January 2019
Jenna from the Block
La Isla Bonita
How Jessie Mueller became Broadway’s leading lady p.5
NU aids artists in rebuilding Puerto Rico’s entertainment scene p.12
NUFOs
Open Tab
New sci-fi TV series documents late professor’s research on UFOs p.8
Whiskey Thief offers bold cocktails yet a mellow ambiance close to home p.14
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THE MONTHLY Contents
Jenna from the Block
How Jessie Mueller went from Chicago’s sweetheart to Broadway’s leading lady
NUFOs
New sci-fi TV series documents late NU professor
La Isla Bonita
Artists rebuild the entertainment scene in Puerto Rico with NU aid
Open Tab
Whiskey Thief offers bold cocktails yet a mellow ambiance close to home
05 08 12 14
Staff of The Monthly Issue 16
Stavros Agorakis Madeleine Fernando The Monthly Editors Andrea Michelson Crystal Wall Writers
Caty Buchaniec Ruiqi Chen Roxanne Panas Designers
Cover and third page photos: Source: Jackie Green
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To me, awards season is like Christmas. Every year on Oscars nominations day, I excitedly wake up in the morning as the temperature slowly descends to zero degrees, make myself some hot cocoa and patiently stream the event live as I refresh my Twitter feed every two seconds (just as I would on Christmas Day to catch up on the latest round of gift-giving my friends have gone through). Everyone who knows me well is not the least surprised by this. But this year’s nominations left me more dumbfounded than any other in recent memory; not because of the multiple snubs of young, male heartthrobs in the acting categories (re: Michael B. Jordan and Timothée Chalamet), but because the Academy, once criticized for its lack of diversity and empathy for stories its members could not relate to, now appears to be the only major moving force in the U.S. to recognize filmmakers who are bold, visionary and — oh — non-American. As Los Angeles dawned on the 32nd day of a federal government shutdown Tuesday, one needlessly perpetuated over a promise to create physical walls and cultural divides, Kumail Nanjiani and Tracee Ellis Ross announced the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards. “Roma,” a semi-autobiographical drama set in Mexico City, and “The Favourite,” an 18th century period dramedy, broke ground with 10 nods each. What makes these films special is that foreigners — immigrants, if you must — hold key production roles both on- and off-screen and will likely dominate the talk shows leading up to Feb. 24. Alfonso Cuarón is definitely the genius to be celebrated in this year’s ceremony, as he made history yet again by scoring directing and cinematography nods for the same film (along with three more for writing and producing). But Cuarón, whose previous film was the universally acclaimed “Gravity” (released a whole five years ago) is known for taking long breaks between his films to cater to their most nuanced details — which is exactly what makes “Roma” such a passion project. Cuarón is literally pulling from his roots to shape a deeply personal narrative, one that engrosses audiences no matter their background. Yalitza Aparicio, the film’s star who’s been nominated for her acting debut in one of the year’s busiest categories, has repeatedly said she’s drawn from her own experiences to prepare for the role. “The Favourite” parallels “Roma” in some of its production values. Yorgos Lanthimos, possibly Greece’s most popular filmmaker to international audiences, received his first directing nomination after years of experience outside the U.S. Same goes for film editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis. And while I’m definitely one to usually call out the Academy over the crushed hopes of the masses (i.e. Bradley Cooper), we should take these opportunities to recognize talents who are as deserving of the spotlight. In any case, the Academy’s efforts to bring in a more filmmakers from across the globe into its ranks is definitely evident — and now we’ll have to see if these visionaries take the stage at the Dolby Theatre next month.
