The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, April 13, 2017 — 5

SMTD’s ‘Mermaid’ lends 
voice and scales to Power

Courtesy of SMTD’s Musical Theatre Department

SMTD to put on “The Little Mermaid” this weekend at the Power Center

The musical theatre department to put on acclaimed musical

The optimistic mermaid, the 

singing crab, the goofy flounder 
and the ominous octopus: the 
story and music of Disney’s 
classic “The Little Mermaid” has 
made a home for itself on VHS 
shelves everywhere. The timeless 
tale, filled with energy, vibrancy 
and thrill, will take its aquatic 
adventure from the screen to the 
stage with a production by SMTD’s 
Musical Theatre Department this 
weekend.

The Hans Christian Anderson 

tale made its way to Broadway in 
2008, where the musical firmly 
followed the same plot as the 1989 
Disney version.

As a story solely experienced 

through words and film before 
2008, a keen eye was needed in 
order to create the adaptation 
and bring it to life. Director and 
Choreographer of the show, and 
SMTD Associate Professor of 
Musical Theatre Linda Goodrich, 
described her experience working 
with children’s animation and 
how she applied those experiences 
to the University’s production.

“I 
worked 
on 
several 

Nickelodeon 
shows 
including 

Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer 
and employed similar processes 
in finding human characteristics 
for animals, use of puppetry and 
and vocabulary to create different 
environments,” Goodrich wrote 
in an email interview. “I feel very 
at home and delight in this kind of 
creation.”

Although 
“Mermaid” 
is 
a 

children’s story being performed 
at a university, it raises the 
concepts of maturity and coming 
of age. Goodrich found that one 
of the most difficult parts of 
directing the show was “finding 
the humanity and conflict in all 
of the characters while keeping 
the fun and humor of the animal 

world.”

Other than the well-know, 

catchy songs “Under the Sea” 
and “Kiss the Girl,” Goodrich 
additionally touched on the other 
major aspects of the musical, 
presenting more than just an 
elaborate and innocent children’s 
adventure.

“There are many very relevant 

themes in the show that I brought 
out as the director, but need to 
deliver them with whimsy and 
magic. For example, the conflict 
of a young girl/mermaid, whose 
mother was killed, whose father 
is trying to hold on to her, who has 
found love that is forbidden in her 
world, wanting to 
leave home –– while 
creating the physical 
world of a swimming 
mermaid,” 
she 

wrote.

Substantiating the 

idea of connecting 
adult 
themes 

to 
a 
children’s 

show, 
SMTD 

junior Sarah Lynn 
Marion 
described 

her 
perspective 

on 
playing 
the 

antagonist 
Ursula, 

who is one of the 
older characters in 
the play.

“She 
has 
a 

different backstory 
in the stage version,” 
Marion said. “She has an additional 
song that gives a little more detail 
about her family life, explaining 
a bit more about why she is the 
way she is … she’s not just some 
big scary octopus ... she’s broken, 
troubled, and misunderstood.”

Applying what she previously 

knew about the villain and 
what she learned throughout 
the process of playing the role, 
Marion discovered that Ursula 
not only taught her about how she 
personally perceives herself, but 
also the connection between the 

actress and a character with such 
a dynamic and dramatic persona.

“I 
really 
struggled 
with 

allowing myself to be as confident, 
body-positive, and powerful as she 
is, but the explorative and creative 
rehearsal process really allowed 
Ursula to dwell in me. Diving more 
and more into the many layers 
of her, I feel like she’s given me 
more confidence, body-positivity, 
and power on and off the stage,” 
Marion added.

By dissecting the characters’ 

personalities 
and 
backstories, 

designing over-the-top costumes 
and sets and overall interweaving 
creativity from the stage to the 

audience, 
the 

aspects of “The 
Little Mermaid” 
come 
together 

to 
create 
one 

overarching 
lesson: find your 
voice.

“The 

wonderful thing 
about 
Disney 

shows is that there 
are such a range 
of 
characters 

and 
points 
of 

view that every 
audience member 
of any age has 
someone that they 
can relate to … In 
this show almost 
every 
character 

is searching for their place in life 
and how to express themselves,” 
Goodrich explained. “There is a 
very literal message in this show 
of finding and asserting yourself in 
life: finding your voice and owning 
who you are.”

SMTD’s 
closing 
season 

performance 
of 
“The 
Little 

Mermaid” creates a space in which 
audience members can return 
to their childhood, the high-sea 
adventure of love, song and magic 
or even experience the journey in a 
new, mature light.

