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Brandeis University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1949 | Waltham, MA

Guerilla Opera comes to campus for yearlong residency

by Emily Wishingrad | 09/08/2015

This year, the New Music Brandeis is hosting a yearlong residency with the Guerilla Opera. The group is a Boston-based, self-proclaimed “experimental” organization that focuses on creating new operatic pieces for intimate settings. The residency will work with students throughout the year in preparation for a production of six opera scenes produced by students and professionals from the Guerilla Opera. The performances will be shown as part of the annual Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts in the spring.

Fall Movie Preview

by Linda Maleh | 09/07/2015

“Mockingjay Part II” A highly anticipated movie this fall is  “Mockingjay Part II,” coming out on Nov.

‘Peter Pan’ takes flight in 24 Hour Musical

by Jaime Gropper | 09/07/2015

Every year, Brandeis actors, singers, dancers, directors, stage managers, costumers, set designers, music directors and all other tech-crew come to together to make something incredible—a full-fledged musical put together in just 24 hours.

Interview Column

by Brooke Granovsky | 09/01/2015

This week, justArts spoke with Ayelet Schrek ’17, the director for the Undergraduate Theater Collective’s production of The Love of the Nightingale, about the upcoming show. JustArts: What motivated you to join the production of Nightingale? Ayelet Schrek: When I saw For Colored Girls last semester—I’ve directed before—and when I saw For Colored Girls I realized that I needed to direct this semester.

Pop Culture

by Ilana Kruger | 09/01/2015

Last week, I looked at some of the upcoming fall shows debuting on traditional broadcast networks, but there are also some exciting new shows coming to online streaming services.

‘Unreal’ gets behind the scenes of reality tv

by Jaime Gropper | 09/01/2015

Unreal, Lifetime’s new scripted look at the inner workings of a reality television show, strongly presents the case that reality shows are, in fact, very much not reality. The first ten-episode season of Unreal aired this summer, and the show has already been picked up for a second season.  Unreal takes place almost exclusively on the set of Everlasting, a fictional, Bachelor-esque reality show. Female contestants compete through various romantic challenges, dates and parties for the affections of a British millionaire bachelor Adam Cromwell (Freddie Stroma).  Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby) is a producer on the show who is considered to be a “closer”—someone who sets the stage for the necessary drama to happen.  Essentially, Rachel’s job is to slyly make people do and say things that will move the show in an exciting direction, often without them realizing that she’s guiding them along.  Much of the drama in the show within the show—Everlasting—comes  from this “producing” technique—creating drama that isn’t really there, a technique that Unreal strongly suggests that actual reality shows heavily utilize.  The show emphasizes that editing is a major feature of reality production, and production is centered on making sure every detail is captured on camera so that everything can be ripped apart and meticulously pieced back together in exciting ways.  A fair amount of screen time is spent in the control room of Everlasting where producers vigorously plot and plan how to create drama and where the contestants are thought of as not as people but as means to an end.  Unreal succeeds in proving just how unreal reality shows can be.

Pop Culture

by Ilana Kruger | 08/26/2015

Now that school is back in full swing and I’m back at the pop culture game, I thought it would be fitting to start with a look at the new shows coming to a screen near you this fall. That being said, with two reboots, a spinoff and a show based on a 2002 Tom Cruise movie, some of these fall shows aren’t actually that new. NBC will premiere its “event series” Heroes Reborn, a continuation of its four season science fiction drama Heroes on Sept.

Interview Column: Robert P. Duff

by Jaime Gropper | 08/26/2015

This week justArts spoke with Robert P.D. Duff, who has been appointed as the Choral Conductor at Brandeis. Duff will oversee the vocal program, teach conducting, and lead two choral ensembles as part of the Department of Music. He also will continue to serve as the Artistic and Musical Director at the Handel Society at Dartmouth College.  justArts: What sparked your initial interest in choral music and in being a conductor? Robert P.D.

Memoir gets a rebirth on the Broadway stage

by Emily Wishingrad | 08/25/2015

Around this time four years ago, author Alison Bechdel was speaking to a room of incoming first-years about the orientation reading for that year,Fun Home(2006). Today, those first-years are college graduates, and Bechdel’s graphic novel has been translated into a musical and set on the Broadway stage, in the process garnering five Tony Awards.

Preview of Fall Arts Courses

by Brooke Granovsky | 08/25/2015

“JAPN 135A: Screening National Images: Japanese Film and Anime in Global Context” Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book or video game, especially one from anime or manga.  This practice was recently featured in a Buzzfeed video by The Try Guys, who cosplayed for their first time in order to learn about the practice.  Cosplay’s appearance on Buzzfeed, a popular news and entertainment website, demonstrates how the community interested in Japanese anime and manga has gained popularity in recent years.  Now, Brandeis students will have the opportunity to study anime, along with other kind of postwar Japanese films and tv.  “JAPN 135A: Screening National Images: Japanese Film and Anime in Global Context” is a course that spans many disciplines.  Taught by Prof.

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