REVIEW: Earth Without Ice

Earth Without Ice

On Thursday October 25, the Kerrytown Concert House hosted an ‘Out of the Box’ musical performance, arranged and enacted by professors from several departments: Henry Pollack of Geophysics, and Steve Rush and Michael Gould of the School of Music. As part of the Abacus and Rose: SciArt Live series, which pairs scientists with artists, the trio of scholars created a stylish, modern piece called ‘Earth Without Ice.’

The performance consisted of a series of noises that soundtracked a slideshow of images projecting from screens on stage that faced the audience. The ‘immersive sonic landscape’ was composed of ‘found sounds’ taken from the Huron River. The photos came from Dr. Pollack’s visual journal as part of his most recent transit of the Northwest Passage from Alaska through the Canadian archipelago to Greenland. They featured vast oceans, floating chunks of ice, inuit peoples catching and gutting fish, elders laughing together, youngsters playing, seals and polar bears splashing, open earthen landscapes, and lots and lots of factories. The contrast between the natural images and the industrial environment was striking. The music was appropriately mixed to match the effect of the scenery. The recorded, manipulated, and live noises created an unusual interplay of sound which caused a strong affect on the curious audience.

The inspiration for the content came from Dr. Pollack’s recent book ‘A World Without Ice.’ The style, however, seemed to be inspired by a  hybrid of John Cage’s Water Walk and Andy Goldsworthy’s nature photography. I liked the performance a lot.  It conveyed a strong message about expressing the danger of climate change through artwork. It was a very unusual performance, but equally entertaining and certainly out of the box.

PREVIEW: Bat Boy, the Musical

Yes, Bat Boy. The School of Music, Theatre, & Dance will be performing the musical at the Arthur Miller Theatre, Nov. 15-18. This American musical was written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe. The plot is based on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News story about a half-boy, half-bat, dubbed “Bat Boy”, who grew up living in a cave. It has never made it to Broadway, but succeeded for several years Off Broadway, winning several awards such as the Elliot Norton Award, the Richard Rodgers Development Award, and the Richard Rodgers Production Award. I think it’s going to be good, and it’s by the Musical Theatre school so, needless to say, expectations should be high.

Bat Boy the Musical
Bat Boy the Musical

Get your tickets soon!!

citations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Boy:_The_Musical
http://events.umich.edu/event/9696-1171537

PREVIEW: Monkeys and Playbills

Head over to Arthur Miller Theatre November 8-10 to see Basement Arts’ FREE performance of “[Title of Show]”. Basement Arts is an entirely student-run performance network on campus and their shows are always beyond one’s expectations. The show, [Title of Show], is super clever. It tells the story of four friends who band together to write a musical. The songs are great, the laughs are rich, and its a great time. I can’t wait to see the show and you shouldn’t either! AND IT’S FREE!

Title of Show
Title of Show

Hope to see you there 🙂
more info on their website: www.basementarts.org

REVIEW: El Ten Eleven

El Ten Eleven is an amazing band. If you have never heard them please do so immediately!
Kristian Dunn is probably the most incredible guitarist I’ve ever seen perform live. His skill with rhythm and melody are unparalleled from anything I’ve experienced before. He loops live, playing with tempo, melody, harmony, key signature you name it. Knowing what little I do about loop pedals I can imagine this is a very difficult process that requires a great deal of attentiveness and command over this particular approach. Dunn is also a rather likable fellow. He interacts well with a crowed and seemed pleasantly surprised at the enthusiastic reception they received at The Blind Pig.
Tim Fogarty, the drummer, has mastered his instrument to an expert level. I appreciated the way he and Dunn interacted musically, combining their rhythmic patterns and respective melodies. They are a seamless team of highly skilled, innovative artists.

The entr’acte for the evening was Beacon (Thomas Mullarney III (vocals) and Jacob Gossett), hailing from Brooklyn NY. (http://www.ohmyrockness.com/bandbio.cfm?bandid=34842, http://beacon.bandcamp.com/). They mix samples with haunting, high falsetto vocals from Mullarney (reminiscent of Michael Jackson, with a lack of pop, not to mention his curtain of black hair!). This duo was a great set up for El Ten Eleven. Different enough to keep things interesting but not so different that the collaboration felt disjointed.

