So Valentine's Day has come and gone. Chances are your friends took their dates to one of many upscale Princeton eateries on that day and you've heard all about them.
Some people admire the view from a hotel room, but photographer Abelardo Morell covers it with black plastic and duct tape.Why, would anyone block the view from a hotel room in Paris or a penthouse in Manhattan?
As a storm interrupts the initial quiet of the ocean waves, flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder instantly transport the audience to the midst of the storm with the rest of the characters of "The Tempest."As they watch the screaming mariners on stage pleading for their lives, the audience is pulled into the same supernatural undertow of confusion and storm-tossed terror the unfortunate sailors feel as the Shakespearian storm is brought to life in McCarter Theatre.The audience members and shipwrecked travelers alike find themselves unknowingly spellbound by Prospera's magic and the squall she has created. The PlotWhen the storm subsides and the travelers have found themselves washed ashore, they wander about the shore of Prospera's lair, as she explains to her daughter these travelers' past offenses.Prospera, played by Blair Brown, had been shipwrecked with her daughter, Miranda (Rachel Matthews Black), 12 years before on the island where the play takes place.Sent into exile by her conniving relatives, Prospera has achieved magical sovereignty over the island and claims the native Caliban (Ian Kahn) as her brutish slave and Ariel (Julyana Soelistyo) as her fairy servant.Having mastery over the forces of nature through her magical powers, Prospera sees that these same relatives who sent her into exile 12 years before are adrift at sea.
Before Therí Pickens '05 arrived, the main entertainment on Saturday nights at Princeton was the Street or the Street.But now that Pickens' brainchild Poetic Voices is a weekly attraction at Café Vivian, pre-Streeters or those looking for another diversion can chill out by listening to the poetry, music and performances of their peers and occasional special guests.With a cup of tea or a Fruitaza in hand, the audience is generally laid back, the performances impromptu and the mood very much like a big, supportive family.Pickens first got the idea for Poetic Voices at a spoken word performance in Newark in November of last year, she said.Spoken word poetry is very much like hip hop: lots of rhyme, a quick and changing rhythm and lines that sound a lot like regular speech.
Once upon a time there was a songwriter and a choreographer who decided to collaborate on a musical.
The Elbow Room is surprisingly not smoky at 10 p.m. Tuesday night. This isn't what the average rock club is supposed to smell like, but no one complains, because after all, they can see better and their drinks taste like drinks and not like the liquid nicotine they're used to.Most of the Princeton crowd arrives by an old yellow school bus, chartered by the band, giving the hilarious impression that the students are on a bizarre field trip and have lost their teacher.They enter the club to join a modest crowd and mill about the long, narrow, half-full Elbow Room, ordering drinks and waiting.The students have traveled all the way to the city on a school night, giving up all too valuable study time, to see and support Pipe Dream, a popular student band that they know from the 'Street.'During the opening band's show, the crowd grows dense as more college students arrive along with Princeton alums and other 20-somethings.
Beer funnels, sex with high school students and an inflatable tub full of KY Jelly.Yep, it's back to school for director Todd Phillips who returns to the theme of college hijinks in "Old School," the follow up to his 2000 feature film debut "Road Trip."Just don't expect another "Road Trip." Even with more experience both in front of and behind the camera this time around, "Old School" does not live up to the legacy of Phillips' first feature film."Old School" recycles plots from such classic college comedies as "Animal House" ? which Ivan Reitman also produced ? "Back to School" and "PCU."Although the story is a little tired, the film is anything but.Mitch Martin, played by Luke Wilson, after returning home early from a business trip, opens the door to the house he shares with his fiancée Heidi (Juliette Lewis) to find a sketchy Todd Phillips, making a cameo in his own picture.Phillips opens with the following greeting: "I'm here for the gang bang!" and thus begins Mitch's new life as a single, 30-something year-old frat guy.After leaving Heidi and her unconventional sex habits, Mitch rents a house on the campus of Harrison University where he and his best friends Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell) had gone to school.
Each fall, the annual Freshman Activities Fair hosts an overwhelming array of interests and clubs, on the main floor of Dillon Gym, eagerly vying for new members ? dancers, cheerleaders, volunteers, a capella singers, religious organizations and next year, vegetarians.The Vegetarian Club of Princeton, now an officially recognized club by the USG, was born this October and strives to create "a more vegetarian-friendly campus." In doing so, they hope to encourage vegetarianism amongst Princetonians.Bicker, sign-ins and room draw mark February as the time when students take a momentary pause from their routines to consider the University's unique system of dining options.But does anyone go so far as to reconsider his or her dietary habits?
