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arts & culture
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KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2017
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Study, research and write your discoveries. Reinforce traditions. Don't worry about money but don't spend much, either.
Suspicions get confirmed.
Forgive miscommunications. Rules get enforced.
Taurus
(April 20-May 20)
You can get whatever you need. Relax and enjoy it.
Profitable ventures abound.
Strengthen infrastructure and foundational support.
Work with someone who sees your blind spots.
Gemini
(May 21-June 20) Personal matters need attention. Get help to manage this and existing responsibilities. Consult an expert. Friends and colleagues offer solutions. Follow through and win.
Cancer
(June 21-July 22) Slow down and contemplate. A conflict between love and money could arise. Consider what to say, rather than reacting automatically. Stand for honor and integrity.
Leo
(July 23-Aug.22)
Enjoy time with friends
Meetings and parties reveal unexpected opportunities. Consider another's view. Avoid provoking jealousies. A brilliant move would pay big dividends.
Virgo
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
You're attracting the attention of someone influential.
Smile for the cameras. Provide impeccable service, and earn valuable positive reviews. Quiet time later
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Expand your territory. Study the possibilities. Fact and fantasy may clash. Decrease clutter, and go for clarity. Weigh your options and choose. Make reservations.
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
A lack of funds would threaten your plans... review the budget and adjust to suit the circumstances.
Don't believe everything you hear. You're gaining influence
Sagittarius
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Negotiate to refine the plan. Be patient...you won't have to defer gratification forever. Wait until the bills are paid. Take it easy. Work together.
Capricorn
(Capitaln
Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Physical action generates satisfying results. Build, clean and exercise. Slow to avoid accidents. Get into a steady rhythm. Practice your moves.
Aquarius
(Jan. 20-Feb.18) Fun and romance entice you away from more serious pursuits. Old assumptions get challenged. Strike out in a new direction. Bring friends and good
University Theatre performs the classic Broadway musical "Company" at Crafton-Preyer Theater in Murphy Hall.
music.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20) Get involved in household projects. Make repairs and improvements, without getting too grandiose. Resist the temptation to spend on
stuff you don't need.
Five actors showcase themes of love and marriage in musical 'Company'
► JOSH MCQUADE
@LO1neWOLIMcQuade
iniversity Theatre delved into themes of marriage
Miranda Clark-Ulrich/KANSAN
and loneliness in its performance of the musical "Company" opening night on Friday.
"Company," a musical composed and written by Stephen Sondheim, follows a middle-aged man named Robert, played in the show by senior and Dodge City-native Cale Morrow. Robert is friends with five committed couples, but is not in a committed relationship himself.
Both the assistant stage manager Martha Keslar and Morrow thought the show went great for opening night.
The play begins on Robert's 35th birthday with all five couples at his house to celebrate. The cast then breaks out into the song heard much throughout the musical, "Company." The song consists of the couples each branding Robert with a nickname - Bobby, Bobbo, angel and darling to name a few - and then one of the couples invite him over for dinner, saying it will just be the three of them, the husband, the wife and Robert.
It was a great cast, and it was a team. It's called 'Company' for a reason."
Cale Morrow Senior
As the play progresses, each couple discusses Robert's plan to get married and offer to introduce him to various friends. The lyrics to the original "Company" quickly alter into saying it
will just be the four of them, not three, over for dinner.
The musical performances do a great job in illustrating the sanctity of marriage using the five couples, each with their own thoughts on marriage. Paul and Amy, played by Schyler Merrills and Francesca Haynes, are shown on their wedding day, with Robert as Paul's best man.
While Paul is very excited to get married, Amy breaks into a comedic song, "Getting Married Today," in which she sings and quickly speaks about how she will not be getting married today.
Robert sits down with Amy as she ponders over whether it is worth being tied down to one person for the rest of her life, even telling Paul that she does not love him enough. The breakdown proved to be pre-wedding jitters, as the
couple goes on with the wedding happily.
Morrow, reflecting on the play, said he believes that marriage, and questioning marriage, is something even at the age of 22 he has thought about.
"I think it's a universal theme," Morrow said. "I think about relationships I had and relationships I've seen."
In fact, one of his exes, Kathy, played by Rendi Renee Doran, confessed that she wanted to marry him at one point, but he never asked.
As the musical neared the end, Robert visits with his current and past girlfriends, wondering why they never got married. However, after talking to three of the exes, he realizes that he was too focused on living a life of fun and parties instead of looking to settle down.
