This Sunday, February 9 at 7:00PM the Donmar Warehouse’s production of Coriolanus will be shown at the Michigan Theater.
Broadcast by National Theatre Live, this Shakespeare play stars Tom Hiddleston (probably best known for his role of Loki in the Marvel franchise) as the title character who must defend the people of his city from imminent attack while also addressing their call for political change. This production is sure to be an intense spectacle not to be missed.
Tickets to see the recorded stage production at the Michigan Theater are still available and can be found through the University Musical Society here.
Malcolm Gladwell delivers words of wisdom at the Michigan Theater.
Checking my phone before Malcom Gladwell’s talk at the Michigan Theater to learn of the snow day announcement gave me a slightly distracted demeanor in my seat half way up the main floor. Alas, I actively put my excitement aside to gain wisdom and knowledge from the best-selling author and contributor to The New Yorker. Last night, Gladwell explored the theme of what makes people stand up and fight in circumstances where fighting is unprecedented, unwarranted, and least likely to be successful. His exploration of what made the women of northern Ireland take up arms and fight back against the British army is featured in a chapter of his new book David and Goliath, from which the event was promoting and featured a book signing after the talk.
Gladwell introduced himself by explaining that while although it’s a great pleasure to be in Michigan in January, it’s also “deeply traumatizing,” as the Canadian used to be an avid Toronto Blue Jays fan until the Detroit Tigers crushed them two years in a row to take them out of the playoffs. “So Michigan took away the sport that I love. But at the same I realized, as I thought about this even more, it also freed up thousands of hours, which I think I put to use writing books,” Gladwell comically lamented. Laughter aside, he interestingly explored the detailed and troubled history of Alva Vanderbilt, a prominent socialite in the late 1800s and early 1900s. “Nobody predicted on paper that she would become a powerful activist for social change,” Gladwell said. Through describing her upbringing, relationships with men and her beloved daughter Consuela, he tells a tale of an outspoken women confined and cornered in New York society because of mold women were expected to live in during her time. As ambitious as her goals were, all she could do was marry wealthy (which she did, to Sonny Churchill), and build extravagant estates to show off her wealth, participating in full-time conspicuous consumption.
Her story is used to answer what compelled her to act, and eventually lead, the woman’s suffrage movement. What made her want to “take up spiritual arms against forces more powerful than her?” asked Gladwell. Gladwell looked to legitimacy theory, which explains what makes us obey authority is how authority itself behaves based on fairness, trustworthiness and legitimacy. Alva felt society’s treatment of her was not trustworthy and she was denied legitimacy, and when people are denied legitimacy they get angry and will choose to fight back because the cost of disobeying the law outweighs the benefits of obeying it.
The most powerful lesson Gladwell shared through Alva’s story and relationship to the women’s suffrage movement was that “if you deny people legitimacy, they will, one day, by one means or another, come back and defeat you.”
Certainly stirring much thought in my head, I was grateful for the chance to listen a wonderful writer perform as a wonderful speaker. His ability to capture my attention for the duration of the program by following me along this very elaborate example was impressive and valuable. I look forward to reading David and Goliath with these themes presented in the back of my mind.
Who: Malcolm Gladwell
What: Reading excerpts from his new book David and Goliath
When: Monday, January 27 at 7 p.m.
Where: Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty Street
Tickets: $35 tickets are available on the main floor as the balcony has been sold out. With online service fees, it’s $44.65. Or you can stop by Nicola’s Books to avoid service fees, while supplies last.
The New Yorker’s Malcom Gladwell is coming to speak at the Michigan Theater to read excerpts from his new book David and Goliath, sign copies and answer audience questions. I recently read an article of his called “Most Likely To Succeed” for my English 225 class, detailing how predicting the future success of athletes and teachers based on perceived performance does not always work so well. Gladwell, in his new book, speaks on disadvantages and obstacles through new interpretations to overcome them. The experience of hearing his well-guided words and wisdom will be well worthwhile.
Purchase tickets here. Read some of Gladwell’s work for the New Yorker or visit his selection on Amazon.
