What a delightful weekend.
So my friend Ben Jankowski... (checking for pictures...)
(request denied...)
(oh wait... nope... here he is on one of his sailing adventures...)
My friend Ben is not only good at sailing, but also happens to be a total drama geek (I know he will take no offense to that statement). Ironically, the first time I talked to him--which was wayyy before we started hanging out--was because he was wearing a NH Drama Festival shirt that indicated he had gone to the same festival I had performed in a couple years prior.
Anyways--the point is that he directed a musical this semester, and I had the opportunity to see it this past Friday.
AND it was amaaaazing.
The musical is called "The Last Five Years." Basically, it's about this couple who were absolutely in love with one another, got married, and then their relationship starting falling apart because the guy was a successful writer who had to travel a lot and have tons of parties to get to know his agents, etc (you know, all that celebrity stuff), and the girl was a failing actress who stayed at home more often than not because she couldn't find anywhere to work.
The interesting part about it, though, is the way time progresses within the musical. There are only like three scenes in which the guy and the girl are singing together--otherwise, they are singing solos. And while the girl is singing at the beginning of the play about how their relationship is falling apart at the end of five years, the guy is singing about the beginning of their relationship. As the musical progresses, the girl goes back in time (so she ends with a song about when they just met), and and the guy goes forward in time (so he ends with a song about how their relationship is falling apart). And the final scene is them singing to one another--the girl singing "goodbye for tonight, I'll see you tomorrow, how delightful" (rough paraphrase), while the guy is singing a goodbye-forever-I'm-in-love-with-someone-else song. It's INTENSE.
And Ben (being Ben) slipped a tissue in the programs because of said intensity. Hahaha.
But really--it was a great musical. I was especially blown away by the person who played the woman in the play. I had never heard her sing before (she's a freshman), so I had no idea what to expect. But man, oh man, her voice is GORGEOUS. And her name is... (checking program) Emily Piper. Props to you girl. Serious props.
Oh and as a bit of a side note: GMC hosts a lot of student-directed as well as professor-directed plays, which are all FREE to GMC students. That's pretty fantastic. A suggestion to all you future GMC-ers-- GO SEE THEM!! They're usually pretty good.
This weekend also marked yet another show in Burlington (once you start, it's really hard to stop. :)
The Diversity Club at the school hosted a trip up to UVM's Davis Center (it's the student center--and it's HUGE and new) to see Ellis. (You can learn more about her Here).
I've seen her perform here at GMC before, but for some reason she wasn't scheduled to do so this year. So they rented a van and we all went up there, had some dinner together (YUM), and then meandered our way over to the show. It was great. She really is an inspirational person, not to mention hilarious. She has this tendency to tell you stories that either connect to the song she's about to play in theme, or were the inspiration behind the song. Sometimes, she'll even tell you a little something in the middle of the song. I think what I like about her so much is that she's so... real. She's just a girl from Minnesota singing her heart out. And while her songs are uplifting, they aren't obnoxiously or too optimistically so-- she still discusses the struggles she went through to come to that understanding about life. Speaking of which, I really like her perspective on life. She looks at these absolutely obnoxious things in a way that makes you laugh about how absurd it is, instead of grumble. It's just a good time. She performed in this restaurant kind of place--so we were all gathered close around her in like sofas or at tables. Very intimate setting for a concert. You just felt like you knew her by the end of it.
Anyways, I'm off to go finish a paper. Until next time...
peace.