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(04/27/10 2:12pm)
Images and ideas abounded in the Business Building Lounge last Thursday April 15 when David Venturo, professor of English, dissected two famous poems — Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Windhover” and Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“Thank you so much for being here on a day Wordsworth would have said ‘You could be outside drinking in nature,’” an animated Venturo said after technical difficulties stalled the close reading from beginning.
The lounge’s screen never did work, but that didn’t stop Venturo. He plowed through both poems with vigor and made many interesting discoveries along the way.
“(Hopkins and Dickinson) are debating indirectly about what symbolism is about,” Venturo said of the poems’ connection.
“The world is a place of process. It is dynamic,” Venturo said, drawing more conclusions about the similarities between the poems. “Poetry is dynamic and poetry alludes with symbolism to something beyond itself.”
It is through symbolism that both Hopkins and Dickinson convey points beyond what the surface of the poem implies.
The first poem, Hopkins’s “The Windhover,” is about the flight of a windhover (a kestrel or small hawk) and Hopkins’s reaction to it.
“Hopkins is absolutely astonished by the movement of the bird,” Venturo said.
Through symbolism, Venturo said that the poem is actually about divinity and what Hopkins himself shares with the bird. He pointed to some key verbs — “caught” (he pointed out that Hopkins was before his time since he used the word “caught” the same way we use it to say “I caught the Jon Stewart show”) and “buckle” in the line “Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here/Buckle!”
“Buckle is an extraordinary word,” Venturo said, since it can mean both to clasp and to fold in on oneself.
“It’s a love poem to the bird and to divinity,” Venturo concluded.
Next was Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.”
“This is a poem of radical perspective,” Venturo began. “'I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.’ What? Your speaker is dead.”
He points to her use of tropes (a twisting of language) like the “heaves of storm” and synecdoche (words that sound like sounds) like “buzz” to create her image of death (“And then the windows failed — and then/I could not see to see”).
"I liked how he was able to incorporate things from different poems and make them all come together," Lisa Boyajian, junior English major, said of her impression of Venturo's reading.
Venturo also pointed out a fun fact — that the meter of “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died” could be deciphered because it can be sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
You learn something new every day.
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(04/21/10 6:14pm)
Images and ideas abounded in the Business Building Lounge last Thursday April 15 when David Venturo, professor of English, dissected two famous poems — Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Windhover” and Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“Thank you so much for being here on a day Wordsworth would have said ‘You could be outside drinking in nature,’” an animated Venturo said after technical difficulties stalled the close reading from beginning.
The lounge’s screen never did work, but that didn’t stop Venturo. He plowed through both poems with vigor and made many interesting discoveries along the way.
“(Hopkins and Dickinson) are debating indirectly about what symbolism is about,” Venturo said of the poems’ connection.
“The world is a place of process. It is dynamic,” Venturo said, drawing more conclusions about the similarities between the poems. “Poetry is dynamic and poetry alludes with symbolism to something beyond itself.”
It is through symbolism that both Hopkins and Dickinson convey points beyond what the surface of the poem implies.
The first poem, Hopkins’s “The Windhover,” is about the flight of a windhover (a kestrel or small hawk) and Hopkins’s reaction to it.
“Hopkins is absolutely astonished by the movement of the bird,” Venturo said.
Through symbolism, Venturo said that the poem is actually about divinity and what Hopkins himself shares with the bird. He pointed to some key verbs — “caught” (he pointed out that Hopkins was before his time since he used the word “caught” the same way we use it to say “I caught the Jon Stewart show”) and “buckle” in the line “Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here/Buckle!”
“Buckle is an extraordinary word,” Venturo said, since it can mean both to clasp and to fold in on oneself.
“It’s a love poem to the bird and to divinity,” Venturo concluded.
Next was Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.”
“This is a poem of radical perspective,” Venturo began. “'I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.’ What? Your speaker is dead.”
He points to her use of tropes (a twisting of language) like the “heaves of storm” and synecdoche (words that sound like sounds) like “buzz” to create her image of death (“And then the windows failed — and then/I could not see to see”).
"I liked how he was able to incorporate things from different poems and make them all come together," Lisa Boyajian, junior English major, said of her impression of Venturo's reading.
Venturo also pointed out a fun fact — that the meter of “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died” could be deciphered because it can be sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
You learn something new every day.
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(04/20/10 2:07pm)
Images and ideas abounded in the Business Building Lounge last Thursday April 15 when David Venturo, professor of English, dissected two famous poems — Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Windhover” and Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a fly buzz—when I died.”
“Thank you so much for being here on a day Wordsworth would have said ‘You could be outside drinking in nature,’” an animated Venturo said after technical difficulties stalled the close reading from beginning.
The lounge’s screen never did work, but that didn’t stop Venturo. He plowed through both poems with vigor and made many interesting discoveries along the way.
“(Hopkins and Dickinson) are debating indirectly about what symbolism is about,” Venturo said of the poems’ connection.
“The world is a place of process. It is dynamic,” Venturo said, drawing more conclusions about the similarities between the poems. “Poetry is dynamic and poetry alludes with symbolism to something beyond itself.”
It is through symbolism that both Hopkins and Dickinson convey points beyond what the surface of the poem implies.
The first poem, Hopkins’s “The Windhover,” is about the flight of a windhover (a kestrel or small hawk) and Hopkins’s reaction to it.
“Hopkins is absolutely astonished by the movement of the bird,” Venturo said.
Through symbolism, Venturo said that the poem is actually about divinity and what Hopkins himself shares with the bird. He pointed to some key verbs — “caught” (he pointed out that Hopkins was before his time since he used the word “caught” the same way we use it to say “I caught the Jon Stewart show”) and “buckle” in the line “Brute beauty and valour and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here/Buckle!”
“Buckle is an extraordinary word,” Venturo said, since it can mean both to clasp and to fold in on oneself.
“It’s a love poem to the bird and to divinity,” Venturo concluded.
Next was Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.”
“This is a poem of radical perspective,” Venturo began. “'I heard a Fly buzz — when I died.’ What? Your speaker is dead.”
He points to her use of tropes (a twisting of language) like the “heaves of storm” and synecdoche (words that sound like sounds) like “buzz” to create her image of death (“And then the windows failed — and then/I could not see to see”).
"I liked how he was able to incorporate things from different poems and make them all come together," Lisa Boyajian, junior English major, said of her impression of Venturo's reading.
Venturo also pointed out a fun fact — that the meter of “I heard a Fly buzz — when I died” could be deciphered because it can be sung to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
You learn something new every day.
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(04/13/10 7:34pm)
Cop Shop is one of The Signal’s most popular columns.
As much as The Signal staff is unwilling to admit it, many people only read The Signal for Cop Shop. Besides the occasional funny moment (“We’re smoking pot” and the clown loose in Eickhoff Hall come to mind), the incidents reported in Cop Shop are serious and occasionally dangerous or lifethreatening. Clowns and pot smokers may be mentioned every once in a while, but who’s mentioned every single week?
Lions’ EMS.
