emelialikesprettythings

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I want you to be mine and I want to bring you to family parties and have you meet my friends and do cute things with you and take cute pictures and just show you off to the world because you’re so perfect and i want the world to know how perfect you are too ok cya

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*unplugs 100% charged iphone*

*slides to unlock*

battery 43%

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if u pull ur sleeves over ur hands ur automatically 100% cute

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Angels in America Soars Again

In a world where people are still fighting for equality, Tony Kushner’s drama “Angels in America,” remains relevant even 20 years after its opening on Broadway in 1993. MU Theatre’s David A. Crespy directed the first of two parts, titled “Millenium Approaches,” this past Saturday at the Rhynsburger Theatre. While this production may have been less than perfect, “Angels” is no easy task, and for a college production, the crew and actors did exceptionally well.

Set in 1985 New York City during the AIDS crisis, the play follows characters from a variety of backgrounds, with themes including AIDS awareness, politics, identity, and relationships. Louis Ironson (Ian Matthew Sobule) a Jewish, gay man, has found out that his boyfriend, Prior Walter (Scott McDonald), has been infected with AIDS. Joe Pitt (Rob Glauz), a closeted Mormon lawyer, is married to Harper Pitt (Maddie Byrne), a pill-popping, perpetually afraid woman. Roy Cohn, another powerful, closeted lawyer is also diagnosed with AIDS, although he continues to deny it.

Sprinkled among the main characters are a series of small characters also played by the main actors, set apart from the rest by a series of masks and disguises. The decision to have female actors play male characters and vice versa further emphasizes Kushner’s questioning of gender identity and sexuality, greatly symbolic for the content of the play.

Characters were complex and dynamic, and the actors played multiple roles. I found Drake Krueger’s performance as Roy Cohn, the commie-hunting, outspoken lawyer, strong. Krueger was able to be vulnerable as well, evident in the scene in which Ethel Rosenberg pays him a visit. Before she appears, he is hoarsely yelling and questioning and justifying all of the decisions he’s made, establishing his status and power and unwillingness to give in to his disease, but after she appears, his entire demeanor changes, and the scene ends with him cringing on the floor, waiting for an ambulance.

Maddie Byrne’s performance of Harper Pitt was also convincing, leading the audience to believe she actually was a crazy woman with a knack for valium and, in turn, hallucinations. While stuttering and jerky movements were fitting for her character, I found her character’s habit of bringing her hand in front of her mouth to be distracting and almost irritating. While she was mostly believable, that distraction removed me from the world of the play more than once.

Crespy’s decision to honor Kushner’s requests to use actors in scene changes was an especially powerful one, as it further emphasized the fact that the characters were all connected in some way. Along with this, Crespy’s stage direction also helped to establish the relationships between characters. Harper and Joe were never too close together, other than the few times they kissed, especially before Joe’s interaction with Louis in the bathroom. After, Harper was usually seated while Joe was usually standing, and Harper had a tendency to walk away, emphasizing the couple quickly growing apart.

The scenic design worked. There was a unit piece covered in graffiti with various scaffolding, and the right and left sides of the stage were continuously switched and moved around with the addition and subtraction of props. Lighting also worked well for me, as when two scenes were occurring on stage, the most important one was illuminated. While I love 80s music as much as the next person, the music between scene changes was confusing and didn’t mesh well with the content of the play. In theory, the trivialness of songs such as The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me,” and The Outfield’s “Your Love,” could have seemed a nice contrast to the seriousness of the play. I found it distracting. I found costume design and props somewhat lacking as well, evident by the current Coca-Cola can and Pepto-Bismol bottle in the scene on the bench. Also, besides Harper’s Esprit crewneck and stirrup sweatpants, the rest of the cast seemed to be wearing current clothes, not anything from 1985.

Overall, Kushner’s play is an important questioning of society’s values, and MU Theatre’s production of “Millenium Approaches” left the audience with a feeling of hope for tomorrow.

