Arts

Arts

Arts editors and tour guides talk about their nontraditional connection to the arts on campus

By Jack Clohisy and RaiAnn Bu | April 15

Art comes in many forms, and it permeates all facets of life. No matter how removed from artistic practice some people may be, it’s undeniable the impact that art has on everyone. Two editors of the Daily dive into their own experiences with the arts and how they came to join a greater community of Tufts students who appreciate and celebrate art in all its forms.

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Arts

A nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater

By Henry Chandonnet | April 15

Tufts has a vibrant theater community, with many options and on-ramps for prospective members. They range from department-run to student-led and vary in commitment level. This includes all facets of theater engagement, whether it be acting, directing, tech, costume designing or anything in between. For incoming students, the most important note is just how open and accepting the theater community is. However involved you want to be, in whatever form you would like, you’re welcomed. So, here’s an incomplete list of all the theater opportunities at Tufts. This list will surely miss a few, mostly because the theater opportunities here at Tufts are constantly changing and growing. Still, it’s helpful to have an idea of what the broader theater community looks like. So here it is: a nonexhaustive guide to Tufts theater. 

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Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: ‘The Batman’ fails in its social justice commentary

By Sacha Waters | April 15

Every time I watch another superhero blockbuster, I can’t help but imagine the producers sitting around a table, breathing down the screenwriters’ necks as they decide which social issues to water down, aestheticize and shoehorn in. Will it be something contemporary, like the pandemic? A timeless classic, like misogyny? Or a safe choice, like wealth inequality?

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Arts

“ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE” captures all the highlights of Miley Cyrus’s career with a rock and roll twist

By Ryan Fairfield | April 14

Ever since her performance of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” (1978) at the 2020 iHeartRadio Festival, fans of Miley Cyrus have been in awe of her pop-rock talent. The love only continued when Cyrus released her album “Plastic Hearts” (2020) two months later. A big shift from her Hannah Montana era and pop albums like “Younger Now” (2017) and “Bangerz” (2013), Cyrus tapped into a rock-and-roll side of herself with “Plastic Hearts,” which was ranked No. 23 on Rolling Stone’s “Best Albums of 2020.”

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Columns

Micro-trend of the Week: Woke jeans

By RaiAnn Bu | April 14

Fashion is one of the strongest social performances of gender expression. Through clothing, one communicates social status, identity, affiliations and values, allowing fashion to be one of the apparent rebellions against gender conformity as well as the strongest chain to the gender binary.

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Arts

‘Severance’ turns workplace drama into a gripping dystopian thriller

By Nate Hall | April 13

When you have a busy schedule, it can feel impossible to find the right balance between work and life. How do you meet all your deadlines and get everything done while still having time for friends, family and social activities? In “Severance” (2022–), a new drama series that premiered on Apple TV+ this February, the dilemma of ‘work-life balance’ is explored with a dark, dystopian twist.

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Arts

From pop star to pop legend: Ariana Grande’s transition to icon status

By Jack Clohisy | April 13

There’s no doubt that Ariana Grande has become a household name across the United States. She’s the female artist with the most No. 1 debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 and the only artist to debut her first six lead singles in the Top 10 for a reason: Grande is a musical force within her industry. Especially in light of her three recent Grammy nominations, 28-year-old Grande is making a pivotal transition in her career as she attempts to transcend from the pop obsession she’s been for nearly the past decade into a long-lasting icon.

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Arts

Omar Apollo’s “Ivory” shows musical growth at its finest

By Geoff Tobia Jr. | April 12

The growth and rise to pop stardom by Omar Apollo is still in progress, but the progress he’s made in the past five years is wild. Apollo has gone from sporadically dropping singles to releasing two very solid EPs and distributing his first mini-album experience on “Apolonio” (2020). It’s been a long way since his EP “Stereo” (2018) days, but he’s still held onto that same passion and boldness that helped him work his way out of his bedroom in Indiana to make big waves in the LA pop scene. “Ivory” (2022), Apollo’s latest addition to his catalog and a debut, full-length album, has even more personality. It’s his most explorative, drawing from many different fascinating inspirations and bringing it all together on one album. 

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Columns

A Compendium of Actors: Lily Collins can do it all

By Henry Chandonnet | April 12

Often, we try to box actors and actresses into their appropriate category: indie actor here, big-budget action star there. This column has surely fallen prey to that same difficulty, establishing genres and niches that actors may unilaterally fill. Still, actors are not monoliths. They can do what they like, take on the projects they want and thus spread their talents far beyond a singular career pathway. This multifacetedness is exemplified by Lily Collins, an actress who takes on both trashy Netflix shows and prestigious Oscar films and does so with ease. This is a testament to her talent; Collins is able to tackle a myriad of roles, making her a jack of all trades.

