.
| April 23, 2008 ARTS BY
JESSICA LUTHI
Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome, im “Cabaret,” au “Cabaret,” to “Cabaret.” If you’re a fan of corsets, ruffled knickers, garter belts and seamed stockings on beautiful women, then put on your coat and hat and head on over to the Diego Rivera Theatre for “Cabaret,” a sinfully decadent night on the town in one the best shows that City College has put on yet. Jenny Vellieux, who plays lead character Sally Bowles, is no Liza Minnelli, but she sure comes awfully close in a theater and music department collaborative production of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Broadway hit, which opened on April 18 under the direction of Deborah Shaw. The theater department has put on many shows that have been well produced and performed in the past, including “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Taming of the Shrew” and recently “The Beard of Avon,” but none of them possess the same energy as “Cabaret.” The cast’s performances keep your eyes glued to the stage, wondering what’s going to happen next even if you’re familiar with this classic. Clifford Bradshaw, played by Corey Lappier, is a struggling young American writer who has traveled across Europe to find the “inspiration” for his novel he’s been working on for quite sometime. He heads to Berlin hoping to find it. On his journey in to Germany, Bradshaw befriends Nazi sympathizer Ernst Ludwig, played by Spencer Peterson, who helps to secure him accommodations during his stay. What Bradshaw doesn’t know is that he’s going to get a lot more than he can handle. Instead of inspiration, Bradshaw gets a “whirlwind from London” named Sally Bowles, who turns his life upside down and inside out. Bowles has an innocent nature about her, despite all the complexities of her personality. She’s full of life and energy, fighting with the demons within and insisting to “never ask questions” to ward off inquiries on her past. If you loved Joel Grey, who originated the role of the Master of Ceremonies, then you’ll definitely fall in love with Joseph Steifvater’s show-stealing performance of the exuberant emcee. His high-energy performance would make Grey proud. If you haven’t seen Steifvater in previous productions, then this is truly the one to see because this is his best performance to date. Let the show begin! Life is a cabaret, ol’ chum. Come to the “Cabaret” before it’s bye-bye, mein lieber herr. e-mail: production@theguardsman.com Cabaret plays April 25 and 26 at 8:00 p.m. and April 27 at 2:00 p.m. BY MARIA UMANZOR
In order to understand the role of political posters in social justice movements around the world, City College hosted a slide presentation at the Mission campus auditorium on April 16. The presentation titled “Visions of Peace and Justice,” is also a book about the 20th century Bay Area political movement posters. It was presented by professional graphic designers in collaboration with the graphic communications and labor and community studies departments. “It’s important to understand the legacy of where these posters come from,” said Lincoln Cushing, the book’s editor. “Posters are really an extension of print-making, with needs to be designed for public access.” About 30 posters hanging on the wall were admired by over 80 people. These posters told stories of militarization, globalization, legalization and femicide (murder of women) movements, among others. Inkworks Press, a print shop founded in 1974, is dedicated to the movement service. “The background of the art work led up to the basics of Inkworks,” Cushing said. “I think a 30-year old poster can still relate to today’s posters,” said City College graphic design professor Socorro Soberano. Favianna Rodriguez, co-founder of Tumis, a woman-owned design studio in East Oakland, showed posters portraying women as victims. “As a woman, there comes a responsibility of representation and I wanted to make a poster addressing the femicide happening at the border of Ciudad Juarez,” Rodriguez said. A huge network and community of activists support each other, speakers said. “Students can believe in graphic design as social change and they can do this as a full-time job by picking a particular issue they know and care about,” said designer Sabiha Basrai. e-mail: editorials@theguardsman.com BY DESMOND MILLER
High Priest Takamitsu Nagasawa blesses the shrine and the people to insure a safe and peaceful 51 annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival held in San Francisco’s historic Japantown.The Festival was held on Saturday and Sunday, April 12 and 13, 19 and 20, 2008.