ERIKA SHEVCHEK

Daily Community Culture Editor

“The Little 

Mermaid”

Power Center

April 13th @ 7:30 

P.M.

April 14th & 15th @ 

8 P.M.

April 15th & 16th @ 

2 P.M.

$26-32

$12 students w/ ID 

Courtesy of M-agination

Student films were put on last Wednesday by M-agination
The M-agination Fest a 
diverse celebration of film

Student films presented at the Michigan vary in creativity

The movies of the M-agination 

Student 
Film 
Festival 
were 

hilarious, 
touching, 
beautiful, 

simple, filled with dumb jokes, 
kind 
of 
embarrassing, 
and 

delightful — all at the same time. 
The festival brought 16 films to 
a packed audience in the main 
screening room of the Michigan 
Theater, each of them made with 
clear enthusiasm and love for the 
craft.

The festival kicked off with 

“Cheater,” directed by LSA Junior 
Mike Boctor, which depicted with 
weird and wonderful accuracy 
the weird lengths people will 
go to to cheat on a test. Action 
movie music was used, people got 
stabbed in the eyes with pencils, 
the audience was shaking with 
laughter. Then there was the 
deeply strange “Jam,” directed by 
LSA Sophomore Gabriel Wolfe, 
about a serial killer who drank 

blood only the blood was jam. 
I think any more explanation 
would undercut the absurdist 
hilarity of the film, so we’ll leave 
it at that.

The highlight of the festival, 

though, was “Anna Garcia Does 
a One Woman Play,” directed 
by SMTD Senior Anna Garcia. 
It tells the story of the highly 
intense, 
overbearing 
and 

imaginative Anna Garcia as she 
browbeats her friends to come 
see her one-woman show. Filmed 
with a careful eye for well-framed 
shots, colorful and soft lighting, 
and edited with a precise sense of 
comic timing, “Anna Garcia” was 
just a genuinely good story. Not 
just good for a student film, but 
honestly engaging and well-told. 
The audience seemed to agree 
and greeted the film with wild 
applause.

There were some more somber 

outings as well — the beautifully 
filmed, 
voice-over 
heavy 

meditation on loneliness and 
youth as it relates to college that 

was LSA Junior Dylan Hancook’s 
“Millennia”; the tense exploration 
of a miserable relationship in 
LSA Senior Nikita Mungarwadi’s 
“Cracked”; and LSA Senior Clare 
Higgins’ experimental “Origins.” 
Some 
dabbled 
in 
classic 

genre constructions, like the 
meandering but well-intentioned 
sci-fi epidemic movie “CRISPR/
Cas-4,” directed by Engineering 
Junior Michael Mitchell Jr. Some 
films landed better than others, 
as expected, but since the festival 
was the result of a diverse and 
creative group of filmmakers, 
there was truly something for 
everyone.

As 
a 
celebration 
of 
the 

creativity and drive of a talented 
group of people, the M-agination 
Film Festival was undeniably a 
success. The room was filled with 
an enthusiastic and receptive 
audience who gave every movie 
its 
deserved 
attention. 
They 

laughed, 
they 
cheered, 
they 

sighed — and a good time was had 
by all.

ASIF BECHER
Daily Arts Writer

Unexpected gratitude and 
its importance in our lives

Columnist Bailey Kadian discusses the intracacies and 
expectations of being grateful for both the simple and big

The 
importance 
of 

expressing gratitude is perhaps 
more effectively shown than 
it is discussed, though I hope 
in bringing up the relevance 
of 
gratitude, 
we 
will 
feel 

encouraged to instigate change. 
The 
practice 
of 
constantly 

expressing our thankfulness 
for the circumstances of our 
lives and the people in our lives 
is lacking, and I believe this is 
because we all think there isn’t 
an apparent need to do so. To 
go out of our way to express 
how 
someone’s 

contributions 
to 
our 
lives 

have 
benefitted 

us 
seems 
— 

sentimental; in a 
way that we are 
not 
willing 
to 

offer very often, 
if at all.

We choose to 

thank 
someone 

if we are able to 
directly 
benefit 

or advance some 
other 
objective. 

It rarely happens 
solely for the sake 
of 
expressing 

deserved thanks 
to 
another 

person.

I’m sure many 

of you are aware that expressing 
gratitude actually carries a 
multitude of health benefits 
like 
increased 
optimism, 

stronger 
relationships 
and 

increased 
positivity 
toward 

upcoming 
short-term 
and 

long-term trials. I don’t think I 
should reduce the importance 
of gratitude to simply a benefit 
to your health.

I 
wish 
to 
discuss 
its 

importance so that hopefully 
it transforms from something 
that you maybe just think about 
to 
something 
that 
actually 

becomes instinctual.

