The Monthly — January 23, 2020

January 2020

Hello, Ms. President

Ilana Peña creates new Disney+ show about the future president coming of age p.5

Everything’s Goin’ His Way How Daniel Fish made “Oklahoma!” cool again p.8

For the ’Gram

The Monthly Staff shares their takes on Best Album p.10

ORDER YOUR 2020 NU SYLLABUS

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CONTENTS Staff of The Monthly

Hello, Ms. President

5

Everything’s Goin’ His Way

8

For the ‘Gram

10

Where Are They Now?

12

Open Tab

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Reel Thoughts

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Issue 25

Charlotte Walsh Crystal Wall Monthly Editors Catherine Buchaniec Roxanne Panas Emma Ruck Carly Schulman Designers Andrea Bian Maddie Burakoff Wilson Chapman Madeleine Fernando Eunice Lee Marissa Martinez Isabelle Sarraf Writers Cover photo: Courtesy photo

by Disney+/Matt Petit

Editors: Dear readers, Charlotte: I’m back! And it’s so great to see you again. After the long fall, I’m here for the long haul — Winter Quarter.

And I have company!!

Crystal: And I’m here, refreshed from a quarter abroad, but not changed. Well, maybe a little. But my love for A&E, The Daily and The Monthly are all the same.

Charlotte: This month, we were thinking about pop culture — specifically, the Oscar noms, which were disappointing, but not shocking. Once again, people of color were almost completely shut out from the acting slots despite clear winners in the mix (*cough* J.Lo WAS ROBBED!!!!!!!! “HUSTLERS” WAS AMAZING!!!!!!) and women were barred from the directing category, because “Little Women” just directed itself.

Crystal: Arts and entertainment prides itself on diversity and accepting all voices from all backgrounds, but as recent nominations and headlines show, that isn’t the case in practice. All voices deserve credit and stories produced from members of marginalized communities should be broadcasted as loudly — if not louder — than others.

Charlotte: And that’s exactly what our cover star this month sought to portray with her new show “Diary of a Future President.” Ilana Peña (Communication ’13) draws from the experience of her Cuban-American upbringing, tackling important issues like feminism, girlhood and middle school ~drama~ along the way. And it helps that she kicks ass doing it, eventually becoming the most powerful person in the U.S.A. Crystal: Normalizing powerful women on television is crucial. Questions of a female presidency have been floating in headlines for years, but when women step on the stage they are met with harsh criticism. Remarks are thrown around about their “bossy” attitude or what they wore. No one has cared so much about what a man wore since Timothée Chalamet donned that silk suit and shook the world. Ambitious women aren’t an anomaly; they’re the norm — and it’s time we start acting like it.

Charlotte: So get ready America, for two of the most powerful women in the nation — us. JK JK, but get ready for a lot of ladies in The Monthly (and J.Lo, if we can get her — we’ll give her the recognition she deserves).

Charlotte Walsh Crystal Wall 4

NU Alum Ilana Peña creates new Disney+ show

“Diary of a Future President,” writing the struggles of middle school and girlhood by

P

an in on Elena, a 12-year-old girl with enough ambition for everyone at her middle school. Every day she journals her experience — one of a Cuban-American girl in Miami with the dream of one day being the president of the United States. And when she eventually is the most powerful person in the country, she has her journal to look back on.

“Diary of a Future President,” created and co-produced by Northwestern alum and former “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” writer Ilana Peña (Communication ‘13), premiered on Jan. 17 on Disney+. Peña said she always wanted to write a story about

then I just kind of shot for the moon and I was like, why not make her the most powerful woman?”

Peña said that idea compelled her to write a pilot script, which she later sent to her agents. Her agents then sent it to various producers, and after some meetings, Gina Rodriguez’s company, I Can and I Will Productions, showed interest. Peña said they really shared her vision for the show, and that was the beginning of what later would land a deal with Disney+.

Showrunner Robin Shorr (Communication ‘98) was introduced to the script at a meeting with Rodriguez’s company. Shorr said her interest was piqued when she heard the writer was a young Northwestern alum, and she was not let down after her first read.