Word Count: 700

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Distant Music Mini Review

In their latest production of James McLindon’s “Distant Music,” the Independent Actors Theatre whisked us out of Missouri and plopped us right into the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. Although set in an Irish pub, Columbia’s Eastside Tavern was the perfect venue for the production, complete with darts, beer, and a  temperamental flashing Guinness sign. Connor ( Adam McCall) and Maeve (DeeDee Folkerts), friends from college, have tough decisions ahead of them. In addition, the cheeky Irish bartender Dev (CJ Irwin) prefers to eavesdrop and offer jokes and advice rather than face decisions of his own. The acting was consistent and believable throughout, down to the bartender’s accent. The intimate atmosphere in Eastside and the chemistry between the actors made it feel as though the audience was listening in on a conversation between old friends rather than watching a production. While the play itself may not wrap up in a neat little bow, it was satisfying, and the combination of the cast and the location resonated well.

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Distant Music

Emily Rollie’s Independent Actors Theatre production of James McLindon’s “Distant Music” this past weekend left the audience feeling like they’d just said goodbye to three friends at the end of the show. In the three-actor play, Connor (Adam McCall) and Maeve (DeeDee Folkerts), old college friends, meet up at an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts to talk about the life-changing decisions they’re facing. While Connor is dealing with a recent divorce and a potential job change, Maeve is struggling with her faith and her position in the Catholic Church. Along with their struggles, Connor and Maeve have feelings for each other, but a relationship is out of the question because of Maeve’s role in the church. Also in the play is Dev (CJ Irwin), the cheeky Irish bartender who prefers to eavesdrop and offer advice and stories rather than face his own problems. Although he’s been in the United States for 10 years, Dev still hasn’t gotten his citizenship, and he faces the decision of whether or not to go home to Ireland. The play itself is filled with themes such as crossroads, faith, questioning, and love.

Using Eastside as the location for the production was a genius decision. Most of the scenic design was taken care of, save a temperamental flashing Guinness sign. The beer was real, the darts were real, and the setting was real, making the play that much more realistic. Because the setting was so intimate and I was sitting not more than 20 feet from the actors, it was easy to forget that I was watching a play. It seemed as though the audience members were simply friends or other bar patrons eavesdropping on a personal conversation rather than theatregoers enjoying a play. At times it was a bit difficult to understand the actors because their backs were turned or at the other end of the building, but I couldn’t think of a better place to have had it. At the end of the play, when Dev is turning the lights off in the bar and singing to himself, it really did seem as though we were witnessing closing time.

The actors were also believable and seemed to know their characters well, easily becoming Connor and Maeve and Dev without ever seeming forced. It was clear that the actors were fond of their characters as well, because you could feel the heart and dedication they were putting into their performances. When Maeve kissed Connor, the audience members could physically feel what her character had at stake. At the end (mentioning this again) when Dev was turning all the lights off, the audience could feel the weight lifted off his shoulders. While all the actors were strong, I do feel as though Irwin was the star of the production. His accent was consistent and realistic (as far as I know) and he provided comic relief in contrast with the serious subject matter than Connor and Maeve were dealing with. The intimate atmosphere and chemistry between the actors worked together to create a personal, heartwarming experience for the audience as a whole.

The directing in the play allowed the actors to showcase their talent. While there were some moments where actors were hard to hear or moments that could’ve been rehearsed more (such as the darts scene, for example), those moments were greatly overshadowed by the realism and heart poured into the play, and the audience could feel that. The deliberate choices of placing Connor and Maeve closest together clearly established that there was somewhat of a romantic relationship there, and when moments got tense, they moved apart, making it all the more real. When Emily Rollie came to talk to our class, she talked about some of the things she wished to accomplish, one of which was making sure the audience left with a sense of satisfaction about the play. While the play itself may not wrap up in a neat little bow, it left the audience with a sense of bittersweet fulfillment, and the combination of the cast and the location resonated well.

