Here’s how I know I’m addicted to Ally McBeal

1. I have a theme song for my life
2. I quietly laugh to myself when any life situation reminds me of a Fish-ism
3. I hear Barry White in my head
4. I have an Ally McBeal playlist that is frequently played
5. I fell in love with Robert Downey Jr. only to have him break my heart by going to rehab
6. Lucy Lu will always be Ling to me
7. I’m taking the time to write this article that no one will appreciate as much as I appreciate Ally

I first watched the entire series of Ally McBeal my freshman year of college right after getting my wisdom teeth removed. I was in hazy, drug-infused state and pretty much bed-ridden…hence the binge. Even now, though, my love for the series prevails. I can never get enough. It’s an ensemble show that takes place at a Boston law firm with a unisex bathroom, love triangles, strange characters and hilarity.

While the show was criticized when it aired for objectifying women and portraying them as needy and lovelorn, I think the show is empowering in many ways. Ally is entrenched in an office of powerful lawyers, many of them women who are strong, sexual and sometimes scary. The show touches upon some serious topics, but always does so in a quirky and hilarious way. Ally names all the cliché longings of a young, single woman, but also embraces their hypocrisy.

Ally’s nuts, and by nuts I mean NUTS. She hears music in her head, hallucinates a dancing baby and sees Al Green in her apartment. Her coworkers are just as crazy, one of them a neurotic, sometimes stuttering John Cage who ‘channels’ Barry White when summoning courage. The show is also pure 90s, and for anyone craving some nostalgia, I’d suggest this showas a quick fix.

One of my favorite aspects of the show is its music. Each episode ends at the downstairs bar where all of the characters drink and dance. Music is integrated flawlessly into the show’s story lines and often there are some awesome musical cameos. Not only does the show feed off its soundtrack, but so does the main character.

The series is magical, addicting and smart. It’s about soul mates, friendship and struggling to find happiness. Something about watching the show makes me ready to conquer all, or at least attempt to do so. It also allows me to live vicariously through Ally who dates some of the sexiest men, including Robert Downey Jr., Bon Jovi, James Marsden, Tate Donovan, Dylan McDermott, Jesse L. Martin and Mark Feurstein

Now PLEASE watch this video and tell me you don’t want to watch this show:

In between interviews with Rolling Stone and MTV I was lucky enough to sit down with the dudes of the indie band Oberhofer on Friday afternoon of Lollapalooza 2012. Though they are one of my favorite new groups, it was far from a star-striking experience; Brad Oberhofer and the rest of the gang are a supremely chill, humble bunch, despite rising from near-obscurity to a world tour and a Samsung commercial less than two years later. And while that day the media area was in full-scale festival freak-out mode, the band (front man/guitarist Brad, drummer Pete Sustarsic, bassist Ben Roth, and guitarist Matt Schneir) lounged about with an almost bored anticipation of the weekend to come. Thus I imagined that their Sunday afternoon set would a rather chill affair, a la the style of oft-compared bands like the Drums and Miniature Tigers. But by the end of “Gold,” their last song—after my mind had already been completely blown by the band’s wild, wonderful stage antics—my jaw dropped as Brad climbed up the twelve-foot-or-so speaker stack on stage left and leapt off, guitar in hand, to nail the last chord upon touchdown.

Brad is the founding and primary member of Oberhofer, and also the youngest. He is soft-spoken yet confident with a serious hipster swagger, seemingly making him the perfect Green Dragon barista candidate. He was a mere 18 years of age when the angsty “Away Frm U,” his first single, nabbed coverage on a number of popular music blogs, and it’s been all uphill from there. As a relative youngin’ in a very young scene, Brad says that, as he was first trying to make his way, everyone was “really sweet. [Other bands] treated me like a younger sibling.” But Oberhofer’s rapid ascension to indie stardom has to be mainly chalked up to Brad’s talent and work ethic. Though he wanted to be a famous rapper when he was in middle school, the dream of playing at huge music festivals like Lolla was a latent goal of Brad’s ever since he began noodling around with his guitar and writing songs in Tacoma, Washington. His development as a songwriter seems to parallel his development as a young adult; like many college kids, it seems as though girls, relationships, and perhaps a bit of social anxiety weighs on his mind, as reflected in emotive songs like “I Could Go” and “Landline.”

Away FRM U

Though the release of his first EP, Time Capsules II, garnered reviews across the board, Brad says he doesn’t read them anymore—to him and the rest of the band it is all about the live show. “[Reviews are] not really relevant,” Brad proclaims, “it’s important for us to focus on the live show, and become better musicians—all of us.” If there is room to improve in their live set I couldn’t tell. For all their antics—Matt was wearing bright orange booty shorts, Brad was sprinting all over the place (at one point all the way out to the sound tent in the middle of the crowd), and each band member had plenty of quirky dance moves to fill their 45-minute set—they seemed to get their disheveled selves together just enough to hit every chord and solo.

By Dave Mead (http://flic.kr/p/cLbimA)

Oberhofer’s live show certainly displayed the talent and personality of a full-fledged “coincidence pop” band (how they describe their genre of music on their Facebook page.) But playing at Lolla seemed to mean more to Oberhofer than just another festival appearance, but more like a validation of all the hard work they have been putting in all year. “It’s like the first time you ollie up a curb,” “the first time you ride a wave,” “the first time you perfect an eggs benedict,” various band members quipped about the opportunity to play at Lollapalooza, perhaps their biggest crowd yet. Given Brad’s immense accomplishments at such a young age (he’s now 21), I asked him what advice he had for other young people, like Cornell students, trying to garner their own personal Lollapalooza invite. Said Brad: “Be nice to everyone. If you’re ever trying to get anywhere in a field, it’s important to be nice to everyone even if they’re mean to you. And do something to improve every day…You never know who’s watching.”

That many students end their time here having never explored Cornell’s vibrant art scene is an intellectual and aesthetic travesty. The pervasiveness of pre-professionalism and its emphasis on particularism perhaps limits the appeal of art to many Cornellians (the term “art” itself is inherently subjective.) I, for one, am often too busy to find my way to Milstein or Tjaden Hall for exhibits put on by the Cornell Council for the Arts. But it is the admirable dedication, focus, and goals of CCA director Stephanie Owens that should compel students of all stripes to give contemporary art a chance—for it does indeed play an important role at a large research university.

