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LitaPitasMusings

Just the other day I was thinking about a study abroad experience in the Emerald Isle itself, Ireland. As I manuevered through the study abroad company’s website- I came across a syllabus for Ireland’s Gothic Celtic fairy tales. And I too was curious about why many of Ireland’s old legends were the way they were.

So when I saw that at the Michigan Theater, the newly Academy -Award nominated Irish animation Song of the Sea was playing- I had to see it!

At the heart of the movie lies family. A little boy whose 6 year old sister Saoirse is a half mythical figure known as a Selkie cannot talk. Their mother, a full-blooded Selkie, has to return to the ocean the night Saoirsce was born. And over the years Saoirse has not been able to talk. One day she finds her mother’s furry white cloak and puts it on, it enables her to become a seal ( Selkies care seals in the water), as she makes her way to the bottom of the ocean. Later she comes up shore, shivering and semiconscious. Her father, fearing that he may lose his daughter as he did his wife- drops off his wife’s furry coat in a chest into the ocean. Later, their grandmother has the children moved to the city- so that Saoirse doesn’t follow her mother’s footsteps. But the children, especially Ben, realizes that they need to get back to their home in the lighthouse by the sea–especially as he notices her health deteriorate. He especially senses that the sea, holds some of the answers.

The story is no doubt, amazing, touching, and captivating at the same time. But what probably attracts me most to this film is the particular beautiful type of animation of this movie- and especially the animation of animals in this movie. The giant blue whale looked breathtaking-so lifelike yet having that unique, look, and warmth which only animation give. The badgers which live in the meadow which Saoirse and Ben pass through, look so ehereal, adorable, yet lifelike. The owls are shown to have a great mix of being vivacity and cunning- especially as the henchmen to the Owl Witch Macha. The seals will leave you fainting from cute overload. But probably the best animated animal representation is the sheepdog Cu ( Gaelic for dog). He is the cutest, liveliest, loyalest, slurping ball of fur to the silver screen in a long time.If not knowing more about Irish folklore wasn’t enough to see this movie, as well as to hear the actors, then Cu is the reason to see this movie!

Some other fun facts which might appeal to U of Mers is that the cult BBC and HULU hit Moone Boy ( I am a fan!!) lends one of their main actors as the voice of Ben. So if you are a David Rawle fan- you will love hearing Ben’s voice as well as his facial similarities with David! Famed actor Brendan Gleeson lends his voice to Conor- the children’s father.

And the soundtrack of this movie is so haunting, ethereal, and captivating. To me it is reminiscent of the essence of the song, Scarborough Fair. This is a movie which needs to be seen, heard, and felt.

PREVIEW: Lucky Stiff

Jeannie Sandefer

Lucky Stiff Group1 media

What would you do for a chance at 6 million dollars? When Harry Whitherspoon, a British shoe salesman, is notified of the death of his casino -owning uncle, Anthony Hendon, whom Harry has never met, he is also informed that he is the sole inheritor of 6 million dollars. However, there’s a catch. In order to inherit the money, Harry must take his uncle on a trip to Monte Carlo, post-mortem and everything. As if this wasn’t enough, Rita LaPorta, the wife of casino-owner Nicky, embezzled that 6 million dollars for her lover, Tony, and promptly lost it after she shot him. Instead of taking the heat Rita blames the embezzlement on her brother, Vinnie, and the two of them go to Monte Carlo to get that money back. Mixed into all this is Annabel Glick, a feisty but well meaning woman who also follows Harry to Monte Carlo for the money, but for very different reasons. If Harry faults on any of Anthony’s directions, the 6 million goes to Anthony’s favorite charity, a dog shelter in London. Knowing about the clause, Annabel, the representative of the shelter, follows Harry around, recording his every move and attempting to catch him mess up. This dark comedy musical farce is hilarious, and with the Ann Arbor Civic Company putting it on, it’s sure to be one heck of a show.

WHO: Ann Arbor Civic Theatre

WHEN: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at 8, Sunday at 2

WHERE: Arthur Miller Theatre

TICKETS: FREE for students with a Passport to the Arts, or can be purchased online from AACT

PREVIEW: TEDx 2015

Phillip Wachowiak

Surely you have heard of the name before. TEDx: an incredibly wide range of “ideas worth spreading” touching on the three themes of Technology, Entertainment, and Design [the “x” denotes an independently organized event].

If you haven’t already, spend twenty minutes (or hours) on their website and you will quickly feel inspired to do something.

