Category: Entertainment

By Jane Suttmeier
Photo Editor

Little things are coming together to create the big picture for the Ohio Wesleyan Department of Theatre’s production of “The Passion of Dracula.”

Senior Margaret Knecht, master electrician for the play, said the lighting will capture the audience’s attention.
“(Dracula) is probably more different because of what we’re doing with tech,” she said.

“There is a lot of special effects; we’re using flash paper (thin paper treated with acid so that it will vanish in a flash when ignited) and fun little things lighting-wise.

“It’s going to be subtle differences that I don’t think the audience will be expecting and they are going to be really, really impressed.”

The department has brought in Jeff Gress, resident designer and associate professor in theatre at Capital University, as a guest lighting designer.

“Dracula” is the fourth production Gress has designed for OWU.

“We settled on a stylistic and technical solution for the lighting that is somewhat different than the space has seen before,” Gress said. ”I’ll be curious to see how people in the audience respond to the ideas. We are shooting for more of an event feel to the lighting than a purely theatrical one. It should be a lot of fun.”

With Gress’s help, Knecht has had one of her largest teams ever to assist her in her third round as master electrician and to portray “Dracula” in the best light.

“This is the biggest crew I have had so far,” Knecht said. “We’ve been able to focus all of the lights in about two days, and seeing as we have about 80 lights in the air—maybe more—it’s pretty great.

Everyone is willing to do what they need to learn and what they need to do.”

The theater has also made some changes for this show different from others before it—24 light fixtures attached to long poles called ladders hang from the grid above the stage.

“(I)t will give you different angles of the lights on the stage, so that’s going to change the way the shadows fall,” Knecht said.

Gress, who created this spectacle, said the new fixtures were inspired by the arrangement of theaters in the 1920s.
“I wanted to simplify the angles, bring light from odd places, and create some bold angle and color choices,” he said.

Sophomore Kristen Krak, who plays Count Dracula’s main victim Wilhelmina, said she thinks the show is “special.”

“(I)t’s a drama with witty writing that makes it quite funny at times, and it’s also very cool to play with so many special effects,” she said.

Gress said the special effects are used to allow more interaction with the audience.

“I wanted to visually re-introduce the audience to the experience of Dracula,” he said.

Knecht said she acknowledges the hard work of everyone making “The Passion of Dracula” come together.

“The management crew, actors, actresses and everyone have just been working so hard, and I am really excited to make this show look great so the actors don’t have too much to worry about and can just put on a great show,” she said.

By Jacob Beach
Transcript Reporter

1977 was the last time Barry Gunderson had an exhibit on the Ohio Wesleyan campus. Gunderson is a sculptor from Minnesota and has been working for Kenyon College since 1974 as a professor of sculpting. The exhibit itself showcases five different series that Gunderson has been working on throughout his career. The names of these series are “Dirt”, “Liverpool”, “Versailles”, “UMOs” and “Head Cases.” Each one has a different story to tell and uses different techniques.

“All art on display have to relate to the classroom and art department,” said Justin Kronewetter, director of Ross Art Museum. “Barry is all 3D work. His work relates to one of the areas of the art department and campus programming.”
The first series on display when entering the Ross Art Museum are Gunderson’s “UMOs.”

This acronym stands for Useless Metal Objects. According to Gunderson, the pieces are a series of 50 welded and painted aluminum sculptures that “are not useless at all.”

“I love the power I have to manipulate this lightweight, yet strong material into whatever form I need,” he said.
Gunderson uses several techniques of “grinding, mark-making and adding paint.… Pattern making and surface details are vital.”

According to Gunderson, this is the very first time that he has seen all his UMOs in one place since he began sculpting them five years ago. Kronewetter said he’s pleased to offer Gunderson the opportunity to show his entire collection at the Ross.

“I am happy to provide him enough space in a professional venue so that he can show off his work all together.”
Surrounding the UMOs is a series called “Head Cases,” which are wooden faces and heads that depict, according to Gunderson, “the worries and thoughts that interrupt that full night’s sleep.”

The middle room of the art gallery contains the series called “Dirt,” which “explores the abstract patterns of plowing, tilling, seeding and growing.”