The CCA itself “provides direct support to individual artists and acts as a platform for experiencing contemporary art at Cornell in a highly visible way,” according to Stephanie Owens. A competitive grant reward provides financial support to projects that carry the most artistic and intellectual benefit to the school and community; on average about 45 art projects receive grant money per annual cycle. Those interested in applying for a CCA grant should apply online at cca.cornell.edu. A call for applicants will be posted on the site sometime this spring for review in fall 2012.

Though one would think that this money would be limited to projects associated with AAP or A&S, each of Cornell’s twelve schools has seen a student or professor receive money for an artistic endeavor. The wide distribution of grant money reflects the CCA’s effort to facilitate collaborations between traditional research-centric disciplines and Cornell’s artistic community. Unlike traditional art, focused on the expression of a thematic idea or aesthetic, contemporary art is more speculative, sharing the “same spirit of curiosity and research that is native to the sciences,” according to Owens. As a whole, Owens and the CCA hope to expose Cornell students to art in its dynamic, beautiful forms; a more visible art scene undoubtedly holds intellectual and cultural benefit to the student body as a whole. As Owens states, “Art shows that A plus B could be Y. Students, faculty, and anyone who understands this defines the future.” The CCA is currently planning a university-wide art festival to be held in spring 2013, which will not only highlight projects at Cornell but will bring leading voices in the field to engage and collaborate with the university community. If by then you have not yet indulged in Cornell’s wonderful contemporary art scene, it will certainly be a good place to start.

As an artist myself, my sense is that there is a shrinking number of artists, designers and performers doing more and more work. Programs and arts departments across campus are experiencing crippling consolidation and budget cuts which puts a terrible strain on what can be done. But given that the arts in the U.S. have always had to be innovative within limited means, most artists respond creatively to crisis. That’s is why that despite having a smaller number of those in the arts on campus, the quality of the work and nature of creative inquiry is fantastic.  When I arrived in 2008 from Parsons in NYC where I taught in the School of Art, Media and Technology, I was surprised at the lack of direct communication and collaboration between arts disciplines on campus. But I have seen this change and recently there is a growing spirit of community between those working in tangential creative fields. There have been significant contemporary exhibitions recently at the Johnson Museum of Art and important residencies in the theater and music departments that show that there is a core group of faculty that are actively cultivating a vital culture for the arts here by reaching out not only to like-minded colleagues within Cornell but also to artists outside the university and the U.S.

What role does contemporary art have at a large research university like Cornell?

Great question. Contemporary art is no longer a single point perspective on culture and society, but a lateral, multi-pointed field of pursuits. In this sense, contemporary art, unlike art during the modern period, has an internal tendency toward investigation and inquiry into the systems of society rather than act as merely the expression of taste or aesthetic concerns. Many of the students who come to study in the Art Department for example, are not those that would attend RISD or CalArts which are stand alone art schools, but are rather those students who know that art today is a practice, not a style. This means that the current processes of art employ the same spirit of curiosity and research that is native to the sciences, but the difference is that a critical art practice seeks to understand and reveal the bias of standards and protocols rather than to simply affirm them.  There are an increasing number of art programs in Europe, Asia, South East Asia and Latin America for studying art as research, including many programs leading to a PhD.  Although there is some debate about the value and need for a PhD in studio or art practice, the myriad forms that contemporary art now takes—bioart, virtual reality, interactive installations, critical design, site-specific installations, responsive spaces, social practice, generative forms, institutional critique, mobile art—show that art has expanded to include its more speculative and participatory forms. This puts the locus of practice at a place before the art object per se and emphasizes art as an idea that can be manifest in multiple, —often different,—material ways. Given that art practice is now more speculative, I think that contemporary art has more to offer a research university than art of the past. The recent interest on campus of more sustained collaborations in the form of labs and seminars shared by disciplines such as engineering, architecture, art, design, film, dance, and music show this to be the case.

In what ways, do you believe, does a vibrant artistic community contribute to the student body and community as a whole?

Art, unlike science, allows us to experience the more nuanced and expansive aspects of the human mind. As human beings, we are not reducible to the things we do to stay alive or profitable. Art brings an awareness of how society, cultures, nations, neighbors affect our lives and is expressed in our daily interactions with one another. Art is particular kind of sensuous thought­—thought as feeling, affect, discovery, reflection, empathy, and purposelessness. Much of what artists do ignites new ideas and insights in other fields of practice and therefore the entire university community benefits when art reminds us what is possible.  Students at Cornell who are young and just starting to develop their worldview and knowledge of themselves need art as a condition for challenging the kind of instrumental reason that is so much a part of contemporary education. Art shows that A plus B could be Y.  Students, faculty and anyone who understand this, in any field, define the future.

How does the CCA promote participation in the creation and enjoyment of art at Cornell? (I can definitely use information about the grant cycle for this part.) 

The CCA is a university-wide organization that provides direct support to individual artists and acts as a platform for experiencing contemporary art at Cornell in a highly visible way. Every year, the CCA awards a total of $76,000 in grants to students, faculty and university organizations for the production of new and challenging work. Individual grant amounts range from $500 to $2,500, supporting an average of 45 art projects each cycle. In addition to financially supporting these individual projects, the CCA promotes the projects through posters distributed around campus and through its website (cca.cornell.edu). Projects vary each year but include projects in film, creative writing, music performance, musical composition, dance, design, interactive media, sculpture, public interventions, installations, plays, exhibitions, and experimental publications. All twelve academic colleges have had a student or faculty member receive a project grant, so the distribution of support, while not always balanced, has been extremely wide. In the latest round of applications, however, we have seen an increase in the number of applications from atypical areas of artistic production, which is exciting.  This year, for the first time, the CCA will put all resources outside of its individual grant program into one large exhibition/event that will function somewhat like a biennale or art festival. It will be a curated exhibition that showcases artists and creative projects currently on campus as well as bring leading contemporary artists and thinkers to engage and collaborate with Cornell artists.

Those interested in applying for a CCA grant should apply online at cca.cornell.edu. A call for applicants will be posted on the site sometime this spring for review in fall 2012.

What plans does CCA have, if any, for expanding the presence of art in the lives of Cornellians? 

