The Arts in New York City » Anna-Maja Rappard

Anna-Maja Rappard’s Final Podcast

admin — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:38:37 +0000

Chopin…It’s On!

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:42:18 +0000

The dulcet melody of etudes from Chopin Op. 10 enthralled my ears when I was sitting in the audience at a professional pianist competition in the recital halls at NYU. I was infatuated by the mostly twenty-minute-long pieces each pianist performed in front of a panel of judges. My piano teacher had invited me to come see her participate at an annual competition held right near Washington Square. I was in awe when I saw her and the other competitors run their fingers so vigorously yet beautifully over the clavier. To me, it is absolutely captivating to see someone lay their hands on the keys and give meaning and emotions to simple black dots on fine-lined sheets of paper. This infatuation has been my motivation in continuing to play for almost eleven years. Sitting in the audience witnessing these heart-felt deliveries of such comprehensive pieces, I thought to myself that these pianists shouldn’t be perceived as “competitors” for they can merely compete in terms of technique. Instead, they should each be applauded as artists who are able to play marvelous music in their own, individual interpretation. In the end, a twenty-two-year-old pianist won whose excellent technique was undeniable. To me, he stood out among the others because of the refined tone he produced and his sensational delivery. I was truly inspired by these pianists; it provided reassurance once again that I want to always hone the skill of playing the piano.

Anna-Maja Rappard’s Podcast Review

admin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:59:33 +0000

Behind The Scenes

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:25:45 +0000

For the past three weeks, I had the opportunity to work on Anton Chekhov’s critically acclaimed play “The Seagull” at Brooklyn College. Not as an actress however, but as a crewmember. I was assigned the job of the “sound operator”. This was totally unfamiliar territory to me, but over the course of three weeks I experienced the complex and often stressful job of the people who truly take care of bringing the authenticity of a play to life – the crew. As an audience, one gets to enjoy the captivating performances of the actors and take in the marvelous set, lights, sound, period costumes and props. These components, which at times we don’t give enough credit to, let one engage and find a connection to the circumstances of the play. What is going on behind the scenes however does not reflect the beauty of art and theater at all – it certainly posed a new challenge and experience to me. During shows, I sat on a headset in a small, dark sound booth, waiting for my stage manager to call the next cue. I realized that I didn’t perceive “The Seagull” as a beautiful play filled with great characters anymore, but it turned into a technical piece of text to which I didn’t have any emotional connection and merely dissected it into cues, breaks and “stand-by’s”. It was enriching as an actor to make this experience of being a crewmember. I believe it broadened my horizon to the extent that I now understand the complexity and huge undertaking of only one play – the people, technicalities and money that is involved; something that the audience and even actors mostly don’t pay much attention to.

“Defying Gravity!”

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:56:01 +0000

As the “tkts”- booth on Times Square is popular among both New Yorkers and tourists for making a good bargain on Broadway-tickets, there is one musical we never see displayed on the screen: “Wicked”. After its debut in 2003, “Wicked” is still known to be the most sought-after musical on Broadway. Besides “Premium Seats”, tickets to see this musical – praised as being “The best show in town!” and “A must-see!”- are sold out months in advance. Surprisingly, I good lucky and got two tickets after waiting for two hours on the ticket-return-line, tickets that had been cancelled by someone and were then sold back to the public. I thought I knew what was going to expect me since I was very familiar with the music, but “Wicked” exceeded my expectations by far! “Wicked” is everything we imagine when we think of a “Broadway Musical”: extravagant costumes, mesmerizing songs, lavishing sets and dramatic effects. The spectacular coups de theatre combined with breath-taking music and vocal performances engaged the audience in such a way that I could have never imagined.

“Wicked” is a re-imagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, told from the two witches of Oz point of view, set prior to Dorothy’s arrival from Kansas. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, are the two main characters in the musical. Elphaba is an intelligent yet misunderstood girl who is shunned by society for her green skin. The actress’ entire skin is airbrushed in green and her costume rather simple – held in black, which stands out only because of its simplicity compared to the other costumes – making it absolutely believable that she is bullied by society for her appearance. Glinda on the other side is a pretty, popular girl who amuses the audience because of her ditsy-ness. She is beautifully dressed in the most eye-popping, fairytale-like dresses; no matter where she is on the stage, she stands out as soon as the lights hit the heaps of crystals on her dresses. Throughout the show their friendship struggles to endure extreme personality conflicts, opposing viewpoints and rivalry over the same love-interest and, of course, Elphaba’s eventual fall from grace. The audience witnesses the growth in both characters and the marvelous truthful performance by the actors allow the audience to fully engage in their emotions. Not one second was I disconnected from the story.