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Boston Marriage Review Paragraph

In Lee’s production of David Mamet’s “Boston Marriage,” she was able to clearly convey the relationship between Anna and Claire. While it would have been easy to get lost in the constant stream of dialogue, Lee’s direction made sure that Kern and Desko knew where the word play, sarcasm, and punchlines were in the script, and the actors were able to capitalize on that. Otherwise, the conversation between the two women could have seemed like nothing more than long-winded, Victorian-esque dialogue, and the audience would not have been able to piece together the evidence that the two women were, indeed, more than friends. She was also able to direct Lydia Miller in such a way that she was acting while she was acting. Her character, Catherine, acted meek and humble towards the beginning but the facade eventually wore off, evident when her genuine cheekiness surfaced later in the play as she helped Anna and Claire scheme to dress as fortune tellers to save Claire’s relationship. I found her performance perhaps the strongest in the production, and the director successfully realized her visions.

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Boston Marriage

David Mamet’s all-female play “Boston Marriage” first premiered in 1999, as a response to the criticism that he was a misogynistic playwright. Famous for his use of wit and word play, “Boston Marriage” is no exception to his style, as the title of the play itself is a euphemism for a lesbian relationship in the late 19th/early 20th century. With a plot centering around themes such as jealousy, lust, and infidelity, the play takes such subjects and throws them back into the face of the audience through sharp wit, sarcasm, and double-entendres.

Mariah Lee’s production of “Boston Marriage” at the Stephens College Warehouse Theatre successfully established that implied lesbian relationship between two unmarried women, Anna (Carolyn Kern) and Claire (Courtney Desko). Because the entire play is set in a Victorian drawing room, there isn’t much action to be seen on stage, and the bulk of the play relies on dialogue, including the constant verbal assault against the maid, Catherine (Lydia Miller). The cast was strong; Kern and Desko were able to keep up with the constant stream of words, and Miller had the audience “aw-ing” in sympathy as she begged her superiors to be nicer towards her. The actors were able to portray and become their characters, and I don’t believe there were any issues with casting.

Lee’s decisions to have the actors keep the conversation constantly flowing, with little pauses, manages to keep the play rolling and comical. As a result, Lee’s decisions to keep the characters moving instead of in one spot helps to balance the lack of action with the overabundance of words, such as the perpetually flushed maid Catherine’s constant running back and forth to answer the door or make tea, or Anna’s habit of throwing herself down onto the hand-painted chintz print furniture. Anna and Claire were usually either close together or on different sides of the stage, perhaps symbolizing the complexity of their relationship, as Anna is still in love with Claire, although Claire is enamored with a new, younger woman. This was especially noticeable when Claire was looking out the window to glance at her “ladyfriend” on one side of the room, while Anna sulked on the other. Catherine was always behind or spread apart from her superiors (such as when trying to beg their attention), aside from the few times that Anna or Claire tried to make advances on her, which further emphasized her inferior status.

While Kern flourished in her sarcastic, biting role as Anna, Desko’s performance was less strong. The relationship between the two was believable, but I was pulled away from the world of the play a few times as a result of Desko seeming like she was acting too much; her words became forced and overdramatic a few times when the action of the play wouldn’t have caused her character to become that way. Kern, however, was consistent in her devilish, witty banter and attitude, especially evident in her mischievous smile at the end of Act I, when the audience becomes aware that the emerald her “protector” has given her belongs to the mother of Claire’s new love interest. Miller’s performance was strong, pulling the audience in and making us believe that she actually was a Scottish maid, while also carrying most of the play’s comedy. She was more likable and believable, although the scenes where her character burst into tears weakened her performance as a whole a bit. 

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True West: Review Paragraph

Overall, the acting in Kevin Brown’s production of Sam Sheperd’s “True West” went above what I expected for a college production. The actors were believable as older men, and they were able to clearly convey the complexity of their characters. One particularly effective moment was when Cassidy and Beck were sitting together, drinking against the counter. Beck (Austin) was telling his brother about how his father had lost all his teeth, and how he had left his set of false teeth in a doggy bag of Chinese food that Austin had treated him to. The emotions that Beck projected into the audience of sorrow, embarrassment, and hopelessness were real and heartfelt, and Cassidy was able to react in such a way that it really did seem as though they were brothers, not just actors.

