Back from Hollywood! Part 2

All right, so the journey continues. So, after Universal Studios we went back to the hotel and got to see our rooms and find out who are roommates were (I got Abdul, Stan, and Casey, who were all awesome and luckily I already knew them). There were only three beds in our room (and one was a futon), so Abdul and I decided to let the seniors have the nice beds, and we would share the futon, because they were seniors and if we were seniors there would be no way that we would let some freshman get the nice bed in place of us. We got about an hour to hang out and wash up before we had to go to the play, that night. Oh yeah, we had to dress up too (see photo of Abdul and I, above). We saw Dreamgirls at the Ahmanson theatre and though the singing was fabulous, the dancing was marvelous, the effects were wonderful, the sets were fantastic, and the lighting was beautiful, the story was only sub-par, and that really does make or break a play. The story wasn't terrible, but I just didn't really dig it (I was also really tired - I really only had a couple hours of sleep on the bus that morning) and so I had already checked out by the beginning of Act 2. Honestly, I did like Act 1, but I just wanted Act 2 to be over. The Ahmanson theatre was great though. Really pretty, and gigantic. We sat in the second balcony; the seating was so steep that everytime I started drifting off I was afraid I was gonna roll over and fall off the entire balcony - and that kept me awake. But the best part of that night was at the end of the play when we grouped outside and as I stood on the third story, I saw the amazing cityscape, which I knew I had seen before. It was in (500) Days of Summer (one of my top movies of the decade). I was so excited! Not only was the cityscape visually attracting, but I was in the relatively same area where they had shot (500) Days of Summer! I was in the same place, and as we were walking out we passed this fountain, that I was pretty sure was the same fountain Tom walked across in (500) Days of Summer (I asked Josh who said it was and when I got back and looked at the movie's wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(500)_Days_of_Summer under location it said that they had heavily used the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Music Center, and towers of California Plaza, which is where we were - I even confirmed it with Google Maps). Finally, since we were all really hungry and hadn't ate dinner, Haeger took the group to California's legendary In-N-Out Burger. It was one of those without seating inside, so we had to stand outside and order from the stand. It must have been quite a sight to see 30 dressed up teenagers outside In-N-Out Burger while you were in the drive-thru (in fact, we talked to a couple that asked who we were, where we were from, and what we were doing). And as always, my meal (Grilled Cheese, fries, and a strawberry milkshake) was absolutely delicious. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.

That night I slept pretty soundly, after barely having any sleep the whole day. The next morning as Casey was walking out, he informed us that Haeger had called and it was time to wake up (6 a.m. and we only had an hour to eat breakfast at the hotel - thankfully free - and shower). I looked over and for some reason, Abdul wasn't there. I got up and discovered him, sleeping on the floor. I laughed, wondered how he got there, and secretly hoped that I didn't push him off. Stan came out and was similarly bewildered. We nudged him and tried to wake him up, but he was like a rock. Stan said we would just wake him when we got back and left, but I decided this was the perfect time to take a shower. When I got back out, I decided to try and wake Abdul up again. This time he actually did and informed me that I hadn't pushed him off, but that he woke up at like 2 in the morning, couldn't go back to sleep, walked around, drank an entire bottle of water in one sip, and then passed out on the floor. Oh well, he looked pretty comfortable. We got ready and then ate breakfast with Nathan and Ricardo. They had make your own omlettes, but they weren't that great, so I decided to not have it the next morning. We got on the bus at about 7:30 (Haeger had this system worked out perfectly, where he would tell us to be ready way earlier than we needed to be, because he knew we would be half an hour late, and by the time we actually got there, we still had half an hour to kill). We were off to Warner Brothers Studio!

And that's where I'll leave off for now. Keep waiting for Part 3 where I'll continue on with Day 2 (of 3 Days - dammit, this is gonna take me forever to write).

Just a Short Message From Our Sponsor

So, it was my sister's 18th birthday on Thursday and to celebrate we drove to Phoenix to see a great, little indie band called The Temper Trap (my sister and I have the exact same taste in music).

Anyways, they're not a hugely radio popular band, but they have their fan-base and the club they were playing at was called The Clubhouse. It was a small place, about the size of Club Congress, I'd say, which actually ended up being pretty cool, because we got to stand in the front row of the concert. We were right there. We could see them and they could see us. Anyways, the concert was amazing and the band was great, and before the the last song, "Science of Sleep," on their second set the lead singer said: "I'm going do something that I've only done once, back in Germany, and it ended up with my pants coming off - I'm gonna invite the audience to come on stage and dance with us." And I was in the front row, so I did. Let me just tell you, it was fucking amazing. I got to dance and rock out on stage with The Temper Trap! That's all I've ever wanted! It was amazing. There were like 20 of us from the crowd and we were all just dancing around the band as they rocked out. We could see everyone else in the audience, we were literally right next to the music, and the band. I was dancing next to the bass player, a really cool guy, and here's the best part, he let me press on his distortion pedal for his bass! I GOT TO FUCKING PRESS THE DISTORTION PEDAL FOR THE BASS PLAYER IN THE TEMPER TRAP! I GOT TO FUCKING ROCK OUT ON STAGE WITH THE TEMPER TRAP! How many other people can say they did that? It was amazing!!! I'm so thankful that it was such a small club and I got to stand in the front row and it was my sister's 18th birthday. Never have I been more proud of her. I had the time of my life. It was incredible. So, that's it, all I wanted to say. Thank you. I don't know if I'll ever get to do that again. Thank god for memories.