Each year, the University of Michigan brings its own TEDx event to campus, and this upcoming conference will the the 6th iteration of the day-long experience.

Where: The Power Center

When: Friday, March 20 (all day)

Who: An incredibly wide range of artists, speakers, & people

Cost: $15 (Pay in Advance)

This year’s theme is “Constructive Interference,” and you can find more information on the website here. Even better, you can apply to be part of the even itself.

Preview for Cinderella

LitaPitasMusings

Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Jack and the Giant Slayer, Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland are all movies which played out in theaters in the last few years. But another common thread that these films have is that they are all fairy tables and old classic stories which recently had new life breathed into them; and thus transforming them into live action remakes!
The newest film to be added to the subgenre- of-classic-tale-transformed-into-live-action-film will come out this Friday— and is perhaps the most famous of all children’s fairytales: Cinderella.
This film stars Lily James as Cinderella ( if you have seen Downton Abbey then you have seen her as cousin Rose), as well as two time academy award winner Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother. For those of you Downton Abbey enthusiasts will be happy to know that Sophie Mcshera will play one of the stepsisters!

Kenneth Branagh, the director of this film, was the television show “The View”- the other day and he said this version of Cinderella will give more of a background into how Cinderella is so effervescent and resilient despite all the abuse she faces.

Cate Blanchett said to people.com that she was never a fan of a the classic story of Cinderella. But she says that this version has a great message for those who face bullying because it shows you how one person (i.e. Cinderella) overcomes bullying with dignity, grace, and a pity for those who bully her. Considering this day and age where children have sometimes taken their lives in the face of bullying- I now want t examine how Cinderella actually faces her bullies.

On a more silly, and superficial note- I am curious to see how that dress will look like on the big screen. In addition, I want to take a peek into those Swarovski beweled glass slippers. But those articles of clothing have inspired Saks Fifth Avenue to start a Glass slipper shoe collection as well as for Kohls’ to start a Cinderella clothing collection.

I think this movie already has many reasons to be seen- but if you need one more- it’s that the short Frozen Fever will be shown along with this film! Not that I am into Frozen…

REVIEW: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

simoka

What most interested me about seeing this performance was first of all the fact that this orchestra was from abroad, and that they would come all the way to Ann Arbor to perform. I have experienced orchestral and piano performances abroad as well and found that a lot of the charm of the event is in how it is presented and the social ritual attached to seeing a concert and how it varies in different parts of the world.

The first piece the Rotterdam Philharmonic performed was Maurice Ravel’s Suite from ‘Ma Mere l’Oye’ (Mother Goose). I had never encountered the piece previous to that night and I found myself surprised by the modernity of it. Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a French composer who was prominent during the early part of the twentieth century. Listening to this I was reminded of a time in elementary school when I was taught the different instruments and sections in the orchestra, and how each instrument was often used in plays or ballets to represent animals. I found this sentiment to be delightfully expressed in this piece by Ravel. He plays with the tempo and dynamic of the woodwinds such that they invoke images of fluttering birds or scurrying animals. This, in combination with the strings, brings a very full and vibrant environment to life and I think Ravel is very successful in this. As I have not seen this piece performed elsewhere, I find it hard to make comparisons or critiques of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance to others. I think that this piece was at least, in relation to the other pieces that the orchestra performed, the most successful and seemed like the most enjoyable to play.

Another aspect of this event that I enjoyed was the concert pianist, Hélène Grimaud. I studied the very basics of piano growing up, so watching her play and her fingers effortlessly and accurately play was quite enchanting for me personally. The way that the conductor and pianist take the center of the orchestra and both share in a leading role in directing the orchestra is an entrancing scene. The only point of critique for me was the way the pianist played was very humble and sometimes it felt like the orchestra overshadowed her presence in the some of the pieces played of Tchaikovsky. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and all of the new sensory experiences it brought to life.

The highlight of this evening was the Ravel pieces for me. Besides the Suite, the orchestra also performed a piano Concerto in G Major. It was easy to distinguish the story-like performance of the Suite from the concerto. I found the concerto to be excellent because of it’s experimentalist and innovate style. The tone was very reminiscent of jazz and that whole era and the culture of the time, it did not surprise me to discover afterwards that Ravel was heavily inspired by the rise of jazz during this time. I did find it surprising how the concerto was able to inspire that style while also maintaining some more classical orchestral moments in it as well. It thought it was a highly stylized piece with that always seemed to be dancing and changing and never losing interest with itself, and that was what I think kept me as well as much of the audience engrossed in the piece.

