REVIEW: Legally Blonde

Angela Lin Leave a comment

Legally Blonde is the story of positivity, hard work, and feminism, embodied by the great and legendary Elle Woods. MUSKET’s performance elevated this musical to stunning heights, full of laughter and empowerment and the best talent on campus.

The musical started out with squealing sorority girls excited about Elle and Warner’s potential engagement. When the fabulous Mika Secada emerged as Elle Woods, she instantly dominated the stage with her pink attire and commanding presence, even after Warner breaks Elle’s heart with his egoistic dreams. Dominic Dorset portrays him as a suave man fit right into Harvard, and Elle studies hard to get in to chase after him, even performing a lovely cheerleading routine sprinkled with law jargon to convince the Harvard men of her capabilities.

Once in Harvard, preppy girl Vivienne Kensington (Mackenzie Mollison) is out for Elle’s blood, but soft and geeky Emmett (Michael Dietz) is there to show her she belongs. Nevada Riley, Kaitlyn Tom, and Ryan Moore made the perfect Greek Chorus, giving Elle the strength and encouragement to be the Elle Woods we all admire.

In the hair salon, we meet Paulette, and Emma Cook’s dialect and hairstyle and outfit rivaled the Paulette in the original movie. Her positivity and energy was contagious, and she dominated the stage as well. One of the biggest stars of the show was Reggie the Campus Corgi, the crowd erupting into applause and cheers as he waddled his way across the stage after Elle helped Paulette win her dog back.

Sydney C. Shepherd played Brooke Wyndham, the accused fitness guru with style and moves. The extraordinary choreography of “Whipped Into Shape” involving synchronized jump roping was really impressive as the cast did a thorough workout to this extremely catchy song. Probably the best part of this number was when Ryan Moore’s jump rope flew out of his hands, and he started jumping up and down with his own unique flair that made it super entertaining to watch.

The vocal power of this cast was extraordinary, especially Secada’s performances. As she danced and marched around in stilettos, she proved how powerful and confident women could be. From fashion icon to winning lawyer, her positive and outgoing mindset helped her succeed, and Secada grabbed this narrative we’re all familiar with and turned it into her own. Vivienne’s unwavering support for Elle after Callahan assaulted her was even more poignant as Mollison sang “legally blonde”, nailing that run over and over again.

The set was simple and beautiful, yet it screamed Elle Woods. The revolving walls brought us between the bright pink walls, the blue salon, and Harvard with effective ease. Once again, the pit’s brilliantly-played music matched Elle Wood’s spirit and gave her an upbeat soundtrack to her life. This all-star cast, from Cook to Mollison to Reggie to Secada, turned this story about a sorority girl turned lawyer into a moving tale about self-empowerment and the importance of believing women. Bruna D’Avila and MUSKET exceeded expectations again with this very pink, very enjoyable, and very powerful musical.

REVIEW: GenAPA Cultural Show 2019: “TECHNICOLOR: Vivid past, vibrant future”

Minna W Leave a comment

This was my first time attending GenAPA’s annual cultural show. There were so many performances that I surprisingly enjoyed and would otherwise not have seen if I had not gone to see TECHNICOLOR. Each performance showcased a unique aspect of Asian and Pacific American culture. A video, played before each group’s performance, described what ‘technicolor’ as well as the Asian and Pacific American community meant to each student group. There were thirteen featured groups and performers in total. Below, I will mention a few of the performances that I particularly enjoyed.

Sinaboro, Korean traditional drumming group, was the opening act. Throughout their whole performance, the musicians remained seated on the floor of the stage. Their joy and passion for samulnori was delightful to observe (samulnori is a genre of percussion music that originated in Korea. The word samul means “four objects”, while nori means “play”. Samulnori is performed with four instruments: a small gong, a larger gong, an hourglass-shaped drum, and barrel drum). The way the musicians played their instruments was almost like a dance, and it was fascinating to watch.

Michigan Hula’s performance was also intriguing. Prior to the show, the only exposure I had to hula dancing was through the movie, Lilo and Stitch (really sad, I know). You know the scene where Lilo went to hula class? Yup, that’s it. I really appreciated hearing, what I believe is, the Ipu (percussion instrument made from gourds that is often used to provide a beat for hula dancing) and the language the dancers chanted and sang during the performance.

Taekwondo put on a skillful, entertaining, and also humorous performance. The taekwondoins began by monotonously demonstrating different kicks and moves. And then the music came on, and the audience went wild. They demonstrated jumping and spinning kicks and fast kicking techniques. They broke wood boards and performed with nunchucks. It was a blast.

