New Video

This is just a little something I did. Basically I just walked into my brother's room and this is what I found.

Funny thing is he doesn't even remember it.

"The Glass Menagerie" Review

Once again I did a shorter and longer review, so here's both.

Longer review:

Review of ATC’s Production of The Glass Menagerie

by Marc Hansen

Famous playwright Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is a theatre classic, and watching ATC’s new production of it reminds you why. Like reading The Great Gatsby, watching Casablanca, or listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, The Glass Menagerie defines its medium and works best when working within it.

The play focuses on four characters, narrator Tom Wingfield, his Pleurosis stricken sister Laura, their unbearable mother Amanda, and Laura’s unrequited love interest, the charming Jim O’Connor. The tormented Wingfield house is filled with nonstop fights between Amanda, an aged Southern belle who wishes to return to her past, and her children, so miserable they try to escape their lives through movies and a set of glass animals. Tom, the character who was supposedly based on Williams himself, yearns to be a writer, but works in a factory he hates, so he can support his mother and his crippled sister. Once Laura finds a husband to care for her, Tom will be free to live out the adventures he dreams of in his movies. So, Tom sets up a date for Laura with one of his fellow colleagues, but what Tom doesn’t know is that this man used to be Laura’s old crush back in high school.

The Glass Menagerie is classic theatre - a few characters, all in one setting, dealing with internal angst and desires, all told through magnificent dialogue. It brings to mind other defining masterpieces such as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and A Streetcar Named Desire (also penned by Williams). The ATC’s production also contains the most beautiful stage lighting I have ever seen. One long lasting scene is entirely candlelit, while another perfectly captures the way real moonlight would shine over the characters. The cast is all around fantastic, but props especially go to Brian Ibsen as Jim O’Connor, who managed to professionally stay in character and improvise when he unintentionally broke a table while leaning against it, and Barbara Wengerd as Laura, who truly makes us feel and care for the most sympathetic character.

In fact, the play really starts to pick up when Jim and Laura delve into conversation. At first, when it seems clear that this relationship could never last, we feel bad for Laura, but as the scene goes on it’s clearer that it’s the impact Jim has on Laura’s character that’s more important than his reciprocation. He gives her insight and confidence, and finally breaks down the glass wall that she’s been hiding behind. He may not be her future husband, but he finally gives her the chance to go out there, experience things, and not worry about what others think. The entire play is brilliant.

Like all good classics, The Glass Menagerie is filled with meaning, powerful themes and subtle little touches that really add to the overall experience. The ingenious script is like a tightly woven quilt, with each patch coming together. It may seem bleak and depressing at first, and you just want to tell the characters to lighten up, but it gets at something much deeper and more thoughtful. Williams put a lot of work into creating these fully realized characters and truly saying something profound with his play. It’s sure to give you lots to talk about after the show’s done, and its themes stay with you long after the night. What may not seem like traditional fun strangely is, because what Williams gets at feels true and relatable, something that few might have been able to capture, and for me, to find that truth is what art is all about.

Grade: A

Shorter review:

Review of ATC’s Production of The Glass Menagerie

by Marc Hansen

Famous playwright Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is a theatre classic, and watching ATC’s new production of it reminds you why. Like reading The Great Gatsby or listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, The Glass Menagerie defines its medium and works best when working within it.

The play focuses on narrator Tom Wingfield, his Pleurosis stricken sister Laura, their unbearable mother Amanda, and the charming Jim O’Connor. The tormented Wingfield house is filled with nonstop fights between Amanda, an aged Southern belle, and her children, so miserable they try to escape their lives through movies and a set of glass animals. Tom yearns to be a writer, but works in a factory he hates, so he can support his mother and his crippled sister. Once Laura finds a husband to care for her, Tom will be free to live out the adventures he dreams of in his movies. So, Tom sets up a date for Laura with one of his fellow colleagues, but what Tom doesn’t know is that this man used to be Laura’s old crush back in high school.

The Glass Menagerie is classic theatre - a few characters, all in one setting, dealing with internal angst. The ATC’s production also contains the most beautiful stage lighting I have ever seen. One long lasting scene is entirely candlelit, while another perfectly captures the way real moonlight would shine over the characters. The cast is all around fantastic, but props especially go to Brian Ibsen as Jim O’Connor and Barbara Wengerd as Laura, who truly makes us feel and care for the most sympathetic character.

The play really starts to pick up when Jim and Laura delve into conversation. At first, when it seems clear that this relationship could never last, we feel bad for Laura, but as the scene goes on it’s clearer that it’s the impact Jim has on Laura’s character that’s more important than his reciprocation. He may not be her future husband, but he finally gives her the chance to go out there, experience things, and not worry about what others think.