BY DESMOND MILLER
Reading “The New Dynamix” makes me wish I read more Wildstorm comic books back when I was in high school. I honestly have no idea what is going on in this book, yet I know the characters because they are all old B-listers from Wildstorm’s glory days. And you know what, I am OK with this because the story itself is actually pretty good, and it makes me want to go back and pick up old Image comic books that had these characters in them … or at least Wiki them. The first two issues, out of the five, are all set up well by writer, Allen Warnerunder. He understands that some people might not know who these characters are or remember them (like me). but he uses this to his advantage because he can take them in a new direction. So far, the story is about Black Halo’s (his original name was Omni) return to crime fighting after a lot of the worlds SPB’s (Super Powered Beings) have come up missing. In issue two, they are still introducing characters but it looks like we get to see who the villain is but only time will tell. I have to say that the art provided by J. J. Kirby is top notch and even if the story doesn’t get you his art will. It is a mix of traditional super hero style with a little hip-hop thrown in. It is truly fantastic. So take a chance on this series, relive the early days of Wildstorm because, honestly, it is only five issues, so enjoy the ride and fire up Wikipedia. email: desmond.miller@theguardsman.com
STATE YOUR FASHION CITY COLLEGE BY
DANIELLE DOUGLAS
Conchetta Washington, 20 Conchetta Washington, a hospitality major, loves the big brand names and searching for something to fit her flashy and pink style. “I hate clothes; nothing is as sexy as my body,” Conchetta said. “I’d prefer to be naked.” When she’s not working or going to school, she shops at local boutiques or in downtown San Francisco for clothing and accessories. Some of Conchetta’s favorite name brands are Chanel, Juicy Couture, Bebe, Victoria’s Secret and Madeline where she usually shops three times per week, spending around $2,000 month. “I spend a lot of money and time trying to find something to justify my body,” Conchetta said. Her definition of style is something that makes your body sexier and clothing that can be just as sexy as your body.
e-mail: a_e@theguardsman.com RENAISSANCE CALL BY BEN TAYLOR WILDNESS IN THE WILDERNESS — STUNG IN THE NECK BY A BEE — NARCED OUT — SNITCHES GET STITCHES Driving to L.A., little green foothills growing into mountains to my right, flat farmland, desert and sagebrush to my left, blue sky all around. Beautiful cumulus clouds float above the mountains as the narrow highway splits the scene in two.I imagine someone, maybe myself, standing naked in the fields by the freeway, running, dancing, knowing that while this scenery flows past my window, each scene is permanent. We are the ones who are transient. I’m in a L.A. hotel room. It’s an hour until I have to go out and cover some hard news and then file the story an hour later. Alone in the hotel room, sitting at a desk facing a big mirror. I look at myself with cell phone to ear, laptop in front of me and a cup of coffee to the side of me. This is not me. This is not my heart’s desire. But it is the world that I was born into, so what am I to do? I suppose that it is up to ME — and US, whoever WE are — to change things. Glass towers surround me. I am alone. Tinny music plays from a computer. I am alone. I write with pencil in journal rather than stare at computer screen. I am alone. I do not want to be a creature of the digital age. I don’t want us to lose any more humanity than we already have. How can I build my dreams, find myself, channel the poet — live a Ginsberg-Dylan- Thompson-Miller life through a computer screen? I hate you, computer screen. I want to throw you out the window. e-mail: news@theguardsman.com BOOK REVIEW BY JIM PATTERSON The Race Beat “The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation” by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff is an excellent history of race journalism in America. During the segregation era, national newspapers assigned reporters to investigate black issues in the South. The Emmett Till murder, integration at the University of Mississippi and peaceful civil rights demonstrations led by Dr. Martin Luther King were big news, but most southern newspapers either refused to cover or report biased accounts of the events. After the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in 1954, reporters flocked to the South to cover integration and resistance to it. When Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett to integrate schools, Barnett said, “There is no case in history where the Caucasian race has survived social integration. We will not drink from the cup of genocide.” Alabama Gov. George Wallace was equally defiant. When ordered to integrate the University of Alabama, Wallace stood in the doorway of the registrar’s office to prevent two black students from enrolling. He stepped aside after federal officials threatened to arrest him. “Reporters were drawn to [Wallace] like biologists are drawn to the unexpected emergencies of an old virus they believed had been exterminated,” the authors write. Roberts and Klibanoff hold the view that civil rights victories in the South were a joint effort by Dr. King and other leaders and the reporters who covered the speeches, marches and killings. They prove their thesis in this excellent book. e-mail: news@theguardsman.com
Spinning in the Web Best Blog - Boingboing.net Worst Social Network - hi5.com Online Community - Gaiaonline.com Entertainment News - TMZ.com
|
||||||||
Students listen to a presentation of the origins of political art.