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– By Madeleine Fernando
Photo: Source: Julieta Cervantes, Jackie Green, Sammy Wolfin
I
t’s any aspiring actor’s dream to end up in New York — the city that never sleeps and the illustrious home of thousands of budding Broadway stars. But when Jessie Mueller graduated with a theater degree from Syracuse University in 2005, she made a turn for the unexpected; she moved back home to Chicago. “I just didn’t feel like I was ready to go to New York,” Mueller said. “I didn’t really have a relationship with New York, but I had a relationship with Chicago and I loved it and I had grown up watching people that I wanted to work with and going to theaters that I wanted to work at… so that was my goal at the time — to come to Chicago and be an actor and pay my rent.” It might sound like a humble dream for an actress who would later win the 2014 Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical as Carole King in “Beautiful” and land major roles on Broadway hit shows “ Waitress” and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” But for Mueller — born and raised in Evanston — it made perfect sense. The daughter of two Chicago-based actors, Mueller fell in love with live theater and the Chicago arts community at a young age by attending dozens of shows and watching her parents perform. However, it wasn’t until she attended Evanston Township High School that she found herself in the spotlight. Aaron Carney, the theater director at Evanston Township High School, recalls having Mueller in the first class he ever taught, when Mueller was just a sophomore. Despite being a new teacher in his midtwenties who “had no idea what a teenager was,” he immediately recognized Mueller’s effortless acting ability. “One of the things I always look for in an actor is honesty in a performance and truth and that’s exactly who she is,” Carney said. “Never for a second did anything she ever did come across as fake or ‘acting’... it just felt like she would slip into being this character.” Carney described Mueller as very much a “theater kid” who shined in acting classes and productions, and made the theater her home while at ETHS. She had a raw talent that needed little guidance, he said. In one acting class, he remembers
Mueller performing a scene where she walked into an apartment wearing a raincoat. She played the character flawlessly and brought some to tears — but it never occurred to her to take off the jacket during the scene, he said. “It was little kind of obvious things that would escape her because she was just so focused on the core of something, whereas a lot of the students we have, the only thing they’re thinking about is kind of the logistics of, ‘OK, now I’m going to take off my coat, now I’ve got some lines to say,’” Carney said. “For her, it was kind of the opposite.”
“It’s hard to compare to Jessie Mueller performing — she’s really a force of nature. Her ‘Jenna’ is very tragic which I think is very at the heart of the play, and it’s not sugar coated in a way that’s easier to watch… She brings a performance that’s very truthful in the tragedy and the sadness and the struggle of what she’s going through.” Samantha Casesa Communication senior
After graduating from ETHS in 2001 and then attending Syracuse, Mueller got what she wanted and more, making a name for herself in the Chicago theater scene. She performed in various productions for Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Marriott Theatre and Goodman Theatre, and was crowned Theater Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune in 2011. Soon after, Mueller finally packed up her things and headed to New York, where she made her Broadway debut as Melinda Wells in a revival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.” While she’s now one of the Broadway’s most soughtafter actresses, she still takes pride in her Chicago roots.
“There’s such a focus on the work there, and people show up and they do their jobs and then they go home and they live their lives and it’s all intertwined but there’s just sort of a selflessness,” Mueller said. “It’s not that New York is scary and selfish all the time, but there is sort of a marketing machine here that works in a different way.” Aside from her “angelic voice” and “magnetic” persona, Carney said it ’s Mueller’s genuine acting ability that has allowed her to reach such famed heights on Broadway. “She’s known now for musical theater but she’s just a tremendous actor,” Carney said. “There’s lots of people who can sing and dance and act, but it’s the acting, it’s the honesty, it’s that actor within her that colors her voice and her movements that set her apart.” In 2016, Mueller starred in the musical “Waitress” on Broadway, playing a young pie chef named Jenna who faces an unwanted pregnancy while struggling with an abusive relationship with her husband Earl. Communication senior Samantha Casesa watched “Waitress” on Broadway twice — once with Mueller, and another time with Katharine McPhee in the lead role. Casesa said the two productions struck different tones as a result, with Mueller shining in the more theatrical demands of the show. “It’s hard to compare to Jessie Mueller performing — she’s really a force of nature,” Casesa said. “Her ‘Jenna’ is very tragic which I think is very at the heart of the play, and it’s not sugar coated in a way that’s easier to watch… She brings a performance that’s very truthful in the tragedy and the sadness and the struggle of what she’s going through.” Among the theater community, Mueller is often referred to as a “vocal chameleon” for her incredible ability to adapt her voice to seemingly any character — from the pop tunes in “Waitress” to the more classical sound of “Carousel.” But even after four Tony nods, six Broadway shows and a slated gig at the Kennedy Center in “The Music Man” next month, Mueller retains her Midwestern charm and humility. “I always learn something from whoever I’m playing and I’m just really fortunate that people thought outside the box and allowed me to do the same,” Mueller said. ◊
