May 2018
Love, Greg
Making .WAVes
From Wildcat to Windsor
Open Tab
In ‘Love, Simon,’ Greg Berlanti rewrites Created by and for music lovers, The his happy ending p.5 .WAV Company grows on campus p.10
Meghan Markle’s road up the steps of the palace p.8
Smylie Brothers Brewing Company brings taste of Texas to Chicago p.14
A P RI L 1 4 – AU G UST 5, 2018
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UNBRANDED Images: Hank Willis Thomas, The natives will get restless, 1976/2015 [detail], 2015, and Bleach and Glow, 1975/2008 [detail], 2008. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Funding for this exhibition has been provided by the David C. & Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, the Robert Mapplethrope Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council Program.
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THE MONTHLY Contents Love, Greg
For Greg Berlanti, coming out was hard. In ‘Love, Simon,’ he rewrites his happy ending.
From Wildcat to Windsor
Meghan Markle’s road up the steps of the palace
Making .WAVes
Created by and for music lovers, The .WAV Company grows its presence on campus
Open Tab
Smylie Brothers Brewing Company brings the taste of Texas to Chicago
05 08 10 14
Staff of The Monthly Issue 11
Stavros Agorakis Monthly Editor
Ruiqi Chen Designer
Jane Recker Assistant Monthly Editor
Andrea Michelson Madeleine Fernando Writers
Cover photo and page 3 photo: Beth Rothstein
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Purple is for Royalty It was the wedding heard around the world. On a sunny Friday morning in 2011, Prince William officially went off the market and married Kate Middleton. Thousands of Brits swamped the Westminster Abbey area in London just to get a glimpse of the woman who did what many young girls only dream of: marry a prince. The royal wedding found me in my eighth grade science class taking a test. However, that didn’t stop our teacher from projecting the ceremony live on the whiteboard. We promised we wouldn’t get distracted, but, needless to say, we did. We took in every word the couple exchanged inside the church, laughed at the young bridesmaid covering her ears from the noise as William and Kate shared a kiss, and smiled all throughout the carriage ride that took the couple home. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what the fuss was about. While I appreciated the spectacle, I knew the royal family had little executive power in the U.K. and could not conceive that a day’s worth of festivities would cost British taxpayers $32 million. Yes, I was one of those kids. A few years later, though, I find myself anxiously awaiting for the upcoming royal hurrah, this time to celebrate the union between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Markle marks a turning point in the British royal family. Not only is she the first American to receive the title “Her Royal Highness,” she is also a biracial woman who is not afraid to speak up about her identity, human rights and global crises. A study published last July by the U.K. Parliament found that just 8 percent of members of both houses are from an ethnic minority background. The royal family itself is exclusively white. Markle is a breath of fresh air to the House of Windsor, the sort of newly made royal who is bound to shake things up at the palace. More importantly, though, Markle has been a key figure in helping communities celebrate their identities. While she and Harry may not hold actual power, I’ve already seen the effect of their public image channel into a positive force. The hashtag “#blackprincess” united black Twitter in unprecedented ways. Markle’s engagement shifted the princess fantasy that previously had young girls only idolizing the likes of Diana or Kate — both women who might not necessarily look like them. Markle, mere weeks away from her wedding day, is already spearheading change around the world. And, whether I’ll get to witness the impact of that change at Northwestern, her alma mater, or not, I’m more than excited to see its magnitude.
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FOR GREG BERLANTI, COMING OUT WAS HARD. IN ‘LOVE, SIMON,’ HE REWRITES HIS HAPPY ENDING. — by Madeleine Fernando
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G
reg Berlanti recalls his time at Northwestern with the fondest of memories: He enjoyed his independence, met some of his lifelong friends and simply loved school. There was just one aspect of his daily life that terrified him — he was gay. More than 20 years later, Berlanti (Communication ’94) directed “Love, Simon,” the first movie from a major Hollywood studio to center on a gay high school romance. The film — based on young adult novel “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” — features a teenage boy named Simon who, like Berlanti, is scared to say he is gay. Simon later falls in love with one of his classmates online and is forced to deal with a blackmailer who threatens to reveal his secret to the rest of the school. Berlanti said his own experiences at NU directly impacted the film. Although he described himself as a “happy kid” in college, being closeted at NU was a “scary time.” So, Berlanti said he tapped into that mixture of emotions and memories when working with the film’s writers. “I would give (the writers) some small details from my life that they spun into gold with the dialogue and with the actors,” he said. “I was always really honest with everybody on set just what it felt like: the heaviness of being in the closet (and) of what you do to yourself.” In addition to relating to the film’s main character, played by Nick Robinson, Berlanti said he was drawn to “Love, Simon,” out of a sense of obligation. Berlanti was a driving
force behind the first romantic gay kiss aired on primetime TV on “Dawson’s Creek” — a show he produced and wrote for — and said he wanted to bring “that same sensibility to film” that network television had already picked up on.