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True West: Acting

Sam Sheperd’s “True West” explores the relationship between two brothers brought together after five years apart. The year is 1979, and Austin, the younger brother, is housesitting for his mother while she takes a vacation from the suburbs of Southern California to go to Alaska. Austin’s older brother, Lee, shows up after three months of living in the desert. Lee is a thief, while Austin is a successful screenwriter, and the power struggle between them begins as the play opens. Austin pitches a script to a famous producer, Saul, who likes his idea, yet Lee also tells him he wants him to hear his stories, and suggests a game of golf the next morning. When Lee returns from golf with Saul, Austin is appalled to learn that Saul has chosen Lee’s story and decided to drop Austin’s. Austin refuses to write the script for Lee, and the two brothers become more and more like each other throughout the play.

Dillon Cassidy played the role of Lee in the production, the lying, sneaky older brother who lived on his own in the desert. Throughout the production, Cassidy’s voice was consistent as a drawn out, somewhat high pitched, soft, almost childlike voice that demanded the attention of the one he was talking to, whether it be Austin or Saul, while adding a sort of creepiness to his character. At the beginning, there were moments where he would break out and yell, asserting his dominance over his brother. His movements seemed to be uncoordinated, but for me, I found that it worked with the character he was playing, as he didn’t seem like he was always in his right mind. This also could’ve been a result of the beer the character always seemed to have in his hand. His posture was slouched, and he walked with long strides. A specific moment I thought he was most believable in was when Austin offered to give him a place to stay and he got in his brother’s face, screaming “I don’t need your help, boy!” with his eyes wide and emphasis on the word “boy” at the end of the sentence. He was believable as the deliquent Lee, especially at the beginning.

Jarrod Beck played Austin, the brother who had done well in school and work, was married and had a family. Beck started out without an accent at the beginning of the play, but it became more and more southern-sounding as the play went on. I found this interesting and interpreted it as Austin becoming more like his loner, desert-dwelling brother. He became more animalistic as the production continued. I also thought he did a good job with the parts where his character was drunk, and especially during the toast scene, where Lee knocked toast all over the floor, and Austin got on his hands and knees to clean it up, lovingly putting the slices back on top of each other. Lee’s raised position in relation to Austin symbolized a power struggle, yet again, as Saul chose Lee’s script over Austin’s. Another moment that I found his acting to be believable was when Cassidy broke a drawer off of the kitchen set. Beck acknowledged its existence and picked it up and looked at it like he was confused before putting it down, as his character would have been in his drunken state. He walked with a purpose, with his posture straight at the beginning, and gradually turning into a slouch.

Dani Mann played the mother of the two men, who didn’t come in until the very end of the production. Her posture was upright and conveyed a sense of being proper. Her vocal choices were slow and her character took a lot of concentration to sound out words, and she walked slowly as well, as if she had nothing to motivate her to move. Her vocal choices implied that she was going crazy, probably because of the disheveled house, her two sons fighting, and her alcoholic, toothless ex-husband who lived out in the desert. This is further emphasized when she begs the two boys to go with her to see Picasso at the museum, and Austin has to explain to his mother that Picasso is dead.

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The Amen Corner Scenic Design

The scenic design was done by Jon Drtina, and the set was a unit set, as it did not change. The set was broken up into three levels. On the highest level was the “storefront church,” on the center level is the kitchen, or living space, and on the lowest level is the bedroom to which Luke is confined during most of the performance as a result of his illness. The levels seemed intentional and, in my opinion, stood for the things Sister Margaret found most important in her life. The most important, obviously, would be her church and devotion to God, while the second would be her family, including David and her sister Odessa (Rikki Byrd). Because of the levels, the audience and myself found it easier to understand the priorities in Sister Margaret’s life and how she had come to always put faith before her family and loved ones. The kitchen looked typically like a 1950s-1960s kitchen, with a “Frigidaire” instead of an icebox and chairs with vinyl seating. The downstairs bedroom had working, albeit rustic electricity. Because the play is set in mid-century Harlem and the main character is a female pastor, I found the apartment part of the set a little hard to believe. A female pastor of that time couldn’t have made very much, let alone afford a three story apartment with working electricity, running water, and a brand new refrigerator (although, the fridge caused quite a bit of controversy between the characters). The modern (relative to the time period) and aesthetically pleasing design of the kitchen was a jarring contrast to the drunk, homeless man and troublemakers who roamed outside the apartment. Overall, I felt the set was almost a little bit too nice for what it was supposed to be portraying.

