Every fall semester, Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. hosts the Inspired Show; this year it was on Saturday, November 11th from 4-6 PM at the Ross Robertson Auditorium. On Instagram (@umichkpl), the sorority said this event “seeks to showcase a variety of cultural performances, mixing modern and traditional elements to bring Michigan exposure to various Asian performing arts,” which it certainly did.
There were 8 performances. In order they were:
Female Gayo (@femalegayo)
Photonix (@umphotonix)
Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. (@umichkpl)
DB3 (@db3_umich)
Seoul Juice (@seouljuice.umich)
VeryUs (@veryus.umich)
Revolution (@revolutionyoyo)
Moli (@moli.umich)
K-Motion (@kmotion)
I’ve watched and reviewed the majority of these groups before, many of which performed at Celebrasia. However, although the Inspired Show was only a week later, Female Gayo had a completely new set that ended with an original choreography they made to the song Money by Lisa from Blackpink and had the fun addition of shooting dollar bills into the air at the end.
Photonix is a crowd favorite and I wish I got to see more of them. They use glow-in-the-dark items to create rhythmic visual art by manipulating neon lights to music in pitch blackness. Much of the choreography involves teamwork, which is super impressive since the team must work together without being able to see. My favorite parts are when they hit the floor to change colors on a beat drop. Unfortunately, I couldn’t capture their performance well enough on camera, so take the chance to see them in person if you can!
I saw the sisters of Kappa Phi Lambda perform at the Yardshow, but they prepared two additional choreographies for their event: hip-hop and cultural. Their cultural dance is pictured above and it was the highlight of the show for me. Many groups use fans or umbrellas as props, but it was the first time I’ve seen the beautiful white and red long sleeves they wore. In addition, the music they used was purely instrumental, which was a nice contrast to the other music throughout the show. It truly felt like a cultural dance rather than a dance that just uses cultural props.
The Ross Robertson Auditorium is a nice venue; the only thing I wish is that the lighting had a spotlight on the stage to give it a more immersive atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was nice being in a new and comfortable environment.
Although there are a lot of parallels to Celebrasia, I recommend attending the Inspired Show. It’s a good opportunity to see different performers, such as Photonix and Moli, and new choreographies like Female Gayo’s. All proceeds are donated to the Ann Arbor Community Center, so you can make a difference and have fun at the same time.
MUSKET’s production of Murphy and O’Keefe’s Heathers took place at the Power Center for the Performing Arts this past weekend. MUSKET impressively holds the title of the oldest and largest student-run theater troupe on campus. They produce one fully staged and orchestrated musical each semester with an entirely student-led cast, crew, and production team. It serves as an essential platform for non-musical theater majors to participate in musical theater, offering endless opportunities for leadership, production, and performance to university students.
I observed several standout aspects of this performance. Firstly, the costume design (by Katy Sanchez) was beautifully crafted, immediately conveying the identities of the characters to the audience. The costumes adhered to the expected classic “Heathers” outfits, featuring heavy pumps, short skirts, and the distinctive red, green, yellow, and blue colors defining each character. Katy honored the original looks while bringing her flare into the mix.
Secondly, the jocks, played by Ram Sweeney (Dylan Bernstein) and Kurt Kelly (Sohil Apte), had me chuckling at their scenes throughout the show. I appreciated their physicality, and even from my seat towards the back of the house, I could pick up their movements very well. Sohil, wrapping up his third production with the troupe, has become a frequent MUSKET actor.
Additionally, the dance numbers were an exciting aspect of the show, with choreography by Marcus Byers Jr and assistant Kate Player. The numbers were bright and intentionally crafted for the scene, adding significantly to the storytelling rather than existing as a mere spectacle. At times, the choreography compromised good vocal quality, but overall the actors handled this well.
“Dead Gay Son” stood out as my favorite number in the show. It brought a blazing burst of energy immediately after intermission, and a bleak ending to Act I. The crowd responded accordingly to this excitement. Kurt’s Dad (Evan Hoefer) and Ram’s Dad (Zoltan Berensci) hysterically and passionately committed to the campiness of the scene.
Music direction was led by Madeline Nolen, and the band featured 7 players. This pit was mighty for the minimal orchestration in the score. They played together well—this score is not easy for anyone! Likewise, Madeline conducted with passion and kept the ship running smoothly. The vocal harmonies dazzled in select moments, and some other times were a tad uncoordinated, possibly due to the stuffy mics.