Having produced and occasionally written several hit TV shows featuring LGBTQ characters — “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “Black Lightning” and “Riverdale” to name a few — Berlanti said he is familiar with the challenges one must tightrope to ensure a high-quality final cut. And so, “Love Simon” seemed like a project he was born to be a part of. “I’ve been really blessed in my life by telling my truth and telling stories that are personal to me,” Berlanti said. “I wanted to sort of do my part to give back and make sure that it will be easier for the next woman or man to tell this
kind of story.” Released in the U.S. on March 16 by 20th Century Fox, the movie received widespread acclaim, garnering a 92 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and collecting dozens of positive reviews. USA Today, Rolling Stone and the Chicago Sun Times, among others, compared the film to those of John Hughes, who directed classic 80s love stories, like “Sixteen Candles” and “Pretty in Pink.” Berlanti said this was no mistake. “I remember the feeling of watching the John Hughes movies (and) a number of coming-of-age films in the 80s when I was actually coming of age, and they felt more important somehow,” Berlanti said. “It was sort of taking these small moments and making them feel really big and iconic.” To pay homage to these older films, Berlanti said the “Love, Simon” crew was cognizant of its choices in every aspect of filmmaking — lenses, lighting, music and wardrobe among others. Almost every detail of the movie was meticulously thought out, he said. Berlanti pointed to the film’s music and Photos: Source: Beth Rothstein
soundtrack, which heavily draw on synth sounds. The crew also shot with anamorphic lenses, which gives the movie a wider feel. Even the extras in the movie were cast and dressed such that each felt like they had a story. As a director, Berlanti said he responds to “things that feel real with just a touch of being heightened.” “In a lot of the work that I’ve done and been a part of, it tends to allow for things to be a little extra funny or a little extra sad or a little extra emotional,” Berlanti said. “But they still feel grounded, and they don’t feel too heightened or too over-the-top.” Weinberg junior Broderick Topil, who is gay, praised Berlanti’s directing and said he identified with Simon throughout the movie. He added that the film, while a huge step forward for gay representation, is for members of the LGBTQ community and allies alike. “Anybody can get into an amazing love story, and that’s honestly all it is,” Topil said. Communication Prof. emeritus David Downs, who was Berlanti’s acting professor for three years, recalls the summer of Berlanti’s freshman year as the pair’s earliest bonding moment. That summer, Downs sat down with Berlanti in the sculpture garden outside of the Wirtz Center, where he let the young student “just talk and talk” about himself under the shade of a willow tree; Downs remembers this conversation as his first real introduction to Berlanti. Even while at NU, Downs said Berlanti had a passion and a drive that were bound to carry him in his life. Downs said he has “great respect” for Berlanti, and the two have evolved from having a teacher-student relationship to a true friendship. Downs said he has loved watching
Berlanti “fight hard” in the industry without compromising his identity. “He sort of discovered who he was and what his sexuality had to do with the whole person that he was,” Downs said. “He was going to make it as a writer dammit, and he was going to make it as an out gay writer. He was not going to spend his life closeted.” Throughout rehearsals and the filmmaking process, Berlanti said he reminded the cast that everyone “comes out” in their own way. He recalled his own experience coming out to his parents and how his sister was also going through something personal at the time. “We all have personal things inside us that we’re scared to say and we’re scared (whether) the world still love us in the same way,” Berlanti said. “Part of growing up is accepting those parts of yourself but then… (realizing) that only by being yourself can you have a better, happier, more fulfilling life.” Above all else, Berlanti hopes viewers realize how similar people are to one another. In one of the final scenes after Simon comes out to his mother — played by Jennifer Garner — she tells him, “You get to exhale now, Simon. You get to be more you than you’ve been in a very long time.” The scene wasn’t in the original draft of the script, but Berlanti and the writers knew they needed a key moment between Simon and his mom. As soon as Garner performed the lines on set, she left everyone on the crew in tears and Berlanti reminiscing his own coming out experience. “There are different things after you come out that are good to hear,” Berlanti said. “One of those things for me was hearing someone say, ‘You know, you still deserve a happy ending, a love story.’” ◊
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From Wildcat
to Windsor
Meghan Markle’s road up the steps of the palace
— by Stavros Agorakis
I
