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Review: Moth Night at Circus Bar

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 Phillip Wachowiak Leave a comment

Think of the phrase “hot mess.” Now think of time when your life has been a hot mess, or when you have listened–dutifully–as a friend told you about their hot mess. This was The Moth in a nutshell.

Although over three hundred people were packed into the room, with dozens standing in the back (including me), each story felt intimate and unrehearsed.

The first story, about one man’s ex-fiance that was 90% perfect, and 10% crazy whenever she drank, warmed us up for the night. Three teams of judges gave their scores after his five minute story, and the results were tallied on a white board at the front of the room. Just like the Olympics.

Satori Shakoor was the emcee for the night. The director of Twisted Storytellers in Detroit, I probably would have paid money just to see this woman perform. Between personal anecdotes, readings of the prompt the audience filled out, and reactions to the storytellers, Satori wove the night together in a way only a superior emcee can do. I think the best part about her was that she never made the night feel awkward, even when there were several potentially awkward moments.

Which brings me back to the stories. One young man decided to go backpacking in the middle of Alaska with friends. That went about as well as you think it would have gone. Another woman–only eighteen–talked about putting two cars out of commission on the way to an appointment. A local story pitted a good Samaritan against a Hawaiian-shirted thief.

The winner, and without a doubt the best performance of the night, came from a man with a metal plate in his collar bone that had to get an MRI. Although the story itself was not the best of the night, his skill in telling it had all the right twists, a gag that was repeated without being repetitive, and a final shock that turned into a happy ending.

Each story of the night was different, and even with the theme of “hot mess,” common denominators like alcohol and drugs only made it into a few of the ten stories of the night.

I was shocked and impressed that all of the storytellers spoke clearly and concisely. Some stories were better than others, yes, but not a single one of the stories was boring or overly lengthy. In fact, I wish at least one of them had kept going.

REVIEW: Ah, Wilderness!

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 musickim Leave a comment

Boy do I never get tired of seeing our amazing School of Music, Theatre, and Dance students perform. In the first play of the 2016-2017 year, they sure did not disappoint. This one was one of Eugene O’Neill’s more lighthearted plays, which meant not every character was terminally sad and there were a good number of jokes, but it also came with moments of sincerity and serious undertones.

The play revolved around a young boy named Richard who had just been rejected by his love, Muriel. This results in Richard galavanting off with one of his older brother’s friends and an older woman at a bar, where he becomes drunk and gets kicked out by the barkeep. He later finds out he had been deceived by Muriel’s father, and Muriel did indeed still love him. They meet to apologize and Richard explains what he had done. Everyone ends up surprisingly happy, which seems like a rare thing to come by in an O’Neill play.

Throughout the play, Richard’s father, Nat Miller, plays a strong role as a classic American father. He wants his son to become the best he can be, but is hesitant to punish him as he personally does not like having to punish his children. Some of the most touching moments in the play were when Nat would try to discipline his son or have a serious conversation about life, but ended up getting embarrassed and leaving Richard confused. There was obvious chemistry between the two actors that truly resembled a genuine father-son relationship and made watching the two grow through story even more touching.

I would say the most impressive part of this performance was the cast’s ability to perform the subtle humor of the play. Not all of the jokes were outright funny, but had more nuance to them, and the cast portrayed this nuance perfectly. The cast even executed the more boisterous humor, like uncle Sid coming home drunk, incredibly well in all of its absurdity.

Finally, the set design was extraordinary. The women’s garb was exactly out of the 1900s, with the collared dresses and big waisted skirts. The men as well were iconic, with goggled sunglasses and boater hats. The bar scene was quintessential, and the home decor at the Miller residence set the mood for a suburban American family at the turn of the century. These little details made the story easier to follow, putting the radical thoughts of Richard Miller in perspective with the rest of the world at that time.

All in all, this was a very touching coming-of-age story, filled with many classic family brawls and a beautiful romantic scene under the moonlight. The actors did a spectacular job of portraying a close family going through daily life, and bringing the audience into this little slice of life O’Neill wrote a century ago.

REVIEW: Mark Morris Dance Group

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 musickim Leave a comment

The Mark Morris Dance Group performance was certainly a new experience for me. I have never been to such a mixed arts event in the past. Walking in, before the first people came on stage, before even the lights began to dim, you are immediately aware of the art of the performance because of the backdrop of the stage. There is this brilliant painting that sets the background for the entire performance, consisting of what appears to be large brush strokes sweeping across the canvas. The entire painting consists of only 3 colors, but as the lighting changes on stage, the painting changes colors as well. This sets the mood for the performance, as the rest of the dancers come out dressed in similarly bright colors.

