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justARTS
TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 | THE JUSTICE
CALENDAR
INTERVIEW
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What’s happening in Arts on and off campus this week
ON-CAMPUS EVENTS A Commemoration in Words and Music
The Ghetto in Lodz 1939-1944 is sponsored by the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, the Center for German and European Studies, the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Hillel at Brandeis and the Office of the President. Today from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Rapaporte Treasure Hall in Goldfarb Library. This event is free and open to the public.
Carlos Yushimito del Valle
Born in Lima, Peru in 1977, Carlos Yushimito del Valle is regarded as one of the most original voices to emerge in Latin American literature in recent years. In 2010, Granta Magazine featured him among “twenty-two literary stars of the future” in Spain and Latin America. Also, in 2008, Casa de las Américas and Centro Onelio Cardoso in Cuba selected the literary prospect as one of the best writers of a rising generation. Yushimito has published five short-story collections: El mago (2004), Las islas (2006), Equis (2009), Lecciones para un niño que llega tarde (2011) and Los bosques tienen sus propias puertas (2013). His fiction has been translated into a series of languages that include English, French, Italian and Portuguese. Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Pearlman Hall Lounge, Room 113. The event is free and open to the public.
John Schnorrenberg ’14 Senior directs and writes ‘Killer & Me’ JOSH HOROWITZ/the Justice
This week, JustArts spoke with John Schnorrenberg ’14 who wrote and directed a play that premiered on Friday and ran to Sunday in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. JustArts: Can you discuss the inspiration for your show? John Schnorrenberg: I was procrastinating (that seems to be how a lot of things start for me)… on a project I had for a playwriting class and I was supposed to be writing a monologue. I saw this Charles Manson video … he said something that really drew me in, and that got me [thinking about] Ted Bundy. I did a lot of research on Ted Bundy. And something about it really captured me. It wasn’t so much about Ted Bundy as the women in his life—one in particular who he was dating for a long time, a co-worker of his. [She] had been working with him at the Seattle Police Department and he got married to [her] during his trial for murder. That screamed to me “this would be a great drama, this would be fantastic as a drama.” So I had my final project for this class in mind ... and I wrote a monologue about Ted Bundy murdering a woman. I was excited to see all the gasps and horrors in class. Instead … people laughed. And that was offputting at first but the more I thought about it the more I thought that this is where I should go with it. So it went away from Ted Bundy and just to the generalized idea of a romantic comedy about a serial killer and a police detective. JA: How did you balance the comedic and heavy aspects of the play? JS: I think the heavy topic is more in the subtext. There are a couple of times where [the heavy topics come] out in a very obvious way such as some of the murders—to really reinforce the point that “this is not a good person, this is not the way it should be,” but for me, I wanted to tell the audience, “this is a bad thing” and then make them forget with light comedy and make them fall in love with the characters and maybe root for the relationship. It has been interesting to see how people respond to that. I’ve gotten a variety of responses—some people “ooing and ahhing” when they kiss and others laughing because of the absurdity. But I really wanted to bookend it between the comedy with the more intense ending … showing how this is horrible. Showing [that] at the end, she’s happy but how ridiculous it is for her to be happy. JA: What was your biggest challenge in both writing and directing this play? JS: Some characters came to me really easily. Some of them, though, were much harder. It was tricky because a lot of my characters are stereotypes— [part of] the whole [romantic comedy] tropes … and some of those, it was hard to [think about] how much is a stereotype and how much is the real person and also how to make it unique and originally funny and also working to help those actors to find something that I wasn’t quite sure how to do myself, that was a bit of a challenge. But I’m happy with the way it came out and I am excited to keep working on it more and also brood more now that I have those voices in my head. JA: Do you have plans for the play after Brandeis? JS: I’m going to take a little bit of time back now … These past two months have been a lot of focusing on [the play]. I’m going to take a breather. But I’m going to return to it. It’s been very helpful to have people working very hard, really turning themselves into the characters for a couple hours every night. And with that in mind, maybe bring some of their [improvised] lines in, maybe even ask them for some of their opinions, workshop it more. What I haven’t decided is if I want to keep it a play and submit it to different playhouses or if I want to turn it into a screenplay and maybe try to submit it to various film production companies. JA: Can you put into a few words the message that you hope the audience will get out of this play? JS: First and foremost, I just entertained. But, ultimately after always think about what you’re taking it at blank-face.
want people to be that, make sure you watching instead of —Emily Wishingrad
Close Looking Series
Join us for a close look at Fernand Léger’s painting “La Femme Bleue” (1929), with talks by Profs. Lucy Kim (FA) and Sabine von Mering (GRALL). Close Looking is an interdisciplinary event offering in-depth discussion of some of our University’s greatest treasures from the library’s Special Collections and the Rose Art Museum. Each session will include a viewing of a particular work, presentations
by two faculty members, thoughtprovoking conversation and refreshments. The event is sponsored by the Mandel Center for the Humanities in collaboration with the Rose Art Museum and the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department and is free and open to the public. Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Rose Art Museum.
