LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF College life is intoxicating and not just because of the alcohol (for more on that aspect, however, check out page 12). It’s intoxicating because at some point in our experience we realize two things. 1. This will probably be the most exciting four-year period of our lives. 2. Those four years will be gone before we know it. That realization is the driving force behind what makes OU beautiful. We are all devoted to making every possible second of these four (or more) years matter.
Alec Bojalad
MANAGING EDITOR ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
Alex Lubetkin
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Gina Edwards & Kim Amedro JUNIOR ASSOCIATE
Shannon Miranda
Another byproduct of becoming aware of this life cycle is that we now want to share our magazine with you more than ever and in every possible way we can. We’ve revamped our website to be more colorful, user-friendly and all-around more Backdrop. We’ve started a weekly podcast so we can let you in on our process and other current events that interest us. And in a collaboration we’re incredibly excited about, we’ve joined up with Flare Code. Flare Code was started by several OU students, including former Backdrop editor, Niklos Salontay, and will provide you with even more Backdrop content. Whenever you encounter a QR code on a page of the magazine, use a bar code scanner on your smart phone to scan it and you will be guided to exclusive extra content from that story.
COPY EDITOR
Previous generations have paid for this magazine with late nights at the library, days spent passing out magazines in snow and rain and jeopardized GPAs. We plan to honor them by keeping this thing running at full speed and we hope you join us on this, at times rough, but always-exciting ride. Scan here to see Backdrop’s FLARE page.
FEATURES » 19
Douglas Bair
Maybe it’s because we’ve just come to that realization ourselves, but quite a few of our stories this issue deal with the awareness of these four to five-year college life cycles that govern us all. There is Alex Lubetkin’s profile of the band First Street Heat and its members’ realization that despite all their talent and popularity, their impending graduations may send them all off in different directions. Alexander Menrisky’s profile of Lost Flamingo Company’s Rocky Horror Picture Show production shows how the group has kept the show going for nine years (which is two college life cycles by my count), while Kim Amedro’s hunt for an elusive piece of Athens history reveals how interesting stories can get partially lost in the college life cycle shuffle.
We are now in year five of Backdrop’s existence and this issue represents the first time that no current Backdrop member witnessed the birth of the magazine back in 2007. Thankfully we have a large staff (seriously, look at the masthead) of people who are very good at what they do. I have no doubt that we’re up for the challenge but it’s never easy to ask a graduating class to hand over its baby.
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backdrop magazine
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ASSISTANT EDITOR
Daniella Limoli
ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR
End of the Street College bands come and go. But for this 12 member troupe, the breakup is a complicated divorce of side projects and a final headline act that could define their careers.
24 Queen of Hearts
This drag queen is taking philanthropy to a whole new level with his generous heart and outward compassion for the community that calls him a son.
CONTRIBUTORS Alex Lubetkin, Alexander Menrisky, Angela Igansky, Carli Pappas, Curt Chapkowski, Daniella Limoli, Gina Edwards, Hannah Croft, Kelsi Bowes, Melissa Thompson, Shannon Miranda, Ashley Ferrell
Tessa Dufresne
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ON THE COVER Cover photo by Loren Cellentani Cover design by Rohan Kusre
Kelsi Bowes
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Brittany Thomas DESIGN DIRECTOR
Rohan Kusre
30
24
12
34
19
16
ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR
Skye Gould
DESIGN TEAM Alexander Martinez, Cassandra Sharpe, Chelsea Leasure, Emilee Kraus, Katherine Smidansky, Olivia Reaney, Staci Resler, Stephanie Rumph
PHOTO EDITOR
Loren Cellentani PHOTO RETOUCHER
Amanda Puckett Alec Bojalad
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backdrop | Fall 2011
CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Puckett, Corey Reeb, Greg Bodwell, Laura McDermott, Loren Cellentani, Meghan Shamblen, Patrick Dunn, Steven Turville, Susannah Kay
FALL 2011 » VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
DOT Check us out online at backdropmag.com
backdropmag.com
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