For many people, the Olympics is a major highlight. 

Watching incredible feats of athleticism in unfamiliar 
locales is always a treat, and the 2018 Winter Olympics 
in PyeongChang was no exception. No matter the 
season, no matter the sport and no matter the country, 
the Games are a delight for people around the globe. 
That said, we can only ever view the Games through a 
television screen, thousands of miles away from the real 
action. This is part of what makes the film “Olympic 
Dreams” so enticing — it’s a 
chance to see the Olympics from 
a new point of view, a behind-
the-scenes look at the way the 
Olympics is run and the people 
who come to the Games with big 
dreams.

The film follows two main 

characters: 
Penelope 
(Alexi 

Pappas, “Tracktown”), a first-
time Olympic athlete competing 
in cross-country skiing, and 
Ezra (Nick Kroll, “Big Mouth”), 
a sociable dentist who takes the 
opportunity to volunteer at the 
Olympics. The two characters 
have very different experiences 
at the event: Penelope is plagued 
by the pressure to perform well in her competition, 
while Ezra enters the village joyful for the chance to 
even attend. 

While Penelope’s perspective as an athlete is a new 

and interesting story for the average audience, Ezra’s 
is one that we understand. The way his eyes light up as 
he takes in the sights of the Olympics is charming and 
relatable, the awe of seeing a new side of something 
that he finds great joy in. But despite their differences, 
they are drawn together by their titular dreams and a 
struggle to understand what they want in life moving 
forward, causing them to form a strong connection. 

Despite the somewhat cliché premise, “Olympic 

Dreams” is a very unique film for a number of reasons. 
For one, it was filmed in the PyeongChang Olympic 
Village during the 2018 games, depicting rooms and 

buildings that were actually being used for the Olympics 
during shooting. The reason this was possible is one of 
the other unique things about this film: Kroll, Pappas 
and director (and Pappas’s husband) Jeremy Teicher 
(“Tracktown”) were the only members of the cast and 
crew during shooting, though you would never guess 
that from watching. 

Another unique aspect is the sheer number of athletes 

in the film. Pappas, Olympian-turned-Hollywood 
actress, ran track for Greece in the 2016 Olympics in Rio 
and released a film that same year (“Tracktown,” which 
starred Pappas and was co-written by Pappas and 
Teicher). In addition to Pappas, several of Ezra’s patients 

were real Olympians in the 2018 
games. It also features Morgan 
Schild, a freestyle mogul skier 
for USA, as Penelope’s hallmate 
Maggie, and Gus Kenworthy, a 
freestyle skier, playing a version of 
himself that strikes up a delightful 
friendship with Penelope. 

But the main star of the film 

is 
the 
relationship 
between 

Penelope and Ezra, an emotional 
connection that formed so quickly 
and so intensely that they couldn’t 
explain what it was, but knew that 
they would never forget it. Pappas 
and Kroll are both effortlessly 
charming, conveying a warmth 
and bliss in each other’s company 

in every scene. Watching Penelope and Ezra run 
through the Olympic village, eat Korean barbeque and 
dance like no one’s watching, you get a sense that these 
are two people who are perfectly happy when they’re 
together. 

“Olympic Dreams” is a love letter to the Olympics, to 

the good and the bad of finally achieving your dreams 
and finding people in the chaos. For an hour and a half, 
you are transported to a snowy village in South Korea, 
where you get to watch two people find each other 
within the brief bubble of the games. Despite the cheesy 
title and premise, the film manages to weave a story that 
is a perfect middle between stiff and cheesy, a sweetness 
that is injected in every line and interaction in such a 
way that you walk out with a smile on your face and a 
warm feeling in your heart.

‘Olympic Dreams’ is a 
warm hug on a winter night

FILM REVIEW

KARI ANDERSON

Daily Arts Writer

Walking out of Ford Field Saturday night, I 

felt like I had made a mistake. My ears buzzed 
with the sound of a record-breaking 70,000 
strong audience sing-along. My mind raced to 
try and capture the memory of what I had just 
seen — a 58 year old Garth Brooks sprinting 
back-and-forth across a circular stage, and then 
lots of subsequent panting. My throat hurt, of 
course, from all the cheering. In the back of my 
mind however, I couldn’t help but feel foolish. 
Or even worse, mean. 

