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A & E
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Written by Beatrix Zenger
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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Madeleine Rogers sits down and adjusts a leather jacket that seems to contrast her sweet, thoughtful persona. Her hair is pulled back into a simple ponytail and her skinny jeans, ballet flats and cheerful smile show off a prominent aspect of her demeanor: comfort. Despite chants of, “Ooh, you’re famous. They want to interview you…” from friends, Rogers is calm as she awaits her first question, a quality that no doubt serves her well before she goes on stage to perform.
Rogers, known by many as Mimi, is a sophomore at Grant and an avid participant in Grant’s theater department. Rogers decided to try acting after seeing her older brother in a play, and luckily it came naturally to her and became her passion. “It was never really a challenge to me. I liked finding challenges in it, but overall it was natural and fun,” says Rogers. “I like being in the moment, which is both dangerous and scary. I like acting off the other person and connecting with them, but it’s scary because you’re not in your own head and not totally prepared.” However, even with the unknown aspect, Rogers seems to go through it with ease.
Working with the other actors is one of Rogers’ self-proclaimed greatest strengths on stage, along with her ability to get the audience to feel emotion, especially sympathy. But every artist has their weakness. “I can’t do comedy to save my life,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not brave enough to pull a lot of things off.” Bravery on stage is something she’s willing and hoping to work on.
Rogers’ favorite and most challenging role came in the play, "The Kiss of Death," where she played both the younger and older versions of the same character. As the younger version she had stage time, but no lines, while as the older version she had a speaking part and no on stage acting. “Half my character had no lines,” explains Rogers. “So I had to build it out of myself and not the script. It was hard to know what was in her head and heart.”
On the other hand, Roger’s least favorite role was as an Oompa-Loompa, complete with face paint and blue hair. “I felt like I was putting on a show. I wasn’t acting. I wasn’t trying to make the audience feel anything,” says Rogers. As she remembers the experience a slight look of disgust forms on her lips, but it quickly vanishes. “I always have fun with the show, though,” she concedes, “even if I don’t like the character.”
Rogers trained in ballet for ten years, but, as acting began to take up more of her time, she had to choose between the activities. “Both activities are grueling,” says Rogers. “And I didn’t want to be my brother,” she adds in with a laugh. Rogers’ brother acted and danced also, but, unlike him, she decided to follow her acting passion instead of pursuing both talents equally. However, she still utilizes her dance training when she can, though not always by choice.
In a play called "The Snow Queen," Rogers lost her choice role to her sister and instead was cast as a dancing snowflake. “It’s because she can sing,” Rogers says with a slight pout. She wishes she had her sister’s voice, but, because she likes playing to her strengths, Rogers was okay with being a snowflake. At least much more okay than she was being a dancing Oompa-Loompa.
Rogers has tried and enjoyed film acting, but her real acting passion lies onstage. Broadway is where she would like to end up, but not doing musicals; she would much rather act in a drama. “It’s like you’re just about to begin a life,” says Rogers of playacting. “You have a clean slate to live a full life in an hour and a half.” But she doesn’t like to lose herself in her life on stage.
To her fellow actors, Rogers gives one piece of advice, which she tries very hard to follow herself: “Be yourself. Get into your character’s situation, but incorporate your own thoughts and your heart into your performance.”
In the future, Rogers hopes to follow in her brother’s footsteps and attend Julliard, but she says that as long as she’s acting and has good teachers anywhere would be fine.
Those who act or perform know the thrill that comes before going on stage, but Rogers enjoys the thrill that comes when she steps off stage at the end of a show. “My favorite time is right at the end when you’ve exerted all this emotion and you’ve connected with so many people, sharing so much,” explains Rogers. “It’s such a relief to step off the stage. All the nervousness is gone. It’s so rewarding.” |
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Written by Jackson Morrison
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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“Finally, now that I’m playing with this group, it’s showing that all the hard work is paying off,” says Will Steiner as he casually strums his Gibson Les Paul, reminiscing about Stimulus Package’s win at this year’s second annual Music in the Schools Battle of the Bands competition. After six years of playing guitar, Steiner stumbled upon fellow guitarist, Ben Sokoloff, who was looking to form a band to compete at this year’s Music in the Schools Battle of the Bands.
“I wanted to find the best rock musicians at Grant,” explains Sokoloff, and with Steiner, Levi Zaalman on bass, and Nate Sonenfeld on drums, Stimulus Package was born.