“What I told Ilana when I met her was that Gina’s production office at that point was in Santa Monica, which is very, very far from where I lived,” Shorr sad. “And I was like, ‘Ilana I liked your script enough to get in my car and drive to Santa Monica.’ So that’s the only indication I can give you of how much I liked it.”

“Diary” isn’t your typical “cheesy tween show,” she said. Rather, it’s a show about the struggles of a CubanAmerican middle schooler, many of which were based on Peña’s own experiences. Plus, Shorr said, Elena is not a squeaky-clean character. The pre-teen is coping with the loss of her father while navigating friends, ambitions and the beast that is Orange Bay Middle School. And this nuance to her character combined with the hopeful message it delivers, Shorr said, will make the show stand out amid a sea of options.

Shorr said the show was produced with “four quadrant viewing” in mind — an idea where entire families, no matter the race, makeup or sexual orientation, could see a part of themselves that may not have been represented on TV before. Better yet, see a female as the president.

“You sit in your classroom and you look up at the row of presidents above the blackboard and they’re all white dudes,” Shorr said. “So what I hope the takeaway

“

I’m telling the story of a Cuban-American girl because I am a Cuban-American girl and I want to see my story represented on screen.

Ilana peña, communicaton ‘13

girlhood and growing up, especially one based on her own experiences. She didn’t want her protagonist to be something stereotypical like the annoying older sister or class crush, but rather a girl with major power.

“I was just thinking about how a lot of these stories are origin stories — you know, a boy who is a superhero or in the case of ‘Everybody Hates Chris,’ Chris Rock,” Peña said. “And I was thinking, who will the girl in my story become? And

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is that we’re starting to get the viewers more and more used to seeing female power leaders — women in power that are unapologetic and doing their thing.”

NU theater Prof. Laura Schellhardt has known Peña since she was a wide-eyed “Cherub” at 17, and said Peña excels at not only creating a strong female lead, but also developing a world around her protagonist.

No one is a sidekick, and she said Peña has found a way to show that all narratives should be seen. And Schellhardt said Peña has always been interested in being a

champion for female voices, especially the voices of young women of color.

The characters in the show each face their own demons. Elena is finding a way to navigate her ambitions and middle school at once, and her ex-best friend struggles with popularity and finding her identity. Her mom, Gabi, juggles raising her family two years after her husband passed away with work and a new romance, while Elena’s her older brother is isolating himself from the family. Each narrative is heard in an empathetic way, something

Schellhardt said cuts to the heart of playwriting.

“What playwrights do is they really examine what stories must be told,” Schellhardt said. “We always start from a place of point of view: what are the stories that you are dying to tell that you have a connection to? What stories do you have a heart space for? Playwriting really embraces empathy.”

Peña echoed the sentiment there are many stories that deserve to be told, because everyone deserves to see themselves

reflected on the screen. And it’s important to tell your own story, she said, because “there is such universality in the specific.”

Still, she is honored that kids will watch it and hopefully see themselves in it.

“I’m telling the story of a CubanAmerican girl because I am a CubanAmerican girl and I want to see my story represented on screen,” Peña said. “I think that just the inherent idea of this show is aspirational. It’s female empowerment. It’s seeing a future for yourself that if you see it you can achieve it.” ◊

Photo courtesy of Disney, Graphic by Roxanne Panas

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H I g o S i W n’ A Y 8

-by Wilson Chapman

How Daniel Fish made “Oklahoma!” cool again

I

t’s any aspiring actor’s dream to end up in New York — the city that never sleeps and the illustrious home of thousands of budding Broadway stars. But when Jessie Mueller graduated with a theater degree from Syracuse University in 2005, she made a turn for the unexpected; she moved back home to Chicago.

“I just didn’t feel like I was ready to go to New York,” Mueller said. “I didn’t really have a relationship with New York, but I had a relationship with Chicago and I loved it and I had grown up watching people that I wanted to work with and going to theaters that I wanted to work at… so that was my goal at the time — to come to Chicago and be an actor and pay my rent.”

It might sound like a humble dream for an actress who would later win the 2014 Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical as Carole King in “Beautiful” and land major roles on Broadway hit shows “Waitress” and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” But for Mueller — born and raised in Evanston — it made perfect sense.