t’s a tale as old as time: Whether it’s Marilyn Monroe wooing the likes of Laurence Olivier in “The Prince and the Showgirl,” or Meg Ryan charming Hugh Jackman in “Kate & Leopold,” fictional British royals never fail to fall in love with the American darlings who sweep them off their feet. It’s a tale as old as time, only now it’s reality. California-born Rachel Meghan Markle will soon become the newest member of the British royal family when she marries Prince Harry on May 19. Markle, who graduated from Northwestern’s School of Communication in 2003, is the first American to be granted the title “Her Royal Highness.” The royal wedding is set to take place at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle — just a few miles away from Eton College, the private high school Harry and his brother, Prince William, attended. Royal families from countries around Europe — including Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Greece — are expected to swarm the ceremony dressed in formal attire. According to a statement from Kensington Palace, Markle and Prince Harry weren’t required to invite international and British leaders to their wedding; some prominent names were left off the guest list, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama. Though the 22 months from their first date to the wedding day may seem like a rush to the altar, Markle told Vanity Fair in October that she and the prince are happy and in love, and that their relationship is strictly “for us.” “I’m sure there will be a time when we will have to come forward and present ourselves and have stories to tell, but I hope what people will understand is that this is our time,” she told Vanity Fair. “It’s part of what makes it so special, that it’s just ours. … Personally, I love a great love story.” The young couple were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in London in early July 2016, Markle and Harry
told BBC News a few days after their engagement in November. After two backto-back dates and rigorous coordination of their calendars — Markle was on set for the seventh season of the hit legal series “Suits” in Toronto — Harry took his thengirlfriend on a trip to Botswana, where they shared a tent and “camped out with each other under the stars.” Harry later used a diamond from Botswana as the centerpiece of the engagement ring he designed for Markle, along with smaller diamonds that belonged to his late mother, Princess Diana, to ensure “she’s with us on this crazy journey together.” As with any royal romance, rumors began swirling early on and Markle quickly became the target of a media storm. She is not only the first American to henceforth be referred to as “Her Royal Highness,” but she’s also a biracial divorcee who went to Catholic school. Four months into the couple’s relationship, the Daily Mail began circulating headlines calling Markle “(almost) straight outta Compton” and scrutinizing her parents’ financial hardships. Another British tabloid, the Daily Star Online, published a piece saying the prince might marry into “gangster royalty.” So, after months of keeping their love secret, Prince Harry asked Kensington Palace to issue a statement first confirming his relationship with Markle, and also denouncing the media for its intrusion into their private lives. According to the statement, Harry was “deeply disappointed” he could not protect his girlfriend from the “wave of abuse and harassment” she had been subject to about her race from social media trolls and web articles. Markle has never hesitated to speak up about her identity in the past. In a 2015 essay she penned for Elle magazine, she shared small vignettes from her life as a biracial woman, choosing to “be braver, go a bit deeper” and be honest with the readers about her experiences. “While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my selfidentification … I have come to embrace that,” Markle wrote. “To say who I am, to
Photo: Source: Eddie Mulholland/Daily Telegraph/PA Wire/Abaca Press/TNS
share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.” On Nov. 27, 2017, when Markle and the prince officially announced their engagement, Twitter users trended the hashtag “#blackprincess” and pointed to how such a union would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Markle is no foreigner to advocacy. At Northwestern, she double majored in theater and international studies, and later became involved with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She was also a global ambassador for World Vision, an organization that brings humanitarian aid to refugees worldwide. During her last quarter at Northwestern, Markle enrolled in a course called “Studies in Black Performance.” In those 10 weeks, eight students would arrange their desks in a small circle in a Parkes Hall classroom and discuss black theater and race in U.S. society, said Harvey Young, former chair of NU’s theater department and Markle’s professor in the class. “When I think of Meghan, I remember her sitting at that little desk and speaking with a sense of urgency,” Young told The Daily. “Every so often, she would stay after class, essentially for ad hoc office hours, and we would talk about a range of topics from the reading to her many activities across campus to her experiences as a NU student.” Young added that the royal family will be more relatable with a biracial woman who openly talks about racial identity joining it, especially because people of color are underrepresented in British politics. In February 2014, Markle visited Northwestern to promote the third season of “Suits.” Though she said during a campus event that she admired her role as an independent paralegal in a show that created “female archetypes,” Markle will no longer appear in the series. “I don’t see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change,” Markle told Harry in their BBC interview. “Now it’s time to work as team with you.” ◊
