If you are a fan of the music of GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, you won’t want to miss out on her new memoir, Broken Horses. Released in April 2021, the book recounts the events that have shaped her life thus far, as well as her path to becoming the musician that she is today.
Hardcover copies of Broken Horses can be purchased from your local bookstore (such as Literati if you’re in Ann Arbor) or checked out from your local library.
As the show begins, I’m immediately drawn in by the sound of the music. Bright Star is defined by a musical genre that I had never heard in theater before: bluegrass. Bluegrass has its roots in old Irish, English, and Scottish dance tunes, as well as in African American jazz and blues. It became popular in American Appalachia in the mid-1900s, largely due to the influence of its namesake, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. This band pioneered bluegrass’s characteristic sound of upbeat syncopated rhythms on acoustic stringed instruments. Bright Star is set in the Blue Ridge mountains in the 1920s and 1940s, right as bluegrass was flourishing in this region.
Bright Star features a combination of bluegrass music as well as a more traditional musical theater sound with a bluegrass influence. Together, these genres create a lively, energetic, and emotional backdrop for the musical’s story. The story follows one woman at two different times in her life. Through a series of flashbacks, her life story takes shape. We see how her older, sophisticated, professional self remembers the past through the eyes of her romantic, carefree, younger self. The musical revolves around themes of family, motherhood, and love. I appreciated that Bright Star features a strong female lead whom we see both as a successful literary editor and as a caring mother.
The cinematography of this production was detailed and beautiful. It was shot almost like a movie, which I was not expecting, but I ended up really enjoying it because the director and production crew took advantage of so many creative liberties. Bright Star was shot on multiple different sets, helping to facilitate seamless transitions between time periods and making the show very visually appealing. Additionally, the camerawork during the musical numbers was so fun. These numbers incorporated many zoomed-in shots of animated faces, hands clapping, and feet dancing that made me feel like I was right there with the actors. When you’re watching a show, you want to feel like you’re in the world of the characters. The engaging and playful choreography, in addition to the intimately-shot dialogue scenes, brought me into the world of the story.
Some of my personal favorite parts of this production were the period costuming, the endearing song about motherhood, the brilliant sound editing, and how the staging and camerawork artfully distracted from the fact that all of the actors were social distanced from one another. The only thing I would have added was closed captioning, but overall, MUSKET once again has navigated this new and strange realm of virtual theater with soul and grace. Kudos to the cast and crew.
Sir András Schiff, a master of the piano, recorded this presentation in the Church of St. Peter in Zurich. He is one of music’s most revered pianists, and is releasing this program to only a few US presenters. Luckily for us, it is available through UMS Digital Presentations.
I miss listening to live piano a whole lot, and he is performing a bunch of Bach and Beethoven that I would love to hear! Plus, the Church of St. Peter will definitely enhance the sound of the piano beautifully!
The performance begins streaming on April 8th: https://ums.org/performance/sir-andras-schiff-piano-digital/
A college student, her sugar daddy, her sugar daddy’s wife, their screaming baby, and her ex-girlfriend walk into a shiva. This is Shiva Baby, Emma Seligman’s directorial debut. The film’s anxiety-inducing nature has led some critics to liken it to Uncut Gems, but the two films are completely different. Uncut Gems is sensory overload from an extreme scenario with players that are shady and purposefully unlikable, whereas Shiva Baby’s stress stems from how imperfect and therefore relatable its characters are. There is something very familiar about parents trying to be helpful but only succeeding at embarrassing you, extremely judgmental family friends, being forced to talk to the last person you want to talk to, and having to stay friendly and polite the entire time. It’s not difficult to understand the kind of stress Seligman’s protagonist, Danielle, is under.