Making the arts visible and consequential on campus is the primary mission of the CCA so all of our efforts are in making this happen. We have just started to develop ideas for the upcoming exhibition scheduled to open in Spring 2013, but it is my goal to have a very diverse population of Cornellians able and excited to participate in it. I believe that part of the challenge for an arts organization committed to serving all of the university community is to get art out of the traditional concert halls and galleries to show how emerging art exists in more surprising and socially productive spaces. If the spring event is successful, Cornellians will not only have more access to the arts generally, but they will understand it in a completely new way.

“Here’s a picture of a cat playing Xbox against Richard Dawkins wearing Yoda ears.”  Stephen Colbert nails a description of what the average redditor would upvote through the roof.  If you don’t know what a redditor or upvoting is, that’s okay, many people aren’t as cool as us.

Reddit is an online platform where users, called redditors, post links or text posts that they deem interesting.  These posts can be “upvoted” or “downvoted,” and the posts with the most upvotes end up on the front page.  The site is divided into several communities called subreddits denoted with a /r/, the most popular subreddits being r/pics and r/funny.

The site launched in 2005 and now has well over twenty million unique visitors.  The reason reddit is interesting isn’t because it’s so popular, but because it resonates such a strong sense of community.  For example, reddit hosts the largest Secret Santa program in the world. Not to mention that the Christianity, Islam, and Atheism subreddits get together to donate for charity.  A more recent reddit tale tells of how an orphanage in Kenya was bombarded by thieves and in no less than 24 hours, reddit raised $65,000 for new walls and security guards.

Yes, the users of reddit may be superheroes that delve into intellectual conversation on a daily basis, but like everyone else, redditors can’t help but tear up when they see a picture of a kitten.  Yes, redditors like cats.  A lot.  One stop to the subreddit r/aww will probably take up the majority of your day, so be warned.

Aside from the huge cat loving and atheist community, one can find subreddits on practically anything.  This means finding people with similar interests and mindsets on a whole array of subjects that can even lead to work productivity.  If Ezra Cornell were to visit reddit, he would probably be very proud.  “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.”

]]> http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/reddit/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/justin-bieber/ http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/justin-bieber/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:47:26 +0000 emma.shalaway http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=16875 http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/justin-bieber/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/gripes-ii/ http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/gripes-ii/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:54:04 +0000 emma.shalaway http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=16865 http://www.slopemedia.org/television/the-whistling-shrimp-present/gripes-ii/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/blogs/entertainment-exclusive/the-evolution-of-a-superhero/ http://www.slopemedia.org/blogs/entertainment-exclusive/the-evolution-of-a-superhero/#comments Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:09:07 +0000 Lindsay Rothfeld http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=16253 ~photo courtesy of http://cariart.tripod.com/SUPERMAN-5.html~

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s [insert actor’s name here]. The Superman character has been portrayed by over five actors (cartoons not included) on television and in film, and soon there will be another name added to the list.

While my favorite Superman will probably always be Tom Welling’s Clark Kent on Smallville—I mean, just look at him—I am interested to see Henry Cavill (recently in The Tudors) take on the role. What’s always interesting is to look at how the different films and shows develop the story behind the hero.

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a truly great series starring Dean Cain as Clark and Terri Hatcher as Lois. This show didn’t focus at all on Clark Kent’s upbringing-how he got to our planet, who his family was, or when he started to wear his suit. Instead, it begins as Clark works at the Daily Planet in disguise (you all know the tale). In this story, like most of the stories, Superman and Lois fall in love while Clark and Lois fall in love. Only after they begin to have a relationship does she discover that these men are the same man. Smallville, on the other hand, tells the story of how the hero gains his abilities and it allows the audience to see the man before he becomes a hero.

It’s currently the 10^th and final season of Smallville and it’s just now aligning with the story presented in Lois and Clark/ most of the other Superman tales. Clark and Lois meet because of the character Chloe, who is not present in the prior television series, but does exist in the comic series. In recent episodes Clark has alluded to the fact that he wants to disguise himself in glasses that will somehow change his appearance and possibly wear a red and blue cape-suit-outfit. Last season, the show brought us into the future where Clark sees himself as a Superhero who saves the world time and time again, which reassured anxious viewers who awaited the classic story.  One major difference that I’ve noticed between these shows is death of the character Jimmy in Smallville. It was great to see this character introduced to the series, as he is quite alive and well in Lois and Clark, but Smallville kills him off unexpectedly! Was this the show’s way of saying: Hey, we aren’t exactly like all of the other Superman stories. WE ARE DIFFERENT!?? I don’t know. Rumors say that Jimmy’s younger brother is in fact the “real” Jimmy Olsen that we should expect to see working at the Daily Planet. Only time will tell.

Lastly, I wonder why there is yet ANOTHER movie about Superman planning to be released. We’ve heard the story many, many times. Same goes for the Spiderman tale, which will be retold as THE AMAZING Spiderman—I won’t even mention the Broadway rendition. It’s already gained too much media attention.

While I do love my share of superheroes…there comes a time when it all just becomes a little redundant.

The beauty of college really is that you can become anything you want. There are no restrictions as to how you spend your time or what kind of new experiences you can get yourself into. Being in my last semester of college, I thought that I had the fullest college experience I could have hoped for. However, there was always that one thing that I never got to try.

My story is the classic one about the sports kid who never had time to do anything in drama but always wondered what it was all about. I was always given the ultimatum in high school of one or the other, and I always found myself going towards my comfort zone rather than the unfamiliar. When I came to Cornell, however, theatre was a long shot that I thought just wasn’t ever going to work out in this lifetime.

Last fall semester, I decided to take an Introductory Acting class because I want to pursue a career in screenwriting when I graduate. I took the class with Michael Kaplan, who is beyond words a man who loves his craft and can instill any student with a new connection to his/her inner self. Acting, for me, became this self-expression that was limitless and freeing. It was more than just a class for me; it was more of a self-discovery that broke open the side of my self that I don’t usually let people see: vulnerability.

As the semester came to an end, Michael encouraged me to audition for the spring production of Precious Little. Not really expecting much, I rehearsed a monologue and gave it a shot. Filling out the audition sheet covering certain skills was rather intimidating because on paper I looked like the most inexperienced and inadequate actor at the audition. However, I figured that it would be good practice in front of a crowd and something new and challenging, so why not? After getting a callback, I began to not count myself out so quickly. In less than an hour of running lines with six others, my audition was over. Well, what do you know; I was cast in one of the six roles four days later.

