Tag: Singing

REVIEW: Orpheus in the Underworld

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Unlike what the title suggests, Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers) didn’t focus much on Orpheus being in the Underworld nor did it remain true to the romantic and sorrowful story told in Greek myths. Instead, what SMTD brought to life was a goofy comedy contrasted with powerful French opera, and they described it as “a cheeky twist” on the famous love story between Orpheus and his wife, Eurydice.

In mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice were deeply in love, so when Eurydice met her untimely death, he played the lyre (an instrument similar to the harp) and used his musical genius to charm his way into the Underworld and bring her back to the world of the living. 

In this version, the two shared a terrible marriage and were both cheating on each other. They portrayed Orpheus as a lackluster violinist, which was one of the many things that drove his wife crazy. Eurydice constantly asked for a divorce, but Orpheus always refused with sweet words. He had a different plan in mind to get rid of her. When Eurydice died, he jumped with joy; however, his happiness was short-lived when soon after he was threatened by Public Opinion to save his wife and thus dragged to the Underworld. 

Operas place a greater importance on music than storytelling, so although the dialogue was in English, the majority of the show was in French. Orpheus in the Underworld was performed at The Power Center for the Performing Arts, and they provided screens with English subtitles for the audience to follow along. Some technical difficulties threw off the timing of the words, but I wasn’t that disappointed since the students’ acting and singing were so captivating it felt like a waste to take my eyes off them.

The story took place in the late 1950s, so all of the backdrops, from the farm to Olympus and the Underworld, were all unique. I also loved the wardrobe, especially the outfits of the gods. They were totally different from the traditional white robes I normally associate with Greek mythology. My favorite costume was when Jupiter, also known as Zeus, transformed into what was supposed to be a seductive fly.

Overall, I had fun! It was my first time watching an opera, and it combined humor with musical prowess. I’ve really enjoyed each of SMTD’s productions and look forward to watching more.

REVIEW: Menopause the Musical

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Menopause the Musical is about four women who are, unsurprisingly, in menopause. They each have distinct backgrounds, such as being a housewife, a failing celebrity, a businesswoman, and a hippy. They meet at a mall while shopping and fighting over the lingerie on sale. Despite their differences, they soon after quickly bond over the changes taking place in their bodies, proving that all women can relate to one another during this difficult time in their lives.

Each of the actors perfectly embodied their characters’ personalities from the way they walked to their accents. There wasn’t a strong emphasis on dancing; instead, they focused on singing an interesting selection of music with a wide variety of genres ranging from In The Jungle, The Mighty Jungle to Y.M.C.A.

It was funny being one of the few, if not only, college students in a crowd of elderly white women. Obviously, Gen Z isn’t the target audience so I didn’t understand the references regarding menopause (e.g., memory loss and hot flashes), and didn’t resonate with the humor. However, the crowd certainly loved it and it felt like there was never a pause of laughter. In fact, I heard people talking about having watched different renditions of this same musical.

The venue was the Michigan Theater, in which I’ve only watched movies or orchestral performances. The stage was beautiful and the crew did an excellent job of making it look like a high-end shopping center. Unfortunately, the audio of the microphones wasn’t very loud or clear. The backtracks of the songs were often louder than the singers and that did take away from the experience.

To be honest, I wouldn’t watch this musical again and don’t recommend it. Although it was impressive and interesting to watch, the ticket was very expensive and wasn’t worth the cost. Still, if you’re intrigued you can give it a shot!

REVIEW: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

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SMTD’s performance of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee was so good: it was immersive, hilarious, and well put together. It sounds like it’d be a wholesome musical since the main characters are children but to my surprise, it wasn’t child-friendly at all. The script made use of sexual innuendos, exaggerated stereotypes, and religious satire to crack jokes. The audience, me included, ate it up. As described on the SMTD website, it truly is a musical that “charms audiences with effortless wit and humor, making the Bee one unforgettable experience”.

