Headliners and Headshakers
Sprint football program loses for the last time in battle with administration
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Princetonian's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Sprint football program loses for the last time in battle with administration
In my family, pan-fried dumplings are often a "recycled" food. If we boiled dumplings for dinner one night and there were some leftovers, into the pan they would go. Frying the dumplings adds a distinctly new taste to them, making them arguably even more delicious.
It’s a late Saturday afternoon and while making the long-delayed trek to CVS, your stomach begins to growl incessantly, as if punishing you for the seemingly eternal stretch between brunch and dinner on the weekend. You try to hush it with the smashed apple shoved at the bottom of your backpack — but alas, a mere apple was not enough to quiet the ravenous monster that is a college appetite. You need something heftier, something more flavorful and fulfilling, yet not quite enough to constitute as a meal.Then, the tantalizing memory of a samosa drifts into your mind.You remember the delicious explosion of spices perfectly combined with potatoes bundled in a flaky pastry wrap. You remember the comfort of such a warm, well-seasoned snack on a warm day. You wish you weren’t on a college budget, or a college schedule for that matter, so you could tour the many South Asian restaurants in the Princeton area to figure out which ones offered samosas within a reasonable price.Yet all is not lost. 'Street' surveyed the South Asian restaurants that offered samosas, including Tandoori Bite Indian Cuisine, Cross Culture, Masala Grill and Mehek, and narrowed it down to the top two most affordable and quality options for you.Masala GrillIf you’re looking for a place where you can sit down and listen to 90s alternative rock while drinking a mango lassi, then Masala Grill is the restaurant for you. Though more on the expensive side with $6.95, the samosa dish comes with two sizeable samosas. As an added premium, you can also choose the level of spice (low, medium or extra hot!), as well as a choice of sauces, including green chutney (made of coriander) or sweet chutney (made of dates and tamarind). If you’re looking for that full flavorful experience, we say go for the medium spice, and combine the two sauces together to get the best of both worlds.MehekThough it houses a homey sit-down restaurant upstairs, Mehek is a great option if you’re really in a hurry but need those samosa noms to fill your belly. You can enter the store, get the ready-made samosas, pay with a credit card and go, all under a minute. While the crust is not as satisfyingly crunchy as the Masala Grill samosas, it is of great quality for such a low price ($1.50 each). According to manager Shripad Kukarni, while there are many ways to prepare samosas, this specific recipe is inspired from Northern Indian cuisine and is meant to be both vegan and halal. So if deciding to cater an event and considering what options may be best for dietary restrictions, an order of samosas may be a great call.In any case, if you find yourself at either of these restaurants during lunchtime, we say, accompany that samosa with the special deal of a $10.99 buffet at Masala grill and a $10.95 buffet at Mehek.Wherever you are, wherever you’re going, stop by Masala Grill or Mehek for a samosa. We promise, these golden balls of seasoned joy are in for the journey.
Nestled right next to each other on Witherspoon Street, Mamoun’s Falafel and Olives are two of the most popular establishments for Mediterranean cuisine in Princeton. I reviewed and compared two traditional Greek dishes from each restaurant to see how they measured up: spanakopita, or spinach pie, and baklava, a dessert pastry filled with nuts. First up, I trekked down past Small World Coffee and stopped by Mamoun's.
This weekend, I explored two Japanese restaurants in the vicinity of Princeton: Mo C Mo C and Sushi Palace.
