Awakenings

Rodolfo Morales

Opera singers are often stereotyped as arrogant snobs, unwilling to fraternize with the common people, always with an attitude and air of superiority. If ever there was an opera singer to refute this stereotype, it is Angela Brown. Brown, who stars as Aida in the Opera “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera, visited a group of students at Baruch College to discuss her career and rise from being a girl from the Midwest to becoming the opera star she is today.
Angela Brown was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and her mother apparently passed down her gift of music to her. Her father was a Baptist minister, and at the age of 5 she began singing in her church choir. Throughout her early life, Ms. Brown never considered classical music or opera as an option for her career, but instead she wanted to work in musical theatre as a performer. Later on, Angela Brown studied in Oakwood College, where she received a BA in Music and a BA in Art. For her, music and Bible instructing came hand-in-hand, so she desired to sing gospel music. However, to do this, she first had to study classical music.
When it came to classical music, Ms. Brown said that the only person holding her back was herself. She found it strange that an African American woman would sing something so “Eurocentric.” She stated that she had not yet caught up with her true vision of singing opera. Her teachers all encouraged her to study opera, so she finally allowed herself to like opera, and it overtook her. She even won several singing competitions on regional and district levels and won, but she still was not able to catch u with “the vision.”
Ms. Brown later moved to Queens, New York, where she auditioned at the Met, and she was hired as a cover for 3 seasons for the parts of Aida and Ariadne. In the 2004 season, she did 12 covers and 2 performances. One of the greatest honors she received was being the first singer since Maria Callis in 1959 to be on the first page of the New York Times. The title of the article read, “At Last, an Aida.” Since then, it has only been uphill for Angela Brown, who now sings as Aida and in other roles regularly.
One of Angela Brown’s most notable characteristics is her humility and her ability to connect with the students. She gladly answered their questions and related her past experiences with a humor that only made her seem warmer. Brown’s conveyed a very positive message. For example, one of her most powerful statements was, “To whom much is given, much is required.” She explained how this especially applies to her, as she has been given so many opportunities in her life, but with that she must also work very hard. Her job as an opera singer is very demanding, and she must practice singing every day, whether it be diction or memorizing lines. Overall, Angela Brown’s visit to Baruch was an absolute pleasure. She was a perfect example of how being a celebrity does not necessarily mean that a person must be arrogant. She truly inspired the students and she left a lasting impression on them.

Rodolfo Morales

        Opera singers are many times stereotyped as arrogant snobs, unwilling to fraternize with the common people, always with an attitude and air of superiority.  If ever there was an opera singer to refute this stereotype, it is Angela Brown.  Brown, who stars as Aida in the Opera “Aida” at the Metropolitan Opera, visited a group of students at Baruch College to discuss her career and rise from being a girl from the South to becoming the opera star she is today.
Angela Brown was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and her mother apparently passed down her gift of music to her.  Her father was a Baptist minister, and at the age of 5 she began singing in her church choir.  Throughout her early life, Ms. Brown never considered classical music or opera as an option for her career, but instead she wanted to work in musical theatre as a performer.  Later on, Angela Brown studied in Oakwood College, where she received a BA in Music and a BA in Art.  For her, music and Bible instructing came hand-in-hand, so she desired to sing gospel music.  However, to do this, she first had to study classical music.
When it came to classical music, Ms. Brown said that the only person holding her back was herself.  She found it strange that an African American woman would sing something so “Eurocentric.”  She stated that she had not yet caught up with her true vision of singing opera.  Her teachers all encouraged her to take opera, so she finally allowed herself to like opera, and it overtook her.  She even won several singing competitions on regional and district levels and won, but she still was not able to catch u with “the vision.”
Ms. Brown later moved to Queens, New York where she auditioned at the Met, and she was hired as a cover for 3 seasons for the parts of Aida and Ariadne.  In the 2004 season, she did 12 covers and 2 performances.  One of the greatest honors she received was being the first singer since Maria Collis in 1959 to be on the first page of the New York Times.  The title of the article read, “At Last, an Aida.”  Since then, it has only been uphill for Angela Brown, who now sings as Aida and in other roles regularly.
One of Angela Brown’s most notable characteristics was her humility and her ability to connect with the students.  She gladly answered their questions and related her past experiences with a humor that only made her seem warmer.  One of the most noticeable aspects of her speech was the very positive message she tried to get through to the students.  For example, one of her most powerful statements was “To whom much is given, much is required.”  She explained how this especially applies to her, as she has been given so many opportunities in her life, but with that she must also work very hard.  Her job as an opera singer is very demanding, and she must practice singing every day, whether it be diction or memorizing lines.  Overall, Angela Brown’s visit to Baruch was an absolute pleasure.  She was a perfect example of how being a celebrity does not necessarily mean that a person must be arrogant.  She truly inspired the students that she spoke with, and left a lasting impression on them which surely shall not fade away for a long time.