Rehearsals began in mid-January, following a rigorous schedule of six days a week for many hours a day. My fellow cast-mates, Residential Professional TA Sarah Chalmers, Bridget Saracino ’11, Sharisse Taylor ’11, Alessandra Hirsch ’12, and Julie Reed ’12, and I dove into the beautifully dynamic and unfamiliar world of Madeline George in her story about the different types of connections people make throughout life. Myles Rowland ’11, was our fearless director who allowed us freedom to explore our characters and find our own interpretation of the play. After four and a half weeks of hard and committed work, he told us “this is your play now guys, and it has the possibility to become whatever you make of it.” It wasn’t until that moment that I truly realized how much this play meant to me because I was allowed this opportunity to reach people in a whole new way.

Opening night was indescribable. It was an adrenaline rush I had never felt before, and I felt camaraderie with my fellow cast and crew that differed from my relationships with my previous teammates. This was different than winning a game or making sure that I performed my best; it was about entering into another person’s life and as a collective effort, showing people a world of meaning, wonder, and discovery. Theatre is less clear-cut than the outcome of a game. Everyone has his or her own interpretations of how well you did or what parts didn’t fit. However, it wasn’t about how I personally performed anymore. It was about whether or not we as a group were able to depict our most meaningful message to the audience.

Theatre represents a world that is unknown and somewhat mysterious to people who haven’t been a part of it. I not only was given my last opportunity to step inside this foreign place, but I was also allowed the time to fully appreciate the work of actors and actresses. Being an outsider allowed in, I was able to see the theatre’s importance and meaningfulness in our everyday lives. Actors truly give everything for their story and don’t regret it in the least. Their passion and drive is something that I don’t get to see everyday, and it has been overwhelmingly inspiring.

My journey to the other side impacted me more than I anticipated. It served as a reminder to myself to always give it a shot. It reminded me to always find that passion for my craft and remember that it all lies in the collective message. Lastly, it reminded me to always take that chance even when I want to count myself out because at the end of the day, you never know how it’s all going to turn out.

]]> http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/a-journey-to-the-other-side/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/the-83rd-annual-academy-awards-snoozefest/ http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/the-83rd-annual-academy-awards-snoozefest/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:36:08 +0000 Jason.Goldberg http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=15552 Well, that wasn’t too exciting, was it?

It seems that every year, we walk into the Oscars kinda knowing how it’s all going to turn out. We desperately want there to be a surprise or two, but in the end, the awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences happen so late in the season that we clearly know how things will end up. We knew it would be The King’s Speech, Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Melissa Leo, and Christian Bale. And listen, I am no fan of The King’s Speech. Period-British dramas are most certainly not my cup of tea. But you had to be completely delusional to think that the Academy would not go bananas for it. There was a slight chance that The Social Network would edge it out, but director Tom Hooper’s win sealed the deal for the tale of speech therapy/World War II. Hell, even the “Best Picture Nominees” final montage had Colin Firth’s final speech in the film playing in the background, in case we didn’t get the point yet.

So when the winners are so obvious, it’s up to the hosts to make a fun, exciting show. So how were Anne Hathaway and James Franco in their first gigs, you might ask?

Not so great. I understand the Academy’s attempt to appeal to a younger audience by having these hot young stars host, but this just didn’t work. In fact, it was terribly awkward. Although Anne has a lovely voice and presence and James is simply a likable guy, maybe the Academy should hire some real comedians next time. Perhaps it was the writing, but their attempts at humor fell a little flat and they seemed out of place on that stage. Not to mention the best parts of their segments didn’t even involve them (thanks Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, Anne’s Mom, and James’ Grandma). I felt a little bad for them, putting so much energy into hosting with such meager results, but they seemed just the wrong fit entirely. It was really sad when host-veteran Billy Crystal stole the spotlight from them for a few minutes and you ended up wishing he stayed the entire time. At least an in-drag Franco got a good dig at Charlie Sheen, and Hathaway got to sing about “Hugh Jack-ass.”

The only exciting series of unexpected moments were when a 94-year old Kirk Douglas said really funny, old-man things before announcing Best Supporting Actress. Melissa Leo won, dropped an f-bomb, took Kirk’s cane, and ran offstage with him. We already kne Melissa Leo is freaking insane (http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/02/watch_melissa_leos_1985_catfig.html) and that she would probably win, but who knew she would curse and laugh around with a Hollywood veteran. If the show had more moments like this, instead of the awful scripted banter between presenters, it would have been a hell of a lot more interesting.

It was painfully obvious that the Academy was trying to be young, cool, and hip. With these hosts, “cool” visuals, and even a strange auto-tuning segment about Twilight, the producers felt the need to attract viewers through what they believed was “young.” In the end, the Academy is really just a conservative bunch of old dudes who love The King’s Speech. People do not like being told what is “cool;” we know what it is when we see it. So a lesson the Oscar producers should learn for next year: be funnier, embrace the spontaneous, and try a little less hard to be “cool.”

Some other observations:

-       What was up with those strange visual segments to older films that just left us with an awkward silence for ten seconds each? Someone is getting fired for that.

-       Though a lot of people were predicting David Fincher to win Best Director, recent The King’s Speech obsession and Tom Hooper’s recent Director’s Guild of America made this “upset” kind of obvious in the end.

-       Gwyneth Paltrow. Ah, I like you. I really do. But you were Country Weak tonight. Even though you closed your eyes, we could still see and hear you crack those notes! Plus, that disco-style white microphone didn’t help you either.

-       Celine Dion scares me. I don’t know whether it is the fake teeth or whenever I think of her I imagine a boat sinking, but please do not let her sing during my “In Memoriam.”

-       Christian Bale = great speech!

-       Best one-liner: In response to The Wolfman, Cate Blanchett says, “That’s gross.”

-       Marisa Tomei, when will you ever start looking old?

-       Oprah…you are old.

-       Let the “Was James Franco Stoned?” debate commence!

-       Someone please hire me Jennifer Hudson’s personal trainer. Thank you.

-       Sandra Bullock might have won an Oscar for the worst performance of the decade in The Blind Side, but she is so nice and funny, it’s hard to be mean!