This series stems from Gunderson’s Minnesota upbringing and is influenced largely by the work of painter Grant Wood. “I work from both memory and imagination,” Gunderson said. “…Every time I go home we drive through the farmlands in the northwest and certain patterns just stick in my head.”

In the back room of the museum is the final series being shown at Ohio Wesleyan, “Liverpool.”

Gunderson produced the project—a series is based on his fascination with terrace houses—during his sabbatical in 2005.

“I quickly became interested in those long strings of houses where individual owners assert their individuality with distinct divisions of color, pattern and building material even when the structural integrity is disrupted,” he said.
Gunderson said he finds his art and work to be relaxing and therapeutic, but stressful at times.

“I work all the time except in class time, I am one of those guys that is not happy when I am not in the studio; my wife knows I get cranky when I am out of the studio for a couple of days, and it is rare not to see me in there,” he said.

The exhibit’s design was envisioned and set up as a collaborative effort between Gunderson, Kronewetter and his studio design class.

Kronewetter went to Gunderson’s house to see the collection before setting it up. “Justin had a vision,” Gunderson said. “They came to my house, I showed them my collection and they collected it and arranged a beautiful exhibit, in my opinion.” It takes an average of 10 days to set up an exhibit, according to Kronewetter. He said a “workforce” of 12 students was instrumental in preparing the show.

“The gallery couldn’t exist without them,” he said. “The students are in charge of moving sculpture stands, pulling nails, patching nail holes and loading the truck and trailer.”

Kronewetter said he thinks viewers of exhibits often don’t realize the work that goes into putting them together.
“A lot of people think exhibits seem like apples falling off a tree—they just appear,” he said. “Most people walk through that door, they had an enjoyable experience, but had no idea what it took to just get the musicians, prepare the food or cleaning.

“A majority of the students will never visit Ross their entire college career and it is a shame because not only does their money help pay for exhibits, they are missing out on a whole dimension,” Kronewetter said.

Gunderson said art is a valuable position in today’s society but he is still concerned where its future lies. “Art shares our vision of the world in such a way that the people that don’t do art can appreciate things around them,” he said. “Art is valuable. I am fearful where the country is going. Kids are not being served art, and our curriculum is suffering.”

According to Kronewetter, you don’t necessarily have to go to the Ross Art Museum to enlighten yourself.

“Read a good book, listen to a symphony, have an enjoyable enlightening experience,” he said. “It is a dimension of the college experience that most students are missing.”

Many of Gunderson’s larger works can be found at a number of other universities and locations throughout the United States and in New Zealand.

By Ellin Youse
A& E Editor

The music of the production “Les Miserables” is best known for its robust orchestra, emotionally charged vocals and core trembling vibrato.

So when sophomore Connor Stout released his “Folk Les Mis” EP (extended play) last week, he transformed the album with a completely new feel to the normally dense, emotional soundtrack.

“All the songs in Les Mis are so sad,” Stout said. “I wanted to give them a happy spin. I don’t want them to be so sad.”

And sad they are not. In his cover of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” Stout transforms a depressing ballad of loved ones lost into an upbeat, jazzy melody with lighthearted vocals. He sings, strums and taps his fingers as he bounces around his bass.

Watching him, one completely forgets he is singing about a revolution turned tragic.

Stout first saw Les Mis performed onstage when he was 5 years old, and grew up to act in the role of protagonist Jean Valjean in his high school’s production of the play.

“My reasoning behind doing an EP of Les Mis is pretty selfish actually,” Stout said.

“This is an opportunity for me to sing all of the parts I couldn’t ordinarily sing. Like, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ is such a kick-ass song, but I usually couldn’t perform that seeing as it’s sung by a lady.”

Although Stout’s dream is to be able to sing and play base in a rock band, he said his inspiration to perform Les Mis in a folk rendition came from his love of playing bass.

“Bass is a very diverse instrument in its sound, so it introduced me to a lot of different styles of music,” Stout said.

Stout covered each song in a different style.

From fifties doo-wop to bluegrass, Stout said he wanted to create a variety of folk sounds.

As for the recording process, Stout plays every instrument himself and layers the tracks on top of one another to form a final product.

Stout uses about four or five instruments in each song, and records all of his tracks with his iPhone.

“I tape all my stuff using a $5 app,” Stout said, laughing.