Margherita pizza has a long and illustrious Italian history. According to popular tradition, it was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy in 1889. The primary toppings, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, correspond to the red, white and green of the Italian flag. For the Food Issue, Street tried the Margherita pizzas at Teresa Caffe and D’Angelo Italian Market.Teresa CaffeTeresa Caffe, located in Palmer Square, is an upscale sit-down restaurant. Complimentary bread is available upon request, which is served with olive oil for dipping. The atmosphere is refined, featuring black-and-white photographs on the walls and wines showcased in wooden boxes. While the restaurant was fairly busy on the evening that we visited, the service was still quick and responsive. The server’s attentiveness to refilling water and bread was particularly impressive.The Margherita pizza from Teresa Caffe is a traditional thin crust served freshly made. The server garnishes it with crushed black pepper and grated Parmesan cheese upon request. The thin crust was crispy and provided good support for the toppings. The sauce did not overpower the crust at all. The toppings on the pizza were very homogeneous — the sauce and cheese seemed to blend together. Some may view this as a positive feature, as each bite includes both cheese and sauce. However, the quantity of both cheese and basil on this pizza felt lacking.D’Angelo Italian MarketD’Angelo Market’s pizza selection is more reminiscent of the pizza station at Frist’s Food Gallery. The pizzas are ready-made and displayed for customers behind a glass pane. The servers then reheat slices of pizza according to the customer’s order. As a result, service at D’Angelo Market is faster than at Teresa Caffe. Unlike at Teresa Caffe, the toppings at D’Angelo Market remained discrete: the red, white and green of the Italian flag were all clearly present. The Margherita pizza at D’Angelo Market had more toppings, including a thicker layer of mozzarella cheese and more basil. However, the crust was not as crispy as the crust at Teresa Caffe, and the pizza was greasier.Ultimately, even though Teresa Caffe and D’Angelo Market both serve pizza, they fall under different categories of restaurant. Teresa Caffe serves its pizza on ceramic dinnerware and includes complimentary bread and water, while D’Angelo Market caters more to the quick service aspect. However, they are comparable price-wise — D’Angelo Market offers pizza by the slice as well as whole pies, while Teresa Caffe only sells whole pies, but the price per unit area of pizza works out to be roughly the same. In terms of service, Teresa Caffe beats D’Angelo Market in attentiveness. The Margherita pizza at Teresa Caffe has a superior texture to the pizza at D’Angelo Market, but D’Angelo Market’s Margherita has a better taste.
In 1945, playwright Mary Coyle Chase became the fourth woman to ever receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Her 1944 play “Harvey” is best known for its 1950 film adaptation starring James (Jimmy) Stewart ’32 as Elwood Dowd, a man reasonable enough — except that he claims an unseen giant rabbit as his best friend.Theatre Intime’s current production of “Harvey,” directed by Matt Blazejewski ’17, showcases many strong performers and strong aesthetics. Nonetheless, the production is a standard if not flat rendition of the play, only marginally touching on themes of acceptance and inclusion.The audience first meets Veta Louise Simmons (Anastasia Repouliou ’18) and her daughter Myrtle Mae Simmons (Rebecca Schnell ’18), who comically skirt the topic of their family member’s best friend for as long as possible.Complications emerge when Simmons attempts to commit her brother to a psychiatric institution. During Simmons’ preliminary interview with the young Dr. Lyman Sanderson (Marcelo Jaimes-Lukes ’19), Sanderson decides it is Simmons — not her brother Dowd — who needs treatment. When Sanderson discovers that the eager-to-please nurse Ruth Kelly R.N. (Katarzyna Kalinowska ’19) and the bumpkin Duane Wilson (Matthew Chuckran ’17) have already committed Dowd, madness and mayhem ensue: Sanderson and his highly esteemed employer Dr. William R. Chumley (Sean Toland GS) must right their wrong, find Dowd and attempt to solve the psychiatric puzzle behind “Harvey”.A number of performances are particularly strong. Jaimes-Lukes is well suited for the role of the levelheaded Dr. Lyman Sanderson and Toland excels as the highly esteemed Dr. William R. Chumley. In her cameos, Sally Lemkemeier ’18 lights up the stage as Ethel Chauvenet and Betty Chumley. Chuckran, a relative newcomer to the campus theater community, gets a number of laughs in his performance as the incompetent and illiterate Wilson.Luke Soucy ’19 gives a phenomenal performance as Elwood P. Dowd. Very much channeling Stewart’s “down-to-earth” persona, Soucy carries both Dowd’s comic and philosophical moments well.The aesthetics of “Harvey” are above par for Princeton productions. Costumes (Emma Claire Jones ’18) are the best Theatre Intime has seen in