Like all good classics, The Glass Menagerie is filled with meaning, powerful themes and subtle little touches that really add to the overall experience. It may seem bleak and depressing at first, but it gets at something much deeper and more thoughtful. Williams put a lot of work into creating these fully realized characters and truly saying something profound with his play. It’s sure to give you lots to talk about after the show’s done, and its themes stay with you long afterwards. What may not seem like traditional fun strangely is, because what Williams gets at feels true and relatable, and for me, to find that truth is what art is all about.

Grade: A

In other words, go see it. It's truly amazing. You won't be sorry.

'Crying Lightning' Video

Here's a new video Yoel and I made. For some reason it's a bit spotty and fuzzy at some parts, but only on youtube. Hm. Don't know what that's about. Sorry. Anyways, here it is. Enjoy!

I just got an email inviting me to a "Write a Will" workshop

So, I just got an email inviting me to a "Write a Will" workshop (from the Loft, a movie theater of all places). Here's what it said:

Writing a will doesn't have to be mysterious. Now you can learn how to prepare a will at one of these three free workshops.

TUESDAY, MARCH 9th from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART RSVP 616-2694 or lschellie@tucsonmuseumofart.org WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10th from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RSVP 792-9155 or kbyers@tucsonsymphony.org TUESDAY, MARCH 23rd from 9:30 am - 11:30 am THE LOFT CINEMA RSVP 322-5638 or amy@loftaz.com Don't leave things to chance - Write a Will. You can do more for your family and your community. Attend one of these free workshops to learn what you need to consider when preparing a will. FOOD AND BEVERAGE PROVIDED. Hosted by Arizona Theatre Company, The Loft Cinema, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson Symphony Orchestra and UA Presents.

So, apparently, the Loft thinks I'm about to croak. Thanks, Loft. I never knew there were workshops for writing your will. I mean I guess I don't know how I would go about writing my will, so maybe I should attend. It just seems a weird thing to teach people. And sponser, by a bunch of arts programs no less. Hm.

My favorite part is "FOOD AND BEVERAGE PROVIDED." OH! Food and beverages will be provided? In that case, I'm definitely going. Why would they serve food and drinks? It all just seems so odd. I wonder what the average age of the people there would be. . . maybe I should go.

'The Thirty Six Sounds of a Writer'

This is my thirty six sounds poem for English.

The Thirty-Six Sounds of a Writer

by Marc Hansen

1. Flipping the stained, paper pages of your favorite book for inspiration

2. The squeak as you lean back in your chair, feeling confident and ready to write

3. The air conditioner cycling as you blankly stare at your typewriter for the first thirty minutes

4. Endless thoughts of doubt and insecurity running through your mind

5. Sweat dripping down your burning forehead

6. Thoughts of your worst critics beating your corpse to a pulp

7. Thoughts of you beating your corpse to a pulp

8. Explicit language

9. The sudden click of the typewriter as you type that explicit language

10. Your stomach’s growls, as you feel a fleeting moment of accomplishment, and a need for a 9:10 a.m. snack break

11. The smack of your lips, as you tear through your third croissant that morning

12. The muscles in your thumb having a spasm, while you flip through each channel on the television

13. The blood gushing out of your skin as you rip open the hangnail you’ve been picking at for weeks

14. The phone taunting you with its rings, though you know it can only be your mother

15. Your mother’s manic barks about how you should get a job and a girlfriend

16. Imagining yourself repeatedly slamming the phone on her, as you listen obediently

17. Feeling your chin hairs poke through your skin, as you wonder when the last time you shaved was

18. Your apartment owner’s fists pounding their way through the front door, demanding the rent for your shithole East Side apartment

19. The screaming guitar in the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin,” as you do some

20. Letting the light shine through the creaky windows, as you decide to get back to work

21. Hearing the blue jays sing from Central Park, as the subway growls from underneath

22. The summer sun ruining your “Life is Good” t-shirt with your armpit’s sweat

23. The light bulb above your head flickering on and blowing out the building’s electricity

24. A revelation

25. The ink pounding your words onto a clean, white sheet of paper

26. Typing the Great American Novel for the next 3 years

27. Upgrading to a slick, stylish, new computer

28. Getting a publishing deal, and 20% of the profits!

29. Impressing Oprah with your beautiful balance of satire and seriousness

30. Thirty million people flipping through the clean, white pages of your hardcover

31. Bathing yourself with 100 dollar bills in your new, golden bathtub

32. Waking up on the couch, wearing your worn out superhero pajama pants with the hole in the back

33. Discovering that your roommate taped the entirety of your mid-afternoon nap (apparently you talk in your sleep)

34. Devouring your fourth croissant that morning

35. Peeling through a banana, as you stare at the typewriter

36. Typing, just typing, and finally getting the hang of it