REVIEW: The Government Inspector

Sappy Leave a comment

Photos are provided by Peter Smith Photography

Directed by Malcolm Tulip from February 20-23 at the Arthur Miller Theatre, students from the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance performed Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of the musical The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol. Though I was disappointed by the lack of singing and dancing in the production that typically characterizes a musical, it was still enjoyable to watch because of the goofy characters and comedic plot twists. In addition to the great acting, the outfits and set design further added to the immersive setting and made it a satisfying experience.

The plot takes place in a small Russian town in the 1830s. When the greedy and corrupt mayor, Anton Antonovich (played by Fabian Rihl), realizes that a government inspector has come for a visit, panic ensues as he and other high-ranking residents such as the judge, hospital director, and school principal attempt to win the inspector’s favor and cover up their misdeeds. However, their efforts are in vain due to mistaking the inspector for another visitor, Hlestakov, who relishes in their attention and money while continuing to hide his true identity as a depressed, low-level servant.

Though there was a short musical number introducing each character at the beginning, it was hard to keep track of them all because of the vast number of characters and their Russian names. Nevertheless, my favorite part of the musical was the characters. I loved the character dynamic between Hlestakov, played by Sam O’Neill, and his servant, Osip, played by Vanessa Dominguez. Hlestakov’s pathetic personality accompanied by Osip’s cold-hearted demeanor made them a hilarious duo. Similarly, I also loved watching the hospital director, played by Christine Chupailo, and the doctor, played by Gabriel Sanchez. Because the doctor didn’t speak the native language, the comedic timing of their messy dialogue made me laugh throughout the whole musical.  

I particularly enjoyed watching the chaotic interactions within the mayor’s family. The mayor and his wife have a tumultuous relationship with each other and their daughter. However, Hlestakov’s arrival adds fuel to the chaos as he begins to get romantically involved with the mayor’s daughter, Marya Antonovna, and his wife, Anna Andreyevna. Student Nova Brown’s portrayal of Anna was especially amusing because of Anna’s bold flirting and her promiscuity. Furthermore, it was interesting to see how their indifferent daughter, played by Kristabel Kenta-Bibi, flirted with the mayor in comparison. 

Overall, though I wish there was more music involved, I highly recommend seeing this show. The unique characters and satirical plot made the whole audience laugh, yet it was still able to highlight the consequences of human greed and stupidity.

Review: Nickel Boys

Andrew Teel Leave a comment

Nickel boys, a recent movie adaption based on the novel by Colson Whitehead portrays a story with an overarching messages of loss of childhood innocence due to a societal hierarchy in a 1960s America. The story centers on two African-American boys, Elwood and Turner, as they come of age before being unjustly sentenced to an abusive reform school known as Nickle Academy. The film portrays the academy as being deeply encoded in segregation. The two boys must decide if they are to stick up for themselves and face backlash, or lay dormant and stoic and suffer from the society they were unknowingly born into.

A highlight of this film was the fact it was shot in a first person perspective. almost all movies made now have been shot in third person. It is clear why this decision was made, it was almost a requirement as it allowed viewers to relate to the world that Elwood saw. Elwoods school teacher told him to stand up for what he believes and ignore the altered white lense of society, meanwhile Elwoods grandmother showed caution to the young man as he may be led to being incarcerated if he follows civil right movements.

Elwood finds himself ending up in Nickel Academy after being wrongfully involved in a grand theft auto while hitchhiking. After ending up in the wrong crowd like many others, Elwood is subjugated to the cruel means of “rehabilitation” submitted by the Academy. Nickel Academy has four tiers of student success. All students start from what is known as a “grub” and must move on in the ranks. After Grubs a student will be an explorer, a Pioneer and finally an Ace. Only once a student has become an ace may he ever leave the institution and see his family again. What makes this intriguing is how difficult the movie frames the task of become an Ace. One must almost become an unquestioning, loyal member that echos exactly what the administrators communicate. The film lets audience know there is a difference between a successful member of society and a pawn that stays in line. Something the academy wishes to enact in all of it’s students.

Nickle boys also portrays cruelty of the administration onto the students. After a week of being at the school, Elwood is involved in a fight between two other young boys. Instead of detention the boys are whipped the next night by the school director. The movie creates this sense of unnerving abuse not by the action of physical whipping, but by the fear portrayed in the other men. The intense fear and worried lines given by boys who have been subjugated to this punishment in the past clearly clues Elwood, (and the audience through his eyes), that this was no normal school. This was hell. No boy  would ever wish to face the punishment that the school seems suitable. The suspense created by having Elwood be woken up into the middle of the night and not revealing his punishment until it hit him over the head was a clever use by the film’s director that stepped ahead of what the book had to offer. First person storytelling allows a special sense of naive and unknowingness to an audience that can capture some truly intense moments that no one can expect. Knowing something awful is coming but not revealing it directly is an excellent artistic tool to capture the feeling of dread and an impending sense of doom.

