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(04/15/03 12:00pm)
The gym in Packer Hall was packed last Thursday for the first ever Dancers for Cancer event.
The event, presented by the TCNJ dance team, included performances by the Dance Team, Synergy, the TCNJ step team, the TCNJ Cheerleaders, Lamda Theta Alpha, Lamda Theta Phi, Alpha Psi Chi and solo performer Carolyn Blum. All proceeds from the ticket sales and a raffle will benefit the American Cancer Society.
Hosts for the evening were Raul Francisco and Andrea Stearly, who opened the show by introducing the "hot, sexy, sizzling" Dance Team, performing their rendition of "The Cell Block Tango" from "Chicago." There was no shortage of skin for this number with the team dressed in black and sheer outfits. They shook and stretched and slinked their way across the floor as the dancers took turns representing the performers from the movie.
Kathy Malley, a professor in the physics department and adviser to both the Dance Team and Synergy, was very impressed with the performances. "They really work hard," she said. "They're very self-motivated."
The teams also choreographed some numbers, including "Extravaganza," which was performed by Synergy. The number was a mix of pop, rock and R&B songs choreographed by members Lauren Hoffman and Bettina Lefanto.
Blum also choreographed her own clogging routine to "Life is a Highway," a type of dancing that uses steel taps attached to the soles of the shoes. The sound comes from the taps hitting each other, rather than hitting the floor as in regular tap-dancing. Blum has been clogging since she was six years old and her experience paid off in a performance that received comments of surprise and admiration from the audience.
Five members of the cheerleading squad also contributed a routine. Cautioned by the hosts "not to try this at home," members of the audience gasped as the cheerleaders tossed one of their squad up in a series of flips and turns. Each toss was performed one after the other with barely a pause in between and they didn't set the flying member down until the end of the routine.
Most of the audience members were there supporting family and friends as well as the American Cancer Society. Parents like Pam Lefanto were there for their daughters and others like freshmen Christy Fletcher and Katherine Keitel supported their sorority sisters.
"It's a really good cause," Danielle Bertran, junior biology major, said. "A lot of people in my family have had cancer."
"And," she added with a laugh, "three of my suitemates are involved."
In between numbers, the hosts raffled off prizes. Rather than give the typical cash awards, the Dance Team used gift certificates and variety baskets that had been donated by local businesses, so that all monies could go to the Cancer Society.
(03/04/03 12:00pm)
Although the cast and crew of Opera Theater only had five weeks to put "The Merry Widow" together, their performance was both emotional and funny.
"The Merry Widow is an operetta that is as difficult as it is beautiful," Briana Dixon, stage manager, said. "I could not be more proud of the cast, the crew and the production as a whole."
Opera Theatre brought the romantic operetta to life last weekend with bright costumes and ball gowns, feathers and fans and daring, dancing Can-Can girls.
The show opens with a celebration at the Marsovian embassy in Paris where men are discussing the richest widow in Marsovia, Anna Glavari. Baron Zeta is afraid she will marry a Frenchman and her $40 million will be lost from Marsovia forever. Since "The Fatherland" is failing economically, he can't allow that to happen.
The widow Anna, played by Stephanie Lee Overton and Katy Reimer, makes her entrance on stage in a sizzling red ball gown and black gloves - hardly an outfit appropriate for mourning the death of her husband. But she isn't interested in any of the gold diggers. She has her sights set on higher ground - Count Danilo (Erik Ransom).
Danilo is a skirt-chasing, boozing aristocrat who's motto is to "fall in love often, get engaged rarely and marry never." He was in love with Anna once, but couldn't marry her because she was poor. The experience left him bitter and unattached.
The story is told through rousing dance hall music and soft ballads with the orchestra reflecting the emotions of the characters. Reimer's voice had the beautiful swell of an ocean wave, washing over the audience as the music filled the hall. When she sang "Villa" at the opening of the second act, the chorus rose from the background as though the very garden echoed her song.
Yet, the key to "The Merry Widow" is the comedy. Chad Flynn was hilarious as the Baron, a man whose patriotism blinds him to his wife Valencienne's affair. In fact, the Baron even encourages it, asking her to attract Camille de Rosillon so he won't be interested in the widow.
