10 minute read
A&E
Tuesday, sepTeMber 27, 2022
The MarqueTTe Tribune aRTs & eNTeRTaINmeNT
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Hot Diggity Dog: Alum pilots the Wienermobile
“Ketchup” with Kaitlyn Bross as she traverses Midwest
By Izzy Fonfara Drewel
isabella.fonfaradrewel@marquette.edu
Secret Service with a side of relish — Oscar Mayer’s Hotdoggers have escorted everyone from babies to Prince Harry, bringing a smile no matter their royal status.
Kaitlyn Bross, an alum of the College of Communication, spent her entire summer traversing the Midwest in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, aptly named RelishMe. Bross heard about the position after running into a previous Hotdogger at a gathering for Marquette Rock Climbing Club.
“I was rock-climbing at a gym in Milwaukee and I ended up talking with a current Hotdogger, and she had a similar personality to me,” Bross said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I could totally see myself doing that this year.’”
After her training at Hotdog High, Bross and her co-pilot, Ben Godfrey, set off on their adventure, stopping in a new city every week. They show off the Wienermobile, engage with people on the road and spread the Oscar Mayer brand across the country.
“One of the most special places I got to take [the Wienermobile] was home,” Bross said. “I parked in my front lawn in Wentzville, Missouri and I got to give my three nieces and nephews a ride in it around town. That was absolutely incredible, I had dreamed getting to do that ever since I applied for the job online and it was very frank-tastic.”
The Wienermobile offers rides to its fans, however, sometimes those fans aren’t always human.
“We’ve gotten to bring bunnies in here, we’ve gotten dogs. I have a goal of getting a raccoon in here,” Bross said. “Some other Hotdoggers have gotten squirrels and turkeys, and one even got a miniature horse.”
While they’ve had their fair share of animal experiences, the Hotdoggers have interacted with many dedicated and enthusiastic human supporters.
One of the people that Bross remembers best is a woman
Photo by Isabel Bonebrake isabel.bonebrake@marquette.edu Kaitlyn Bross, a graduate of Marquette University, poses in the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Sept. 23. She is one of 12 Hotdoggers in the United States.
named Jane. Bross and Godfrey met Jane at a car show in Apple Valley, Minnesota when she showed up with a poster of the Wienermobile full of facts, history and postcards. Her passion for the Wienermobile started when she was a child and saw it on a road trip in the 70s.
“After chatting with her at the event and seeing how awesome of a person she was, her brother came up and we recreated the same photo they took many years ago,” Bross said. “It’s one of those days I will never forget because of how much magic I can create through the Wienermobile.”
Throughout her time at Marquette Bross studied public relations and political science. Her experience in PR gave her the ability to represent the Oscar Mayer brand as a Hotdogger.
“I love doing social media, I love getting to chat with media and set all of that up. I fi nd a lot of joy in getting to do interviews and also just making fun social content to share my adventures with other people,” Bross said.
On their long-haul adventures, Bross and Godfrey spend a lot of time listening to music.
“Our go-to’s are alt-rock, classic rock, a lot of rap, indie and sometimes you just got to put Doja Cat on after a hard day,” Bross said.
Bross will continue hotdoggin’ around the Midwest until January when she will be relocated to another part of the country. Stay up to date with her journey on Instagram, @om_ketchupkaitlyn.
REVIEW: Slay or nay at New York Fashion Week?
Good, bad, and most impractical walk the runway in Big Apple
By Phoebe Goebel
phoebe.goebel@marquette.edu
Athletes have the Olympics. Actors have the Oscars. Writers have the Pulitzer Prize. But, when it comes to the world of fashion, weeks of preparation and anxiety lead up to the ultimate judgment of trends, styles and top designers: New York Fashion Week.
Twice a year, New York Fashion Week showcases international fashion designs to buyers, celebrities and the public. The second show of the year takes place in September and this past Sept. 8-12 did not disappoint in setting the stage for the future of fashion trends.
As a fashion fanatic and a huge “The Devil Wears Prada” fan, I thought this past fashion week brought what it needed to bring. Celebrity features, disability awareness, street-style advocacy and old friend reunions were only a few of my highlight moments from the week. In addition to the clothes, designers also explored the concept that fashion week can infl uence the world in more ways than just style.
The designer who stole the show for me was Open Style Lab, whose show took place Sept. 8. OSL is a non-profi t organization dedicated to making fashion accessible to all people, particularly those with disabilities. What made their show stand apart from the others were their models, those who were all members of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy community.
The fashion industry has continued to push the same problematic narrative for years. Typically, models are tall, skinny and have the same skin tone. OSL drives against this narrative, as they have made it a goal of representing people of all abilities in their brand.
The style of the show itself had a modern and futuristic feel with bright colors and touches of unique patterns. One of the models, Sawsan Zakaria, owned the runway with a metallic blue look and matching heels. And even though she uses a wheelchair, this didn’t stop her from performing like any other model.
Disco Inferno and 14N1’s show called “More Fashion; Less Gun Violence” was a very close second in my ranking of shows. Disco Inferno and DripOnSociety’s 14N1, hip-hop brands, teamed up to bring an incredible show to New York City’s Housing Projects, the Robert S. Fulton Residences.
