By Roger and Kathy Wienberg
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/18/18
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
10/18/18
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018
ACROSS
1 Cartman on
“South Park”
5 John follower
9 European
farewell
14 Default takeback
15 Formal
agreement
16 Two-time
Argentine
president
17 Famous __
18 Keys for Elton
20 They may be
added to soup
22 Tennis’ Open __
23 Smooth-talking
24 Fight
28 “25” album
maker
30 Federal URL
ending
31 Lennon’s lady
32 Recognition
event
36 Prop for Frosty
38 Crown installer’s
org.
39 Short strings?
40 Camp activities
45 Inventor’s
monogram
46 Head for Vegas?
47 Carpenter’s joint
49 Like Justice
League
members
51 Stub __
53 Stroke that
doesn’t count
55 Vegas device
used literally
in three puzzle
answers
58 Prime hotel time
61 Assessment
62 Comforting
words
63 Support at sea
64 Destructive
Greek god
65 Genres
66 Watch pair?
67 Sly attention-
getter
DOWN
1 Rub out
2 Rider on a shark
3 Audio system
connector
4 Cuban thing
5 Hotter
6 Color named
for a sea
animal
7 Detective role for
Beatty
8 Cleaning area
9 Say yes
10 Reason-based
faith
11 Lyricist
Gershwin
12 Many ages
13 Mattel game
since 1992
19 Furnishings and
such
21 Root beer
alternative
25 Proprietors for
word lovers
26 Diarist Frank
27 Elves’ output
29 Ram fans?
30 Camping stuff
33 Root beer since
1937
34 Epidemic-
fighting agcy.
35 You won’t
see one at
Westminster
36 Trail
37 Requiem Mass
hymn word
41 They’re assumed
42 Mother-of-pearl
43 Bottom lines
44 Feudal estate
48 John Wick
portrayer
50 Natural clay
pigment
51 Evaluate
52 More of that
54 Secret
rendezvous
56 Title for Helen
Mirren
57 Flutter
58 Baseball stat
59 Standoffish
60 Mountain pass
COMMUNITY CULTURE PROFILE
I would be lying if I did not
say that at first, I felt intimidated
about the notion of meeting
Thomas Laub, a Senior pursuing
a
BFA
in
Musical
Theatre
and a minor in Ross School
of Business, to speak about
his new production company,
Runyonland
Productions.
Runyonland
Productions
has
been extremely successful since it
first took off. Its first production,
“SHEL,” written by University
graduate Noah Kieserman, who
stars as Evan in the “Dear Evan
Hansen” National Tour, sold out
in just three hours. “SHEL” will
do its first industry reading in
New York City during the month
of May. When speaking with
Laub, it soon became apparent
that he was a humble young man,
who is trying to ignite change
in the theatre industry that he
wants to see.
“I wanted to produce live
theatre and so I worked with
Disney
theatrical
group
on
Broadway,
and
during
that
summer I was sitting in my little
box on 136th and Broadway, and I
was thinking: ‘I don’t know what
the point of doing this is if I’m
not doing this with my friends
and cultivating our own creative
cohort’,” Laub stated, speaking
to his experience on starting a
production company.
From
there,
Laub
gave
Kieserman a call about producing
his original musical; the company
and “SHEL” took off from there.
Laub takes advantage of the
diversity of talent hosted on
campus. He recruits Engineering
students for stage, scenic design
and lighting, benefits from the
incredible business and creative
talent at Ross and uses his fellow
cohort’s talents in SMTD to
create large scale and small scale
productions of high caliber.
“We exist to fill the space that
isn’t currently filled on campus,”
Laub said.
Runyonland
Productions
is
not a student organization. In
fact, it is a for-profit theatre
production company that is
a great and accessible way
for students of all different
backgrounds to do professional
work in the theatre industry,
with a company that has a direct
pipeline to the booming theatre
industry in New York.
The
mission
statement
of
Runyonland
Production
company is “to bring the best
live theatrical entertainment
to the widest, most diverse
audience possible. Runyonland
Productions
aims
to
both
enrich the community through
producing
Broadway-level
artistic
experiences
and
providing educational outlets
for young artists and creators
at the University of Michigan,”
Laub said.
“If you want to do the best
work you get the widest group of
people. It seems obvious but it’s
stunningly not … Growing up,
I was told, ‘You’re into theatre:
You should be a producer,’ and
my equally smart, brilliant,
talented female friends will be
told, ‘You’re into theatre, you
should be a stage manager.’”