years. Stunning 1940s ensembles following a pastel palette are many. Though some dresses — namely, the dresses worn by the maid and nurse — are too short, the costumes are by and large gorgeous and period-appropriate. Schnell dons a beautiful floor-length rose-color dress and, later, a tea-length navy-blue ensemble. Repouliou wears red — a matronly black-accented dress at first and a shirt and skirt ensemble later. Lemkemeier’s outrageous fur coat reveals a stunning teal dress and jacket — perfectly suited for actor and character alike. The male ensembles are smart, period-appropriate, color-coordinated and, in a revolutionary move for Princeton theater, clunky character shoes are nowhere to be found, with actors instead donning T-strap heels and stylish period shoes.The set (Matthew Volpe ’16) is split into two: half the stage makes up the Dowd estate and half the psychiatric institution. Though the set walls might be at a bit too steep of an angle and the clearance between Dowd’s desk and the set wall is a smidge too narrow, all in all the set is brilliant. The upstage mahogany double doors transform into a hallway in the psychiatric institution. One side of the desk serves as a personal desk at the Dowd estate and when turned around, the other side serves as the work desk in the sanitarium. The coloring is beautiful: a dark, rich wood for the estate and an off-white and teal dressing for the psychiatric institution.Moving past performances and aesthetics, however, the production becomes a bit wobbly. Audience members are mere bystanders to Dowd’s estrangement from his family and friends while themes of acceptance and inclusion really only enter the discussion in the last five minutes of the play. Blocking is sloppy if not poor, lines are dropped and overacting is commonplace; indeed, the play neither occurs in reality nor in the absurd, but in an uncomfortable in-between.“Harvey” as a text can be considered a masterpiece in the canon of American drama. This production undoubtedly features strong performances and aesthetic qualities. Though Blazejewski’s rendition does provide its audience a couple of hours of chuckles, it does little to expand the boundaries of theater at Princeton University.Theatre Intime's “Harvey,” is playing April 7 and 8 at 9 p.m. and April 9 at both 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Murray Theatre, Murray-Dodge Hall.Pros: iconic piece of American theater, good laughs, strong performances and high-quality aestheticsCons: little thematic advancement until the final five minutes, sloppy blocking, frequent inappropriate overactingPaws: 2.5/5
1. Bind your thesis.
U. admits 6.46 percent of applicants for Class of 2020, still isn't less than 5 percent p-value
Dance: diSiac Dance Company presents "Untitled"From April 14 to 16, diSiac is having its spring show "Untitled.” Come see diSiac in its purest form, with inspiration drawn from everywhere and anywhere. The shows will take place in Frist Performance Theatre! Tickets are available at the Frist Ticket Office, $8 for students and $10 for the general public.Frist Performance TheatreThursday, April 14th - 7 p.m. & 10 p.m.Friday, April 15th - 10 p.m.Saturday, April 16th - 7 p.m. & 10 p.m.*Music: VTone presents "V: 5 Years of VTone"Princeton's premiere East Asian music group, VTone, is holding its fifth anniversary spring show. The shows are from April 14 to 16 in Wilson Blackbox Theater. Tickets are available in Frist for this dynamic show. Songs range from instrumental to a capella, with pieces in English as well as many Asian languages.Wilson Blackbox TheaterThursday, April 14th - Saturday, April 16th - 8 p.m.*Theatre: PUP presents "Dogfight"From April 8 to 16, Princeton University Players presents “Dogfight.” The show is directed by Abby Jean-Baptiste ’18 and tells the story of young Marines on their last night out before being deployed to Vietnam in 1963, and thematizes the importance of compassion in a corrupted world. The show will be performed in Whitman Theater!Whitman TheatreFriday, April 8th - Saturday, April 16th - varying showtimes*Theatre: The Program in Theater presents "Singin' in the Rain"Directed by Adin Walker ’16, and featuring Billy Cohen ’16 and Maddie Reese ’16, the musical "Singin' in the Rain" will be shown from April 8-15. The show will take place in the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center, and a talkback with Professor Stacy Wolf will occur following the April 13 performance.Berlind TheatreFriday, April 8th - Friday, April 15th - varying showtimes*Arts: Communiversity ArtsFestThe Communiversity ArtsFest will take place Sunday, April 17,from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.. The Arts Council of Princeton, with participation from University students and support of the town of Princeton, will showcase over 200 booths featuring original arts crafts, merchandise and food. Six stages will have continuous live entertainment. With over 40,000 attendees, Communiversity is Central New Jersey's longest-running and largest cultural event.Downtown PrincetonSunday, April 17th - 1-6 p.m.