"The Second City Does Arizona, or Close But No Saguaro" Review

My final review for the ATC this year:

Review of ATC’s Production of

The Second City Does Arizona, or Close But No Saguaro

by Marc Hansen

The famous Chicago-based comedy group The Second City, with alumni including basically every famous comedian, ranging from Bill Murray to Tina Fey, has come to Arizona, as is so clearly stated in ATC’s cheekily titled production of The Second City Does Arizona, or Close But No Saguaro. Over the season, we’ve had everything from book adaptations to musicals to famous plays, and now, fittingly, we have a collection of comedy shorts to bookmark the fabulous season. Though a fun, mindless way to end the season, the overall play is a mixed bag.

There’s no overall story linking the skits together; they’re just individual and unrelated skits. Although this doesn’t provide an emotional connection to the play, it doesn’t really matter. This is comedy after all, and the Second City is aiming for clever jokes, not emotional connection. Think of it as Saturday Night Live, but actually live and with an Arizonan twist. However, because the skits are separate, the overall play is rather hit-or-miss. Some of the skits, like reoccurring gags with speed cameras and a father teaching his daughter how to drive in Arizona (she has to put on oven mitts to keep herself from burning), are absolutely hilarious. At other times though, the skits just drag on and aren’t really that funny, like one about a widower who comes to Arizona to get it on with old ladies or a spelling bee competition (that was already done hilariously in The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee) So, it really does depend on the skit; it could be really funny. . . or not so much.

The cast, however, really holds the production together. Even when it’s not necessarily the funniest skit, you totally believe that these actors are the characters they’re playing, which is saying a lot considering the wide range and diversity of the wild characters they portray (and with the exception of Andy Samberg, that’s way more than I could ever say about the current cast of Saturday Night Live). In fact, the cast even showed their dedication by doing lots of improv and playing off audience participants. However, even this could be really good or really bad, depending on how interesting or funny the audience participant is.

While the material may not be entirely consistent, the play and cast certainly created a very fun atmosphere, and the audience was having a ball. The fact that the whole play is centered around Arizona makes it more fun, since the jokes are more relatable and relevant to us, the audience, though sometimes it’s clear the writers are outsiders, especially when they focus on Arizonan topics that, though certainly unique to Arizona, aren’t very relevant to most residents (like the Ostrich farm or Sheriff Joe). Perhaps all that doesn’t really matter though. The Second City has always been more about introducing the next great comics, and with such a talented cast, don’t be surprised if you hear one of their names again ten years from now.

Grade: B

I think that sums it up pretty well. But since this is the last show of the season, and what a great season it's been, I thought I'd give out a little end-of-the-year awards to some of the plays (Not you, George is Dead, you get nothing).

So, the Best Music and Vocal Ensemble/Singing awards go to Ain't Misbehavin'.

The Best Performance award goes to Barzin Akhavan in The Kite Runner.

The Best Lighting, Direction, and Recycled (as in, the show was written a long time ago) Screenplay awards go to The Glass Menagerie.

And finally, the awards for Best Acting Ensemble, (Relatively) New Screenplay, and Overall Best Production goes to [title of show].

Thanks to all the contestants and congratulations to all the winners. It really has been a great season, and I'm so lucky, fortunate and thankful to have gotten to see all the wonderful plays I saw (and George is Dead). But seriously, it was the best batch of plays I've seen, compared to the Broadway in Tucson ones, which have maybe one good play a year. See ya next year!

Back from Hollywood! Part 1.5

Okay, so I'm not adding on to the actual story yet, but I just figured out how to upload pictures onto the blogger, so I'm uploading pictures in this post, but the reason it's Part 1.5 is because these are pictures to things I already talked about in the first post, but didn't want to post in the other one, because I didn't want to the pictures to take over the words and it was too complicated to match them in the right place, so here they are. I'll post pictures of things I will be talking about, when I talk about them, in the next post(s).

So here's the first picture Abdul took:

This was as we were standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the bus. I just made that face and they all thought it was so funny that I promised I would make the same face in every single photo we took for the rest of the trip. And that's why in the other photos I'm always smiling and giving a thumbs up. It is a nice face to give after all? (Is it weird to think we... give faces???)

Here are various other photos of us on the bus ride there (be mindful of the fact that this was very late at night and we were all super excited):

Yeah, it got a little gay back there.

And here's photos of us at Big Bob's restaurant:

That's all for now. I'll be back to finish up the journey tomorrow.

Back from Hollywood! Part 1 (Edited w/ PICTURES)

Okay, so this is a little late, as I got back from Hollywood last Wednesday, but I wanted to write about this, as I had to tell everyone the same stories over and over again, but I didn't have the time until now, because I had this stupid biology project. So, here's my post on the 'adventures' (as Abdul called them, which I thought was funny so I'm using it, satirically) I had on the Hollywood trip for Media Class over Spring Break.