Robert performed the final musical number, "Being Alive," opening his heart to the idea of having someone to love him. Wanting someone to hold him close, someone to ruin his sleep and someone to know him all too well. Robert in the end finally understands the positive outlook on marriage.
"Find the one who's your true love and spend the rest of your life with her," Yinxiang Wang, a sophomore from China in the crowd that night, said in reaction to the discussion of marriage in the play.
The musical closes with Robert's friends waiting to give him his cake for his birthday, but do not notice Robert hiding in another room. The friends all leave, realizing he wants to be left alone and leave the cake.
When they leave, Robert grabs the cake and blows
out the candles alone, ending the show.
The ending is left to the audience's interpretation, as the entirety of the play may have been within the mind of Robert before realizing he wants to be alone in life. The play has no set timeline for the musical and Robert's friends throw him a 35th birthday celebration three times throughout.
University Theatre opened the two-weekend performance of "Company Friday night and will hold the final performance of the musical Sunday, March 12 at 2:30 p.m.
"It was a great cast, and it was a team," Morrow said. "It's called 'Company' for a reason."
The schedule of performances can be found on University Theatre's website.
Ed Sheeran's 'Divide' puts him in elite company
▶ OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
It's convenient to make the comparison. Here are two twenty-something starlets from overseas. Both with music that acts as the change-of-pace millennials and nostalgic suburban moms need. Whether that's in between blaring party music and/or skin-deep pop anthems, the lawn chair and glass of ice-cold lemonade will be there ready on the front porch for the duo.
That being said, this comparison is not for convenience. Ed Sheeran, with the newly released "÷" (pronounced "divide") has now matched elite songwriter Adele lyric-for-lyric. They have become equals after reaching a level of songwriting that meshes past and present yearnings into stripped-down ballads and audacious pop singles, hits that drip with intellect gained from their troubled, young mistakes. Both Sheeran's "÷" and Adele's 2015 "25," for which she won the Grammy for Album of the Year, have
Contributed photo
placed the two in rarefied air at the peak of pop in the 21st century.
"÷," the third studio album from the 26-year-old from West Yorkshire, England, closes a chapter of contemplation in the songwriter's life seen with 2014's "x" and 2011's "+" Beginning with Sheeran's two previously released singles "Shape of You" and "Castle on the Hill," the listener is thrust into uncharted waters, with Sheeran's rich family story and fulfilling adult rendezvous as the compass. The track list lies as a map that takes them through a new backdrop of lyrics and musical stylings that have tact in a way never before seen in Sheeran.
"Shape of You" is the most familiar sound to the former Sheeran, despite it not being a song written for him in the first place.
After being released shortly after the new year, the track broke a Spotify record for best first-week performance. There is the similar waist-swaying pairing of rhythmic guitar strums and soothing synths that oscillate for the perfect
dancing groove. But, just like tracks "Galway Girl" and "Barcelona," there are now little signs of regret for his decisions throughout his story. No slight indication that he wants to return to where he once was. It is an acknowledgement of the pleasure and pain, while also accepting it as a small aspect of who he is.
It's a different tone that takes hold completely by the time the album hits its middle and most critical with "New Man." It's no
longer the cupcake sweet love songs of "Photograph" and "Thinking Out Loud." Sheeran at his most vulnerable reaches back to a story of an old love and her new frat-boy love interest. Hip-hop dominates here as Sheeran recalls the times they "sipped champagne out of cider cans."
This would have been an opportunity for Sheeran to revert back to timid what ifs and bitterness, but behind cutting rhymes and DJ scratches Sheeran
breaks through and reaches a level of maturity and indifference. Sheeran goes as far with "New Man" to openly remember who he was in the relationship, as "the young boy trying to be loved." But Sheeran quickly doubles down and describes his high road in the aftermath, while she can't quite say the same.
If the first half of the album set sail to the new era of Sheeran, the second half drifts and rocks the listener into a canal of Celtic folk ("Nancy Mulligan"), tropical house ("Bibia Be Ye Ye") and a closing, gentle piano piece in "Save Myself." It's a final punctuation that ties up a thread throughout "÷": Sheeran — like contemporary Adele — can dig deep after long sought out answers. But, the journey to how he gets there and what he learns is self-affirming. He is no longer waiting for a lover to show him the way. Sheeran is now focused on his own path, and it's a promising road of tales and wonders only yet to be heard by his beloved fans.
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