During modern times, we may view the conflict of chastity and promiscuity with more leniency than with the reserved Elizabethan values of Shakespeare's time.William Shakespeare's play, "Measure for Measure," is an eloquent example of the law attempting to regulate morality, especially sexual behavior.Director Chris Wendell '03's version of "Measure for Measure" opened last weekend at 185 Nassau Street's Acting Studio and will continue through this weekend.Having studied Shakespeare since high school, and specifically "Measure for Measure" since his junior year at Princeton, Wendell successfully amplified the sexual energy within the play to introduce a fresh comedy on the regulation of our natural desires and the consequent string of lies told to repress these urges.Focusing the light on different areas of the stage, depending upon the scene, helped utilize this forlorn space in 185 Nassau to its maximum capacity, demonstrating the transcendent nature of the theme of the eventual ruin in every character's life.To evoke a feeling of uneasiness, chains hanging from the ceiling also decoratively foreshadow the unwelcoming punishments that loom over the city.Set during a time when the society of Vienna was experiencing an alarming increase in prostitution as well as general moral decay and lawlessness, the play begins with the Duke, played by Matthieu Boyd '03, hastily departing the town, which will now be ruled under the stricter authority of Angelo, performed by Matthew Berner '05.The purity of the law and Angelo's own purity are tested against the temptations of sexual promiscuity and liberalism of this new age.One of Angelo's first acts is to condemn Claudio, played by David Bengali '04, to death for having impregnated Julietta out of wedlock.With this basic conflict in motion, the plot of "Measure for Measure" thickens with the introduction of the wholehearted and chaste nun, Isabella.
Though it may not feel like spring has sprung just yet, the dancers in the Spring Dance Festival, performed last weekend in Richardson Auditorium, filled the room with such energy that most in the audience forgot the chilling winds outside.Performed mainly by students in the Program in Theater and Dance, as well as by others who take dance classes, the festival is definitely one of the hidden gems of Princeton's arts scene.The show opened with a piece entitled "Coming Through," a pulsing tribally-themed dance.
A tip from the members of the improvisational comedy group Quipfire!: come to their performances with props and ready to yell.The group will perform its February show this weekend, starting tonight and running through Saturday night at Theatre~Intime.Because of the spontaneous nature of improvisational comedy, every Quipfire!
When most people think of juggling, what probably comes to mind are those silly clowns in ridiculous costumes, who are paid to appear at birthday parties or street fairs and hope that airborne balls are enough to capture an audience . . . unless, of course, you're familiar with the Princeton Juggling Club.True, the first kind of jugglers do provide some form of entertainment, though always somewhat mild and mindless, with the biggest thrill being an act that includes some element of danger like knives or fire or a feat that looked like it must have required an enormous amount of practice or skill.Yet, in their newest performance, "2003: A Spatial Oddity," which opens tonight at Frist Theater, the Princeton Juggling Club seeks to go beyond that juvenile form of entertainment usually associated with juggling and tries to provide the audience with a humorous and visually impressive performance.While watching the first kind of jugglers can be an anxiety-inducing or embarrassing experience, watching the Princeton Juggling Club perform is thoroughly entertaining.
For two years and 10 months New Jersey has been proud to harbor its own Poet Laureate, but before the conclusion of the year, this is likely to end.In response to a poem written by the current poet laureate, Amiri Baraka, the state of New Jersey has been making moves to abolish the title.Baraka wrote a poem in October, 2001 entitled "Somebody Blew Up America" in response to the Sept.
It's Valentines Day and you want to treat a special someone to the best dinner in town. As romantic as the dining halls, eating clubs or the 'Wa may be, if you're looking for atmosphere, impeccable food and a place that will truly impress your date, Les Copains on Witherspoon St.
Who knew vaginas had feelings too? This weekend vaginas take center stage at Frist Performance Theatre as a group of female students presents the fourth annual production of the "Vagina Monologues" by Eve Ensler.This production, directed by Jessica Brondo '04 and Jade Guanchez '05 and sponsored by Wym'onStage, OWL and SHARE is part of V-Day, an event organized by Ensler in 1998 to address the worldwide issue of violence against women."The Vagina Monologues" originated as a solo monologue performed by Ensler and won an Obie award in 1997.When she began working on the play, Ensler interviewed women from diverse backgrounds in order to find out what they really thought about their sexuality and, more directly, their vaginas.From these interviews, Ensler crafted a work that combined a gamut of complex emotions with a variety of powerful characters and voices."This play touches so many different people," Brondo said."Different women relate to different monologues.
I wish that Chris Wendell '03 had been my high school English teacher. After discussing William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" with Wendell, his creative thesis production scheduled to open tonight in the Matthews Acting Studio at 8 p.m., I was convinced that he was meant to be an English teacher.He talks about Shakespeare and this particular play with the enthusiasm and intrigue that your high school English teacher never did."My career in literature has been kind of framed by Shakespeare," he said.
Valentine's Day has once again reared its red and pink head, so many students are scrambling to impress love interests or mates.
The members of the Princeton University Orchestra were given a rare opportunity over intercession to perform in the presence of some of the greatest musical legends.Nearly 100 members of the orchestra spent a week on tour in Europe, performing concerts to sold-out crowds in Prague and Vienna's most famous venues.In Vienna, they played at the Rudolfinum, an impressive concert hall where Antonin Dvorak premiered his symphony?a piece the orchestra has performed before.The orchestra also played in a room of Prague's Schunbrun Palace where Mozart performed as a child."You can feel the musical presence.
Greil Marcus is a shameless Eminem fan.This is just one of the many facts I learned from my friends in Professor Marcus' fall '02 American Studies seminar "Popular Criticism." This visiting professor, she told me, was "supposed to be amazing," some "big guy from Rolling Stone."He was going to teach the class how to write its own critiques of nonfiction, radio, and film.