7
s
New sci-fi TV series documents late NU professor’s research on UFOs
F
rom “Stranger Things” to the “Cloverfield” film franchise, there’s no shortage of blockbuster hits and Netflix series that bring aliens down from space and into our backyards. But one of the latest sci-fi installments tackling the topic of extraterrestrials and government secrets strips away the green face-paint and tacky costumes — instead, it becomes something rooted much deeper in reality, and American history itself. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer and ufologist who once graced the halls of Northwestern, is the central figure in the new History Channel production “Project Blue Book.” The show dramatizes the work Hynek did with the Air Force to conduct top-secret investigations into UFO sightings. But Hynek, who died in 1986, had made a name for himself long before he was recruited by the Air Force. Paul Hynek described his father as the “little Czech boy” who did not speak English until kindergarten but had found his passion for astronomy by the age of seven. He then went on
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to earn his PhD in astronomy at the University of Chicago and teach at esteemed universities around the country. Hynek became the NU astronomy department chair and director of the Dearborn Observatory in 1960. “He was a big fan of popularizing science,” Paul Hynek said. “Part of his career was in the 50s, during the Space Race, and he was concerned that not enough people were studying math and science.” Paul Hynek said his father is now most commonly associated with his work alongside the Air Force. In the midst of post-World War II hysteria, J. Allen Hynek was recruited to work at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to scientifically debunk flying saucer sightings — a mission coined Project Blue Book. J. Allen Hynek, once a skeptic, was eager to quickly explain away the cases. But even with his strong astronomy background and government resources, he deemed some sightings beyond the realm of scientific explanation. Hynek and his team studied more than 12,000 cases in this project, but failed to solve about 700 of them — leaving Hynek with
doubts about his beliefs. “Over time, my father came to realize there was something to the phenomenon,” Paul Hynek said. “Much to his frustration and surprise, he couldn’t explain them all.” While Paul Hynek did admit that these unsolved cases are not necessarily proof of extraterrestrial visitation, he said his father always believed there are two types of people: those who like questions they can’t answer and those who like answers they don’t question. And despite scientific pressure, J. Allen Hynek didn’t dismiss the popular answer behind these bizarre sightings: extraterrestrials. Fast forward a few decades later, and the question of humanity’s solitude in the universe — or lack thereof — still appeals to modern audiences and particularly to show producer David O’Leary. After graduating from college, O’Leary moved to Los Angeles to pursue writing, where he began to delve deeper into the topic of extraterrestrials and the government’s secretive stance on the subject. One evening, O’Leary was struck by the idea that would marry his passion for writing with Photo: Source: Kirby Dixon
his passion for the unexplained. “Over a glass of wine with my wife, it hit me — what if I wrote a TV series that went back and looked at all of the seminal cases of Project Blue Book? Essentially, a real life ‘X-Files’ set in the time of ‘Mad Men,’” O’Leary said. “It got me really excited and I still have the napkin where I scribbled this idea down.” Though the show is a “historical drama in every sense” and embellishes some elements of the story, O’Leary said it still stays true to much of its namesake historical context. However, when covering a 17-year investigation in 42 minutes a week, he said some liberties must be made to tell a compelling story. Meredith Mackey, a SESP senior and former production assistant for the History Channel, echoed this sentiment. “Most of the sci-fi, supernatural shows that are popular right now, like ‘Stranger Things’ or big superhero stories, are entirely fantastical and magical-realism and fictional,” Mackey said. “So, it’s cool, obviously ‘(Project) Blue Book’ is dramatized, but it’s based on a real story.” While the events are exaggerated for entertainment value, Paul Hynek serves as a consultant for the series to ensure the
production authentically paints his parents, portrayed by Aidan Gillen from “Game of Thrones” and Laura Mennell from “The Man in the High Castle.”
Hynek said his goal was to keep the series true to his father’s character. “One of the things I’ve noticed in the portrayals of scientists is people tend to think of them as robots or Vulcans who just go about computing logic all day,” Hynek said. “One of the things we wanted to do was make sure they understood my father was a vibrant, fun individual who loved puns and was not thinking logically 24 hours a day.” Even while sorting through his father’s nuances and traits for the production, Hynek said watching and working on a show dedicated to his father and his work is surreal experience. He described watching dramatic representations of his parents as an adventure — simultaneously fun and unnerving. Most importantly, though, Hynek believes his father would have enjoyed the series. “My father would like the show. He would think it’s a lot of fun,” Paul Hynek said. “He’d probably put on his slippers and cook up some popcorn and have a grand old time.” ◊
“My father would like the show. He would think it’s a lot of fun. He’d probably put on his slippers and cook up some popcorn and have a grand old time.” ‑Paul Hynek
Hynek said he has reviewed scripts, visited the set and answered questions about his parents. These inquiries would include broad topics, like his father’s outlooks or how he would react to something, as well as easily overlooked details — like when Gillen asked how J. Allen Hynek would have pronounced Halley’s Comet.