-       Best dressed of the night: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jennifer Lawrence

-       Worst dressed of the night: Cate Blanchett in a tablecloth, Helena Bonham Carter looking expectedly like a vampire, and Anne Hathaway somehow looking horrible in every single one of her forty-three outfits.

List of Winners (in ceremonial order)

Art Direction – Alice in Wonderland

Cinematography – Inception

Supporting Actress – Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Animated Short Film – The Lost Thing

Animated Film – Toy Story 3

Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network

Original Screenplay – The King’s Speech

Foreign Film – In a Better World (Denmark)

Supporting Actor – Christian Bale, The Fighter

Original Score – The Social Network

Sound Mixing – Inception

Sound Editing – Inception

Makeup – The Wolfman

Costume Design – Alice in Wonderland

Documentary (Short Subject) – Strangers No More

Live Action Short – God of Love

Documentary Feature – Inside Job

Visual Effects – Inception

Film Editing – The Social Network

Original Song – “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Best Director – Tom Hooper The King’s Speech

Best Actress – Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Actor – Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Picture – The King’s Speech

]]> http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/the-83rd-annual-academy-awards-snoozefest/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/oscar-predictions-the-kings-speech-may-reign/ http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/oscar-predictions-the-kings-speech-may-reign/#comments Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:03:38 +0000 gretchen.frank http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=15445 The 83^rd Academy Awards, which will take place this Sunday, February 27 with first-time hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco, will be a night dedicated to celebrating the art of great film, in which the best films for each of the 24 different competitive categories will hopefully be rightly honored.

This year’s nominated films for best motion picture are an interesting group, including everything from a stuttering King to a disturbed ballerina, with “The King’s Speech” leading the pack with 12 nominations, followed closely by “True Grit” with 10 nominations and then “The Social Network” with 8.

Photo courtesy of the Weinstein Company

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

It is fairly certain that Colin Firth of ‘The King’s Speech” will nab the award for Best Actor. Though John Wayne received an Oscar for his leading role in the original “True Grit,” it is unlikely that Jeff Bridges will pull through, especially since he won Best Actor for “Crazy Heart” just last year. Jesse Eisenberg was good in “The Social Network,” but the fact that his nomination was a bit of a surprise to most people makes me think he doesn’t stand a chance against Firth, a much more versatile actor who also didn’t have someone like Mark Zuckerberg around to help him out with his character portrayal. I’m assuming Javier Bardem was excellent as a man dying of cancer in the Spanish film “Biutiful,” but the Academy will most likely side with Firth, whom you see only as “Bertie” by the end of the film.

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Although I haven’t seen Michelle Williams, Jennifer Lawrence, or Nicole Kidman in their roles, I would be both surprised and disappointed if Natalie Portman did not win. Though Annette Bening’s performance was powerful in “The Kids Are All Right,” and I’ve heard Jennifer Lawrence was impressive in “Winter’s Bone,” Portman deserves the award for her acting and for all she did to prepare for the role.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection

BEST ACTOR AND ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

This one belongs to  Christian Bale, whose portrayal of Micky Ward’s brother as a crack-addicted, good-hearted, and lost man who helps coach his brother to boxing victory is startlingly memorable and dominates the whole film.  Actress in a Supporting Role is a tough one, specifically because two actresses from “The Fighter”—Amy Adams and Melissa Leo—are up for it, and because I would love Hailee Steinfeld from “True Grit” to win but I don’t think she will. I would say Leo will take the win for her performance as Micky Ward’s mother, but the Academy seems to have a certain affection for Adams, so the award may just go to Helena Bonham Carter for “The King’s Speech” instead, which she would certainly deserve.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

BEST PICTURE

The biggest award of the night, which 10 films are nominated for, will most likely be received by “The King’s Speech,” a film that seems as if it was practically made for the enjoyment of the Academy. Best Director, however, is another story. Though it is possible Tom Hooper could win for “The King’s Speech,” it would not be surprising if David Fincher of “The Social Network” swiped it, specifically based on all of the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards the film has already received. Fincher turned a very simple story into a compelling, relevant one; the film would have turned out very differently (and most likely not for the better), if he hadn’t directed it.

It seems that some great films will be left out in the acting categories, but are sure to sweep in some awards before the night is over. “True Grit” will most likely grab the award for Cinematography, and “Inception” should win for Best Art Direction, though, being a huge Harry Potter fan, I’m happy that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1” was at least recognized in this category. I also hope that “Inception” wins for Best Score, which is simple but extremely powerful, memorable, and contributory to the effect of the film as a whole.

Nothing is certain when it comes to the Academy, which means the ceremony is sure to be entertaining, so tune in on Sunday night on ABC at 8pm to see who wins.

Sarah Brodie, the main character of Precious Little, doesn’t care what they mean.  After years of working as a linguist, Brodie has lost touch with the meaning of the words she reveres.  “I know it might seem weird,” Brodie says, “but remember we’re not telling a story.  We’re just collecting the sounds you make.  The meaning of the words isn’t important.”

Precious Little, playing this weekend and next at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, deals with the role of language in communication—a means which truly separates humans from other species.

Bridget Saracino ’11, who plays Brodie, noted the intricacies of her character, a 42-year-old woman trying to have a child through a donor.  Brodie’s obsession with language has “gotten to the point where she can’t even love it anymore,” Saracino said.  “She dissects it into pieces.”

But, as both the cast and the audience learned, language is not the only method of communication.  When prenatal tests reveal that Brodie’s baby has genetic flaws that might impair her ability to talk, Brodie is left helpless, unable to deal the possibility of a child with whom she cannot communicate.

Brodie grapples throughout the play with the problems of communication, eventually coming to understand that there are ways to connect with people other than the “language and words and sounds [which] are so essential” to her, Saracino said.

“There will be some sort of connection [between Brodie and the baby] that’s deeper,” she said.  “More full, more valuable, more fleshed out, more real.”

The somber topics faced in the show do not weigh it down.  Rather, they provide balance.  Precious Little is filled with comedy, irony and touching moments that feel incredibly genuine.  Coupled with a visually astonishing set and spot-on contemporary dialogue, the show is a testament to the talents of both the cast and everyone involved in its production.

