Arts

Theater

WEEKENDER: Zadie Smith's ‘The Wife of Willesden’ puts modern spin on a classic Chaucer tale

By Nate Hall and Odessa Gaines | March 9

“The Wife of Willesden” (2021), a new play written by British novelist Zadie Smith, is a distinctly modern work of theater. It’s full of references to Beyoncé, Jordan Peterson and #MeToo. Thus, it might come as a surprise that the play, now playing at the American Repertory Theatre, is based on a poem that’s more than 600 years old.

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Arts

Oliver Hazard makes the Royale its living room

By Matthew Winkler | March 9

Indie folk band Oliver Hazard recently brought their down-to-earth spirit and love of music to Boston. The band, made up of Michael Belazis, Griffin McCulloch and Devin East, opened for The 502s at the Royale on Feb. 26. In an email to the Daily, Belazis related the band’s origin story, process of songwriting and thoughts on all things music. 

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Columns

Queeries: Queer women have always been icons

By Jack Clohisy and Saba S. | March 9

Here in Queeries, we love talking about and reflecting on our queer history. The intersection between LGBTQ+ history and women’s bravery is an interdisciplinary field that explores the history of identity in the United States. March is Women’s History Month, when we commemorate and celebrate the women in America who have played a crucial role in our history. As we continue to talk about queer history, we want to acknowledge the transgender women at Stonewall who paved the way for LGBTQ+ rights, yet were pushed out of the gay rights movement. We owe Women’s History Month to them and could all stand to be better allies in a world that continues to be a dangerous landscape for Black LGBTQ+ individuals.

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Arts

Gracie Abrams’ debut album is vulnerable and reflective

By Ryan Fairfield | March 8

Gracie Abrams is not an artist who shies away from painful truths. No, she pours her heartache into her music. With her debut EP “minor” (2020), Abrams introduced the world to her poetic lyricism and innate storytelling abilities with hits like “I miss you, I’m sorry” and “21.” A year later, she followed up with her second EP “This Is What It Feels Like” (2021), accompanied by her first tour, where avid fans could see the rising star live. Now, Abrams has graced the world with her debut album “Good Riddance” (2023), which is her most intimate and reflective work thus far, though it falls short due to repetition and a lack of creativity. 

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Arts

‘Forget Me Not’ is an ode to love and hope against all odds

By Layla Noor Landrum | March 8

Alyson Derrick’s solo debut, “Forget Me Not,” is an upcoming sapphic young adult romance novel. The story follows two girls, Stevie and Nora, who’ve been planning to escape their conservative town after graduation and flee to California. By doing so, they would no longer have to keep their relationship a secret. But their dream for their future unravels when a tragic accident steals years of Stevie’s memory — including that of meeting and falling for Nora.

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Columns

Winkler’s Weekly Symphony Guide: BSO Festival centers marginalized voices

By Matthew Winkler | March 8

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is in the middle of a festival titled “Voices of Loss, Reckoning, and Hope” that started March 3 and will run until March 18. The festival features a wide array of guest composers, conductors, speakers and performers, and explores themes of legal inequities, racism and the equal rights of women. In addition to regularly scheduled paid concerts, the BSO is also offering a host of free performances and lectures for the festival. One of these free lectures featured Tufts professors Dr. Kerri Greenidge and Dr. Kendra Taira Field alongside Northeastern professor Dr. Kabria Baumgartner as panelists on a discussion about African American musicians in Boston’s classical music history.

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Arts

Conversations with Professor Stephan Pennington, Part 2

By Jack Clohisy | March 7

The Daily sat down with Professor Stephan Pennington for a second time, focusing on how Pennington’s life led him toward a career in musicology and what inspirations guided his journey. 

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Arts

‘Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal’ and why you should or shouldn’t watch it

By Alexis Enderle | March 7

Unless you have been holed up in your dorm room or Tisch Library studying for the past six weeks, you’ve probably heard about disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who was on trial for the murders of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, back in the summer of 2021. On Thursday, the prosecution and defense finished closing arguments and the jury was given instructions for deliberation. What many expected to take a few days, if not over a week, took a little less than three hours, with Murdaugh found guilty of two counts of murder and two counts of possessing a weapon with dangerous intent. On Friday, he was sentenced by Judge Clifton Newman to two life sentences. 

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Columns

Medford’s Carrie Bradshaw: ‘The End of the English Major’

By Megan Reimer | March 7

The New Yorker says it is “The End of the English Major.”

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Arts

‘From Scratch’: John Mulaney comes clean at Symphony Hall taping for Netflix

By Aaron Gruen | March 6

John Mulaney knows what we’re thinking: What happened? Luckily, in his new stand-up set, “From Scratch,” he (mostly) tells us. Mulaney’s superb act, which he recorded at Symphony Hall in Boston on Feb. 25–26 for an upcoming Netflix comedy special, is a candid and wild exploration of his experience with drug addiction and recovery.

