Culture
Eastman Theatre
‘The Light in the Piazza’ provides warmth and levity
Cold, wet snow was falling from dark skies over the Eastman Theatre on Friday evening, but the welcoming light inside offered a heartwarming, gorgeously well-performed, and often hilarious production of 2005’s brilliant “The Light in the Piazza.” The play is an uncommonly optimistic take on what the show’s stage director, Stephen Carr (associate artistic director of Eastman […]
ROC Players
ROC Players elevate ‘Spring Awakening’
The May Room in Wilson Commons is an interesting place to stage a musical because it doesn’t seem built for them. It’s small (compared to something like Strong), and its stage is an elevated platform, also small, with no curtains. But necessity is the mother of invention, as the ROC Players proved in the finer […]
Evolution
Indulgence is unapologetically badass
I have only two words to describe the “Growing up in Hip Hop” Indulgence spring show this past Saturday: holy crap. For those who are unaware, Indulgence is a hip-hop dance group on campus run by the Black Students’ Union. I remember seeing them perform in the diversity showcase during Orientation and in After Hours’ […]
Not Vanilla
Not Vanilla: Lazy Sunday shows
The future of food-decorating competitions isn’t exactly hanging in the balance, but let’s just pretend it is. I recently was introduced to the new Netflix show “Nailed It” (no, reader, this is not a sponsorship), and I realized that with the movement of media from television to streaming platforms, a lot of the smaller, more […]
Feldman Ballroom
40 years of games at Simcon
Last weekend marked the 40th annual Simcon, the UR Simulation Gaming Association’s convention of board games and more. Senior Stephen Watson, the association’s Simcon chair, explained that the term “simulation gaming” is really a “catch-all way to distinguish yourself from video games and other things.” The convention, which ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, […]
Africa Week
Passion stays strong through Africa Week and Afrikanza
Students gushed with enthusiasm at crowded Feldman Ballroom tables last Saturday for Afrikanza, the culminating event of Africa Week, organized by the Pan African Students’ Association. “Afrikanza is an event that is used to reinforce cultural diversity in the University environment among PASA members,” said sophomore Kaps Chalwe, the group’s vice president. The theme of […]
International Theatre Progarm
Todd one acts are bizarre, tragic, and moving
Have you ever seen something and thought, “Who in God’s green earth came up with this?” If you have, then maybe you’ll have felt a bit what I was feeling when I was watching “The Indefinitely Untitled Play,” the first of four theater pieces performed at the 19th Annual One Act Play Festival in Todd […]
Blackbird Babes
Blackbird Babes give feminism a new voice
With the sudden hiatus and potential disband of the all-female pop group Fifth Harmony, America is looking for another group to communicate narratives of female camaraderie and excellence. Blackbird Babes, a UR-spawned group, while musically more attune to the pop-rock sisterhood of HAIM than bubblegum of Harmony, definitely brought the focus of womanhood to the […]
A Cappella
Trebellious and the Midnight Ramblers compete at ICCA semifinals
UR a cappella groups Trebellious and the Midnight Ramblers competed at the 2018 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Centra Semifinal on Saturday, March 24, where the Ramblers’ senior Keegan Cavanaugh Stricker picked up an “Outstanding Vocal Percussion” award. SUNY Potsdam’s Potsdam Pitches got first place at Buffalo Center for the Arts, in an event […]
Film Scores
Not Vanilla: The sounds of cinema
When I was younger, I did not know much about the “Star Wars” franchise. I had never seen any of the movies, and so I didn’t know the characters, the epic moments, or even what “I am your father” meant. The one thing I knew about Star Wars was that thunderous piece of movie score […]