The licensed version of Heathers is the official West End version, which differs slightly from what I usually remember in a production of Heathers. Some songs in this revised edition felt superfluous to the plot, and some songs were removed or changed from the original Broadway version. Because of this, the pacing suffered a bit. However, I understand the tricky nature of navigating changing dark and often insensitive themes while trying to convey an aggressive message on mental health awareness through the music.
Pictured from left to right: Emelia Hughey as Heather McNamara, Bianca Garfinkle as Heather Chandler, and Lila Harris as Heather Duke taken from Musket’s Instagram (@ummusket)
On November 10th, the University of Michigan’s student-led organization, Musket, put on its opening night performance of Heathers: the Musical. The musical follows Veronica Sawyer (played by Kaylin Gines) as she navigates her senior year as a part of Westerburg High School’s class of 1989 while trying to avoid the titular Heathers, the cruel popular girls of the school. Heather McNamara (Emelia Hughey), Heather Duke (Lila Harris), and the queen bee Heather Chandler (Bianca Garfinkle) make high school a living hell for the other students including Veronica and her best friend Martha Dunstock (Ellie Omori-Sampson). Along with the Heathers, Kurt Kelly (Sohil Apte) and Ram Sweeny (Dylan Bernstein) torment them with their inflated jock egos. It’s not until Veronica becomes a Heather herself and meets JD (Aaron Syi) do her plans of a quiet senior year under the radar go awry.
Heathers: the Musical satirizes the high school experience, portraying it as a battlefield of hostile personalities. It describes high school as a mimicry of the outside world with all of the hierarchies of adult society, posing the question of why childhood had to transform into this. Themes of gun violence, sexual violence, suicide, and grief of loss pervade the story, understanding that, here, the perils and dangers of adult society are inseparably coupled with the insecurity, longing, and anxiety of coming of age. As Kate Ivanov, the director of the musical, puts it in the Director’s Note, “there is a constant need to change, fit in, and be loved and accepted for who you are, when you don’t know who you are yet.”
The production itself is masterfully crafted in the Power Center’s proscenium stage. The set remains simple yet dynamic, always portraying Westerburg High, comprising a catwalk with two movable staircases that lead up to it. Still, in scenes that weren’t set in Westerburg High, there were parts of the set that were present that helped immersion while not detracting from the immersion of other scenes, including the gas station for “Freeze Your Brain” and the pier for “Kindergarden Boyfriend”. This use of the set, by not having any major set changes, streamlined the viewing experience and made it easy to follow the constant stimulation that the musical provides. The catwalk also gives good visual symbolism whenever the Heathers, but especially Heather Chandler, enters, demanding attention to their presence through the fact they are physically and socially above everyone else.
This experience wouldn’t be possible without the amazing performances from each of the actors as well. The way that the Heathers seem like one indomitable unit with their synchronization make the play as they set the tone of power hierarchy to which all of the play centers around, especially in “Candy Store”. Chandler especially commands her presence showcases devotion to the precision of her character work as in every scene she’s in she steals the show with her attitude and poise. When they eventually break off too the actors play faithfully to each of their individual characters’ emanating their respective traits: Duke’s envy and conniving nature shown through “Never Shut Up Again” and McNamara’s dumbness that gets deepened by the anxiety and vulnerability she shows in “Lifeboat”.
Kurt and Ram play their parts well as the comedic relief, their energy was outstanding, while still showing their ignorance and ego as almost perpetrators of sexual violence in “You’re Welcome” where they really expressed the childish entitlement they felt to sexual favors. Martha, although not playing the largest role in the play, stood out as not only someone with fantastic heart but an exceedingly impressive vocalist (I’m pretty sure “Kindergarden Boyfriend” held the largest applause of the night).
Of course, the leads Veronica and JD were the stars of the show, faithfully executing their characters to a caliber that exemplified the quality of their performance. As the leading lady, Veronica was intelligent and contemplative, executing the larger themes of the musical with ease and immersion. JD was a contemplative character that showed all the warning signs of his unhinged nature, yet the audience can’t help but fall in love with him the same way that Veronica does. They certainly complemented each other with several musical numbers that showed their exceptional vocal performance such as in “Dead Girl Walking”, “Our Love is God”, and “Seventeen” which I especially enjoyed.