These feelings are captured further in such a unique way. Like a motif, the scene will sometimes include an alligator. (yes an alligator!) Several moments in the film that feature the boys being abused often have a live alligator pass over the scene. This alligator is not meant to be taken literal  but as a metaphor for something sinister that is just underneath the surface. The alligator represents that nasty stomach twisting feeling in Elwood that something is off.

Has American really improved much of its ways after the legalization of slavery, or has the suffering merely transformed under a thin sheath that is still filled with segregation and hate? When Elwood was touring the academy one of his main duties is to collect oranges in the grueling hot son while the white students play football outside. Brief black and white photographs of slavery clues audiences in that the way Black Americans were treated after freedom from slavery was not a direct improvement but a long and slow moving way of improvement that still takes place to this day.

Overall the message of this film was potent but not over the head. A common criticism for films with dystopian like messages are often to on the nose or over the head. The artistic metaphors and use of first person simply set up a view that I have not considered. The picture does not tell you what to believe, but rather understand an alternate view. This film deserves all the praise it can get, and truly cements real history and real people.

 

REVIEW: The Turn Of The Screw

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March 28 | 7:30 | The Lydia Mendelssohn Theater

 

 

Slightly haunted, challenging and contemplative— The Turn Of The Screw is a properly spooky ghost story. The novella by 19th-century writer Henry James is a piece of gothic fantasy best known for its adaptation into the opera by English composer Benjamin Britten and librettist Myfanwy Piper.

The eerie disposition felt akin to Sweeney Todd’s dreary Fleet Street or last season’s Elizabeth Cree at SMTD. Britten’s work features just 6 voices from the Department of Voice and Opera and 13 instruments in the orchestra.

We arrive at a remote country house in East England at the turn of the previous century. A young governess (Christina Parson) is hired to care for two children, Miles and Flora (the lively Haley Hunt and Francesca Herrera), alongside Mrs. Grose (Danielle Casós), the housekeeper. As time passes, the Governess becomes convinced that the house is haunted by malevolent spirits of a former servant, Peter Quint, and governess, Miss Jessel (played respectively by Alexander Nick and Jennie Rupp, an earth-shattering soprano). Her obsession with protecting the children intensifies as the line between reality and delusion blurs, leaving the true nature of the threat ambiguous.

Christina Parson as The Governess.

Christina Parson (the Governess) sparkles musically and dramatically, as if the score was written for her. She seldom leaves the stage during the performance, proving a role made for a seasoned soprano with stamina. Her journey is emotional, as she challenges paranoia amid her deep compassion. Parson crafts a beautiful arc for this character, especially as the erratic feelings intensify.

The ambiguity feeds into the tense storytelling, sonically and dramatically, making it the true enchantment of the piece. This opera succeeds on its intellect and the brilliance of the performers. The cast of six performs with a vocal maturity far beyond their years as well as cultivates the most dramatically satisfying opera I’ve seen at the University: the chemistry of Herrera and Hunt was joyful, and Rupp and Nick were a chilling duo onstage. Ms. Casós has enjoyed many fantastic performances in University Operas over the years, and her elegant Mrs. Grose was no less enchanting.

This score is unlike that of Mozart or Puccini—Britton’s score feels more like a soundscape than a dramatic statement. It houses some evocative nostalgia but doesn’t give the audience a memorable tune to carry out of the theater. Though Myfanwy Piper’s libretto is full of vitality, young Miles’ deathly call, “Malo,” still echoes in my head.

 

 

Image thanks to Univ. of Michigan SMTD.

REVIEW: Pops en Pointe

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April 19 | 7pm | The Michigan Theater

 

 

The Michigan Pops is one of the most beloved student organizations on campus—and don’t ask me. Ask any one of the hundreds of attendees at the Michigan Theater on April 19.

Founded in 1995, the Michigan Pops brings talented musicians from across the University Campus to perform a concert each academic semester. The orchestra is led by music director Luca Antonucci, and associates Nicholas Bromilow and Francisco Fernandez, three fierce Doctoral Conducting students from the School of Music.

