Theater review: ‘Hello, Dolly’ features masterful set design, poor translation into modernity

“Hello, Dolly!” utilizes old tropes and stereotypes to create a musical catering to the elderly.

Running at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre until Feb. 17, the show’s central character, Dolly Gallagher Levi (Betty Buckley), opened the first act on an 1885 New York street, telling the crowd about her eclectic profession: meddling. As a professional in the field, she teaches mandolin, plays poker and arranges marriages, with the latter being the central theme of the production.

The widow creates an intricate plan to set up her “half-millionaire” love interest, Horace Vandergelder, with a woman he won’t be interested in, and convince him to marry her instead. The plot, which at one time may have seemed to showcase a vivacious and independent woman, now seems like a dated and worn-out storyline. And the almost all-white cast certainly didn’t seem to help elevate the production for a more modern audience. This classic production truly seemed to embody the time period it was created in – for better and for worse.

Overall, the humor throughout the show was aimed at an older audience, as evidenced in the first 10 minutes with a joke about varicose veins and countless quips about the woes of married life. Horace (Lewis J. Stadlen) was introduced with the number “It Takes a Woman,” which laid out his desire for a woman who could take care of him and keep his house clean. In the scene, Horace also relays his own views on how foolish it was when he was poor. The overt grumpiness and antiquated views on women intentionally made an antagonist out of Horace – unfortunate, considering that he is the love interest of our likable main character, Dolly. “Hello, Dolly!” seemed to forget that it was being shown in 2019, a time when audiences won’t soon forgive a character for spouting indiscretions about women and poor people.

The play’s visual story began next to a theatrical-looking streetcar in New York City, and the production bounced between the city and Yonkers, a city outside New York. The production’s intricate set design was evident from the beginning of the production, which continued onward with complex and beautiful scenes such as a large steam locomotive in a train station, a hay and feed store and a women’s millinery store. Much like the set design, the costumes offered an aesthetically pleasing hybrid of historical garb and vivid pastel colors. The colorful and well-crafted visual design aspect was by and large the strength of this production.

The musical went on to introduce a range of conventional characters, such as a grumpy drugstore owner, his overworked clerks, a hat shop owner and her own goofy assistant. The storyline of the play brought all of these characters together in New York City, looking for love and freedom from their old and worn-out lives.

The comic relief, Minnie Fay, played by Kristen Hahn, delivered the play’s truly hilarious moments with her awkward reactions and ill-timed outbursts. As she addressed the audience in the first act, she interacted with the crowd to hilarious effect and continued onward throughout the production to provide quirky commentary and humorous reactions in otherwise tense or beautiful situations.

Of course, newfound romance eventually comes at the show’s obligatory ending and to the satisfaction of all involved. The play conveniently pairs each of the supporting female characters with their concurrent supporting male characters, and Dolly herself falls for the wealthy man she had been pursuing for the entirety of the production.

There were no surprises here; the play was traditional and looked good, but the comedy and plotline were woefully outdated and failed to provide me with a captivating story. “Hello, Dolly!” was a predictable 2 1/2 hours in a beautiful Hollywood theater I’m sure my grandparents would fawn over.

Throwback Thursday: Daily Bruin runs Trojan apology for 1991 vandalism of UCLA campus

In the Jan. 29, 1992 edition of the Daily Bruin, an apology letter from three USC students ran in the Opinion section. Just what exactly were they apologizing for?

Let’s flash back a few months prior, to November. It was the week leading up to the biggest game of the year – the UCLA versus USC annual rivalry at the Coliseum.

UCLA came into the game ranked No. 25 with a 7-3 record, while USC entered the game with a 3-7 record and was in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

Knowing their team had no chance of beating UCLA on the field, several USC students took to vandalizing more than a dozen UCLA buildings in the week leading up to the game.

Of course, none of these intelligent scholars of Troy got away with their petty prank, as “university police arrested the group, along with three other USC students, on Nov. 15 for spray painting more than 30 anti-UCLA slogans on campus,” the Bruin reported.

Sound familiar?

In December 2018, two men were arrested for vandalizing the Bruin Bear statue in the week leading up to the USC game. Although neither men were affiliated with USC officially, the two were charged with conspiracy and felony vandalism after they allegedly painted the Bruin Bear Trojan cardinal and gold.

