These talented performers will join forces with the Creative team for this year’s VShow:

Principals:

• Eleanor Bray (BC ’14)
• Rebekah Lowin (CC ’14)*
• Alessio Mineo (CC ’14)
• Jenny Singer (BC ’15)
• Sean Walsh (CC ’14)*

Ensemble:

• Patrick Aloia (CC ’15)
• Allie Carieri (CC ’15)
• Ben Goldwater (GS/JTS ’14)
• Gray Henry (CC ’14)
• Jane Kim (CC ’14)
• Devin Lloyd (CC ’15)
• Kaylin Mahoney (CC ’15)

*Cast member in V117

Zombies on their way to prom?

Bored? Where Art Thou? is here to help. There’s no better way to procrastinate studying for finals and writing twenty-page papers then seeing the many arts events on and off campus this weekend! If you’d like to help your fellow classmates delay their studies, submit your event to events@bwog.com.

Thursday

• Fall 2011 Student Prints, 5 pm – 7 pm in the Leroy Nieman Gallery (310 Dodge). Showing works by Columbia students in the Relief, Intaglio and Intro to Printmaking classes. The opening reception is actually a closing reception, but there are still free tipples. Free.
• Zombie Prom, 8 pm in Lerner Black Box. Additional showings on Friday at 8 pm and Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm. Come see CMTS’s second fall show! Boy meets girl, girl’s parents don’t approve, boy jumps into nuclear reactor, boy becomes zombie… all in the first ten minutes of the show! Tickets at $5 at the TIC.
• Ubu the King,  8 pm in VagBox. Additional showings on Friday at 8 pm and Satuday at 3 pm and 8pm. The Theatre Department presents Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu the King.” Director Sharon Fogarty brings this European classic to the stage, though “classic” is perhaps the last word its iconoclastic playwright would have applied to it. $5 with CUID, $10 without.
• Wishes and Thieves/ Life Size Maps/ Osekre & The Lucky Bastards/ Shark?, 8 pm at the Big Snow Buffalo Lodge, 89 Varet St. in Brooklyn. Come support Columbia/Columbia Alum bands Life Size Maps and Osekre, respectively.
• PitchBlak Brass Band at the Shrine, 10:30 pm at the Shrine, 2271 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. PitchBlak Brass Band will capture your body and make you move! This ten-piece NYC based hip-hop brass band was formed in the fall of 2010. Since then, PitchBlak has been dedicated to entertaining audiences throughout NYC with their unique sound. PitchBlak draws upon its many members’ musical backgrounds and infuses their hip-hop driven music with funk, jazz, rock and classical music. The result is a sound rich with luscious brass harmonies, intense with thoughtful raps, and energetic with grooving rhythms. Free.

Read more…

Photo via Urinetown

Bwog’s Musical Correspondent Lily Icangelo reports with a full bladder:

When I found out that the Columbia Musical Theatre Society was putting on a show called “Urinetown: The Musical” and that it’s general premise was about a town where private bathrooms were outlawed and peeing was regulated—I knew I had to see it. I may pretend to go to an Ivy League institution but in reality I am a flamboyant four year old boy whose two favorite things in the world are bathroom humor and over the top dance sequences. Both my four-year-old boy and nineteen-year-old lady student selves were pleasantly surprised to find everything they love, plus much, much more in Columbia’s production of Urinetown.

I must say, I was curious to see how an intricate musical such as Urinetown would play out in the small setting of a Black Box theatre rather than on a traditional stage. Luckily director Hillary Kritt, along with the rest of the creative team, really made the black box work to their advantage. With some very creative and original staging, lighting, and choreography, the show was not at all hindered by the use of a black box, but rather helped as it allowed for the show to be a more interactive and intimate experience. Read more…

Out of every fourteen days, one Wednesday is chosen–today is that hallowed day when Bwog divulges news of the TIC.

Tickets sold for on-campus events this past week: 3200

On-Campus:

• Dumpling Fest: November 18th, 7:30pm, Lerner Party Space, $6. Tickets.
• Toy Story 3: November 18th, 9:30pm, Roone Arledge Cinema, $3. Tickets.
• KCST’s Macbeth: November 18th-20th,8pm, Glicker-Milstein Theater in the Diana Center, FREE. Tickets.
• Urinetown: The Musical: November 18th-20th, Thursday & Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm & 8pm, Blackbox Lerner, $5 w/ CUID, $10 w/o, $30 VIP. Tickets.

