Posts by Rachel Borders

Boardwalk Empire set in Chicago in Italian? How Brown of us. This weekend brings Brown Opera Production’s (BOP) spring performance of Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. Directed by Michelle Migliori ‘14 and musically directed by Jacob Klapholz ‘13, this opera puts a 1920s spin on this opera from 1810.

The BOP board decided to take on Don Pasquale in December 2011 knowing that it was one of the most musically difficult operas. However, under the musical direction of Klapholz, an untrained ear would never know the underlying difficulties of the music. The cast makes it seem almost effortless. The cast received its music back in December and the preparation shows wonderfully.  The real strength of this production is the vocal talent of Don Pasquale (John Brakatselos ’15) and Norina (Kathryn Cohen ’13).  Brakatselos’ voice is as big as his fat suit. And the only response I can give to Cohen’s performance is: “Darn that girl can SANG… and act!” [Read more →]

There is no shame in having sex, watching porn, and masturbating. Watch out, Department of Gender Studies: Shame, directed by Steve McQueen, is challenging these assumptions. Shame, written by McQueen and Abi Morgan, is an unconventional film that tells the story of the sex-addicted Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender). The film questions the value of emotionless sex and considers where the line between addiction and preference should be drawn.

This is the second joint project of Fassbender, McQueen, and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. Their first film, Hunger, is equally worth watching. McQueen’s films are more art than anything else — he takes uncomfortable subject matter and displays it in such a beautiful and composed manner that the audience questions the assumed negativity of the film’s content. Cinematographer Bobbitt helps McQueen to achieve this end: Shame is visually stunning. Bobbitt keeps the film in a constant white and blue color palette that expertly contrasts with the emotional ending scenes of the film. McQueen was originally a film installation artist, and his films constantly push the boundaries of traditional film narrative.

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Have you ever wanted to see a live version of Dora the Explorer, American Idol, Kidz Bop, and a Disney Channel TV show all rolled into one? Well, that is probably impossible, BUT this weekend’s production of Spring Awakening, book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik ‘92, is the closest you’re gonna get. Some of the most accomplished theater students at Brown have come together to fill this year’s PW Week in the Space.

Inspired by the work of theater company Fiasco Theater, created by Brown Trinity Rep graduates, Sami Horneff ’12 decided that she wanted to spend her last semester at Brown creating a musical theater company. As Horneff says, “[Brown’s theater department] pushes us to be theater artists instead of just performers.” After setting on Spring Awakening as the show of choice, Sami began to gather performers and artists on campus who were also passionate about creating a student company.  [Read more →]

Girl Scout cookies are being sold outside the SciLi right now!

Go get them while they last… study break anyone?

Every two years, a student-written musical is selected by Brownbrokers, the original student-written musical theater organization, and then put on the main stage. This provides one of the only opportunities for students to see their writing performed in the Stuart Theater. This year, it is We Can Rebuild Him by Deepali Gupta ’12. The piece is musically directed by Andrew Hertz ’04, an adjunct lecturer, and is directed by Talya Klein MFA ’12. (Some of you may recognize Hertz and Klein from their time teaching such courses as History of Musical Theater or TA30, respectively).

We Can Rebuild Him is an unconventional musical about a disconnected family that tries to put back together the body parts of their dead son, Sam. As the story goes, Sam’s heart somehow kept beating, even after his body was cut into pieces. This heart is what keeps the family moving forward, trying to connect his body and rebuild the connection to each other. [Read more →]

Who is this old guy hosting? Why is it suddenly okay to make jokes about racism? Dogs can go to the Oscars?

These may be the questions you ask yourself tonight during the Oscars if you haven’t been following Hollywood closely this season. Not to fret! I’m here with everything you need to know to follow the show and understand all the poorly-delivered presenter jokes. [Read more →]

Either you’ve been living under a rock all break, or you’ve heard that there’s a black and white movie out there that is actually entertaining. This silent film is making a lot of noise as Oscar Night approaches. The Artist is the first English film by French writer/director Michel Hazanavicius and is nominated for 10 Oscars – including Best Picture. The Artist already won the Golden Globe; can they do it again?  Scoring a staggering 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, this may be the best film The Avon shows all semester.  Nothing feels more vintage than sitting in an old style theater, eating popcorn and watching a silent film.  Sounds like hipsta-heaven to me.

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Yesterday was a sad, sad day for Brown University. The Princeton Review rolled out its annual batch of Arbitrary College Enumerations, and our beloved Brown University was shockingly absent from the #1 spot on the  Happiest Students list. Sure we are still number three, but we were dethroned by Rice University (?) and Clemson University (double ?).

What the Princeton Review doesn’t realize is that we Brown students have never been as unhappy as we were yesterday when our crown was stolen. Jenny Bloom ’12 wept over a Meeting Street cookie wondering if “it [were] just a self-fulfilling prophecy.”  Other students have taken to the streets crying for the rightful reclamation of our title. But most students have just sat on windowsills wondering what Rice and Clemson kids have that they don’t, besides the absence of a snowy, long, depressingly cold winter–who smells unfair advantage? Huffington Post voted us the 6th most hipster school (aren’t hipsters perpetually happy rubbing their egos?) and GQ took us out of the running for douchiest college, but this doesn’t seem to have helped us. Is it because we’re the next Ivy behind Princeton, Harvard and Yale in the 2011 Forbes rankings? Why oh why, Princeton Review, would you assume that we’re even a fraction as miserable as the students at those highly depressing regarded institutions? See BlogDailyHerald’s happiness solution after the jump [Read more →]

If you like the cakes you see on Food Network Challenge, then you are going to love Kelly Schryver ’11. Kelly has her own cake company TillieCakes, which she runs while balancing school work, a thesis, and her social life. A self-taught cake designer, Kelly says, “[TillieCakes] started out as my final project for ENG090 [freshman year]. I’ve been taking cake orders from students and parents ever since!”

Kelly makes decorated cupcakes and cakes for any celebration. She is always looking for new decorations to try and new challenges. Kelly makes everything from scratch to ensure that her cakes taste as delicious as they look.

When asked why she loves baking, Kelly says, “Cakes make people happy! And it’s a perfect creative outlet for someone with a sweet tooth.” Although Kelly doesn’t make a large profit from her business, she enjoys the process. [Read more →]