Instead of just expecting, it 

should be a habit to thank. I see 
this most beautifully practiced 
in younger children. I volunteer 
at an elementary school in 

Detroit 
every 

Friday, and for 
the entire year 
I have worked 
with the same 
group of about 
five 
students. 

Last 
week 

was 
my 
last 

week 
working 

with 
them, 

and they were 
overwhelmingly 
grateful for the 
time I had spent 
with 
them. 
A 

few 
students 

saved up some 
money to buy 
me 
chocolate, 

they wrote me 
poems, 
notes, 

cards — all of 

this as an outpour of thanks for 
coming in to assist in reading 
and writing.

Why is it that kids know to 

do this, but many of us who are 
older fail to express our praise? 
Children act as though they 

are naturally prone to express 
thanks, maybe because they 
are more dependent on the 
guidance and help from others. 
While evaluating gratitude on 
a larger scale, I have come to 
realize that some of the most 
privileged and most successful 
are also the most unwilling 
to give thanks. Instead, they 
credit themselves. They think: 
“I’m the reason I have made it 
to this place and I’m the one to 
thank.”

It moves me to see that 

children are humble enough to 
greet me with grace and praise 
simply because they 
want to. For them, it is 
instinctual.

When 
I 
was 
a 

senior in high school, 
I applied to be the 
commencement 
speaker 
for 
my 

graduation 
and 

wrote 
a 
speech 

that expressed this 
sentiment. 
Among 

the 
competition 
of 

all of the students who wanted 
to leave our senior class with 
some 
inspirational 
send-off, 

I was not selected to give my 
gratitude talk a go.

My 
speech 
was 
derived 

from this statement: “Before 
we graduate and move on 
to the next chapter of our 
lives, we have look back with 
appreciation and thanks to 
those who got us here.”

Maybe some of you have just 

begun your college journey. 

Others of you are on your way 
out. Maybe you’re reading this 
far removed from your life in 
college. Look at where you 
are right now, at this point 
in your life, and think about 
every single person who made 
it possible to be here. Some of 

the obvious figures 
that come to mind are 
parents, 
educators 

and mentors. But in 
further consideration, 
I think of many more 
people.

I have to consider 

those who maintain 
the 
facilities 
that 

make it possible for me 
to enjoy everything 
this University has 
to offer. The people 

who were willing to write me 
recommendation letters, which 
gave me the opportunity to apply 
to some amazing programs. 
People I see everyday, like my 
peers, who have given me advice 
and support, as well as friends in 
graduate school who constantly 
offer me insight to what their 
experiences are like, helping me 
to make decisions toward my 
own future.

While considering all who 

have made it possible for you to 

be where you are — I ask that 
before your gaze becomes too 
fixed on what is ahead, look 
back and consider how their 
contributions have allowed for 
your advancement. 

This 
isn’t 

a 
ridiculous 

request — there 
are 
moments 

when 
we 
see 

this 
practice 

in our culture. 
When you watch 
an award show, 
every 
single 

person 
who 

wins something 
walks up to the 
microphone 
and 
profusely 

thanks everyone 
who 
helped 

him or her on 
the 
journey 

to 
success. 
If 

any 
of 
those 

individuals 
walked up to the 
microphone and said: “Thank 
you, I want to thank myself 
and my talent for winning this 
award,” the audience would 
likely be outraged. They would 
think: “How dare this person 
take 
such 
credit 
for 
their 

accomplishment?”

Maybe your success isn’t as 

publicized, but the expectation 
to express gratitude still exists. 
If you walk around thinking 
that you don’t owe anyone 

thanks, 
or 
that 

it isn’t necessary 
to express it, you 
are 
the 
person 

grabbing 
your 

trophy 
and 

thanking yourself.

Many of you are 

exceptional people 
on your way to 
abundant success. 
Don’t fool yourself 
into 
thinking 

you’ve reached a 
certain point that 
no longer requires 
you 
to 
humbly 

thank those who 
have 
contributed 

to such a life.

What I wasn’t 

able to say to the 

senior class of 2014, I will send 
you off with now: As you look 
ahead, make sure to also look 
back, for the people behind you 
are very much responsible for 
getting you to where you now 
stand. 

BAILEY 
KADIAN

DAILY COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

It moves me to 
see that children 

are humble 

enough to greet 
me with grace 

and praise 

simply because 

they want to

Hopefully it 

transforms from 
something that 
you maybe just 
think about to 
something that 
actually becomes 

instinctual

STUDENT FILM REVIEW
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW