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James Karroum

OPINION 9/27/22 10:56pm

Rice is not your average school. We don’t want an average band.

By James Karroum , Kaitlyn Esneault and Ryan Mbuashu-Ndip

Starting this season, Rice’s Marching Owl Band, longtime instigators of musical shenanigans at various Rice sporting events, will no longer play at basketball games — a role the university intends to fill with the traditional-instruments-only, student-only, audition-only, near-perfect attendance-required Owl Pep Band. To the three of us, this is a slap in the face to everything the MOB, and indeed Rice, stand for. 

A&E 3/23/21 10:39pm

Sid Rich Theatre’s original radio play ‘Space Axed’ embraces spontaneity

By James Karroum

Nafisa Istami wanted to put on a play with members of Rice’s theater community, and she knew exactly what she had in mind: a murder mystery set in space, with audience interaction that dictated the ending. Despite being planned as a traditional play in Sid Richardson College’s new building’s theater space, the final product, “Space Axed,” is a live radio play by Sid Rich Theatre that met all of Istami’s expectations and more. 

A&E 3/16/21 9:23pm

‘ITCHY SOUR CANDY’: VADA students talk solo exhibition series

By James Karroum

“ITCHY SOUR CANDY,” a series of four student solo art exhibitions, is this year’s Mavis C. Pitman Exhibition, organized through the visual and dramatic arts department. Kyle Dickens, Ginny Jeon, Isabel Samperio and Sumin Hwang’s exhibitions will each be open for eight days at Sewall Hall’s Emergency Room Gallery, spaced from March 12 to April 28. 

A&E 3/3/21 11:43am

The show goes on: 'Hello, Hamlet!' adapted for the screen after a year of delays

By James Karroum

This past Saturday, Feb. 28, Wiess Tabletop Theatre streamed their quadrennial rendition of “Hello, Hamlet! A Play in Too Many Scenes,” a comedic retelling of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Performed roughly every four years since 1967, the musical is characterized by pop culture references and songs from movies and other musicals, rewritten each time to stay relevant. After the 2020 production was put on hold shortly before its premiere due to COVID-19 restrictions, it took a year for it to be adapted to digital media, starting nearly from the ground up.

A&E 2/9/21 9:10pm

“Artists and the Rothko Chapel: 50 Years of Inspiration” to open at the Moody Center

By James Karroum

The Moody Center for The Arts’ spring 2021 exhibition, “Artists and the Rothko Chapel: 50 Years of Inspiration,” will open to the public Tuesday, Feb. 16. A celebration of the legacy and influence of the Rothko Chapel, the two-part show includes a restaging of “Marden, Novros, Rothko: Painting in the Age of Actuality,” a 1975 campus art exhibit held in response to the chapel, as well as contemporary abstract works that reflect the chapel’s influence on artists today. 

A&E 2/2/21 10:43pm

Community-centered art show Collect it for the Culture III opens Downtown

By James Karroum

Collect it for the Culture III is the third annual Houston art show by Black Buddha Creative Agency that seeks to present culture-focused fine art and encourage beginning collectors. This year the Black-curated, Black-organized show continued its mission by showcasing many more artists than in past years, creating a significant platform for featured BIPOC artists to gain exposure. The show opened to the public last Saturday, Jan. 30 at GreenStreet, a commercial development in Downtown Houston, and will be on view until Feb. 28. 

A&E 11/10/20 11:44pm

‘A Kind of Rebirth’ manifests impermanence and repetition at Sleepy Cyborg Gallery

By James Karroum

A fusion of photography, poetry and light projection, “A Kind of Rebirth” by Frederica Adriani and Lovett College senior Varun Kataria is the latest installation at Sleepy Cyborg Gallery in Sewall Hall. Printed on reflective paper, Kataria’s portraits cover one wall while Adriani’s poems are projected on them like a cycling Star Wars opening crawl. On view in person and online through Thursday, Nov. 12, the exhibition is the product of a study abroad experience that brought the pair together and their conversations about the idea of growth. 

A&E 10/20/20 10:38pm

ON/OFF to showcase digitally interactive student art across campus

By James Karroum

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. 

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