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John Patrick Shanley

Powerhouse Theater prepares to take over summer campus

Summertime at Vassar means the arrival of a new variety of creature. It is a species wholly devoted to the practice and pedagogy of drama: the Powerhouse Theater Training Program and summer season. Full story

Josh Sturm

Artist of the Week | Josh Sturm strums folk, classical guitar

Unless you plan on participating in the Fun Run, Founder’s Day 2010 may well kick off with Joshua Sturm’s ’11 11 a.m. acoustic guitar set on Ballantine Field. “I’m playing first, so I’ll probably be performing for little tykes,” said Sturm.

This Is Happening LCD Soundsystem [DFA/Virgin

Sound Off | LCD Soundsystem dusts off old tricks, styles

For a long time I’ve been wondering what makes James Murphy—the mastermind and one-man-band behind LCD Soundsystem—so consistent. Over almost 10 years and two albums, Murphy has created and solidified his own brand of dance music, taking his influences from all the right bands and releasing the kind of slow building dance tracks that can be maddeningly hard to pull off.

Campus Canvas

A bi-weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

Driftwood Alexandra Wong  ’12 You won’t remember this, but one balmy summer afternoon we were writing poems on driftwood. We scanned the beach for the last of summer’s bonfires, bending down to sort through the ashy piles to find charcoal.

This week in Arts

The Big Screen

kick ass

The Big Screen | Kick-Ass is shockingly brutal, intense

Kick-Ass is a comedy that asks a simple question: What happens when your average dorky high schooler decides to become a superhero? Answer: When he tries to stop a carjacking in a parking lot, he gets stabbed by hoodrats and promptly gets leveled by a businessman’s car when he staggers out into the street.

titans

Clash of the Titans has clashes, no titans

The Big Screen

“Release the Kraken!” So brays Liam Neeson, spittle flying, in the trailer for Clash of the Titans. You know what I’m talking about: Advertisements for this onscreen brouhaha have been airing on TV for God knows how long, and in almost every single commercial, Neeson shouts those three magical words. 1 comment

Shutterisland

The Big Screen | Scorcese thriller exudes creepiness

Martin Scorsese’s opus Shutter Island can be summed up in two words: gothic noir. The “noir” comes from the rugged investigators in trench coats, the whodunnit mystery and a melodramatic score reminiscent of the days of Bogart and Bergman.

Artist of the Week

Josh Sturm

Artist of the Week | Josh Sturm strums folk, classical guitar

Unless you plan on participating in the Fun Run, Founder’s Day 2010 may well kick off with Joshua Sturm’s ’11 11 a.m. acoustic guitar set on Ballantine Field. “I’m playing first, so I’ll probably be performing for little tykes,” said Sturm.

factsnfigures

Artist of the Week | Facts and Figures meet demand

It begins with a pulsing drum beat followed by a yelping voice. Then a scorching guitar riff comes in, kicking down the rhythm door and sweeping the listener into the world of “Internet,” the most recent song by The Facts and Figures. The band, composed of Vassar students Ben Conant ’12, who takes lead vocal duties and playing rhythm guitar, Ricky Goldman ’12 on saxophone and backup vocals, Andy Dymond ’12 playing lead guitar, Jackson Pynchon ’13 on bass guitar and Erik Snow ’12 filling out the rhythm section on drums, has a foot-tapping sound, engaging vocals and a splash of funk.

JoeyArmy

Artist of the Week | Army a triple threat: dance, drama, drag

When asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” most preschoolers are proud to say a princess, an astronaut, a fairy or even a millionaire. For young Joey Army ’10, the answer was always “an actor!” “When I was four and my brother was seven, he decided he wanted to do theater,” explained Army. 1 comment



Sound Off

This Is Happening LCD Soundsystem [DFA/Virgin

Sound Off | LCD Soundsystem dusts off old tricks, styles

For a long time I’ve been wondering what makes James Murphy—the mastermind and one-man-band behind LCD Soundsystem—so consistent. Over almost 10 years and two albums, Murphy has created and solidified his own brand of dance music, taking his influences from all the right bands and releasing the kind of slow building dance tracks that can be maddeningly hard to pull off.

