A successful trip “Into the Woods”
Emily Hoferer
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Newswire Official Rating:
Erika Breese
Little Red (Annie Wright, right) talks to the baker (Scott Buzza, left) and his wife (Liz Campbell, center) about their bread. Later, the baker ends up saving Little Red from the big bad wolf.
The Xavier Music Department went above and beyond for their production of the Stephen Sondheim classic “Into the Woods,” directed by Xavier alum Gary McGurk. This fantastic play compiles all of the well-known fairytales into a story that explores the themes of family, change and our own inner fairy tale.
The baker, played by music director Scott Buzza, and his wife, played by junior Liz Campbell, live rather unhappy lives longing for a child.
Unfortunately for them, their next door neighbor, who happens to be a witch, placed a spell on the baker so that he cannot have children. Senior Lisa DeRoberts is a delightfully devious witch and has impeccable comedic timing. The witch offers an ultimatum for the baker and his wife— if they collect a red coat, yellow hair, a golden shoe and a cow as white as milk in three days, she will lift the curse.
As we follow the couple’s trials and tribulations on their quest, we also meet Cinderella (played by sophomore Sarah Dudek), Jack (of the beanstalk) and his mother (played by senior Andy Busch and junior Molly O’Connell), Little Red Riding Hood (sophomore Annie Wright) and the wolf. Paul Leiber pulls double duty as the wolf and Cinderella’s Prince Charming. He really hams it up as a creepy predator.
With help from a mysterious man, the baker and his wife collect their items. The witch creates a potion, which makes her beautiful and the curse on the baker and his wife is lifted. Cinderella gets her prince and Jack slays the giant after climbing the beanstalk to find the hen with the golden eggs that make him and his mother extremely wealthy.
All seems to end happily, but as the second act begins we see that there are some minor cracks in the characters’ new fairy tale lives. An even bigger threat to their happiness is that the giant’s widow is now on her vengeful rampage to find Jack. Unfortunately, this leads to the death of some characters, but gives others a chance to shine.
Erika Breese
The play, even with all its humor, ends on a somber note with half the cast dead. Despite this morbid ending, the play concludes with a very powerful message.
There were many great performances by this huge cast. Liz Campbell sang beautifully and Andy Busch did a fantastic job of balancing Jack’s eagerness and likeability with his sheer dimwittedness.
One of the best moments in the entire play was when the two Prince Charmings (one for Cinderella and one for Snow White) meet and sing their famous song “Agony” where they sing about the hardships of being a prince. Leiber and senior Andrew Herbert played the pompous, royal lady killers perfectly. They pulled many laughs for the audience and it was wonderful to see the song appear in both acts of the play.
More laughs come from Joshua Metz who played the cow Milky White. He crawled all over the stage on his hands and knees and his blank expression was priceless. Cinderella’s stepmother and step sisters were characters that you love to hate.
While there were minor glitches in some of the performances, such as not being able to hear some of the singers, this production was incredibly enjoyable. The singing was great and the cast was pleasant and easy to listen to. The acting was also good.
I was very impressed with the production, which had an excellent set and costumes. I’m anxious to see what the Music Department does next. Sondheim would be proud of this cast’s efforts to tell the story of what happens after the happy ending.
Be your own rock legend
Andrew Chestnut
Editorial Columnist
Erika Breese
Aaron Armbruster (left) and Chris Neichter (right) rock out.
A month ago, if I had made a list of things I was likely to be doing right now, writing a video game review would probably be between “traveling to Azerbaijan” and “having a meaningful conversation with Flava Flav.” Why? For the most part, I am woefully unqualified to write about video games.
As much as they confound me, they fail to interest me.
But there is one game that (fortunately) my friends own called Guitar Hero III, which has fascinated me and captured my free time like no game ever has before.
However, when I first encountered the Guitar Hero franchise, I thought it was… silly. But when I finally decided to try it out one day, I liked it. In fact, I really liked it.
And looking back, it isn’t that surprising. The Guitar Hero games deliver a surprisingly basic, universal video game formula that bears asking, “Why didn’t I think of that first?”
The formula: Start with a bunch of good music. Get popular songs from big name bands (Guns ‘N Roses, Kansas, Boston and many more) that people will actually want to listen to. And when I say get a bunch of it, I mean it. The first game has 47 songs; the second, 67; the third, 71.
The second step is to allow people to actually play those songs on the guitar. Give all of those air-guitar enthusiasts out there what they’ve been longing for all these years. Guitar Hero allows everyone to acquire the abilities of incredible artists, without all the hassle of “practice” and “learning.”