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Created by and for music lovers, The .WAV Company grows its presence on campus — by Andrea Michelson
W
hen nearly 200 people showed up to The .WAV Company’s first concert on Feb. 23 — nicknamed The Juul and Soylent Show — co-president Gibran Wirjawan knew he was doing something right. The show proved to be so successful that even the Evanston police made a surprise appearance at their venue, the infamous Ski House, that night. Wirjawan said he did not expect .WAV, a student-led music initiative, to take off at “such a drastic, high-speed level.” However, as a musician himself, Wirjawan said he has always been hyper-aware of the demand for an inclusive music scene on campus. “I’ve had this personal struggle throughout
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my life of not being able to find the right people or the right place to perform and write music with,” the Communication sophomore said. “A lot of other people have similar wants and needs … to be with people who are musically inclined.” Wirjawan originally pitched his idea for a music startup to The Garage. However, the idea did not come to fruition until he crossed paths with Weinberg sophomore William Ouyang, who similarly envisioned a student initiative to support the campus music scene. And so, The .WAV Company was born, with the two as co-presidents. .WAV has grown rapidly since its inception last quarter, offering weekly shows and
workshops as well as larger concerts. Wirjawan said the group now has between 150 and 200 members, a number that encompasses performers, photographers, videographers, graphic designers and many music lovers who are just along for the ride. Inclusivity is central to .WAV’s group ethos. Communication sophomore Nico Fernandez, internal vice president of .WAV, emphasized the executive board’s commitment to creating a space for people with all levels of music experience. “We’re trying to keep ourselves with the central themes that we founded it on: being a space for people who have never picked up a guitar before, to people that have albums out Photos: Source: Maytham Al-Zayer
and are going out and touring,” Fernandez said. Fernandez said there is also a component of “openness” to teaching and learning in the .WAV philosophy. Someone who has never performed before can come in and ask a seasoned musician for advice, or an aspiring photographer can learn to create music videos for the group, he said. This mentality translates into weekly workshops that cover everything from songwriting to video production. For Wirjawan, the desire to mentor other musicians drives much of his involvement in .WAV. “The reason I really wanted to be the leader of all this is because I’ve spent a lot of time doing all these things on my own,” Wirjawan said. “I’ve learned a couple things along the way, and I would like to help people not make the same mistakes that I made and be able to pursue these passions a lot better.” Wirjawan, who is the lead singer and guitarist of campus band Unpopular Opinion, underscored “the grind” as a crucial part of his journey as a musician. In his experience with Unpopular Opinion and his former band, Kodiak Grove, Wirjawan said releasing original music on streaming platforms and playing consistent gigs were central to the bands’ successes. Unpopular Opinion has headlined many .WAV concerts, including its largest event to date, Pi Night. The executive board arranged Pi Night as a kickoff event at La Macchina Cafe during reading week of Winter Quarter, Wirjawan said. Pi Night featured student musicians from a wide variety of genres. The show opened
with some singer-songwriter acts, including Communication freshman Haley Davis, who said she performed at the event after finding a supportive community at .WAV’s songwriting workshops. “I really like the .WAV audience, because even if you mess up a little bit, it’s such a laid-back environment,” Davis said. “The goal is to give you an avenue to practice performing.” Other Pi Night performers included the bands We’re Not Friends and Wop St. Bass Ritual. Both groups were born out of .WAV jam sessions, thanks to a bit of matchmaking done by Wirjawan. Communication sophomore Ross Patten said his band, We’re Not Friends, formed when Wirjawan “threw a GroupMe together and was like, ‘You’re playing a gig on Friday.’” Now, the band has become a fixture at .WAV concerts including Pi Night, Blooming Nights in Booming Heights and Lakefill Jams. The Facebook event for Lakefill Jams, which was held Saturday and was co-hosted by Niteskool Productions, advertised “good weather, good vibes and even better music.” With Evanston temperature in the 80s and a peak turnout of nearly 150 people, the concert delivered exactly what it promised. The crowd of NU students, some bathing suit-clad and buzzed from darties, congregated at the southernmost end of the Lakefill for three hours of live music. When Wop St. Bass Ritual took the stage with a mix of old school funk tunes, the audience rose to their feet for a massive outdoor dance party.