RELATED: [Throwback Thursday: Current events coupled with UCLA-USC football game mirror 1968 state of affairs]

Important UCLA icons like the Bruin Bear and the John Wooden statue outside of Pauley Pavilion are put in boxes and guarded in the week leading up to the game. The boxes were first constructed after a similar incident in 2009, when USC students splattered the Bear in cardinal and gold paint, costing UCLA $40,000.

During 2018’s rivalry week, the men were able to sneak onto campus, pry the box open, and douse the bear in paint before resealing it. The vandalism was only uncovered after officials opened the box on the day of the game. The stunt resulted in over $15,000 in damages to the Bear.

The group of USC students from 1991 only caused upward of $3,000 in damages, but got off a lot easier than the culprits of the most recent incident of USC idiocy.

“The six USC students were arraigned in December, but the misdemeanor charges were later dropped after they compensated UCLA for the damage.” the Bruin reported at the time.

Three of the past students worked as resident advisors at USC, and perhaps in an attempt to save their jobs, wrote their letter of apology to UCLA admitting their stunt was “immature and irresponsible” and apologized for “defacing (UCLA’s) campus.”

What was the motive behind the students committing the crime in the first place?

Michael Beatrice, one of the culprits of the vandalism as well as one of the resident advisors who penned the apology letter, admitted that vandalism was not the correct way to show school spirit.

“We got caught up in the whole spirit thing,” Michael Beatrice said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Beatrice said.

The students ended the letter promising to “work with several groups at USC to try and prevent further occurrences from happening.”

Whether it’s 1991, 2009 or 2018, the passions of the USC-UCLA rivalry run deep. Sometimes, these passions result in rousing displays of school spirit – like the thousands of students that show up every year to the Beat ‘SC bonfire to help ignite their Bruins to a win.

Other times, “school spirit” just gets mixed up with spirited stupidity.

Lightning strike causes structural damage, evacuation at Sunset Canyon Rec Center

This post was updated Jan. 31 at 5:13 p.m.

The Sunset Canyon Recreation Center was evacuated due to structural damage caused by a lightning strike Thursday morning.

Lightning struck a structural wooden beam outside the recreation center’s building, causing the building to be evacuated and restricted to emergency personnel until the structure is deemed safe, said Nurit Katz, executive officer of facilities management.

Katz said the lightning strike was reported to her office at around 9:47 a.m., but she does not know when exactly the strike occurred.

Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck said in an email statement the lightning strike also caused a gas leak, which has since been controlled.

He added there were no injuries as a result of the lightning strike.

Hannah Kim, a first-year neuroscience student, said she thinks there should be a more structured plan to deal with uncommon emergency situations.

“We’re obviously not used to thunderstorms like this, but it would be nice if we had a game plan that we were informed ahead of time so we would know what to do in a situation like this,” Kim said. “Because if this had happened right in Delta Terrace, I would be very scared and unsure of what to do. I feel like it would be a pretty chaotic situation actually.”

Katz said a structural engineer will come to assess the damage and structural safety of the building before it can reopen.

UCLA sees decrease in fall 2019 freshman applications by about 2 percent

UCLA received fewer freshman applications than last year for admission in fall 2019, according to data released Tuesday.

The number of applicants decreased by about 2 percent, from 113,695 in 2018 to 111,266 in 2019, according to preliminary data released by the University of California Office of the President. Other UC schools, such as UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, experienced similar declines in their number of applicants. This is the first time in 15 years that applications to the UC system have dropped, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

The number of applications from out-of-state students rose by about 1 percent while the number of California applicants fell by almost 3 percent. The number of international applications also fell by almost 4 percent.

Gary Clark, the director for undergraduate admission, said he thinks the decrease in applications could be attributed to students becoming more selective about how many schools they apply to.

“We’re not looking for an increase in volume of applicants,” he said. “We care more about the richness and diversity of our applicant pool.”

Nicolette Khalifian, a first-year psychobiology student, said she thinks the decrease could have long-term effects on UCLA’s brand, as the university markets its high number of applicants as a selling point to prospective students.

“I don’t think it affects us as students at all – we don’t notice a 2 percent decrease. But … (UCLA) takes pride in the amount of applicants they have,” she said. “Taking that away is one less thing to brag about.”

 

USAC recap – Jan. 29

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Bruin Viewpoint Room and are open to all students. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! channel on YouTube.

Public Comment:

  • The chapter chair for CALPIRG provided updates on their service day for their Zero Hunger campaign and announced their new pledge drive is in support of lobbying for a bill for 100 percent clean transportation.
  • A member of the Pakistani Students Association stated his intention to apply for the surplus funds that will be allocated for organizations.