When I saw that Luke Combs was coming 

to Grand Rapids and Garth Brooks was 
playing in Detroit on back-to-back weekends, 
I immediately decided that I had to attend and 
compare the experiences. Combs and Brooks 

outline the ideal trajectory of a career in country 
music — Combs’s stardom is rising and Brooks 
is a bonafide legend. The opportunity to see 
both ends felt unmissable. However, I should 
have known that trying to compare anyone to a 
seven-time CMA Entertainer of the Year meant 
setting up the other artist for failure. 

Still, as my starstruck daze starts to fade, I 

can see where my head was at: Combs has been 
heralded as the second-coming of neotraditional 

country — the ’90s sound that Garth is the King 
of. Combs’s latest album beat Brooks’s Hot 
Country Chart record for the most entries in 
a single week. The most explicit link between 
the two artists was drawn by Combs himself: 
During his concert, he covered one of Brooks’s 

signature songs “The Dance.” The potential for 
Combs to become the next-generation Garth 
Brooks is clear — once one is able to reconcile 
their age differences. 

Take, for example, the shows’ energetic 

highpoints. In the middle of “1, 2 Many,” one 
of Combs’s uptempo drinking songs, a crew 
member rushed a can of beer to the middle of 
the stage. There was a pause in the music as the 
crowd unraveled what was happening. When it 
clicked that, yes, he really was about to shotgun 
a beer on stage, the audience erupted.

During “Ain’t Goin’ Down (til’ the Sun Comes 

Up),” Brooks didn’t reach for a beer, but two 
uncapped water bottles. Instead of downing 
them (which seemed warranted given all of his 
running around), he splashed them around the 
stage, into the audience, and finally poured out 
two more onto a drum set. 

Whereas Brooks’s crowd interaction involved 

trading cowboy hats with a young fan for a few 
verses, Combs later refilled the contents of one 
audience member’s raised red solo cup with his 
own as he was singing.

While 
these 
approaches 
to 
audience 

engagement feel comical in comparison, both 
artists’ enthusiasm, and more importantly, 
skill for connecting with their fans, is obvious. 

Brooks showcased his ability to read the room 
when, after a sequence of fast songs, he decided 
to scrap the upcoming slow song on the setlist 
and keep the high energy going. Combs also 
demonstrated his ability to manage an audience. 
Even though he has two incredibly popular 
albums out, Combs held the crowd in the palm 
of his hand while playing an unreleased song 
called “Without You” acoustically. 

I chalk this power up to Brooks and Combs 

having what I hesitantly call “dad energy.” Not 
because they have kids (Combs doesn’t), but 
because they care in a way that feels uniquely 
genuine. Brooks was all waves, hand-hearts 
and “Happy Birthdays!” during his show. He 
repeatedly expressed his gratitude, staring 
starry-eyed into the stands and opening his 
arms wide, as if he was embracing everyone. 

Combs is less direct at showing his love, but 

just as emotional in his songs. “Refrigerator 
Door” and “Even Though I’m Leaving” were 

both sweet moments at his show that highlight 
Combs’s knack for appreciating life’s little 
things. “Dad energy” is about warmth. Lots 
of country artists are good at conveying joy 
or heartbreak, but it’s much harder to make a 
crowd feel safe in the way Garth and Luke can.

Most of Garth’s encore consisted of just him 

and his guitar. He took song requests from the 
signs his more-seasoned fans knew to bring, 
and he made a request of his own by deciding 
to cover “Piano Man.” This, I think, is the 
mark of a legend. The ability to rely exclusively 
on your discography and yourself to pull off 
entertaining a stadium of people. Combs hasn’t 
had the time to get there yet, but even Brooks 
himself thinks that he will get there eventually. 
After winning his latest Entertainer of the 
Year Award in 2019, Garth predicted that Luke 
would grow to become Entertainer of the Year 
eight times — breaking another one of Garth’s 
records. 

Two concerts, two weeks: Luke Combs and Garth Brooks

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

KATIE BEEKMAN

Daily Arts Writer

COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW

COUNTRY LIVE/ELLEN

DANA PIERANGELI
Community Culture Editor

‘Lord of the Flies’ rendition 
is disturbingly brilliant

As most public school kids in America will 

remember from their ninth grade English class, 
“The Lord of the Flies” by William Goldingis 
is the quintessential dystopian novel of our 
childhood. While I was never fully convinced 
by the 1940’s classic that humans in general, 
let alone 12 year old boys could collapse into 
madness so easily, the University department 
of Theatre and Drama performance may have 
convinced me otherwise.