Graphic by Lily Werner
elizabeth.werner@marquette.edu
Models of all genders and skin tones walked the urban runway in streetwearbased clothing items. Some of the standout pieces to me featured patches, graffi ti, written messages and Converse All-Stars. The looks had a 90s feel to them and took the brand’s relaxed street style to a new level.
Not only did I love the items featured in the show, but I am a sucker for the positive message behind the clothes. For this
show, one of the brand’s founders, A$AP Illz, said that he wanted to highlight a community where gun violence is prominent through the medium of fashion.
Some shows stand out, but not always for the best reasons. Fendi, a high-end fashion brand, highlighted a solution that I know we all face in our everyday lives. Not enough pockets? Sew a tiny purse into a sock! Problem solved, right? Wrong. There are so many reasons why this tiny purse is far from practical. First, the placement is less than convenient. I would personally rather not bend down to my ankle every time I need a quarter to pay a parking meter. Secondly, the purse is children-sized. What do they think we are going to use this for?
This accessory might be the most impractical addition to the fashion world featured at the event. I do recognize the fact that most of the fashion from fashion week is completely unrealistic, but in those cases, it is just to get a reaction from the audience. I think that Fendi is being serious with this one by bringing this new “trend” to the market.
Whatever the case, New York Fashion Week never fails to spark international conversation as to how the fashion industry is developing and inspiring future fashion. I am excited to see what is brought to the table at the February fashion week Feb. 9-12, and I can only hope no more sock purses make an appearance.
New-Gees become Fugees by pulling an all-nighter
Twelve-hour long improv show takes place outside AMU
By Clara Lebrón
clara.lebrón@marquette.edu
The Fugees call themselves “Marquette’s best and only improv troupe.” Although they have hosted several workshops, fundraisers and shows throughout their history, there is one distinct tradition that separates them from any other group on campus. Although some clubs have initiation rituals, few have one as unique as Marquette’s Studio 13 Refugees: performing in a twelvehourlong improv show. From Sept. 23 to Sept. 24, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m, The Fugees classic rock, a lot of rap, indie could be found outside the and sometimes you just got to AMU performing their annual put Doja Cat on after a hard day,” initiation show.
Bross will continue hotdoggin’ “It’s like a right of passage, we call our new members New-Gees, around the Midwest until and they are New-Gees for the January when she will be full year until they complete their relocated to another part of twelve–hour shows. If you’re the country. Stay up to date not at the twelve–hour show, with her journey on Instagram, you’re a New-Gee for two years,” Cecelia Starks, co-president of the Fugees, said.
None of the members know exactly when the twelve-hour show became a tradition, but it has been commonplace since before all of their entries into the group.
“This past year I was a New-gee, so tonight is my baptism, I guess you can say. I’ve been looking forward to this for an entire year. I can’t wait to spend the next eleven hours with these crazy people,” Arik Zintel, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said.
The improv show consisted of several short-term improv games, often starting with an audience suggestion. A member of the team would ask the audience for an object, occupation, celebrity or major, and the team would then have to create a scene or a quip using the randomly assigned topic.
The games often have raunchy names such as “Sex With Me Is Like-” and “Pornshop” and rely on a quick wit.
Group members explained that the exhaustion from performing can sometimes be compounded by the situational complications that come with performing outside from night to morning.
“Last year there was just a man with bagpipes that started playing in the middle of our set. Just out of nowhere. Our teammate started dancing with him though, it got the juices fl owing again,” Starks said.
Additionally, several Fugees arrived fi ve hours after the offi cial show started. These members are a part of Marquette Theatre’s production of The 25th Putnam Spelling Bee.
“Half of us are doing something crazier than doing improv for 12 hours. These people are rehearsing until 11 p.m., coming here, and then going to another rehearsal tomorrow morning,” Starks said.
Zintel also had an early morning, having helped set up for Acatober Fest, and later performing at the event.
As the show progressed, members marked the passing of hours by presenting paper banners and subsequently running through them. The banners were sprawled with comical phrases and doodles, with the number of the passing hour placed in the middle.
But no matter how many banners were broken, the Fugees did not stop performing from night to day.
Matthew Read, a junior in the College of Communication, detailed his experience after offi cially crossing over from New-
Photo courtesy of Katie Craig katharine.craig@marquette.edu The Brew location at the AMU is the busiest of the fi ve cafes on campus.
Photo by Keifer Russell keifer.russell@marquette.edu The Fugees performed from 6 p.m. Sept. 23 to 6 a.m. Sept. 24.
Gee to Fugee.
“It was really crazy, got pretty delirious at the end but it’s an amazing group of people. We just love doing comedy together so it just works. It is also the only way to go from New-Gee to Fugee so that’s really exciting,” said Read.
The new team will now be hosting workshops to help interested students get comfortable with improv and will return to hosting shows that are less than twelve hours long.
“This is one of the best communities I’m a part of on campus. Even if you’ve never done improv before, it’s defi nitely something to try out. It helps you grow because you have to get out of your comfort zone no matter what,” Zintel said.