The daughter of two Chicago-based actors, Mueller fell in love with live theater and the Chicago arts community at a young age by attending dozens of shows and watching her parents perform. However, it wasn’t until she attended Evanston Township High School that she found herself in the spotlight.

Aaron Carney, the theater director at Evanston Township High School, recalls having Mueller in the first class he ever taught, when Mueller was just a sophomore. Despite being a new teacher in his mid-twenties who “had no idea what a teenager was,” he immediately recognized Mueller’s effortless acting ability.

“One of the things I always look for in an actor is honesty in a performance and truth and that’s exactly who she is,” Carney said. “Never for a second did anything she ever did come across as fake or ‘acting’... it just felt like she would slip into being this character.”

Carney described Mueller as very much a “theater kid” who shined in acting classes and productions, and made the theater her home while at ETHS. She had a raw talent that needed little guidance, he said.

In one acting class, he remembers Mueller performing a scene where she walked into an

apartment wearing a raincoat. She played the character flawlessly and brought some to tears — but it never occurred to her to take off the jacket during the scene, he said.

“It was little kind of obvious things that would escape her because she was just so focused on the core of something, whereas a lot of the students we have, the only thing they’re thinking about is kind of the logistics of, ‘OK, now I’m going to take off my coat, now I’ve got some lines to say,’” Carney said. “For her, it was kind of the opposite.”

After graduating from ETHS in 2001 and then attending Syracuse, Mueller got what she wanted and more, making a name for herself in the Chicago theater scene. She performed in various productions for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Marriott Theatre and Goodman Theatre, and was crowned Theater Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune in 2011.

Soon after, Mueller finally packed up her things and headed to New York, where she made her Broadway debut as Melinda Wells in a revival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.” While she’s now one of the Broadway’s most sought-after actresses, she still takes pride in her Chicago roots.

“There’s such a focus on the work there, and people show up and they do their jobs and then they go home and they live their lives and it’s all intertwined but there’s just sort of a selflessness,” Mueller said. “It’s not that New York is scary and selfish all the time, but there is sort of a marketing maachine here that works in a different way.”

Aside from her “angelic voice” and “magnetic” persona, Carney said it’s Mueller’s genuine acting ability that has allowed her to reach such famed heights on Broadway.

“She’s known now for musical theater but she’s just a tremendous actor,” Carney said.

“There’s lots of people who can sing and dance and act, but it’s the acting, it’s the honesty, it’s that actor within her that colors her voice and her movements that set her apart.”

In 2016, Mueller starred in the musical “Waitress” on Broadway, playing a young pie chef named Jenna who faces an unwanted pregnancy while struggling with an abusive relationship with her husband Earl.

Communication senior Samantha Casesa watched “Waitress” on Broadway twice — once

with Mueller, and another time with Katharine McPhee in the lead role. Casesa said the two productions struck different tones as a result, with Mueller shining in the more theatrical demands of the show.

“It’s hard to Communication senior Samantha Casesa watched “Waitress” on Broadway twice — once with Mueller, and another time with Katharine McPhee in the lead role. Casesa said the two productions struck different tones as a result, with Mueller shining in the more theatrical demands of the show.

“It’s hard to compare to Jessie Mueller performing — she’s really a force of nature,” Casesa said. “Her ‘Jenna’ is very tragic which I think is very at the heart of the play, and it’s not sugar coated in a way that’s easier to watch…

She brings a performance that’s very truthful in the tragedy and the sadness and the struggle of what she’s going through.”

Among the theater community, Mueller is often referred to as a “vocal chameleon” for her incredible ability to adapt her voice to seemingly any character — from the pop tunes in “Waitress” to the more classical sound of “Carousel.” But even after four Tony nods, six Broadway shows and a slated gig at the Kennedy Center in “The Music Man” next month, Mueller retains her Midwestern charm and humilicompare to Jessie Mueller performing — she’s really a force of nature,” Casesa said. “Her ‘Jenna’ is very tragic which I think is very at the heart of the play, and it’s not sugar coated in a way that’s easier to watch…

She brings a performance that’s very truthful in the tragedy and the sadness and the struggle of what she’s going through.”