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Arts

'Bridgerton' is back with a more emotional, complex second season

By Ryan Fairfield | April 11

In 2020, Season 1 of “Bridgerton” (2020–) was the most-watched original series on Netflix, with 82 million households watching the series within 28 days of its initial release. Adapted from Julia Quinn’s bestselling novels, the series follows the Bridgertons, a noble family in 19th-century Britain, as they attempt to find love and their place in society. The first season followed the eldest daughter, Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), as she debuted in London society and set her heart on finding a husband, only to fall for the most desired man in the city — the Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page). The second season turns its focus to the eldest son of the Bridgerton family, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), who has finally decided to settle down and find his match. Anthony does not anticipate that finding love will be an easy task, but it only becomes more complicated when the Sharma family arrives from India. Anthony starts courting the younger sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), only to start falling for the older sister, Kate (Simone Ashley).

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Columns

The Art of Good Soup: Lucky and charming

By Sadie Leite and Ellie Lester | April 11

We are tired. Sadie has purple feet (and them dogs are BARKING). Ellie ate salsa for breakfast. With salt. But it was pico de gallo, which makes it a little better?

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Arts

WEEKENDER: Sammy Rae & The Friends fill the Royale with gratitude

By Henry Chandonnet | April 8

Sammy Rae & The Friends have brought their radical joy to Boston once again. The band triumphantly returned for a double feature at the Royale on March 26 and 27 with its 2022 tour, filling the venue with cheerful bliss and uptempo funk. The shows were filled with both optimism and a deep sense of catharsis, having been the band’s final performances before a one-month tour hiatus.

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Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: Narrative corruption within ‘The Dropout’

By Sacha Waters | April 8

I will admit I love Hulu’s “The Dropout” (2022), a highly-anticipated miniseries on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. It’s beautifully written, beautifully shot and beautifully acted. Even teachers at my high school, Holmes’ alma mater, have commented on how well the miniseries captured Holmes’ eccentric character. But the show occasionally falls into the pothole of becoming what it means to analyze: America’s obsession with narrative smoke and mirrors.

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Arts

Tate McRae brings her North American Tour 2022 to Boston’s Royale

By Miriam Vodosek | April 7

Eighteen-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer Tate McRae brought her 2022 North American Tour to Boston’s beautiful Royale nightclub last Friday. The night was filled with high energy and girl power, and it featured an all-female lineup.

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Arts

Olivia Rodrigo discusses heartbreak that inspired ‘SOUR’ in documentary ‘driving home 2 u’

By Ryan Fairfield | April 7

The release of her single, “drivers license,” back in January 2021 launched Olivia Rodrigo into pop superstardom. With her follow-up singles “deja vu” (2021) and “good 4 u” (2021), Rodrigo proved to the world that she is more than just a Disney Channel child actress.Rodrigo continued to gain critical and popular appeal with the release of her debut album, “SOUR” (2021), which broke multiple streaming and charting records. Due to drama surrounding the album, as many of the songs seem to be about Rodrigo’s past relationship, Rodrigo kept a majority of the details of making the album quiet from the public.

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Columns

Micro-Trend of the Week: So you were wrong: A survival guide

By RaiAnn Bu | April 7

After seven weeks of hard-hitting fashion journalism, the well has run a bit dry. There’s nothing else to report on, a lull as the seasons transition. So instead, I have constructed a guide based on learned and lived experience on how to survive wasting your money. 

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Arts

Analyzing 'Dune' in light of the Oscars

By Carl Svahn | April 6

Fear is everywhere in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” (1965). It’s there when the members of House Atreides arrive at their new and hostile home, the desert planet Arrakis. It’s there when Paul Atreides, the protagonist of the book, questions what his role in said story will be. Most importantly, however, it surrounds the book and franchise itself. Though “Dune” is the best-selling sci-fi book of all time and has influenced other giants in the genre like George Lucas, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, it carries a reputation as an overly complex and even boring story on its own, which has turned many a casual reader away.

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Columns

K-Weekly: BTS gives a stellar Grammy performance, again

By Odessa Gaines | April 5

BTS once again showed the world why it’s on top on Sunday night with its performance on the Grammy Awards stage. The seven-member boy band has seen overwhelming amounts of success since it debuted back in 2013, breaking records with regularity in South Korea and abroad. The band members are known not just for their comedic timing, good looks and charisma but for their beautiful lyrics, lifting vocals and mind-blowing dance moves.

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Arts

Peach Pit does right by fans at Boston performance

By Sadie Leite and Ellie Lester | April 5

On Friday, April 1,Peach Pit paid a visit to Boston’s Big Night Live for its 2022 tour celebrating the release of its third album, “From 2 to 3” (2022). With a loaded lineup packed with songs from all three projects, the band delivered a lively performance with plenty of fun hair flips and intense guitar solos — and a violin.

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Columns

A Compendium of Actors: The fate of female-led films at the Oscars

By Henry Chandonnet | April 5

The 2022 Oscar nominees for best actress represented five separate films, none of which received nominations for best picture. This was for myriad reasons, whether it be film quality, intended audience or rampant commercial misogyny. Nonetheless, it represents a broader issue of equity in the film industry: Actresses are either given bad movies to make the best of or great movies that aren’t allowed to grow.

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