By Sydney Sears and Delaney Smith
Saturday, May 10, band, A Cappella choir, and orchestra headed to Indianapolis to compete at State. The results are as followed:
A Cappella Choir came in 10th place out of 16.
Orchestra finished 4th out of 16.
Band finished 14th out of 16.
By Isaac Mathewson
As the lights of this year dim down, theatre director Robbie Steiner reflects on his fourth year at FC and his second year as director.
Steiner said that he has improved greatly since last year.
“I have a much better idea how to plan things out than I did last year.”
The one aspect Steiner will miss the most about this year is the departing seniors.
“Many of these seniors have been in this program since my first year here. I’ve seen them grow throughout their years of high school. It will be hard for me to see them go.”
As the year ends, Steiner has begun making plans for next year.
First, he has seen a great increase on people joining the program since last year, especially in his tech class, which only had a mere eight joining this year.
Steiner said that not a whole lot will change in next year’s curriculum, apart from developing practical hands-on experience for techs and giving more emphasis on musical theatre.
There is no news yet on what plays will be performed next year, but Steiner said that there will be many family favorites, which might possibly include Annie.
Steiner has several goals that he wishes to set next year. For one, he hopes to improve himself by balancing his own life with his work on the program.
“This is a really stressful, albeit fun, job. I want to be able to serve this program well while still trying to support my own needs.”
Another goal he wishes to set is to provide more opportunities for actors and techs.
“I want to cultivate student leadership, not just for the seniors, but for lowerclassmen also.”
Although there are many aspects that Steiner will miss about this year, he still has a positive outlook for next year and for the years that will follow.
By Peter Hyle and Christian DiMartino
This year, FC is privileged enough to not only bring their band and orchestra to state, but their choir as well. The a cappella choir specifically is looking forward to a challenging competition against 16 other high school choirs. Since the choir has not been to state in four years, everyone currently in the choir is experiencing this for the first time.
Many students involved have their own opinions why this year has been so successful.
“I think this year is so different from any other year I’ve been in a cappella. Right when the year started we were pushed very hard to come together and learn a 50-page song, an entire mass, and two solo pieces to perform with the Louisville Chorus,” said senior Nella Cox.
There are many factors that determine who wins in this Saturday’s competition.
“There are three judges at the competition, and they mainly listen for sound quality, rhythm, emotional involvement and those sort of things. Another big factor is our vowel shapes, which is the way we shape our mouths in order to produce the right sound,” said sophomore Henry Miller.
Everyone in the choir is anxious for their competition for their own reasons.
“I know that everyone in choir will give an incredible performance this Saturday, so I’m not nervous about that. It’s all the other schools we’re competing against that makes me really anxious for the competition,” said junior Andrew Mills.
Some students credit their teacher for all of the success that they have achieved this school year.
“It is obvious to me that we wouldn’t have gotten this far without our wonderful director Mrs. Hampton. She is an outstanding teacher and she has really pushed me and motivated me more than any other adult I have met. I know that a lot of my friends in choir feel exactly the same way,” said junior Dakota Arnold.
Hampton said that the feeling is mutual.
“They really just work extremely well both individually and collectively. They get along very well, and they try to be better with each new day. This group has worked harder than any choir I’ve had in recent history. I’m excited that they get to be a part of this elite competition,” said Hampton.
By Megan Johnson
Twenty-five years. For some people, it is an amount of time that can fly by. To others, it feels almost as if it is an eternity. However, to the orchestra students, 25 years marks a significant anniversary for the art that they love.
On Saturday, the orchestra will be headed to state qualifiers for the 25th time in a row. Several of the orchestra members are elated to be a part of this event , including junior Garrett Metz.
“I’m very excited because my dad was a cello player who was involved in going to state for the first time,” said Metz.
Other members, however, claim to be feeling a sense of nervousness, such as junior Layne Hartman .
“We are competing with seven other schools, but nerves always come with performing,” he said.
However, members like sophomore Shannon O’Brien feel nerves take away from the experience.
“Being nervous doesn’t help anyone; I try and stay calm and encourage others to do the same,” said O’Brien.
Several classical numbers will be played, including “Danzon” by Antonio Marquez, “Pas de Deux” by Tchaikovsky and the first movement of Dvorak’s 8th symphony.
Hartman shared that orchestra is not all fun and games; it requires a lot of work.
“Being in orchestra requires a time commitment, but it really requires effort. We must play the correct notes together and play them with style. We have to make beautiful music, and that isn’t easy,” he said.
Metz explained that orchestra has not only taught him the art of working together with others, but how to manage his time around his activity. Metz also shared an interesting fact that of which orchestra inspires.
“You use a completely different part of your brain to create music. Plus, you’re not only working by yourself, you’re working with 60 other people,” said Metz.
O’Brien summed up her orchestra experience in one simple sentence.
“It takes patience, persistence and lots of sass.”
By Christian DiMartino
I attended the 11 p.m. showing of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 last Thursday night, and had planned on writing the review the next morning. Much to my surprise, things didn’t quite happen like that. Once the movie was over, my friend and I exited the theater and then discussed how mixed we were on the movie for an entire hour. Days have gone by since then, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 still has me so torn, it has taken me this long to express myself.
