USM’s Music Department gears up for a successful semester despite the budget cuts threatening to cripple the University. Utilizing its own resources to strengthen its programs, the Music Department took measures to ensure that its students don’t suffer needlessly through the financial uncertainties the University is encountering.
Category: Arts & Culture
The Food Connection
I’m bundled up, ready to take on the bitter Portland afternoon wind. The sun shines blindly as I step out into a winter afternoon. My date Mick Jagger* greets me with a warm smile. We mosey down to our first lunch date of the new year. The brown snow and slush mixture squishes between my black leather boots and his white Adidas tennis shoes.
“Let’s get loud” and proud at the drag show
Come out, come out wherever you are! The drag queens and kings lit up the stage at Woodbury Campus Center last week. Only a few broken nails and broken earrings put a damper on the stage.
Falling into a playwright
Imagine unabashedly baring the contents of your most personal inner workings to an audience of over 100 strangers: it is a scary contemplation for most. USM graduate Jennifer Bowdish thinks so too, but she’s ready to face the crowd and the criticisms that may come with it. Bowdish who graduated from USM seven years ago with a bachelors degree in theater is presently the center of attention in the theater department.
Allan, Steve Allan is… James Bond
“Die Another Day” is a return to the pulpier side of Ian Fleming’s espionage world where evil geniuses hatch incredible plots of world domination from the comfort of their incredibly cool fortresses, where sinister henchmen wreak destruction and beautiful women are plentiful. This is a return to the Saturday matinee James Bond that seemed to have dwindled over the years, which is both good and bad.
Harry Potter, magical wizard, is at it again
In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” the world’s favorite boy wizard is back fighting evil to the delight of moviegoers and readers everywhere.
Thespians let loose
The semester is winding down and while most students are avoiding extra tasks that may consume valuable time, one group of students is voluntarily readying themselves to entertain their peers and each other. Student Performing Artist’s or SPA, is hosting a cabaret during finals week.
What’s all that racket??
Some people left when it all started. Some people stayed. Some people got upset, and some just went away. This semester, the Portland Events Board aggressively hunted artists and bands to play at USM for the new “Weekly Wednesdays” mini-concert series. The most unusual part about these events is that the PEB has concerts during peak school hours.
Toby Keith is the full package
Snippet about Nov. 15 Toby Keith concert at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
“Songs for a New World” travels to Corthell
Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown’s hot off Broadway musical revue, “Songs for a New World” will be performed on Nov. 23 and 24 at Corthell Hall.
Eminem proves talent in “8 Mile”
The great thing about “8 Mile,” the new film loosely based on the life of rapper Eminem, is the absence of incredible success. In a movie full of malcontent characters idling in the muck of life while their dreams escape them every day, a sudden attainment of their fantasies would seem false.
The Starving Artist’s mouth sets fire at Tortilla Flats
The soft glow of hot pepper lights strewn across the top of the bar, brightly colored wallpaper typically associated with Mexican culture and a Fiesta-Ware dinner set is exactly what you will have at Tortilla Flat. This out-of-the-way restaurant is located on outer Forest Avenue. While it may be somewhat hidden away, once found, it captures a fantastic Mexican flare.
Cobain’s Journal
“Don’t read my diary when I’m gone. OK, I’m going to work now. When you wake up this morning, please read my diary. Look through my things and figure me out.” So begins Kurt Cobain’s private journals.
Sandler still sweet in “Punch Drunk Love”
The strange thing about Adam Sandler’s great performance in “Punch-Drunk Love” is not that it’s Oscar caliber, but that it’s the same performance he has always given. Sandler’s Barry Egan would easily fit in with Happy Gilmore or The Wedding Singer, but instead finds himself amidst a wonderful love story told with bizarre panache by writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Norm’s East End Grill fills up “The Starving Artist”
Not far from the ever-busy streets of the Old Port lies 47 Middle St., or as the locals like to call it, Norm’s East-End Grill. This tiny little building is actually quite spacious. If you are trying to avoid someone, this is not the place you want to go because they will more than likely be there.
The clothes make the man, in Camino Real
These are just some of the details in the costume shop in Russell Hall.
The shop and its many workers are in a flurry of activity getting finishing touches done on the latest production, “Camino Real” by Tennessee Williams. Costume designer Frederica Jepson designed all 66 costumes for this production. Kris Hall, costume shop supervisor, called this production the biggest she’s worked on since starting in 2000.
“Charlie” made Steve puke
Let’s get to the best part of “The Truth About Charlie:” Thandie Newton. Now that that is over, let’s get to the worst part of the movie: everything else.
Gorham Sebago vs Portland Sebago: Is there a difference?
The Sebago Brewing Company’s chain locations are the jewels of Cumberland County’s dining experience. The most recent addition to the Sebago family is the Gorham restaurant. Now USM students travelling between campuses can stop in and enjoy a great meal, guaranteed.
“After Hours” Faculty and Staff let loose on the dance floor
What makes a person interesting or unique? Is it that hidden talent that only comes out after hours, once the clock is punched? The talents of the faculty and staff came out during “After Hours,” A faculty art and talent show.
Employees throughout the university put away their suits and syllabi in return for jazz shoes and sequins.
The Starving Artist quickly learns the art of chopsticks at Fuji
What happens when you are seated at a table and don’t know how to use any of the utensils? You quickly learn how to use what you get, whether it is the chopsticks provided or even your hands in a really quick emergency (although this is, of course, your last option in a crowded restaurant). What if you don’t know what anything on the menu is? That’s easy to solve: pick something with at least one word you can recognize, for example, chicken.
Hong Kong action trash
The Hong Kong action film has been imitated so much in the past 10 years that the novelty of its beautiful choreography and stylish storytelling has now become clich?. Action filmmakers have found themselves in a creative rut after utilizing (and then exhausting) the techniques of John Woo, Ringo Lam and Woo-Ping Yuen; and must now find new ways to thrill audiences.
Skydiving with Sean
A couple dozen wild and crazy USM students, including myself, recently spent a Saturday jumping out of an airplane and slicing through the crisp autumn air at speeds of up to 120mph-before our parachutes opened up. Our death-defying fun was sponsored by the Southern Maine Outing Club.
Make way for SPA!
Director Kellsy MacKilligan begins rehearsal with quick warm up exercises for her actors. The actors are rehearsing for the Student Performing Artists (SPA) show, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” by Steve Martin. The actors gather round in a circle to start a multitude of tongue twisters and breathing exercises.
A perfect day for apple picking
A short 15-minute drive from Portland lies the Snell Family Farm. The Snell Farm has an abundance of trees, plants and a whole lot of nature. There are mums, lambs ears of corn, potatoes and pretty much anything else one could ever want from a farm. From apples to sunflowers, butternut squash to gourds, all grow on this beautifully manicured farm.