Author: Kayla Silverstein

REVIEW: Paris Mon Paradis

Kayla Silverstein

I think in my preview of this event I somewhat mocked the fact that anyone, but those whose French classes were going to talk about the situation of immigrants in France (…moi), would really want to attend a documentary on the second week of classes. After seeing the film “Paris Mon Paradis,” I truly hope that everyone who has the chance goes to see this film. It’s extremely thought-provoking and dwells on a lot of issues many of us didn’t even know existed. AND, as an added bonus, the director of the film is at the viewing!

First-time movie director, Eléonore Yameogo, outlines the story of numerous immigrants from French-speaking areas of Africa who move to France, hoping to find the paradise of their dreams. The disillusionment of these young Africans to Paris and other cities in France is devastating for many. They are forced, for the first time in their lives, to go to bed hungry and even, sometimes, sleeping in the street. The film highlighted the complexities of the situations of African immigrants to France in a very informative manner. From what I perceived, it’s a combination of anticipated easy success, pressure from back home to be successful, and the unavailable documents, allowing for those immigrants to be properly employed or own a home. Of course, that is a generalization of the massive issue of illegal immigration in France, but those were some of the key points I picked up from Yameogo’s film.

I truly felt the passion of this film. I was moved without being scared away, which is a difficult task when dealing with human rights. So many times I feel directors use fear tactics, utilizing blood and gore, in order to prove their point; however, Yameogo’s interviews and personal connections with others allows for the film to work without scaring away the audience. Yameogo also did a beautiful job with the camera angles. One of the most memorable scenes of the documentary was when she interviewed a group of young men who lacked the proper funds for a home, so they slept in a carousel. The gold and shiny carousel was entirely metaphorical of the common cyclical nature of poverty and the disillusioned “paradis” of France for many African immigrants.

After the film, Eléonore Yameogo answered questions pertaining to the film. She pointed out that her initial intended audience was young Africans, informing them of the largely unknown challenges of immigrating to France. I thought that was very interesting, and it made a lot of sense after seeing the film. Changing a deeply rooted economical problem such as homelessness is obviously a challenge, but I believe educating others about the issue is a solid place to begin.

In case you missed it, go see tomorrow’s showing of “Paris mon paradis” at 4pm in North quad!! It will definitely be worth your while! (and don’t fret; there are English subtitles)

PREVIEW: Paris mon paradis

Kayla Silverstein

Monday, January 9th at 4pm in 1360 East Hall

What better way to take advantage of the brief lapse in homework before the semester really kicks off than going to see a French documentary? As part of the symposium film series “Women Visualizing Africa” they will show the new and highly acclaimed documentary, “Paris mon Paradis.” Directed by Elénore Yameogo, the film will be in French with English subtitles.

The film series’ newsletter writes, “The dream of a better life has often led Africans to immigrate to Paris, their paradise. As a symbol of the Occident, the French capital soon becomes a symbol of disillusion…Striking and emotionally truthful, Yameogo’s documentary is an abrupt awakening.”

The film is sure to be very thought-provoking and on an issue that is often overlooked. Hope to see you there!

REVIEW: Little Women the Musical

Kayla Silverstein

Speaking as someone who knows Little Women the Musical, as in memorized the soundtrack, researched the musical history, and followed the actors who have played the roles in the show, the performance of the students of the Musical Theatre department fit the way I’d imagined the show nearly perfectly. It was actually a little spooky how well cast everyone was to their characters:

Jo March, played by Jane Bruce, was absolutely perfect. Quirky, lively, and strong, she played Jo March with perfection. In many incidences throughout the play, I was brought to tears by her emotional and heart-warming vocal performance and gut-wrenchingly truthful interpretation of the character.

Furthermore, the character of Marmee March, the mother of the March sisters, by Katherine Thomas, was equally as impressive. One of my favorite songs of the show is “Days of Plenty,” where Marmee urges Jo to have faith that the death of her sister Beth is not completely in vain, encouraging, “You have to believe, there is reason for hope.” She performed it beautifully and did not disappoint.