Still, each of the members clearly showcased their love of the show of which I noticed their exceeding amounts of energy and the small details they implemented helped the immersion into the world of Sherwood, Ohio. Additionally, to provide a special shoutout, the production couldn’t had reached as high as it did without the performance of the pit orchestra. The score was excellently executed with each of the musical motifs highlighting each and every scene, not just with the musical numbers.
With my experience, I was overall blown away by the sheer skill, energy, and love of the show the cast had. The musical was comedic yet contemplative, energetic and fun yet satirical, tonally all over the place yet being able to ground itself when it needed to. Quality-wise, it was almost like watching an off-broadway production, and to think that Musket is a student-led organization speaks to the amount of time, skill, and effort it took to put out such a performance. I would definitely recommend to keep the productions UofM’s Musket in one’s mind if one wants to see great performances.
Creative Arts Orchestra is an experimental modern music group at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theater, and Dance, directed by Marcus Elliot. It’s specific to the jazz department, but there are a range of participating players among the music school’s student body. This is one of the most unique ensembles at the University, emphasizing improvisation and feel over Western structure and harmony of music. They often invite interaction with other performance fields such as dance, theatre, and music technology.
The ensemble features 9 students, with a few of the players doubling on 2 or 3 instruments. The orchestra includes double bass, flute, clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax, alto sax, and trumpet. At least 3-4 saxes were playing at a time due to the instrumentation, so the sound came off particularly bright. The double bass carried the darker, grounding sound in the music and was necessary texture-wise. The group has a truly unique way of blending, demonstrating the high level of musicianship present.
As for the performance, the music sounded atonal and arhythmic. There wasn’t a specifically defined structure of what notes to play, but each piece was still quite different. Marcus Elliot, the conductor, chose certain moments to cue everyone in for a tutti line or harmony, but he was not overly controlling of the ensemble. I did not get to see what the player’s scores looked like but I assume they are somewhat free with little actual notation based on how the music sounded.
I noticed if I tuned out of the moment, this ensemble sounded like noise. It reminded me how humans cling to structure in every aspect of life, including something as ambiguous as music. We anticipate “A” sections and a bridge that leads us back into a repeated “A” section, along with harmonies that are comfortable to our ears. This ensemble takes a hard right turn on that construct and plays into the emotion of a moment while creating an atmosphere for the listener with the various timbres of instruments. I respected the hyper-focused nature of the ensemble regarding this. They prioritized settling into the moment of the music and the group’s sound.
The set featured compositions by members of the ensemble including Noah Pujol, MM Clarinet 23’, Houston Patton BFA, Jazz 23’, and Marlena Boedigheimer, MM Jazz 24’. Often their selections started with a theme and transitioned seamlessly into group improvisation. It felt like a portrait of a moment and the instrumentation that was present within the sound.
Half-way through the concert, they featured Canadian pianist, Kris Davis. She is a Vancouver-born jazz-pianist and composer with a variety of discography available. I appreciated how much the sound was expanded once a pianist entered into the space. I enjoyed the complexity added to the music by Davis. There are more options with the instrument which allows for lower notes to be added into the music.
There’s a certain meditativeness to the music, and a smaller audience reinforces the intimate experience of the concert.This ensemble is something to be perceived in real time, to properly absorb the spur-of-the-moment cultivation of the atmosphere. Most of all, this was an experience of collective sound along with talented musicians presently existing alongside one another. If you are interested in experiencing this, the next Creative Arts Orchestra will be on March 14th, at 8 pm in Hankinson Rehearsal Hall in the Moore building on North Campus. They will be playing with SMTD alum Mat Endahl!
On Sunday night, November 5th, the Chinese Student Association (@csaumich) collaborated with 24 other organizations to host its most popular event: Celebrasia. Each year it takes place in Angell Hall Auditorium A, making Mason Hall so crowded it’s hard to walk through and meet up with friends.
The performances were scheduled to begin at 7 PM, but like in the past, the seats were already half filled when the doors opened at 6:30 PM. By 6:50 PM, people began to sit in the aisleways and soon after, they closed the doors to the public. This year, CSA did a really good job of organizing the event; they guided the audience well, had quick transitions between performers, and there weren’t any sound issues.
There were a total of 12 groups, some familiar and new. In order they were:
Seoul Juice (@seouljuice.umich), the band under the Korean American Student Association (KASA). In my freshman year, they were a very small group, so it’s great to see how much they’ve grown not only musically but in popularity.
