The Michigan Daily --- michigandaily.com
Friday, November 16, 2012 - 5
PERFORMANCE PREVIEW FOOD COLUMN
Perfect turkey requires
the rgt temperature
Though praising and
bashing the eats in Ann
Arbor is my customary
modus operandi, I'm shifting
course a bit this time around
in honor of
Turkey Day.
Join me as I
mix together
a few family
favorites, a
blue ribbon
culinary
technique or NATHAN
two and some WOOD
real deal tips
and tricks
that - served with a pinch of
sarcasm - will have you cook-
ing up the perfect Thanksgiving
dinner in no time. In this sec-
ond installment of my five-part
Thanksgiving series, we're fin-
ishing up the star of the spread:
the turkey.
Last time, we prepared our
bird for baking by brining, but-
tering and-seasoning it and pre-
heating our oven to 450 degrees.
Now it's time to get that turkey
a cookin'. Open the oven door,
shove it in (uncovered!) and
immediately dial down the
temperature to 350 degrees.
You see, we want the bird to
immediately hit that scorch-
ing 450-degree heat to get the'
compound butter browning
the skin, but the bird will burn
on the outside if cooked at this
temperature until the meat
is 160 degrees on the inside.
So instead, we'll let the oven
equilibrate down to the lower
temperature while the butter
browns the skin at the higher
temperature. Clever, eh?
The rule of thumb is to.
then
cook th
per pou
be able,
three h
utes, an
afterwa
key fror
breastn
drippin
pan. WI
- withi
cooks fa
to preve
becomi
as the d
we bast
process
a
Th
Now,
the turk
cooking
reach o
the thre
whethe
keep an
that cat
turkey.)
pops up
meat in
reached
perfect.
know if
reached
separat
eter.
If, up
tore, yo
160
AeX
e turkey for 12 minutes golden (as the turkey should be,
nd, meaning we should too). Pull the turkey out of the
to pull the bird out after oven and give yourself a pat on
ours. Starting at 45 min- the back. If the dark meat is not
d for every 45 minutes yet 160 degrees, though, don't
ird, briefly remove the tur- fret. Pull out some aluminum
m the oven and baste the foil and wrap the breasts and
neat with the stock and wings in it. This will prevent
gs from the bottom of the the white meat from cooking
hy? Because white meat too much more as the dark meat
its lesser fat content - cooks freely up to temperature.
aster than dark meat. So, Leave the meat thermometer
ent the white meat from in the thigh and pop the turkey
ng overcooked and dry back in the oven until it reads
ark meat cooks properly, 160 degrees.
e it to slow its cooking After baking, let the turkey sit
. at room temperature for 15 min-
utes. This is another crucial yet
oft-overlooked step. If you were
to immediately begin carving the
T e kturkey upon its removal from the
oven, all of the delicious turkey
juices would spill out, resulting
tanksgiving. ina dry turkey. And since nobody
wants that, and you've put so
much work into developing those
juices thus far, just let it be for a
because we have brined few minutes.
key beforehand and are After those 15 grueling min-
it without stuffing, it may utes have passed, the turkey has
ptimal temperature before locked in its juices and is ready
e-hour mark. To gauge to be carved.
r or notthis is the case, Somehow, my dad is the one
eye on the pop-up timer who always ends up carving
ne prepackaged with your the turkey in our family. It's the
As soon as that timer only reason he really ever enters
,we know that the breast into the kitchen all year, save
which it is embedded has for the late-night and Saturday
1160 degrees - turkey afternoon football runs to the
The only way we will junk food cupboard. Anyway,
'the dark meat has also if you ask me, he shouldn't be
1160 degrees is to test it trusted with an electric knife,
ely with a meat thermom- so I always find somewhere else
to be while he carves the turkey.
on checking its tempera- And for that reason, I have no
u find it has also reached advice to give on the subject.
degrees, you're Try YouTube, I guess.
And that, my friends, is
my advice on how to cook the
perfect turkey, the staple of
Thanksgiving dinners across
America. But we're far from fin-
P R T ishing our perfect Turkey Day
)of spread. Search for my beautiful
headshot in Monday's Daily
to see how we're going to use
that leftover broth and those
pan drippings, as well as a few
surprise ingredients, to whip up
turkey gravy fit for the gods.