Lions’ EMS is constantly saving someone in Cop Shop,
and are always the first on the scene in medical emergencies. They help students who have had too much to drink. They may even come help you if you get a bad paper cut because that’s their job — to help College students.
Lion’s EMS has become a staple on this campus and we
all rely on them. They are one of the few organizations on Campus that potentially reaches every single person. We never know when we may need them, but if we do, they’ll be there. Except they may not be very soon.
Because they switched to funding from the College as opposed to funding from the Student Finance Board, Lions’ EMS need a supervisor instead of an adviser. According to the story on this issue’s front page, “the responsibilities of a supervisor transcend the role of adviser, requiring that the individual be an EMT.”
So, because the supervisor needs to be an EMT, the squad is having a hard time finding someone to fill the position. And if no one fills the position, Lions’ EMS will cease to exist. I can’t even begin to stress what a loss this would be to the College.
Holly Heller, the current adviser to Lions’ EMS, said that the state of the College’s budget is to blame for the difficulty in finding a replacement for Heller. Lions’ EMS itself is doing everything they can, including a proposal and letter submitted to the vice president of Student Affairs.
But we can help. If the College community comes together to show the administration how much Lions’ EMS means to us, we could really make a difference. So write to the vice president of Student Affairs. Shoot an e-mail to President Gitenstein. Call every administrator that could even help a little.
If Lions’ EMS is disbanded, their response time of two to four minutes will stretch to the 15 minutes it will take off campus EMS organizations to get to here (like Ewing EMS). That 15 minutes can make a world of difference.
“I think students will be adversely affected,” Michael Delatore, Lions’ EMS Logistics Captain and senior criminology major, said of the possible disbandment. “We’re on campus, we’re able to respond quicker.”
We will be adversely affected if Lions’ EMS ceases to exist. So make it known that you want the group of people who heals this Campus’s hurts to keep answering those calls. And to keep appearing in Cop Shop. Imagine how much worse the reports might be without them.
— Caroline Russomanno
Managing Editor
(04/13/10 1:32pm)
I shouldn’t have worn my Mickey Mouse T-shirt. As soon as I got in line to pick up my ticket for TCNJ Musical Theater (TMT)’s “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on April 8, two “children” (a.k.a. performers from the show) latched onto me and called me “Mickey.”
Then the Mickey Mouse Club theme song began to drift from the Don Evans Black Box Theatre and I knew I was doomed.
“It’s your song!” they both screamed.
I thought I was safe when I escaped to my seat in the theater, which was adorned like an elementary-school gymnasium with “Coed Curling” and “State Quidditch Cup” banners and the facsimile gym floor. But right before the show began, who settled into the two seats to my right but my own personal Mickey Mouse club. They sat next to me for the entire show, whispering and reacting to the events of the “bee.”
It was a blast, as was the rest of the experience that was “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which ran from April 7-11.
One distinct aspect of this show was the fact that audience members were picked at random while buying their tickets to “participate” in the bee. Two college-age students, one parent and a little girl were placed among the performers. Each got at least one easy word to spell.
When Joanne Fillari, mother of performer Joseph Fillari, freshman accounting major, got the word “cow,” she wanted to make sure of the definition and hear the word in a sentence just like Vice Principal Douglas Patch (junior English major Steven Avigliano) advised all the bee contestants to do at the beginning of the show.
Could she have the definition?
“It means a cow,” Avigliano responded.
Could he use it in a sentence?
“Please spell cow,” Avigliano quipped.
“They picked me when I walked in and I was a little nervous what words I would get. But ‘cow’ was a good start,” Fillari said afterward.
“I think she did much much better than I expected her to and it was a blast seeing her up there having fun, kind of being in the show,” Joseph Fillari said about his mother’s performance.
But soon the audience members were disqualified for spelling horrendously hard words incorrectly.
Musical highlights of the show included “I’m Not That Smart,” “Magic Foot” and “My Unfortunate Erection.”
“I’m Not That Smart” featured the story of bee contestant Leaf Coneybear, played by junior art education major Zach Mazouat. He explained how his family thought he was stupid, how he made his own clothes (because the neon green cape sprinkled with stickers wasn’t an indication) and how he was just happy to be there.
“Magic Foot” was an ode to William Barfee’s (senior computer science major Vin St. John’s) aforementioned appendage and how it aided him in writing the correct spellings of words on the floor.
“My Unfortunate Erection” was about bee contestant Chip Tolentino’s (senior history and international studies double major Jerry Tower’s), well, unfortunate erection that distracted him, causing him to be disqualified.
Acting-wise, this was definitely an ensemble production, but a few performances stood out. Avigliano was hysterical as the slightly off-kilter vice principal and his banter with the contestants about the definitions and sentences was priceless.
St. John was equally genius as William Barfee. St. John always embodies whatever odd character TMT casts him to play and the obsessively creepy Barfee was no different.
But it was Mazouat as Leaf Coneybear who stole the show. He was simply adorable as the awkward kid in the cape with no self-esteem, whose sole accomplishment, listed at the end of the show when each participants’ future was described, was “Leaf Coneybear has cats.”
And that sums up the fun insanity of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” better than I ever could.
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(03/16/10 6:21pm)
Due to the horrors of the Holocaust, a whole new body of literature has emerged in the world’s cultural spectrum. Masterpieces like “Night” by Elie Weisel and “The Diary of Anne Frank” have permeated society and left a lasting mark. Professor of English Ellen Friedman is attempting to connect with this literature with her family memoir, “The Seven, a Holocaust Story.”
She presented the first chapter of her memoir at the biannual Colloquium for the Recognition of Faculty Research and Creative Activity on Wednesday March 3 in the Mildred and Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall.
The event, sponsored by the Faculty Senate, is an opportunity for professors at the College to share their scholarly work with their peers and guests. The Senate picks two professors to present each calendar year.
Friedman has connections to the Holocaust through her family, most notably her parents and uncles, many of whom survived the Holocaust from Warsaw, Poland. Over 35 years ago, she recorded interviews with her mother, father and two uncles about their experiences.
“(My family was) eager to be recorded,” Friedman said. “Some saw themselves as the stars in the next Hollywood Holocaust production. Others just wanted to bear witness.”
The first chapter of the novel, which Friedman read in its current rough draft state at the Colloquium, is about her uncle, Dove. Bouts of laughter filled the room as Friedman read about the old New York City taxi driver who survived the Holocaust by escaping to the Soviet Union with his family and decided that though he wanted Pierce Brosnan to play him in the movie adaptation of Friedman’s book, Jude Law would work better because he is younger.
She went on to talk about her father, who worked for the Soviet Union Secret Police, and her mother, who had no family survive the Holocaust. The rest of the memoir, according to the program, will include the stories of “the hidden child, the Hitler youth, the farmer’s daughter; my uncles and parents, who survived in the U.S.S.R.; and the — dare I say — “adventures” of the 7 people who traveled together through the Soviet Union (one went back and was murdered by Nazis, one was institutionalized with schizophrenia and has hallucinations about the S.S., one had an affair with a Russian General’s wife, 2 had typhus, 1 witnessed the liberation of Moscow, 5 witnessed the Berlin airlift.”
