Category: Music

PREVIEW: Midnight Madness

nina.j

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Still need to do your holiday shopping? Great! This Friday night, November 30th, down town is open late! This is Ann Arbor’s version of Black Friday: all stores, galleries, and restaurants  have extended hours and huge sales. Some of the catchiest deals are 10% off at The Ann Arbor Art Center, 20% off everything at Crazy Wisdom, 20% off at The Himalayan Bizarre, plus several fitness bargains at places like Sun-Moon Yoga and Barre Bee Fit. Extended happy hours at most bars and discounts of certain dishes. Most stores are open til midnight, but get there before the best things are gone!

Some of the top art galleries/art shops to check out are The Ann Arbor Art Center, Falling Water, Four Directions, Ten Thousand Villages, ABRACADABRA Jewelry/Gem gallery, and Crazy Wisdom. Many stores will offer holiday snacks while you shop. For example, Downtown Home and Garden will be roasting chestnuts and The Ann Arbor Art Center will be hosting (un)Corked, a wine tasting hour in collaboration with The Produce Station (7 pm, purchase tickets in advance). Street performances will include Center Stage Quartet, Melissa Bruzanno, and U of M’s very own Element One break dance group and Women’s Glee Club. And, a likely performance from the wolf-masked man who often stands on the corner and plays the violin. Also, Santa will apparently be roaming the streets, but I think that element isn’t geared toward us college kids….

This is a very celebratory way to support the local economy, get your holiday shopping done, check out the art available down town, AND have a night out before finals.  Click here to get a full list of vendors and discounts. Whether on Main Street, Liberty, or Fourth and Fifth Avenues, you are bound to find some great deals!

PREVIEW: Campus Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Orchestra

Thor

Tonight at eight o’clock in Hill Auditorium our very own Campus Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestras will present a night of great music. The program includes Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 2, Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5.

I have been to many musical performances by our own School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, but in every instance I see the house woefully empty. We are lucky to attend a university whose music school is as good as ours. What is more, nearly all of the concerts are free! How often does one get opportunities to hear great classical music live, and for free? I encourage anyone who might not normally attend this kind of event to do so. You will not regret it.

What: Campus Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Orchestra

When: Tonight, 8 PM

Where: Hill Auditorium

Why: Why not?

Cost: FREE.

See you there.

REVIEW: MUSKET’s Hairspray

Kayla Silverstein
Musket presents Hairspray
Musket presents Hairspray

Sunday afternoon, I had the privilege of seeing Hairspray put on by the wonderful cast and crew of MUSKET, an entirely student-run organization on campus devoted to musical theatre performance. It was spectacular! From the moment the brilliantly yellow curtain lifted above the stage, those drum beats playing that familiar rhythm, Tracy Turnblad tromped onto stage in all her sassy glory crying, “Good morning, Baltimore!” It was fantastic.

Everyone was so marvelously well cast. Tracy, played by rising-star sophomore Hillary Ginsberg, was magnificent. She played the role with enough sympathy and sang the notes with so much purity, the audience was greatly moved. Other highlights included Kaci Friss, playing the role of Penny Lou Pingleton, Tracy’s beloved and quirky best friend. Her awkward demeanor yet startling vocals were perfect for the role. Link Larkin, played by Mackenzie Or, sophomore BFA Musical Theatre student, winked and flashed the audience with his shnazzy style. He had many a girl slumped in her seat, swooning over his gorgeous pipes. And of course, Motor Mouth Maybelle was positively stellar, played by junior BFA Acting Performance major Melissa Golliday. Her performance of “I know where I’ve been” brought many audience members to tears.

It was interesting to discuss this performance with a friend of mine who’d seen in Friday evening. She said that she loved the production, of course, and the talent was incredible; however, she was struck by the plot. As she saw it, it was just another example of the white girl saving the day because she saw the black kids of the neighborhood “cool.” I thought she had a fair point and I admit to not having thought of it that way before she pointed it out. After the show, I felt as if the musical itself deals with the intense subject of African American segregation in America in the 1960s fairly well and leaving us with an overall positive message. Upon further reflection, I can see her point, but it is unclear to me how much they can do to absolve the issue within such an upbeat context.

All and all, major kudos to the production team of MUSKET. Heads up for their upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors next semester! Can’t wait!!

Visit them at their website: click here!

PREVIEW: A Little Night Music, Performance Network

Kayla Silverstein
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music

Being the Stephen Sondheim fan that I am, I freaked out when I saw the poster for A Little Night Music lit up in the window display of the Performance Network the other day. I lept on the opportunity to buy tickets and am so excited to see the show.

