New twist on famous ‘Princess Bride’ tale
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PHOTOS BY
AARON KNUDSEN
LDS.ORG AND MARCUS AND LEE YEN
hough June Commencements are a normal occurrence for BYU-Hawaii, the over 200 graduates will have the opportunity to hear on June 6 from an LDS Church general authority and one of the presidents of the Seventy, Elder Steven E. Snow, and BYUH graduating senior and accounting major Alex Storms. Elder Snow was called to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in March of 2001. He currently serves as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy and has supervisory responsibility for the North America Central Area. He and his wife, Phyllis, are the parents of four sons. A native of St. George, Utah, Elder Snow earned
PHOTOS BY
beloved work. BYUH senior, Drew Mierzejewski, adapted the original novel by William Goldman into a stage play for his senior project. Mierzejewski’s writing matched the style of Goldman wonderfully, and the dialogue was always believable. One addition that the audience particularly enjoyed was the prologue and epilogue that were performed by the narrator, Morgenstern, who was played by Mierzejewski himself. They were humorous and got the audience more involved in the show. The acting throughout the show was high quality and entertaining to watch. Very few cast members forgot lines, and everyone seemed perfectly cast. The main characters of Buttercup and Westley, played by Keola Harrison and Mike Buck, were perfectly cast. The two did a wonderful job portraying one of the most beloved fictional couples in the media. Well-known segments from the movie were portrayed very well, such as the battles with “The Man in Black”, Miracle Max, and of course the infamous priest at the wedding of Humperdinck and Buttercup. The fight scenes and fencing were choreographed well and obviously had a lot of time and effort put into them. Even some lesser-known scenes and
characters that came from the original book were added to the play, such as the character of Countess Constance Rugen, the wife of Count Rugen the six-fingered man. Played by Shannon Majdali, this character was a humorous, new element to the play that kept the audience intrigued. There were also some unique cultural twists to the play that made it relatable to a BYU-Hawaii audience. For instance, Fezzik the giant, played by Laie resident LeGrand Lawrence, was actually a large Maori man from Auckland who had a hankering for chocolate haupia pie. On top of the acting and scripting, the sets were versatile and fit the story very well. The only complaint could be that at times, scene changes seemed to run a bit on the long side. The overall message of this play was not that true love can conquer all, as it was in the film version of The Princess Bride. The epilogue reminded the audience of a line that Fezzik the giant had said earlier in the play, “Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death is.” The narrator then explained that even though we didn’t know what would happen to the characters of the play – they might not live happily ever after, they might be killed, and so forth – we just had to remember that as long as they were alive it was better than being dead. This message sheds a light of optimism on everyday life, and leaves audience members with a good feeling as they leave the auditorium. –Rachel Adams
AND COUTESY OF
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he Princess Bride” is a well-known work of film and literature, but last weekend, May 2830, BYU-Hawaii audiences were treated to a stage version of this
June 2009 graduation forecast: Snow and Storms
AARON KNUDSEN
CAMPUS
TOP LEFT: Jonathan Marler, the prince, holds Mike Buck, Westley, at the point of his sword in the BYU-Hawaii production of “Princess Bride.” ABOVE: Morgenstern, played by director Drew Mierjewski, leans over to talk with Inigo Montoya, played by Adam Harrison, during Saturday’s performance. Harrison proposed to BYUH coed Meghan Seely at the end of Friday night’s performance. She said “Yes.” ABOVE MIDDLE: One of the prince’s guard, Anthony Ing, explains part of the plot to the audience. FAR RIGHT: Buck fights with Fezzik the giant, played by LeGrand Lawrence. RIGHT: The tables turns on Prince Humperdinck, played by Jonathan Marler, who is now held at sword point by Buck and his true love Buttercup, played by Keola Harrison. The play was adapted from the book “Princess Bride” and ran for three nights in the McKay Auditorium from May 28 to the 30.