'Unfamiliar Street' is a travel column in which we take you around the world and introduce you to a cool STREET far from the well-trod gravel of Prospect Avenue.I still don’t know the name of the street, but I fell in love with it on my first night in Bermuda.I walked out of dinner with my friends around 8 p.m., and it was dark outside already. Feeling overly stuffed, we decided to walk around a lovely little town called Hamilton. Unlike New York City, there is no street light every five feet. The whole town is dim with staggering lights coming from the households uphill and flickering candlelight from oceanside restaurants.We took a turn, and suddenly we came across a little alley illuminated by Christmas lights. Due to the unexpected brightness, I shut my eyes for a second and then opened them to what I now consider a wonderful surprise. It felt like walking in the dark and suddenly discovering a new territory — a welcoming, gleaming one.With the light, I could see the stairs clearly. Each step has a different color, and going up the stairs felt like going down a palette, or rather, a rainbow. Bermuda is an extremely colorful place, and driving from the airport, I did not see two houses next to each other with the same color. However, this unfamiliar little street outshone many others, with 30 steps and 30 distinct colors.What made it even better was the writing on the stairs. The lower part of the stairs read: “There is magic at your fingertips, look closely and see it, unfolding from weary bones.” Walking up the stairs and reading the lines step by step, these aphoristic comments warmed my heart on that slightly chilly night.I wonder who painted them: One person? Multiple people? Children? High schoolers? Artists on vacation? A myriad of questions popped into my head, and there was no answer to be found. The mystery behind the creator made me love the street even more.I went with two of my friends, and we were all taking it in silently. We met up at the top of the stairs around the same time. Needless to say, we wanted a picture together. As we were wondering about who should take the photo, a cook named Bob from a restaurant by the stairs came out and offered to do us the favor. I thought he was just going take the picture and leave, but he ended up talking to us on the stairs for an hour.He passionately told us stories about the history of Bermuda: how the settlement began — from the Northern corner down to the South. This is why the forts are in the north and the malls are in the south. He then told us it is still a British territory, which explains why they drive on the left and have portraits of Queen Elizabeth everywhere. He told us about schools: ten elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools and one university. Everyone has to wear a uniform. He told us there were about 600 taxis in Bermuda, so we should never worry about not being able to get one. At one point, he ran back into his kitchen and came out with three sundaes in his hand. He talked. I listened. We laughed.There is a Chinese proverb that goes: “The scenery is pretty, but the people make it prettier.” Indeed, that street left me with so many memories because of Bob, my honorary tour guide, and Bermy-pedia of the night. It's true, not just Bob, but basically everyone in Bermuda seems approachable. They want to help you; they want to make conversation with you; they want to get to know you. I was in New York City the night before, and it was such a contrast between New Yorkers and locals in Bermuda. I learned something new about someone every day, and they never failed to bring a smile on my face.Three hours flew by quickly, and we grudgingly said goodbye to the delightful street. It was a street full of lights, laughter and love. As the taxi was driving uphill, the brightness of the street became smaller and dimmer. It didn’t disappear, though — it's still shining in my mind.
'Unfamiliar Street' is a travel column in which we take you around the world and introduce you to a cool STREET far from the well-trod gravel of Prospect Avenue.To enter and leave Vancouver, you have to pass through its heart. Crossing the Lions Gate Bridge over Vancouver’s harbor (the namesake of the Canadian film company Lionsgate Entertainment), you enter Stanley Park, a wooded landmark of walking paths, shores and a display of Totem Poles.It’s there that you enter West Georgia Street, a major avenue that cuts through some of Vancouver’s major landmarks: The Fairmont Hotel, of the famous Canadian hotel brand based in Toronto; the Vancouver Art Gallery, a world-class museum inside a repurposed city hall; and Rogers Arena and BC Place, the home of the Vancouver Canucks NHL team and Whitecaps FC, respectively.West Georgia Street is something akin to New York’s 5th Avenue, home to many high-end retail locations, such as the Vancouver outlet of Hudson’s Bay Company, the Canadian department store that got its start with fur trapping in 1670. It also hosts the public amenities such as Vancouver’s massive public library, and across the street, its post office. Closer to the sports arenas, West Georgia Street is defined by sports bars and pubs. West Georgia Street transitions into Prior Street when it intersects with Main Street, and its counterpart, East Georgia Street, is more residential.As I walked along the puddles of Georgia Street over spring break, I marveled at a city so inviting, walkable and clean. It was the stuff that American urban planners’ dreams were made of. How did it come to be?Founded in 1867 as a logging town named the enticing-sounding “Gastown,” the settlement was renamed “Vancouver” after the Canadian transcontinental railroad was built. Today, Vancouver is the fourth most densely populated city in North America.Vancouver is well-known for its strong urban planning. It even has a name for it: “Vancouverism.” Urban planners in the 1980s pursued a policy of high-rise residential developments along with mixed-use retail and residential uses. The result is a city ranked with the 5th highest quality of life in the world, (behind Vienna, Zurich, Auckland and Munich) and perhaps unsurprisingly it is the priciest city in Canada.Vancouver’s hosting of the 2010 Olympic Games motivated its expansion of its subway and transit system, known as