“Pops En Pointe” discovered a selection of repertoire surrounding dance (if that wasn’t completely obvious from the title). The first pieces were the non-negotiables in the dance-related classical canon, including Brahms’s “Hungarian Dance No. 5” and Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite”, in which a touching “Waltz of the Flowers” warmed my heart. Auruto Marquez’s fiery “Danzón no. 2” featured striking solos across the ensemble.

If you know Pops, they aren’t without their fun. Instrumentalists introduce pieces in mouse hats or bird costumes. They accompany full-length selections with silly videos made by members of the ensemble. And host a mini game show onstage with members of the audience mid-concert. Quirky, engaging bits (that are often too long) are always a memorable part of the Michigan Pops experience.

The slightly underwhelming but charming DJ’s A Cappella group performed selections from ABBA’s “Mamma Mia” after intermission. This is not the first time I’ve heard the Michigan Theater’s sound system being unsatisfactory for vocalists. With boomy mics and offset balance, this performance was no different, washing the voices. Some solos remained intact, but were delivered somewhat unexuberantly, perhaps inhibited by the sound constraints.

The Michigan Pops hosts an annual concerto competition for high school students. This year, stunning young cellist Trevor Nelson from Huron High School was the recipient. He performed a cut from Camille Saine-Saëns’ “Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor”, a beautifully dramatic and declamatory piece. A gifted and humble performer, he plays for the Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra and has brought his musicianship around the world to Spain and Toronto.

Pavani Anand, the Executive Director of the Michigan Pops, closed the concert with a heartfelt speech about her relationship to the cello and her mother, who encouraged her throughout her youth. Equally, her speech emphasized the defunding of arts organizations across America.  Her call to support live music comes at a crucial time as the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recinds hundreds of grants to major arts organizations across America.

Music gives us the facility to dance and bring communities together, and without it, who are we?

 

 

 

 

Photos thanks to The Michigan Pops.

REVIEW: John Splithoff at The Ark

Madi Hammond Leave a comment

Last Wednesday, I went to The Ark as a fan of the opener and left with a newfound appreciation for live music. Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Splithoff brought his signature charisma and soaring vocals, filling the venue with energy and soul.

Splithoff, who first rose to fame in 2016 with his hit “Sing to You,” released his newest album, Far From Here, this March. A reflection on the chaos of a busy, ever-changing life, the album drew many first-time concert goers to The Ark, something Ark staff confirmed with a quick show of hands.

What drew me, though, was opener Evann McIntosh. After going viral in 2019 with the dreamy track “What Dreams Are Made Of,” the now-21-year-old has only sporadically released new music. At the Ark, they and their guitarist performed mostly unreleased material. Personally, I am now looking for it to be officially released; there were several songs I would love to add to my playlist. Despite a few awkward pauses between songs, McIntosh’s buttery-smooth vocals kept the audience engaged. A clear standout was “Blue Movie Magic,” their newest single, released just a week prior.

McIntosh’s chill, groovy R&B set made for a smooth transition before Splithoff and his three-piece band kicked things into high gear. He burst on stage to roaring applause, dancing his way to the mic. Though not his first time at the Ark, it was his first performance there since releasing “Far From Here,” and he was back with a vengeance.

There are moments when you’re reminded that some artists simply love music — and Splithoff embodied that joy. You could tell that he was having the time of his life up on stage, flexing his musical chops and showing off his talent. Between impressive vocal riffs and leading crowd call-and-responses, he effortlessly switched between guitars and keyboard, never missing a beat or a note.

But Splithoff made sure that his band also had their time to shine, with solos from the drums and keyboard alongside backing vocals from the bassist.

His set mixed fan favorites with new tracks, including a beautiful moment during “Kyoto Snow” when he asked the crowd to light up the room with their phone flashlights. The performance revealed his stylistic range, flowing from soulful ballads to upbeat, synthy pop. He even worked in a few Ann Arbor-specific ad libs, nodding to the city, the popcorn in the crowd, and Midwestern family values.

One of the most charming moments came during a story he shared while seated at the keyboard. Earlier that day, he ran into two fans in line at Frita Batidos, an Ann Arbor staple, who had driven from Canada just to see him. They asked him to play “Steady,” and he did. After closing with his biggest hit, “Sing to You,” he returned for a heartfelt encore and played another fan request, “Paris.”

Splithoff lit up The Ark, making the small venue feel expansive and electric. His return to Ann Arbor marked both a milestone in his career and a true celebration of live music.John Splithoff is touring with Evann McIntosh through May.