“They know I’m working on it and want to know when it will be published,” Friedman said of her family’s reaction to the memoir. “So do I. They think I’m taking too long. So do I.”
When asked why it took her so long to use the material recorded over 35 years ago (and some more recent interviews), she said, “I’ve been working on the material over the years but was sidetracked by progress on my scholarship. Now I am ready and have found my voice for this project.”
Michael Robertson, professor of English, who introduced Friedman, expressed his desire to hear the piece and joked that back when the College was mostly men who didn’t like to do research, they regarded Friedman’s efforts “the way Americans regard cricket as a harmless but peculiar pastime.”
“The story of Polish Jews whose lives were saved in the U.S.S.R. is not as well known as other stories,” Friedman said of the importance of her work, “stories of the concentration camps or Partisans or hidden children or the kindertransports.”
(03/03/10 8:30pm)
So, they beat us.
Yes, it’s true. Canada reigns supreme in the hockey arena. Now they won’t have to kick their players out of the country and hang their heads in shame in front of the world. They at least have their hockey.
And five more gold medals than the U.S. Now, I don’t play favorites when it comes to the Olympic Games, but I really wanted America to win everything ever at the XXI Winter Games. Some may call it crazy … I call it patriotic. I console myself by thinking about the fact that it was the first time Canada ever won home gold (they failed to do so in Montreal and Calgary).
America did kick some serious booty, though. A goal to tie the gold medal match with only 24 seconds left in the third period? That’s some good hockey. And yes, Sidney Crosby had to puncture a nation’s hopes and dreams shortly into the sudden-death overtime. That’s what the sportscasters get for comparing this team to the 1980 miracle team — no sports moment will ever come close.
But beyond the agony of hockey defeat, the U.S. did pretty well for itself at these winter games. The 37 total medals racked up by America are the most for any country in a single Winter Olympics. Like I kept repeating last night after the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team got their silver medal, the color of the medal doesn’t count.
For instance, Apolo Anton Ohno didn’t win gold at the games, but he did win 3 medals (one silver and two bronze), making his eight total medals the most any U.S. athlete has won at the Winter Games. And because of Korean team-skating (which is technically against the rules but almost impossible to prove) and the subsequent falls of Lee Ho-Suk and Sung Si-Bak, first time Olympian J.R. Celski went home with a bronze (he also won bronze in the men’s relay).
Many Americans did win gold. Most notably was Evan Lysacek, the gold medalist in men’s figure skating. Lysacek beat out Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia to take home the first U.S. medal in the event since since Brian Boitano in 1988, and he was the first reigning world champion to win since Scott Hamilton in 1984. It was the first time in their Olympic history that Russia didn’t take at least one gold medal in figure skating. Times appear to be changing.
While she wasn’t American, I couldn’t help but cheer for South Korean women’s figure skater Kim Yu-Na, what with the announcers repeating how much pressure she was under from her home country. And I may have crossed my fingers that American Mirai Nagasu not pass Joannie Rochette, the Canadian in third place who had just lost her mother a week earlier and still skated like a champ. Scott Hamilton choking up in the background didn’t help much. But Yu-Na got the gold and Rochette got bronze. That was the only time I was happy when non-Americans won.
I wasn’t so pleased when Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir beat Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White to become the first North American duo to win an ice dancing gold. Davis and White got silver, but their “Phantom of the Opera” free skate was so powerful, I’m still disappointed.
The American four-man bobsled team won the first U.S. gold medal in the event in 62 years. Maybe the Jamaican bobsled team’s notable absence (they didn’t qualify — the first time since ’88 in Calgary) helped the U.S. come out on top.
The Americans also showed their skills on the skis. American alpine skier Bode Miller, after an all-talk and no-result stint in Turin, redeemed himself with three medals (one of each color) in Vancouver. Lindsey Vonn, among talk of injury and rumors of fake injuries, won the race she came to win — the downhill — and became the first American woman to do so. She also won bronze in Super-G. Her teammate, Julia Mancuso, won two silver medals in the downhill and combined.
Americans rocked snowboarding, too. Shaun White delivered, winning his second gold medal in men’s halfpipe in as many games. And his debut of the Double McTwist 1260 at the Olympics was the best victory lap I’ve ever seen.
The women’s team was equally successful, even though they dropped the gold to a technically brilliant Torah Bright of Australia. Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark got silver and bronze respectively.
Seth Wescott also repeated his Turin gold in men’s snowboard cross. However, Lindsey Jacobellis (you may remember her as the overly-confident American who threw in a board grab at the end of the snowboard cross course and ended up falling and winning only silver) disappointed again, not even making it into the final.
The newest Olympic event, ski cross (exactly like snowboard cross, except on skis), while having no American winners, is sure to become a favorite.
Speed skating was another event where America came out big. Shani Davis, the first black athlete (from any nation) to win a gold medal in an individual Winter Games sport (the 1,000-meter), won the same event, becoming the first man to win the event back-to-back. He also won a silver in 1,500-meter.
Curling is awesome. I am the first person to admit that. But the American teams didn’t do overly well this time around. The Canadian men won gold and the Swedish team won a nail-biter against our neighbirs to the north.
Finally, America had another first at these games. Bill Demong, Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick and Brett Camerota won the large hill/20km nordic combined event — the first time an American team medaled in the event. And Bill Demong won gold in the 10 km individual large hill, the first American man to do so.
All in all, the XXI Olympic Winter Games were pretty killer, not just for the U.S., but for all of the countries that participated, whether they won or not. There were sad moments, like the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, and there were moments of pure joy, like when Swiss ski-jumper Simon Ammann again won double gold medals in the normal hill and the large hill.
I’ll only have fond memories of these games. Even if Canada did beat us at hockey. And win more golds. Hey, there’s always Sochi.
(02/23/10 3:01pm)
The future of the musical is starting to worry me.
Green Day’s “American Idiot” has officially been turned into a musical and is headed to Broadway. It’s opening in the St. James Theatre on April 20. It draws from songs from both 2004’s “American Idiot” and 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown” and follows a long line of musicals utilizing songs from other sources, including “Mamma Mia,” “Jersey Boys,” “We Will Rock You,” the movie “Across the Universe” and “Movin’ Out.”
This version of the musical has been taken to new heights. “Come Fly Away” is a new musical using not only the songs of Frank Sinatra, but also his voice.
This is not to say that there haven’t been new musicals with original scores to come out in recent years. “Wicked,” “Spring Awakening,” “Rent,” “Spamalot” and the record-breaking Tony-winner “The Producers” are all instant classics. Yet, none of these (not even “The Producers,” the best of the bunch) come close to the original musical, produced in the heyday of Broadway and Hollywood.
Nothing beats “Singin’ in the Rain.” It is, and will forever be, the quintessential musical.
“Meet Me in St. Louis” is one of the most touching musicals ever made. Judy Garland plus “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” equals a classic moment.
