Tag: Free

REVIEW: MacFest 2012

Kayla Silverstein

So last night I attended MacFest 2012 to see the a cappella groups here on campus. It was spectacular! Here’s a rundown of the groups we saw and how I saw them:

(G)imble was freaking awesome. A co-ed a cappella group going on their 15th year combined great songs with fancy rhythms in their performance. I’ve always liked their group, and this year they performed several great songs.

Amazin’ Blue could have been in my top 3 from last night. They sang an entirely beautiful rendition of “Iowa”, a song which I’d never heard before, but it was so gorgeous – I loved it.

The Harmonettes were a little bit of a snoozer after all the excitement of the previous groups. I don’t really remember their songs – nothing stood out. I think they could have brought more than they did.

G-Men totally pulled of a Spanish love song, fiery and fun, they rocked it.

Midnight Blue, granted I’m biased as a member of the Women’s Glee Club, were so great. They first wowed us with the song “Parachute” by Ingrid Michaelson. The soloist, Katie Glidden, was so perfect for it – it was amazing. Next, they sang a parody of “Jesse’s Girl” entitled “I want to date my GSI”. It was so fantastic and entirely relatable.

Dicks and Janes were cute – they were a great contender in the series.

Good News, the all Christian a cappella group that spreads “the good news of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ,” was actually better than I thought they were going to be. I loved their purple, white, and grey attire. Definitely a fan.

Maize Mirchi, Michigan’s premier and only South Asian a cappella group, was okay. Their songs were a little bit slow for my liking, and I think they could have been better off with something more upbeat.

58 Greene did a stunning rendition of Christian Aguilera’s “It’s a Man’s World” with a male singer as the lead. It was incredible – the notes that dude could hit were entirely admirable. Wowzers.

Others from the night included Kol HaKavod (decent), Angels on Call (not so hot – everyone does “Don’t Stop Believin’”, guys! Ahg.), Kopitonez (cutesy – great arrangement of “Some Nights”), Sopranos (awesome), and the Compulsive Lyres (spectacular).

It was a great night and I am totally going to the next concert. Michigan a cappella’s the best – you should definitely check it out next time!

PREVIEW: God of Carnage

Thor

It seems that my tastes of late have been very French. First I reviewed Ionesco’s Rhinocéros, and now I’m tackling Yasmina Reza, another French writer. His play God of Carnage depicts an evening involving two children’s respective parents. The action is centered around a playground scuffle between the children in a public park; the pairs of parents meet to discuss the incident in a civilized fashion. Yet as the play progresses, the parents behave more and more childishly and soon we see just how quickly their pretense of civility falls away to reveal the chaos within. I’ve been told the play is uproariously funny. Best yet, and like all Basement shows, it’s free!

What: God of Carnage

Where: Walgreen Drama Center, Studio 1

When: 7:00, tonight, October 27

For more information, visit www.basementarts.org/

I would like to note that in my experience with Basement Arts, the audience isn’t as varied as it could (and should) be. I see mostly people from the theatre or musical theatre program there to support their friends, a few parents, and even fewer strangers. Basement Arts has provided free theatre to the University and its students for nearly a quarter of a century; I urge anyone who can attend this play, or future productions, to do so. Theatre is a vital part of the cultivated life, and what’s more, it’s great fun and an opportunity to get out and meet people!

PREVIEW/ Announcement: EQMC presents MUSICAL SENSATIONS 10/19/12

watsonsauce

Work Gallery: 306 S. State St. Ann Arbor
Friday October 19th
8pm Free (donations appreciated)

A group of experimental musicians are going to showcase their music for an enthusiastic crowed tomorrow night!
Their music varies in style and content although they all mix and sample other artists, loop sounds and play around with different themes to create interesting new musical pieces.
Much of their music is listening rather than dancing music, although it’s definitely good social hang out/ get to know each other and move around to a beat kind of music at times too.

If you want to broaden your auditory surroundings I suggest you join us tomorrow night!

