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 version of Heathers performed was the official West End version. It differed slightly from what I usually remember seeing 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.
Truly, a big congratulations to the cast of Heathers. I admire the endless hard work that was put into the show. MUSKET remains an essential part of the undergraduate student experience—offering diverse opportunities to musical theater lovers throughout the school. Next semester, MUSKET will be putting on the McNally & Shaiman/Wittman musical, Catch Me If You Can. Based on Frank Abagnale Jr’s autobiography and the 2002 film, this show is a dance spectacle with a brassy, thrilling score. Directed by Sam Hedeman and music directed by Caitlyn Bogart, it’s sure to be an exciting ride. The show will go up March 15-17 in the Power Center for the Performing Arts. Auditions for the show will open in mid-January.
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.
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.
Unlike what the title suggests, Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers) didn’t focus much on Orpheus being in the Underworld nor did it remain true to the romantic and sorrowful story told in Greek myths. Instead, what SMTD brought to life was a goofy comedy contrasted with powerful French opera, and they described it as “a cheeky twist” on the famous love story between Orpheus and his wife, Eurydice.
In mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice were deeply in love, so when Eurydice met her untimely death, he played the lyre (an instrument similar to the harp) and used his musical genius to charm his way into the Underworld and bring her back to the world of the living.
In this version, the two shared a terrible marriage and were both cheating on each other. They portrayed Orpheus as a lackluster violinist, which was one of the many things that drove his wife crazy. Eurydice constantly asked for a divorce, but Orpheus always refused with sweet words. He had a different plan in mind to get rid of her. When Eurydice died, he jumped with joy; however, his happiness was short-lived when soon after he was threatened by Public Opinion to save his wife and thus dragged to the Underworld.
Operas place a greater importance on music than storytelling, so although the dialogue was in English, the majority of the show was in French. Orpheus in the Underworld was performed at The Power Center for the Performing Arts, and they provided screens with English subtitles for the audience to follow along. Some technical difficulties threw off the timing of the words, but I wasn’t that disappointed since the students’ acting and singing were so captivating it felt like a waste to take my eyes off them.
The story took place in the late 1950s, so all of the backdrops, from the farm to Olympus and the Underworld, were all unique. I also loved the wardrobe, especially the outfits of the gods. They were totally different from the traditional white robes I normally associate with Greek mythology. My favorite costume was when Jupiter, also known as Zeus, transformed into what was supposed to be a seductive fly.
Overall, I had fun! It was my first time watching an opera, and it combined humor with musical prowess. I’ve really enjoyed each of SMTD’s productions and look forward to watching more.
SMTD’s performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was so good: it was immersive, hilarious, and well put together. It sounds like it’d be a wholesome musical since the main characters are children but to my surprise, it wasn’t child-friendly at all. The script made use of sexual innuendos, exaggerated stereotypes, and religious satire to crack jokes. The audience, me included, ate it up. As described on the SMTD website, it truly is a musical that “charms audiences with effortless wit and humor, making the Bee one unforgettable experience”.
One part of the experience I loved was how they included the viewers in the spelling bee and gave each of them fun and quirky personas, such as “being raised by wolves” and having “denim as their favorite color”. The actors looked so natural when interacting with the audience members that it took me a bit to realize it wasn’t staged. If the participants spelled their given word wrong, they were escorted off the stage with a juice box and were serenaded with the song Goodbye that poked fun at their failure in the bee. The funniest part was when to proceed with the plot, it became time to kick the surviving participants off the stage by challenging them with ridiculous words. Despite their efforts though, one of them actually managed to spell something incomprehensible from a Scottish dialect, shocking everyone. The actors did a great job of improvising by calling her back to the microphone and giving her another word, which this time she failed to spell. As a reward for being the last one standing though, she got her own special rendition of Goodbye sung to her.
The characters that stood out to me the most were William Barfée, a snotty (quite literally) nerd, Logainne Schwartzy, a girl with a heart of gold, and Leaf Coneybear, who for some reason always had to spell the names of South American rodents. However, my favorite character was actually Vice Principal Douglas Panch. The actor did such a good job of portraying the classic slightly odd and suspicious adult figures I remember from my own elementary school days. Although these characters left the biggest impression on me, I genuinely loved everybody because they all had so much personality to them.
An inconvenience though is that it took place at The Encore Musical Theatre Company, a performance venue in Dexter that’s an eighteen-minute drive from central campus. Once I got there though, I realized how big of a role the stage set-up and background played in really bringing this musical to life. Most importantly when performing Pandemonium, a song and dance that really showcased the crazy and wild side of children. They were running around, jumping on tables, spinning seats, and even hanging from the basketball hoop.
This was truly a musical I’m so lucky to have seen, and I highly recommend others to see it if given the opportunity!