If the production world were
filled with Thomas Laubs, who
appreciated and thrived for
diversity in both casting and
production, the world would be
a better and more appreciative
place. Women and people of
color not only need to see their
identities reflected on stage,
but also in the creative and
logistics part of live theatre.
Laub
cultivates
diversity
in production to allow live
theatre to reach new heights
and see a brilliance that simply
cannot be created by a team of
solely old, white men. During
his experience in a Broadway
production office, Laub quickly
noticed that meetings consisted
of teams of this demographic,
so he sought out to change that
narrative.
Laub
strives
to
make
Runyonland
Productions
empower all different types of
people into working in the theatre
industry, to make art and theatre
inclusive and unhindered. He
knows the only way to create
great art is by having everyone
have a creative say in the industry.
Runyonland Production aims to
be an example of the change that
needs to happen in the industry.
Upcoming
Performances
for
Runyonland Productions:
“FOR
THE
RECORD”—
December 6th and 7th at 7:00 p.m.
in the Duderstadt Video Studio
A new play by Broadway director
and U-M faculty member, Jeff
Packard, about a young man whose
father kills himself after learning
he has Huntington Disease, a
genetic disorder. World in HD and
the Huntington’s Disease Society
of America were major partners
during
this
production,
and
representatives will be present for
a talkback after the show.
“MERRILY
WE
RIDE
ALONG” — February 28th and
March 1st at 7:30 p.m. in the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre
Written by Stephen Sondheim, a
concert-style show, featuring some
original Broadway cast members
coming in.
“A NIGHT OF MYTHS &
HYMNS” — March 30th at 7:00
p.m. and 9:00 p.m. in the UMMA
A song cycle written by two time
Tony Award winner Adam Gettle,
who wrote “Light in the Piazza.”
Thomas Laub on the start
of his production company
Runyonland Productions
ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Arts Writer
After a momentary blip in the last
decade, women in R&B have been
making their long-awaited return
to the charts. Following a fruitful
’90s that brought in the success of
powerhouses like Mariah Carey
and Lauryn Hill, the prevalence of
new artists began to wane in the
late aughts into recent years. SZA,
Janelle Monáe and Jorja Smith
have received widespread critical
acclaim for their works, but their
commercial success wasn’t up to
par. It’s for this reason Ella Mai’s
newfound success with sleeper hit
“Boo’d Up” came as a surprise, but
not necessarily a shock: It’s been
expected for some time now.
The song is nothing new: a
throwback-esque jam that harkens
back to the twinkly choruses and
saccharine lyrics that have all been
heard before. “Ooh, now I’ll never
get over you until I find something
new / That get me high like you
do.” But the star ascends at a time
infatuated with all things ’90s —
it’s as nostalgic as comfort food.
Her music may not be as sonically
complex or compelling as those
of her peers, but it’s an earworm
catchy enough to get stuck in the
heads of tweens and old-school
rockers alike. Her debut eponymous
album Ella Mai is no different.
The album, like Mai’s past
EPs, is produced by none other
than the infamous club anthem
churner himself, DJ Mustard.
No “Mustard on that beat, ho”
signature this time around, but
the album is full of others: trap-
flirting beats, simplistic synth-
bass openings, electronic snaps
and claps, plinking keyboards.
This is by no means a bad
thing; it makes for the airy,
finger-snapping appeal the
album strives for. There are
points, however, where the
sound
feels
monotonous.
“Everything,” a slow jam
featuring John Legend, is a
prominent example: the trap
influenced chorus ill-fitting
against Mai and Legend’s
crooning and the adoring
lyricism.
That being said, the album
offers its intricacies elsewhere.
The leading track, “Emotion,”
takes charge in framing the
album around an acrostic poem
for Mai’s name via spoken word
skits that last about 10 seconds
every two to three tracks. The
move leans juvenile but provides
a deft showcase of Mai’s British
accent, emotive lyricism and
views on romance. Other points
where Mai shines on the album
include
“Sauce,”
her
words
scathing and vivid, informing
her partner “You gotta level up
if you want this (Stop) / Chewin’
with your mouth wide open.”
The more vulnerable “Trip” is
also worth mentioning, as she
confesses “I put my feelings on
safety / So I don’t go shootin’
where your heart be.”
Though centered on the idea
of romantic love, Mai provides
the story and personality that
listeners have been waiting for
since “Boo’d Up.” “Shot Clock”
exudes confidence in its detailing
of a confrontation between Mai
and her lover, livid but assured as
she demands to know whether
or not what they have is serious.