psvement

Sound Off | Quarantine the past: The Best of Pavement

Last year, Pavement announced a reunion of sorts, and I have to admit that it didn’t sit well with me. Not that I don’t like Pavement or anything. Like any self-important asshole who writes about music for fun, I love Pavement. The problem is that Pavement’s reunion threatens one of the things that I love most about Pavement: the simplicity and definitiveness of their catalogue.

martin bergman

Sound Off | Singles of spring a pleasant surprise

Spring’s here, so get ready for a useless filler sentence about the weather. In addition to sunbathing on the quad, the warmer temperatures mean a slew of new albums in the next couple of months. But since the album is supposedly dead, and no one has the attention span to listen to 12 songs in a row, I’m going to focus on a few singles.

Theater and Dance

The Compleat Works of Shakespear [Abridged]

“CompleteWorks” abridged, but laughs remain uncut

Doing 37 plays in 97 minutes with three actors—sounds like mission impossible, right?  With the help of a little audience participation, a few wigs and a whole lot of laughter, Tyler Glover ’13, Caroline Iosso ’12 and Henry Behel ’10 are ready to accept the challenge.

John Patrick Shanley

Powerhouse Theater prepares to take over summer campus

Summertime at Vassar means the arrival of a new variety of creature. No, it is not the groundhog, nor is it the squirrel, and no, it is not the deer that managed to escape culling. Rather, it is a species wholly devoted to the practice and pedagogy of drama: the Powerhouse Theater Training Program and summer season.

Fucking A

Idlewild play reconsiders abortion

Last Thursday I walked into the Shiva Theater expecting to see a two-hour play about abortion. That’s what the “A” in Susan-Lori Parks’ “Fucking A” stands for, right? Wrong. “Fucking A,” directed by Ellen Geissal ’11 and Zoë Dostal ’13 and performed by the Idlewild theater ensemble is a sprawling universe in its own category of epic theater.

Film and Visual Arts

sabini

Sabini brings lesser-known films to discuss

The titles Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind carry an aura of cinema’s golden age recognizable to most who have never even watched these films. Jamaica Inn and Air Mail, on the other hand, might cause even the biggest film aficionados to scratch their heads, despite the fact that the revered Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford, respectively, directed them.

Filmmaker experiments, diminishes plot

It’s not hard to find ways to describe the work of experimental filmmaker Leighton Pierce: Ethereal, graceful, impressionistic, hazy and elegant are good places to start. Pierce uses images in his short films that are watery and almost painterly, washing over the viewer and engulfing them in another realm of time and space.

ccrosstheuni

Production designer a creator of bizarre, beautiful worlds

When you think of memorable production design in films, some images come to mind most vividly. There’s the washed-out four-story ship in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, complete with a sauna and flashlight-equipped dolphins. There’s nearly every scene in Across the Universe—from the dreary gray Liverpool streets to the art studio with “bleeding” pinned strawberries.

Music and Entertainment

dynamic

Dynamic Rockers pack the beat at Throwback Jam

Everybody’s seen those young breakdancers in the subway, or watched movies like Flashdance and Stomp the Yard where groups of talented dancers come together and make a statement through their movement. Well, Dynamic Rockers is the real deal; they have started a movement that will have a deep impact on the world of hip-hop for a very, very long time.

After Hours joins students and alumnae/i

With the last Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) After Hours Showcase scheduled for tonight, you may be wondering: what will we do after hours, after After Hours ends? For seniors, there is an even more daunting question: what will seniors do after their hours at Vassar, when they no longer have access to such a unique community of arts programming? The answer is comforting if alumni Lawrence Louis ’06 and Julia Weldon ’05 are any indication.

vcc

Choir will be performing Handel classic

Don’t let the black dresses and tailored suits fool you; the Vassar College Choir isn’t for the faint of heart. All that diaphragm and vocal work would surely make most people need to take a breather. This school year’s spring concert will feature George Frideric Handel’s “Israel in Egypt. 1 comment