As I entered high school, I was overwhelmed by everything about it. Going from a junior high school that had 200 students to a school with 4000 other kids was frightening. I literally went from being a fish in a small pond to being an insignificant speck of dust in the universe. With none of my childhood friend by my side, I was starting all over, all on my own. I was constantly struggling and so I began writing and it became my escape. Everything I felt filled pages after pages with anger and fear. Sometimes I sat down and reread everything and began wondering why I was letting these fake people get to me. We tend to forget the bad and just remember the goods, but with these written words, I was slowly learning from my mistakes. (more…)

Life, one of the greatest phenomena of our time; no one can tell exactly where it all started. Theories are all that are offered – ranging from God creating Earth in six days (seven if the day of rest is included) to the Big Bang theory. Therefore, my collage is a tribute to the cycle of life and death. (more…)

There is, for the most part, not a single place in the world better suited for street photography than New York City, where the streets are always alive, and the sidewalks transcend their usual role of walking paths and are instead, the very life of the metropolis. The street photography project made me see this life in a whole new way, recognizing beauty and activity in every aspect of my day, and with every snap of my camera shutter.
My projects theme was the people of New York. Deciding on a theme was an interesting and thought provoking experience. It amazed me that it was so difficult to think of a theme in a city as bustling as this one. After racking my brain, without coming up with anything that sparked any true interest in me, I decided that New York is too big and vibrant to analyze or examine without first experiencing it. With this in mind, I decided that I’d just walk around the city, live it and take pictures as I did so. I figured that the pictures I took would speak for themselves. I simple brought my camera with me for walks in the city, and indeed, they started to form a theme on their own. I came upon this realization after noticing that all of my pictures seemed to be peering into the faces on New Yorkers. Looking back at my photos was like a log of my stream of consciousness, one point of interest to another, and nearly all of these points of interest suggested a fascination with the people of New York. And so, it was not so much that I chose my theme, but more that I stumbled upon it simply because it is what I love about New York. (more…)

Opera- an art form cherished by some, dreaded by others, but all too often underappreciated by both. While it may be difficult to transmute into the entertainment-saturated world of the 20th century, the New York Metropolitan Opera Company’s production of Aida proved to be an appropriate introduction for a first-timer to this unique art form. Set, costume, and lighting all combined for excitement and spectacle while sheer talent made it a show worth watching.

Angela Brown, who played the title role Aida, carried the performance with her charisma and amazing vocal ability. But for the audience member for whom Hollywood has made it a bit difficult to sit through three hours of singing (albeit amazing singing), this production of Aida provides many additional points of interest.

There were several times throughout the performance where a gasp could be heard throughout the audience. Perhaps most often, this gasp was initiated by the enormity of the set, which consisted of massive reproductions of ancient Egyptian temple walls. During the scene in which the Egyptian army returns home from battle, the walls towered over the audience, and were staged in a way that created an intensely realistic feel of an open courtyard. Supplemented by exquisite lighting, which mimicked natural sunlight almost exactly; this set amazed the audience with its elaborateness and accuracy.
While some aspects of the show were lacking, such as the dancers and their choreography, the Met’s production of Aida was enthralling in it’s lavishness and grandiosity, as well as the vocal talent of it’s singers. In a word, it was “big”: big set, big surprises, big voices. From the first timer to the opera aficionado, Aida proved to be a wonderful cultural experience.

