BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning first musical “In the Heights” is about home and family in the vibrant Latinx community of New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood. This theme is more than just Broadway magic for the Holyoke Community College Theater and Music Department, whose production of the show opened last weekend, Nov. 8-10.
BY EMMA CHAFFEE ’22
Five female choreographers, 39 dance students and two sold out shows: from Nov. 8-10, Mount Holyoke’s Kendall Sports and Dance Complex hosted this year’s Fall Faculty Dance Concert. “I am really happy about the way it came out and I am so proud of each and every one of those dancers,” said Shakia Johnson, a visiting Artist in Dance and one of the faculty choreographers. “Their commitment and dedication was through the roof.”
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
Award-winning actor and playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb has accumulated a variety of impressive credits over the course of his screen and stage career, but none quite like “American Moor.” The self-written and largely self-performed play explores Cobb’s relationship as a black man in America to Shakespeare’s tragic protagonist Othello.
68-year-old Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English musician, performance and video artist, author, occultist, philosopher and influencer. Identifying as a third gender (using s/he, h/er, and h/ers pronouns and recently referring to h/ erself in the plural), P-Orridge is also an important name within the LGBTQ+ community. S/he may be one of the most significant people you’ve never heard of. S/he is best known for h/er musical work, especially with the groups “Throbbing Gristle” and “Psychic TV.”
BY SABA FIAZUDDIN ’21
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” directed by Bryan Singer (“X-Men”) is a biopic about Freddie Mercury, iconic frontman of the band Queen. The movie begins with Queen’s famous Live Aid charity concert of 1985, which catapulted the group into stardom and cemented their place in rock and roll history.
BY EMILY ROLES-FOTSO ’21
Actor and playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb sat down with artist Curlee Raven Holton last Friday, Nov. 3 to talk about Shakespeare’s “Othello” and their experiences as Black male artists. The event, moderated by English Professor Amy Rodgers, is part of Cobb’s nine-day residence at Mount Holyoke College which began on Nov. 3 and will last until Nov. 11.
BY SABA FIAZUDDIN ’21
As the first biopic about Neil Armstrong, Damien Chazelle’s (“La La Land”) “First Man” is visually stimulating but fails to capture the context of the important social movements surrounding and impacting the first moon landing. The film, starring Ryan Gosling (“The Notebook”) as Armstrong, is based heavily on the almost 800-page biography written by James R. Hansen, “First Man.” The book chronicles the adult life of Neil Armstrong as he navigates harrowing personal struggles — from the tragic death of his daughter to his difficult marriage — all while trying to become the first man to walk on the moon.
Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College
Chinese Yue Opera stars Qi Tao (L) and Jun’An Wang (R) performed scenes at Mount Holyoke last week.
BY RENN ELKINS ’20 AND HEALY MILLER ’19
Mount Holyoke’s Rooke Theatre hosted a performance of Chinese Yue Opera scenes featuring award-winning actors Jun’an Wang and Qi Tao on Friday, Oct. 26. Wang and Tao flew in from China specially for this event and performed three scenes from the classic operas “Liu Yi Delivers a Letter for the Dragon King’s Daughter,” and “Searching for and Probing the Wife,” featuring full costume, makeup and choreography.
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
General audiences may feel they know Natalie Portman from her years as a Hollywood star, but she is hardly done evolving. Portman is a prolific, critically acclaimed and award-winning actress, already an enduring A-list household name at 37 and showing no signs of slowing down. Instead she’s speeding up and expanding her repertoire to include a turn in the director’s chair.
BY SHLOKA GIDWANI ’22
The Indian YouTube channel All India Bakchod (AIB) recently faced controversy after a freelance comedian who worked with the channel, Utsav Chakraborty, was accused of sexual harassment. Writer and comedian Mahima Kukreja shared a Twitter thread on Oct. 4 accusing Chakraborty of sending her unsolicited pictures of his genitals. She also spoke on behalf of other women, some minors, who were either harassed by Chakraborty or felt unsafe in his presence.
BY MIRANDA WHEELER ’19
“Well, women are used to worrying over trifles,” said Mr. Hale, played by Kylie Levy ’21 in last week’s production of Susan Glaspell’s 1916 one-act play “Trifles,” directed by Brianna Sloane. With set design by technical director Shawn Hill, lighting design by Lara Dubin, costume design by Elizabeth Lowe ’19 and dramaturgy from Heidi Holder, the one-act play opened Rooke Theatre’s Fall 2018 season.
BY EMMA MARTIN ’20
This Sunday, Oct. 13, Sarah Cavar ’20 held a reception for the publication of their collaborative zine, “[S]PACE,” featuring student work from self-identified members of the disabled community. The event was meant to elicit new creation; Cavar shared prompts for those gathered to write and create with during the event.
BY SARAH CHAIT ’21
Well it looks like our good friend Banksy is back to his old tricks again after a prolonged media silence. This latest stint by the English artist occurred about two weeks ago at an evening auction in the historic Sotheby’s, when a piece by Banksy titled “Girl with Balloon” sunk into its frame and shredded itself the split second it was sold to an unnamed buyer for 1.04 million British pounds ($1.36 million). The stunned crowd was unsure if this was the work of the enigmatic Banksy himself, but it was later confirmed to be Banksy’s doing by the artist himself as well as Pest Control, a society for the authentication of street art.
BY GABBY RAYMOND ’20
Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, the stars of the Netflix series “Big Mouth,” took their audience on a cringeworthy 10-episode journey in their sophomore season. The show toggles between raunchy sing-along adult cartoon and the sexed class we all wish we had in high-school, though maybe not with P.E. teacher Coach Steve. There are moments you will not physically be able to look at the screen and others when you laugh so hard you cry — either way, the cesspool of middle school hormones is so relatable you’re going to have to buckle in for a binge watch.
BY ERIN CARBERRY ’19
Originally premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2018 before landing in box offices this August, “Searching” is a dramatic thriller that follows David Kim (John Cho, “Star Trek”) through his increasingly desperate search for his missing 16-year-old daughter Margot (Michelle La, “Mom”). Aiding him in his search are his lazy younger brother, Peter (Joseph Lee, “Miracle That We Met”), and Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing, “Will & Grace”).
BY TESS TUITOEK ’21
The use of award shows as political platforms for celebrities has been a part of Hollywood for a long time. With the advent of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, stars and activists have used the red carpet as a platform to speak up about sexual assault, wearing all black in solidarity with the Time’s Up movement at the 75th Golden Globes.
BY SABA FIAZUDDIN ’21
The Mount Holyoke Film Society held their first event of the semester on Friday, a screening of the feature film, “Ocean’s 8.” The film stars Sandra Bullock (“Miss Congeniality”) as Debbie Ocean, the sister of the original franchise’s iconic character Danny Ocean (played by George Clooney, “Up In the Air”).
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