To maintain authenticity, costume designers for the show only used materials that would have existed inthe 1960s
MUSK T to r
Tony- winning Classic
'Hairspray' to use
costumes to set
time and place
By ARIELLE SPECINER
Daily Arts Writer
"Hairspray," this semester's
MUSKET performance, is a spar-
kling, stylish stage production
with as much
heart as there .s
are sequins. Harspray
Full, floral Friday and
and flowing Saturday at
skirts dance 8 p.m.and
around the Sunday at
Power Center 2p.m.
stage. Lines of
Converse " and Power Center
Ked shoes twist From $7
and shout to
the latest tunes.
Men's shirts are neatly pressed,
tucked into their waist-high
slacks. And without the actors'
saying a word, the audience is
transported back to the 1960s.
The time is 1962 and the place
is Baltimore. Tracy Turnblad, a
turbulent teen with a thirst for
fame, fashion and racial integra-
tion (According to the character,
"it's the new frontier"), turns
the entire town around with her
charm, dance moves and hair-
do.
The '60s were a time of fast-
changing fashion. They were
also a time of image fixation and
racial segregation. "Hairspray"
combines all of that into a full-
length production representa-
tive of the era. The show, in
true theatric fashion, adds some
glamour and whimsy to the peri-
od's not-so-innocent presence.
Yet "Hairspray" proves there
is more to a show than high-
kicks and vocal runs. Winning
a Tony Award in 2003 for Best
Costume Design, the production
tells a story through wardrobe
along with musical numbers.
"Costume goes hand-in-hand
with realizing the importance of
the'decade and what it says about
the real message of the show,"
said Gideon Levinson, an LSA
freshman who embodies Edna
Turnblad in the show.
According to Business sopho-
more Hillary Ginsberg, who
plays Tracy Turnblad, costumes
give a sense of time of day, tran-
sitions and how significant a plot
point is.
MUSKET is one of the largest
student production groups at the
University.
Because of their time con-
straint and smaller design unit,
the costumer designers must
buy and rent a large portion of
the outfits for the production.
By adding embellishments and
altering the pieces, designers cre-
ate a unique look and feel to the
production.
The costumes are also impor-
tant when introducing a char-
acter. There is a scene in which
the "Nicest Kids in Town" are
introduced and Amber Von Tus-
sle, the Corny Collin's show's
self-absorbed star, struts out in
a skirt significantly fuller than
others onstage. The silhouette
is larger and much more notice-
able. Through this, the audience
learns she's a central and egocen-
tric character.
School of Music, Theatre &
Dance Sophoiore, Macken-
zie Orr, who plays Link Larkin,
agreed that costume has a big
effect on how the audience views
a character.
"A lot of times it says a lot
about who the character is out-
side of the spoken lines," he said.
"It adds another layer of under-
standing for an audience or any-
body who is watching."
When it comes to a show as
bold and bright as "Hairspray,"
costume choice is an intricate
process, especially when the
director and costume direc-
tors aim to create a realistic but
equally entertaining world.
"We have struck a very nice
balance between painting a real-
istic picture but then staying
true to some of the bigger than
life, larger than life moments in
the show," said MT&D senior
and director of the show, Will
DeCamp. "So we haven't sacri--
ficed any of the volume."
Style was of the utmost impor-
tance - especially to the Bal-
timore youth of the time. This
notion was utilized in choosing
and designing outfits for the pro-
duction.
The costume designers and
director's goal was to stay as true
to the time period as possible
through costume. Lantz even
goes so far as selecting materi-
als that were around in the '60s.
She explained that they chose
not to use stretchy fabrics such
as spandex because they weren't
invented yet.
"That's why we keep com-
ing back to 'this looks great, we
totally love this, but it's not total-
ly true to the year'," Lantz said.
The looks in "Hairspray" not
only communicate the what and
where of the story, but also intro-
duce and intensify major events.
Lantz even believes that as the
story evolves so does the fashion.
The girls start the perfor-
mance in full skirts and perfectly
pressed blouses. But as the ideas
in the production progress to
accepting people for who they
are and ending racial segrega-
tion, so do the styles. Eventu-
ally the fashion transforms into
sleeker and sexier silhouettes.
DeCamp says that the outfits
that the actors wear represent
parts of the story.