One part of the experience I loved was how they included the viewers in the spelling bee and gave each of them fun and quirky personas, such as “being raised by wolves” and having “denim as their favorite color”. The actors looked so natural when interacting with the audience members that it took me a bit to realize it wasn’t staged. If the participants spelled their given word wrong, they were escorted off the stage with a juice box and were serenaded with the song Goodbye that poked fun at their failure in the bee. The funniest part was when to proceed with the plot, it became time to kick the surviving participants off the stage by challenging them with ridiculous words. Despite their efforts though, one of them actually managed to spell something incomprehensible from a Scottish dialect, shocking everyone. The actors did a great job of improvising by calling her back to the microphone and giving her another word, which this time she failed to spell. As a reward for being the last one standing though, she got her own special rendition of Goodbye sung to her. 

The characters that stood out to me the most were William Barfée, a snotty (quite literally) nerd, Logainne Schwartzy, a girl with a heart of gold, and Leaf Coneybear, who for some reason always had to spell the names of South American rodents. However, my favorite character was actually Vice Principal Douglas Panch. The actor did such a good job of portraying the classic slightly odd and suspicious adult figures I remember from my own elementary school days. Although these characters left the biggest impression on me, I genuinely loved everybody because they all had so much personality to them.

An inconvenience though is that it took place at The Encore Musical Theatre Company, a performance venue in Dexter that’s an eighteen-minute drive from central campus. Once I got there though, I realized how big of a role the stage set-up and background played in really bringing this musical to life. Most importantly when performing Pandemonium, a song and dance that really showcased the crazy and wild side of children. They were running around, jumping on tables, spinning seats, and even hanging from the basketball hoop. 

This was truly a musical I’m so lucky to have seen, and I highly recommend others to see it if given the opportunity!

REVIEW: Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour

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Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour was a crazy 2-hour and 45-minute-long film, and I enjoyed every second of it. I highly recommend experiencing it in theaters instead of at home; unlike regular movies, people sang, danced, cheered, and clapped in their seats (some even stood)! Although nothing could ever compare to seeing her perform live, the energy of the crowd was great and I felt like I got a glimpse of the ecstatic atmosphere at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles: the last stop of Taylor’s tour in North America and where the movie was shot. Not only was her tour sold out, but the movie the night I watched it was too!

Like most people, if you weren’t lucky enough to see her live, then the film is the next best thing. I’m not a Swifite, though I was in my elementary days. That’s why I especially enjoyed the discography in The Eras Tour, which covered all the music she’s released in the past 17 years of her career, including the three albums she never got to tour with. As the title of the tour suggests, it was truly a journey through all of her musical eras, and she ended the night with her most recent album Midnights (2022). My favorites were the classic You Belong With Me and Love Story.

The cinematography was absolutely amazing and truly captured Taylor’s stage presence and control over the crowd. The camera work showcased everything so well, such as the great chemistry between her and the backup dancers and singers, the stage set-up, and the graphics. The most breathtaking transition was right after she finished performing Our Song; as she walked towards the back of the stage she suddenly jumped down and became one with the ground, swimming with her striking red dress. She had several wardrobe changes throughout the night, ranging from black cloaks and white flowy dresses to glittery skin-tight bodysuits. They helped express the emotion of each era and she pulled off each one. In addition to being a phenomenal singer, Taylor also proved that she was a great dancer, guitarist, and pianist throughout her performances.

Though it was the longest movie I’ve ever seen it never felt like it dragged on. I highly recommend watching it, even as a casual fan or listener. It simply won’t be the same as watching it at home, so get a ticket soon! There will be multiple showings up until October 26th at the Michigan Theatre.

REVIEW: Guys and Dolls

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*Performances of Guys and Dolls took place in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre from October 5-8 and 12-15*

On the many websites promoting SMTD’s performance of Guys and Dolls, it was called a “true crowd pleaser,” and it truly was! Guys and Dolls is a brilliant romantic comedy built around lies and deceit with themes of religion and gambling. I found myself smiling the entire two hours of the show. Because I’m so accustomed to classical music where the audience only claps at the end, I was surprised when the crowd cheered after each song. That added to the excitement and joy in the theatre, and before I knew it time flew by.