Among the theater community, Mueller is often referred to as a “vocal chameleon” for her incredible ability to adapt her voice to seemingly any character — from the pop tunes in “Waitress” to the more classical sound of “Carousel.” But even after four Tony nods, six Broadway shows and a slated gig at the Kennedy Center in “The Music Man” next month, Mueller retains her Midwestern charm and humility.

“I always learn something from whoever I’m playing and I’m just really fortunate that people thought outside the box and allowed me to do the same,” Mueller said. ◊

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For the gram: Monthly staff shares best album takes lizzo

"CUZ I LOVE YOU" Turns out, Lizzo is 100 percent that Grammy queen. And you best believe that her time has finally come. With eight nominations, Lizzo didn’t just create an album — she created an era.

We’re living in a Lizzo Renaissance that has only recently come to appreciate her underrated gems and bops (because apparently 2017 just wasn’t ready for “Truth Hurts”). “Cuz I Love You” carries selfanthems for people of all backgrounds, marching men and women towards

h.e.r.

"i used to know her" I actually shed tears the day I realized I couldn’t attend a joint Ms. Lauryn Hill and H.E.R. concert in Los Angeles this October (for multiple reasons).To comfort myself, I’ve had her first albums, the self-titled “H.E.R.” and the more recent, “I Used To Know Her” on loop.

Gabi Wilson, more commonly known as H.E.R., is masterful at her craft.

Her second Grammy nomination for Album of the Year — among other prizes — in just two years only cements her influence.

LIL NAS X "7"

Technically, Lil Nas X’s “7” shouldn’t have gotten this nomination.Technically, it’s not even an album — it’s an EP, with a 19-minute runtime and eight songs (two of which are “Old Town Road”).

But since when has Lil Nas X cared about technicalities? The 20-year-old rapper skyrocketed to fame when his genre-bending hit hit, “Old Town Road,” got booted from Billboard’s country charts and sparked outrage.

The remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus quickly became the inescapable song of the summer — and a symbol of the music industry’s need to evolve.

As his songs kept a tight rein on the charts, Lil Nas X continued to prove himself a star true to his Gen Z roots: pushing his music on TikTok, coming out on Twitter and self-memeing on Instagram. His irreverent attitude shines through on “7,” which is a fun, unpolished romp of a debut EP that tosses in a wide array of styles and influences — from niche Cartoon Network references to Cardi B rapping about armadillos.

So, even though “7” isn’t a perfect album (or really an album at all), a win for Lil Nas X is a win for a future where rules are less rigid, originality is celebrated and yeehaw culture can belong to anyone.

--Maddie Burakoff

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body positivity, sexuality and individuality.

Lizzo transcends the stereotype of a pop performer, unapologetically living her truths and twerk-fluting the haters away. By creating music that overflows with love and catchy bass lines, this artist is a celebrated icon who is totally, unreservedly special.

Now, Lizzo is finally getting the love and recognition she deserves. And her leaving the Grammys with more gold trophies than she can carry is a perfect form of final validation.

And she’s gonna do it. Like a girl.

--Eunice Lee To start off the album, “Lost Souls” directly samples Hill and sets off an experimental 19-track compilation project, and songs like “Carried Away,” backed by a cloying guitar and signature bass, or “Fate” show Wilson’s ability to capture different instrumentals and transform them with her unique voice.

At times, the album does feel less focused than her freshman project, and not every song is a stand-out hit like in “H.E.R.,” but the entire hour and 12 minutes are filled with a soothing vocals about lost love and frustration, laid over well-produced tracks. Wilson is a technically and emotionally developed artist, and two straight years of nominations is a sign of good things to come.

--Marissa Martinez

Vampire Weekend "Father of the bride"

Picture it. You’re 16 again and headed to your homecoming dance. You’ve got navy blue dress smothered in rhinestones, and your best friend asks you to pass the hair curler as the two of you get ready in her bathroom. What song is on? “A-Punk” by Vampire Weekend.

