Author: Vijita

As a person who loves exploring indie bands and local Michigan musicians, ending finals week (actually, day!) always has to do something with music. When I heard a Ypsi singer-songwriter Matt Jones was going to be performing at The Ark, I immediately put it on the agenda of my night (that continues into the next day, and Star Wars!!!!!)

Matt Jones seems to have a dry sense of humor but a very colorful childhood. His blog reads “MJ was raised by a combination of circus music and doo-wop,with a healthy dose of ragtime thrown in. His music has been known to suffer from colitis. The Reconstruction is his own assemblage, and sometimes, disassemblage. The core: Colette Alexander: cello, and Misty Lyn: vox.”

His music is deep yet beautiful. As Rachael Buttons describes his latest album, The Deep Enders, she says “Matt Jones writes haunting songs. February songs. Songs that get under my skin and seep into my short stories. Songs that remind me of the rust belt and the south, of ice chunks floating in Great Lakes and men in jeans haloed by cigarette smoke, and silhouettes leaning against brick walls at night. He has a voice like Elliott Smith. He plays ragtime piano, and he writes lyrics that make me wonder why he isn’t more famous.”

I am excited to feel the music get under my skin. Feel the goosebumps taking over my body and having my head feel dizzy with the resonating emotion in every word. As a writer, I want his music to make me make stories and see places I haven’t been to. If I find my “jam” (in more colloquial terms, but utterly disrespectful to this kind of beautiful music) after this night, or probably songs to nurse a broken heart or lay in bed and have a fantastic story created for me, just by me – I will say this will be the best end to my semester!

• Doors Open: 7:30 pm
• Show Starts: 8:00 pm
• Ticket Price: $15

Link to the event: http://www.theark.org/shows-events/2015/dec/17/matt-jones-reconstruction

Even though the snowstorm outside had most of us turning up the heat, making hot cocoa and warming our feet in our rooms, Spring Awakening had me extremely enthusiastic. We all thought how ironic it was that we were going to watch a performance with the mention of ‘Spring’ on the day of the season’s first snow!
The Broadway cast had sent a video to MUSKET telling them that we have awesome lights – and that was the first thing I noticed when I entered the Power Centre. The hues of purple and the grey, ominous trees created the perfect set piece.
The show finally started and the cast ran onto stage in their innocent dresses and school boy clothes. The comic timing and expressions of each character were impeccable – we learned about each one of them and fell in love instantly with Moritz and Wendla immediately. The hilariously cute emotions of adolescents took me back to the days where I changed seats just to get a better look of the secret someone I crushed on.
The first notes of Mama Who Bore Me gave me the goosebumps. Coming from a culture where sex is a taboo, the relationship between Wendla and her mother made me think about how all of us hear about sex for the first time – with euphemisms, symbolic suggestions and things left to our own dear imagination.

The classroom scene also reminded me of a reflection of the education system. This was when I was charmed by the character of Melchior. The highly intelligent, precocious gentleman’s character made me feel like there’s going to be a lot in store from him. It was great to see his character develop yet see such a mature teenager in a show.

However, the highlight of the show was Totally Fucked. As soon as Moritz broke into song, the audience couldn’t stop singing along or hooting to the lyrics. As the audience was dominated by students, the mood around midterms season and finals soon approaching made Totally Fucked an anthem. Furthermore, the choreography and energy of this song were unparalleled. I was in my seat, ready to start dancing and sing totally fucked at that moment!

The portrayal of love in Spring Awakening had some of the purest emotions in my opinion. The scene between Hanschen and Ernst was totally unexpected, but I loved how all the sides of love and exploration came through in this musical. Most of the time, only heterosexual romances take place in musicals like these but this scene seemed like it had been put into place for comic relief, as it was a reprise of the song “Word of your Body” which was performed by Moritz and Wendla. I thought it was still like gay people living in the shadow of straight people on the performance front, but the chemistry was impeccable between the two men.

Spring Awakening highlighted the rises all of us face. Be it not doing well academically, having infinite questions about sex and sexuality, the need to explore to find our own truth, attraction, desire, love and most of all, being spectators to all the problems in the world such as abuse, sadness and injustice. Many parts of it were relatable to me as I come from a very conservative upbringing where I had to find out a lot of things about growing up by myself or through friends.

Finally, The Song of Purple Summer was the perfect ending to the musical. The mellow music yet bright tones to it had a sense of hope yet was so melancholy. I felt like Spring Awakening summed up a very large part of my life, even though I did not have the same experiences as any of the characters did.

I had a great time that night and still listen to the soundtrack for study music (PS: Totally Fucked should not be on your playlist around finals, we should have something more motivational!) It is hard to resist singing along to the entire playlist and relive the experience of the performance on the night of the first snow.

PS : MUSKET is putting up Big Fish next semester and all performers are invited to Mass Meetings in the Union in January!