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The Amen Corner

James Baldwin’s “The Amen Corner,” directed by Clyde Ruffin, is written about a female pastor and how her world begins to fall apart as she begins to come to terms with her past. Sister Margaret Alexander (Rachel Davis) preaches passionately to her congregation, set up in a “storefront” church on the upper floor of her apartment during the 1950s-1960s in Harlem, New York. Her son David (Deandre Brown), who plays piano during services, is beginning to lose his interest in his faith and wants to become a jazz musician instead of following in his mother’s footsteps. After a Sunday morning service, Sister Margaret’s long-lost husband stumbles through the door, ill and disgruntled, and Sister Margaret’s first lie is revealed; although she had told everyone that Luke (Brian D. Coates) had left her, she was the one who had packed David up and left, claiming to have done it in the name of the lord. The play unfolds as Sister Margaret must try to keep her family and parish together as they begin to resent her for her dishonesty. The scenic design was done by Jon Drtina, and the set was a unit set, as it did not change. The set was broken up into three levels. On the highest level was the “church,” on the center level is the kitchen, or living space, and on the lowest level is the bedroom to which Luke is confined during most of the performance as a result of his illness. To me, the levels were intentional and stood for the things Sister Margaret found most important in her life. The most important, obviously, would be her church and devotion to God, while the second would be her family, including David and her sister Odessa (Rikki Byrd). The least important person to her during the performance was Luke, and he was strategically placed at the bottom of the set. The church was set up so that all of the parish members were parallel to the audience, but in the apartment, the characters were facing the audience. I found this change to be a bit jarring. I did enjoy, however, how the walls of the set were simply a structure and not blocked off. You could see what looked to be “passersby” outside of the church during transitional points of the production, and I thought that was an interesting touch. The lighting design was done by Brad M. Carlson, and the lighting helped a lot to bring the attention of audience members to specific places on the set during scenes in which the actors were in all of the spaces. Specific spaces on the set were illuminated more brightly than others when the audience’s attention was supposed to go there, such as whenever David went down to where his father was sleeping. I also liked that whenever the bedside light was turned on, that space would become illuminated at the same time. Specific examples include at the end of the play, when Sister Margaret is crying in her apartment as a result of everything catching up to her, and she is illuminated more brightly than the church part of the set, in which the parish is gathering and singing, although more quietly than before. Another example is when Odessa goes to the church to pray, but Rachel is talking to David in the kitchen. The church is almost completely dark, but David and Rachel are lit up. The lighting changes flowed nicely and kept the audience’s focus where it was supposed to be. Costume design was done by Clyde Ruffin, and the costume choices worked well with the time period and setting of the play. The parish was dressed in what appeared to be their Sunday best during the first act, with the women wearing skirt suits and matching hats, and the men wearing suits and ties. Luke, however, was disheveled and his clothes looked worn and faded when he first entered. Eventually he is wearing only a white t-shirt, pants, and socks. In the second act, the women are wearing simple dresses and skirts, while Brother Boxer (Carl Lewis), wears a button-down shirt and pants. Sister Margaret, however, is a little bit more dressed up, wearing a skirt, blazer, and blouse, perhaps to symbolize the “power” she had over the rest of the parishioners. In the last act, Sister Margaret and Sister Moore (Myra Drummond-Lewis) and Sister Boxer (Erica Bruington) are all wearing white. I found this ironic because white is the color of purity, but Sister Margaret has deceived her parish, and Sister Moore and Sister Boxer have been scheming to knock Sister Margaret out of her place as pastor. I thought this stood for James Baldwin’s view of the church as hypocritical--pledging to be about goodness and purity, but hiding skeletons in the closet.

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Hair Costume and Lighting Design

Costume and lighting design in this production of “Hair” lent a lot to the show as a whole. The lighting did well in creating the mood of the different scenes, such as during the song “Hair,” in which it was bright and cheerful. In the scene when the Tribe is burning their draft cards, the light is focused solely on the trash can that fire is in, and later on, Claude. Also, in the scene at the end of Act 1 in which the actors were nude, the light became dim and purple, which I thought was tasteful for a production in a town like Columbia. The lighting helped move scenes along, and overall it worked well. The costume design was also well done, as all of the costumes represented what rebellious teenagers in the 1960s would have worn, such as fringe and bell bottoms and belly-exposing shirts. The combination of costume and lighting design transported the audience to a world in which peace, love, and freedom fueled the fires of American youth, and it all made sense.