Blithe Field (Ohio)
http://blithefield.bandcamp.com/

Samn Johnson (Ann Arbor – Michigan Student)
http://samnjohnson.bandcamp.com/

Jonah Baseball (Ann Arbor – Michigan Student)

PREVIEW: Jennifer Holms

Kayla Silverstein

Children’s author Jennifer Holms will be giving a lecture at 5:10pm in the UMMA Helmut Stern Auditorium on Thursday, March 29th. Having grown up inspired by her quirky characters, like May Amelia, Jennifer Holm was one of my favorite authors growing up. She received a Newbery Honor for Our Only May Amelia and is also the author of the Babymouse series, The Creek, and several other novels that have capture the hearts of her young readers. My favorite series by her when I was first really getting into reading was the Boston Jane series. I remember there was some sort of love intrigue in the novel, and I felt like it was the first “romance” novel I’d ever read. I still can visualize where I would place all the Boston Jane books, carefully arranged in chronological order, on my book shelf as a kid.

So, definitely come hear Jennifer Holms speak – I’m sure it will be interesting. Her success as a children’s author is entirely admirable. Hope to see you there!

REVIEW: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Kayla Silverstein

Have you met Jeff? He’s an adult who lives in the basement of his mother’s house. No job. No wife. No kids. The only thing keeping him company while his mom’s at work is his marijuana.

Tonight, MFlix hosted a sneak peak presentation of the upcoming film Jeff, Who Lives at Home in the Nat Sci auditorium. I actually really enjoyed the film. It’s an independent comedy with a pretty fantastic cast: Jason Siegel as the main character Jeff, and also Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon. The story revolves around Siegel’s character, Jeff, who is looking for “signs” that connect his life and the universe together. What begins with a man calling Jeff asking for someone named Kevin turns into a wild goose chase, helping Jeff’s brother, Pat (Helms) to hold his marriage in one piece. Meanwhile, Sarandon’s character, Jeff and Pat’s mom, tries to figure out her “secret admirer” in the office. The stories bend, twist, and collide, leaving the audience laughing, teary eyed, and a little…confused. All and all, I think it worked.

What I really enjoyed most about the film was the whole idea of how life is really unpredictable – who’s to say that everything in the world isn’t somehow connected? Maybe if we too took the time to follow every thread of our lives, every hunch that we had, we would all end up colliding in the same space and time. I was recently introduced to the modern art movement called Fluxus which insists that “anything can be art and anyone can do it.” While this film isn’t entirely related to that idea, Jeff comes up with multiple theories on life, and is repeatedly mocked by his older brother, Pat, for trying to be philosophical when he’s just a “pothead.” In the end, not to give too much away but Jeff isn’t that far off from reality. I was instantly reminded of Fluxus because just as everyone can do art, everyone can have deep, philosophical theories, in a sense. Sure, some may be dumb, but life is sort of chaotic anyway, so why not follow your gut?

It is quite possible that one man – a man with a home, wife, job, and car – may not necessarily have better ideas than a man who, well, lives at home.

The movie comes out in theaters this Friday, and I’d personally recommend going to see it. I’d give it 7 out of 10.

REVIEW: Next to Normal

Kayla Silverstein

In an audience of musical theatre majors, my three friends and I sat to watch a small cast of six put on a musical we’d all hoped to see, called “Next to Normal.” There was very little publicity for the event, and it was pure chance that we found out they were even doing it. I’m so glad we did because it was yet another fantastic evening of musical-wonderfulness for me!

“Next to Normal” tells the story of a dysfunctional family dealing with the turmoil of everyday life. The mother of the family is a bipolar/schizophrenic character who struggles with coping, the father of the family is in denial of pretty much everything, and the sister has to deal with regular teenage angst while being raised by two struggling, and mostly absent, parental figures. The mother’s character was, as I’m sure you can tell by her description, a definite challenge, but Chelsea Wilson was absolutely amazing. She pulled off crazy so unbelievably well. Everyone was just cast so perfectly, like C.J. Eldred as the role of Gabe and Ted Stevenson as Dan, I could hardly believe it.

Complaints bring color to a review, but I’m seriously struggling here. It was long? Yeah, 2 and a half hours, I’d say, and a few of the songs dragged, like the saga “I miss the mountains.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t just press skip this time when it came on.

The passion of the show exploded off the stage for sure, and I felt the musical shift perspectives constantly, from mother, to son, to daughter, to father. The lighting would tilt and change its tone as the melodies would lift and fall. It’s one thing to hear the recording bajillions of times, and an absolute other thing to see it performed in front of you. I’ll never hear THAT recording the same way again.

It was such a great show, and I’m so so glad I have friends who are more informed than I to tell me what is going on in the distant woods of north campus. If you read this in time, go tomorrow night!