"We're building and build-
ing and building until we have
this culminating moment where
the costumes are just fabulous,"
he said. "But also it's this cul-
minating moment in the story
where we kind of bridge the gap
between two races and two com-
munities that have been so divid-
ed over the course of the rest of
the musical."
Costumes are not only for the
audience's enjoyment, but are
just as important to the actors.
"Its always so surprising how
much more of the character you
feel like when you put on a cos-
tume," Orr said.
For actors, putting on a cos-
tume helps them transform into
the person they're supposed
to be. For Levinson, it not only
transforms him into who the
character is, but what the charac-
ter is - a mother.
"Hairspray" camps it up by
having Tracy's hefty mother
portrayed by a man. It's surely
meant for comic relief, but for
the actor playing the role, com-
edy is not the first thing on his
mind.
Levinson says the costumes
are necessary for him to get into
character and let it all out.
"It's one thing to shimmy
when you're dancing, but when
you're shimmying with big
boobs, it's much easier to go
crazy," he said.
The costumes parallel the
exhilaration of "Hairspray" 's big
and bold, Broadway-sized num-
bers. Songs such as "You Can't
Stop the Beat" exude but also
bring the audience down to earth
with everyday wear in the less
spectacular times. They also show
an importance and personality of
a character before the story can.
But mostly, the costumes from
"Hairspray" want to welcome us
to the '60s.
Wood will share his juicy
gravy secrets in the next
installment of the series
Truth in 'The D etailIs'
By CONRAD FOREMAN
For the Daily
Damn raccoons; somehow
these furry little bastards ruin
just about
everything. In
"The Details,"
these pests Ile Dets
manage to be
responsible for AttheState
multiple infi-
delities, a preg- Weinstein
nancy and a
murder. Can't they just leave our
lawns alone?
Frustrated and generally
unhappy with his marriage, Jeff
Lang (Tobey Maguire, "Spider-
Man") is driven to cheat on his
wife (Elizabeth Banks, "Zack
and Miri Make a Porno") after
an argument aboutthe raccoons.
From there, "The Details" heads
down a twisted path that finds
Jeff dealing with a neighbor off
her rocker, watching $75,000
of his own money rain off of a
bridge, donating a kidney and
fantasizing about murder via
bow and arrow, ending with Jeff
facing the daunting task of own-
ing up to his actions and accept-
ing the consequences.
At one point, a piano literally
falls on Maguire's head. There
couldn't be a better metaphor for
what he experiences through-
out the film, except perhaps,
for Maguire stepping in front
of an 18-wheeler. Jeff willfully
places himself in self-defeating
situations, which are doomed to
spawn poor results. His inability
to give up his efforts to deceive
the ones around him makes him
a flawed yet refreshingly real
character. Jeff suffers from the
human tendency to continue to
The Amazing Pie-derman.
dig when we find ourselves in a leads to another until he's elbow-
hole, which, while frustrating deep in his own deception and
as hell in real life, makes for a guilt. Only when Jeff acknowl-
character that the audience can edges his mistakes and comes
relate to. clean is a happy ending to this
story even remotely possible.
"The Details" is a very enter-
D c n taining film, causing cringes,
Raccoons laughs, but most importantly, a
really suck, connection with the characters
throughout. The actors portray
their characters with conviction
and emotion, the director (Jacob
The film features several Aaron Estes, "Mean Creek")
impressive supporting perfor- does an admirable job taking the
mances. Laura Linney (TV's "The audience inside the minds of the
Big C") steals the show as Jeff's characters, and the score by Tom
crazy neighbor, whose eccentric Hajdu and Anidy Milburn (also
behavior and general weirdness of "Mean Creek") creates ten-
provide for much of the film's sion and establishes a dark tone,
comedy. For example, she shows which beautifully fits the film
Jeff her recently deceased cat, while still highlighting the come-
which she keeps in her fridge. die undertones.
Despite his limited screen time, "The Details" delivers a strong
Ray Liotta ("Goodfellas") stands message in an entertaining fash-
out due to a heartfelt speech advo- ion. It's not a light-hearted or
cating claiming responsibility for uplifting film, but it is definitely
one's mistakes. worth seeing. So sure, raccoons
At its core, that is the message ruin lawns, raid trash and frus-
of "The Details." Jeff's problems trate homeowners, but their
continue to escalate because of his actions can lead to a pretty enjoy-
inability to tell the truth: One lie able movie.