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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA
3 The Prowl going FM USA’s student-run radio station prepares to go FM and broadcast to the city of Mobile.
Inside 5 Review: Satori open mic Local coffee shop provides a judgment-free outlet for performers.
MONDAY AUG. 15 2016 Vol 59 ISS 2
7 USA football talks season Players and coaches confident in winning season despite last year’s performance.
NEWS
USA alumni directs videos for Broadway star Lily Webb on stage at the Distinguished Young Women scholarship performance. Photo courtesy of Lily Webb.
Life
Leslie Odom Jr. sings into his microphone in the “Autumn Leaves” music video. Photo by Simon Reinert.
Student spotlight: Lily Webb
By Alanna Whitaker | Managing Editor
By Meg McDowell | Copy Editor
Reinert is enjoying a career S imon boom that’s only a shadow of a dream for most college students. Reinert, a University of South Alabama alumni, has come a long way since his days as a photo editor for The Vanguard – he’s in New York City fresh off filming a music video for an award-winning Broadway actor. He said his crash course in commercial video began five years ago with a small internship that propelled him to the Big Apple, where his networking paid off earlier this year. A mutual friend introduced Reinert to Leslie Odom Jr., a Tony Award-winning Broadway actor and singer, who starred
in a lead role for the Broadway show “Hamilton.” The Grammy Award-winning Broadway show, “Hamilton,” blends hip-hop and the history of the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Odom, who stars as Vice President Aaron Burr, wanted a documentary filmed to memorialize the opening night for himself and the other cast members. “Leslie asked my friend to film a documentary,” Reinert said. “He didn’t have time to shoot it, so my friend contacted me.” “I hadn’t been to a Broadway show before, and I didn’t know anything about ‘Hamilton,’” he continued. “I went into this
job pretty oblivious to the inevitable fame this show would have. That may be why Leslie and I got along so well.” The six-minute documentary captured the surreal energy of the night from beginning to end. In one scene, an awestruck actor stands before the grandeur of the eerily empty theater. The next moment, A-list actors like Denzel Washington and Laverne Cox make their way into the theater, and the film concludes with a lavish afterparty befit for Hollywood stars. In a Rolling Stone interview, Odom described working with Reinert as a “fun and collaborative experience,” and the two
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the University of South W hile Alabama has many students that are from Mobile or commute from nearby cities, USA also has its share of out of city, out of state, and out of country students as well. Lily Webb, an incoming freshman and theatre major, Distinguished Young Women scholarship recipient and Whiddon Scholar, is one of those students, born in Seattle, Washington, and traveling all the way from Waterville, Maine, to attend USA. “I found South through the Distinguished Young Women cholarship
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