‘Hairspray’
The 1950s are out and change is in the air. Winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, is a familyfriendly musical piled bouffant high with laughter, romance and deliriously tuneful songs. It’s 1962 in Baltimore, and the lovable plus-size teen Tracy Turnblad has only one desire—to dance on the popular Corny Collins Show. When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star. She must use her newfound power to dethrone the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin and integrate a TV network without denting her ‘do. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater.
Making a Feminist Documentary Film
Women’s Studies Research Center Scholars Susan Rivo and Rochelle Ruthchild have worked on the documentary film, Left on Pearl: Women Take Over 888 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, for over 10 years. They will discuss the production process, interviewing, research, plot development and show some clips. Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Epstein Building of the Women’s Studies Research Center.
Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra
The Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra performs the Gregson Tuba Concerto and Mozart’s “Exsultate, Jubilate,” featuring Aaron Zuckerman ’14,
winner of the annual concerto competition. Prof. Neal Hampton (MUS) will conduct. Saturday from 8:30 to 10 p.m. in Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Brandeis Early Music Ensemble
Delight in the repertoires of 15th, 16th and 17th-century Europe, ranging from both madrigals and dances to motets and fantasias. Sunday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Poetic Overtures
Susan Snively, published poet and scriptwriter for two films about Emily Dickinson and a guide and writer for the Emily Dickinson Museum, will give a talk about Emily Dickinson, which will be followed by the world premieres of Brandeis student composers’ works inspired by the acclaimed poet, performed by Sarah Pelletier, soprano, and Lois Shapiro, piano. Sunday from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the Slosberg Music Center. This event is free and open to the public.
OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS
‘Quilts and Color’ Quilts and Color celebrates the vibrant color palette and inventive design seen in the acclaimed Pilgrim/ Roy Quilt Collection. The exhibition features nearly 60 distinctive quilts from the renowned collection and is the first to explore how, over five decades, trained artists Paul Pilgrim and Gerald Roy searched out and collected quilts with bold, eye-popping designs that echoed the work of mid20th century Abstract Expressionist and Op Artists. Showing until July 27 in the Ann Graham Gund Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Admission is $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, and free with a Brandeis ID.
Pop Culture n !
wwcouple months ago, the NBC lateA night talk show landscape was altered dramatically. Jay Leno retired back in February, leaving Jimmy Fallon to take over The Tonight Show. Then Saturday Night Live alum Seth Meyers took over Fallon’s former hosting position on Late Night. In the weeks following, it looked like things were calming down on late-night shake up front. Well, folks, that’s not the case. In fact, the epidemic of departure has spread to CBS. On the Thursday night broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman, David Letterman broke the bombshell news that he plans to retire soon. People Magazine reports that Letterman’s director only broke the news to the staff moments before he announced it to the cameras. Reportedly, many staff members were in tears as the host shared the announcement. Interestingly, Letterman, 66, led the revelation of his retirement with a humorous story about a fishing trip with his young son. Indeed, he emphasized spending time with his family as a primary motivation for his decision. He made it clear, though, that there is not an exact timeline for his departure from his late-night post. It will occur “sometime in the not-toodistant future 2015,” he said. Letterman has been a staple of latenight television for over three decades. He began hosting the Late Show back in 1993, but previously hosted Late Night for 11 years. In 1992, when Johnny Carson retired from the The Tonight Show, fans expected Letterman to take over. However, NBC gave that position to Jay Leno and Letterman was then given his own Late Show on CBS. In addition, Letterman owns the production company Worldwide Pants Inc. It has produced primetime comedies like Everybody Loves Raymond in addition to producing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (which airs in the timeslot following Letterman’s show). Now, media outlets are speculating about who will replace the television
By Mara Sassoon
CREATIVE COMMONS
THE LAST SHOW: On Thursday, Late Show host David Letterman announced his retirement. veteran, throwing around names like Ferguson, Stephen Colbert, Chelsea Handler and Ellen DeGeneres. One thing’s for sure—Letterman’s own brand of dry, sardonic humor will certainly be inimitable. Moving on from late-night chaos, on Friday Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies re-arrested a man who was arrested the previous Sunday on suspicion of trespassing in Selena Gomez’s Calabasas, Calif. home. Che Cruz, 20, admitted on Wednesday to trespassing and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and ordered to stay away from Gomez. Yet, he apparently returned to the vicinity of Gomez’s house, leading to his second arrest on
Friday. The Associated Press reports that Cruz’s jail records show that Friday’s arrest just eight hours after he was released from an only seven-day stint in jail for the trespassing case. In other news—news I know all you pop-culturites were just so eager to hear—former Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi announced on Friday that she is pregnant with her second child with fiancé Jionni LaValle. She revealed in a blog post on her website that she is due this fall. Snooki, 26, and LaValle, 26, were engaged in 2012 and are parents to 19-month-old son Lorenzo Dominic. Reportedly, the couple’s wedding is still on for this upcoming fall as well.
ARTS COVER IMAGES: MORGAN BRILL, JOSH HOROWITZ, JOSH LINTON and Abby Knecht/the Justice and Fllickr, DESIGN: OLIVIA POBIEL/the Justice.