Bringing to life one of the most beloved (and most produced) operas in the history of the art form is a daunting task but, in the capable hands of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’ scenic designer and MFA candidate Jake Ewonus, La Bohème springs vividly to life. I sat down with Jake to ask about his experiences designing the show.
This post is by Lisa Driscoll, a Sophomore Vocal Performance and Broadcast Journalism double major. You can read more of her writing on her blog.
Soaring string melodies and heavy-metal riffs collided in a showcase of virtuoso performers and student composers on Thursday, April 2. After rehearsing with the Grammy award-winning Kronos Quartet in San Francisco eight months earlier, graduate composition students Alexandra (Lexi) Bryant, Jonathan Graybill and Joel Pierson got to hear their pieces come together at the Clarice Smith Center.
This post is by Danny Parisi, a Sophomore English major.
In a short introduction before Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau’s performance on Friday night at the Clarice Smith Center, Director of Artistic Initiatives Paul Brohan emphasized the Center’s dedication to the art of collaboration. Taking artists with their own styles and ideas and putting them together to explore new artistic grounds is an important part of the Center’s mission. Luckily for us, when artists as talented and passionate as these two come together, the result can be magic.
This post is by Megan Piluk, a Senior Dance and Communication double major.
I recently saw Graham Brown’s work Apple Falling, as part of the Shared MFA Dance Thesis Concert at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. It almost seemed as if a play was unfolding in front my eyes.
This post is by Matt DeCaro, a Senior Business major.
Sarah Ruhl’s play Dead Man’s Cell Phone, which UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies recently brought to life at the Clarice Smith Center, is a fascinating portrayal of relationships in the technological era. Ruhl explores love and death in a peculiar fashion, often reaching into the absurd. The play may have taken some wild plot turns, but its exploration of technology’s role in love was pretty interesting.
The play didn’t cause me to reevaluate the amount of time that I spend on my phone or Facebook, but it did push me to think about how I maintain my relationships.
This post is by Sisi Reid, a Junior Anthropology and Theatre Double Major.
The late activist Audre Lorde once said, “When I dare to be powerful to use my strength in the service of my vision then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” The same courageous voices are weaved throughout Anu Yadav’s and Caroline Clay’s MFA in Performance thesis presentations, both part of the Festival of New Works at the Clarice Smith Center. At first glance you wouldn’t think Yadav’s Meena’s Dream and Clay’s Let it Flo are very similar. Knowing each artist personally, reading their scripts, and seeing their rehearsals, I understand how beautifully they both communicate the struggle we have to confront, accept and utilize our own inner strength.
The raw vulnerability of profound characters teaches us that we all have a power within ourselves to both love and demand truth.
By Shachia Bryan (Excerpt from original piece)
You would think that a play with five performers, music and a spotlight would be very simple, but that was far from the case in The Better Half.
By Spencer Stebbins (Excerpt from original piece)
Music has a certain rhythm, a certain beat, and a certain power that draws the listener in. Whether you love classical or rock, music recreates itself into a living being that speaks directly into your ear, pulling out and enhancing your emotions. Whether you close your eyes and let your imagination flow from one world to another or throw in your headphones and let the music carry your body to a certain beat while you run, music pushes you beyond your limits and resounds through your whole body. When we look to dance as an art form, we begin to see the music we hold dear come to life in another human being. We see a variety of emotions play out. And when we take a moment to let all else fade away, we become a part of the dance itself as our hearts and imagination are taken in by the performance.
By Neva Gakavian (Excerpt from original piece)
One hundred and sixty-one years to the day after Moby Dick was published, I had the privilege to see this classic story interpreted for modern theater in Rinde Eckert’s And God Created Great Whales. Eckert conceived the play and performed Nathan, the main character — a brilliant man trying to complete his musical about Moby Dick before he completely loses his memory. To stay on track, his mind has created an imaginary, eccentric woman portrayed by Nora Cole. These two strong actors had the presence of fifty. They filled the stage with life and proved that a successful production isn’t measured by its size or scope but by the passion of the actors and their ability to connect to the audience.
By Hanna Morgan
Colorful. My first experience at an opera was, well, colorful. The costumes of the eleven UMD students who performed in the Dominick Argento opera, Postcard from Morocco, represented every hue on the color wheel. The various characters were dressed in beautiful purple Victorian dresses and striped vests and carried around decorated pieces of luggage of different shapes, sizes and hues. Besides the visual color, the opera itself was colorful, or unique, in its plot. This kept me engaged throughout the opera, as I had no idea what would happen next.
