11 minute read
Little Shop
12 entertainment Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018 HORRORS L i t t l e S h o p o F Theater lifts spirits with
Hannah Gross Staff Writer
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A! er a rocky start and signi" cant delays, Little Shop of Horrors opened at NPHS on Nov. 28. # e musical, which ran until Dec. 2, centered around an unassuming plant shop on Skid Row that becomes home to a man eating plant. # e show was an enjoyable experience for both the cast and audience. Celina Kott, senior, played Ronette in cast B. Kott has been involved in theater since her sophomore year.
“# is was probably one of my favorite shows,” Kott said. “It’s an amazing show and we worked tirelessly on it for months.”
Stephanie Zager, sophomore, played Ronette in cast A.
“I knew the show was going to be a lot of fun,” Zager said. “A lot of people can relate to it because it’s really funny and there’s a lot of great moments.”
Although Cali Greenidge, senior, knew many people in the show, she attended the show to show her support of the department.
“I think it is super important to support the arts programs at school. Everyone puts a lot of e$ ort and time into it,” Greenidge said. “My favorite part was watching the puppet. It was so cool to see it come to life.”
Anyone who has seen Little Shop can attest to the amazing puppet, Audrey 2 in the show. Creating Audrey 2 was a complicated task, with several moving parts.
Spooky- Kobe Burton, senior, sings in front of a packed audience as lead character, Seymour Krelborn, in theatre’s production Little Shop of Horrors. “This was probably one of my favorite shows, I’m so happy I was apart of it and I made so many lifelong friends and I love theater,” Celina Kott, senior, said. The Saturday community singa-long of the play donated all money raised from concessions and donations to the Ventura County Community Foundation to support victims of the recent fi res and Borderline tragedies. Aditya Vunnum/Prowler
“# ere are four puppets in total and the whole process took me about " ve months,” Melody Hellard, senior, said.
Although Hellard has been making costumes and acting at NPHS since her freshman year, the Audrey 2 puppets were her most ambitious project.
“I took on the project and planned and created them myself, getting assistance along the way from my family, Mr. Atkins, who taught me about wood and power tools, and tech theater who was there when I needed to split up small tasks,” Hellard said. “It has always been something I wanted to do, but I never had a reason to do them before now.”
In addition to creating the puppets, Hellard also acted in the musical.
“I play Chi$ on in the show,” Hellard said. “It is a super fun role to play because there is a lot of singing involved and I get to be in almost every number and essentially watch the show from onstage.” Despite the delay, preparation for Little Shop of Horrors was underway long before opening night. “We start basically within the " rst week of school,” Craig Hastings, head of costumes for the department, senior, said. Originally opening night was set for Nov. 9. However, a! er the " res broke out, the show’s schedule underwent major shi! s. # e cast made the most of the situation, taking the opportunity to help the community. A portion of each night’s proceeds went towards providing aid to those a$ ected by the " res and events at borderline. On Dec. 1, the cast held a free bene" t night, and donated all proceeds generated by food sales to victims. # e event included karaoke, a sing-along and photo opportunities with Audrey 2.
“What really stands out to me with the show is how resilient everyone has been with everything that’s going on,” Craig Hastings, said.
In these challenging times the show brought joy to audiences, while helping the community in the process.
Christina Borisoff Staff Writer
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Because a! er watching the movie I’ve been % oating around in ecstacy. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a foot-stomping tribute to Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer, Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), who de" ed all stereotypes and made Queen one of the most legendary bands of all time. # e biopic is an incredible testimonial to the charming nostalgia of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Malek did an amazing job in capturing the % amboyant, eccentric side of Freddie Mercury, who we tearfully witness struggling with depression and AIDS, which eventually leads him to rejecting his band in pursuit of a solo career. During this time, he is fueled by partying, drugs, alcohol and sex.
However, for many Queen connoisseurs like myself, the script didn’t quite show audiences the tortured genius that Mercury truly was, and crucial details about Mercury’s life were changed in order to " t the format and dramatic elements for the movie. For instance, in the movie Mercury manages to track down his love interest, come out to his parents and perform in one of the most televised concerts all in one day, when in reality the sequence happened over a greater period of time. Nevertheless, real life events are o! en over-exaggerated in order to make movies more appealing and easier to follow to a mainstream audience.
Something I commend the writers for is making the characters relatable, despite being literal rockstars. Freddy Mercury is lovably awkward, even as he rises up the ladders into stardom. Malek really makes his struggles seem genuine, while at the same time staying true to his rather quirky unrelatable personality.
# e end of the movie leaves audiences teary-eyed when against all odds, Mercury managed to play with Queen again at one of the most famous concerts in history, Live Aid, with an estimated two billion people tuning in on television -- in a sense curbing the limitations of AIDS until he ultimately succumbed to the syndrome.
Despite its meager % aws, like its timeline inaccuracies, the electrifying soundtrack transformed “Bohemian Rhapsody” from an average movie to a stand-out from other movies this year with its obvious % awless soundtrack. With audiences bobbing their heads, stomping their feet and screaming the lyrics to every song, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a movie that “Will Rock You” everytime.
entertainment 13 Panther Prowler • Dec. 7, 2018 “The Hate U Give” movie is almost as good as the book
Sarah Lu Photographer
Emily Augustine/Prowler
“! e Hate U Give” delves into a hot topic in today’s day and age - police brutality. We o" en see this on social media, like police tackling someone to the ground or cases about police shooting unarmed people, but what we rarely see is the victim’s perspective. ! is book shows us.