Bienen and Weinberg freshman Jacob Galdes, who plays jazz guitar in Wop St. Bass Ritual, said his experience in .WAV concerts is completely different from Bienen performances. “I feel like it’s more about the vibe and the image you put forward when you’re performing for .WAV,” Galdes said. “If you look up and you see a bunch of people who are like, ‘Yeah, this is dope!’ … They’re going to get up and dance and have a good time, and that does change the way I perform.” Galdes joked that the music Wop St. Bass Ritual plays is “illegal in the Bienen world.” If he wants to break out of his traditional jazz training to explore funk, soul and dance music, he said he has to do it on his own time. Wirjawan said he wants .WAV to be a space for students who struggle to set aside time in their busy schedules to do what they love. With an online calendar for weekly shows available on Facebook and an official website on the way, .WAV seeks to streamline the signup process for performers like Galdes, Wirjawan said. Along with the rest of the executive board, Wirjawan has devoted a tremendous amount of time and effort to making .WAV an accessible and engaging community. He said the past few months have been the busiest stretch of his college life, but he has never felt happier to be at NU. “When I perform … it just feels so comfortable and so relaxing,”Wirjawan said. “I’m just like, ‘Wow, this is the college experience that I wanted, and these are the type of people I want to surround myself with.’” ◊
Scan this QR code with Snapchat or your smartphone camera to view an accompanying video on student-led music initiative The .WAV Company, or visit bit.ly/2KOpbSL 11
“Manhattan Miracle,� the 87th annual Waa-Mu Show, tells a dramatized story of the production of the first American musical. The show, which opened Friday, will run through May 13 in Cahn Auditorium.
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Photos: Alison Albelda/The Daily Northwestern
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OpenTab Smylie Brothers Brewing Company brings the taste of Texas to Chicago
I
’ll never forget the first time my freshman roommate encountered a Midwestern barbecue. Slightly homesick for her native Texas, she rushed down to the courtyard of Willard Hall where the barbecue was being held, anxious to to get a well-missed taste of her home state’s delicacy. Her excited anticipation quickly turned into confused disbelief as she scanned the courtyard and saw only overcooked processed meats and some sad looking bags of chips. “Where’s the brisket, where are the ribs?” she lamented. “This isn’t a barbecue!” I, then an ignoramus in the ways of the barbecue, was slightly offended at her derision toward what I considered a perfectly lovely cookout. But after eating at Smylie Brothers Brewing Company, I’m beginning to see what she meant. While we pride ourself on our meats here in Chicago, nothing quite compares to the carnivorous delight of a Texas-style smoked barbecue. All of Smylie Brothers’ meats are smoked in house, giving them that deliciously dark, woody and smoky aftertaste that you just can’t get from prepackaged meat. It’s not an overpowering flavor, though. Smylie finds the perfect balance between a charred finish and an otherwise sweet and surprisingly juic y meat, hard to accomplish with the
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— by Jane Recker smoking process. While the pulled pork was sweet and the ribs peppery enough to enjoy without any additional seasoning, I opted to smother my grub in Smylie’s Kansas City-style barbecue sauce: a sticky, viscous delight with the right ratio of sweetness and tanginess. If you didn’t catch on from the name, Smylie also makes their own in-house brews. I wanted to try a little bit of everything, so I went with the surprisingly affordable beer flight: just $12 for six 5-ounce craft pours. I was partial to the Farmhouse — a light, dry beer with flavors of fruit and honey — and the Kuh KOW!, a stout brewed with Belgian milk chocolate with a surprising hint of cherry. The restaurant offered the perfect venue to enjoy barbecue and brews with buds. The interior was light and air y, with an open plan that
allowed resounding chatter to peal across the room, creating an excited, genial feel. The patio had a little slower pace; still open and sunny, the chatting was more intimate between tables. Either choice made for great dinner ambience. The bar has been set; after eating at Smylie’s, never again will I be able to fully enjoy a Chicago-style summer barbecue. While the hot dogs might be passable and the hamburgers satisfying, I know that I, like my roommate, will be left wondering, “Where’s the brisket?” ◊
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By Laura Schellhardt Directed by Rives Collins
When one generation fails the next, what choice is left? Meet five teenagers growing up on a fictional island in the Everglades where the adults are as dangerous as the gators. When one of the kids returns from Juvenile Detention to help the rest escape to the mainland, it seems their prayers have been answered. There’s only one problem—they need a boat, and they need it before the adults catch wind of their plan and end it, or end them.
MAY 18 - 27 Josephine Louis Theater 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston TICKETS: 847-491-7282 WIRTZ.NORTHWESTERN.EDU
A WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION!
See it here first before it transfers for an engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. following its run at the Wirtz Center at Northwestern University!
The Waa-Mu Show
National Theatre Live
MAY 24
MAY 25 - 27
MAY 30
MANHATTAN MIRACLE
MACBETH
SPRING AWAKENING New play adaptation!
HAMLET (Encore)
THROUGH MAY 13
WIRTZ.NORTHWESTERN.EDU
MFA Lab Series
National Theatre Live