The acting, singing, and dancing were the highlight of the show. Performers in this production were all students in the Department of Musical Theatre, but they embodied their characters so well I couldn’t see them as anybody but their character even as they were taking their bows. I loved how they never left their roles when the curtains dropped, the lights turned off, and they exited the stage. They captured the regional slang and accents perfectly while singing too! I had trouble understanding at times, but that just indicates the cast’s mastery in embodying New Yorkers in the 1950s.

The main characters were gambler Nathan Detroit, played by Chad Marge (Senior, BFA Musical Theatre); Nathan’s girlfriend and night club performer Adelaide, played by Catie Leonard (Junior, BFA Musical Theatre); gambler Sky Masterson, played by Diego Rodriguez (Senior, BFA Musical Theatre); and the straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown, played by Alex Humphreys (Senior, BFA in Musical Theatre).

The musical opened with the orchestra, and afterward, beautiful props such as neon store signs representative of Times Square were brought onto the stage. Following soon after was a charming dance hinting at the motif of flirtatious and sleazy love. The work of choreographer Mara Newbery Greer was just fantastic overall. The dances showed off the talent of the cast by incorporating full usage of the body through leaps and acrobatics as well as adding personality befitting of the song and scene. My favorite choreography was Luck Be a Lady featuring Sky & Crapshooters, which emphasized Sky’s charm. Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat by Nicely-Nicely & Company was super fun too, and definitely one of the comedic highlights.

My absolute favorite song was My Time of Day/I’ve Never Been in Love Before, a duet between Sky and Sarah that concluded Act I. Their voices had such gorgeous contrasts when harmonizing and responding to one another. Everyone’s singing was so stable and clear as if they were in a studio and not dancing, jumping, and running around.

I was surprised that the musical was being performed at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre since it’s small compared to other venues, but they made great use of space by incorporating the actual theatre exit and aisles into their play. Props to the Creative Team, Production Crew, Running Crew, and Orchestra for making it possible to have such a smooth showing of Guys and Dolls. I can see why it won so many awards and is so popular, and the experience made me determined to watch more musicals!

REVIEW: Michigan Pops Orchestra “A Night at the Popscars”

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The featured image above was taken from their Instagram: @michiganpops

This semester’s Michigan Pops Concert has been my favorite out of all the concerts I’ve attended! There was a crazy line at the door and the crowd turnout was also the largest I’ve seen, so much so that the start time was postponed to accommodate more audience members. It’s always refreshing to see that both children and the elderly are present in addition to college students; it shows that this student organization is popular among locals too.

They had a large and impressive list of repertoire (most were already familiar to the audience thanks to the theme they chose) and I appreciated how well they balanced the amount and order of classical and contemporary music. My favorite and most anticipated piece was Howl’s Moving Castle, but I wished it was longer. I felt that the arrangement could’ve been better too, though that doesn’t mean the Pops Orchestra didn’t play it well.

It seemed like there were more featured soloists in this concert than in the previous ones, but I think it still showcased the orchestra as a group pretty well without being overshadowed. Unfortunately, there were some balance issues and at times it was hard to hear the soloists.

The winner of this year’s high school concerto competition was a Sophomore from Huron High School, which is so impressive since the winners have historically mostly been Seniors. She played the Lalo Violin Concerto, and she exuded so much power and charisma as she performed. Shoutout to the violist who gave an amazing show of Bohemian Rhapsody and the pianist who shined during La La Land! You can watch them on Youtube, but nothing will beat the live music so pull up next year!

As for the skits, the most memorable part for me was when some students wore paper swans on their heads as they performed swan lake. It impressed me how well-made the swans looked!

It appears lots of members will be graduating, which is a little sad, but I’m looking forward to what changes the remaining and new Pops board and members will bring us next year.