Report #2
Devin Bishop
Honors 201 (Humanities)
25 November 2011
Beauty and the Beast
Let me tell you a little story about my favorite day in November. Yes, thanksgiving was a much needed break, and don’t get me wrong, spending hours in the library researching for my various research papers was the most mentally… stimulating. BUT, the best day of the month fell on the first; so good in fact, that I knew I would have to endure 29 more days of average that could not even begin to compete with November 1st.
Early in September my mom lit up my phone in exciting text messages about the off-Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast coming to Ball State. I have always loved attending, watching, and of course singing along to every musical with which I have even the slightest familiarity. I grew up twenty minutes out side of Chicago and very year around Christmas time a tiny musical production would come to the Marriot Theater in my quaint, suburban town. My great-grandmother Gigi would take my mom and my sister and I to a show and afterwards we would traipse through the snow and across the street to Walker Brothers and eat chocolate chip pancakes. In fact, my mother swears I saw Beauty and the Beast in that little theater, but I was too young to remember now.
The most recent musical I saw was the off-Broadway production of Wicked while my mom and I were in Indianapolis about a year ago. We took a special trip down there for my 18th birthday just to see the musical; I remember crying after the first act because it was so awe-inspiring, getting up to leave, only to have my mom stop me and say, “Honey, you know It’s only intermission, right?” Needless to say I was elated.
When I realized however that Beauty and the Beast was going to take place at Emens I was a little worried. I mostly feared that the stage would not be grand enough or that some of the props or maybe the number of performers would be limited by the size. My mom assured me that there was no way it would NOT be awesome, and I agreed to go. Once student tickets were available, my roommate Karen and I went to Emens and picked up two tickets for ourselves and three more: One for my mom, my dad, and my boyfriend Collin.
While all Disney movies have a certain charm and even a degree of sentimental value depending on what age I was when I watched them, Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite. Ever since I was a little girl my mom had reminded me that Beauty and the Beast was the only Disney movie that had been released on the year of my birth. It just so happened that I grew up to be a brown-headed, fair-skinned girl who liked the color blue and read books like they were going out of style. Beyond appearance and interests, there was always something about Belle as a character that I connected to. She abhorred cocky and conceited men like Gaston; she was independent, selfless, and cared above all, for people’s hearts.
Needless to say, the musical was amazing. Gaston’s voice and look was 100% true to character and Belle’s voice was crazy good. I was blown away by how funny it was! At one point, when the Armoire/Retired-opera-lady began singing my dad burst out laughing and could not stop giggling for ten minutes straight (he is easily taken by physical comedy, and she has vivaciously flung her limbs in a strange and hilarious fashion reminiscent of Kramer, my dad’s favorite TV personality [I hope you watch Seinfeld]). Anyways, I left the theater extremely hyperactive with flushed cheeks and wide eyes. I was singing and twirling haphazardly around my dorm room for a half hour after the performance. Even Collin, who often times finds musicals boring, had an amazing time. I am just so happy I went. :)
Report #1
Devin Bishop
Honors 201 (Humanities)
10 September 2011 Second City Comedy: The Mirror of College Experience
Dreams that the American College experience revolves around self-discovery, purposeful pursuit of passionate knowledge, social and moral independence and other imperative, pragmatic endeavors took a sudden dip in my life during my first week on Campus.
The Second City performance held at Emen’s Auditorium during Welcome Week left a lasting, and unfortunately negative impression on me. As expected, the actors were brilliant with an array of comical accents, physical humor and even cooperative improvisation reminiscent of (and no doubt inspired by) shows like “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” I laughed quite a bit and found my laughter mixed with shocked guffawing. I am not easily offended by language nor have I been sheltered from the ever-sexually-charged media these eighteen years. Yet once the lights lit for a short intermission, my once thoughtless mind was immediately inter-missed with loud and lucid judgment.