Because of their win, the band receives 20 hours of recording time at a local recording studio called “The Vault,” and an opening spot at Music in the Schools Spring Benefit Concert at the Crystal Ballroom. There’s a possibility that Stimulus Package could be opening for bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Spoon, or The Dandy Warhols. “There’s going to be a lot of people that might like our music,” comments Sokoloff. “That’s huge exposure.”
When asked to describe the music of Stimulus Package, Sokoloff thoughtfully considers the question before answering that “it’s pretty much straight-up rock.” Steiner agrees, adding in that there is a distinct guitar-driven edge, and a dark quality to their sound.
The music written by Sokoloff and Steiner comes from their time spent playing by themselves and combining their ideas for guitar lines and the basic structure of the songs. Sokoloff handles the lyrics and melody himself while Zalman and Sonenfeld take care of their own parts.
“Everyone plays a really important role,” says Sokoloff.
The music Stimulus Package writes has roots in the styles of contemporary bands, such as Band of Horses, Ratatat, Kings of Leon, and more classic influences like Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's David Gilmore.
What’s next for a band that was only formed for one competition?
“Once we get a set of about seven songs together we’re going to play as many shows as we can before the spring show,” Steiner explains, still noodling around on his guitar. Stimulus Package plans on using their free recording time and playing as many live shows as they can before they break up after their big spring concert at the Crystal.
Even though they know the band will not last past spring, Stimulus Package is providing its members with a way to do what they love most: write, play, and share music with others.
“I like to think that the stuff I write sounds good, is easy to listen to,” says Steiner, showing off a guitar line he’s developed for a new song. It is an almost psychedelic riff, reminiscent of Pink Floyd, or Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. “In the end,” he says, “It’s something I’ll always have.”
As brief as the period of existence for this band is, Stimulus Package provides an invaluable experience for all four musicians involved. |
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Written by Katie Quick
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Tuesday, 26 January 2010 |
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As Judi Brandel prepares to retire, many have begun to question what will happen to the photography program in the following year.
With so many plans about the high school reconstruction, it is not unreasonable to wonder which arts will continue to be offered in the schools. If anything, Brandel is “concerned about the entire art program in general.” Having photography is important, however, as it provides one of the few fine art classes offered at Grant.
Brandel cares deeply about her work as an art teacher. “It’s something I really love, it’s my entire life,” she says. “Art is fundamental to a student’s life. Having visual art is really important.” She hopes to significantly alter her students’ lives by bringing in the artistic perspective.
In the photography class, students learn the art of taking and developing pictures. Brandel described the class as not only taking pictures, but also “giving people the skills to do photography… and teaching the importance of [photography] through the history and the relevance of the history.”
Keeping the darkroom running with all of its necessary supplies is expensive, not to mention the fact that darkrooms are dying one by one as the new phenomenon of digital cameras has become the standard. Grant used to have two separate darkrooms, several years ago. But one was condemned and shut down, leaving a single darkroom. The program has already been cut, and it may be cut even further.
When asked what she think will happen to the photography class next year, Brandel replied, “I truly don’t know. Our class now depends on the kindness of parent donations.”
If the class is continued next year, it's size is expected to shrink. However, “if it was still offered, students would still take [the class].”
If Amy Kopperud is able to replace Brandel, she may be able to keep the program running with the same amount of passion and vigor.
Will photography continue to run as a program at Grant? It remains in the hands of the school officials and the students. As the famed Brandel will leave this year, the photography may take its exit as well. |
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Written by by Will Watkins, Paige Burlingame, Charlie Bailey
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Tuesday, 26 January 2010 |
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“The more you know yourself as an actor, the more you know your strengths, weaknesses, and resentments, the better an actor you can be,” says Grant senior Joe Cummings. This winter, Cummings's skill as an actor will be put to the test in the Grant stage production of "A Flea in her Ear," a famous French farce written by David Ives at the turn of the century. Cummings will be playing Victor Chandebise, a man with sexual dysfunction whose wife believes he is having an affair. Cummings also plays a drunken bellboy named Poche at a local hotel, the Frisky Puss, where Victor’s wife, Rhonda, believes the affair to be taking place. The two characters are nearly identical, and people often get the two confused.
This is the first farce directed at Grant High School by Trisha Todd or performed by any of the students. A farce is a style of comedy that tries to implement unlikely, extravagant and improbable situations to entertain its audience. This often includes physical comedy and wordplay. “A farce is different than comedy. It is very technical and rehearsed, not as spur-of-the- moment as comedy,” says Cummings.