For an entirely new generation of angsty teens, this scene will live on. On the band’s newest album, “Father of the Bride” (2019), Vampire Weekend throws a nod to their roots while looking forward into the great beyond.

After a band member departure and a 6-year break, “Father” represents a new era for the band, one departing from, but not forgetting 2013’s almost haunted “Modern Vampires of the City,” an album crammed with sad metaphors and existential life questions. But on concc on “Father,”lyrics like “I don’t wanna live like this / but I don’t wanna die,” addresses those worries head-on. We’ve grown alongside VW, and this new album proves they’re ready to let their anxieties go, letting the album flow with more natural sounds and straightforward lyrics ala Kacey Musgraves.

So maybe a new generation of teens won’t be as angsty. And a Best Album Grammy would show we’ve all grown up a little, too.

--Charlotte Walsh

Bon Iver "i, i"

Among the nominees for Album of the Year, Bon Iver’s “i, i” is a bit of an anomaly. All of the albums represent the pinnacles of rock to mainstream pop and everything in between. Unlike the other nominees, “i, i’s” combination of folk with otherworldly electronica is harder to place in a clear-cut genre. It’s a synthesis of Bon Iver’s previous albums, pairing the soulful songwriting of their 2011 self-titled album with the electronic experimentation of their 2016 “22, A Million.” “i, i” is one of the most idiosyncratic works to be recently nominated for Best Album, and one of the

best.

The songs of “i, i” are constructed like collages, with pianos, synthesizers, acoustic guitars and mechanical autotune creating disparate sounds that form rushes of conflicting feelings. In theory it shouldn’t work, but it results in some of the most soaring highs of the band’s career, from the nostalgic “Hey, Ma” to the anthemic “Naeem” to the haunting “Jelmore.” Frontman Justin Vernon’s glorious vocal performance ties the album together, his deep voice conveying longing, fear and sadness with ease. It all results in an album that sounds like it’s from another world, but digs deep into you with emotions that are all too human.

--Wilson Chapman

Billie eilish

Ariana Grande

"WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?"

"THANK U, NEXT"

Any record that starts with, “I have taken out my Invisalign, and this is the album,” deserves album of the year. At only 18 years old, Billie Eilish took 2019 by storm with her hits “bad guy” and “when the party’s over,” but those were just pieces of her bigger picture. Eilish crafted a cohesive record meant to be listened to in the order she chose, starting strong to lead into an emotional dip in the middle, only to be pulled out by the quote, “No Billie, I haven’t done that dance since my wife died,” from The Office in “my strange addiction.” Her soft vocals echo against the mixed melodies in an exhilarating yet calming way, like you holding your breath and letting everything go at the same time. Praised for her authenticity, Eilish has found a niche — “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” is the album you put on at a bonfire and sing like it’s a song you’ve known for years.

--Crystal Wall

In less than one year, Ariana Grande experienced enough drama and heartbreak to last most people a lifetime. After separating from her longtime boyfriend Mac Miller, Grande got engaged to Pete Davidson, released her fourth album “Sweetener” and then called off her (very public) engagement shortly after Miller’s tragic death.

Under the same circumstances, you’d expect any major pop star to retreat, to hide away from the media circus and social media frenzy. But instead, Grande emerged victorious with her fifth studio album, proving that she is the sole author of her life story.

“Thank u, next” is Grande’s most personal album to date. It’s an album about pain and heartbreak as much as it is about liberating yourself and moving on. But in sharp contrast to some of Grande’s biggest songs of the decade — “Problem,” “Side to Side” and “Focus,” among others — “thank u, next” isn’t just a collection of surface-level pop hits; it’s an emotional album that feels unapologetically, authentically Ariana.

--Madeleine Fernando

lana del ray

"NORMON F-ING ROCKWELL!" 12-year-old me met Lana for the first time while singing along to “National Anthem” lyrics like “Take me to the Hamptons” without knowing where the Hamptons were. I wasn’t old enough to fully process her social commentary or identify the productive repetition for which “Born To Die” was often criticized. Since then, Lana Del Rey has discerningly continued her universal themes of money, power, sex, loss, to varying degrees of success.