Agenda:

  • The council allocated: $4,485 out of the council surplus pool into surplus funds allocated for registered campus organizations.
  • $15,000 to the council discretionary for a commuter lounge allocation.
  • $4,000 to the Financial Services Commission’s Financial Wellness Grant
  • $50,000 to the General Representative 1 office to offer a grant international students could apply to.
  • $15,000 to Campus Events Commission for Bruin Bash
  • $29,000 to the Cultural Affairs Commission community fund
  • $10,000 to Cultural Affairs Commission for JazzReggae Festival
  • The council allocated a total of $13,958.08 to the Winter Student Organizations Operational Fund (SOOF).
  • The council allocated a total of $11,790 from the contingency programming fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.
  • The council allocated $1606.62 from the Supplemental Fund Service to student organizations.
  • The first hour of the next USAC meeting on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. will be an extended public comment section regarding USAC surplus funds.
  • The council tabled a discussion about distinguishing between slates and parties in USAC elections.
  • The council discussed how they will pay stipends for the judiciary board.
  • The council discussed how they could communicate changes to the bylaws to election board members.
  • The council discussed how to better engage students without conflicting with UCLA Communications Board’s expectations for media policy.

Reports:

  • President Claire Fieldman said her office will host a South Campus research fair Feb. 25 in the Bruin Reception Room. She added she is meeting with Chancellor Gene Block this week to discuss funding for international and undocumented student resources in the Title IX office.
  • Internal Vice President Robert Blake Watson said the Respect, Accountability, Integrity, Service and Excellence program applications, are due Feb. 1. RAISE aims to award scholarship funds to students who have helped other students.
  • External Vice President Jamie Kennerk said her office is preparing for a trip to Washington, D.C., in February. She added her office is co-hosting a Queer Daytime Dance Party on Feb. 12.
  • General Representative 1 Ayesha Haleem said her office was hosting a panel of alumni to talk about cultural climate for people of mixed heritages Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. in the Bruin Reception Room. She added her office will help different ethnic groups host a fundraising event in Bruin Plaza in late February.
  • A proxy for the General Representative 2 office said the office met with Greek life philanthropy chairs to confirm donation bin installations. She added the office held a textbook awareness campaign to bring attention to the effects of high textbook costs.
  • A proxy for the General Representative 3 office said the office is working to crowdfund scholarships for undocumented students.
  • Academic Affairs Commissioner Nidirah Stephens said her office will be distributing 300 shirts for Pride Week, in honor of Jussie Smollett, a star on “Empire” who was recently attacked in Chicago. She also added applications for surplus funding will likely be released to student groups late this week.
  • Campus Events Commissioner Alley Madison said her office will screen “Crazy Rich Asians” on Feb. 5 in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom with a panel discussion on Asian-American representation.
  • Community Service Commissioner Bethanie Atinuke Sonola said her office is hosting a networking night Jan. 30 in Carnesale Commons.
  • A proxy for the Facilities Commission said the office will host a “Greater Visibility” campaign to highlight challenges students with disabilities face.
  • A proxy for the Financial Supports Commission said the office is working with JCPenney to provide scholarship recipients with money to shop at JCPenney for professional attire. She added the office co-hosted a financial literacy event with the UCLA Financial Wellness Program on Jan. 18.
  • Student Wellness commissioner George Louis Faour said his office will host Bruin Health Week, beginning with the annual 5K fundraiser in late April.

Women’s water polo’s second-quarter surges help maintain seven-game win streak

For the seventh straight year, the Bruins are undefeated through seven games.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (7-0) has won the second quarter in six of its seven games this year, including both games at the Cal Cup last weekend.

The Bruins have outscored their opponents 26-12 in second quarters this season, while only topping their opponents 53-36 over the other three quarters.

Freshman attacker Val Ayala said she believes her team came out a bit more energized after a couple of lackadaisical first quarters last weekend.

“I think maybe we just got a little burst of energy,” Ayala said. “I don’t think there was any one specific thing that caused that. Just a little bit more energy coming off of that first quarter.”

UCLA had big second quarters against then-No.17 Fresno State (2-6) and then-No. 9 Michigan (2-2). The Bruins had fallen behind the Michigan Wolverines after the first quarter, trailing 2-1, but outscored the Wolverines 4-2 in the second and never lost the lead again.

Against Fresno State, UCLA put up five unanswered goals in the last four minutes of the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead into halftime. The Bruins outscored the Bulldogs by just one goal in the second half to win the game.

