Traveling Treasure Trunk is unlike any other student group at Tufts. In fact, they might just have more fun than anyone else on campus.
Graduating senior Ben Lanzi, who is majoring in music and minoring in Chinese, is ubiquitously associated with the Tufts music department and jazz scene. Lanzi, a pianist, singer and conductor, has performed with the Tufts Jazz Orchestra, Small Jazz Ensembles, Chamber Singers and Concert Choir. But perhaps what Lanzi is most known for in the Tufts community is founding and leading the Freshman 15, a student-run jazz big band. Lanzi recently reflected on his journey from musical rookie to leader.
Comprising around 300 undergraduate students, Tufts Burlesque Troupe is one of the largest student dance groups you’ll find on campus. Committed to creating a body-neutral environment fit for exploring oneself and celebrating diversity, this no-audition group has been a second home to many students over the years. Welcoming to students of all years and levels of dance, the Troupe embraces sexiness and comfort in one’s own body.
Tufts University Television was founded in 1977, making it one of the oldest clubs at Tufts. It is a student-run production studio that “strives to foster a supportive and collaborative community where anyone can learn about filmmaking and develop their own artistic voice.” Their content includes documentaries, scripted content, music videos and more.
Editor’s note: Sam McQuaid is a senior member of TFL, Tufts’ gender minority sketch comedy group.
Editor’s note: Blake Anderson is an arts editor at the Daily. This article is a special feature for the Daily's Commencement edition that does not represent the Daily's standard journalistic practices.
Editor’s note: This article contains major spoilers for season 4 of “Succession.”
Despite spending just under 50 years taking photographs of herself, Cindy Sherman can be found in none of them. Utilizing the format of photography portraiture, Sherman creates a theater with her own image, disguising herself with layers of costume and makeup to explore the constructed nature of identity and reality. She plays pretend, and in the process, implicates us for doing the same.
We were raised believing that the “gay agenda” was an attack on the white picket fence American dream. While the traumas that accompany queerness range from constant victimization to harassment to rejection, there is something purely evil that comes with internalized homophobia.
On April 29, Tufts students will flock to the Academic Quad for Spring Fling, the annual musical festival that rounds out each spring semester. Headlined by Flo Rida, the recent lineup announcement certainly caused a buzz. One of two openers for Rida is none other than rapper and TikTok hit Charlie Curtis-Beard. The Daily spoke to Curtis-Beard about all things music, college and Spring Fling. Here’s what he had to say.
Karl Lagerfeld believed that fashion did not belong in a museum and yet this year’s Met Gala theme is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” and the dress code is “in honor of Karl.” Not only is Lagerfeld being honored at the Met Gala, but also by Vogue — the issue is titled “Karl Lagerfeld: A Celebration.” Many of his muses grace the cover and the issue features an elaborate tribute in which ten designers created original looks inspired by Lagerfeld and his work. With all this attention on Lagerfeld, his problematic history has risen to the forefront of the debate about whether or not he should be receiving these honors and high praises.
I'll say it — right here, right now — I may be in my “hater era.” I’m talking about the insatiable appetite to observe, judge and critique. The impending dismay that follows an interaction, as simple as an exchange between you and your Postmates courier or perhaps an email that reached your inbox from a professor titled “Some Feedback.”
After winning Tufts University Social Collective’s Battle of the Bands, the Tufts student band Fease will be opening Spring Fling on April 29. Other live Fease performances can be heard Thursday at the Burren at 7 p.m. and at the Cantab Lounge on May 2 as the opener for Mega Mango. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Jack Goldberg; lead guitarist Ben Schmelkin; bassist Jack Wish; vocalist and keyboard player Jojo Martin; drummer Jake Rubenstein; vocalist Sophie Rubin; vocalist Mari Shoop; trumpet player Zack Burpee; alto saxophonist Jonah Fox; and tenor saxophonist Andrew Kerpel.
From March 31 to April 9, queer cinema invaded theaters across the Boston area. From bigger venues like the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art to smaller film locales like the Brattle Theatre, Wicked Queer film festival put LGBTQ+ stories on the silver screen. With feature films and shorts alike, the festival provided a rare opportunity for queer filmmaking to take the spotlight.
The season finale of the 15th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (2009–) came to a glamorous conclusion on April 14 when Sasha Colby took home the crown as America’s next drag superstar. Colby’s win couldn’t have come at a better time, as she stands to highlight what trans and drag representation and excellence look like despite the slew of anti-trans and anti-drag bills attempting to harm such communities across the country right now. Joining an elite club of two, Colby joins Vanessa Van Cartier as the only two queens to hold the title of Miss Continental, an international drag pageant competition, and to claim a “Drag Race” franchise crown.
For the second year now, Tufts’ Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and Company One Theatre have collaborated to put on a reading workshop of a play with Tufts students. This year’s workshop was “Morning, Noon, and Night.”
Ellie Goulding’s fifth studio album “Higher Than Heaven” (2023) was released on April 7, and she described it as her “least personal” album to date — a bold claim for the artist. Her first album in nearly three years, Goulding came back swinging with this upbeat electronic body of work. Featuring 11 standard tracks and five more on the bonus edition, “Higher Than Heaven” is swift, roughly 52 minutes of ecstasy, longing and ethereality.
English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna shocked producers and listeners alike with his overnight YouTube sensation “Brazil” — a hit single released ages ago now in 2014. The self-released song gained wide recognition for its criticism of FIFA and the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil. Ever since then, it marked McKenna as a voice of his generation.
Returning to live audiences, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project takes on “Coriolanus,” one of The Bard’s latest and least famous plays, with an all female/nonbinary cast. Running through April 23, “Coriolanus” unfolds an intricate political landscape and leaves no character unscathed in the eyes of the audience.
Anyonewhohaswatched“SexandtheCity” (1998–2004) or“GossipGirl” (2007–2012) has morelikelythan notdreamedoflivingouttheirdreamsintheBigApple.