“West Side Story” has the best opening number of any musical ever. The Sharks and Jets and their snapping fingers still make me shiver.
Before James Cagney was a public enemy, he portrayed American original George M. Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Classic American anthems like “Over There” and “Grand Old Flag” dotted the musical’s landscape and it paved the way for the musical within the musical.
“The Music Man” is one of the best musicals ever made. “Seventy-Six Trombones” is the classic musical song.
“Guys and Dolls” immortalized one of Frank Sinatra’s best performances and one of his best songs, “Adelaide.” And yes, Marlon Brando couldn’t sing, but he still made “Luck, Be a Lady” his own.
“1776,” though not made in the Golden Age of musicals (it was released on Broadway in 1969 and as a movie in 1972), still exemplifies the medium. “Cool, Considerate Men,” though originally taken out of the movie version of “1776” on Richard Nixon’s request, is still a perfect commentary on conservative politics.
The best musicals need their music. They wouldn’t be the same without their music. The music adds a whole other dimension and brings the characters emotions, plights and thoughts to life. The music drives the action instead of simply being a pleasant interlude. So many of today’s musicals (dare I bring up “High School Musical”?) are movies or shows with music. That is not a musical. A musical is music with a plot.
Disney has tried to keep the musical alive. “Mary Poppins” is a genuine musical and one of the best. Most of the animated movies, however, fall into that category of movies with music.
The musical is dying. There are so few original musicals being made now, and the ones that are do not have the same joy, the same zest for life that the originals did.
“Oklahoma,” “Gypsy,” “Carousel,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “The Sound of Music,” “Camelot,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The Wizard of Oz” and so many more.
And the musical’s best champions are all, unfortunately, dead. Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, Danny Kay, Judy Garland, Donald O’Connor, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra and so many more.
Musical films are not shot the way they used to be, when they’re shot at all. I want huge musical numbers with bright colors, dancing and joy. I want a single spotlight on a broken soul. Nothing beats a true, honest musical. Nothing.
Because there will never be another cinematic moment that comes close to Gene Kelly, singing and dancing in the rain.
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(02/23/10 2:51pm)
A nearly sold-out audience came together to celebrate vaginas for three days, Feb. 19-21, in The Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall, thanks to sponsor Women in Leadership and Learning (W.I.L.L.).
“The Vagina Monologues,” in its ninth consecutive year at the College, is the brainchild of Eve Ensler, a playwright, performer and activist who interviewed more than 200 women of all ages, religions and ethnicities about their vaginas to create the monologues.
This year, as in the eight previous years, the College showed support for V-day, Ensler’s global movement to stop violence against women and girls.
“It proclaims Valentine’s Day as V-day until the violence stops,” Mary Lynn W. Hopps, director of W.I.L.L., said in her welcoming address. “Then V-day will be known as victory over violence day.”
All of the monologues were performed with clear passion. With each monologue, the passion varied from funny to serious to awed to silently strong.
In one monologue, “My Vagina Was My Village,” freshmen open options major Valerys Diaz told the story of a girl in Bosnia who was raped repeatedly for seven days by soldiers with rifles, bottles, the end of a broom and other objects.
“They invaded it, butchered it, and burned it down,” Diaz said. “I do not touch now. I do not visit. I live someplace else now. I don’t know where that is.”
English literature graduate student Kristin Bennett performed “The Little Coochie Snoorcher That Could” directly after. At first, this monologue had a completely different feel because of Bennett’s cutesy Southern accent and the fact that she was speaking in the voice of a child (who started at age five and grew to age 16), but a disturbing mood took hold when she spoke of the girl being raped by her father’s friend when she was just 10 years old. Yet an air of triumph permeated when the girl was 16, since she discovered herself through the love of an older woman.
New this year, “I Was There in the Room” celebrated something previously forgotten by the “Monologues” — birth. Sophomore English and secondary education major Micaela Ensminger delivered the monologue about a grandmother watching the birth of her grandchild with just the right amount of wonder.
While all of the other monologues declared feminine independence and rejoiced in it, one strayed from the pack. “Because He Liked to Look at It” was a refreshing addition to the evening as the first monologue to mention a male in a positive light. Tamra Wroblesky, senior history and women and gender studies major, spoke of Bob, the man who helped the woman come to love her vagina.
Other monologues included transgender plights, older women getting in touch with themselves and vagina workshops, but two clearly stood out as the finest of the evening.
“Angry Vagina,” performed by Caitlin Dougherty, senior biopsychology major, started with an angry Dougherty storming in from the back of the hall and stalking down to the stage, screaming about why her vagina was angry. She went on to complain about tampons, thong underwear and all the other stuff “up there.”
She insisted that her vagina be seduced and then raged, “You can’t do that with a fucking wad of dry cotton.”
But the show-stopping monologue was “The Woman Who Liked to Make Vaginas Happy.” Freshman statistics major Nadya Pena portrayed a prostitute who worked exclusively for women because of the way they moan. She proceeded to give examples of some of the best moans out there. Highlights included the almost moan, the elegant moan, the WASP moan, the Jewish moan, the African-American moan, the Irish-Catholic moan, the machine-gun moan and the surprise triple orgasm moan. But the College moan (“Oooh, I should be studying!”) and the Twilight moan (“Oh Edward! Oh Jacob!”) brought down the house.
The evening ended on a somber note with this year’s spotlight monologue, “A Teenage Girl’s Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery,” where Hopps and six performers listed the eight steps to survival. Steps included “don’t scream,” “don’t look at him” and “build a hole inside yourself and climb into it.”
Hopps finished with number eight — “No one can take anything from you if you do not give it to them.”
To end the performance, everyone who was either sexually abused or knew someone who was sexually abused was asked to stand up. After, everyone in the audience stood up, vowing “to break the silence.”
The performers then reminded everyone of the point of the evening — “V-day, until the violence stops.”
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(02/02/10 10:31pm)
The 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has been one of the worst natural disasters to occur in modern times. People from all walks of life have donated money, volunteered and collected food, clothing, medical supplies, etc. George Clooney’s “Hope for Haiti” telethon raised about one million dollars, and many celebrities participated in the event to help the ailing nation. There are countless ways to help. The United States, and the world, really came together to help the Haitians.
But the disaster has also caused other stirring in the U.S. — various news outlets’ journalistic senses began tingling and hundreds of reporters flocked to the island nation. At face value, this is great. It is our obligation as journalists to report fairly and objectively about world affairs. If we lose sight of our role as government watchdogs and informers of the people, the world will be the worst for it.
But there are potential downsides to journalism. While the First Amendment is every journalist’s pride and joy as it gives us freedom of the press, it also provides that journalism cannot be regulated. So where do we draw the line?
This issue is predominant in the current news coverage in Haiti. Is a journalist there strictly as a journalist or is he or she a human being first? Should they pull people out of wreckage like NBC’s Bill Neely did for the Haitian woman, Jeanette? While it’s wonderful that ABC’s Robin Roberts helped an orphan named Esther reconnect with her adoptive parents in Iowa after the catastrophe, the fact that he covered the story on ABC every step of the way is not.