First off, it was late Saturday night and I was leaving on the Hollywood Media trip that night at midnight (a lot of nights...). I took a shower, as I wouldn't be showering until the next day, a little later, and then had to start packing. Superbad was on TV, so I watched that too. And soon enough, the time had come: it was 11:30, I was all packed, hungry, because I forgot to eat dinner, and ready to go (don't worry - I brought a bag of chips, that I ate voraciously on the drive over). I was very excited, to say the least. After all, it was Spring Break! (WOOHOO *takes top off*) And I was going to Hollywood, California, with friends from school, and other cool Media kids, and touring major studios! It was gonna be awesome! I admit I was also a little anxious, but that was all lost as soon as we arrived in the CFHS parking lot, to find about 20 teenagers, with pillows and suitcases, and my fat, lovably sarcastic, Media teacher on the edge of the sidewalk. What a sight. We waited about 10 more minutes for the bus to arrive, and then another half an hour, because some theater kid, named Alex, thought we were leaving on Sunday night/Monday morning.

Once he got on the bus, we were off. Off to California!!!!! We were all singing that Phantom Planet song and I tried to get everyone to sing Tiny Dancer on a bus (just like Almost Famous), but no one would (yet they later all sang 'I'm on a Boat/Bus' in unison.... COME ON!). Nathan and I listened to a California playlist on my iPod (all songs mentioning/about California... even though they were usually criticizing California - Californication anyone?) and Abdul and Ricardo were talking photos on their digital cameras. We tried to talk for a long time, but after a couple hours, we decided we couldn't stay up all night, and tried to go to sleep. Nathan and I were sitting next to each other though and he told me to sleep on the floor, like Abdul was, so it would be more comfortable. I tried that for a little while, but Stan's foot was right in my face (see pic below),

and I was afraid someone would step on me (and evidently, Stan later stepped on Higgin's balls when he was asleep on the floor, so was I right or was I right?), so I moved to an empty seat and slept there. It wasn't the most comfortable bed, but I was pretty tired. We stopped in the middle of the night at some random rest stop for a bathroom break, which felt weird, for some reason, but exhilarating. We were really on this trip, and it was going to be quite the experience.

I woke up at about 6, as we were passing the beautiful Joshua Park, which I couldn't stop talking about to my new friend, Josh. For some reason, I don't remember seeing this, even though I've drove to California many times, but it was different seeing it in the wide windows of a bus. I guess I just loved the fact that it was completely pure - America hadn't trashed it with its buildings and factories and homes - not to mention the hills are just gorgeous. We talked for the rest of the drive, until finally, we had arrived in Los Angeles, and Bob's Big Boy for breakfast. We took a picture with Bob (see below),

had breakfast (I had strawberry french toast, with a side of hash browns - delicious - and it came out to $10 even - score!), and were excited to continue our journey. Another notable thing that happened that breakfast is that Abdul, Ricardo, Nathan, Eric and I ate with Alex, the kid who came late, and was a senior in drama. He turned out to be pretty cool, and we quickly all became friends. In fact, for the rest of the trip we hung out with Alex a lot, and the way Abdul, Ricardo and Nathan all huddled around him and listened to his smooth talk made me think that we were like his disciples in some way. Alex was really cool, and really good with people. I noticed that the way he talked with employees at stores, restaurants, etc. reminded me of the way my mom dealt with people, in that really friendly, schmoozy way, that I never am (or Nathan - he just stands there, looking angry). So, yeah, Alex had like a godly presence that captivated people in a way I hadn't seen before. I didn't always agree with his views and opinions on things like politics, but he's a really cool guy, and I'm glad I got the chance to meet him (in fact, we were all playing hacky sack with him today - he loves that).

Next, we were off to Universal Theme Park! I had already been here, for like the third time, last year, so I had already been to most things, but I still didn't mind reliving the roller coasters! First, we had to view these two shows (Firedraft and Cinemagic), as part of the group, a learning experience on how to make movies, but a highlight was that G. Stoltz got picked as one of the volunteers, but unfortunately got killed by this werewolf thing. Shame, shame. (On a side note, one bus ride, during the trip, G. Stoltz ripped a huge one, and it was literally the worst thing I had ever smelt... it just wouldn't go away - there was also this running joke where Abdul would fart and blame it on Ricardo). Then, Alex, Ricardo, Abdul, Nathan, Eric and I went on the Mummy roller coaster ride, which was awesome (and the photo of us on the ride at the end was the funniest thing I had ever seen - Ricardo and Abdul had never been on a roller coaster, so they were quivering in their seats). Ricardo and I wanted badly to go on the Jurassic Park ride next, only the coolest ride ever where you get wet and vertically drop down - it's sooooooo much fun!), but the rest of our crew said the line was too long. :P

After that, we drove back to the hotel.... and that's where I'll leave off for today, because I'm kind of sick of writing this. I'll pick up tomorrow.

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.