Photo of the beautiful Alexander Kasser Theater from the Facebook fan page
I can't believe I never thought to post this before but here is the Peak Performances @ Montclair State University Facebook fan page and Facebook group. Here you can find out more about the shows at MSU. There are a lot more shows that play on campus than I cover on this blog, so if you'd like now you can become a fan to be more informed! :)
During my sophomore year at Montclair State University I have befriended senior English and Theater Studies major Amanda Schott. She is the Assistant Director of the upcoming Peak Performance dis connect, which is a brand new original production, more specifically the senior BA Theater Studies project, about our use of technology. It is premiering in the L. Howard Fox Studio Theatre next Thursday. The idea for a play like this had to have happened sooner or later considering how technology is so prominent in our lives nowadays haha.
Because Amanda has been trying to promote the show via Facebook (ironically), I decided to help her by making this promotional video, starring Amanda herself. In it she discusses the background of dis connect, what she wants the audience to take with them from the performance, etc. Interestingly she talks about how our generation, Generation Y, is mainly affected by technology. I can vouch for that. Here I am promoting a production trying to convey that very message by using my Canon camera, MacBook Pro, Facebook, Blogspot, and YouTube.
Also, here is a preview of the show, which is discussed in my interview with Amanda. (Contains some choice language):
If you want more details, please check out this Facebook event. For even more details and ticket information, please click here.
If you are in the Montclair area, please come check out dis connect. Good luck to the cast and crew! It promises to be a very memorable show!
Last month I became a member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), which is an honors society that helps its members obtain certain tools to reach their goals. It provides its members with different opportunities such as scholarships, while also other activities to get involved, including the new TalkNerdy2Me: A College Life Blog. Naturally, I was interested to get involved with this one. ;)
TalkNerdy2Me premiered in late March, so it is a relatively new blog. I noticed that the NSCS Facebook fan page posted the lastest issue so I decided to take a look at it. As I was reading it, I came across a headline that says "From Entertaining to Annoying: How College Ruined Cheesy Pop Culture". It looked interesting, so I decided to read it. As I was reading the first paragraph, I thought it sounded familiar, and then realized it was my piece that I had submitted! It came as a surprise to me because the editor told me that she would be able to use it April 20, so this is sooner than I expected.
I am so excited and honored to have my first blog post in TalkNerdy2Me published today! You get to read me discuss Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan (vaguely), "Dancing with the Stars" "American Idol," "The Bachelor," and what I have to endure when checking my e-mail. Enjoy! :D
Let us return back to my theater oriented theme. What we have here is another one of Stefanie Sears's lost articles that could not be used for publication, much like my On the Town and Sweeney Todd articles. Though the Sweeney Todd one may not be considered a "lost article" considering it was published in The Montclarion, I decided to publish the original draft on here so people are able to read that version as well.
This is the most recent, and most likely final, installment of my Grapes of Wrath at MSU Coverage. I call it coverage because other random blog posts I have made in the past were associated with MSU's production of The Grapes of Wrath in some way. Check out the other installments just in case you want to refer back to them. They include my interview with Corinne Chandler and my piece about Ma Joad for my Women's History Month series "Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious)".
I originally wrote this piece for The Montclarion, but unfortunately they could not use it, so I decided to post it here. Enjoy! :) It was the first show I saw at Alexander Kasser Theater this semester and I had been hearing so much about it prior so needless to say I was pretty excited!
*There may be spoilers in here to those of you who a) did not see the play, b) did not read the book, c) did not see the movie, or d) all of the above.*
The much anticipated play production The Grapes of Wrath, based on John Steinbeck's classic novel of the same name and written by Frank Galati, directed by Susan Kerner, had its run from March 9-12 at the Alexander Kasser Theater. It was a very amazing show that was very well done with its imagery that made you feel and think with its intensity. The sizable cast, introducing child cast members to the Kasser stage, very well depicted the struggles their characters were experiencing, thus conveying the message of togetherness of family to the audience and narration through use of song by the narrators who accompanied the cast onstage most of the time. It had the ability to cause audience members to look at their own lives and be thankful for what they have.
Lead man Tom Joad, played by senior Dustin Fontaine, discovers on his return back home after being in prison that his family has been forced to leave their Oklahoma home. The Joad family, along with Tom, then embarks with both enthusiasm and fear on a journey to California, where the good life is currently being advertised and jobs are promised, hitting snags in the road along the way. Ma Joad, played by senior Lena Chilingerian, was clearly the heroine of the play, trying to keep her family together while protecting them as it gradually falls apart, accepting the fact that things may not seem to go as planned after all.