Tickets sold for off-campus events this past week: 439

Off-Campus:

• The Pee-Wee Herman Show November 18th, 8pm, $61 w/CUID. Tickets.
• Complexions: November 20th, 8pm, $36 w/CUID. Tickets.
• Spider-Man: December 2nd, 8pm, $49 w/CUID. Tickets.
• Metamorphosis at BAM: December 3rd, 7:30pm, $23 w/CUID. Tickets.
• Ballet Hispanico: December 3rd, 8pm, $36 w/CUID. Tickets.

Bwog’s Song and Dance Connoisseur Sean Zimmermann reports on Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s latest production, Changing Direction.

“You never realize the role of directing until you see different directors back to back,” explained Will Brown, Production Designer for Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s production of Changing Direction. The production features numbers from a wide selection of famous musicals, from Into the Woods to Rent, each directed by a different student director. Will’s comment couldn’t ring truer in this production; while many of the numbers were quite good, there were others that came off as average.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the show was that I don’t think it showcased the performers; there were multiple times during the show when I felt a singer would have been better, if only she were singing something else. This was especially true in the case of the rendition of “Out Tonight” from Rent. Morgan Fletcher, who played Mimi, trilled on a number of notes, and I couldn’t determine if this was a decision of the director, or if Fletcher’s voice was actually quavering. However, when she appeared again in Aida’s “Easy as Life” and “Written in the Stars,” Fletcher was spectacular; she hit every note flawlessly. Therefore I don’t think it was that she couldn’t give a good rendition of “Out Tonight,” but that the direction was poor, or it was a poor choice for her. Other numbers, such as the rendition of “What Could Be Better” from Baby also suffered from this problem. Read more…

At last night’s show of Fiddler on the Roof, the average age of the audience was significantly higher than any of the other shows Bwog has attended in the past. Producer Jonathan Jager shared that many families purchased blocks of 10 tickets to the show, explaining the surprising lack of college students. Among the few college students present, however, was Bwog’s very own Sean Zimmermann. Here, his review.

The Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s performance of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Rebecca Victor, is spectacular. The cast, the costumes, the lighting the music — all is of an unusually high caliber. Perhaps most impressive is the quality of the acting, which at last night’s performance was on peak and at a very professional level for a college production.

There are a few actors whose performances deserve special note. Tevye, portrayed by Eric Lawrence, spoke with a thick accent which perfectly fit his role; his character’s monologues, during which all other characters would freeze, were well-executed — as were the freezes themselves, which gave the monologues an almost dreamlike quality. Other members of Tevye’s family, such as his wife Golde (Kathryn Maslak) and his three eldest daughters Tzeitel (Becky Greenstein), Hodel (Rivka Friedlander), and Chava (Emily Buttner) were portrayed very believably, as were the young student Perchik (Michael Seaman) and the poor tailor Motel Kamzoil (Josh Warshawsky). Some of the actors in smaller roles also stood out: Elizabeth Varner deserves praise for her hilarious portrayal of the matchmaker Yente, as does Tyler Benedict for his almost-sympathetic portrayal of the town Constable, Ben Bardin for his elderly Rabbi, and Bethanie Mangigian for her screeching ghost of Fruma-Sarah. Read more…

Taking a break from finals studying, Bwog’s North Pole Bureau Chief Sean Zimmermann reports from the production of “XMAS! 4: Shalom Alone” last night about the story of one little Jewish Santa:

As the audience walked in to Roone, the first thing to notice was the loud dance music filling the auditorium. Lady Gaga, who usually isn’t associated with holiday cheer, was a surprising choice and a stark contrast to the musicians warming up wearing Santa hats. However, “surprising” is indeed a good overall characterization of the musical. Surprising due to its very small budget, surprising due to its limited showings, and surprising due to just how good it turned out to be.

Ollie Klausberg, played by Brian LaPerche, opened the musical by giving a reading from the Torah during his Bar Mitzvah. However, the nervous Ollie wets himself while reading and runs off stage. After being comforted by his pagan friend Amethyst (Emily Feinstein), an elf named Marty (Reni Calister) greets Ollie and informs him that he is the grandson of Santa and needs to travel to the North Pole. Ollie, after some encouragement from Amethyst, agrees.

Read more…

Bill Clinton may be a tough act to follow, but the cast and crew of The Secret Garden seem to be handling the Roone Arledge stage quite well – or at least they’re putting on a good show. Hannah Goldstein reports from the (secret) final dress rehearsal.

You might say the ‘Secret’ is out of the Box: the passing of Columbia Musical Theatre Society’s biannual black box show, has left the Secret Garden as this semester’s main stage production. At their last dress rehearsal before a two-night run, the cast presented a small audience (including Lucy Simon, the composer of the original score, no less) with a somewhat unconventional twist on the old classic. The performance marks the culmination of the Columbia Musical Theater Society’s long proposal and approval process that lead first-time director Mary Jo Holuba, BC ’12, to take on the non-traditional project.

