LIVE EVENTS MUSIC
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“How It’s tough to make for everyone it work” Neezy puts out his new charity album
THEATRE
The Pirates of Penzance have come to steal the stage School musical was a huge success by Miranda Roberts A hush fell over the auditorium as the lights went down on Mar. 23 as the overtureto the first act of this year’s musical, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, flowed from the orchestra pit. The stage had been transformed to look like a sea vessel with a towering sail on one side and an anchor on the other side. The musical, directed by Ms. Martinez, ran from Mar. 22 to 25. The first scene began with the Pirate King, played by Jacob Laden-Guindon, Adv.
tucked in their belts. The plot follows the adventures of a pirate’s apprentice, Frederic, played by Ellis Srubas, Adv. 206. After earning his freedom from the pirate king on turning 21, he ventures off in search of a wife. He abandons his first intention to marry his nursery maid, Ruth, played by Hannah Doruelo, Adv. 204, because of their age differences and in hopes that he can find a younger, more attractive woman. After leaving the ship, Frederic encounters the daughers of Major General Stanley (Ben Winick, Adv. 208) and becomes enamored with Mabel, played by Noa Rosen, Adv. 206. Mixed in with the budding romance, there was the action of the pirates and humor
Winick as Major General Stanley singing on stage during the school musical | MIRANDA ROBERTS
Srubas and Rosen declaring their love for each before the audience | MIRANDA ROBERTS
307, blazing in slashing his sword back and forth at some invisible foe. He and the other pirates looked rugged and brawny with five o’clock shadows on their faces and pistols
throughout the production. The pirates declare that they cannot make raids on groups weaker than they are, and are afraid to raid groups that are stronger. They are also all
orphans, and have a soft spot in their hearts for those who are also left without parents. There were several scenes that made the audience burst out laughing. One particular scene occurs when Major General Stanley, and the Pirate King argue over whether he was saying orphan or often. The two words sounded the same because of the English accents the actors used throughout the musical. The lines were said with such sureness that it was clear that the actors had been practicing and focusing with such intensity. The terms of Frederic’s freedom are reversed on a technicality (Frederic’s a Leap Year baby and while technically 21 years old has not yet had 21 birthdays). He returns to the pirates, they pursue the General Major’s daughters until they are stopped by the
cowardly, yet well-choreographed, police led by Kyle Sebastian, Adv. 204 as Sergeant of Police. In the end, however, young lovers are reunited, and pirates and ladies alike join in the celebration. In addition to the actors on stage, the musical was brought to life by the way the lighting and the set created the mood. In the first act during Frederic’s confrontation of Ruth, a pulsating red background added to the tension between the two characters on stage. The second act opened with an ancient ruins of a church and the nearby graveyard, which set a somber mood as the Major General wept over his deceitful actions in act one. The orchestra was rehearsed by Mr. Michael Lill, fine arts department, and led by concertmistress Lina Vidulich, Adv. 205.
MOVIE
Movie rendition of the book “Hunger Games” pleases the palate by Maria Flores Years into the future, the only things that remain of the North American continent are 12 districts ruled by a far distant Capitol. Each year, the Capitol asks each of the 12 districts to give up two young people to fight to the death on a televised show for the Capitol’s entertainment. “The Hunger Games” movie, based off of Suzanne Collins’s best-selling book, explores the decisions one is left with when everything is controlled by someone else. The Capitol lives in absolute squalor of wealth and advance technology. Plastic surgery is used everywhere to obtain superficial beauty, and in their eyes, seeing young people kill each other in cold blood is fun and has become a yearly pageant. The movie’s depiction of the Capitol was spot on, with people dressed in painfully colorful skin-tight clothing and with hairstyles out of Dr. Seuss’s
Whoville. It made the necessary contrast with the lifestyle of the districts. Most of the people from the districts live in starvation and poverty. They are forced to work in the production of designated products for the Capitol in exchange for sustenance. Once the districts revolted against the Capitol, and their punishment was the Hunger Games to remind the districts to never attempt a revolt again. Katniss Everdeen’s (Jennifer Lawrence) twelve year old sister, Prim, was randomly drafted and because Katniss knows that Prim’s life is at risk, she goes instead of her sister. In The Hunger Games, Katniss repeatedly demonstrates that she will do whatever she can to help her mother and sister after her father’s death. When Katniss goes to the Capitol with the other tribute from her district, Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, the boy who once saved her from starvation, they both train for four days. During training, Katniss
and Peeta act like a celebrity couple and are presented on television to try to get the audience’s favor. They try to win the favor of the crowd, who chooses which district’s representatives might be able to send them equipment to survive. Katniss and Peeta struggle in a kill or be killed environment to retain their dignity and humanity and not just be treated like pawns in the Capitol’s game. Their defiant actions stir something in the people who have to helplessly watch as their children are killed for sport, igniting a revolution. The cinematography aligned with the action scenes. One particular scene where Katniss uses mines to blow up her adversaries’ supplies causes the viewer’s ears to ring. The muted and muffled sound makes the viewer go through that same panic and stunned feeling the character felt. The movie really solidified the conception that these children were being put on an auc-
tion block for slaughter. One scene, where the Gamekeepers, who are seated in a white room with a hologram of the arena, place beastly animals in the arena to chase down contestant s showed just how much the Capitol enjoyed from the tributes’ suffering. Even though most of the time the participants are stabbing each other to death, director of The Hunger Games, Gary Ross, kept violence minimal by only choosing certain scenes to highlight the Capitol’s brutality. A few very minor characters were left out. For example, the mayor’s daughter Madge, who gives Katniss the mockingjay pin, was left out in the movie. The mockingjay’s significance was not explained as a symbol of rebellion. The movie and book shows the results when cultural and class differences are made the priority in the world. “Catching Fire” the second movie in the Hunger Games trilogy is scheduled to come out November 22nd 2013.