Sept. 20, 2013
Entertainment
Page 5
A day in the moonlight
Student spends summer working for professional theater Holly Boyce
Contributing Writer Sarah Zimmerman, a junior business management major and a theater minor, spent her summer working full-time for the Moonlight Amphitheatre, a professional equity theater in Vista, California. Zimmerman has loved theater since she was a child and had enjoyed watching Moonlight performances for 11 years. Four years ago, Zimmerman applied to be a house attendant at the theater. Since then, she has become the assistant stage manager of the production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific” this past summer. In addition to “South Pacific,” Zimmerman also helped with the productions of “The Wizard of Oz” as a Zealous Flying Effects fly operator, and as an electrician for Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” Zimmerman’s jobs included checking attendance at rehearsal, taking notes on blocking and filling in for absent actors. Zimmerman also went through ZFX training to learn how to fly ac-
tors during “The Wizard of Oz,” making her one of the few tech workers in the country with this skill. “I’m going to be picking you up by a really skinny piece of wire with this rope way over there and you’ve got to trust me,” Zimmerman told the actors. Zimmerman met many interesting people at Moonlight. “There was a man in a kilt walking around the stage. No one knew who he was or what he was doing there,” she said. “After half an hour, our tech director said, ‘this is the guy who will teach you how to fly everything.’ Apparently, kilts are part of his company’s uniform, allowing him for a greater range of movement.” Zimmerman also met and worked with Randall Dodge, the actor who inspired her to become involved in theater when she was a child. He had advised her to not give up, if theater was where she wanted to be. Zimmerman applied this wisdom to getting her summer job as well. After applying for the job once before, she became the youngest assistant stage manager to be hired at Moonlight. Zimmerman’s persistence is
Pick of the Week
Jinx
Lauren Farley Contributing Writer
WIKICOMMONS
evident in all she does, including her reaction to appendicitis during the opening week of “South Pacific.” She put off going to the doctor because she enjoyed working at Moonlight so much. “I wanted to be there so badly,” she said. “You don’t take sick days in theater.” Zimmerman learned how much trust it takes to put on a production. “I feel so much calmer going
through this process after this summer where their budget is 10 times more than ours here [at the College],” she said. “It makes me feel a little more comfortable.” Zimmerman will be the stage manager of the College’s production of “Les Misérables” and is also directing one of the Tau Alpha Pi One Act plays this fall.
Why you should watch ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Grayson Quay
Entertainment Editor Movie director Joss Whedon’s new television show, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” premieres on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. The series will be a part of the cinematic Marvel universe that began with “Iron Man” in 2008. Disney, which acquired Marvel in the summer of 2009, plans to release a few more Marvel films and has labeled the films from the first “Iron Man” to last year’s “The Avengers” as “Phase One.” “Phase Two” began with this summer’s “Iron Man 3,” and will reach its culmination with “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which Disney plans to release in the summer of 2015. Other upcoming “Phase Two” movies include “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Whedon has directed three films. The first was “Serenity” (2005), which wrapped up the storyline of his canceled show “Firefly.” The other two, both released in 2012, included the large scale, effects-driven blockbuster, “The Avengers,” and the modest Shakespeare adaptation, “Much Ado About Nothing,” which was filmed at Whedon’s very own house in only 12 days. Whedon is probably bestknown, however, for his television career. He created and served as showrunner of a num-
ber of successful shows, the first being “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1996-2003). Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a teenage girl whose destiny is to fight vampires, served as an inversion of the archetypal ditsy, blonde girl. Through this show, Whedon illustrated his deep commitment to feminism. A spin-off of the show, “Angel,” ran from 1999 to 2004. Whedon followed “Angel” with “Firefly,” a sci-fi Western that many consider to be his greatest show. It was canceled after only 14 episodes, although it still commands a strong following. The show, which chronicled the adventures of a group of outlaws and misfits on board the starship “Serenity,” promoted anti-authoritarian and antiestablishment themes. “There’s always going to be some element of government conspiracy, because people are manipulated every day and they never even notice it,” Whedon said. In 2008, he created the musical mini-series, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” with Neil Patrick Harris. “Dollhouse” (2009-2010) was his next television show. Whedon combined his mistrust of authority with a commitment to strong female leads. Eliza Dushku plays a “doll” named Echo who can be programmed with any personality, collection of
memories or set of skills. A company then offers these dolls to the rich and powerful to hire as lovers, spies, assassins or for anything else that the client wishes. An avid fan of comic books, Whedon wrote several X-Men comics and contributed to the screenplay of “X-Men” (2000). With experience in writing, directing, comic book development and the shaping of a metanarrative, Whedon was the ideal choice to take the reins of the cinematic Marvel universe. He also brought a wide following of fans from his TV shows along with him. Now, with his new show “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Whedon has created a place within the canon established by the Marvel films. S.H.I.E.L.D. is the government organization dealing with superheroes, led by Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Nick Fury. The organization’s name is an acronym for “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.” According to Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), a character making his debut into the Marvel universe, the acronym shows “that someone really wanted our initials to spell out ‘shield.’” The show follows a group of agents tasked with investigating instances of superpowers and other bizarre events. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), who was presumed dead at the
end of “The Avengers,” somehow survives and leads the team. Rounding out the squad are pilot Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), engineering expert Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and biochemist Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). Each team member has a unique set of skills, but none of them has any type of superpower. This was a very conscious decision on Whedon’s part. According to Whedon, he modeled the show after an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” called “The Zeppo.”The episode focused on characters who were less important. “The people who are ignored are the people I’ve been writing as my heroes from day one,” Whedon said. One of the biggest questions brought to mind is how Whedon’s anti-authoritarian views will influence a show in which the protagonists are all government agents. In a world where superheroes save New York City from invading aliens, this show’s tagline asserts that “Not all heroes are super.” If Whedon’s past work gives any indication, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” will contain superbly written characters and storylines and make an exciting addition to the Marvel cinematic universe.
Weekend begins their sophomore album, “Jinx,” with little apology. While several bands put a buffer track at the beginning of an album to ease their listeners into their sound, Weekend starts right off with their single, “Mirror.” The opening track starts off on the ambient side, but it is not long until the mantra, “I feel sick, sick, sick, sick, in my heart,” takes one straight to the center of a crowd who sings those lines straight back. Rather than the opening track for an album, this is the first song on a set list meant to rally fans. While “Jinx” is packed with some timeless, refreshing angst, other tracks key primarily into the uplifting, positive and distorted shoegazing sound in what seems to have become the norm in indie music. This can especially be seen in the track, “Celebration, FL,” where the track name prepares the listener for the almost complete departure from the driving guitar riffs and melancholy nature of all that preceded this point on the album. But underlying even this track, Weekend seems to peddle their discreet aggression. Buried beneath the floating suggestion to celebrate are the lyrics, “All this human living’s grinding at my soul / Had it in my heart until I lost control.” Since Weekend merges different musical tones onto one album, it is tempting to suggest that the album appeals to everyone. While that may be true, that conclusion cheapens the overall quality of “Jinx” by selling it to mass appeal. Rather, the album strives to communicate real life problems with a longing for the simple life, seen in the lo-fi mucking of fundamental concepts in imperfect cohesion throughout the album.