The Spectator - A&E - Hamilton College

CAB Comedian Adam Mamawala delivers honest yet highbrow performance

September 8, 2016

On Saturday, Sept. 3, CAB hosted its first comedy show of the year, which featured guest Adam Mamawala and Hamilton’s own Caroline Kreidberg ’17. The Events Barn was nearly full when the show began and Kreidberg took the stage in a pair of striking pink pants. She began the set by describing her tendency to unwittingly get locked in rooms, most notably the showers in Babbitt Residence Hall. After describing campus safety heroic appearance and subsequent razing of the Babbitt shower door, Kreidberg continued her set smoothly, maintaining the high energy introduced by her first joke. She spoke highly of her summer spent in New York City, where she was exposed to an unexpected, new breed of catcaller: a woman. Of this discovery, she said, “As a woman, I was empowered to see another woman breaking into a male-dominated field.” More ...

Annual Fall Faculty Concert provides successful introduction to music at Hamilton

September 8, 2016

This past Saturday, Sept. 3, Hamilton College’s Music Department presented the Fall Faculty Concert of 2016 in Wellin Hall, Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. The performance featured various instruments, from the piano to the trombone, the soprano saxophone to the clarinet, from guitar to trumpet and even various percussion instruments to heldentenor vocals. In addition to the range of instruments, there was also a broad range of musical material in the program. Choosing from music written between three centuries, the show included classics like “Gurrelieder” by Arnold Schoenberg, “Solo de Concours” by Andre Messager and “Piano Sonata No. 4 Op. 30” by Alexander Scriabin. There were also a few original pieces such as “Hidden Treasures” by Lectuer in Music Adam Dudding and Lecturer in Music Monk Rowe’s performance of his own “Walter Brennan Goes to Heaven.” More ...

Preview: Love's Labour's Lost to be presented in the Kennedy Amphitheater this weekend

September 1, 2016

This upcoming weekend, students can prepare to immerse themselves in the classic, comedic tale of young love that is Love’s Labour’s Lost. The timeless play is brought to the Hill by Bare Naked Theatre, a student-run program established by the Hamilton College Theatre Department in an effort to provide students and faculty who adore theatre with the opportunity to produce and present diverse, exclusive productions to the entire Hamilton community year-round. More ...

Adam Mamawala to headline CAB's first comedy show of the semester

September 1, 2016

This coming Saturday, Sept. 3, CAB is hosting a show by standup comedian Adam Mamawala. The show will take place at 8 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn. More ...

Porsha O. gives passionate critique of society through poetry

April 28, 2016

Last Wednesday, Apr. 20, Porsha Olayiwola, the 2014 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion, graced the Chapel’s stage with her charmingly awkward jokes and posture. However, Porsha O. is not simply a poet; she is black feminist who believes in pixie dust, second chances and using poetry as a way to be heard, loved and free. More ...

Quality international films to look for on Netflix

April 28, 2016

As past articles have hopefully revealed, Netflix has a plethora of viewing options that can satisfy the most finicky of tastes. While much attention is often paid to the television shows that can provide hours of viewing time, there are also some high quality films on Netflix. Unfortunately, as the company has begun focusing more of its budget towards its original programs, both the quantity and quality of available movies has diminished. Thankfully, there are certain genres for which Netflix can afford to offer better quality films without breaking the bank to obtain the rights. One of these genres is Netflix’s international films. Here are a couple particularly exceptional ones. More ...

Student-directed Blow delivers powerful message about teenage rape culture

April 28, 2016

Filled with humor, care and honesty, Raechel Jae Rosen’s Blow moved audiences this past Monday and Tuesday. Based on Rosen’s first blow job experience, the 40 minute production, directed by Rosen’s sister Melodie Rosen ’18, draws attention to the overwhelming prevalence and disturbing lack of attention dedicated towards dealing with rape culture among teenagers in America. More ...

Make-out poetry and punk rock

April 21, 2016

To get to Hoa Nguyen’s talk it was necessary to descend into KJ 005, a place marked by a sinister arrow pointing, of all directions, at a downward diagonal (!) with the label surprisingly low to the ground. Here is a space of which people are unaware, a space that is imperceptible in its layout and execution, a space that always feels like an illicit discovery. You have to obey that shocking downward - pointing arrow and walk down the brick stairs and then down a narrow passage, framed by green parallel pipes, and there it is, KJ 005, an airless, fluorescent room where I once attended a mandatory econ review session. Let me tell you when Hoa Nguyen entered that room, her smooth voice filled it up and it felt like the hopeful springtime sunlight was seeping in through the cement. She talked about nerve ghosts and languages not fully lost, and I sat in awe like girl, same. You know a poet when he or she wears all black and glances up from a screen at you to make a quick aside from a beautifully scripted speech that revels in its own artistry and at one point uses a sentence with so many onomatpoeic p-sounds that it feels like a drumbeat inviting a dance or a kiss goodbye. Nguyen doesn’t remember Vietnamese from the first two years of her life she spent in Vietnam, but she read us a poem incorporating every single one of its six tones, and even though she isn’t fluent, her musicality is undeniable. Nguyen spoke of blues music as an act of defiance, as a clinical sample of living minute to minute, “not as moaning but as a learned excellence.” Hoa had a college radio show. Her heart is a coalmine cave-in. Her mom was a stunt motorcyclist. More ...

Spring Awakening challenges sexual education norms and religious authority

April 21, 2016

This past weekend, the Theatre Department’s spring main stage, Spring Awakening, opened in the Romano Theatre, marking its first musical in over 40 years. The production is directed by Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell, with musical direction by Karen Corigliano and choreography by Professor of Dance Eileen Heekin. Eliza Burwell ’17 stage manages, while MJ Lugo ’16 serves as Assistant Director. More ...

The Crooked Road On Tour brings fun night of music and flatfoot dancing

April 14, 2016

Hamilton College Performing Arts hosted a three-part concert last Friday, Apr. 8, that featured performances of traditional Southwest Virginian music. The concert included banjo tunes from Julie Shepherd-Powell, original songs from singer/songwriter Sandy Shortridge and a collection of songs from The Whitetop Mountain band that have remained in their family for generations. More ...