9
years of
THEDOLPHINSHOW
Throughout its 77 years of history, The Dolphin Show has changed in every sense of the word — its cast and crew, its sets and its performances transform year to year. The organization traces its roots back to 1939, when a group of NU students formed a swimming team called The Dolphin Club and created a show to fundraise for needed travel money. The show has since evolved into the more standard theatrical productions audiences are used to seeing on stage, with some of the most recent shows being Broadway classics like “Hello, Dolly!” and “Ragtime.” Annabel Edwards/Daily Senior Staffer
Source: Joel Freund
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Colin Boyle/Daily Senior Staffer
Meghan White/Daily Senior Staffer
La Isla Bonita
Through passion and pain, artists rebuild the entertainment scene in Puerto Rico with the aid of Northwestern funding
— by Stavros Agorakis
I
n times of crisis, relief efforts tend to be allocated to the affected people’s most urgent needs, like food, water and housing. But often, the things that get tossed aside — like arts and culture — are actually the values that hold communities together. “Culture is oftentimes — wrongfully, to my belief — considered to be a luxury or a secondary matter to more pressing things,” Communication Prof. Ramón RiveraServera said. “What we forget to think about is the ways in which culture itself is key to thinking about solutions that impact national affairs like the economy or education.” So, in the aftermath of a pair of devastating hurricanes in Puerto Rico, a collective of 20 artists banded together under Rivera-Ser vera’s leadership to rebuild the entertainment scene, which is developing alongside Puerto Rico’s roads, bridges and homes. The group hopes to not only rekindle the residents’ passion for the local arts, but to also create a learning community for the artists to mature and grow.
Northwestern kicked off the twoyear arts development project in Puerto Rico last August, aided by a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which partly assists select colleges and universities to train scholars in the humanities. During the initiative, the 20 emerging artists and mentors are altogether honing their craft and holding training sessions on the island, at NU and other college campuses they plan on visiting for their artistic residencies. The initiative will culminate in a final commissioned project in Puerto Rico, aimed to exhibit both the artists’ personal growth and their response to the island’s troubling political climate, said Nibia Pastrana Santiago, a dancer, choreographer and co-mentor of the program. Pastrana Santiago said the initiative comes at a very critical moment in Puerto Rico’s history. The territory declared bankruptcy in May 2017 — the largest ever for a U.S. local government — just a few months before a pair of hurricanes dealt a major blow to the island’s infrastructure and its residents’ lives. So, she said, now
it’s more important than ever for artists to come together, nurture each other and make their practice “come alive.”
After your personal life gets a bit stable, you go back into your practice, you clean the studio. . . and you get to work. Nibia Pastrana Santiago “The future seems so uncertain in the political level, in its natural resources level and, of course, in the cultural productions,” Pastrana Santiago said. “It takes a nation to be together to respond to the current Photo: Source: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS
political situation after the hurricanes. We’re still in the recovery process.” Artists were one of the first communities to respond to the crisis, she said, immediately building networks among performers in Puerto Rico and creating pieces that dealt with the hotbutton issues head on. “After your personal life gets a bit stable, you go back into your practice, you clean the studio, you find ways of dealing with old materials or damaged goods … and you get to work,” she said. Awilda Rodríguez-Lora, a Puerto Rican performance artist who joined the NU-funded project in the summer, said she is “extremely grateful” for Northwestern’s help in rebuilding the arts scene on the island. After she returned to Puerto Rico in 2010 to energize her career there, Rodríguez-Lora said she faced many struggles most contemporary artists come up against, but now has the time and resources to just “look at the work”
and rethink her practice in the context of her experience after the hurricanes. Rodríguez-Lora added that she finds it difficult to remove politics from her work — but that she hopes the audience appreciates seeing a project and portrait that stems from her own identity, and from the questions she’s asking as a Puerto Rican native hoping to bring about change on the island. “It’s beautiful to have the opportunity to create work that represents us,” she said. “We’re doing it from here, from the ground up, from trying to exist in this reality. People are really going to see genuine and contemporary work.” The Northwestern grant, though a secondary fundraising effort to help sustain the arts scene in Puerto Rico, will fund a total of 10 artistic projects over the course of two years. The mentors will also hold several training sessions on various topics for the artists to participate in, such as portfolio development and workshop leadership.