I started and # nished the book in one day. I haven’t read like that since freshman year, because normally I don’t have enough time to, but this time I could not put the book down. ! e book focuses around the life of an African American high school girl, Starr Carter, who lives in the ‘ghettos’ but goes to a wealthy prep school. ! ere is a distinct line between her life at school and her life at home. However, this all changes when her childhood best friend, Khalil Harris, is shot and killed by a police o$ cer who mistook a hairbrush for a gun. As the only witness, Starr is encouraged to speak out. However, by doing this, she could be putting her and her family’s lives in danger. ! e characters were described in such a way that sometimes I would be pleased with them, but other times I would have to put the book down and take a break because I couldn’t handle how they acted. ! e characters’ decisions either made me want to jump up with joy or scream out in frustration. One page would have me congratulating Starr on her decision, and the next would have me asking, “Why would you do that?” It was quite an emotional roller coaster for me.
I watched the movie a" er reading the book, so I knew much of what was going to happen throughout the movie. However, that didn’t stop me from being startled when hearing the sound of gunshots echoing through the speakers, or being angry when Starr denied knowing Khalil.
I usually prefer books to movies, but there is only so much that your mind can make up. Having a visual interpretation of the book enhanced the whole story for me. I could imagine what it would look like when Khalil got shot, but to actually see it made everything seem so much more real. Watching Starr stand up to her so-called friend made me feel very empowered and proud of the Starr’s decision. ! e speeches that Starr made during the movie and the book were both very emotional, but hearing it out loud made it much more so.
However, there were a couple of problems I had with the movie. I felt like the movie in a way, justi# ed the cop shooting Khalil. ! e reason why Khalil was shot in the movie was because there was a hairbrush in his hand and he was in the motion of combing his hair when the cop thought he saw a gun. On the contrary, in the book, Khalil is opening the door to check on Starr when he gets shot. ! ere is no mention of a hairbrush until later. In addition, right a" er Khalil is shot, in the book the cop then turns his gun on Starr. ! is is one of the main points that Starr uses in her interview on television about what happened, but in the movie it is glanced over. ! is was a very important part of the book, because a cop kept his gun on an unarmed girl who’s best friend was just killed. ! e main message of the story goes back to the meaning of the title, “! e Hate U Give.” In both the movie and the book, Tupac is referred to, especially his saying, “T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E.”- ! e Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everyone. And in the movie, the director really chose to show that. At the end of the movie, there is much con% ict when a gang leader starts # ghting with Starr’s dad. When he reaches for his gun, he # nds out that his youngest son had pulled it out and is pointing it at the gang leader, showing that “T.H.U.G.L.I.F.E.” really is true.
I de# nitely recommend reading both the book and watching the movie. ! ere are some parts of the book that are not included in the movie, so it is nice to not miss some of the details, and the movie makes the story much more emotional. Reading the book and watching the movie opens people’s eyes to unreported situations in some communities. What’s more, is that something like this could happen in real life. ! is is not just a story.
Fun Box is not that fun
Brian Fang Staff Writer
! e Fun Box is a collection of art installations that have a vibrant and youthful aesthetic. Open for just a short time in the Oaks Mall, many people have taken the opportunity to visit the establishment to add photos to their family albums by posing in front of sparkling backdrops or interacting with props. ! is is all while supporting local foster care charities, as a portion of the proceeds are donated. As such, the foundation has stirred up quite a buzz, with many members of our community reporting dazzling reviews and giving positive feedback. In the end, I thought I’d check it out myself. It’s too bad I can’t say I was nearly impressed.
My experience did not start o& strong. Upon arrival I was greeted by a lady at the front door asking for 17 dollars. I could only think about how the entry cost into some famous art museums, like LACMA, aren’t even that high. Of course, I’m not opposed to supporting charity, as I believe it is worthwhile to help foster care agencies, however, the consequence of the high price was a high expectation that I had for the installations. ! e # rst installation was full of pink, upright, human-sized crayons that carve a path towards the next installation. Along the sides of the path were objects such as a swing set clearly for small children and a teeter totter bench (both of which were areas to take photographs). At # rst, I thought perhaps my unphotogenic face was the reason why I did not enjoy my experience, but over time I realized that the establishment simply wasn’t appropriate for my age group. ! is was opposed to the advertising on the foundation’s website, which stated that it makes “adults feel like they are # ve again.”
Further installations continued to have the same e& ect. Attempting to create a hip and modern atmosphere, I can’t help but feel that they utterly failed. ! ere was a level of tackiness in the installations, with scaled emojis, a Fortnite reference and a noodle tube tunnel. ! ere was a rainbow throne, a balloon # lled cage and a giant cereal ball pit. It just felt corny. ! e fact that many employees just conversed with each other or were on their phones did not help either.
Overall, the Fun Box simply isn’t my type of fun. However, if you are extroverted and love taking photos to add to the memory books, the Fun Box might be worth seeing before it closes down on Dec. 31, but otherwise the only upside is supporting a good cause.