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his bachelor’s degree in accounting at Utah State University and his law degree at BYU in Provo. Elder Snow has been a deputy county attorney for Washington County, Utah, and a senior partner in the Utah law firm, Snow Nuffer. Over the years he has been actively involved in the support of education, having served as a member and president of his local school board, chairman of the Utah State Board of Regents, and chairman of the Western States Commission of Higher Education. Prior to his call to serve as a full-time general authority of the church, Elder Snow served as a full-time missionary in the North German Mission, a bishop, and a stake president. He also served as the president of the California San Fernando Mission. In 1999, he became an Area Seventy for the Utah South Area. Elder Snow has also served as executive director of the Priesthood Department and as president of the Africa Southeast Area of the Church, according to church information. The graduating student speaker for June’s Commencement, Alex Storms, is from Monroe, near Seattle, Wash. Storms explained how he was chosen to be the speaker for commencement. He said the names of the students with the highest GPAs were sent to the faculty for their input and, after some deliberation, Storms was chosen. He added that it came as no surprise because, Storms said, “I had a feeling. I knew my GPA was high and thought it was a possibility.” ABOVE: General Authority and member of the Presidency of the Seventy Elder Steven E. Snow will be When asked how he felt about the asspeaking at graduation on June 6. ABOVE RIGHT: Along with Snow, BYUH senior Alex Storms will be signment, Storms said, “It was kind of the student speaker at this June’s Commencement exercises. scary but kind of exiting when I found
CAMPUS out. I’ve never spoken in front of that many people before. I don’t want to think about it. It’s a little intimidating.” Storms has been at BYUH for two and a half years as a transfer student from Cascadia Community College in Washington. While on his mission in Japan, Storms decided to attend a LDS Church school. He applied to all three BYUs and was hoping for Provo or Hawaii. He almost didn’t apply to Hawaii, thinking he wouldn’t get in and that he might be wasting the $30 application fee, but he decided to apply at the last minute. However, BYUH was the first school to accept him and he decided to attend. “The greatest benefit of attending here has been gaining a greater understanding of the world in general,” Storms said. “I served in the Sendai Japan Mission and then came to BYU-Hawaii. From these experiences, I have seen more and more just how small the world really is. Seattle is nice but there is not a lot of exposure to different cultures there. Being at BYUHawaii has made the possibility of living outside the U.S. much more realistic.” “On the spiritual side, the opportunity to serve in the temple has been the greatest blessing. The temple is so close and so easy to access. My overall best experience was serving as an ordinance worker,” he said. “When the temple closed, at first I was excited to have my Saturday mornings free again, but now I just miss it. I miss that certain closeness with Heavenly Father that you just can’t replicate outside of the temple.” Storms said he has been accepted into a BYU Provo graduate program and will start on his master’s degree in accounting this Fall. He is also considering attending law school and hopes to get into politics. He said, “I don’t know if I want to do accounting as a job. But I have enjoyed studying it and want it to lead to a career where I can serve people.” “I’m very grateful for the opportunity to come to school here. It’s been a great blessing,” said Storms. –Kathleen Majdali
Laie Temple closes, students wed elsewhere
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ith the Laie Temple closed, engaged students are thinking economically when choosing the location of their wedding. As glamorous a wedding in Hawaii sounds for students at BYU-Hawaii, mainland and out-ofcountry family members may not agree after travel plans suck pockets dry. For those wanting to get married close to school, the nearest temple is the Kona Temple, which is still is an airplane ride away to the Big Island. Amy Cunnington and Matthew Bracken were scheduled to get married at the end of May. They considered a wedding at the Laie Temple because they met at BYUH and are planning to stay here after graduation. With the Laie Temple closed, however, the couple has decided to get married in the Oakland California Temple where they have a lot of family. “We considered the Kona Temple as well and debated it for quite a long time. We knew it would be really hard on our families financially so we decided against it,” said Cunnington, junior in 2D art from Walnut Creek, Calif. For students with family on the mainland, it is cheaper for the couple to travel to the mainland instead of the whole family to take a trip to Hawaii. When asked if she considered a wedding in the Kona Temple, bride-to-be, Lu’isa Piutau, a freshJUNE 4, 2009
man in TESOL education from Nuku’alofa, Tonga, said, “Instead of all of us going to Kona, we decided that we could be the ones to travel to the mainland to save both sides of the families from spending a lot of money.” Lu’isa Piutau and Paula Moala both dreamt of being married in the Laie Temple far before they knew they knew they would be in Hawaii to study. As Lu’isa doesn’t have family here, her and Paula are traveling to Utah to be married in the Jordan River Temple in July. By choosing to get married in Utah, Lu’isa and Paula’s family from the mainland will be able to attend their wedding. “He [Paula] wanted to have some from my side of the family to be there at my wedding to make it special for me,” said Piutau. –Nicole Hamilton
LEFT: Marcus and Lee Yen were married in the Laie Temple in September 2008, before its closure in December. Couples who got engaged after the temple closed in December, are having to go elsewhere for their temple weddings. ABOVE: The Laie Hawaii Temple is set to reopen mid-2010 after being closed for renovations.
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