I realize that comedy is not meant to be taken seriously, and yet when I left the Auditorium before the second half, I could not help but repeat each scene in my mind with a critical focus. I reflected on ever F-bomb dropped and the roaring laughter that answered, and cringed at the count of sexual displays and references related to prostitution, misogyny, and drunken hook-ups. For instance, in one skit meant to make fun of night classes, a tall woman with brown hair pretends to be a Russian call girl and talks about sleeping with men and how much it would cost the average Joe. In another, a male student invites two women over and his roommate, who turns out to be the student’s father, attempts to seduce one of the women (who is both embarrassed and rather confused). According to Second City, college students are lazy men, promiscuous women, and irresponsible, morally confused, bacchanalian individuals. Ask any student on the street if they proudly claim one of these characteristics as his or her own. Few would find being named promiscuous or foolishly drunk complimentary. And yet, why do students laugh when seeing their age group satirized and stereotyped so negatively?
Unfortunately, it is probably because Second City, while crude and exaggerated in its presentation of college life, was honest in its interpretation. The college life has become far less about academic exploration and greatly about sexual exploration. Weekends may have been intended for sleeping in and hanging out, but they are consistently celebrated as the days of the week intended for underage drinking and violent prowling. If this is all that defines us as college kids, I am not surprised that Second City’s performance revolved predominately around booze and sex. The performance approach was successful not only because it was entertaining, but also because people wanted to go see it. It was a marketable presentation. In consequence, cultural events like this only perpetuate foolish college behavior and encourage immaturity in students. Students watch the presentations, and slowly perceive that their wantonness is harmless folly or even morally excusable. They live in reaction to this askew perception, and so the cycle continues. Will adults forever excuse our poor choices and irresponsible behavior? Are college students doomed to remain in the confines of stereotyped moral degeneracy?
I was laughing along with the rest of the student body, and I must remember that. I am as easily blinded by the worldly ideas connected to my age group. Yes the performance was greatly funny and do not get me wrong, I am not cynical by nature. But I truly believe that if the world expected more from us as college students, we would gratefully rise to the occasion.
Devin Bishop
Honors 201 (Humanities)
25 November 2011
Beauty and the Beast
Let me tell you a little story about my favorite day in November. Yes, thanksgiving was a much needed break, and don’t get me wrong, spending hours in the library researching for my various research papers was the most mentally… stimulating. BUT, the best day of the month fell on the first; so good in fact, that I knew I would have to endure 29 more days of average that could not even begin to compete with November 1st.
Early in September my mom lit up my phone in exciting text messages about the off-Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast coming to Ball State. I have always loved attending, watching, and of course singing along to every musical with which I have even the slightest familiarity. I grew up twenty minutes out side of Chicago and very year around Christmas time a tiny musical production would come to the Marriot Theater in my quaint, suburban town. My great-grandmother Gigi would take my mom and my sister and I to a show and afterwards we would traipse through the snow and across the street to Walker Brothers and eat chocolate chip pancakes. In fact, my mother swears I saw Beauty and the Beast in that little theater, but I was too young to remember now.
The most recent musical I saw was the off-Broadway production of Wicked while my mom and I were in Indianapolis about a year ago. We took a special trip down there for my 18th birthday just to see the musical; I remember crying after the first act because it was so awe-inspiring, getting up to leave, only to have my mom stop me and say, “Honey, you know It’s only intermission, right?” Needless to say I was elated.
When I realized however that Beauty and the Beast was going to take place at Emens I was a little worried. I mostly feared that the stage would not be grand enough or that some of the props or maybe the number of performers would be limited by the size. My mom assured me that there was no way it would NOT be awesome, and I agreed to go. Once student tickets were available, my roommate Karen and I went to Emens and picked up two tickets for ourselves and three more: One for my mom, my dad, and my boyfriend Collin.