All of the characters had amazing chemistry. Laurie, played by Joel Sparks, was dorky, adorable, and lovable. He fit the role perfectly, but in a different way than I’d previously imagined his character. It was for the better, I’d say, that Laurie’s character wasn’t the dashingly handsome hero who won Amy March’s heart but brought the audience to tears when he didn’t end up with his best friend Jo. I felt his interpretation of Laurie was fitting in that you saw, even from the beginning, that Laurie and Jo would never last together, at least on Jo’s end. I think the chemistry between Laurie and Amy overpowered any feelings of disappointment that anyone felt for the lack of union between Laurie and Jo.

The role of Professor Bhaer, played by Trevor St. John Gilbert, was equally as ideal. I felt he really understood how he and Jo fell in love: amongst bickering, arguments, but in the end, beneath a shared, “Small Umbrella in the Rain.”

Even the opening scene was magnificent. They had all the characters flying through the stage, ascending and descending from all sides, and moving set pieces with ease and distinguished flair. I saw the entire play as a story, seen through Jo’s eyes, set in the magical attic of the March household. Perfection.

This musical was tremendous and the entire cast did such a fantastic job. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see this play performed (finally!!!) and I can now put a proper backdrop behind my favored and well-loved Little Women soundtrack.

REVIEW: Lizzie Hutton, poetry reading

Kayla Silverstein

First of all, let me be clear that I know nothing of poetry. Other than the presentation I gave on Lord Byron in my British literature class, junior year of high school, I really haven’t studied much on the subject. I saw that Lizzie Hutton was coming, read a biography on her, and decided it would be worth attending, if for no other reason than to expand my literary horizons. Lizzie Hutton is a renowned poet, UM alumni, and currently getting her PhD at the university as well.

Knowing that I know nothing of poetry, you can take my opinion as what you want, but I was blown away by Hutton’s words. Her poems were actually more like short stories to listen to, filled with brief expressions of conflicting emotions, family values, disappointments, and struggles over sexual intimacy and the exploration of femininity. One of her poems, entitled “Low City,” described how sex is broken, fragmented, and violent, with imagery so dramatic and vivid it is almost disturbing. Another poem called, “You knew it was so,” is about shyness I believe (I’d like to read it a second time to fully capture its meaning), and the descriptions of an indoor pool, reflecting on the ceiling, are absolutely beautiful. Her poem “Blue Stocking” has a leaping sort of motion, moving from person to object back to person and onto something else. Maybe that’s how most poetry flows, but it is so distinct that we end up somewhere out of seemingly nowhere. I really enjoyed “Milkweed” as well. It seems to capture the difficulties in the self-conscience nature of creation and when something as freeing as creativity is left “contained but uncomposed.” At the end of each poem, the audience sat entirely still, stunned; like at the end of a symphonic piece when you aren’t sure if it’s the end and whether it’s yet appropriate to clap.

I’ve been to quite a few fiction readings, so I know how they are sometimes acted out and read rather quickly to best get through a passage of text. This poetry reading was entirely different. She read slow, emphasizing each word with an effective, matter-of-fact tone that gave prominence and importance in nearly every word she spoke.

The woman who introduced Hutton said that Hutton’s poems made her want to write poetry, and I couldn’t relate more. I am a creative writing major and work primarily in narratives and fiction, but after listening, I too feel a serious desire to try my hand at poetry; if only to feel empowered by weaving words, such carefully selected words, to paint a single image.

If you have not been to one of the Zell Writers Series events, I highly encourage you to attend. It is such a great opportunity to meet and listen to such accomplished members of the literary world without having to leave UM! And besides, what better way to de-stress than to be creatively inspired by talented writers?

Here’s a link to the English dept. website for further information on upcoming events:
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/english/events/default.asp

PREVIEW: Little Women the Musical [finally!!!]