But “Norman F—ing Rockwell!” is Del Rey’s arrival, her deification as a songwriter and lyricist.

Everything’s there: southern California glamour, suburban

listlessness, musings of romantic loss. “If he’s a serial killer, then what’s the worst / that can happen to a girl who’s already hurt?”

Del Rey whispers on “Happiness is a butterfly.” It’s this elusive sense of heightened reality that makes this album all the more beautiful and yearning and hopeless and hopeful — sentiments she struggled to authentically conjure in her earlier work.

It’s absolutely stunning growth for an artist once regarded as already having achieved her creative peak, who has been chided for being repetitive, unoriginal, predictable. I’d say both Lana and I have come a long way since “Take me to the Hamptons” — and witnessing her journey alongside mine has been profoundly gratifying.

--Andrea Bian Graphics by Carly Schulman

Q&A: NU alum Chloe Nadon-Enriquez talks joining cast of “Hamilton,” time at Northwestern

by Isabelle Sarraf

C

hloe Nadon-Enriquez (Communication ‘19) didn’t throw away her shot to land the role of a lifetime — an ensemble member in the San Francisco cast of “Hamilton.” The Miami native began her musical theater journey at Northwestern, and during her final years, auditioned for “Hamilton” on a whim. The young, scrappy and hungry alumna joined the “And Peggy” Company in December 2019 and now performs to sold-out audiences eight times a week. Nadon-Enriquez sat down with The Daily to dish about the production’s long audition process, her experience performing the show as a biracial woman and her favorite “Hamilton” moment.

is a country of immigrants, so why are we only telling white narratives? Why are we only putting Caucasian people in positions of power?

How do you navigate your role in “Hamilton” as a biracial woman?

What I love is that I’m in a cast full of people who look like me in the sense that they don’t look white. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a cast that is mostly people of color. I play ensemble — I’m not a main character — and I’m a person of color. I think that’s so important because you barely see ensembles filled with people of color unless the role specifically calls for it … I think that’s what I love about “Hamilton.” I don’t feel like I’m not colored enough and I don’t feel like I’m not white enough. And that’s the first time I’ve ever felt like that in a show process. I feel like I am truly embraced for who I am and what I look like, rather than being put in a box for how I look.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

What was the audition process like for “Hamilton”?

In December (2018), I got an email with audition appointment information, which is basically a callback for dancers. It was happening in New York and I think I had a 48-hour notice. I was thinking, “You know what? ‘Hamilton’ is a great show for a dancer and especially a person of color.” So I booked a flight from Chicago — it was finals week, I took my last final, and I went to New York. I didn’t know where I was going to sleep that night … I essentially couch-surfed.

In July, I was making plans to move to New York. I was currently doing “In the Heights” at Music Theatre Wichita. That was my first professional job out of college. On the first day of rehearsals, I got a call from my agent giving me the offer for the San Francisco production of “Hamilton.”

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What is your personal connection to “Hamilton”?

What I think is cool about “Hamilton” is that instead of taking a narrative that is one about people of color, (Miranda) took a narrative that is white, and instead took people of color to tell that narrative. I think the point of that is that America

Photo: Courtesy of Chloe Nadon-Enriquez, Courtesy of Nabeel Muscatwalla

What is your favorite moment in the show?

It all starts at the top. The beginning of the show is so powerful and well-staged. There’s a moment in “Alexander Hamilton” where everybody in the show sings, “Alexander Hamilton, we are waiting in the wings for you / You could never back down, you never learned to take your time.” During that line, everybody in the show comes downstage and stand in one line. There’s no difference between principle characters and ensemble members, everyone’s mixed up next to each other. It’s a moment of silence where you think ‘I’m about to tell this story for two and a half hours, what does it mean?’ And it manifests itself differently on people’s faces, where (the audience) brings their attention forward. It’s powerful to watch, but I think it’s more powerful to sing. ◊

N

abeel Muscatwalla (Communication ’18) has been telling jokes ever since he was a “wee lil’ jelly bean boy” — but not often for a stage of this size. Muscatwalla recently took part in CBS’ 2020 Comedy Showcase on Jan. 14-17 at the El Portal Theatre in Los Angeles, performing each night for executives, showrunners and casting directors from CBS and other networks, talent agents and members of the public alike. The diverse showcase, a hybrid sketch/ performance show, exclusively features comedians from underrepresented groups. Muscatwalla recently sat down with The Daily to share what his audition process was like and his advice for wee lil’ jelly bean comedians.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

How was the audition process for the showcase?