Overall, I found the experience to be a fall into a space of beauty and of listening. As a student, it was a welcome exclusion of words in favor of sounds. As an event to appreciate music, I found myself surprised and grateful to have experienced the sounds of an orchestra from so far away performing pieces of the not so distant past, but which do not occur as often as I think they should in the repertoire of contemporary music exposure.

REVIEW: Stupid F###ing Bird

Jeannie Sandefer

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what I got Thursday night at the Mendelssohn Theatre. I’m familiar with Chekhov’s original, having seen it over three years ago, however I’m not so familiar that I remember every detail. So I found myself in a pretty good place coming in, seeing as Stupid F###ing Bird is a parody/adaptation of sorts.

What I wasn’t expecting was the tour-de-force production that the cast and crew of SMTD put on.

First things first, go see this show. Before I say anything else about it, just know that it is phenomenal and you need to see it. This play deserved a packed house last night, but unfortunately it was low on patrons – there were only a couple hundred people there at most. Tickets are free (yes, free) with a Passport, so please take advantage of it and go see it.

Now then, this play.

Being a writer and all, I have to first acknowledge what incredible writing this play contains. I’ve heard it said that good writing doesn’t need to use, ah, alternative language, but this play certainly uses it and abuses it and it works. But more than the profanity is the sheer truthfulness to the dialogue. Multiple times the actors talk over one another, fighting for dominance in the conversation, and then suddenly drift away, ums and ands included. While I can’t be sure all of this was written in the script and some of this should be attributed it to the actors, the script cannot be forgotten. At times I just marveled in how clear the play was. At one point, the actors line up, facing the audience, and rattle off what they want, to be loved, to be famous, to have a big bowl of ice cream (I feel ya, Dev). This kind of directness is rare to see in plays, and was a surprising but refreshing change from the usual.

However, it didn’t surprise me as much as the meta-textual elements that I found running rampant throughout the play. From the small, intimate looks the actors would give to the audience, to Con, our main character, calling for the house lights as he jumps off the stage and demands the audience tell him how to win his girlfriend Nina back. This was a particular high point for me, because it highlighted both the inevitability of life and of the play going on; there was a plant in the audience who prompted Con to rejoin the scene at hand. But it was more than that. As Sorn celebrates his 60th birthday, he demands to know if he’s the only one acting. Of course, the audience laughs, as yes, they are all acting on stage in the moment. But beneath those laughs is that very true question: do people put on an act even throughout their daily lives?

And that’s where this play’s writing shines. Most serio-comedies struggle with the balance between the two, instead making a drama with elements of comedy sprinkled throughout in order to keep the audience from leaving too depressed. Posner’s play does the exact opposite, relying heavily on drama to save the play from its own absurdness. Whenever things get too serious, true comedy, not a cheap joke, comes in to remind the audience that they came to see a comedy, and a comedy is what they’re getting.

As far as the actors go, they handled all of Posner’s randomness with the utmost perfection. The switches from life to scene could be jarring for some actors, and yet this cast does it with such ease, you’d think all plays include direct audience address and participation. I was also happily surprised that the majority of the cast also played instruments throughout. I knew there were musical elements in Stupid F###ing Bird, but I didn’t exactly know to what to expect. The actress portraying Mash, the gloomy yet always poignant sidekick, shined here, toting around a ukulele, always ready to show off her songwriting ability to either her friends or to the audience.

But the best acting really goes to junior Graham Techler for his superb portrayal of main character Conrad, or Con for short. While I had my doubts at the beginning of the play, he juiced Con’s character arc for all its worth. From his first appearance shouting START THE FUCKING PLAY at the audience, to his ultimate humiliation when firing his gun, demanding to know why he has to die and again, shouting at the audience to STOP THE FUCKING PLAY.

I could honestly go on about how amazing this production was, from all of the actors to the incredibly detailed and yet simple set designs, but I’ll spare you. All you need to know about Stupid F###ing Bird are these three things:

  1. This is a quality production

  2. This is quality writing, both the funny and the insightful

  3. You do not need to know anything about Chekhov to understand it

While the majority of the play functions as Posner using Con as his mouthpiece to berate Trigorin/Chekhov, this really isn’t the main point of the play. Asking the big questions, either to the audience or to the other characters, challenging current notions of what art can and cannot be, and being absolutely hilarious along the way – that’s what this play gives. It gives its heart, even if it amounts to nothing except a Stupid F###ing Bird.