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When Max LeBlanc ’22 was a freshman in high school, he began working in a local ice cream store. In his hometown, the tourism-driven community of Kennebunk, Maine, LeBlanc was just looking to earn some extra money for college. As a 14-year-old, he had no idea that in less than four years, he would be the founder of his own dessert shop.
Does your hometown define who you are? Are your intersecting identities all of what make you you? On Oct. 4 at the Intercultural Center, students gathered to reflect on these questions and more through “An Evening of Art, Identity and Lived Experience,” part of the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize Award Presentation and Residency. Throughout the event, students shared poems, dances and artwork that reflected who they are and their unique experiences of self-evaluation and discovery. The works of several students shared themes of racial discrimination and queer identity, and many works also explored moving to Brandeis from a different city, region or even country.
On Wednesday, writer Mickey Rapkin detailed his journey from a wandering college graduate to magazine journalist to author to screenwriter, speaking to an audience of Brandeis students and a cappella fans. Rapkin is best known for writing “Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory,” the 2008 nonfiction book upon which the “Pitch Perfect” movies are based. Two University a cappella groups, VoiceMale and Company B, surprised the audience by performing before the lecture.
Brandeis Starving Artists performed two songs, “Nobody Love” and “Nirvana” at this year’s Sukkot-themed a cappella event.
The new music concert series “Music at Mandel” kicked off on Sept. 26 with Prof. Robert Nieske (MUS) and his bandmate Billy Novick elegantly balancing a casual atmosphere and refined playing. Their eight-song set was so informal that the musicians decided their next song on the spot once the previous one was finished. This spontaneity complemented the relaxed atmosphere, fitting with the musical style and location of the concert.
The University’s Film, Television and Interactive Media Program hosted a screening in Wasserman Cinematheque of Paul Weitz’s “Bel Canto,” a film adaptation of its 2001 namesake thriller by Ann Patchett, on the eve of the movie’s release on Amazon Prime. Based on a real 1996-97 hostage crisis in Lima, Peru, the film takes place in a Vice-Presidential manor that is overrun by Latin American freedom fighters. The wealthy dinner guests are trapped by hostile guerilla fighters in a house with little to do. With their lives left in the hands of a Red Cross negotiator, sparks fly, relationships are formed and secrets are revealed. The screening was made possible due to producer and Brandeis alumna Caroline Baron ’83.
When Ben LoCascio ’20 is daydreaming in class, he’s not fantasizing about backpacking across Europe or sipping cocktails on a tropical island. Instead, he’s thinking about coffee. LoCascio began drinking coffee sometime in the eighth grade and hasn’t looked back since. “My dad is from Italy and would always make espresso drinks,” LoCascio mused. “I think it was his rebellion against American drip coffee.” When he was given a $3,000 professional-grade espresso machine by his uncle before attending Brandeis, LoCascio decided to channel his love of coffee into a one-man movable Café stand, affectionately dubbed “Café Undergrounds.” Since then, the Café has taken off, bringing in hundreds of dollars in sales each weekend. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays, LoCascio can be found selling lattes and Nutella paninis from a small cart parked in Upper Usdan. He’s keenly aware of his competition on campus: between Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Einstein's, students have wondered where Café Underground fits in. LoCascio says he isn’t sweating the competition, because he has a secret force behind him — God.
Jeffrey Ward was recently named the University’s interim Athletics director, according to an email sent by President Liebowitz on Sept. 4, 2018.
This week, justArts spoke with Leah Sherin ’19, one of the directors of the 24-Hour Musical this year.
Every year, a group of students have the opportunity to perform in a musical with only one day of preparation. Nothing, not even the name of the musical, is revealed until exactly 24 hours before the start of the show, and each student must do their best to perform a solid, often comical, production for the quickly-sold-out event. Pulling off this large-scale performance in such a small time frame requires a lot of skill, and this year’s musical, “Annie,” did not disappoint.
The Brandeis women’s soccer team is 5-0 in their strong season so far. This hardworking group has really had a great start to their season, resulting in many victories. In the past two weeks, the team has won three more games.
Cider, donuts and iMacs: what do all of these apple products have in common? They were all in the Brandeis Library on Thursday, Sept. 13, to mark the annual Meet Your Personal Librarian event, offering students the opportunity to mingle with their librarians over autumnal refreshments. Students could ask general questions, receive help with research, connect with various library resources or just get to know their personal librarian better. Among the attendees was Associate University Librarian for Research & Instruction Laura Hibbler, who talked about her job in an interview with the Justice, about what it’s like to be a personal librarian at Brandies.
This was a year of box office records. “Black Panther” became the ninth-highest grossing film of all time with a $1.3 billion take; “Incredibles 2” became the highest non-PG-13 grosser of all time besides a list of box office records in the animation genre; “Avengers: Infinity War” conquered theaters worldwide with a claim on the $2 billion milestone. Additionally, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” the deep dive into the life of beloved children’s entertainer Fred Rogers, became the top-grossing biographical documentary of all time at $20 million. Average per-screen grosses were also very impressive with the releases of “Eighth Grade,” “Sorry to Bother You,” “BlacKkKlansman,” and the 50th anniversary re-release of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
The newest members of the Brandeis community have arrived on campus and began their Brandeis journeys on Sunday, Aug. 26. After a full day of moving in and events, the Class of 2022, transfer students and their families gathered on Chapel’s Field for the annual Convocation ceremony.
JustArts: What are your responsibilities as UTC president?
Critic loves this season's films Kent Dinlenc While the past few months have been devoid of the indie films I was anticipating, I was pleasantly surprised by what has been released. I have spouted enough praise for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and thoroughly reviewed 2017 as a whole, so I’ve decided to solely cover the films that came out during the spring semester.