REVIEW: Strange You Never Knew

Maggie Watson Leave a comment

Content Notice: This review contains brief discussion of a historical anti-Asian American hate crime as it relates to this exhibition. 

Strange You Never Knew at the University of Michigan Museum of Art is the first solo exhibition by Chinese American photographer Jarod Lew. In it, he explores the complex realities of the Asian American diaspora in the Midwest, from his personal and family history to larger questions of cultural identity.

The show includes four distinct but intertwined bodies of work. “Please Take Off Your Shoes” and “In Between You And Your Shadow” are collections of Lew’s photography, while “Mimicry” and “The New Challengers Strike Back” incorporate mixed media and appropriation.

In “Please Take Off Your Shoes,” Lew photographs Asian Americans (from family members to strangers he reached out to on social media) in their homes. Lew’s framing and staging draws attention to the relationship between his subjects and the objects that surround them in their homes. During his artist talk for the exhibition’s opening, Lew described how during his photoshoots for this collection, he and his subjects would go from feeling like the “most Asian thing in the room” in one space, to the “least Asian thing in the room” in another. Some of the participants in his project sit in rooms full of traditional Chinese furniture and art, others surrounded by American kitsch—many in a mix of both.

Jarod Lew, “The Most American Thing (Tina),” 2021, From “Please Take Off Your Shoes.” Image courtesy of the artist.

This juxtaposition of Chinese and American decor is recreated elsewhere in the immersive presentation of “Mimicry.” Tucked away in the center of the gallery is a replica of a living room, with an old-fashioned couch and glass-topped coffee table, decorated with East Asian-style vases and a ceramic Laughing Buddha statue. Atop a stack of books (which alternate between Western and Eastern art history subjects) sits a slide projector, which automatically rotates through a slideshow of found and altered images. Some are found photos of mid-century Asian American families, others of white American families onto which Jarod Lew has superimposed his own face, and still others of a white suburban family’s 1954 “Chinese Block Party.” Distinguishing them from each other requires scrutinizing the small projected photos in the short time before the slideshow flips forward, asking the viewer to pay careful attention to the nuances of cultural appropriation.

Lew is intentional with the gaze of his subjects, whether he is directing it at his audience or obscuring it. In many of his photographs, especially in “Please Take Off Your Shoes,” the subjects stare straight into the camera with neutral expressions, in a way that is not quite confrontational but still a little unsettling. The viewer feels as if they have intruded into these private spaces, or perhaps have been invited into them on the condition of good behavior (and leaving one’s shoes at the door).

The complementary photography collection “In Between You and Your Shadow,” balancing out the other half of the gallery’s symmetrical layout, grapples even more with privacy and the intrusion of the camera into its subjects’ lives. The collection is centered on Lew’s mother, whose face is obscured in every shot by flares of light, deliberately placed objects, or other photographic tricks that hide her from full view. Lew discovered at age twenty-five that his mother had been engaged to a Chinese American man named Vincent Chin, who was murdered in an anti-Asian hate crime in Highland Park, Michigan in 1982. This deeply traumatic history, revealed to visitors in the collection’s exhibition text, gives an emotional weight to the way Lew’s mother is obscured in his photographs. It reflects her choice to hide her past from her children in order to protect them, but is also a gesture of protection itself, allowing her to remain a measure of privacy even in the focus of the camera lens.

Jarod Lew, “Untitled (Wedding picture)”, 2021, from “In Between You and Your Shadow.” Image courtesy of the artist.

Lew dives further into the history of violence against Asian Americans in “The New Challengers Strike Back,” a multimedia work that incorporates found media. The work ties acts of violence against Asian Americans to symbolic acts of violence against Asian-made cars. A news clip from shortly before the murder of Vincent Chin shows white Americans smashing a Toyota car in front of a Chinese restaurant, demonstrating the resentment of the Japanese auto industry that motivated the hate crime against Chin. It is presented alongside a modified bonus level from Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers which also involves destroying a Toyota. Viewers are invited to pick up the controller and participate in the destruction, which resets after a few seconds.

These two complementary works are a creative use of multimedia, and conceptually strong, but despite the interactive element they are perhaps the least engaging part of a strong exhibition. They are direct and clear in their message, but feel blunt in comparison to the nuances of Lew’s other work.

Ultimately I found myself lingering with the large-format photographs, wanting to take the time to fully understand the figures captured by the lens. The layer of mystery in each staged-yet-personal scene invites longer contemplation. Other elements of the exhibition add interest and depth, but Lew’s masterful photography steals the show.

Strange You Never Knew is on display at UMMA through June 15.