David Tennant as Richard II (photo courtesy of The Daily Mail)
In his first production as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, director Gregory Doran presented a expertly crafted and wonderfully mesmerizing production of Richard II. Set in its own time period, this production details the downfall of King Richard II, a vain and somewhat villainous king who bases his power on divine right. Through the use of a simple stage design, lighting, and beautifully sung music, this production felt as if it were in a church, which heightened the religious undertones of the play. King Richard’s assumed god-like authority was further highlighted through the costuming choices, most notably his long mane of hair, white or light colored flowing robes, and the ever present cross around his neck.
The simplicity of the stage design and prop choices allowed the audience to focus on what was really important in the production–Shakespeare’s diction and the spectacular acting of the ensemble. David Tennant’s portrayal of Richard plays up Richard’s powerful and vain nature with a gold manicure and a sense of haughtiness. The real strength of Tennant’s performance, however, is the emotion he pulls out of the character. In one of his best moments on stage, Tennant forces everyone to sit on the ground with him and, as he pulls his knees to his chest and rocks with grief, tell the sad stories of the deaths of kings. Showing Richard’s vulnerability in the moment he realizes his power as king is gone allows Tennant to succeed in attracting the audience’s sympathy for a king who throughout the play is seen as wasteful and abusive of his power.
Although Tennant drew a lot of the attention, in no way was this production a solo act. With Nigel Lindsay’s portrayal of Bolingbroke as an intense and powerful man who is not afraid to mock and scorn Richard’s theatricality, Oliver Ford Davies’s emotional and somewhat comedic portrayal of the Duke of York, a man torn between two loyalties, and Michael Pennington’s portrayal of John of Gaunt as a dying man enraged with Richard’s actions, the entire ensemble worked together to create a production that was nothing short of fantastic.
There will be another broadcast of the play December 11th at 7pm at the Michigan Theater. I highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in Shakespeare.
Who: Groove
What: Groove presents #TRASHTAG
When: December 6, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Michigan Theater
Cost: $5 for students, $8 for adults. Tickets available at the door.
Groove, campus’s premier percussion group, will be taking the Michigan Theater to a technological and technical level Friday night for their fall show #TRASHTAG. The performers are known for using a variety of surfaces to capture and uniformly create percussion beats. This show will be an opportunity to showcase their talents on a wide scale, and it will be interesting to see how their viral, hashtagged, techy theme plays out.
RSVP to the event on Facebook, visit their official website, or check out some of their performers on their YouTube channel.
What I truly love about UMS is the variety of their performances. This season, we have classical pianists, Indie rockers (as I’m calling James Blake…sorry if that makes anyone mad), traditional Sufi music, and this: an orchestra of ukulele players from England. It was so unlike anything I’ve seen before at UMS. There wasn’t anything to analyze or interpret. Nothing to look at and be like, “Wait…why are there lambs on stage?” It was just exactly what you were expecting: an hour and a half of covers of songs performed on the ukulele. Don’t get me wrong; I like risqué, innovative, renegade material as much as the next person, but it was a nice change to know what was coming.
And it was fun too! Everyone left with a smile on their face. Prior to the performance, audience members were asked to bring their ukuleles and several people did! In the middle of the show, they played Tom Petty’s “American Girl” and uke-playing audience members took up the challenge and played along! It was a really cute way of engaging the audience. And such a great way of utilizing the smallness of the ukulele! It’s such a lap-friendly instrument! I mean, if they had brought a harp orchestra to Ann Arbor, you couldn’t necessarily ask people to bring along their harps to play along mid-show. It was the perfect way of getting the audience involved without making people nervous or annoying those who didn’t want to participate.
One thing that seemed to detract from my personal experience of the show was my age. All the songs were covers and while I did recognize “Pinball Wizard” and a truly fabulous rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”, the rest of the songs were from a time before my generation. I understand that UMS audiences tend to be on the older side, so I know there were a lot of people who got more out of the performance than I. Which is fine – I’m happy that they enjoyed the show (and I think they did because oftentimes just after three chords were struck on stage, I’d hear elderly whooping erupt behind me). It was still good music and fun to watch just how awesome all the band members were at the ukulele…I just think I would have liked it even more had I been more familiar with more of the songs.
Great show, lots of fun, and super cute. Glad I went. Going to shop around for a ukulele so I can learn too!