The other men also encourage their wives to "distract" Anna's would-be suitors, turning the show into a comedy of secret affairs and clandestine meetings. Everyone becomes suspicious of everyone else when a mysterious fan with "I love you" written on it is passed around the ball room.
"I have never been in an opera or operetta," Colleen Gill, who played Valencienne on Thursday and Saturday, said. "Most people on campus have never seen one. (It's) a great outlet beyond strictly Broadway material."
"The Merry Widow" was also the first opera for James Holde, who played Camille.
"This show has been a wonderful learning experience for me," Holden said. "Our cast is a lot of fun."
The show was fun for the audience, too.
"I didn't expect it to be so good," Megan Bagvilio, freshman open-options major, said. "I was just expecting to hear some good music. It was hysterical."
A crowd favorite was the song "Girls, Girls, Girls." The men all converged on stage in their tuxedos to form a male chorus line, kicking up their heels as they sang about how hard it is to understand women.
The play ended with the whole cast singing "Girls, Girls, Girls" as red balloons and pink confetti fell from the ceiling. If anything, the show proved that a woman is, indeed, "too much for a man."
(02/25/03 12:00pm)
Just hearing someone mention the nightly news is enough to make me yawn and to force my eyes to glaze over. It's not that there's anything terribly wrong with it. It's informative, educational and, on rare occasions, even amusing. Who could forget CNN's report on the new Lingerie Barbie, featuring the blonde icon at bars and adult bookstores in downtown N.Y. City.
But let's face it. Watching the news can be really boring. I know I'd much rather watch an hour of "Friends" then see another primped and polished newscaster talk about the West Nile virus.
And who can make sense of the gibberish about the pending war with Iraq? Every station tells us the same things and yet none of them make it any easier to understand.
So where can a college student see some news that is both interesting and easy to understand? Not many of us get a newspaper, so the obvious answer is that great time killer: the Internet.
It's not an easy task to weed through all the sites out there, but here are some of my favorites.
www.alternativeinsight.com
foreign policy
I know that when newscasters start talking about foreign policy, my brain zones out. It doesn't make sense to me. Who wants to bomb whom and why, who supports the bombing, who wants peace? It's hard to tell, especially since it seems like every few minutes, people are changing their minds.
This site presents a clear picture about what's going on in the world. It also does something you won't often find your local network doing - it questions American policy. It has dozens of articles that look critically at post-Sept. 11 America, the Bush administration and Iraq.
You'll also find information on what's going on in other parts of the world.
After all, America and Iraq aren't the only two countries on the planet. The site gives updates on issues that have been pushed to the sidelines lately, as well as links to different newspapers around the globe.
www.adbusters.org
An alternative look at capitalism
This site's main focus is, of course, ads. It takes a crack at everything from Ronald McDonald to "American Idol," calling it an "hour-long product pitch weakly disguised as entertainment."
But the site does more than just bash companies and their products. It also provides some little-known facts about how far companies are willing to go to promote themselves.
Case in point - Pepsi is planning on spending $25 million for a program that will have people competing for a chance to go to space.
You can also find parodies of well-known ads by companies like Calvin Klein and Nike.
My personal favorite - information on how to play "Gap Tag." The game has several variations, but the main point is to avoid the sales people and convince other shoppers not to buy into commercialism. Guaranteed to liven up any shopping trip.
www.theonion.com
"America's Finest News Source"
parody site
This is a great place to find social commentary that doesn't make you feel like you're reading some expert's opinion on the state of American culture. "The Onion" invented news and lampoon is just plain funny. No one is safe from the stinging wit of "The Onion," not even Saddam Hussein.
Where else can you find an article comparing Iraq to Kentucky? You can also find reviews, short "news briefs" on topics like bacon and sex and longer articles on just about everything.
Don't be surprised to find that the Yankees signed every player in the major leagues, or that shopping has become a part of the feminist movement. Just when you thought things couldn't get weirder, you'll find out that they can.
www.world-newspapers.com/alternative-news.html.
This site gives you links to a variety of news sources that cater to just about every taste.
Don't feel guilty about changing the channel when you hear the Action News theme song, but don't ignore the world either. Check out the news online and get a different approach. And feel free to laugh. Sometimes the news is funny.