Arts and Entertainment

Songs For Quiet Time Pt. 2

Back in April, the Thresher compiled a playlist of songs submitted by students that made them feel more grounded while swimming in the sea of COVID-19 chaos. Now, seven months and a seeming lifetime later, the series is back for a second installment, “Songs For Quiet Time Pt. 2.” We asked the same two questions to those who submitted music: What songs or artists have been helping you get through self-isolation, and how have they helped you do so?  

Forgotten Gems: A conversation with Amanda Pascali on the bittersweet teenagedom of her self-titled EP

I am obsessed with seventeen. It’s the transitive property, really: I’m obsessed with music and music is obsessed with seventeen. Ever since McCartney howled “she was just seventeen” and Hammerstein celebrated “sixteen going on seventeen,” bands from Marina and the Diamonds to The 1975 have celebrated this liminal year. Seventeen is the terminus of the slow death of childhood but prior to the rude awakening of adulthood. It’s when you sneak out of the house or read philosophy or, in my case, listen to Amanda Pascali. 

Rice Opera to hold first ever virtual production

When ground broke in 2017 for the construction of the Brockman Hall for Opera, no one could have predicted that the first show in the new hall would be one without an audience. The new hall, equipped with a three-tiered, 600-seat European-style theater, the first of its kind according to the Shepherd School of Music’s website, amongst all U.S. conservatories and universities, will be completely empty for its pre-recorded and lip-synced showing of the little-known chamber opera: “Der Kaiser von Atlantis.” 

10/28 weekly scenes & screens

Painting the town: Houston muralist GONZO247 spearheads new campus mural

This week, another prolific Houston artist is making their mark on Rice’s largest canvases in the next installation of the Moody Center for the Arts’ season of “Creative Interventions.” Through the week of Oct. 26, internationally acclaimed Houston-based graffiti artist GONZO247 is joining forces with Rice students, alumni and community members to create a mural in celebration of Owl Together, the first combined celebration of Homecoming & Reunion and Families Weekend.

R2’s new Open Mic blog provides accessible outlet for student creativity

In a normal year, October would find R2: The Rice Review, Rice’s award-winning undergraduate literary journal, hosting its annual Open Mic Night where students performed a broad range of work. Although the pandemic stalled the in-person event, R2 has come up with a creative alternative in the form of their first year-round Open Mic Online blog. 

ON/OFF to showcase digitally interactive student art across campus

Inspired by the diversity and creativity of on- and off-campus life during a pandemic, ON/OFF is an upcoming student art show meant to be a window into that new mode of living. Organized by eight visual and dramatic arts students, the dual-delivery show will be presented in partnership with Sleepy Cyborg Gallery in nine locations around campus from Oct. 23-31. The show encourages Rice students to contribute their own art over its course. 

10/21 weekly scenes & screens

Seven spooky movies to stream this spooky season

A spooky movie list? In this economy? Though I doubt that anything on this list will scare you more than the horror movie we are currently living through (an exquisite mélange of “Contagion,” “Get Out” and select episodes of “Black Mirror”), these films might get your heart racing just enough to temporarily subdue your existential dread.  

Fun, frightening fall activities you autumn know about

As sweater weather approaches, the leaves might not change color in Houston, but the need for pumpkin-themed activities goes from nonexistent to inescapable. Here’s a list of physically distanced and virtual activities you can do to satisfy that autumn craving while still participating in Rice’s Culture of Care and staying safe.  

Review: Clipping explores terror with ‘Visions of Bodies Being Burned’

In “Visions of Bodies Being Burned,” experimental hip-hop outfit Clipping expands on the sinister world it created with its previous album, “There Existed an Addiction to Blood.” Both albums venture into horrorcore, an oft-forgotten subgenre of hip-hop based on dark, violent and transgressive themes typical of horror movies such as murder or supernatural hauntings. Clipping applies these conventions to modern social concerns in order to address the difficulties and inequalities of today. A horror movie for your ears, Clipping’s second exploration of terror does not disappoint. 

“Proud Late Bloomer” finishes its run at Sleepy Cyborg Gallery

“Proud Late Bloomer” by Raquelle Jacqueline is the latest exhibition at Rice’s student-run Sleepy Cyborg Gallery. 

Temporary installations, enduring imagination: Rice Public Art welcomes “Creative Interventions”

The Moody Center for The Arts’ new outdoor installations, dubbed “Creative Interventions,” is a multimedia collection of artistic works and interactive exhibits that take advantage of temporary structures and socially distanced spaces across campus.  

BSA’s Soul Night lights up screens with Y2K nostalgia

 The Black Student Association held their annual Soul Night this Saturday with outdoor screenings at residential colleges as well as virtually through Zoom. Inflatable screens, snaking HDMI cables and relentless mosquitos did nothing to detract from student presence at the revamped Soul Night. Soul Night Co-Coordinator Camille Pierre-Louis explains how Soul Night is normally a cultural live show that provides a platform for Rice students and young Black artists to express themselves and show off the spectrum of Blackness.  

Student dancers leap into new challenges but keep momentum

Dancers across Rice campus are facing an unfamiliar set of obstacles as they shift online for the fall semester. COVID-19 restrictions may have brought regular rehearsals and performances to a halt, but Rice’s student dance organizations refuse to let these challenges deter them from doing what they love.  

10/14 weekly scenes & screens

Deep End Records goes under, Insomnia Gallery shuts its doors for now

If you’ve ever attended one of Insomnia Gallery’s vividly imaginative art shows — frequently reviewed by Thresher staff and featured in our weekly roundup of local arts events in recent years — you’ve been greeted with walls lined with colorful cassette tapes and bins filled with vinyl records old and new to rifle through. Deep End Records, tucked in that front room of the indie gallery since early 2018, was a frequent stop on my first solo adventures in Houston thanks to its laid-back vibe, wide selection and insane affordability — I was incredulous to have been able to snag an Elton John album for just $5 on one of my first visits. 

10/7 weekly scenes and screens

Rice Theatre to livestream first socially distanced production

Rice Theatre will premiere a livestreamed performance of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” this Friday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. CST. The play, originally published in 1895 with the subtitle, “a trivial comedy for serious people,” narrates the double lives of two men, John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, who both pretend to be named “Ernest” and deceive their lovers in doing so. Directed by Christina Keefe, director of the Rice Theatre Program, the production will be available to view online as well as to a select live audience who must abide by Rice’s social distancing protocol. All actors will be wearing masks and remaining at least six feet apart on stage, painting a stark portrait of how the pandemic has changed performance art. 

Black Art at Rice: A Conversation with Morgan Seay

Performance can elevate the power of poetry, already a valuable avenue of self-expression, by allowing the artist to share their work and feel the support of an audience. That, at least, has been the experience of spoken word poet Morgan Seay. Her work, which often highlights the Black woman’s experience, has been showcased in the Rice Women’s Resource Center’s “Engender” zine and at the Black Student Association’s Soul Night. The Hanszen College junior spoke to the Thresher about her creative process; struggle, resilience and hope in the Black community; and her presence as an artist at Rice.