Performing a farce requires far more work and time than performing a drama or tragedy. Todd described the difficulty by quoting Sir Laurence Olivier, saying, “Death is easy, comedy is hard.” The cast rehearses an average of four hours a day, working after school almost every day of the week and occasionally on weekends, sometimes staying as late as 11 P.M. “I spend three hours doing hard-core rehearsal after school, a half hour talking about the production in class with the other cast members, and the last half hour rehearsing my lines and such," says Cummings.
“Comedy relies heavily on the audience so that makes it hard to rehearse,” said Todd. “Every audience is different, and so is every performance.” Cummings adds to this by saying, “One audience might want a flamboyant production with dancing and jazz hands, where another might feel sentimental and want a production of Romeo and Juliet.”
Cummings describes this year’s cast as “well-rounded and mature.” In addition to Cummings, the cast includes seniors Maddie Holmes, Michael Hays, and Makenzie Quinn.
The play opens January 28th at 7:30 PM, and will have seven show times through February 6. Tickets will cost $6 for students and $8 for adults. Come support the Grant theater program at their production of A Flea in Her Ear. |
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Written by Heather Lewis
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Friday, 30 October 2009 |
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On the night of September 25th the East Moreland Golf Course was alive, with those reminiscing about their youth. It was Grant High School’s 60 year reunion and all faces shone brightly, eager with smiles for classmates they hadn’t seen in years. Throughout the night memories were dished out by the dozens, and happiness lit the entire room.
1949 came with a completely different outlook on what was “in” compared to today. The ‘40s fell before the tye-dye skirted ‘60s and the spunky hair of the ‘80s. The ‘40s marked a time when you dressed “prim and proper.” Everyday students would come to Grant high school dressed to impress— it was the status quo. Most of the girls would wear long, tight skirts, bobby socks, and Armishaw-saddle shoes. “You were really in if you had those,” Janet Berg says with a giggle. The boys wore Corduroys and nice shirts with Penny Loafers to top it off. However, fashion was not nearly as important as getting an education.
With little to no girls playing sports it seemed that in 1949 the only way for a woman to be noticed was to win the competition for Rose Court Queen. In the last 60 years, Grant has only had five Rose Court Queens, including Joyce Goodman-Sommerlade who was crowned in the spring of 1949. “It was the biggest thing to have ever happened to a girl back then,” she says with a smile. She walked down an aisle with judges’ eyes scrutinizing her, competing against five other stunning young females. She stood in her gorgeous dress anticipating the decision that would soon define her status among peers. Finally, it was announced, she was to be crowned the Rose Court Queen. “My mom knew in her heart,” says Goodman-Sommerlade as she speaks about her mother’s confidence in her. From then on Goodman-Sommerlade was known throughout the halls of every high school.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that high school students want the same thing: “to have fun,” as Goodman-Sommerlade puts it. Students in 1949 would get their fun smoking cigarettes, playing sports, having dances, and “skipping school to hang out with girls,” Stan Hays whispers with a smirk. It seemed that Grant never had a dull moment with dances every two weeks and an outstanding sports program. Fun is never hard to come by where you’re surrounded by it.
Instead of going off campus for lunch students danced. Dancing was an extremely popular pastime among a majority of the school. “Lunch was split into two parts, the first half we ate, the second half we danced,” Joane Strand explains. Along with dancing everyday in the lunchroom, rally dances were held every two weeks. Back then Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Bing Crosby were the artists that topped the charts in ’49. Dancing kept everyone revitalized and ready for class not to mention pumped up and ready, to go to support their sports teams.
That year Grant’s football team won the state championship against Medford; 7-6. “I caught the winning touchdown,” Hays yells with excitement as he relives the memory. “They still talk about it,” Ron Allen announces with pride. “It was a cold Thanksgiving Day, we all went down on a bus and screamed our lungs out, it was colder than Hell.” “Grant was so well known (after tha game) that people started saying, ‘Where is this city? Everyone’s from there!’” Allen continues, on about his favorite memory. All within 10 feet were throwing imaginary footballs and reliving the crowds cheering, with a light in their eyes as if they were actually there once again.
Anne Marie Beebe summed up the night with “Enjoy all of your education and pursue your dreams.” Though these students found time to enjoy themselves it never was to interfere with the job at hand; to succeed. They all left high school with exceptional memories and a diploma with a full life ahead of them. Sixty years later, the same youthfulness ran through them as all their childhood moments came back to life in the East Moreland “party” room. Never once did the happiness dwindle. In the end their dreams were pursued.
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