The artists will come to the Evanston campus this spring, where they will share their learning experiences with the students, lead workshops and reach a young audience that typically has little access to their work. They will then visit more universities — including Yale, Dartmouth, Ohio State and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor — as part of their grand tour, looking to engage with as many people as possible and showcase their projects. Rivera-Servera said he’s excited for the artists to visit NU, since culture is that “critical glue” that sticks us to one another, and the one instrument we have that allows us to just sit in a circle and openly share our stories and experiences. “Our humanity demands it — it’s what makes us a different kind of creature from other animals,” Rivera-Servera said. “We have an attachment to the urgency of beauty, not for beauty itself, but for what beauty represents: a regard to our commonality and humanity.” ◊
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Whiskey Thief offers bold cocktails yet a mellow ambiance
I
n some college towns, turning 21 is an occasion marked by rowdy bar-hopping and blurry memories. But Evanston isn’t exactly known for its bustling nightlife, and venturing into Chicago feels like an insurmountable trek on cold winter nights. As I approached my 21st birthday in what sometimes feels like the driest college town in America, I opted for a classic house party and promised myself I’d go out for my first legal drink another time. When that time came, I had a destination in mind: Whiskey Thief Tavern. The Davis Street bar is known for its strong cocktails and laid-back atmosphere — in other words, it’s a place where you can get buzzed while sitting comfortably in an intimate booth with friends or your latest Tinder date. I got to Whiskey Thief just in time to catch the end of the AFC championship game. I must admit — it was a bit jarring to walk into a space expecting a speakeasy and instead finding a wall of screens that screamed “sports bar.” Nonetheless, I was happy to see the Patriots close out the game with an epic touchdown just after I ordered my first drink. When the game ended, the bar area cleared out and I found a chance to scan my surroundings. With its jazzy tunes and wood-paneled decor, Whiskey Thief Tavern leans into the Prohibition-era trend that seems to dominate the American bar scene right now. But this establishment doesn’t alienate the college market by putting on old-fashioned airs. Their playlist includes tracks by modern swing revival bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. The vintage mirrors and floor-to-ceiling bookshelf are as Instagramworthy as they are nostalgic. To further draw in the 20-something crowd, Whiskey Thief offers trivia nights on Tuesdays, live
music on Wednesdays and complimentary mimosas with weekend brunch, among other promotions. The promise of free mimosas alone would be enough to lure me back even if the signature cocktails were disappointing — though they certainly weren’t. I started out with the Mason County Mule, a bourbon cocktail with a Southern-inspired flavor. The combination of peach, ginger and mint masked the taste of liquor just enough for the drink to go down easy. As much as I wish I were a cool, complex “whiskey girl” who could drink Scotch straight, my tastebuds were grateful for the fresh and fruity flavor. Novice drinkers should definitely beware of the White Manhattan, one of the more boozeforward offerings on the cocktail menu. Just one sip of this concoction of white whiskey, vermouth and olive oil bitters was enough to make me gag. Though that’s more likely a reflection of my personal tastes than of the drink’s quality, I still recommend that you sip with caution. The Hanging Acrobat was my hands-down favorite of the drinks I sampled. The bourbonbased drink tasted like an apple-y whiskey sour with a hint of spice. The real star of the show, however, was the heaping plate of sweet potato fries my friends and I ordered with our drinks. The fries struck a perfect balance of crispy and soft, salty and sweet. And the tangy
— by Andrea Michelson aioli dipping sauce was so good I almost asked the server for the recipe. If whiskey isn’t your thing, the tavern also offers cocktails made with vodka, gin and tequila, along with ample selections of beer and wine. If drinking straight whiskey makes your heart sing, though, there’s a whole menu page for you. I flipped right past it, but to each their own, right? I left Whiskey Thief giggling and feeling warm enough to brave the winter cold. While a night out in Chicago could have been a thrilling adventure, I was happy to catch up with friends in a cozy booth at my new favorite Evanston bar. Perhaps this underrated tavern-sports-bar hybrid is the casual college hangout Nevin’s mourners have been searching for. ◊
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Chekhov’s endearing and everlasting tragicomedy in which a family’s cross generational dispute about the future of their beloved estate creates a clash between socialism and capitalism, legacy and reality in this sharp new adaptation by Stephen Karam, described by New York Magazine as “among the very best of his generation of playwrights.”
FEB 1 - 10
Josephine Louis Theater 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston Box Office: (847) 491-7282 WIRTZ.NORTHWESTERN.EDU
A comedy in four acts by Anton Chekhov A new version by Stephen Karam From a literal translation by Allison Horsely Directed by Hassan Al Rawas
MFA Lab Series
Mainstage Musical
FEB 15 - MAR 3
FEB 16
FEB 24 - MAR 10
THE WOLVES
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WHEN SHE HAD WINGS Limited run! Book early!
FEB 8 - 10
WIRTZ.NORTHWESTERN.EDU
National Theatre Live
Imagine U Family Theater