After a little researching on Wikipedia, A Little Night Music is a show by Sondheim and the book was written by Hugh Wheeler. The show tells the story of several romantic love lifes, featuring young lovers and their sequential other halves. The song list includes many famous numbers, including “Send in the Clowns.”

I’ve never seen a Performance Network show, so I’m super excited to see how they pull of the classic work. November 15 – December 30 they’ll be showing the performance, so grab your tickets soon!!

http://www.performancenetwork.org/

REVIEW: “Love your Bat Boy.”

Kayla Silverstein
FreeWebs.com
FreeWebs.com

Get a load of this. Bat Boy the musical was seriously the highlight of my weekend, no doubt. Granted, I am seeing Hairspray tomorrow, put on by Musket, so stay-tuned to what I say of their performance tomorrow night, but as of right now, Bat Boy is the best thing ever. I know you aren’t going to believe me, but honestly just go see it. Unfortunately for you, you can’t because it’s sold out, but there’s a REASON why it’s sold out! Next time, get on the ball earlier because it was epic and awesome and I want everyone to see it.

So what could Bat Boy possibly be about, if not Batman? Well, it’s based on a true story about a boy found in a cave, raised by bats. Not sure how the true story plays out, but in the musical, he is discovered to be a bloodsucking vampire, conformed to society with the love and support of the family that takes him in. He learns to speak, dress, and apply his knowledge at school with his friend, Shelley. Without giving too much away, he and Shelley fall in love when tragedy strikes. Truth is revealed, and crumbles the world of Shelley and Bat Boy (given the name Edgar). More tragedy and horror conclude the show, and the curtain falls on a resounding message: “Love your Bat Boy.”

So I know you’re thinking, why explain anymore? We are already convinced it is the best show ever! I know, but for those that may still be suspicious, I will continue. First off, the lead playing Bat Boy/Edgar was absolutely the best. A Musical Theatre major I am always eager to see performing, Ryan Vasquez, soared to new heights in his interpretation of the role. Literally climbing along the stage railings as well as flying to notes above and beyond a normal male singer’s range, he was incredible. The anguish and torture within Bat Boy as he lies, shaking in the cage he is imprisoned within for the first several scenes of the play is palpable amongst the audience. I shivered as he did, mesmerized in the view of a world through his eyes; those of a damaged, abandoned child that crawled out of a cave into overzealous West Virginia. Bravo, Vasquez, you were superb.

The songs were phenomenal as well. Taking on a rock opera and at times pop-like synchronization, they were upbeat to leave you stomping with the beat or weeping over the poetic lines. My favorites included the opening number, “Touch me, Bat Boy” and also the song at the conclusion of the first act, “Comfort and Joy.” Those, among many others, were a few that stood out to me as particularly rockin’.

Picture this: you’re looking onto a stage, covered with black, billowy fabric made to replicate rocks at the mouth of a cave. Deeper are metallic railings, creating ladders and arches across the back of the stage. That was the set of the show, and it was so haunting. I felt as if I were in the cave, looking out; or perhaps better yet, that this story took place within its own little cave, set apart from the rest of humanity in a small town in West Virginia.

Bottom line – Bat Boy was epic. I would totally see it again if I had the time. Staging was superb, costumes of course were fantastic, and the vocal talents of the young individuals of our Musical Theatre Department never cease to amaze. Can’t wait for what’s next.

REVIEW: Legally Blonde!

Kayla Silverstein

As embarrassing as this is to admit, Thursday night was actually my third time seeing Legally Blonde the musical. I love the show, as goes without saying, but this production was especially special. First off, my friend was playing the character Vivian and she was phenomenal. Second, the girl playing Elle Woods, the lead, was perhaps the best Elle I’ve ever seen. She not only looked the part, but absolutely rocked the vocals.

The songs were wonderfully executed and well backed by the Greek Chorus when Elle needed a little bit of cheering up while away at Harvard. Even the side characters fleshed their parts out with finesse and originality, which is saying something considering I could practically recite the show in my sleep.

The set design was awesome too, especially for a community theater production. They maintained the structure of Delta Nu, Elle’s sorority house at UCLA, but added the Harvard flag once she was transported to law school. It was clever and low-budget, so both functional and well-serving. I thought it worked very well.

The two dogs in the show, as are always a highlight for the audience, were well-behaved and adorable. Everyone oo-ed and awe-ed when they came on stage, and giggled when they looked about ready to make their exit a beat too early. It was precious.

So all and all, a fantastic production. The vocal talent was superb and the choreography was spot on. I give it a hardy two-thumbs up and hope everyone who was curious, got to see it. It was well worth your evening.