Student Blogs
By Neva Gakavian (Excerpt from original piece)
One hundred and sixty-one years to the day after Moby Dick was published, I had the privilege to see this classic story interpreted for modern theater in Rinde Eckert’s And God Created Great Whales. Eckert conceived the play and performed Nathan, the main character — a brilliant man trying to complete his musical about Moby Dick before he completely loses his memory. To stay on track, his mind has created an imaginary, eccentric woman portrayed by Nora Cole. These two strong actors had the presence of fifty. They filled the stage with life and proved that a successful production isn’t measured by its size or scope but by the passion of the actors and their ability to connect to the audience.
By Hanna Morgan
Colorful. My first experience at an opera was, well, colorful. The costumes of the eleven UMD students who performed in the Dominick Argento opera, Postcard from Morocco, represented every hue on the color wheel. The various characters were dressed in beautiful purple Victorian dresses and striped vests and carried around decorated pieces of luggage of different shapes, sizes and hues. Besides the visual color, the opera itself was colorful, or unique, in its plot. This kept me engaged throughout the opera, as I had no idea what would happen next.
By Hannah Morgan
Students, parents, musicians and music aficionados alike crowded into CSPAC to groove with two UMD student jazz combos. The show was spectacular, and featured songs written by some of the combo members themselves.