Unlike the story you may remember, the show is more thematic than plot-driven. Holuba emphasized healing as the driving theme by re-envisioning traditionally inert entities as dancing people: ghosts, plants, and exotic memories take on human form and remained a constant force onstage throughout the two-and-a-half hour performance, whether shifting silently in the background or executing wild turns center stage at movements of high tension. The dancing was, for the most part, entrancing, but the presence of the dancers occasionally distracted from what plot action did occur between the speaking characters as they acted out a story about young Mary Lennox, who comes to life after the death of her parents in an unlikely garden at an English estate. Though the set was fairly minimalist and the pit claims a sizeable part of the stage space, the blocking and choreography easily filled the rest of the space, making for an interesting but occasionally overstimulating show, at least in the visual realm. The music, however, was fitting, well-executed, and effective – ironically most noticeably so when the stage was most crowded.

Read more…

  Finally spring seems like it’s here to stay—go outside and enjoy!

FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY

Rods & Cables

8pm, 3LD Arts and Technology Center: 80 Greenwich St.

An original arts creation, Rods & Cables explores the fears people carry with them about losing trust in the people that are most important to them.

Price: $18 full, $12 student

http://www.3ldnyc.org/

Billy Elliot: The Musical

Fri-Sat 8pm, Sat 2pm, Sun 3pm, Imperial Theatre: 249 w. 45 st

The famed movie has hit the stage with stars chosen from a casting call of epic proportions. The twists and turns of Billy Elliot’s rise to dance mastery plays out right before the audience.

Price: 41.50-136.50

http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/ Read more…

If you’re looking for a traditional, all-American musical, Tommy is not for you.  That doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing- it’s a musical of a different formula, resembling Mamma Mia more than Aida.

Tommy is a musical by Pete Townshend (yes, that Pete Townshend) based on a concept album by The Who in 1969 of the same name.  Tommy is a young boy, rendered deaf, mute, and blind by a tragedy from his past, who rises to fame for his skill at pinball (no other way to fit “Pinball Wizard” in the score, Bwog presumes).  Like Rent, this is a “rock opera,” and according to Wikipedia, Townshend wants it to be a giant metaphor for…something. Read more…

Didn’t see CMTS’ production of A New Brain? Too bad! Bwog daily editor Alexandra Muhler wants to tell you what you missed.

A New Brain is, in a few ways, typical musical theater. The lead spends most of the show’s two hours in a gown. The ballads are sincere and softly lit. In all, there are about two spoken lines in the play. And, most upsettingly, audience participation is forced at every turn.

But A New Brain is also quirkier than your average musical. The gown donned by Gordon (Ross Ramone), the frustrated songwriter at the center of the play, is a hospital gown, worn as he undergoes an improbably named “craniotomy.”  The moments of cast-crowd interaction toy with the standards accepted in such exchanges—first row audience members will be sung to, chastised, and sometimes even forced to sing along.

However, the mushy incoherence of bad musical theater rarely seeps into this production. Though the beginning of the second act lags a little with a string of earnest solos, the show is dominated by a crisp aesthetic.

Read more…

 In which Bwog contributor Michael Snyder regains faith in Broadway. Go see Spring Awakening–$25 for Columbia students!

About two months ago I discovered that I don’t actually like musical theater. I found this out in a conversation with several dear friends who do, in fact, like musical theater.  We were comparing favorite shows and my end of the conversation went something like this: “Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park, Company, Cabaret, Chicago, West Side Story.”  My friend asked me if I liked anything that hadn’t been written by Sondhiem, Kander and Ebb, or Bernstein.  I said that I have a soft spot for Rent.  It occurred to me then that for every musical that I love (and the ones I love I really do love) there are at least four that make me want to vomit all over myself.  This is not an exaggeration.

So, for me at least, there’s very little new musical theater to get excited about.  These days, there seems to be very little in musical theater that can be called new at all.   There are the revivals, some of which are truly brilliant (John Doyle cannot be praised enough), there are the ‘new’ shows that emulate musicals of the 1940s, there are the bubonic plague-like Disney blockbusters (I include Wicked in this category), and there are the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals that refuse to go away (I am convinced that, in the event of a nuclear holocaust, The Phantom of the Opera would continue to play for packed houses of cockroaches.) But new musicals—new in the way that Hair was new, new in the way that Sondheim’s musicals have always been new, new in way that Rent was at its premiere—don’t show up very often.  The American musical as a genre seems to be going from terminal to vegetative. Read more…