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Arts

Annie DiRusso’s ‘God, I Hate This Place’ EP is an anti-coming-of-age story

By Elizabeth Barrett | March 6

“Baptized by a pedophile/ In a church that reeks of oak and death” is the opening line of Annie DiRusso’s new EP, “God, I Hate This Place” (2023). While it might shock new listeners, fans who have heard her past singles know that this line is classic Annie DiRusso. 

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Columns

K-Weekly: Let’s talk a bit about pansori

By Odessa Gaines | March 6

This semester at Tufts I’ve found myself mainly in courses and extracurricular activities that have less in common with my actual major than I thought. Personally, I don’t see this as a bad thing — I want to nurture my other passions while gaining my education. The plus from this? I am able to take courses that end up relating to K-Weekly, crazily enough.

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Arts

In conversation with incoming Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Samy Rachid

By Matthew Winkler | March 3

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has named Samy Rachid as its newest assistant conductor, effective October 2023. Rachid, a young French conductor, formerly played cello for the Arod Quartet before leaving the ensemble in 2021 to focus on conducting. Since Rachid started his conducting career, he has won second prize in the 2021 Tokyo International Music Competition for Conducting, been a conducting fellow of the Verbier Festival 2022, and conducted many world-renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Tokyo Philharmonic and Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Szeged. Rachid’s debut performance with the BSO will be summer 2024 at Tanglewood.

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Arts

‘You People’: It takes more than Jonah Hill to mix comedy and commentary

By Arielle Klein | March 3

Co-written by Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill, and directed by Barris, “You People” (2023) debuted as Netflix’s No. 1 most-watched movie on its premiere date. The social comedy tackles a millennial interracial and interfaith love story and the reactions it elicits from the couple’s families. The movie boasts an impressive ensemble cast led by Hill and Lauren London as couple Ezra and Amira, and more importantly Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eddie Murphy as Ezra’s stereotypical Los Angeles Jewish mom and Amira’s devout Muslim dad, respectively. Just those names are enough to draw in a broad viewership.

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Columns

Las Letras Encubiertas: ‘Pensamientos estériles’

By Andrés F. Arévalo | March 3

In the last two years, a new name has forced itself into the contemporary Hispanic poetry canon and the world feminist literature, gaining speed and acclaim like nobody else: Luna Miguel. Originally born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, Miguel quickly jumped into the Spanish writing scene with her work as a journalist, editor and director in several publishing houses and magazines. However, she is most widely recognized for her poetry collections, gaining fame all throughout Latin America and Spain. Some of her collections include “Poetry is not dead” (2010), “Poesía masculina” (2021) and “Pensamientos estériles” (2011).

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Arts

WEEKENDER: The 2023 Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival showed nerdom at its roots

By Carl Svahn | March 2

If one were to stand next to the Somerville Theater on the night of Feb. 15, they would probably think the building was closed. No lights, no sounds and only the cold air blowing in their faces to provide any semblance of movement in the area. Yet just one door over in the theater’s own recently revamped Crystal Ballroom, the sci-fi community of the greater Boston area was throwing the party of the year. The chandelier-clad room was bathed in blue light and as a remote-controlled Mouse Droid prop rolled around the replica TARDIS in the center of the room, a dozen people lined up in a variety of “Doctor Who” (1963–) related outfits for a costume contest. This was how the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, the second oldest independent genre film festival in the country, officially opened its 48th year.

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Arts

Strip and show me the meat! The secret substance of ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’

By Ava Dettling | March 2

The time has come: “Magic” Mike Lane is hanging up his G-string and packing away his body oils. No longer will he grind and flex — or so he says. In Steven Soderbergh’s latest installment, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” (2023), Soderbergh follows Mike (Channing Tatum) as he is drawn to the stage for his final striptease. What can I say? The man just can’t seem to keep his hips from gyrating.

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Columns

Queeries: Queer icons Ice Spice, Miley Cyrus and SZA top the charts

By Jack Clohisy and Saba S. | March 2

Queer music icons create positive representation in mainstream music while increasing visibility and topping the Billboard Hot 100.

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Arts

2023 Oscars predictions: Who will win in all 23 categories

By Nate Hall | March 1

As awards season comes to a close, it’s time to look back at the best Hollywood had to offer in 2022. Austin Butler amazed us. Ke Huy Quan made an incredible comeback. Angela Bassett did the thing. What do all of these stars have in common? They’re vying for recognition at this year’s Oscars, along with countless other actors, filmmakers and designers. Read on to see the Daily’s predictions in all 23 categories ahead of the 95th Academy Awards on March 12.

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Arts

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ did very little (and that’s okay)

By Odessa Gaines | March 1

Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023).

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