Modern renditions of fairytales are simplistic, bland stories that encourage learned helplessness and non-consensual kissing — a far cry from the dark folk tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The musical Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, now being performed at the Van Duzer Theatre by the Cal Poly Humboldt Department of […]
Elisabeth Harrington
Posted inArts + Scene
Laughing in Shakespeare’s Shadow
It only took close to 500 years for a musical that enacts my unpopular opinion that Shakespeare has become a model of elite and pompous thespian culture in which good acting is determined by mere participation, historically documented BIPOC people of the period apparently didn’t exist (except for that one guy) and migraine-inducing word salads […]
Posted inArts + Scene
A Microcosm of Life on Avenue Q
Avenue Q is a puppet show with humans. Or a human show with puppets. Whichever way you look at it, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx’s musical, now playing at Humboldt State University, is a smart blend of youthful angst and mature topics that brings to all-too-realistic life that treacherous bridge from student to responsible adult. […]