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Hair

Diane Paulus’ production of Gerome Ragni and James Rado’s rock musical “Hair” offers a personal, interactive view into the lives of a group of American teenagers during the 1960s and the era of the Vietnam War. The group, or the “Tribe” as it’s referred to in the show, is on a journey to spread peace and love and protest the war. The Tribe, led by Claude (Noah Plomgren), Berger (Brian Crawford Scott), and Sheila (Mary Kate Morrissey) decide to stage a protest by burning their draft cards, but when the time comes for Claude to throw his in the fire, he is unable to do so. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft like the rest of the Tribe, or give in to the pressures of society and his parents, compromising everything he stands for. The show is somewhat Claude’s journey to find himself, while the audience is offered the opportunity to pick the brains of the hippies through audience-actor interaction, and also see the rhyme and reason behind what the teenagers of the 1960s really stood for.

The scenic design in this production of “Hair” was done by Scott Pask, and it worked well with the show, as the setting is in a theatre. The backdrop was a sunburst that changed colors throughout the show, with a truck painted in bright colors on the right side of the stage, with the band on the left side. The rest of the scenic design was minimal and represented an actual theatre in which the actors were aware of the audience. Because there are so many actors on stage at any given time, having as little as possible on stage allows the audience to be less distracted by the scenery and focus in more on what’s playing out on stage. Also, there are many different settings that come into play during the show. For example, at one point, Claude is arguing with his parents about his lifestyle and going off to war, and at another point, he’s hallucinating after having a bad trip, in which the other actors become crazy characters such as Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Not having much in the way of scenery allows many different scenes and settings to take place, and it was beneficial in this production. Michael McDonald was in charge of costume design, and all of the costume choices successfully reflected the time period. Berger (Scott) opened the show wearing a vest and fringe, and his hair was past his shoulders. Crissy (Dana Gitlin) wore a babydoll peasant top with bell bottoms, and Claude (Plomgren) wore his hair long along with beads, a headband, and loose fitting jeans with the British flag on the back. The rest of the tribe wore bell bottoms, bikini-like tops, paisley, afros, and belly-baring shirts. At the end, Claude’s hair is neatly trimmed and he’s wearing an army uniform. Overall, the costume design lent a lot to the feeling of the production as a whole. The lighting design, done by Joel E. Silver, worked well in reflecting the mood of different parts of the production overall. During most of the dialogue between Tribe members, there was basic yellow light, but when, for example, Claude’s parents were yelling at him, at one point the whole stage went black except for a spotlight on them. During the draft card burning scene, the lighting was focused on the trash can in which the cards were being burned. At the end of Act 1, when the actors stripped down, the light became dim and purple, tastefully handling a scene from the production that has been controversial since it first appeared Off-Broadway in the late 1960s. The most powerful use of lighting, for me, however was at the end of Act 2 when all the other Tribe members run off the stage in the dark and Claude is left lying motionless on an American flag with the spotlight focused solely on him as snow falls softly onto him, implying his death in the war. It was a moment that gave me chills, as I’m sure it did for many other audience members.

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Bright Ideas Review Portion

  MU Theatre’s Corner Playhouse may be small in size, but the showing of Eric Coble’s “Bright Ideas” was large on dry, dark humor on February 10, 2013. Directed by Brad Stephenson, the play offered a modern twist on the classic Shakespeare play, “MacBeth.” However, instead of being set in Scotland, “Bright Ideas” is a dark comedy set in an American suburb, focusing around two parents intent on getting their three year old son into the most prestigious preschool around, named, as the play, Bright Ideas. There’s some homicide and some pesto, some crazed parents and lots of laughter throughout, and it’s something that I wouldn’t recommend overlooking. Although the actors are young and in their early stages of experiencing their own lives, they brought their characters as parents to life onstage, offering an entertaining experience for all.