There was an invitation to audition that was sent out, and the person who recommended me performs sketch comedy with me at UCB, which is Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Theatre in Los Angeles and New York …

The audition process itself was something like two minutes of characters essentially. Then there was a callback process, which was a fresh two minutes to do three to five more characters, and then the second callback, they had you pick some of them. So it’s kind of a kind of a lengthy weeding process. They went to six cities ... it was a whole ordeal for sure.

How did you prepare for the showcase?

Preparing for the showcase was the most fun part, honestly. For the past 10 weeks, each week we would pitch sketches on Monday,

table read sketches on Wednesdays and stage whichever sketches made it through on Fridays, for 10 weeks. And so it really becomes a very awesome crash course in sketch comedy.

What was special about performing in a diverse comedy showcase?

What’s great about the showcase is that we don’t really overlap with one another and the types of roles that we will end up auditioning for. For example, there’s no one else in the showcase who was like a Muslim South Asian lanky dude. That obviously is very nice because it allows us to be more supportive of one another. At no point do we feel like we’re stepping on each other’s toes or getting in each other’s way because we’re also completely different and completely unique and completely brilliant in our own ways that it’s so easy to support one another.

Do you have any advice for up-and-coming comedians, especially those coming out of Northwestern?

Oh, baby, do I have advice! I mean first of all, I’m not gonna pretend like I really know what I’m talking about. The only piece of advice that I would give is that if you have decided that this is something that you want to do, the only thing between you and doing it is time and hard work. I think that there’s this weird expectation that things will happen right away, and I’m obviously in a very privileged standpoint where things are happening very excitedly for me at the moment, but as soon as I graduated, I had a very clear mindset that it could very well take a decade for me to get to a place where I am happy in my career. I think that my personal recipe for success has been belief in yourself being preparation, but if you know this is what you want to do, it’s just a matter of are you willing to work to it. ◊

Q&A: Comedian Nabeel Muscatwalla (Communication ’18)

by Charlotte Walsh featured in CBS Comedy Showcase

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Hewn Bakery is Evanston’s winter solace

T

ucked in at 810 Dempster St, Hewn Bakery is a carb-lovers dream. I open the door, and even as the snow falls, the warmth offered by an earthy color palette and the smell of fresh sourdough greets me — objectively the best bread (if you don’t believe me, read the science). Dozens of loaves line the wall, each a different shade of brown and offering something unique in their bite. Their artisan loaves come in a range of flavors, which can vary based on the day, from honey oat and garlic parmesan to potato rosemary and caramelized onion rye.

Since 2013, Hewn has found a home besides other small, southern Evanston spots. Almost seven years later, the bakery has found a loyal customer base and attracted almost nine thousand Instagram followers. Loaves can range anywhere from $6.50 and up, while most pastries fall in the three to five dollar range. You can also score a latte or drip coffee for under four dollars.

Each bread is made with a sourdough starter, and if bread making is your thing, you can buy the Hewn cookbook, “Heritage Baking: Recipes for Rustic Breads and Pastries Baked with Artisanal Flour from Hewn Bakery,” written by Ellen King with Amelia Levin. The book offers 45 recipes and thoroughly explains how to choose the right flour, make your own starter and make an artisan loaf.It also includes recipes for pastries like scones, muffins and cookies.

If indulging in eating an entire loaf of bread for lunch isn’t your idea of a good day, that’s OK (I mean, I don’t understand, but that’s OK). The baker y also sells a delicious array of pastries like scones (the lemon ginger scone is my

favorite), croissants and monkey bread.

Stop by after a Trader Joe’s run for a ginger cookie to warm up your taste buds or treat yourself to an oat milk latte before a long day of studying.