While I can’t tell reporters to stop being human beings, I can say I don’t think it’s right to exploit people for viewers. Put the microphone down and help. Or do your job and report. But don’t do both.
A whole other issue is the medical correspondent who splits time between operating and reporting. For instance, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton recently weighed in on the growing medical problems in Haiti, according to the LA Times.
Ashton said while performing surgery, “To say it’s primitive is an understatement. This is analogous to Civil War medicine.”
Yet the fact that Ashton said this while performing surgery while on air is the bigger issue. Should medical correspondents and journalists with medical degrees put aside their microphones and pens and help out with the relief effort? And if they do, should they report while doing so?
Many medical reporters in Haiti have chosen to do both. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN’s Sanjay Gupta performed emergency brain surgery on a 12-year-old Haitian girl, Ashton treated amputees and is helping to run a clinic and ABC’s Richard Besser helped deliver a baby.
Gupta is a neurosurgeon, Ashton is a certified medical doctor and Besser is a doctor and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so they clearly have the skill and background. But do they have the right?
It’s a battle of one natural inclination against another. The consensus of most of The Signal staff seems to be that medical correspondents need to pick one or the other — either be a doctor or be a journalist. Doing both at once cheapens the journalism because the patient and situation is exploited for show, yet it also takes away from the medical situation because how can a journalist reporting while doing open-heart surgery really be focused on his or her task?
So the verdict is in — either lose the microphone and pick up the scalpel (or aid people in trouble) or report on other people performing surgery (or helping people) and don’t take part.
(01/26/10 2:33pm)
As College students, we hold a few truths to be self-evident — class will always be at 8:30 a.m., no matter what status our age may superficially afford us, campus food will never taste quite the way it smells, but it will always taste the way it looks, sleep really is the best medicine and Cop Shop is slightly sad but a whole lot of fun to read. And, of course, the No. 1 thing most College students have in common — we’re broke.
Gas prices are outlandish, Wendy’s is a Greek siren singing her songs of double bacon cheeseburgers and meal plans charge us for thousands of points we’re never going to use.
I don’t even want to think about my College loans.
But while we may become self-possessed with all of our personal debt, there are certain times this College community must come together, whether it be protesting controversial speakers, electing our first black president or supporting a country in dire need of our help.
While many Americans feel that the outpouring of support to Haiti is long overdue — and I agree — we can’t let this blind us to the fact that the Haitians need us right now, political posturing aside.
There are so many ways to donate to this cause, whether you go the simple route of texting HAITI to ‘90999,’ going to either hopeforhaiti.com or redcross.org to make a donation or finding other organizations to contribute your money, time or effort. The College’s Haitian Student Association is sponsoring a drive collecting anything you can think of that will help the Haitian people like clothes, bottled water, medical supplies, over-the-counter medication and canned food (the drop-off location is the office of Hausdoerffer Hall), too.
We can actually make a difference. There are approximately 5,600 undergraduates attending the College. If we each donate a dollar, that’s $5,600. If we each donate five dollars, that’s $28,000. And if every undergraduate donates $10?
$56,000.
And since our student to teacher ratio is 13:1, our approximately 430 faculty members can only add to that already impressive number.
We can all cough up $10 to help a country in need. We could actually make a difference.
-Caroline Russomanno
(12/01/09 4:45pm)
When I walked into Kendall Hall on opening night, Nov. 19, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. All I had to go by was the slightly foreboding, possibly informative, but definitely intriguing title of the show, “Reefer Madness.”
To my surprise, “Reefer Madness” was all of those things, and more.
The show was intensely interesting. Portrayed as a warped morality tale with a school lecturer trying desperately to get parents upset about marijuana, the play spoofed the original movie’s intention perfectly.
The opening number, “Reefer Madness,” was spot-on. “Reefer zombies” slithered and writhed while singing the creepy refrain, also the name of the song. “Romeo and Juliet,” the play’s introduction to lead characters Jimmy and Mary Lane, played by freshman accounting major Joe Fillari and senior communication studies major Elaine White, was both adorable, silly, and a little sad. It wasn’t hard to figure out something was going to go terribly wrong in the young couple’s lives.
Vincent St. John, senior computer science major, stole the show as The Lecturer, the mad ringmaster of the entire show, who was trying to get parents to understand the dangers of marijuana. For the play to work, The Lecturer had to capture the audience and keep all in attendance interested, and St. John did both of these things. From directing the other actors during the show to popping up at the most interesting times, he was by far the most memorable character.
Events took a turn for the worse after the opening songs.
While singing the jovial “Down at the Ol’ Five and Dime” — an homage to ’30s-style music and dance — Jimmy was coerced by Jack Stone, played by freshman engineering major Joe Tible, into coming back to his place to learn how to dance so he could impress Mary Lane. It’s there that “Jimmy Takes a Hit” and the play got off and rolling.
Cat Cosentino, senior communication studies major, and Dreena Moran, senior English major, were believable as potheads stuck in Jack Stone’s reefer den. Moran’s performance shined at the end of the play when she finally stepped up and saved Jimmy.
Newcomer Tible was great as Jack Stone, the perpetrator of all the “Madness.” The character was easy to hate, and that spoke wondrous volumes of Tible’s performance.
Once when Jimmy was high as a kite for the first time, “The Orgy” occurred. This was the most provocative number, both sexy and a little discomfiting, with the entire cast grinding together in flesh-colored body suits with only oversized marijuana leaves preventing full exposure. The song itself was slinky, the choreography imaginative, but from up close, it was also a little much at times.
Still, they definitely got their point across.
Another song worth mentioning is “Lonely Pew,” a solo number by White. Mary Lane was upset that Jimmy hadn’t joined her at church (since he was off being a crazy reefer zombie), and the song that follows was sad and beautiful. Whereas other parts of the play made fun of Mary Lane for her purity, with this song the character was vindicated. White, in her last main stage performance at the College according to the playbill, was brilliant.
Finally, there were “Listen to Jesus, Jimmy” and “Lullaby.” The latter was a sad little song about a baby, played by senior nursing major Freddie Paiva, sold by his mother for pot money (“My mommy never named me/I guess she was too high”).
And the former was another one of those provocative-bordering-on-uncomfortable numbers. Jesus came down and told Jimmy to stop smoking weed and get back on the right path — with scantily clad angels and religious mockery thrown in, of course. Ray McCue, junior Spanish secondary education major, was a hoot as the sleazy Son of God.
Fillari’s portrayal of Jimmy was equally strong — his descent from boy-next-door to weed junkie was silly yet sad — and the introduction of these two fine freshmen suggests that TMT will be as remarkable as always in the next four years.
“Reefer Madness” was, in the end, a thought-provoking musical, most likely without meaning to be one. The original was trying to educate clueless parents about a new danger, and this musical version made fun of both their fear and the ’30s time period. Nevertheless, “Reefer Madness” was a fantastic production, and we will definitely think twice before lighting up.