The grandiose music in “Wicked” staggeringly captures the audience right from the beginning. Arranged by the award-winning Stephen Schwartz, music and lyrics enthrall the audiences’ ears, leaving them humming the melodies long after the show. The hit-song “Defying Gravity”, which suggests the climax of the musical, has the audience sitting on the edge of their seats. The vocal range the two main characters and the ensemble show-off during this song are exemplary. Amazingly, no scene in “Wicked” looks for feels the same. The set changed constantly and so does the appearance of the ensemble. Set and costumes seems to only increase in their lavishness, which make the changes in setting absolutely convincing. Effects used to complement the changes and music here are mind-blowing. Actors suspended from ropes flying over the audience, flashing light-effects that allow the audience to fully immerse in the setting and circumstances of the musical, and fog coming out in all kinds of colors, create a superlative spectacle.

As soon as I entered the Gershwin Theatre – being lead to my seat by an usher in a wizard costume, seeing the huge, mechanical-looking dragon suspended down, overlooking the entire theatre – I knew I was in for a unique experience. It is safely said that “Wicked” deserves every single one of the 12 awards it has won already, including Tony’s and Grammy’s. It is a fantastically spell-binding show that anyone will enjoy regardless of age. “Wicked” is Broadway at its best!

Meeting an 18-Year-Old Author Instead of Sigrid Nunez

Anna-Maja Rappard — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:26:51 +0000

Searching for an event that would make up for the Sigrid Nunez Reading at the Newman Conference Center at Baruch on Tuesday, I quickly realized that I had not look too far. Macaulay’s common events can actually be very beneficial besides contradictory observations many students had made after the first event. I was lucky to have met a guy that over the last two months has become a dear friend of mine: Sean.
Besides his secondary occupation as a student, he is an established author, a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur. He started writing his first book at the age of five-teen, when most other teenagers where complaining about a four-page English paper. His “baby”, “The Sitcoms of Norman Liar”, was released in October 2006, published by McFarland & Co. Meeting with him, Sean gave me great insight into what it means to be an author at our age, giving book signings at Barnes & Nobles on the weekends, organize motivational seminars, or simply have people twice your age, already established in the entertainment industry, ask you for advice on how to write a hit-sitcom. I was absolutely astounded by the drive and ambition Sean brings to the table. He read me a chapter of his book and even though I did not grow up watching Norman Lear sitcoms such as “All In The Family”, the insightfulness of the book allowed me to immerse into American television culture. He gives great detail and an absolutely sophisticated opinion about how Lear’s sitcoms had a positive influence on American culture – it’s very interesting.
Though I missed out on hearing a reading by Sigrid Nunez, I think my substitute event had a quite different impact on me because of the connection to the author. I was reassured how unlimited the opportunities are to actively pursue something even at our age and on top of that be very successful with it. Sean is a great example for working hard, enjoying life and make a living with what you love doing.

What Would Mozart Say?

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:41:05 +0000

When I saw the performance of “Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute” at The Joyce Theater, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “What would Mozart say about the Cambodian adaptation of his epochal opera ‘Die Zauberfloete/ The Magic Flute’?” Though this wasn’t out of disinclination towards the performance, it was a question that was adequate to ask oneself. For anyone who had an opportunity to see Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, differences and similarities were easy to depict and a slight preconception about what was going to be expected could inhibit one from truthfully enjoying the performance. A major difference was the fact that the Cambodian Magic Flute was solely performed through movements. Besides the rather “quote-like” surtitles above the ten musicians upstage, there were no spoken words at all. Dressed in absolutely stunning, traditional Cambodian costumes, the dancers performed traditional Cambodian movements, which are mainly focused in the hands and feet. Dances almost seemed like a sequence of striking poses that progressed very slowly from one to another. Though I found that “Pamina Devi” at The Joyce Theater was a captivating experience, I personally found it extremely difficult to stay focused during the 120 minute performance. The story that was told through the movements was very similar to Mozart’s original– the five main characters (Pamina, Tamino, Papageno, Papagena and the Queens of the Night) were all translated into Cambodian names- but it took deep focus and endurance to follow the story throughout. To fully immerse in this adaptation and not simply get carried away by the beauty of costumes and Cambodian tradition, one must have had a deep appreciation for movement and dance and the rather trained mind and etiquette of a frequent dance spectator.