What was interesting is that two characters could be having a conversation center stage, but the actions of the rest of the characters in the background would stand out just as much. This, the scenery, the use of water, the presentation of rain and sunlight, and the lifelike truck that provided the Joads with shelter throughout the play and drove on and offstage when pushed by other cast members made the play that much more realistic. The play was emotionally driven, the family faced with doubt and rumors treading into the unknown, with occasional humorous moments, nudity, and violence. The show also included a dance sequence to add more to the artistic imagery. The most beautiful scene, however, was the final one right before curtain call consisting of seniors Elizabeth Mackintosh as Rose of Sharon and Albert “AJ” Johnson Jr. as the Man in Barn. (Even though this is the ending of the play, I feel it deserves a mention, so I apologize for the spoiler.)
In the scene before this Rose of Sharon, the eldest Joad daughter who has been pregnant throughout the play, gives birth to a stillborn child. Seeking shelter from the rain, the Joad family runs into a barn at first unaware that it is already occupied. A man (Johnson) lies on the floor of the barn, dying, and it is explained by his son (Titus Gandy) that he does not have enough strength to eat solids due to starvation. Rose of Sharon offers her services and after everyone leaves the barn breastfeeds the man, thus being able to nurture someone after all. This single act embodies the work as a whole, for the theme of the play was to help each other in times of need and do what you can to survive.
Ultimately, it was the type of show that made you say, “Wow.”
Lately I have been getting involved with a feminism organization on campus called Femvolution: MSU that prides itself in bringing more feminism awareness to Montclair State University. You can also check out their Facebook fan page and their Facebook group.
This week they are holding a week long festival of activities called the FEMME Festival that will be touching upon different things associated with women. I am going to use this post to notify you of what exactly will be happening this week.
That's right, folks. I hate to say it but it turns out that this blog has become too much for me. I appreciate the support you, my faithful readers, have given it, but it cannot continue. I have decided that I want to focus more on school and studies and also on other publications. I mean, I don't know what else I could write about for this blog for I feel like I accomplished what I needed to do on here. It had a good three month run, and I had fun with it, but I must get my priorities straight. It has been additional stress. I have enough writing to do as an English major in college so I don't want to put any more unnecessary work on myself for it has a tendency to take up too much of my time and energy.
Like I said before, I am pretty protective of my writing, so I have decided to just keep my pieces private for the time being. I need time to get over that insecurity. Sometimes I wonder if creating this blog was a mistake, like maybe I did it too soon. I have been thinking about this for some time now and it has been weighing on my mind, and I don't need these kind of thoughts when I am trying to focus on other things. I've been debating of whether or not I should discontinue it and tell you all, so I have decided that I cannot wait much longer. I am sad to say it, but this is my last post.
I just wanted to notify you all of this just in case you want to read some of my pieces for a final time, for I am deleting this blog tomorrow. I bid you all farewell and am glad that you appreciate my writing and pieces. Once again, thank you all for everything. <3
Oh, and by the way...
APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! GOTCHA! You definitely haven't seen the last of me! :D Have a great weekend! :)
Virgin Mary She was chosen by GOD to give birth to JESUS CHRIST at thirteen in a manger and then watched Jesus die on a cross thirty years later. Need I say more? Through it all, she accepted and understood everything, though at first she was confused and frightened by the approach of the angel Gabriel who informed her about God's plan for her, and had so much strength. She was unlike any other woman due to her sinless nature and purity because she was God's choice and He made her that way. She will forever be that woman who sticks out amongst them all and is perhaps the greatest woman that ever lived.
Virgin Mary, though there are plenty of different representations of her
This concludes this year's edition of "Real Influential Women Role Models (Real and Fictitious)". Thank you for reading!
Mimi Marquez(Rent) Though many people may not totally categorize a heroin-addicted, AIDS infected, exotic dancer as a woman role model, but there is one aspect about Mimi that I really admire. Despite the issues she may have, in practically every scene she is cheerful and always living life to the fullest. In fact, she is the one person who influences Roger to live “every moment as their last” and that there is “No Day But Today.”
Cornflower and Constance(Redwall) Ok, so Cornflower is a mouse. Regardless, she is a female mouse with brave qualities, although these brave qualities aren’t known until the cartoon television series "Redwall," based on the novel by Brian Jacques of the same name, aired. In the book she has a minor role whereas in the show she is one of the lead female characters who takes part briefly in battles but mainly spends her time healing and feeding the heroes while also trying to save Redwall from the evil Cluny the Scourge by using her intelligence and intuition. Badger Constance is a motherly figure to all of the Redwallers but yet isn’t afraid to get rough when the going gets tough to protect Redwall’s inhabitants in both book and TV show.
(RIP to Brian Jacques, who passed away February 5, 2011.)