(10/27/09 5:00pm)
Health Services has been doing its best to arm the student body against the dangers of both the regular flu and H1N1 virus so far this semester. There have been three H1N1 vaccination clinics administering FluMist, the nasal spray vaccine over the past two weeks.
According to Janice Vermeychuk, director of Health Services, 445 students, staff and faculty were vaccinated at the clinics. Eighty-four percent of the recepients were students.
“I would call that a mediocre response,” Vermeychuk said.
Health Services plans to have more flu vaccination clinics when the injectable vaccination is received.
According to Vermeychuk, the vaccine was ordered over two weeks ago but Health Services has not yet received it because production of the vaccine is currently delayed.
According to Vermeychuk, Health Services is following the recommendation of the Center for Disease Control and “not routinely testing for H1N1 flu.”
“Cases of students with flu-like illness we do count,” Vermeychuk said. “We had a high of 36 cases the week of Sept. 14. The count has fallen since then. Last week, we saw 12 cases.”
On Oct. 24 Vermeychuk held a session for parents to educate them about the dangers of H1N1 and how to keep their children out of harm’s way.
According to Vermeychuk, some of the topics covered at the event were “the difference between the terms seasonal, pandemic and novel influenza, testing for flu, the steps people can take to prevent the spread of respiratory illness.”
Other topics covered were types of vaccinations for H1N1 and other types of flue, as well as illness prevention habits.
Vermeychuk said illness prevention includes healthy habits such as covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands and getting adequate amounts of sleep.
Staying home from work and school when ill and getting an annual flu shot is also advised.
Due to a recent shipment of regular flu vaccine (not H1N1) students who missed the regular flu vaccine in September are now able to get the vaccine by making an appointment with Health Services.
According to Vermeychuk, self-quarantining is urged by both Health Services and the College’s Critical Incident Planning Group.
Self-quarantining means when a student or teacher is ill, he or she stays away from other people and misses class to avoid getting others sick.
Flu symptoms are a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more and a cough or sore throat, Vermeychuk said.
If the flu is contracted, the sick person should stay away from other people until a full day after the fever has gone down.
According to Vermeychuk, College students are the target of H1N1, so it is advisable to get vaccinated against it.
For more information on any of these topics or sickness prevention in general, contact Health Services at 609-771-2483.
(10/06/09 3:51pm)
Around campus, construction is moving along. Some has been completed recently, like Hausdoerffer and Phelps Halls.
According to Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Relations and Communication, the schedule called for occupancy this fall and the cost was under budget.
The new Art and Interactive Multimedia Building is currently being built in Lot 4, and, according to Golden, is on budget and on schedule for occupation during the winter.
The Eickhoff Hall renovation’s first phase was completed over the past summer, as was the renovation of “T-Dubbs.”
The Eickhoff renovation is on budget and on schedule, according to Golden.
The Decker Hall renovations are on schedule, and the budget has been reduced due to good bids and progress, Golden said.
According to Golden, the West Library renovation is also on budget and on schedule.
Designs for the renovation of the outside of Green Hall are also in works, Golden said.
William Rudeau, director of construction, and Curt Heuring, vice president for facilities management, construction and campus safety, refused to comment except through Golden.
(09/09/09 12:28am)
Editor's note: This article has been modified.
According to the director of Student Health Services, Janice Vermeychuk, there are cases of the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu, on campus.
“We were able to confirm cases of H1N1 on campus through testing of samples by the N.J. state laboratory,” Vermeychuk said. She did not have a number of cases.
The College is applying for the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine from the federal government and if the College is approved as a centralized distribution center for H1N1 vaccination, Health Services will offer this vaccine as soon as it’s received, she said.
The government is estimating delivery in late October or early November. It will be free, and two doses, separated by 21 days, will be needed.
This vaccine is recommended for ages six months to 24 years of age, so students are the target for it, Vermeychuk said.
According to Vermeychuk, one of the things the College’s Critical Incident Planning Group (CIPG) is urging this year on campus is self-quarantining, which means when a student or teacher is ill, he or she stays away from others and doesn’t go to class.
“It won’t be easy and this will all be on the honor system — there will be no flu police,” Vermeychuk said.
“We will all have to take personal responsibility for ourselves. It will be our civic duty to stay away from other people if we develop flu symptoms,” she said.
Vermeychuk defines flu symptoms as a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more and a cough or sore throat. She suggests staying away from others until the fever has been gone for a full 24 hours. “Stay in your room for three to five days or longer and don’t leave except for medical necessities (wearing a face mask),” she said.
According to Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Relations and Communication, the campus community will be notified of cases of H1N1 if flu activity on campus would create some sort of disturbance or health threat to the community. But, Golden said, a few confirmed cases don’t warrant notification according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). According to the CDC, about 60 percent of the U.S. population will contract some form of the flu this year.
According to Vermeychuk, the CDC says one difference between 2009 H1N1 influenza and seasonal influenza is that adults older than 64 do not yet appear to be at increased risk to H1N1 so far.
This is especially relevant for the College community because H1N1 mostly affects people younger than 25-years-old. About one-third of adults over 60 may have antibodies against H1N1.
“Because of this, and because 2009 H1N1 flu is more contagious than seasonal influenza, we expect to see lots of cases of flu-like illness this year,” Vermeychuk said.
“The CIPG with the support of President R. Barbara Gitenstein, Provost Carol Bresnahan, Vice President James Norfleet, Student Affairs, and other cabinet officers has been meeting throughout the summer, and has developed a strategic plan to deal with influenza,” Vermeychuk said.
The College has moved up its seasonal flu clinics from October to September. They will be held in the Student Center on Sept. 17, 23, 29 and Oct.1. See the Health Services web page for times at tcnj.edu/~sa/health/flushot.html.
Students with the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) will also be able to get the flu shot for free at these clinics (students without SHIP have to pay 20 dollars) and FluMist, the nasal vaccine, is available at the last two clinics for only ten dollars for students with SHIP and 30 dollars for students without it.
“Students sometimes tell me that they are healthy and will take their chances — I always remind students to not just think about themselves but those around them when considering flu vaccination — people who would be at high risk for complications if they got the flu.,” she said. “I get a flu shot to protect my patients, my 89 year old father, my husband who has diabetes, my daughter-in-law who has asthma — I get vaccinated for them.”
(09/01/09 2:46pm)
An open house gala for the new Metzger Drive apartments was held Tuesday, Aug. 25. The gala took place in front of the new apartments, Phelps and Hausdoerffer Halls.
The event featured an opening ceremony with guest speakers including College President R. Barbara Gitenstein, James Norfleet, vice president of student life, Pat Holloran, president of the Residence Hall Association and Sean Stallings, the director of Residential Life.
Professor William Hausdoerffer, for whom the second apartment building was named, spoke last. The gala concluded with a barbecue .
“(These apartments are) exactly what we envsioned when we started this project years ago,” Gitenstein said, going on to talk about Hausdoerffer and his long and varied history with the College. During the Great Depression, he attended the College as a student and played for the Lions’ football team.