“You can tell I didn’t do it professionally, but I gotta say, it doesn’t sound like I did it on an iPhone.”
You can hear Stout’s project on his SoundCloud page, “My Celia Castle.”

By Jenna Rodcay, Liz
Anderson and Julia Stone
Transcript Reporter
and Correspondents

Milligan Hub, formerly known as the Stuy Smoker, was filled with people on Friday for the Muses’ first ever cabaret show.

The Muses is a student run musical theatre group that works to encourage and promote student performances.

The cabaret was the Muses’ first event of the year and was a winter themed event featuring holiday music and snacks, such as hot chocolate and baked goods. They asked for a donations at the door.

“The event was a fundraiser for the group,” said junior Nick Ehlers, performer and member of the Muses, “Every spring semester, we put on a show and the proceeds are going to support it. Next year we’re thinking about doing a show using music that already exists but writing our own text and storyline, but it’s still just in the idea phase.”

There were a total of 11 student performances, including Pitch Black and the JAYWalkers, along with other duets and solo pieces by students.

“There were a wide variety of acts,” said senior Elizabeth Bartz. “It wasn’t just theatre kids singing show tunes. There were some Christmas songs and pop tunes. It was a great time.”

Robert Nims, a part time faculty member in the Music Department, played the piano for each performance that required it.

After deciding on the winter theme, the Muses supplied potential performers with inspiration “to supply performers an idea of what kind of songs would be appropriate for the Cabaret,” said junior Hillary Fowler, a member of the Muses said. Fowler helped plan the cabaret with several other members of the organization.

She said the cabaret began with showcases, in which student performers were able to audition for the show. The Muses use the word “showcase” instead of “audition” to help students avoid being nervous and not wanting to participate in the show.

“We did not want to turn people away from performing for this event,” Fowler said.

Student a cappella groups, such as the JAYWalkers and Pitch Black, were invited to perform.

Fowler said Muses utilized Facebook to help advertise for the cabaret; students were invited to Facebook events for both the showcases and the cabaret itself.
She said she utilized the OWU Music Group, on Facebook, to invite people to audition and attend the cabaret.

Junior Kati Sweigard performed three different times, for a total of seven songs.

“I felt like all three (performances) were well received,” Sweigard said. “The most fun for me was performing with Cara Slotkin, because we just like to have fun. Our duets come from 1 a.m. jam sessions when we’re avoiding homework, and they’re very low stress.”

Sweigard said she enjoyed the “many genres of performance music.”

“It was so cool to see people just do what they love in a fun, stress-free environment,” she said.

She said the JAYWalkers were her favorite part of the show.

“They are all really talented, sweet guys and I love watching them perform because you can tell they’re having fun,” Sweigard said.

Fowler said she was extremely pleased with the amount of people that attended the event and thought the cabaret was a success.

“We had people standing and sitting on the stairs to watch the performances because all the seats were filled,” she said. “For the cabaret not being a large Ohio Wesleyan theatre or music production, and with little preparation time, I thought the quality of the performances was outstanding. This exemplifies how many talented students and performers there are at our tiny liberal arts school.”

Sophomore Sam Walter attended the cabaret to support her friends who were performing.

“It was really nice to see a lot of people on campus that I didn’t even know could sing,” Walter said.

Junior Kenda Patterson said she also enjoyed the cabaret.

“It was a lot of fun,” Patterson said. “There was a good variety of music and it’s always great to see the talent in our friends and classmates.”

By Emily Feldmesser
Transcript Correspondent

College students have enough academic writing to do for class, but some OWU students take time out of their busy lives and write creatively for their own enjoyment.

The OWL, Ohio Wesleyan’s annual literary magazine published in late spring, is where they can publish their poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, literary journalism and art.

The OWL is open to students of all majors and publishes a wide variety of works. “Satisfying pieces of writing and art is the only theme we have,” said senior Anni Liu, one of three co-editors of The OWL.

In the past, the English department funded magazine has also published academic essays by faculty and students, interviews, music and translations. It was read last year at Beehive Books.

According to Liu, the mission of the magazine is to provide a venue for what could be called the literary arts and they “publish current and past students’ writing and seek to promote our burgeoning authors.”

“If it can be reproduced, folded to size and made relatively flat, then submissions might include charts, maps, spreadsheets, prints, drawings, designs, tiles, graphic novels and pop-up books,” Liu said.