SkyTrain. Coming from my experience with the generally effective but notorious Washington, DC Metro, (the entire system was closed Wednesday last week for a decidedly non-routine, emergency safety inspection), I was impressed at the Vancouver system’s cleanliness and timeliness.Vancouver is also as diverse and culturally vibrant as it is well-planned. When the United Kingdom transferred governorship of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997, it led to a large migration of British Chinese to Canada, particularly Vancouver. Today, Vancouver’s population is about 20 percent Chinese, lending itself to a city with some of the best Chinese cuisine in North America. The demographics are also reflected in the Vancouver’s signage: many public signs are subtitled in Chinese, rather than Greater Canada’s more common emphasis on French.Like its Pacific Northwest cousins, Seattle and Portland, Vancouver has the climate of a “temperate rainforest.” That is to say, it rains a lot. Statistically, it rains every other day from November to March, so if seasonal affective disorder were a problem for you, it would be unwise to live there.As for regional prominence, Vancouver places you close to nature and its associated recreation — the ski resort across the bay provides easy access to winter sports, while the famous Whistler Mountain is just a two hours’ drive away. A ferry in nearby Tsawwassen can take you to Vancouver Island and British Columbia’s capital of Victoria. Vancouver truly lies in the heart of BC — and West Georgia Street is in the center of all of it.
Interviewed by Contributor Taylor Kang '19.Maybe you've been to The Frick Collection, maybe you've been to The Phillips Collection, but you've definitely yet to attend "The Collection," that is, eXpressions Dance Company's Spring 2016 show, "The Collection." Street sat down with Esin Yunusoglu '19, the assistant artistic director of eXpressions to learn more about this upcoming art-themed dance performance. “The Collection,” will run Friday, April 1 at 9 p.m. and Saturday, April 2 at 6 and 9 p.m. Tickets are available at Frist and online.The Daily Princetonian: For those who don’t know, what is eXpressions?Esin Yunusoglu ’19: eXpressions is an all girls dance company, and it’s actually the first dance company at Princeton. It was founded in 1979, and we mostly do contemporary but we’re very open to new styles and some other styles just like hip-hop fusion. We have two shows per year, one in the fall and one in the spring, and we also have two auditions per year. We rehearse during the week, during the night, and the weekend.DP: What can Princeton students expect from this upcoming eXpressions show?EY: So we’re actually really excited, particularly about the theme of the show. It’s called “The Collection,” and basically the theme is about getting inspired by a variety of images for each piece that we’re doing. Some of them are really famous artworks, like Persistence of Memory or some Jackson Pollock, and some of them are very iconic photographs, some sculptures. But this time we actually tried to stick to the theme, and we’re trying to explore how those images are affecting our imagination. In some ways, very literally, and in some other pieces, they’re affected more abstractly. So we’re exploring some different themes with different artworks, different images. We’re excited about everyone’s interpretation, every choreographer's take is very different towards each artwork or each image. I think it’ll be interesting to see the overlap between some different artworks for the audience because it’s interesting to explore how dance is a dynamic art form and can get inspired by a very still image or a very still art form and transform it into movement, so I’m very excited to show that to our audience.DP: How did the Company decide on the theme, “The Collection”?EY: We just realized that we have a lot of art history nerds in the company, and it was just one of the first themes we thought of, and it started as a joke, like, ‘Oh, let’s do the Ecstasy of St. Teresa, and we’ll call it Ecstasy — eXpressions presents Ecstasy!’ But then when we thought about it seriously — it just sounded like a good idea because it’s interesting to see the overlap of the art forms because I feel like a lot of the dancers are not only just interested in dance but they are people who are interested in a lot of forms of art, so why not just incorporate them? When the new officer board was elected, we really wanted the theme to actually be a part of the show and not just a name, so this was something that we could actually use because the previous theme — we had a lot of fun with it, but when you call the show APEX it’s actually hard to implement it in some of the pieces because it’s maybe too abstract, we wanted [it] to be more concrete.DP: Could you describe the upcoming show in more detail?EY: I can talk about my piece that I’m choreographing as an example, which is Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí. I’m trying to interpret it more abstractly, but I was also more inspired by the visuality of the piece. So you know it’s a melting clock — so at first I started off with the idea of movements that look like melting or look like you can’t control your body, but then I worked with some contrasts, how you can actually try to control it, and then I’m even just inspired by the name of the piece and the sense of time in movement, so in the piece I think you’ll be able to see similar moves done in different timings, so I was just using the concept of time that got me inspired from the artwork, but I know for some other pieces, someone’s using, you know the iconic image of the V-J Day image with the sailor [V-J Day in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt]. And she’s inspired by the whole concept of war, but you know how the girl is leaning back, she’s just inspired by that pose and exploring that throughout the piece. And someone’s using Gustav Klimt’s gold paintings — she’s using the piece Nothing Can Stay Gold and using it more at a costume level, so it’s a different way of getting inspired by the pieces.Editor’s note: eXpressions President Claire Egan '17 was also contacted for an interview, but deferred comment to Yunusoglu due to scheduling conflicts.