The playwright, Madeleine George ’96, visited Cornell this semester to speak with students about her piece, which is still a work in progress.  She also visited last fall for a workshop in which she met with students and worked with director Myles Rowland ’11.

Many audience members have seen Rowland perform at the Schwartz Center, where he has acted in ten mainstage shows.  Most recently, he played Giuliano in Big Love.  As an outstanding Theatre Arts major, Rowland was offered the opportunity to direct a production as part of the Advanced Undergraduate Theatre Program.

Rowland is a “brilliant director,” according to Saracino.  He encouraged his cast to focus on the objectives of the characters.  For Saracino, this method helped her relate to Brodie’s character and seamlessly play a middle-aged woman.

The cast members agreed the message of the show would be different for everyone because each audience member’s unique experiences would affect how they interpreted it.

“It comes back to the basic human connection and it’s not so much about speaking as it is listening and just being present with someone,” Saracino said.  “I feel like that’s our job as actors: to just be present and be able to digest information and give it back in some way that is possibly helpful and meaningful and affects people.”

Precious Little runs next weekend at the Schwartz Center from Thursday, February 24 to Saturday, February 26.  Performances begin at 7:30 PM.

Your questions have been answered. The Slope Day Programming Board announced at the Student Assembly meeting that hip-hop extraordinaire Nelly will grace Cornell with his presence on May 6^th, Slope Day 2011. Picture this: You’re lounging on the slope, basking in the glory of the annual event, when suddenly it starts to get warmer, and warmer…Oh it’s getting hot in here, so take off ALL your clothes.

Nelly has had hits, such as “Ride Wit Me” and “Hot in Herre” that will bring us a nostalgic feeling, and recently, “Just a Dream” reached the number three spot on the US Billboard Top 100.

On a day when attending class is out of the question and the party starts at 9 am, we ask ourselves, “Does it really matter who actually performs?” Yes. Yes, it does. Last year’s event gained some negative hype, as the general consensus about Drake’s performance was overwhelmingly unenthusiastic.

The slope has seen its fair share of hits: The Pussycat Dolls, Gym Class Heroes, Snoop Dog, and Kanye West. Those days are long gone, and many of the students who experienced such musical wonders have moved past their college days. We only hope that in years to come students will talk about the Slope Days of our time with high praise. It’s time for a comeback, and we can keep our fingers crossed that Nelly will provide us with a purely slopetastic performance.

I am not able to read books for pleasure very often, but when I do I become extremely enveloped in plot lines. I visualize every detail, every plot occurrence, and every character trait. While I know that these books that I connect so deeply to shouldn’t be tampered with, I do feel excited when I hear they are to be produced on screen. Recently I read Emily Giffin’s two-part series “Something Borrowed” and “Something Blue.” Yes, these may not be the most intellectually enticing novels, but they are entertaining and thus, a film script develops.

Over the past few months, with the knowledge of this future feature film, I’ve checked imdb constantly. And a few moments ago, during the peak of my procrastination stage, I finally saw the movie’s promotional poster. Chills went down my spine. However, I am worried that this movie will not fulfill my expectations, as most movie version of books do not.

Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin star in the film as two best friends who are in love with the same man…well basically…there is much more to the story than just that. Kate Hudson’s character is an extremely vain, self-consumed, beautiful, bitch. I hated this character when reading the book, and I wonder if the movie will portray Hudson in such a horrible light. I’m sure they will change things around in order to insure her popularity remains. Her character, does, in the second book have a more dominant role and I did learn to love her. Thus, the movie may focus more on that plotline.

The film’s catch line : There’s a thin line between love and friendship. Profound? I’m not entirely sure. Now I’ll just sit and wait until the film’s trailer is released.

After six months of performances in New York City, Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., and Brandt Adams ’06 brought Dispatches to Beverly J. Martin Elementary School in Ithaca on February 5. They, along with six other actors, portrayed twenty characters, culled from hundreds of interviews. Simmons and Adams, who both hail from Virginia, spent two months traveling in the Southern states after Barack Obama’s election in 2008, interviewing Americans about the significance of the event.

“We knew that [Obama’s election] meant something very different to both of us.  We wanted to see what it meant to other people,” Adams, who is white, said of the motivation behind the piece.

The play’s staging was simple: a large circle of folding chairs in the gymnasium, where the audience sat. Actors crossed through the center of the circle, with different characters identified by changes in vocality. Simmons and Adams, who played themselves, interjected narration for context. The actors performed with scripts in hand, with text revised as recently as two days before. Adams regarded this as a positive factor, as the conversation about race they hoped to start will be ongoing and not set in stone.

“There will be things that will be set eventually, but I do think that there is some part of it—and I cannot tell you what part of it that is—that will always evolve,” he said.

For Jim Wallert, one of the actors, the constant revision and evolution of the script was a new experience. Wallert, who is a member of the Epic Theatre ensemble, along with director Ron Russell, said that this was his first production with a changing script and focus. Regardless of where it is performed, the play is a “terrific conversation-starter,” according to Wallert.

Jeni Josephson, an audience member and employee of Finger Lakes Migrant Health, agreed. “It was beautiful. I think they did a great job,” she said. “They were able to take a whole lot of different perspectives and open up a conversation so that people can reach back into their own experiences.”

Josephson discussed a past incident where she dealt with racism. While teaching Spanish in Elmira, Josephson, who is Jewish, told her students she would be missing school for Pesach, a religious holiday. When Josephson returned to school, “the classroom was filled with swastikas,” she said. The incident forced her to confront discrimination in her classroom, fostering a discussion among her students.

The Ithaca performance also sparked candid discussion. After the performance, small groups met over dinner to discuss their reactions. Attendees were encouraged to share their own experiences on index cards.  This process was helpful to Adams and Simmons, as well as to twenty-one Cornell students who will follow their lead to create their own documentary piece, to be presented in April.

“I’ve had a lot of experience with race and racism. I’m Mexican-American [and] I have family and friends who are undocumented,” Jorge Silva ’12 said. “My views of race have been shaped as a result of that.”

Silva has been involved in other social justice theatre, including Latins Anonymous at the Schwartz Center. “I decided that if I was going to continue doing theatre, I wanted to make sure that whatever I was doing meant something,” he said. “We saw real people in real situations express themselves on a topic that isn’t discussed, in a brave manner, and in a safe manner.”