The doo-wop influence paired
with an interpolation of Drake’s
“Legend” heighten the already
confrontational
and
sarcastic
tone of the song. “Own It” adds a
raunchy and fun element to the
album. Mai eschews the more naïve
air she paints for herself in other
tracks by tapping into her more
sensual side, her vocal range deeper
amid the sampled Adina Howard.
Conversely, bonus track “Naked”
carries immense emotional weight
as it explores experiences beyond
the physical, Mai insecure as to
whether or not she can convey her
truest self to another. The track
stands as the album’s sole slow song,
stripped-down and strummed on
an acoustic guitar.
By no means groundbreaking,
Ella Mai provides a quick fix of
nostalgia for the R&B sound many
of us grew up to. If you’re a fan of
some of the newer sounds surfacing
onto the R&B scene, perhaps this
album isn’t for you. That being said,
the charming and upbeat nature
of Ella Mai is undeniable; she is
bound for success that goes beyond
capitalizing as a one-hit-wonder.
Ella Mai’s debut album is
nothing new, easy to like
DIANA YASSIN
For the Daily
ALBUM REVIEW
Ella Mai
Ella Mai
10 Summers/
Interscope Records
INTERSCOPE RECORDS
HANNAH SEIGEL / DAILY
‘The Romanoffs’ misses the mark
TV REVIEW
The
tragic
story
of
the
Romanoff family, and its youngest
member Anastasia in particular,
has captivated audiences since the
earliest era of the silver screen.
Matthew Weiner, the creator of
the widely praised series “Mad
Men,” is the latest to take a stab
at the story. The result is an
anthology collection that shares
“Mad Men”’s stylish flair but
lacks the nuanced observations
and character studies that made
“Mad Men” memorable.
“The Violet Hour,” the first
installation of the series, takes
place in present day Paris. It
centers around the estate of
Anastasia LeCharnay (Marthe
Keller, “The Escape”), an elderly,
wealthy French woman who
claims to be descended from the
Romanoffs. Her nephew Greg
(Aaron
Eckhart,
“Incarnate”)
and his girlfriend Sophie (Louise
Bourgoin, “I am a Soldier”) are
her closest remaining relatives,
despite the fact that they spend
most of the episode waiting
for her death and the resulting
inheritance. Anastasia — who
mostly goes by the diminutive
Anushka
—
loathes
her
caretakers, especially the newest
one Hajar (Inès Melab, “The
Bird”), a young Frenchwoman of
North African descent.
Anushka is cruel and uncouth
towards Hajar, calling her a
“terrorist” and citing events
throughout
history
where
“Western Civilization” defeated
the
“Muslim
World.”
She
initially uses her family name
and heritage as a symbol of
“Western
Civilization”
itself,
using it to constantly insult
Hajar. While her tirades become
rather uncomfortable to watch,
it is even more disconcerting
to somehow suggest that Hajar
should sympathize with Anushka
due to her clear isolation. The
eventual thawing of relations
never seems to feel quite natural.
“The Violet Hour” is ostensibly
an examination of power and its
loss, but by using simple clichés
such as a yellow Faberge egg and
convoluted history lessons, the
episode never gets its point across
in a compelling way.
The
episode
fleetingly
tackles other social topics as
well, including the shrinking
of the French middle class and
the immigrant experience as a
whole, but each discussion and
exploration
feels
annoyingly
superficial.
Anushka
is
the
only
well-developed,
fleshed-
out
character,
leaving
the
rest to serve as mere props.
While Hajar is portrayed as
sympathetic, Melab is not given
the opportunity to show much
range beyond her mildly annoyed
reactions
towards
Anushka’s
racial epithets. Moreover, her
family’s story is not given much
thought, despite the potential
comparisons with Anushka’s own
background.
What “The Violet Hour” —
and “The Romanoffs” as a whole
— lacks in effective storytelling,
it makes up for in the visuals.
Anushka’s gilded Paris mansion
is both stunningly beautiful yet
hauntingly empty, giving better
context for her misery than her
own speeches. The shots are
always controlled and varied,
in typical Weiner style. Scenes
featuring Anushka fittingly give
the sense that despite her family’s
wealth, she is little more than a
petty, vindictive miser who is out-
of-touch with modern France.
Perhaps due to its length, “The
Violet Hour” never satisfyingly
completes
the
discussions
it
brings up. While a beautiful
watch, it straddles the line
between “good” and “great,”
lacking the subtlety to edge it
towards the latter.
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily Arts Writer
“The Romanoffs”
Amazon Prime
Series Premiere
6 — Thursday, October 18, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com