Music, Theatre & Dance fifth year senior 

James Harbaugh, the director of “The Lord 
of the Flies”, brings the story to life in an 
innovative and breathtaking way. Harbaugh 
depicts the young boys’ quick descent into 
chaos as all forms of civilization break down 
in a way that sheds light on a side of humanity 
you never wanted to see but can’t look away 
from.

Harbaugh is a genius when it comes to the 

stage. His vision for this show was shocking 
and terrifying and all around horrible in the 
best possible way. He made smart choices 
that utilized the space, props and actors in 
unexpected ways, while staying true to the 
story.

Instead of an overdone jungle theme, 

Harbaugh put his actors in worker jumpsuits 
and used classroom and construction props 
as the minimal set. Though it wasn’t canon 
with the original story, it made perfect sense 
for this production and didn’t detract from 
the realism of the show. Their fire was a 
rope of orange extension cords, their shelter 
a metal construction lift. He even made use 
of the light box in the studio; the final scene 
depicted Jack stabbing his spear through the 
switch box, killing the lights on his hunt for 
Ralph. This use of technology and modern 
appliances gives the play an almost “Black 
Mirror” feeling, bringing a dated book into 
the modern age with new significance on how 
technology interacts with the very core of 
humanity.

His use of sound effects was minimal and 

effective: Throughout most of the show, 
a hollow wind sound engulfed the stage, 
sucking the air out of the actors and audience 
alike. I don’t think I took a full breath the 
entire show, and suddenly Piggy’s asthma 
predicament didn’t seem so comical.

The most genius part was Harbaugh’s 

casting. Instead of the traditional all male 
cast, he had a mix of male and female actors, 
with females portraying most of the leads. 
Music, Theatre & Dance freshman Claire 
DeJean played Ralph, the textbook honorable, 
but occasionally naive leader; Music, Theatre 
& Dance senior Jillian Lee Garner played Jack, 
the schoolroom bully turned savage hunter; 
and Music, Theatre & Dance junior Shea 
Fairbanks Galaudet played Piggy, the beloved 
superego of the group. These three women 
portrayed their characters with fascinating 

depth and a childlike vigor that didn’t seem 
manufactured. Watching every character 
onstage have an emotional breakdown for two 
hours was exhausting but utterly convincing.

Allowing women to portray these roles 

solved what is most lacking in the original 
book. This story takes the ‘boys being boys’ 
argument to the extreme, but by having the 
majority of the characters played by women, 
the characters became more universally 
human. Not only can these characters as 
women still behave just as savagely and cruelly 
as the original characters, but it also proves 
that women are fully capable of playing these 
types of roles. Rarely are women cast in roles 
that allow them to explore such emotions, 
because it’s even more rare that such roles are 
written for women. By placing women in roles 
that are not only usually portrayed by men 
but are also so viscerally human, Harbaugh 
broke down the expectations that women 
are fundamentally different from men and 
created a story anyone, regardless of gender, 
can see themselves in. Whether they want to 
or not.

The book is disturbing enough; reading 

about 12 year old boys succumbing to their 
wild side, ripping each other to shreds with 
no ounce of morality is gruesome at best and 
emotionally scarring at worst. But seeing that 
story play out onstage was something else 
entirely.

Of course, we all look at those kids and think 

‘I would never do something like that, they’re 
monsters.’ But skimming through “The Lord 
of the Flies” the night before a high school 
English test in the comfort of your bed is one 
thing. Watching real people, people you know, 
people you go to school with and are even 
friends with, unlock that side of themselves 
for a performance makes you realize just 
how easy it could be to succumb to those 
temptations, if put in the right circumstances.

The final performance of “The Lord of the 

Flies” will take place on Friday, Feb. 28 @ 8pm 
in the Newman Studio.

IFC FILMS

Both artists’ enthusiasm, and 

more importantly, skill for 

connecting with their fans, is 

obvious

Combs and Brooks outline 

the ideal trajectory of a 

career in country music — 
Combs’s stardom is rising 
and Brooks is a bomafide 

legend

“Lord of the Flies”

Friday, Feb. 28

Newmann Studio

8PM

“Olympic Dreams”

dir. Jeremy Teicher

IFC Films

5 — Friday, February 28, 2020
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