Later in life, Hausdoerffer taught mathematics at the College for 30 years and also served as dean of the Math Department. He created an annuity for students studying math.
Hausdoerffer is also responsible for the design of the lawn sundial next to the Brower Student Center. He and his wife, who also taught at the College, recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
“This is a great institution,” Hausdoerffer said. “I’ve loved it for 50 percent of the existence of the College if my math is correct …Why is that so? It’s so because I wanted it.”
Hausdoerffer’s speech was littered with anecdotes, praise for the College, and just a little bit of humor.
“I’m proud to hear the name Hausdoerffer pronounced so correctly,” he said of the many interesting pronunciations of his name (which, as he put it, is correctly pronounced “House-Door-Fur”) that Hausdoerffer has heard over the years.
“I won’t tell you what they are because they might become attached,” he said with a smile. He then talked about his own dormitory living experiences while at the College, including his stint living in Bliss Hall in September of 1935.
“We’ve been given a good balance of education (at the College),” Hausdoerffer said, urging students to take a twofold interest in education: professional development and recreational development.
He strongly recommended students develop recreational activities (like sports and hobbies) in life because that is where one makes lifelong friends and has fun.
“It’s a real pleasure and thrill for me to have this named Hausdoerffer Hall,” he said. “When I first heard about it, I was in the Princeton Hospital and Dr. Gitenstein called me and I thought it was a death wish. People will say anything when you’re in the hospital,” he joked. But he soon found out that wasn’t the case. According to Gitenstein, it was his dedication and years of service at the College that helped make the decision.
The other new student apartment building, Phelps Hall, is named after William Phelps, the first President of the College in 1855. According to Stallings, Phelps’ philosophy was to “educate the whole person.” He believed, “the best teacher helps students.”
“We are proud to open Phelps Hall, and create memories for your time,” Stallings said.
(08/25/09 6:40pm)
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Move-in day was punctuated by a new addition to Metzger drive — the new College apartments on campus are complete and currently occupied by upperclassmen.
New student apartments William Phelps Hall and William Hausdoerffer Hall were completed on budget and on schedule, according to William Rudeau, director of Campus Construction.
“They turned out excellent,” Rudeau said. “It was a great design — the architect did a great job. I think (the apartments) fit really well into the aesthetic of the rest of the campus.”
The apartments feature beds for 400 upperclassmen total, with each apartment consisting of three single bedrooms, one double bedroom, a living room and a partial kitchen.
According to Melisa Sternberger, senior deaf education and psychology major and resident of Hausdoerffer Hall, the new apartments are satisfactory so far.
“There are a few little things that aren’t quite right though. Room D is a little smaller than the other bedrooms,” Sternberger said. “I was the first one to sign into the apartment and I found out I had the smallest room. They’re really great though. Everything that was supposed to be there was there.”
Phelps and Hausdoerffer Halls replaced the previously constructed apartments abandoned in November 2004. The old apartments were eventually torn down because of water damage. Construction started on the new apartments in Spring 2008. An open house gala at the apartments took place yesterday in order for the College community to be formally introduced to the new buildings.
Phase one of the renovation of Eickhoff Hall is also complete. There are several planned phases of construction that are due to take place over the next several years.
The middle section of the main dining area was sectioned off for most of the summer so that the flooring and plumbing could be replaced, new lights and electrical configurations could be installed and new deli equipment could be added.
Students can see that a salad bar as well as a sandwich station have been constructed, while the main food area has remained the same.
“There are a couple little pieces that still need to be finished, but otherwise, Phase One is complete,” Rudeau said.
Finally, construction on the new Art and Interactive Multimedia Building is still underway. This building will be home to Art and Interactive Multimedia majors, and is planned to one day completely replace Holman Hall. According to Rudeau, the project is on schedule and is due to be completed this winter. Occupancy will begin next semester in January.
Students can view the more detailed plan for campus construction on the College’s construction website at tcnj.edu/~constr.
(04/15/09 12:00pm)
The Parent Trap (1998)
Jess: Yes, this is one of those cheesy family Disney movies. And yes, it stars Lindsay Lohan. Regardless, when compared to the original, this was actually a really good remake. The original, which starred Hayley Mills, is certainly not a bad film, but for our generation it's slightly dated. This remake introduced the story to a new generation of kids while still keeping the major plot points intact. Not to mention the fact that Ronnie Stevens, as the loving yet highly intuitive Grandpa Charles, stole any scene he was in. Overall, I'd say this was a good example of a remake gone right.
The Producers (2005)
Carrie: I think it means something that both of my remakes on this list are Mel Brooks movies. The man likes to redo things. Originally a movie about a musical with a five minute song in the end (the 1968 version), Brooks turned it into a Broadway musical with more than 20 songs. The show won 12 Tony awards, the most in history, so it was only logical to make it into a movie. Luckily, Brooks and crew made the movie almost exactly like the play. In short, it's awesome, outrageous and hysterical. Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane have comedic chemistry like nobody's business. When a movie's show-stopping song is "Springtime for Hitler," you know it's got to be good.
Get Smart (2008)
Carrie: While it was based on a long-running TV show and some bad made-for-TV-movies, this remake starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway was extraordinarily enjoyable. Made for both fans of the cult hit and for new fans, "Get Smart" had all the craziness of the original series , but also had more flair and less silliness - Maxwell Smart, played by Carell, is a hapless spy, yes, but he also has more redeeming qualities than he did in the original. Nice remake.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Jess: It isn't often that a movie remake outshines its predecessor so outrightly that most don't even know there was an original. "Moulin Rouge!" however, does just that. Originally made in 1952, the 2001 remake far outranks the original. A large portion of this is due to Baz Lurman's phenomenal directing, bringing his artistic eye to the film and creating such an engrossing world. The movie's songs played a large part in its appeal, helping give this over-the-top love story the justice it deserves (not to mention the fact that Jim Broadbent's version of "Like a Virgin" was highly amusing, albeit slightly disturbing, to watch). These factors, not to mention brilliant acting by Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Richard Roxburgh, made this film one of the best remakes to date.
(04/08/09 12:00pm)
Skid Row landed smack dab in the middle of the Don Evans Black Box Theatre when TCNJ Musical Theater (TMT)'s production of "Little Shop of Horrors" took over.
Playing from April 1-4, the show, about a poor flower shop in a slum that profits from the exotic man-eating plant one of its employees finds, was everything one comes to expect from TMT. The music was captivating. While every song was some play on a rock-genre - doo-wop, funk, power ballads and just plain old rock 'n' roll - some stood out.
"Little Shop of Horrors," the first song that stood in for an overture, set the tone for the show. Dreena Moran, junior English major, Gabi Crespo, freshman nursing major and Sara Truluck, junior music education major, harmonized perfectly as the slum-rats Ronnette, Crystal and Chiffon.
"Skid Row (Downtown)" was the first ensemble piece, and while it was a bit overwhelming when everyone sang, it was still great. A highlight was downtrodden hero Seymour Krelborn, played by sophomore art eduction major Zach Mazouat. He has a great line in the song: "When I asked God what I'm for, he said he's not sure."