“We only publish writing that seems to embody fresh, witty, polished, moving and thoughtful writing.

We usually receive about a hundred submissions each year.”

Junior Ellie Feely, co-editor of The OWL, said it is important to explore other facets of writing.

“It’s important to write without any ulterior motives,” Feely said. “With classes, it’s easy to be confined to certain types of writing, but with creative writing, you’re not confined.”

Senior Chris Marshall, co-editor of The OWL, said it is important to read and write for enjoyment.

“We encourage escaping the required reading so that students can enjoy reading and writing,” Marshall said.

By breaking out of the assigned readings and writing, students are able to find their own voice, said senior Chelsea Zwayer, co-editor of The OWL.

“When reading and writing what others tell you to, it’s easy for outside sources to influence you,” Zwayer said.

“Creative writing gives you more of a personal voice.”

Jillian Maruskin, public services librarian, said that creative writing helps engage students in their classwork and get a different perspective on the writing.

By Banita Giri
Transcript Correspondent

After courageously navigating through the silo-obstructed atrium and thoroughly gazing at food-themed artwork in the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, students were able to learn about the food system by the artwork’s creator, Abram Kaplan.

Kaplan, producer of the sculptures and artworks placed around Ohio Wesleyan University, spoke about the connections between our food system and art on Tuesday Oct. 30.

Kaplan talked about his journey to lift the veil of the food system in an aesthetic manner: “Fine Grain: Visual Immersion in the American Food System.”

He asked questions such as, “are we connected to our food system?” and described how most people have a non-existent connection with their food in this decade.

Kaplan created this series of artworks to challenge students to better understand the food system.

“The artworks aren’t passive 2-D photographs, but 3-D photographs that are in your face,” he said.

“As a teacher, I want my students and viewers to come to their own individual conclusions about the food system.”

Each part of the collection signifies another piece in his journey to learning more about our food system.

On the way he discovered more about himself as an artist and about his own personal identity.

Among the pieces is the prominent “Trifocal,” located in the Beeghly Library lobby.

This huge piece is composed of many rotating 3-D triangular prisms with a different picture on each of its faces.

Kaplan said the piece represents the dairy process and the intermediates from the cow to our refrigerator.

“People seemed to pass over other art pieces but with this, there was a lot of interaction and a child-like enthusiasm,” he said.

“One person would come by and rotate the pieces in one fashion; if anyone came and changed that, the person would get angry and possessive and say ‘don’t you mess with my art!’”

Sophomore Nischal Sodemba said, “the “Trifocal” piece is my favorite because I like how you can see the different stages of what cows go through and the fact that it is interactive.”

Kaplan said this was something he was hoping for.

“I wanted people to make something of them and discover their own sensibility,” he said.

He believes that this process is usually missing when it comes to people and the food system.

Three pieces, “Multigrain,” “Stover Growth” and the “Panoramic Image of the Nutrient Cycle,” stand in the middle of the HamWill Campus Center atrium.

The “Panoramic Image of the Nutrient Cycle” is a fifty-foot long image that has two sides.

The inside represents the cow’s living conditions and the outside is a panoramic year-round image of the crop cycle.

“I wondered what the lives of these cows are like and the dignity of this animal in such a place,” he said.

The image is of the dark, dirty and cramped quarters in which only a sliver of light enters through.

“When we drive down the highway and see fields of green and yellow, we automatically assume that this is the type of conditions cows live in, without exploring what cows really go through,” Kaplan said.

Kaplan believes the cows are contained in the inside of the system, much like humans are contained in their choices regarding the food system.

Underneath the large panoramic image is a circular ground image called “Stover Growth” which represents the idea of immersion, according to Kaplan.

“I went week after week after week, across acres, to that same spot. I immersed myself to try to understand the environment in a way that is emotional,” he said.
“Multigrain” is a large, cylindrical, metallic structure that represents a real multigrain structure.

The huge structure sticks out in the Ham-Wil atrium. To Kaplan, it symbolizes the containment of the food system and how inaccessible it is to the average person.
“Having these impervious structures in the middle of a field is a challenge when comparing to the natural order of things,” Kaplan said.

On the lower levels of the Ham-Wil atrium is the “Four Seasons Room.”