Shiva Baby’s runtime clocks in at a mere 1 hour and 17 minutes, and this could be a disadvantage for Seligman. However, instead of her characters being underdeveloped and the plot rushed, Seligman simply elects not to waste any time. This is where the relatable aspect of the film comes into play again; everything that occurs is believable and realistic, so Seligman does not have to dedicate very much of her film to extensive exposition. The setting of the film also contributes to this aspect; all scenes but the first take place in one location, therefore containing the film and grounding it in its specific reality. All possible events are limited to interactions between the characters attending the shiva. Here, Seligman avoids the trap of her film becoming repetitive. Rather than beating a running joke to death, she inserts backhanded comments from shiva attendees about Danielle’s appearance right after an interaction has gone poorly, turning what’s already pretty bad into something a little worse. And by simply having Danielle plan to leave the shiva with her parents, Seligman has trapped Danielle at the event where she will only become more and more overwhelmed.
Finally, there’s the character of Danielle herself. She’s just a regular college student who’s about to graduate, and she’s quite terrified for the future. Her parents and family friends don’t particularly understand how she designed her own major and what she’s planning on doing with it, and it doesn’t help that her ex is going to law school and that her sugar daddy’s wife owns three businesses. The one thing Danielle really has any control over is her sugaring, and when she realizes she’s competing with the wife, it’s only natural she is jealous and snarky towards her. And yet, despite Danielle’s messiness, you can sympathize with her and also just hope she can leave the shiva so you can breathe again.
Overall, Shiva Baby is well-written, well-acted, and funny. And due to its claustrophobic and experiential fashion, you can’t wait for it to be over, but only because you’ve become so invested in it.
Shiva Baby is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
Shiva Baby is director Emma Seligman’s directorial debut starring Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon, and Dianna Agron. The comedy film follows a young Jewish woman who attends a shiva with her parents, her ex-girlfriend, and her sugar daddy. The film has been praised for its Jewish and bisexual representation, and for its ability to be accessible to all audiences at the same time.
One of the most enticing testimonials I’ve heard is that the film is incredibly stressful to watch, and that it features a unique horror-like score that heightens this experience. I know I am going to be overwhelmed, but I am still looking forward to seeing how the film will navigate an anxiety-inducing comedic tone in a very modern setting. Shiva Baby originated as a short film that was part of Seligman’s thesis project, and I am interested in how it will translate into a full-length film.
Shiva Baby is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
Husband and wife musical duo The War and Treaty, comprised of Michael and Tanya Trotter, presented a livestream last weekend that was a musical bright spot in today’s internet landscape. Performed real-time from their living room in front of a cozy stone fireplace, the evening also featured Max Brown on bass (who is originally from Ann Arbor!!) and Bam Holmes on drums.
The program, which seemed to be decided in the moment (which was especially refreshing, given that so many performances are pre-recorded given the current circumstances), included songs from The War and Treaty’s most recent album, Hearts Town, as well as new and never-before-performed songs written since the onset of the pandemic. Indeed, they noted that they have created tens of new songs in the last year, which is good news for fans of The War and Treaty hoping for new music in the coming months.
The performance itself reflected the times that we are living in – restless with everything being through a screen – and yet, it was also overwhelmingly joyous. On multiple occasions, the duo remarked on the loss of live, in-person performances, and especially of missing hugging fans. However, even through the computer, traces of these connections were palpable, in the Trotter’s clear love of the music (and in the active chat during the performance).
The War and Treaty’s music transcends categorization, fusing jazz, soul, folk, blues, and other influences into a result that is a treat for the ears. During the livestream, I was particularly struck by each song’s ability to conjure an atmosphere, in which even watching alone at home, the music brought the sights and sounds of long road trips, or crowded restaurants, or gatherings with friends into view in my mind’s eye. Perhaps it was just the fact that these scenes seem like distant memories a year into the pandemic, but it was nevertheless fascinating to me how on multiple occasions, listening to the music transported me out of my physical space and into seemingly far-off places.
My only disappointment regarding the livestream was that at just an hour long, it was on the shorter side for a ticketed performance – good, perhaps, for the screen fatigued, but a little sad given that I was enjoying the excellent music!
Overall, The War and Treaty put on a great virtual concert, and I would recommend their music to anyone who is not yet familiar with it! I hope that someday, when it is safe again, I will be able to experience their music live and in person.