Annappella (@annappella.a_cappella), a co-ed Chinese acapella group. It’s the first time I’ve heard of them and they’re also the first acapella group I’ve seen on campus. They were really good at harmonizing and the male student in the center sang a majority of the melody with a soulful yet gentle voice.
Revolution (@revolutionyoyo): the Chinese Yoyo team. I always love how hype the crowd gets when watching them do tricks and flips.
Flowdom (@flowdom.umich): a co-ed hip-hop dance team. They added more flare to the selection of dance performances and I was really impressed by their charisma.
K-Motion (@kmotion): an all-female K-pop dance group. As always, they served an amazing assortment of K-pop songs with talent as well as their iconic confetti.
Blue Records (@blue_records_group): a student organized record label that arranges and produces their own music, although they did a cover at Celebrasia. The guitarists in particular stood out to me because they sounded just like the studio track.
Konnect (@konnect_umich): the largest and most inclusive co-ed K-pop dance group on campus. The amount of performers and rotations they had were astounding.
Sanya Bhati (@sanya_bhatia): a student soloist pursuing Drama in the Residential College. Her set was definitely one of my favorites. She had a charming presence and commanded the stage with only a backtrack accompanying her powerful and clear vocals.
Female Gayo (@femalegayo): the all-female K-pop dance group under KASA. In addition to their coordinating outfits, their synchronization as a team is out of this world. From the timing of bold hair flips to the subtle flex of their fingers, nothing felt out of place when viewing them as a group.
VeryUs (@veryus.umich): an all-female dance crew that aspires to highlight multiple cultures in Asia. I appreciate that they focus on diversity and inclusion of not only cultures but music and dance.
rXn (@rxn_umich): the traditional and modern hip-hop co-ed dance group under CSA.
DB3 (@db3_umich): the all-male K-Pop dance group as well as the crowd favorite. The cheering never stopped during their entire set, which was a fun way to end the night.
The University of Michigan has so many gifted students outside of SMTD too, and I can’t do all of them justice with this review. I highly recommend attending Celebrasia in the future, even if it’s just for part of it! It’s a free event and a great way to meet more of the community.
SMTD’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers) this past weekend was campy and aesthetically chaotic. The opera was originally written in 1858 by librettists Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy and composer Jacques Offenbach, and is a humorous, irreverent take on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this rendition, directed by Mo Zhou, SMTD chose to extend the opera’s original political critique of capitalist power structures into the 1950s, on the cusp of the Kennedy presidential campaign. The result is a complex amalgam of messages and meanings which I will discuss below.
The notes provided in the program for this performance were essential in interpreting the many points the creative directors wanted to get across. First, the “About the Authors” section conveyed the point that each of the authors drew inspiration from the politics of their time. Mo Zhou elaborated upon that point in her director’s note, drawing from Offenbach’s “turbulent relationship with personal finance” to develop the opera as a statement on the privileged elite and capitalism. Further, the dramaturgical team focuses on how including Public Opinion as an archetypal character frames and translates the plot for the audience. Finally, the dramaturgs suggest that Offenbach wrote feminist meanings into the opera and subverted power structures by making Public Opinion a female character and focusing on Eurydice’s romantic self-determination.
I would not necessarily have read all of these themes into the opera without the program to point them out. In terms of the political and labor meanings of the production, the set did much of the heavy lifting. Larger-than-life vintage advertisements framed the stage, literally presenting each scene through a lens of consumerism. In the scene where the gods revolt against Jupiter’s rule, they carry signs parodying the labor movement with slogans like “Give Me Generational Wealth or Give Me Debt.”
Despite the dramaturgical efforts to read feminism and liberation into Orpheus in the Underworld, my perception of the gender relations in this story was more cynical. While the role of Public Opinion as a female character was meant to give “the voice of the collective Greek chorus … to someone who historically was not given a voice,” her comparatively minor role in the story didn’t allow a full development of that voice. Personally, Offenbach’s treatment of Public Opinion as a female character felt more mocking of women as arbiters of social control.
All of that said, this performance was a lot of fun to experience, with all of its wacky, unexpected pop-culture references (Elvis as Bacchus?). There was so much going on that I don’t know if my confusion is a critique or a sign of some complex theatrical genius on the side of the production’s creative team. The set and costumes were beautifully and thoughtfully designed, and the cast performed splendidly. Orpheus in the Underworld was both entertaining and intellectually stimulating, and I thoroughly enjoyed picking apart the creative choices which pulled this performance together.