The newspaper “The Onion” recently published an article entitled “Djimon Hounsou To Play Every African In The World,” discussing the tendency of the entertainment industry to limit both actors, and characters, based on ethnic lines. In an industry so prone to typecasting based on race, it is both surprising and enticing to see a play in which nearly all the characters are African, and in which they are all played by one actor. One white actor, that is.
In The Culture Project’s latest production, “Tings Dey Happen,” San Francisco based Dan Hoyle brilliantly conveys the complexities of Nigeria’s oil politics in a modest one-man show in a tiny SoHo theater. Having spent a year in Nigeria as a Fulbright Scholar, Hoyle carries out the production of “Tings Dey Happen” with a certain grittiness and reality that can only be conceived by someone who has experienced a people’s suffering and frustration firsthand. Though it does take a little adjustment to overcome the shock of being welcomed to “Africa” by a lanky white man with a startlingly accurate Nigerian accent, the true depth and genius of the play sets in within a few minutes.
Based on Hoyle’s encounters with the people of Nigeria, and their feelings towards, and relations to the quagmire of African oil politics, the play takes off quickly, introducing new characters at an almost dizzying pace. The rapid-fire rhythm of the play however, never quite gets to the point where it loses its audience, rather, it creates a feeling of life and animation in the characters, and brings to life the importance of the issues being addressed. Though the fast pace, combined with the use of Nigerian creole does make it admittedly difficult to follow at some points, it also serves to strengthen Hoyle’s overall message by creating a real world, with real people, and real issues, all worthy of the audiences’ attention.
Another noteworthy aspect of the play is Hoyle’s tremendous acting ability. Through his exquisite use of inflection, body language, and dialect, Hoyle is able to portray the countless characters in the story as individuals. Without so much as a costume change or signature prop for any of the characters, Hoyle literally transforms into a dozen different, true-to-life, completely believable people. From a Scottish oil man to a prostitute, from a Nigerian freedom fighter, to a drunken government official, from a stage director to a Texan Chevron employee, Hoyle becomes each of his characters, to the extent where the audience can recognize a recurring character after 40 minutes, despite his identical appearance to any other given character.
Dan Hoyle’s brainchild is undoubtedly a unique and thought-provoking performance. His wholehearted performance ignites a feeling of outrage at the social injustices of our time. Hoyle opens a new realm for political theater, combining irresistible humor and a biting sense of seriousness to open the audience’s eyes to the need for change. Not only does Hoyle overcome racial boundaries and achieve the goal of any actor by seducing the audience into forgetting his identity in favor of his characters, he also defeats apathy and challenges his audience to see the world through fresh perspectives.

As a newcomer to New York, I know from first hand experience that the first thing that strikes you about this great city is the sheer enormity of it. From the tops of the skyscrapers, to the lowest platforms of the subways, everything is… big. So it is easy to understand how the bright lights of Broadway and Times Square can outshine the tiny productions of low budget performing art centers. However, my growing number of experiences with theater in the city have shown me that often times, the best things come in the smallest packages. The most recent example of this? The National Asian American Theater Company’s production of Blind Mouth Singing, directed by Ruben Polentos.

The story, which follows the troubles and secrets of an isolated family in an unidentified location, focuses on the struggles of Reiderico (Jon Norman Schneider) and his strange obsession with a boy named Lucero (Alexis Camins) who lives at the bottom of the family well. In a big-time New York theater venue, the logical approach to a play centered entirely around a well would be to create a well on stage. The possibilities would be endless. Lighting, sound, and atmosphere, would recreate the damp, cold, dark feeling of a well to near perfection. And cost thousands of dollars. The challenge faced by New York City’s small theater companies is the absence of those dollars, and the ways in which these companies overcome this challenge are what makes productions like these so special.

In Blind Mouth Singing in particular, director Ruben Polentos’ careful consideration and even appreciation of this fact create an experience that is at once entirely unique, and also familiar in terms of the tendency of small theater to connect with their audience. In a talk session, Polentos passionately described his personal mission to convey concepts in the most beautiful way possible, rather than in the most true to life. “Nothing I create will be a real well, so why not create something entirely different, and as beautiful as possible.” To achieve this, Polentos created not a well, but a crude, minimalist trough with mere inches of water. This translation from vertical to horizontal allows the audience to witness the vertical interaction between Reiderico and Lucero, while maintaining views of both of their faces and actions. Enhancing this effect even more so, is the placement of the trough perpendicular to the audience, rather than parallel. This placement creates the eerie and unavoidable feeling of being down at the bottom of the well, submersed, along with the family’s secrets, throughout the play.

