This weekend, take a journey “Under the Sea” with the University of Michigan’s School of Music Theatre & Dance at the Power Center! The Little Mermaid will awaken the child in all who see this Disney classic. Those who didn’t grow up with this princess will still surely fall in love with the story, the characters like Flounder and Sebastian, and songs such as “Kiss the Girl” and “Part of Your World”.
The Little Mermaid is the tale of a young mermaid named Ariel who wants to adventure into the human world, but her father King Triton won’t allow her since it is too dangerous. Ariel saves Prince Eric after he falls off of his ship, and falls desperately in love with him. So in love that she trades her voice for legs with the evil sea witch Ursula. Ariel finally gets the chance to experience human life! She gets help from her beloved friends, Flounder the fish and Sebastian the crab, along the way. The only catch is that she must kiss the prince within 72 hours or else she will lose her voice, and her freedom to Ursula forever.
The Little Mermaid can be seen Thursday April 13 at 7:30pm, Friday April 14 at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday April 15-16 at 2pm. Tickets are on sale now: Reserved seating $26-$32 and Students $12 with ID.
Ticket information can be found at: http://tickets.music.umich.edu/single/eventDetail.aspx?p=3001
If you have ever felt the pride of being a Michigan Wolverine, being at this event magnified that feeling by 100%. True Blue! A Tribute to Michigan brought together those who share the love and passion of two colors: maize and blue. Some of the biggest celebrities were on the stage of Hill Auditorium, telling their stories of their time at the University of Michigan, and everything that they have accomplished after graduating with a U of M diploma.
Tribute to Ann Arbor squirrels (Photo Credit: Matt Weigand)
There were so many amazing performances that I will do an overview. Many videos were played throughout the night including ones of the history of U of M, the Diag, the Ann Arbor squirrels (my personal favorite), U of M couples, Bo Schembechler’s “The Team” speech, U of M professors, and the alumni.
“The Victors” performed by the Department of Musical Theatre Majors (Photo Credit: Scott C. Soderberg)
The Jazz Ensemble played a nice medley of “Michigan Through the Ages”. The Department of Musical Theatre Majors did a stunning rendition of “The Victors” that definitely made me tear up a little as I felt the pride of being a Michigan wolverine. The Department of Theatre & Drama Acting Majors performed multiple pieces such as “Catholepistemiad Rap” about the history of U of M, “Clarence Darrow and the Ossian Sweet Trial” alongside Emeritus Professor of Voice George Shirley, and “Tribute to Activism”. The Michigan Men’s Glee Club sang a chilling “Glory” from the movie Selma and “I Remember, My Michigan”. The Contemporary Directions Ensemble played multiple pieces such as “The Little Victors”, “Concerto for Two Violins”, “Back to Michigan”, and the cellists played a “Tribute to Raoul Wallenberg”.
The Friars and Theatre & Drama Acting Majors in the tribute to the Engineering Arch (Photo Credit: Matt Weigand)
The Friars made an appearance to sing “In the Still of the Night” as a hilarious tribute to the Engineering Arch, in which Theatre & Drama Acting majors acted out couples walking through the “arch”. The Department of Dance Troupe performed “The Little Victors”. The RFD Boys, alumni of U of M, played a “Michigan Medley”. Multiple professors spoke such as Ralph Williams, Kathleen Sienko, and also the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery Dr. Karin Muraszko. “The University” was sung by the University Chamber Choir. Shortly after, the Michigan Marching Band flooded the stage performing all of the classics: “Victors Valiant”, “The Yellow and Blue”, and “Michigan Fanfare and The Victors”.
Emcee Darren Criss (Photo Credit: Robert Buechler)
The emcees included actors Darren Criss and Jacqueline Tobini, neurosurgeon and medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and NBC sportscaster Andrea Joyce, all of which are U of M alumni. Other famous alumni speakers included: Civil Rights activist Cecilia Munoz, mayor of Ann Arbor Christopher Taylor, sports legends Desmond Howard and Jim Harbaugh, Broadway producer
Alumni and football legend Desmond Howard with other U-M sports legends onstage (Photo Credit: Scott C. Soderberg)
Jeffrey Seller, space explorers Afred Worder, Kiko Dontchev, Steve Walton, Mike Hess, and Hashmita Koka, Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of Americans Committed to World Responsibility Judy Guskin, and of course U of M’s President Dr. Mark Schlissel.