At the beginning of the performance, a group of 4 musicians come on stage and perform a short piece that also begins immersing the audience into the world of Layla and Majnun. The music is accompanied by English captions above the stage, translating the story being told by the two singers in the group. Immediately, from the key of the music and the poetic quotations being presented in the captions, the audience gets a feeling for the tragic nature of this story.

Then, the entire music ensemble walks on stage. As the musicians begin playing, the dancers start to walk out two at a time. All of the female dancers are dressed in these brilliant pink flowing dresses, and the men are dressed in bright blue. This choice of colors perfectly contrasted the men from the women, as well as made the aesthetic of the stage come together beautifully with the painting in the backdrop. This can be seen in the image below, taken by Susana Miller.

Throughout the performance, one is entranced by the beautiful singing of Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova, seated directly in the middle of the stage and surrounded by the music ensemble. They demonstrated an incredible control over their vocal range and ability to express such deep emotion in their voices. I do have to say I was biased towards focusing on the musicians more than the dancers, since my training is in music, not dance. This also meant I was new to the style of dance the Mark Morris group utilized. It was predominantly lyrical, trying to showcase the tragedy of this love story through the movements of the body. However, this also meant there was not a focus on showcasing skill, so the performance was much more centered on telling the story of Layla and Majnun rather than exhibiting the dancers. In this way, the choreography often included simple physical movements that demonstrated love and loss, repeated by each male/female pair in the dance group.

Overall, I fell in love with the beautiful colors of the stage and the voices of the singers and the talents of the musicians, but I found myself unable to stay focused on the dancers. My eyes kept drifting back to watch Alim and Fargana perform extraordinary cadenzas effortlessly. I would love to see the Mark Morris Dance Group perform in a more dance-central piece, but I was not able to experience the character and skill of the group in this performance.

by Kim Sinclair

PREVIEW: Moth Night at Circus Bar

October 16, 2016October 3, 2016 Phillip Wachowiak Leave a comment

The Moth is a well-known podcasts and stand-up format where professionals and amateurs alike tell personal stories based on a theme.

Circus Bar hosts The Moth on the 3rd Tuesday of every month, including this Tuesday, October 18th. This week’s theme is Hot Mess. Taken from the web site:

“Prepare a five-minute story about spectacular chaos. Faux pas and flamboyant fails. Calamitous confusion. Wearing two different shoes to work, butt dialing your ex, tanking an interview. Disheveled dramas and situations so tangled there is no hope of straightening things out.”

Stories begin at 7:30 and tickets are $10

REVIEW: Layla and Majnun

October 15, 2016October 15, 2016 Tsukumo Leave a comment

I bought my tickets last-minute to be at the performance of Layla and Majnun, which meant I’d be all the way at the top of the balcony at the Power Center. Granted, the view wasn’t the greatest — especially when the dancers were active on house left. However, I was still able to fully receive the emotions conveyed through music and movements on stage even when I was practically the farthest from stage. Colors, poems, and artists skillfully created a space where a tragic love story can be told. It may be an understatement to say I was impressed.

The first time I saw the Silk Road Ensemble perform was four years ago. I was curious about how the so-called Western and non-Western instruments can come together and form a cohesive ensemble. They proved me at that performance that it’s totally doable, and music can, indeed, transcend borders. The ensemble reinforced that again at this performance, where a group of string players — violin, viola, cello, bass, Persian kamanche, and Chinese pipa — supported the two Azerbaijani singers and the entire dance crew as a true ensemble. I was also moved by Mr. Evan Ziporyn for his skill on clarinet to be able to be mellow and flexible enough to adapt to the Azerbaijani musical tradition on an instrument made for Euro-American settings. I also appreciated the production team for making the music just loud enough, but not overpowering. With the music so sensitive, all it needed was a slight amplification to reach an audience afar (like me!) — which I thought was executed very well.

layla-majnun-1080-4-by-susana-miller-1620x1080 — Photo by Susana Miller. Father-and-daughter Alim Qasimov (left) and Fargana Qasimova (right) are incredible singers!

I had never heard of Mark Morris Dance Group, but the fact that Mr. Yo-Yo Ma has referred to the group as “the preeminent modern dance organization of our time” made me look forward to seeing them. Their movements on stage were very convincing, even to my non-dancer eyes. I was most impressed in the last act, titled “The Lovers’ Demise”, where the dancers fall down one-by-one to the ground after what seems to be a despairing moment but none of them fall exactly the same way. Their control over their own bodies and connections with other dancers and musicians are incredible and memorable.

