election season. Unfortunately, “First Daughter” is still basically the same movie as “Chasing Liberty.” If you are a 13-year-old girl you will probably really enjoy this movie. For the rest of us, do not waste the $6.50.

Last Thursday, before a standing-room-only crowd of 60 in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery, Whalen spoke at the opening of his show, “Aids of Language.”

His work is an outgrowth of — or has at least been influenced by — the Chicago Imagist or “Harry Who” movement of 1960’s Chicago. The latter term apparently derives from a critic whom the artists would slight by, upon hearing his name, responding, “Harry who?”

Defined by Ed Paschke, Jim Nutt and Roger Brown, the Chicago Imagist movement rejected abstract expressionism and pop art in favor of more realistic drawings.

The Madison (Wisconsin) Museum of Contemporary Art’s website puts it this way: “Although the Chicago artists embraced imagery from such quotidian sources as comic books and advertisements, their works, in contrast to pop art, stressed personal expression over sociocultural [sic] commentary.”

Whalen’s work bridges that gap with personal expressions that are often also socio-cultural commentary.

He likened art to opinions, saying, “I’m not asking you to agree with me.”

One painting, “Christ Goes to Hollywood,” pokes fun at people who conflate religious faith and economics. Mel Gibson bewares.

Another, more light-hearted work is “Carbo-Boy,” Whalen’s reaction to the Atkins diet craze. It depicts a Mayan fish eating pasta in front of a field of bacon.

If that sounds cartoonish, it is. That is not to denigrate the work. Whalen himself said his paintings have a certain illustrative quality, which he described as “a cartoon feel.”

Whalen rarely uses models, but rather takes what appears in his mind and puts it directly on the canvas.

“I work in an automatic drawing process for image generation. Make a mark and another follows,” he said in an artist’s statement that accompanied the show.

Many of Whalen’s works feature rich greens and yellows. It was relatively recently when he realized that his father’s use of John Deere farm implements might have had something to do with his color fascination. (John Deere tractors are bright green with yellow trim.)

Whalen’s agricultural roots might also explain the recurring appearance in his paintings of what many people describe as peas. The artist, however, thinks they are probably soybeans. “The farm always comes back,” he said.

Whalen grew up in Central Illinois, attending Lincoln Land Community College and Eastern Illinois University. He earned a master’s degree in painting from the University of Kansas, where he studied under Roger Shimomura.

Shimomura’s ability to express political (and other) frustration through his art has influenced the subject matter of Whalen’s own paintings. He said his teacher might say something like, “Don’t whine about Iraq. Go out and make a painting.”

Since 2000, Whalen has been teaching art at Lincoln Land Community College, where he was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2002.

“Aids of Language,” a collection of art by Thom Whalen, will be exhibited at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery through October 28. The Visual Arts Gallery is in room 201 of the Health and Sciences Building and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. For more information, call 217-206-6506 or e-mail visarts-ga@uis.edu.