DB3 was one of my favorite performances during the show. They are a male k-pop dance crew. During their performance, they danced hip hop as well as k-pop. Seeing their performance made me feel like a judge on the show, World of Dance. The dancers were so in sync and the choreography was refreshing and stunning. I’ll be looking out for their shows in the future.

Overall, TECHNICOLOR was a blast. There was a wide-range of performances which showed different aspects of Asian and Pacific American culture. The show was both educational and entertaining. In terms of the crowd, there was a great turn-out. A lot of people came out to support their friends and also clubs they enjoyed. I am so glad I went this year.

REVIEW: 24th Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners

audreymg 1 Comment

I had many thoughts and expectations going into the 24th Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners while riding Commuter North up to the Duderstadt, and none of them were correct. I was going in with little idea as to what kind of art I would see in this exhibition. Drawing on my experience with art galleries, I was expecting a sparsely-filled space with the kind of art that people feel the need to step back and frown at to feel sophisticated. That was not what I saw in the Dude’s gallery space showing the many ways this project defies preconceived ideas. The walls were full of paintings and drawings while sculptures and other three-dimensional pieces sat on stands and other pieces sat in boxes waiting to be shuffled through. The room was organized according to theme with one section holding more whimsical pieces while another featured darker art. I immediately realized that my idea of art worthy of a gallery was being challenged; I had never thought about crochet finger puppets sitting in an art museum. I realized something I hadn’t considered before attending this exhibit, I have no idea how prisoners gain access to art supplies. Paints and pencils are reasonably easy to come across, but what about all the crochet work featured in the gallery? I could easily see crochet hooks being considered weapons and banned from prisons. This led me to appreciate the ingenuity of the work I was looking at. There were several boxes and even a clock which had been crafted entirely from popsicle sticks cut and glued together to look like wood. I realized that making art in prison requires much more than the traditional kind of creativity which society associates with artistry; it also requires creativity in finding and using resources to express their artistry. Another preconception I had going into this exhibit was that the art would be mainly influenced by the experiences of prison. While there were quite a few pieces that dealt with the failings of the carceral system and the societal failings that have contributed to the incarceration of such a large portion of our population, there were also many pieces that dealt with the more positive aspects of life. Some pieces were fantastical while others were landscapes. Overall, the exhibit did a fantastic job of displaying the universal nature of art and creativity.

 

 

Birds of Passage Poster

PREVIEW: Birds of Passage

Abigail Fox Leave a comment

Birds of Passage (Spanish title: Pajaros de Verano) is screening at the State Theatre this week (beginning Friday, March 22). An epic crime film that received the Colombian nomination for best foreign language film for the 91stAcademy awards and was selected for the December shortlist. The drama centers on a Wayúu indigenous family during the illegal drug trade of the 1960s and 70s, illustrating the moral costs of the all-encompassing pursuit of power and wealth. The film will be screened daily at the State Theatre, with audio in Spanish, Wayuu, and Wiwa, with English subtitles.

PREVIEW: Bookmarks

Abby Z Leave a comment

If your ever wandering around the “big three” Michigan libraries this coming month, you might come across an interesting new set of artistic additions. The Penny Stamps School of Art and Design is hosting an exhibition curated by Dean Guna Nadarajan displayed across the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, Hatcher Graduate Library, and the Art, Architecture & Engineering Library in the Duderstadt.  The exhibition will feature a number of site-specific installations, performances, interventions, and events done by Stamps students and staff.

 

All of the related events are completely free. For more information and the event specifics please check out the link here https://stamps.umich.edu/exhibitions/detail/bookmarks_speculating_the_futures_of_the_book_and_library.  The vast majority of events are still on the horizon.  Of particular note the opening reception will be Wednesday, March 27, 5:30-7:30 PM.

 

The pieces will on display March 26th to May 26th. As the pieces are completely open and free to the public make sure to spice up your next study break by visiting one, or several of the installations.

 

PREVIEW: Us

audreymg Leave a comment

The new movie by Jordan Peele has been greatly anticipated since the masterpiece that was Get Out. We all knew Peele was a comic genius when paired up with his partner in crime, Keegan-Micheal Key, but we didn’t know the depth and breadth of his creativity until this genre defying film debuted. Get Out was one of my favorite movies of 2017. It’s haunting mix of reality and fantasy with hints of humor celebrated Black culture while also pointing out the fact that we aren’t really that far from living in a horror film. Us looks like it will host some similar themes while going all the way to the horror genre. Peele described Get Out as a documentary which has made some uneasy after seeing trailers for Us, but luckily, he has come out saying that Us is a full on horror movie and we need not worry. Based on the stunning trailers I’ve seen, this film truly does look creepy. I fully expect to be squeezing my boyfriend’s hand the entire time.