It's almost college decision day, which means Outdoor Action's frosh trips are just around the corner. Caroline Stone '14 graduated with a degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and subsequently assumed the position of OA Program Coordinator. Staff Writer Catherine Wang contacted Stone to ask about Stone's experience with OA, what she's been working on as program coordinator and the big changes headed for OA this fall.
Until the Instagram-worthy, 'Valencia'-filtered, joyful existence Millennials envision materializes, our generation could use all the advice thrown at us. Princeton French professor Christy Wampole wrote "The Other Serious," a book of essayspublished in July 2015 that strives to give advice to young people on how they should live their lives.The essays in "The Other Serious" explore defining themes of the Millennial generation, including Millennials' contradicting existences online and in private, exaggerated lives on social media, and materialism. The essays focus on a single question: “What should you do when you know what to do?” Street Senior Writer Victoria Scott contacted Wampole to talk about her book, the challenges the millennial generation faces, and the writing process.
The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater’s “Annie & Rose” is a theatrical exploration of two musical theater staples. Through cutting, splicing and – at times – recreating, Katie Birenboim ’16 and Michaela Milgrom ’16 present complicated portraits of the two titular women.“Annie & Rose” draws from two classics in musical theater, both with strong female leads. “Annie Get Your Gun” spotlights vaudeville at its prime, focusing on the beginning of Annie Oakley’s career and her subsequent success and love life. “Gypsy,” in contrast, takes place when vaudeville is being phased out, focusing on the life and work of the overbearing stage mother Rose and her two daughters.“Annie & Rose” follows the basic plot structure of each musical, alternating between the songs and scenes of “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Gypsy”. With a few exceptions, the cast is shared between the two plots.In terms of the roles themselves, “Annie & Rose” is perfectly suited for Birenboim and Milgrom. Birenboim pulls off the backwoods Annie convincingly, and Milgrom’s stellar voice excels in Rose’s many solos.Other casting is a mixed bag.Jared Brendon Hopper ’18 gives a spotty performance in the role of Herbie, Rose’s love interest and talent manager. Despite Hopper’s excellent vocals and superb attention to detail in characterization, his performance does very little to materialize the complicated relationship between Rose and Herbie, who are both lovers and business associates. “Annie & Rose” does little justice to Robby Keown ’17, whose blocking and characterizations are clearly contrived and, though Ben Diamond ’19 gets laughs with his performance as the strip club manager Pastey, his other roles fall flat.One of the greatest shortcomings of “Annie & Rose” is the underuse of strong performers.Kevin McElwee ’18, a newcomer to the Princeton theater scene, gave strong performances in his admittedly limited roles. Melanie Berman ’18, though given a few good moments on stage, most of which are heightened sexual innuendos, lacks the opportunity to showcase her strong vocal capacity. Most notably, Alex Daniels ’17 and Emily Libresco ’17 are sorely underused in the production, nonetheless stealing the show with their ridiculous stripteases in “Gotta Get a Gimmick.”Other performers are hardly challenged in the production.Meagan Raker ’18 gives an excellent performance as June, Rose’s youngest daughter. Yet, her performance is nothing new, only a slight variation on the roles Raker has had in nearly every production she has been a part of at Princeton. “Annie & Rose,” as an educational exploration of two musicals, would have been the perfect opportunity for Raker to undertake a different and more challenging role.And yet, though few and far between, some actors simply excel in their roles.Sam Gravitte ’17 gives a stellar performance as Frank, Annie’s love interest and sharpshooting rival. Gravitte fulfills the vocal requirements of the role superbly and nails both the physical and personal characterization of the role.Most astoundingly, Emma Watkins ’18 gives a stunning performance as Louise, Rose’s eldest and least talented daughter. Watkins pulls of the lanky, uncoordinated Young Louise very well and goes on to give an incredible if not baffling performance