"Somewhere That's Green," a pretty ballad sung by Audrey, battered heroine and Seymour's love interest, played by sophomore biology major Rose Filoramo, who kept her Brooklyn accent with effortless ease every time she sang, and "Dentist!," which marked the first appearance of Audrey's abusive, rebel boyfriend Orin Srivello, memorably portrayed by Dan Keyser, senior finance major, were also very well done. Keyser was rather terrifying as the sadistic, leather-wearing dental expert
But it was the sudden vocalization of Audrey II, the giant man-eating plant that the entire play revolves around, in "Feed Me (Git It)" that stole the show. The Audrey II puppets (there were three throughout the show and each got increasingly bigger) were incredible. They were controlled by junior computer science major Vincent St. John, and Lancaster gave them vocal cords. Not only was Lancaster funny and raunchy as the giant blood-obsessed fly-trap in the song, but Mazouat got to showcase an impressive set of pipes for the first time.
"Now (It's Just the Gas)" had the potential to be an epic moment, considering Keyser's Orin was attempting to give Mazouat's Seymour, who was trying to kill him so he could be fed to Audrey II, a dental exam and pain turns Orin on. "There's always time for a little dental hygiene," Keyser quipped. But, unfortunately the script had Keyser don a gas mask for most of the scene and it was almost impossible to hear him once it was on.
Act II's highlights included "Suddenly, Seymour," a song in which Audrey realizes she actually loves Seymour, and "Suppertime," when Audrey II convinces Seymour to feed his boss, Mr. Mushnik (very memorably played by senior history and communication studies major Vinny Scafuto - his Yiddish accent had people hysterical all night), to him. Audrey II actually ate Mr. Mushnik on stage in a very realistic and scary way.
The show was staged in the much smaller Black Box Theatre instead of on the Kendall Hall Main Stage. According to Scafuto, it was to achieve an intimate feel in a student-directed production. Yet, each time the entire ensemble sang together it was overwhelming. During certain parts of the show, it was difficult to see the action when the actors were right in the front of the stage-area due to the shape and size of the theater.
Besides these few unfortunate circumstances, the show was a success. The set was magnificent. What with the garbage cans, construction cones and drunkards (senior philosophy major Kevin "Vegas" Lancaster in a memorable cameo), it really seemed as if the slum that is Skid Row had infested the theatre on the packed opening night.
In the end, "Little Shop of Horrors" was definitely an ensemble piece. If any actor came close to stealing the show, it was Mazouat. His Seymour was very convincingly equal parts terrified, yearning and adorable. The last scene of the play in which he goes down Audrey II's gullet with a machete was one of the best of the show. Yet, it seems like the graduating seniors of TMT deserved a better send-off than the small theatre and quirky, though quite enjoyable show, provided.
Overall, "Little Shop of Horrors" was a pleasing experience. While social commentary on fame and fortune and herd mentality were thinly veiled throughout, the show was funny and easy on the ear.
But through it all, the only thing to remember from the experience, as the cast most of which have been eaten and have become a part of Audrey II sings in the end, is "Don't Feed the Plants."
Caroline Russomanno can be reached at russoma4@tcnj.edu.
(03/25/09 12:00pm)
"In This Diary" by the Ataris
Jess: The sentiment in this song is simple: Enjoy being young, because it won't last forever. Kris Roe's simplistic lyrics are amazing because it seems like he wrote them just for you. Detailing random situations many of us have found ourselves in (we've all stayed up late "quoting lines from all those movies that we love"), the song is nostalgic throughout, without ever becoming sappy or regretful about the past. Staying true to the purpose of songs like this, Roe imparts his wisdom on the younger generations, reminding them that "the only thing that matters is just following your heart, and eventually you'll finally get it right." Maybe it sounds like a na've or juvenile sentiment, but regardless, it's still worth listening to. At the very least it will remind you of better, simpler times, and maybe help us cling to our childhood for just a bit longer.
"Pas de Cheval" by Panic at the Disco
Carrie: With the risk of starting to sound like a broken record, this song by Panic at the Disco is the ultimate feel-good song. Not because it's flowery or overtly cheerful, but because of its completely ego-centric lyrics. Ryan Ross' chorus, "It's the greatest thing that's yet to have happened/Imagine knowing me/It's the greatest thing you'd ever imagine/But you'll never know until you're there," is so in-your-face full of itself that any person feeling down about themselves would be crazy not to be completely self-confident after listening to it. The boppy beat and laid-back guitar solo only add to the celebratory vibe.
"Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi
Jess: There's a good reason why, more than 20 years after its initial release, this song is still listed each week among the top 100 most popular songs on iTunes: It's just plain amazing. Not many songs can get people so pumped or feel so inspired, yet Bon Jovi manages it with insane power. It doesn't have the same light, airy feel as a lot of other feel-good songs, but nonetheless, it still manages to leave you in a much better mood after you've heard it. Slightly strange, considering half of the song talks about a couple's hardships and struggles to get by. The song quickly shifts though, as the chorus takes on a much more hopeful tone. "Prayer" has perhaps been so popular for so long because it's real. There are no fake ideals here. No adolescent hopes for perfection. There's just a simple story of people looking for something better, something we can all certainly relate to. With such mass appeal, it seems very likely that this song will still be popular another 20 years from now.
"Stand in the Spotlight" by Armor for Sleep
Jess: There might be a lot of songs out there that preach individuality and liking yourself for who you are, but none of them are quite as affective as this. Armor weaves melodic verses with a powerful chorus that makes it impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to it. "Spotlight" manages to be empowering without being aggressive, encouraging listeners to ignore the people who talk badly about them, without adopting the all-too common fuck-the-world mentality often heard in songs today. If you're ever in a bad mood, put this song on. In a mere four minutes I guarantee your mood will be changed for the better.
Carrie: This is the last song on Armor's album, "Smile for Them," and it definitely ranks up there with best enders. It's like Ben Jorgennsen and Co. read each emo kid's mind and wrote this song. The bridge is as epic as it sounds: "One day they'll see/One day they'll all see/One day they'll be shouting the truth/One day they'll all be cheering for you." And the chorus is: "You are the starlight that sparks up the whole night/let their voices fade out and stand in the spotlight/And take a bow." After you're done listening to this, you may be crying. You'll possibly be moved. But you'll most definitely want to take a bow.
"20 Dollar Nose Bleed" by Fall Out Boy
Carrie: The third-to-last song on their newest effort, "Folie a Deux," this song is one of the best FOB has written. Pete Wentz's typically witty and slightly ridiculous lyrics take a back seat to the completely joyous brass and piano flooding this track. Vocalist Patrick Stump's voice is at its finest, and guest vocalist Brendon Urie adds an element of pizazz and celebration the song wouldn't have had otherwise. The lyrics are downright emo - the first and last line, "Have you ever wanted to disappear?" is anything but cheerful. But the music and voices combine to make this one heck of a pick-me-up.