Going to this performance was a great way to wrap up my busy week and start off my fall break. I was also happy to see many other students in the audience experiencing the same beauty, in an art form that I’m sure most of us were not very familiar with. Ann Arbor offers so many different performances that are new to me, and they never seem to disappoint.

REVIEW: The Drowsy Chaperone

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 brynel Leave a comment

If you have yet to see a show done by University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, & Dance, I highly recommend you start by seeing this show. The seats weren’t completely full but by the laughter that filled the room, one would think it was oversold.

psp_3582 — Cast of The Drowsy Chaperone-Press Release Photo

The show begins in the dark with a monologue from the star of the show, Man in Chair (Alexander Sherwin). He describes what it’s like waiting for a show to start and he captures it spot on. The Man in Chair puts in his favorite record, The Drowsy Chaperone, and the show comes to life onstage.

psp_3608 — Janet Van de Graaff (Hannah Lynne Miller) and Robert Martin (Kyle McClellan)-Press Release Photo

The big opening number, Fancy Dress, drew the crowd in immediately. All of the characters are introduced and you fall in love with them right away. Mrs. Tottendale (Isabel Stein) is the sweet, confused hostess who can’t seem to remember that everyone is there for a wedding. Her spit-take with her employee, Underling (Aidan Ziegler-Hansen), is priceless. Robert Martin (Kyle McClellan), the dashing groom has a high-energy, fun tap number called “Cold Feets” with his frazzled best man George (Christopher Campbell), which was personally one of my favorite numbers! Broadway producer Feldzeig (Riley McFarland) will do anything to stop the wedding from happening so he won’t lose his leading lady Janet Van de Graaff. Kitty (Jo Ellen Pellman) is a ditzy wanna-be-star constantly trying to convince Feldzeig that she’s fit for the role of the leading lady. Gangster #1 (Joseph Sammour) and Gangster #2 (Simon Longnight) stole the show every time they were onstage! Both disguised as pastry chefs for the wedding, the gangsters were hilarious as they made pastry puns and starred in the exciting number of “Toledo Surprise”. Adolpho (Charlie Patterson) was another audience favorite. As a Latin “lover of ladies”, he was put on a mission by Feldzeig to seduce the bride, but amidst the chaos, ends up seducing the wrong lady. Bride Janet Van de Graff (Hannah Lynne Miller) can’t seem to give up the spotlight, as we see her “Show Off” in her large number, doing cartwheels, high kicks, and smiling for any camera around. Miller played a stunning leading lady. The Drowsy Chaperone (Nkeki Obi-Melekwe) killed it in her song titled “As We Stumble Along”. The chaperone is supposed to be making sure that Janet Van de Graaff doesn’t see Robert Martin on their wedding day, but always seems to be stumbling around with a drink in her hand. She hits every comedic line perfectly and wows the audience in any and every song she sings. Definitely another audience favorite. Trix (Cydney Clark), the aviatrix, also has a stunning voice as she sings “I Do, I Do in the Sky”. The Superintendent (Griffin Binnicker) makes an appearance at the end of the show. He may have few lines, but he definitely makes the most of them! And finally, you can’t forget about the ensemble (Spencer Crow, Audrey Kennedy, Carina Kay Louchiey, Christopher Washington)! Their dancing was phenomenal and they seemed to have such a fun time onstage! Whether they were news reporters, maids, or a plane, they helped make the show complete.

The Drowsy Chaperone (Nkeki Obi-Melekwe)-Press Release Photo

There were many people in the show within the show, but the Man in Chair was the true star. He deserves a huge pat on the back for this role. It must not have been easy to memorize the pages of lines, and to make sure he is continuously connecting with the audience. A job well done on Sherwin’s part.

Man in Chair (Alexander Sherwin)-Press Release Photo

The music, choreography, and acting was simply spectacular. As the Man in Chair says “Musicals take you into another world; they help you escape the dreary horrors of the real world.” And that is exactly what this show did. Whether you are an actor, a theatregoer, or someone who has never seen a show, I promise that you will form some sort of connection with this musical. I highly recommend seeing this once, if not more.

Tickets are on sale online at http://tickets.music.umich.edu/single/eventDetail.aspx?p=2923, or you can get them at the door. $12 for students with a valid ID and $22-$28 for others. The show runs October 13-16 and October 20-23. Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 2pm.