Located just off the corner of Dempster and Sherman, the bakery is a short hike away from campus and there isn’t much seating to settle inside, but that just makes it the perfect treat. On those days when the sun is shining and I’ve had a long week, nothing feels better than getting away from campus to indulge in a scone and buy a fresh loaf.

Even after four years here, I’m not a Midwester ner — really, I’m far from it, which is pretty clear when I ask what f ourwheel drive is.

But there is

— by Crystal Wall something special about these Midwestern grains. They add a unique layer to the flavor, something that comes close to justifying the harsh winter. And when I bite into a piece of Hewn bread or a housemade pastry, I feel just a little warmer. ◊

Reel Thoughts ‘1917’ is a bloody good movie worthy of all the

artinez

issa M

by Mar

nominations

M

y experience with war movies is brief — I’m pretty sure the last one I watched was “War Horse” in 2011. It’s safe to say I’m not an expert.

I wouldn’t proclaim that “1917,” directed

by Sam Mendes, is “more than” a war movie, or does anything particularly revolutionary within the genre as far as plot alone goes.

Yet the film has shaped up to be one of my favorite things I’ve seen in awhile.

Although the first ten minutes or so are filled with English my simple Midwestern ears couldn’t quite understand, the movie’s premise soon becomes clear: Corporals Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay) have to travel into enemy territory to prevent a British battalion from raging into a German trap. The duo has only one day to save 1,600 men, among them Blake’s older “brutha,” as he frequently reminds viewers in his youthful accent.

To start, the cinematography was truly worthy of its Oscar nom. “One-take” films always intrigue me as a high-risk, high-reward feat. This style fits the movie perfectly: their mission takes place over the course of about 24 hours, pulling viewers along as they try to meet their goal trekking over vast landscapes, swimming through deep blue bodies of water and tiptoeing through ramshackle houses. I literally had a tension headache from clenching my jaw and

rsal Pictures.

Courtesy of Unive

holding my breath 45 minutes in — every other shot seemed to make the audience groan, sigh or gasp with its weight. We traveled with Blake and Schofield every step of the way; we held the written order to stop the troops in our own breast pockets.

Striking portraits fill the movie: tired British soldiers filing through the trenches as Blake marches forward in the opposite direction, bloated bodies floating in a river bank, men listening to a wavering rendition of “Wayfaring Stranger.” And of course, the pivotal scene, where Schofield dashes above the trenches to deliver a message, tripping and falling over his fellow soldiers as bombs rain from the sky and cloud the screen with dust.

Pacing, something all good dramas require, carries the movie. Between periods of intensity that left me pushing into the back of my seat, there are plenty of tender, careful moments: Schofield comforting a young woman and child, dry-humored soldiers sharing cigarettes and stories in the back of a truck. There are limits to this type of measured storytelling — the panning to show quotidian soldier life sometimes dragged on or became repetitive, and as much as I love MacKay, I could only watch him turn around in a circle and shout someone’s name for so long. But the score, composed

by Thomas Newman, swept viewers along for the ride, even during slower stretches.

Beyond the thrilling shots and colors of the film, the acting is also phenomenal.

MacKay plays a brilliantly pragmatic and stoic Schofield, who didn’t ask to be a part of this mission but carries it out anyway with a brutal determination. His haunted expressions gave me 1979’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” vibes, but British and actually good. (Those baby blues — no wonder he dated Saoirse Ronan four years ago!!)

As with any historical war movie, the sets take everything to a new level. Stark contrasts between the sloppy British camps and ordered German trenches spoke volumes about the status of both sides during the war.

Viewers can feel the exhaustion as Schofield trudges up barbed wire-covered hills and jumps over low walls to escape. Even the rats, who crawl their way through many a shocking scene, were robbed of an Academy nod (#OscarsSoHuman).

“1917” is a technically precise movie about the quiet moments of will and the individual missions that make up the first of two long world wars. Even though I found myself occasionally wanting subtitles, it’s worth seeing in theaters before the Oscars next month. Between its bombastic instrumentals and incredible cinematography, the big screen is best medium to watch this mission to save 1,600 troops — including one man’s “brutha.” ◊

15

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