Third, make it really fun to play. Guitar Hero is approachable from the very first time you play (“easy” mode is very easy). It is also low-pressure.
Miss a note? So what? Just keep playing and have fun.
The best part about the trilogy of games is that each one is an improvement over the next. Guitar Hero III (released in October), not only offers more and better songs, but better game-play in many respects.
wikipedia.org
For instance, sections of rapid notes allow the player to “hammer-on” or “pull-off” (meaning they don’t have to strum every note). In the third installment, the sections of rapid notes seem more difficult, but are somehow easier to hit. Game-play seems somehow “cleaner” in the third version, and the music quality is improved as well.
However, the best new feature is an improvement on the two-player mode called “Battle Mode” which allows players to compete against each other while playing a song, until one of them fails. As you might expect, this makes two-player mode much more competitive, which is something the first two games lacked.
Guitar Hero is a game that non-video game enthusiasts can finally really enjoy. It gives people who love rock, yet can’t play guitar at all, the ability to rock out like their favorite bands.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is available for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles.
Dancers dazzle at Diwali
Katie Rosenbaum
Campus News Editor
Erika Breese
Senior Nilay Choksi smiles big for the camera.
Xavier’s Southeast Asian Society, co-sponsored by Student Activities Council, presented Diwali 2007: A Journey Thru India on Nov. 5, in order to celebrate Diwali and share Indian culture with the Xavier community.
Diwali is an Indian festival that celebrates light conquering darkness and hope for mankind. Diwali 2007 was a celebration of the different aspects of Indian culture.
The third annual Diwali incorporated the traditions, clothing, food and dance of different regions of India.
The program began when the two emcees, juniors Michelle Kurian and Matt O’Reilly, won a trip to India playing Bingo. They then began their journey at a pit stop in the Dominican Republic, where Daniel Arevalo and Angela McArtor performed a Merengue, the traditional Dominican dance.
Kurian and O’Reilly’s journey began in South Asia, where they learned about the culture. Next, they traveled to Kashmir, where a group of women performed a traditional dance, which had both Islamic and Hindu roots.
Miami University dancers performed the next dance in Gujant.
Erika Breese
The Bollywood portion of the dance from Mumbai (Bombay) was a combination of many different aspects of Indian culture. Lastly, Kurian and O’Reilly visited Punjab, where dancers performed again.
The cultural aspect of eachdance was interesting, as many in the audience, including myself, do not come from an Indian background. While it was interesting to learn about the food, dress and traditions, these skits appeared to be unpolished at times.
My favorite part of Diwali was the dancing, especially the dance from Bombay. These performances were full of energy and it was evident that the dancers spent a long time on each of them. In fact, Dr. Hem Raj Joshi, faculty advisor of the Southeast Asian Society, said that the dancers spent over 100 hours practicing.
The traditional Indian outfits were colorful and made the dances even more visually appealing.
Another aspect of Diwali that I enjoyed was the Interfaith Prayers. Students represented different faiths in India: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism. Each briefly read a short prayer or passage that explained a key message from their religion.
This portion of the evening emphasized that although these students practice different faiths, there is a unity between all faiths and people which is important so that light can conquer darkness.
The sold-out crowd was very responsive and enthusiastic to the dancing and skits.
The Southeast Asian Society will teach interested students the dance they performed from Punjab from 7:15-8:45 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 12 in Cintas Center conference rooms four and five.
Stephanie Metz
Diversions Editor
Rock the Chapel
Celebrate with praise and “Rock The Chapel” at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8 in Bellarmine Chapel. Navigators, Life After Sunday, Gospel Choir, Athletes in Action, Students Committed to Christ and Campus Ministry are hosting this event. The Praise Team is prepared to lead you in worship, so get excited and spread the Word.
“Lion in Winter”
“Uneasy is the head on which the crown lies, and uneasy the truce between a matchless king and queen.” XU players present “A Lion in Winter,” a witty tale of rivalry where the words are as sharp as the swords at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8-11 in the GSC Theatre.
Late Night movie
The November GSC late Night Movie will be the comedy “Superbad.” The movie featuring Seth Rogan will be shown at 11 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8 to Saturday, Nov. 10 in the GSC Theatre.
BSA fashion show
BSA will be hosting the 2007 Fashion Show featuring what to wear and not wear at the Antonio Johnson Scholarship dinner. It will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 in Kelley Auditorium. This event is open to all XU students and is free.
Comedian
Come for some laughs with comedian Dan Ahdoot at 9:37 p.m. on Nov. 7 in Ryan’s Pub. The event is free to all XU students and is presented by SAC.