Kaplan believes that it symbolizes “feelings that we have as outsiders coming into the food system,” as well as “what it means to participate.”

When OWU students eat at the Ham-Wil cafeteria and look out the window, the view is obstructed by Kaplan’s art pieces, “What You See is What You Get.”

He placed the windows on top of windows so that students are forced to observe them.

“We have trained ourselves to not see the windows at all and our experience with the food system is similar to that,” he said.

Kaplan believes that 80 percent of human cues are taken through the eyes.

He said that people don’t experience the food system visually at all.

He used the quote, “the real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes,” to describe how people should be observing the food system.

Paula Travis, coordinator of the Sagan National Colloquium events said, “It’s amazing that this exhibition ties in so well with the Sagan lecture series this year.”
Kaplan is a professor of Environmental Studies at Denison University.

He received this opportunity to explore the food system through art through funding of the “Great Lake Fund- New Direction Initiative.”

By Margaret Bagnell,
Ellin Youse and Chrissy Wesney
Transcript Reporters
and Correspondent

An important documentary made a return to campus to revisit an important issue – hate.

Nov. 3, students attended a viewing of the documentary “The Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue to Hope,” which was sponsored by PRIDE and the Women’s House.
In 2008 the director, Mike Ramsdell, began his journey to explore hate.

The final result of his six years of traveling was a documentary that goes inside multiple hate groups and explores what drives their protests and hatred.

The documentary covers topics such as white supremacy, Christian fundamentalism with an anti-gay platform, Muslim extremism, Israeli settlers and the U.S. in Iraq.

Ramsdell put together all of the footage from his travels in accordance with various academic experts to show that hate is triggered by the human species out of fear.

Compiled with principles of psychology and neuroscience, the documentary gave a well-rounded look at the origins and specifics of hate.

Junior Anthony Peddle, president of PRIDE, was one of the students that helped organize bringing the film back to campus.

“(The documentary) was here on campus in spring 2010. They wanted to come back to OWU this fall and present the newest student body of OWU with ‘Anatomy,’ to educate more and more people,” said Peddle.

PRIDE also helped sponsor the documentary to promote their organization’s principles.

“The executive board of PRIDE this year decided our main goal was to educate our campus, so that we weren’t known as the Alphabet Soup Group but rather a representation of the LGBTIQA community, and for all students and faculty to know what these letters represent … who these letters represent,” said Peddle.

Junior Jenna Culina and sophomore Meredith Harrison were also involved heavily in organizing the viewing as their house project for the Women’s House, and as executive board members of PRIDE.

Culina said she brought the movie to campus to help raise awareness of hate. She said she hoped that the film might change the way of thinking for a least one person.

“I think it was extremely moving, I think it was something that this campus needed because we can be very divided, even though we see ourselves as a liberal campus. It’s easy for us to separate and become two distant entities. And in lieu of some things that have happened on campus lately, some hate acts, I think this is what we needed.”
Culina said she was disappointed about the great difference in turnout from the previous viewing.

“I was a little disappointed in the turnout but I was comparing it to the huge amount of viewers that came to the showing in 2009, due to the threat of the Westboro Baptist Church to picket our showing of the documentary and which sparked a campus-wide Love Day, a peaceful rally against the church,” she said.

She explained the previous showing had hundreds of people whereas this one did not, but that the director felt they had a great turnout and that she was proud of the Ohio Wesleyan community for showing up.

After the viewing, the director held a question and answer session with the audience, wherein he thanked everyone for their attendance.

“You all came together on a night when I’m sure you have better things to do. But you came to watch a film about hate. Right there, that shows a tremendous amount,” Ramsdell said.

“The question’s not how you get involved. The question is when you do it and what you get involved with, because there has never been a time, and this is what gives me hope every single day, when the world has been more connected or more capable of being connected.”

Culina said that the documentary significantly changed the way she views the world.

“The documentary, as cheesy as it sounds, changed my perception completely. I was a tried and true ‘people hater.’ I wanted to be holed up in a museum as my work for the rest of my life so I would never have to deal with human kind,” Culina said.

“So cynical, but anyway, this film put me in a whole different mindset. The documentary was amazing and quite literally changed my perception of humankind, so I think that bold of a statement definitely gives one the knowledge of how important ‘Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue to Hope’ really was,” she said.