He noted that the project at Cornell is still in its early stages. The group is deciding on the scope of the project (whether it will include the Ithaca community or just Cornell), and aspects of Cornell history they would like to include. Cornell, for instance, was the first university to integrate living spaces.

The students are hopeful that it will open up discussions about race relations on the Cornell campus. As a character in Dispatches said, “You can’t get beyond race. You have to go through it.”

TJ Rhymes

While in college, internships are extremely important and I have been fortunate enough to have had amazing internship opportunities working with Clear Channel Communications’ Los Angeles based radio station, KIIS-FM.  While there, I was fortunate enough to work with incredibly nice people who always looked out for me and truly respected me.  One man who I worked with, TJ Rhymes, is an on-air personality who asked me to write his official biography.  The biography is below and can be found on his website, http://www.kiisfm.com/pages/TJ.html.

The young, passionate entertainer TJ Rhymes is working hard to make his mark in the entertainment industry.  TJ’s hard work and dedication has undoubtedly paid off as he has secured his most meaningful entertainment-related position to date, working as “TJ The Stuntman,” on one of Clear Channel Communications’ most successful radio shows, “The JoJo On The Radio Show,” on the Top 40 radio station, KIIS-FM, Los Angeles.

TJ is simultaneously furthering his career in the entertainment industry and his education.  He acknowledges the importance of education, as he is a graduate of Tyler Junior College, located in Tyler, Texas, and is now a student at a barber school in Los Angeles.  TJ is working as hard as he can to make his dreams become realities, and he has learned this work ethic from his role model, his mother.

TJ and his mother have a very strong relationship and have gone through many of life’s struggles together.  As she had TJ at a young age, he was very quick to mature as he took it upon himself to be a strong male figure in his brother and sisters’ lives.  A way in which he proved to be strong was that he worked while attending school.  Whether he was a patty flipper at Wendy’s, a game technician at Chuck E. Cheese’s, or an inventory manager at Domino’s Pizza, he always worked to the best of his ability.

His desire to transition into the entertainment industry and make people laugh began when he was in school, as TJ was known as the class clown.  Many times when he got into trouble, he would make his mom laugh and that would help resolve almost any issue.  Then, when he was a legal adult, he moved to Los Angeles, California with his family and had to live separately from his mother and siblings and try to jumpstart his own career.

Since moving to the Entertainment Capital of the World in 2005, TJ sought out representation and, after dropping off his resume and headshot everywhere he could think of, he signed with Brick Entertainment.  He began his career working for free in student films and a year and a half later, he began getting paid for his acting gigs, including a Kobe Bryant commercial.  From 2007-2010, TJ worked for Clear Channel Communications in the Promotions department and on March 24, 2010, TJ switched over to the Programming department when he began his career as “TJ The Stuntman.”  Taking on this persona and working on “The JoJo On The Radio Show,” has been the highlight of TJ’s career, as thousands of listeners, nationwide, tune in to listen to the show.

Though working in the business for a relatively short time, TJ has found his calling, hosting.  While working his hardest, he has learned that anything is possible and that he is able to truly shine because he is accepted for being himself.  Each day, TJ wakes up happy, knowing that he is doing what he loves.  He keeps up his strong work ethic due to the motivation of his mom and friends.  TJ hopes to inspire his siblings and individuals who have ever doubted themselves, by exemplifying that one should never be afraid to progress and that the key to his success relies on the facts that he is humble, giving, and honest.

Our Town, known to many as one of the most classic stories of our time, is a three-act play that depicts the relationships, specifically, between a young boy and girl, in a small town in New Hampshire at the turn of the 20^th century. “The play is still relevant to our everyday lives,” James Miller’12 (George Gibbs) said. “We go about things in a hectic way, especially at Cornell, and we really should stop to think,”

The play did not use any tangible props and had very simple scenery, which created a sense of classic simplicity that helped to create a comfortable atmosphere. As Wilder always intended, the play breaks the boundary between its audience and its actors, as it acknowledges that it is in fact a play with actors and a supposed stage manager. The performance begins with the stage manager informing the audience about the play’s title, its author, and the names of a few of its actors.

Miller, who played the part of the stage manager in another performance of Our Town, said that he entered this Cornell performance with a sense of nostalgia. “That was interesting for me because that’s what this place is about. It’s about looking back,” he said.

To differentiate this specific performance from others, the cast and crew launched a community wide “Our Town” campaign, which allowed Ithacans to reflect on their past experiences with the well-known play. The Schwartz Center created an online blog and also a physical memory board as a way for individuals to share their own stories. On the blog you can find the theatrical program of the 1944 production of “Our Town” performed by the Cornell Dramatic Club at Willard Straight Hall.

The play’s three acts depict Daily Life, Love and Marriage, and Death and Eternity. The characters develop throughout the play, as they grow older physically and emotionally. Erin Wagner’11, who played Emily Webb, said of her character, “Emily is interesting, flighty, romantic, and is a dreamer. It was a little harder to relate to her younger self. I wanted her to be a likable character while portraying her immature, insensitive side as well.”

The audience received the play extremely well, understanding the serious emotion that is embedded within the spoken words. One audience member said of the show, “ I was really moved by it, and I think it speaks well to present day. It wasn’t worn out or dusty. There are real parallels to life, and you get sucked into the emotion.”

The play concludes with Emily, after having died during childbirth, looking back at the life she has just lost. “They don’t understand,” she screams, speaking of the many individuals who don’t realize how beautiful and grand life is until the moment passes. Life is full of these fleeting moments that too few people truly appreciate. Hopefully after seeing Our Town, we will no longer take for granted the true worth of every second we are given.

This is the program for the 1944 Cornell production of Our Town.

So, there’s The Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives, The Bachelor and The Real World. It’s called reality, but its goal is entertainment. In any case, from this base of absurd television has evolved a sort of psychological experiment genre that exists under the Reality Television umbrella. Shows in this category use the television medium as a way to investigate a specific hypothesis or research question. We, the audience, watch as an aspect of human nature is scolded, mocked, or revealed-and we are surely entertained, possibly at someone’s expense.