It is through conflicts and creative ventures such as this one, that low budget theater transcends meager profit margins and achieves a connection with the audience that is seldom even approached in Broadway venues. The talent and thought that run behind these productions are perhaps one of New York’s best-kept secrets, an art medium that blurs the lines between artist and viewer, audience and participant.

Writing as Penance

It is the universal conflict between parent and child – the struggle to see past the roles of mother or father, daughter or son, and connect as human individuals. Sam Freedman’s bold look into his late mother Eleanor Hatkin’s life is a strange and intimate representation of this familiar emotional journey. It builds upon the residue left behind by a human life and restores it to a full-bodied memory of a meaningful existence in an artful reconciliation between emotion and historical honest, resentment and guilt, love and loss.

Upon first reading “Who She Was”, it is obvious that the novel is a skillful endeavor to redefine the polluted genre of memoir and create a reflection of a real woman. However at a discussion at Baruch College, Freedman revealed that the process of creating the book also transcended craft and became a personal penance for a deep-seeded sense of guilt. Having lost his mother in young adulthood, in the midst of severely alienating her in that notorious declaration of youthful independence, Freedman could not mend his relationship like those who “had grown into adulthood with mothers still alive and available for reconciliation.” Experiences - such as ignoring his mother while at college- that would normally be followed by maturation and mutual understanding in subsequent years, never got the chance to heal. Instead, as he stated in his discussion, after he used the writing process behind “Who She Was” to “become her son again.” As audience members listened, his discussion, like the book, became a window into the healing process that doubled as an intriguing novel. By digging into her life - from past lovers to forgotten ambitions - Freedman feels that he finds the connection to his mother that he had resisted while she had been alive and even for years after.

Despite the significance of the emotional aspect of this writing process, Freedman also had to balance his emotional immersion with his responsibility to be historically accurate and to recreate the environment that shaped his mother. As Freedman writes in his prologue, he used journalistic methods of “recapturing vanished times and remote lives” in order to paint a picture of the social forces that shaped his mother Eleanor’s life. No source was too small or too inanimate to shine a light on some aspect of the enigma that was Eleanor Hatkin. Freedom described one such experience, where Social Security records spanning the working lives of both Eleanor and her father evolved from simple numerical records, to vivid indicators of the financial instability that forced Eleanor to give up a college scholarship and take on the role of breadwinner before even outgrowing her teens. The research aspects and emotional elements of “Who She Was,” are not however, two separate entities. Craft and passion are seamlessly blended into an intimate portrayal of what made Eleanor who she was. Freedman described this interconnectedness as a rejection of the “false divide” between craft and passion, as passion breeds interest in research, and research ignites even more emotional response.

Sam Freedman’s personal yet systematic method of attaining a clearer view of who his mother was, created a lucid vision of a woman whose existence, while largely unappreciated during life, can be significant in many ways. While the novel is not written to a specific target audience, Freedman noted that he felt that his mother’s story can be insightful and important to many different kinds of people. From the child of immigrants, to a woman during the century of gender rights, to an embodiment of the American dream or simply a human being trying to live a happy life, Eleanor Hatkin’s story shows how every individual can be so much more than what is on the immediate surface. Freedman’s commitment to bringing his mother’s memory alive shows the true value of a single human life, and the relevance it can have on so many others. This newfound respect for his mother’s complexities and significance served as a catalyst for Freedman’s internal reconciliation with his mother, as well as his younger self. As the audience in Baruch listened to Freedman speak, it was as though they too, shared in his guilt and similarly, felt it being absolved as Freedman described his journey. This sharing of emotions is, perhaps, the mark of a truly gifted writer.

Same Difference

My collage’s theme is more of a personal awakening, and perhaps more abstract than the common definition of awakening. It is a self-realization.

When people learn about my twin sister, some of the first things people would say to me is, “So, if I hit your sister, would you feel it too?” or “Do you guys think about the same thing at the same time?” (more…)