in her impromptu strip tease.Though featuring a number of the most popular songs from each musical, the highlights of “Annie & Rose” are the unique song mixes, when actors sing different songs from the two musicals simultaneously. The mash-ups of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with “Let Me Entertain You,” “Moonshine Lullaby” with “Little Lamb,” “Sun in the Morning” with “Together Wherever” and “Anything You Can Do” with “Gypsy Strip” reveal the astounding continuities between the two shows.Perhaps this performance reveals a double-edged sword. In splicing the musicals, Birenboim and Milgrom draw mostly parallels between the two shows. Indeed, the format of “Annie & Rose” reveals that the two musicals, renowned for their strong female leads, are formulaic in nature. In attempting to demonstrate that Annie and Rose are not “archaic,” Birenboim and Milgrom reveal something worse – that the women are just two sides to the same coin, women who use men to move up in their careers and ultimately find themselves trapped between men and career. While one chooses man and the other career, the careers of the two women bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. Both manipulated men to make it to the top and were ultimately more or less unable to make it there.Though casting is largely a mixed bag, with actors missing the mark or lacking adequate challenge, the content of “Annie & Rose” and, in broad strokes, its performance explores the intersection of womanhood and show business, raising more questions than it seems to answer.3/5 PawsPros: occasional strong performances, excellent thematic explorationCons: many contrived and shallow performances
Dear Sexpert,
1. This is the end
U. to revise course evaluation system, but rest assured: Polly Griffin will still email you about them
Comedy: Princeton Tonight presents Dave CoulierDave Coulier, famously known for his role as Joey Gladstone on "Full House" and now on "Fuller House" on Netflix, is coming to perform his stand-up comedy! On Tuesday, March 29 at 9:30 p.m. the event, hosted by Princeton Tonight, the University's premiere broadcast television show, will take place in McCosh 50. Fuzzy Dice Improv Comedy will also perform, and tickets are free to those with PUID and available at the Frist Box Office.McCosh 50Tuesday, March 29, 9:30 p.m.*Dance: Más Flow Dance Company presents "A Telenovela"Princeton's premiere Latin dance group, Más Flow, presents their Spring show, "A Telenovela!" Get ready for a dramatic show with love, loss and passion! The performances are in Frist Theater on March 24-26 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Frist for $8 for students and $10 for the general public.Frist TheaterThursday-Saturday, March 24-26, 8 p.m.*Poetry: Ellipses Slam Team presents "Missed Connections"The University's first spoken word team, Ellipses, has their Spring show "Missed Connections" this Thursday to Saturday in Theatre Intime. The performances will take place at 8 p.m. and will make you ponder all the connections and relationships you could have had.Theatre IntimeThursday-Saturday, March 24-26, 8 p.m.*Music: Old NasSoul presents "March Sing"This Saturday, Old NasSoul, Princeton's all-male a capella group that specializes in soul music, will be performing at Blair Arch. The arch sing will start at 11 p.m. and is a great way to come back from spring break.Blair ArchSaturday, March 26, 11 p.m.*Event: Princeton Caribbean Connection presents "A Taste of Carnival"Next Friday, Princeton Caribbean Connection will be hosting a Taste of Carnival in Carl A. Fields. Free Caribbean food will be served and performance groups, such as DoroBucci, Princeton's premiere African dance group, will perform. The dinner and performances will take place at 6 p.m., and an after-party with all soca and dancehall music starts at 10 p.m. The event is free and unticketed.Carl A. Fields CenterFriday, April 1, 6:00 p.m. (dinner and performances), 10:00 p.m. (after-party)*Music: Princeton Pianists Ensemble presents "Nightfall"Next Saturday, the Princeton Pianists Ensemble will present a concert focused on everything night, such as the stars, dreams, nightmares, etc. The show will have complete audiovisual effects and guest performers from La Vie en Cello (Princeton's acclaimed cello ensemble) and Princeton University Ballet. The concert will take place in Richardson Auditorium at 8 p.m., and tickets are $8 for students, $15 for the general public and available at Frist.Richardson AuditoriumSaturday, April 2, 8 p.m.