There is an age old question relating to choosing your love interest: Beauty or Brains? Physical attractiveness or Sensational Personality? What is your deciding factor? Well, ABC’s Dating in the Dark explores this query, as three men and three women literally blind date each other. Here’s the premise: these single men and women all live in a house together, but are separated and unable to communicate with one another unless in a pitch black dark room. The “contestants” proceed through a series of rounds, where they all mingle and talk to one another to determine whose personalities connect well, as while being unable to see members of the opposite sex. The contestants whose personalities match well are set up on one-on-one dates—let’s just say a lot of the dates consist of relying on the sense of touching rather than seeing.

Basically, at the end of the show each man and woman is able to see his/her counterpart for just a few moments through a one way window. They then make the decision of whether or not to meet the other on a rooftop balcony and live happily ever after.  So what if one person ends up waiting on the balcony in hope that they are attractive enough for their counterpart? How upsetting of a realization would that be! This show forces individuals to choose between shallowness and genuineness. Is this show brilliant or is it cruel? There’s a fine line.

ABC’s other psychological reality television series is called What Would You Do? which focuses on the kinds of decisions people make when placed in an ethical dilemma. The show captures split-second decisions, which can often be enlightening and eye opening. Past scenarios have involved a gay teenager being publicly bullied, a “cougar” tutor seducing a teen student in a restaurant, a man slipping drugs into his date’s glass of wine, and a woman collapsing on the street. You would think, and hope, that observers would step in, but they don’t always. This explores the selfish mentality that so many Americans seem to have.

What would you do if put in an act of injustice? Would stand on the sidelines as a bystander, or would you interfere? I’m pretty sure a great deal of you would be afraid to be put under the spotlight.

While these psychological reality television shows different from the entertainment based ones, it could also be possible to examine the psychology behind the rise and popularity of entertainment reality television, but that’s a whole other can of worms that I can open on another occasion.

Schwartz is a strong proponent of a liberal arts education, as he said, “the best education is one where you are open to all possibilities, where your empathy for others’ ideas and your own can make you understand more about how the world works and how you fit into it.” At Cornell, Schwartz was a member of “Water Margin,” a vibrant organization that dealt with breaking down racial and religious barriers.

Schwartz tells innumerable tales of adventure and unbelievable hilarity, stories you would assume only originate from a movie script.  After working at Greenbaum, Ernst, and Wolff’s law firm for only a few months, Schwartz was asked by one of the partners to take an impromptu trip to Havana to retrieve a concealed record regarding the unsolved disappearance of a Spanish author.  “Listen,” Schwartz said. “I was a liberal arts major, so I flew to Havana.”

So there he was, in a Cuban bar, talking to mysterious man with three names: ‘Flourice Fogerty Friedman,” when a few hours later Schwartz receives a phone call dictating, “You are to be kidnapped by Castro.” Long story short, Schwartz fled the situation as fast as he could, but learned a special lesson: don’t believe everything that is said to you or happens to you.

Schwartz recounted to the crowded Goldwin Smith Hall Auditorium of the day that distinguished producer Mel Brooks stepped foot in his office, at the time only a bizarre unknown with the desire to produce Springtime for Hitler: The musical. Schwartz was amused by Brooks’ comedic, whimsical idea because of the open-mindedness his Cornell education supplied him with, he said. Of course, this script eventually evolved into The Producers, and since then, Schwartz and Brooks have maintained an extremely close working relationship.

Walking across Cornell’s campus sixty-one years ago, Schwartz peered towards a stone wall marked with a quote, which in English states, “Nothing human is alien to me.” For Schwartz, this is the epitome of a liberal arts education; to keep your mind and emotions open, whatever you are, and to absorb the world and walk away with as much as you can. And to conclude with Schwartz’s closing remarks:  May the Schwartz be with you.

]]> http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/entertainment-lawyer-alan-schwartz-53-spoke-of-commitment-communicatoin-and-comedic-encounters-throughout-his-career/feed/ 0 http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/big-love-was-a-many-splendored-thing/ http://www.slopemedia.org/magazine/magazine-entertainment/big-love-was-a-many-splendored-thing/#comments Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:16:02 +0000 Lindsay Rothfeld http://www.slopemedia.org/?p=11774 A timeless tale of the complexity of love, of the complexities embedded in life, Big Love juxtaposed comedy with tragedy through extensive representations of gender roles. The play, adapted from the Greek tragedy The Suppliants, infuses traditional elements of Greek theater with modernized references and outlandish comedic stunts. The director of the play Beth Milles explains, “It’s such a dark play with comedy and because it is so extreme, it’s real. Comedy is inherent in life.”

A woman walks briskly onto the stage, her wedding dress falling to the ground, leaving her completely nude. She’s unaware that her yacht has reached Italian short, and she has inadvertently trespassed onto a family’s home.  50 Greek brides have just fled their arranged marriages to their 50 Greek fiancés, who also happen to be their cousins.

More critical than the narrative plot are the implications of the personalities involved. Thyona, played by Sharisse Taylor ‘11, is a powerful, intense feminist who leads her sisters in a campaign against the existence of the male. Olympia, played by Alexandra Bradley ‘11, is seemingly a girly-girl in dire need of a man’s protection, but on a deeper level is a strong go-getter, Bradley said. Lydia, played by Bridget Saracino ’11, is a fragile romantic who spends the majority of the play debating her feelings towards the opposite sex.

The male counterparts in the play each bring wit them stifled aggression and hatred towards the expectations that society holds for them as “macho males.” Yet there is epic compassionate love between Lydia and her romantic and anxiety ridden match Nikos, played by James Miller ’12.

Each character is complicated thus supplying the play’s actors with difficult roles to portray. Myles Rowland ’11, who played one of the more radical characters, Giuliano, said of his character, “He’s just a person. There isn’t one way to view him. He’s dealing with things about himself, and he discovers that he likes to be submissive, and that’s okay.

The play is ultimately composed of messages about the essence of humanity, of helping and relating to one another. “We’re all goddesses descended from Zeus,” Lydia says during the play.

The cast itself contained “Big Love,” Taylor said. And for those individuals looking to get involved in theater at Cornell, Jorge Silva ’12 who played Oed, suggests simply going for it. “It really is about having a good time,” he said.

The play was produced extremely well, each actor morphing into his or her role. “Big Love” is all about raw emotion. Life has its glory, its happiness, and its sorrow. We must feel everything, and we must appreciate every second of our heartache, of our adventure, and of every minuscule moment.

• Spring 2010 – Issue #7
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