Keep the City Clean… Please

A-Maja Rappard — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:18:53 +0000

Art is “In The Blood”

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:30:42 +0000

Suzan-Lori Parks’ “In The Blood” is a riveting play, ultimately concerned with the effects and existence of hypocrisy within human social systems. The questions posed are difficult and demand that we, the audience, examine the answers within ourselves as well as within the society as a whole. While “In The Blood” takes on the qualities of a sophisticated, truthful and certainly socially critical play, Mary Beth Easly, working together with the Brooklyn College Theatre Department, found the compelling nuances between a performance with great depth and yet a sense of genuine humor that keeps the audience engaged and entertained.
The opening night of “In The Blood” at the New Workshop Theater at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College was a great success. As a diverse crowd of people surged into the theater, I was unsure what to expect from the play having such a dark title, since I wasn’t familiar with the play beforehand. A marvelous, truly captivating set awaited me in the theatre. Sitting down, the audience got the sense of sitting beneath a rusty New York bridge looking onto the conglomerated home of a struggling mother with five children, all let to believe that they are related by blood besides their different ethnicities. Parks allows the audience to be part of Hester’s life and her struggle to provide for her children while trying to find her own happiness in a society that does nothing but abuse and exploit her as an effect of her low social status. Hester, the protagonist of the play (beautifully performed by Latonia Phipps – an MFA Acting student at Brooklyn College), is an African American woman who sacrifices everything for the good of her children and yet desires to find fulfillment within herself. As an audience member, one is almost forced to draw the connection to relevant issues today – sexual harassment, exploitation of the poor and poor programs in regards to healthcare and social welfare are issues that make “In The Blood” such a heavy, relevant play. I found myself truly connected to Hester’s character and against my hopes to experience a happy ending for her, the play ended in a rather depressing but very truthful way. I left the theatre bearing in mind that I was the spectator to a dramatic literary piece however I felt intrigued to ask myself how relevant the questions raised and events within the play are true in the reality of the society I am part of. I believe Parks has written a very complex, riveting play, which the Brooklyn College Theatre Department succeeded in performing in an exceptional, truthful way.
Undoubtedly the performance of “In The Blood” encourages one to be critical and thoughtful, I found that the nine actors and Mary Beth Easley, the director, put together a performance of great entertainment balancing the addressing of social issues with a great sense of humor and some outstanding artistic performances by the actors. As an aspiring actress myself, I might have a more critical eye for an actor’s truthful performance in a play, but “In The Blood” took my breath because the evident professionalism the nine undergrad- as well as grad-students brought into their performance and how truly compelled I felt as an audience member. The actors playing Hester’s children, all faced the challenge to take on another character in the play in addition. With only short breaks in between, most of them had to shake off the characteristics and habits of their “child character” and take on a much more mature, complex and rather wicked one. One actor who grabbed one’s attention was Mack Exilus, a second-year BFA acting student, who during the show frequently changed between playing a clumsy toddler and a corrupt preacher who Hester finds out is the father of Baby, the clumsy toddler. In all, an outstanding job was done in casting “In The Blood” because the chemistry among the cast and the immense talent were genuinely undeniable.
Plays like Suzan-Lori Parks’ “In The Blood” are one key to point out issues that are often brushed under the surface by society and yet should be addressed to make a change. Only aware individuals can truly make a change. Other projects the Brooklyn Theatre Department is currently working on include: Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, Wendy Lill’s “Fighting Days” and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s “The Mystery Plays”.

Untruthfully Immersed into Fine Art at “The Frick Collection”

Anna-Maja Rappard — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:15:34 +0000

The critically acclaimed “The Frick Collection” located on the Upper East Side, is a beautifully preserved site and a magnificent building, filled with many impressive pieces of art. Henry Clay Frick, the former owner and resident of the estate, and his family had an undying passion for fine art and therefore laid the foundation for a sumptous collection in their home that would later be modified into a museum in the years of 1913 to 1914. Among these awe-inspiring paintings and sculptures were Joseph Mallord William Turner’s “The Harbor of Dieppe” and “Cologne: The Arrival of Packet Boat: Evening” hung on opposite sides of the West Gallery, because of their tremendous detail and endowment to inspire the observer to see and feel the movement in these paintings themselves. Jeans Barbet’s sculpture “Angel”, held entirely in black and located in the garden, which is an artistic, spiritual site in itself, caught my attention the most because of the defined features and striking pose of the angel. Though, the artistic value and beauty of all the pieces displayed in “The Frick Collection” is undeniable, I got the impression that most of the pieces didn’t seem to get the full appreciation they deserved. While the building has all potential to be an enjoyable, sophisticated museum, many of the galleries felt crammed and the arrangement of the pieces was rather imperfect. Even though I took advantage of the Art Phone Audio Guide, provided for no extra fee, I was not fully able to immerse in the depth and focus these pieces required of me as the observer. “The Frick Collection” is a museum that requires one to have preparation, maybe even do research, before hand, I believe, to fully appreciate every piece of art and in order for one to know what to look for in the numerous galleries.