Coach Adam Wright said the team is still learning to play together and the second quarter outbursts are not based on just one or two factors.

“I’m not going to attribute it to one thing or another,” Wright said. “This weekend and last weekend, we’re finding out a ton of information about ourselves. Overall, we have moments where we’re doing a really good job and moments when we’re doing not so good.”

This is Wright’s second year with the team, and he is still implementing his play style with both the veterans he inherited and newcomers.

Sophomore goalie Jahmea Bent said she believes as the team becomes more familiar with Wright’s playbook, the Bruins will be able to do better in all four quarters.

“The biggest difference this year is learning,” Bent said. “For everyone to be on the same page, learning the plays – it’s just a good blueprint. With everyone on the same page, it’s a little bit less challenging.”

UCLA will face three top-15 schools Friday and Saturday, including a rematch with Fresno State. Wright said he looks for his team to improve every time they get in the pool and he hopes to keep his team’s trajectory on an upward path.

“We’re growing as a team,” Wright said. “We’ve got a lot of young players. Our goal is to grow from game to game. We just have so much to learn and we can’t do it all in one day.”

Men’s tennis sees fresh faces, shifting lineups at break of the season

New contributors, a changing lineup and injuries have all impacted the Bruins at the start of their dual-match season.

UCLA men’s tennis (2-0) has some new faces in its spring lineup. Both Govind Nanda and Patrick Zahraj are freshmen who joined the team after the new year began. Nanda played both matches over the weekend in the singles No. 3 and doubles No. 2 spots, while Zahraj played in the singles No. 4 and doubles No. 3 in both matchups – against Indiana and San Diego.

Coach Billy Martin said it will be a tough transition, but both players have a bright future with the program.

“It’s certainly more difficult when they start midyear like this, in January, especially for a player like (Zahraj) coming from Germany,” Martin said. “Both are going to be very important for the success of our team, and as time goes by they will become more and more comfortable with everything.”

Zahraj said playing singles is different than doubles especially because he had little time to practice with the team and find doubles partners.

“It was a big mix in the first few weeks (trying to find the right partner),” Zahraj said. “But heading into the dual match last Friday it had to be figured out.”

Redshirt sophomore teammate Connor Rapp, who played doubles with Zahraj versus San Diego on Saturday, said the situation is unusual, but the players made do as best they can.

“Most of the guys on our team, if they would just throw me in I would have some experience with them,” Rapp said. “From Junior Tennis and the rest, I know many of the guys on our team, but he’s from Germany so it’s a little different.”

Zahraj said he was better prepared to play with the team immediately because of steps he had taken before the season.

“We prepared the whole month of December with the different rules and types,” he said. “I was able to do a couple of visits last year, and that mentally prepared me a lot before coming here.”

Shifting lineups

Martin said his doubles lineup could see some changes after the results from last weekend.

“Certainly No. 1 (doubles team) did well, winning both matches,” Martin said. “No. 2 struggled a little bit so we might be thinking about doing a little redecorating of the furniture there.”

The No. 1 doubles team consists of UCLA’s top two singles players, senior Maxime Cressy and sophomore Keegan Smith, and the No. 2 doubles team comprises Nanda and junior Ben Goldberg. The No. 3 doubles team was in flux this weekend, first fielding Zahraj alongside sophomore Bryce Pereira on Friday, and then Zahraj and Rapp on Saturday.

Although Zahraj has had three doubles partners through three matches, he said the mixing and matching doesn’t affect him.

“Unfortunately, I hit Pereira in the head with my serve Friday,” Zahraj said. “So, I then learn that I have to change partners again an hour and a half before the match Saturday. But really, we have a good mix-up of players that maybe I can give a concussion to.”

Injury report

The spring season has started and some Bruins have caught the injury bug.

After his doubles match with Zahraj on Friday, Pereira missed Saturday’s match due to a head injury, but Martin said it is not a major problem moving forward.

“(The athletic staff) wanted to err on the cautious side, with any kind of head injury,” Martin said. “Especially with tennis not being thought of as a sport with many high-collision head injuries, but he will be back fine for us this weekend if we are able to play.”

Sophomore Connor Hance was injured in the UCLA’s opening match Friday against Indiana. Martin said the injury’s severity is unknown but could keep Hance sidelined for a prolonged time.

“Hance is a different story,” Martin said. “We know he’s got a foot injury. As to how soon he’ll be back … time will tell with that, but we know it won’t be in the near future.”