The size of the venue was very conducive to this kind of show. Some people wanted to hang out on the fringes and bobble head, others, myself included, were in the thick of things, full body jamming to the beats of these two excellent bands.

Please take a moment to check out their music and broaden your horizons. Also, be sure to take advantage of all the amazing music that comes through this lovely college town of ours! It really is a treat!

REVIEW: Sunday in the Park with George

Friday night, I had the privilege of seeing “Sunday in the Park with George” as performed by the Musical Theatre Department here at the School of Music, Theatre, & Dance. The premise of the show is the story of Georges Seurat, the creator of the famed painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. He struggles with success and criticism of his work in his time period, never having sold a painting during his lifetime. He has difficulties balancing work and his relationships with others and ends up losing his mistress and model, Dot, to another. George is an interesting character in a lot of ways. His concentration to his art and failure at succeeding at much else for one thing is quite perplexing and the attention to detail in his work is astonishing. The show mentioned also that it took him two years to finish the painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. I thought the musical did a lot to represent accurately Seurat’s work habits and advanced concentration to his work.

The show was definitely a success, the actors and actresses, singing, and dancing was entirely up to par, as anticipated. Some standouts from the show include the actress performing the role of Dot. Her voice was absolutely phenomenal and she totally reminded me of Bernadette Peters, who played the role while it was on Broadway. The lead, George, was so good at mimicking a crazed artist, affixed in both his paintings and his work. He flitted around the stage, particularly in the scene “The State of the Artist,” where he hovered between appearing interested in potential investors and posing for photographs. It was a whirlwind of a scene and it played to his strong points.

The middle of the show, in all honesty, was sort of a snore. The three hour-long performance droned on and I felt bored with the nitty-gritty of the plot while the songs seemed to me rather dull. The first act was definitely better than the second, but it still wasn’t entrancing. I truly believe, however, that this was due entirely to the writers of the show and not the men and women of the Musical Theatre department. I think the show isn’t Sondheim’s best, but it is such a cool concept, basing the entire plot and musical numbers on a single painting and its artist – it’s worth portraying. I think with a few more crowd-pleasing numbers and less dialogue-heavy scenes, it would have worked better.

All was restored for me, including the immensely boring middle parts, when that final song “Sunday” was performed at the ends of both acts. It’s such a beautiful song and the melodies seem to flow directly from the heart. It has the usual Sondheim ring to it, finishing with a bang and a grand flourish of the arm. I loved it. And when the musical ended and the backdrop went white, Dot leaves the stage while George’s final word coincides with the emotions of the audience: Harmony.

I don’t believe I would recommend the show to a friend if it were inconvenient for them to see it; although, if it was right in your backyard with an amazing cast, I wouldn’t say no to a ticket. Glad I saw it, but glad it’s over. Can’t wait for what show they put on next.

PREVIEW: Deftones at the Royal Oak Music Theatre

The Deftones are back in town on the 24th in support of their upcoming album, Koi No Yokan, to be released November 13th.

Roughly translated, “koi no yokan” is essentially the Japanese equivalent of the phrase “love at first sight” – not surprising when we look at Chino Moreno’s past lyrics, which often dwell on love and relationships, though not always in a positive sense like Koi No Yokan seems to promise.

It remains to be seen whether or not we will be served with an album mostly consisting of gooey, lovey-dovey songs, but if the two recently released singles “Leathers” and “Tempest” are any indication, we can expect a heavy, steaming pile of good ol’ Deftones rock.

I’m really digging “Tempest” – like the name promises, it’s a violent, chaotic windstorm of heavy riffs complemented by lulls of melodic, surreal beauty. Take a listen below:

Deftones – Tempest

Though the new singles are definitely high-quality rock, I can’t say that I think the Deftones are doing anything much different this time round. As usual, there are no guitar solos, and Chino’s lyrics aren’t groundbreaking (sorry Chino), nor do they convey any sort of higher message. One can’t deny, though, that Chino’s lyrics do a great job in effectively conveying emotions, versus simply describing them (I’m looking at you, mainstream rock). Still, the Deftones are a badass band with their own unique brand of music that can’t be found anywhere else.

Come to the Royal Oak Music Theatre this Wednesday the 24th at 7:30 and let’s get our faces fuckin’ melted!

-Jordan