While all Disney movies have a certain charm and even a degree of sentimental value depending on what age I was when I watched them, Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite. Ever since I was a little girl my mom had reminded me that Beauty and the Beast was the only Disney movie that had been released on the year of my birth. It just so happened that I grew up to be a brown-headed, fair-skinned girl who liked the color blue and read books like they were going out of style. Beyond appearance and interests, there was always something about Belle as a character that I connected to. She abhorred cocky and conceited men like Gaston; she was independent, selfless, and cared above all, for people’s hearts.
Needless to say, the musical was amazing. Gaston’s voice and look was 100% true to character and Belle’s voice was crazy good. I was blown away by how funny it was! At one point, when the Armoire/Retired-opera-lady began singing my dad burst out laughing and could not stop giggling for ten minutes straight (he is easily taken by physical comedy, and she has vivaciously flung her limbs in a strange and hilarious fashion reminiscent of Kramer, my dad’s favorite TV personality [I hope you watch Seinfeld]). Anyways, I left the theater extremely hyperactive with flushed cheeks and wide eyes. I was singing and twirling haphazardly around my dorm room for a half hour after the performance. Even Collin, who often times finds musicals boring, had an amazing time. I am just so happy I went. :)
Report #1
Devin Bishop
Honors 201 (Humanities)
10 September 2011
Second City Comedy: The Mirror of College Experience
Dreams that the American College experience revolves around self-discovery, purposeful pursuit of passionate knowledge, social and moral independence and other imperative, pragmatic endeavors took a sudden dip in my life during my first week on Campus.
The Second City performance held at Emen’s Auditorium during Welcome Week left a lasting, and unfortunately negative impression on me. As expected, the actors were brilliant with an array of comical accents, physical humor and even cooperative improvisation reminiscent of (and no doubt inspired by) shows like “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” I laughed quite a bit and found my laughter mixed with shocked guffawing. I am not easily offended by language nor have I been sheltered from the ever-sexually-charged media these eighteen years. Yet once the lights lit for a short intermission, my once thoughtless mind was immediately inter-missed with loud and lucid judgment.
I realize that comedy is not meant to be taken seriously, and yet when I left the Auditorium before the second half, I could not help but repeat each scene in my mind with a critical focus. I reflected on ever F-bomb dropped and the roaring laughter that answered, and cringed at the count of sexual displays and references related to prostitution, misogyny, and drunken hook-ups. For instance, in one skit meant to make fun of night classes, a tall woman with brown hair pretends to be a Russian call girl and talks about sleeping with men and how much it would cost the average Joe. In another, a male student invites two women over and his roommate, who turns out to be the student’s father, attempts to seduce one of the women (who is both embarrassed and rather confused). According to Second City, college students are lazy men, promiscuous women, and irresponsible, morally confused, bacchanalian individuals. Ask any student on the street if they proudly claim one of these characteristics as his or her own. Few would find being named promiscuous or foolishly drunk complimentary. And yet, why do students laugh when seeing their age group satirized and stereotyped so negatively?
Unfortunately, it is probably because Second City, while crude and exaggerated in its presentation of college life, was honest in its interpretation. The college life has become far less about academic exploration and greatly about sexual exploration. Weekends may have been intended for sleeping in and hanging out, but they are consistently celebrated as the days of the week intended for underage drinking and violent prowling. If this is all that defines us as college kids, I am not surprised that Second City’s performance revolved predominately around booze and sex. The performance approach was successful not only because it was entertaining, but also because people wanted to go see it. It was a marketable presentation. In consequence, cultural events like this only perpetuate foolish college behavior and encourage immaturity in students. Students watch the presentations, and slowly perceive that their wantonness is harmless folly or even morally excusable. They live in reaction to this askew perception, and so the cycle continues. Will adults forever excuse our poor choices and irresponsible behavior? Are college students doomed to remain in the confines of stereotyped moral degeneracy?
I was laughing along with the rest of the student body, and I must remember that. I am as easily blinded by the worldly ideas connected to my age group. Yes the performance was greatly funny and do not get me wrong, I am not cynical by nature. But I truly believe that if the world expected more from us as college students, we would gratefully rise to the occasion.