This is the first big blockbuster of the summer, and one of the most highly anticipated, but even I had some doubts. As a non-Jamie Foxx fan, his casting seemed off. That wasn’t the only concern, but it was the main one. So once the negative reviews arrived, my doubts deepened.
Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, as wonderfully surprising as it was, was unnecessary, mainly because the studio only waited five years to reboot Sam Rami’s Spider-Man movies (I personally would like to see those continued, but, whatever). As unnecessary as it may have been, it actually turned out to be the second best Spider-Man adventure, ranking behind Rami’s perfect Spider-Man 2 (sue me, I don’t care, it’s amazing). What brought the movie to life was the chemistry between Peter Parker/ Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy (on and off-screen couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone). They worked so well together that I was tempted to hug myself. Webb, who’s only other non-Spider-Man movie is 500 Days of Summer, knows what he is doing when it comes to the romance. Also, Garfield is perfect in the title role; a worthy replacement for Tobey Maguire.
Now, Webb returns with the sequel, and Stone and Garfield are as charming as ever. In fact, they just might be the greatest comic book couple of them all. It’s a bold statement, but a true one. The visual effects are spectacular and the entertainment value is high. Also, there are some strong moments here. There were times when I let the action carry me away, and these times were reminiscent of the other movies. But yet, there were a few short time periods where the movie was so bad that I felt like my soul was being shanked.
The sequel picks up some time after the original (original isn’t exactly appropriate but that’s beside the point). Peter Parker is still trying to fight crime, while protecting the ones he loves. Peter and Gwen are still dating, which leaves him with a guilty conscience. If you remember from the previous movie, Peter promised Gwen’s late father (Denis Leary) that he would avoid her at all costs. He doesn’t do that, until he begins seeing Captain Stacy everywhere. He is also still trying to figure out what exactly happened to his parents and how they were involved with the sinister Oscorp company.
If that wasn’t bad enough, just wait. Enter Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), a grown-up Steve Erkel who becomes obsessed with Spider-Man after he rescues him. Dillon, an Oscorp employee, soon falls into an eel tank, gets stung a lot (duh), and becomes Electro. Judging from that last sentence, I wonder how Oscorp is still a running company. It clearly isn’t a safe work environment. Anyways, Electro, who can manipulate electricity, is pretty cool and one of the movies many visual marvels, but his motives for killing Spider-Man (Spider-Man doesn’t remember him) are weak.
Then, enter Harry Osbourne (Dane Dehaan), Peter’s childhood friend and son of Oscorp founder Norman Osbourne (Chris Cooper), who carries a very distracting Hitler haircut. Seriously, that haircut drove me crazy. When Harry becomes terminally ill, he believes that Spider-Man’s blood can save his life. So, let’s just say, he wants Spidey dead too. Harry certainly is an interesting character, but had Dehaan done what he did with Chronicle, then the performance would’ve been remarkable. Instead, Harry is just whiny (he has a temper tantrum) and, well, his haircut is obnoxious. I’m not letting it go.
TASM2, like the constantly bashed Spider-Man 3, has a little bit too much story and just a bit too many villains, but it works. Also, the action sequences are a knockout, and Garfield shares some sublime moments with Stone and Sally Field, who plays his Aunt May. While a good amount of it does work, it is kind of a bumpy ride.
The scenes with Dillon talking to himself are awkward and occasionally dumb. In fact, Electro doesn’t become cool until the final hour. Despite this however he is quite the special effect. The soundtrack is bizarre, and the score doesn’t always mesh well with what’s happening on-screen. Spider-Man himself seems a little too jokey this time around. Sometimes, he tries so hard to be funny I’m surprised the crowds of people “oohing” and “awing” didn’t hand him a microphone.
Also, some of the one liners from him and Electro, again, shanked my soul with their stupidity. Not all of them are bad though, just a handful. Not to mention Paul Giamatti’s brief performance as The Rhino is inconceivably dumb. If he is the lead villain in the next round (there’s supposedly two more movies coming out at least), then you may just have to count me out. Giamatti is a great actor, but his accent is too difficult to take seriously. Also, there are a few loose ends that need to be tied up, and some of them probably won’t be in the sequel.
Lastly, the movie would’ve been better had the ending not dragged on. Had the movie stopped at a certain point, then it would have had more of an effective and poignant ending. Instead, the movie wants to get everyone jazzed up for round three, so it sets up the next movie… but not very well.
There is more wrong with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 than right, but yet it still gets my recommendation, I guess. How? Well, its target audience (Spider-Man fans) will go for it. Being one of them, I enjoyed a good amount of it. Yes, it had its ups and downs, but it is still an enjoyable movie to some extent. It’s a close call though; if round three is a similar movie, then expect harsher criticism. Whether we like it or not, more Spider-Man is coming. Hopefully it’s a bit better the next time. The Passable Spider-Man is a more appropriate title.
The movie still has me torn though. Right now, it’s good, borderline okay. Ask me in a month or so and I might say otherwise. As of now though, Spider-Man is getting a pass. Next time, he might not be as lucky.