This event was absolutely extraordinary and I couldn’t be more proud to be a wolverine! Go Blue!!!
Football coach and alumni Jim Harbaugh (Photo Credit: Matt Weigand)
Upcoming Bicentennial events include:
June 26 & October 26: President’s Bicentennial Colloquia
Words cannot express how excited I am to review one of the biggest events at the University of Michigan! True Blue! A Tribute to Michigan brings together past and current U of M students, fans, and families to celebrate the bicentennial. Special guests include: actor James Earl Jones (aka original voice of Darth Vader!!!), neurosurgeon and media reporter Sanjay Gupta, Glee actor and my future husband Darren Criss, and Cecilia Munoz. Through music, theatre, dance, and speech, faculty, alumni, and students will come together to share the past, present, and future of the University of Michigan.
True Blue! A Tribute to Michigan will take place at Hill Auditorium on Saturday, April 8 at 7pm. Tickets are on sale online. For adult tickets: $50 main floor, $30 mezzanine, $25 balcony. For UM students: $25 main floor, no mezzanine available, $20 balcony.
Additional information can be found at: https://events.umich.edu/event/38600
Sitting in the audience of the Power Center, I soon realized how distant this show was from any previous theater experiences I’d had before. The show began looking into the set of a vaguely warehouse-esque room with a column in the middle, and the first thing to happen was the movement of electrical cords, spreading apart to opposite ends of the stage. Almost ghost-like, they seemed to move on their own accord and there was no indication where the movement was coming from. This first minute was when I began to question what I had entered into for the next two hours. As I searched for words and footholds into this piece, something to describe and relate to it, the closest mainstream theater description I could find became the musical Chicago meets psychological-thriller-horror-movie. Think jazz numbers and spangled costumes mixed with the anticipation of brutal plot twists and fear. The lack of footholds to grasp onto in the piece, though, seems characteristic of new age-y modern expressionism. It is the interiority of the creator depicted onto the stage, meant to make the audience think and contemplate, not merely for surface-level enjoyment. A potential, and possibly more accessible, dance comparison that kept coming to mind throughout the performance was the “Slip” video that circulated the internet about while ago.
Both the slippery, interconnected choreography and the eery industrial set (with flickering fluorescents and all) is quite similar in style to that of Betroffenheit. The first act of the production mixed theater and dance together, with very little dialogue. In a premonitory twist, a strobe-light warning was issued before the show began; as it progressed, the production itself became a strobe effect. A bombardment of the senses, I continually felt that just as I had regained my balance and was beginning to understand, I was quickly thrown off, left reeling and scrambling back into the show.
Image c/o Kidd Pivot
The show was an exploration in the experience of trauma, and though it held the aforementioned eery quality, it was not exclusively a dark production. A bright and exciting cha cha-esque number was thrown in, along with a series of tap and vaudevillian pieces.
The second act was more of a dance production than theater, focusing on the choreography of Crystal Pite. Her work in Betroffenheit was mesmerizing; almost pedestrian with liquid-like partnering work that featured the breadth and skill of the performers more so than the first act had. While I struggled to grip and understand the first act’s interpretation and representation of emotional exploration, I loved the emotion and expression through the choreography.
Image c/o UMS
As I listened to the reactions of those sitting around me, many people were in love with Kidd Pivot and the Electric Company’s work. Many also seemed as though this style of performance was not outside their wheelhouse. Betroffenheit, from my interpretation, seemed like a show best suited for those saturated within the dance and experimental performance community – those who are constantly looking at and working with this genre of material. While I, as an outsider, could appreciate and enjoy pieces of it, I feel as though the powerful and soul-stirring impact was somewhat lost on my uninstructed-self.
The name Kidd Pivot and the Electric Company itself intrigued me enough as I flipped through UMS performances. Unless you speak German (I don’t), the title Betroffenheit does not give away any hints as to what the performance consists of. A German expression meaning deep-rooted shock and bewilderment, the performance combines theater and dance to explore the experiences of tragedy and loss. While it appears to be deep, dark, and eerie, comment after comment on the show’s previous performances contains the repeated message of the show’s compelling, powerful, and life-changing qualities. While I’ve fought through my background knowledge in theater performances to find anything to compare the looks of Betroffenheit to, I’ve come up blank. Betroffenheit appears to be like no other performance I’ve (and possibly you, unless you’re adventurous with your theater) ever seen before.