Kayla Silverstein

Not even words can capture how excited I am for this performance. I want to just set up a link that’ll take you to the soundtrack as soon as you click to read my preview so you can hear just how amazing and beautiful the songs of this show are. AND what’s extra exciting about seeing this performance of Little Women is not only because it’s put on by the musical theatre dept. here but because it’s directed by UM alumnus Danny Gurwin who starred in this musical on Broadway as Laurie!!! Do you realize how awesome this show is going to be?! I don’t even think I know how great it’s going to be. The show closed on Broadway after 137 performances (thanks, Wikipedia.org) in spring of 2005, so I was forced merely to memorize every song on the soundtrack to satisfy my cravings for the beauty of this show…until NOW! Hooray!!

Performances will be December 8-11 in the Arthur Miller Theatre. I hope you find time to attend because it is going to be fantastic. Quoting from one of my favorite songs in the show, it is sure to be “astonishing.”

Read more about the performance and buy tickets here: http://www.music.umich.edu/departments/mustheatre/productions.htm

REVIEW: Bare, a pop opera

Kayla Silverstein

Last night I attended Bare, a musically-charged and sexuality-questioning explosion propelled from the stage and onto the laps of the audience. Certain songs were heavy with harsh beats and foot stomping rhythms, while others captured your heart, a cello pleading softly from the pit. If I could only choose one thing that I liked most about this musical, however, it would definitely be the lyrics. They were so heart felt and poetic; I found myself thinking over each refrain, even after the song was long ended.

Basement Arts put on the performance, so we were sure to get there early to form a line outside the doors. It was in Studio 1 at the Walgreen Drama Center and if you’ve ever been in there you know how small and intimate a theater it is (which was absolutely stellar for this performance). Tickets are free, so everyone just waits in line hoping they’ll be room for them inside. I’m pretty sure they didn’t have to turn away many, if any, people last night, so that’s good.

The Spectrum Center sponsored the event, so I had a hunch on what to expect in the plot. And if that didn’t clue you in to the sexuality themes of the musical, the cover of the playbills would reinforce the message. One key idea in the musical was how to know what is right or normal when those people and institutions in your life, like your parents, school, church, tell you it’s wrong. It was a very moving performance, and the story itself led to many open discussions on issues such as drugs, sex, alcohol, love, the church…etc. These heavy and controversial subjects were handled with respect and consideration, which was good because of the wide range of audience members present. I thought it was beautifully done.

Furthermore, the actors were fantastic and the singing was pretty good; however, probably not one of the best vocals I’ve heard out of a student theater organization. The students didn’t have microphones, so I did appreciate that they had to compete with a drum set, cello, keyboard, and bass guitar to be heard. I thought the two leads, Sam Lips and Michael Hartung, along with the mother of the main character were extremely talented. They stood out the most to me, in terms of talent.

What’s interesting about this musical is it has never been on Broadway, only off. It has performed in numerous tour productions all over the country, but never has it been accepted to perform on Broadway. After seeing the show, and discussing it with a few friends, I think I understand why it has never been able to perform on the same stages as Les Miserables or Wicked or The Phantom of the Opera. It’s good, but the plot is somewhat one dimensional and cliché, in my opinion. The ending, which I’ll refrain from giving away, is somewhat of a cop-out. Not to sound insensitive to the issue it presents, but it does leave the audience a bit dissatisfied (and not like a comfortable open-ending either, but just like…wait, you are really going to ignore the other characters right now??). For me, the story was really focused on Peter, a student at a Catholic school in love with his best friend Jason. I felt the ending shifted away from the struggles of Peter and onto Jason. If I were to rewrite the plot, I would change a few scenes to develop Jason’s character further, especially considering he’s the character we are thinking most about at the end of the show.

Bottom line, it really was a great show, and I’m glad I attended. Supporting Basement Arts and the Spectrum Center AND World AIDS week is always excellent – especially all at the same time!

P.S. If you were wondering who was the creeper running around the Walgreen Drama Center taking pictures with all the Little Women posters…that’d be me. Preview and review coming soon!!!