Events around and about Dartmouth College and Hanover, New Hampshire
Well, it had to be seen, having seen all the others, but this was one of the disappointing films in the series. The plot was convoluted, as is often the case with time travel, which allowed for some location humor related to the 1973 “past”. It was just not as engaging as some of the other ones – maybe the lack of a good villain?
I was unfamiliar with this concept, but apparently the baccalaureate is a traditional celebration of high school graduation. The one in Hanover has been happening for 30 or 40 years. This year’s program had a mix of song, poetry and inspirational talks.
We were greeted by Ethan’s polished Chopin, which he plays easily from memory. This was followed by an appropriate song “May I Suggest” by Eleanor, Anjali and Grace, three of the stars of the high school choral program. The selected hymns were familiar, which was a nice change. The short talks, especially by Mark, Denise, Anant and Margaret’s “Namaste”, were effective. I’m not so sure about Rob’s religion theme, but I did chuckle at his “None” / “Nun” joke (referring to choice of religion at college).
The last song was the parent choir, which included a mix of experienced and (trembling) neophyte singers.
The ceremony ended with a lighting of the candles. Two teachers started with lit candles, on each side of the hall, with students lining the wall. The teachers each lit the candle of the next student in line, passing on the light of knowledge, and this proceeded until all candles were lit. The students then walked outside with their candles lit.
A welcome and enjoyable comedy from the Hanover High School “Students on Stage” group. This is a student-run group that selects, casts, and directs a play every year. This particular play involved mistaken identities that was capably handled by a strong cast. Sarah McPeek at Meg was particularly good – she was the “straight man” but she provided a solid anchor for the play throughout. The two male leads Jakub Bobrowicz and Matt Stebenne were very funny. Jakub had a great British accent, less so for Matt, but he made up for it with his physical comedy as a cross-dressing mute. Ross Patten as Duncan was also very funny, particularly his asides referring to the excesses of actors.
All in all a first rate production – very impressive.
An impressive array of students performed in the Hanover High School auditorium for the annual Mega Concert. This combines band, orchestra and chorus in a single venue.
The introduction with the classic Charles Trenet “Beyond the Sea” was nicely done by the Footnotes. The string orchestra did a good job with Amazing Grace. The Lord of the Rings was heavy on the percussion, but also performed well. The senior soloists sang well for “On and On”, followed by a fun “What I Like About You”. For “Blue Moon”, singer Lillian was unfortunately drowned out by the band which was a shame as she has a great voice. The chorus songs were fine – Hercules was a big long. The Hilights version of the Beyoncé Medley was an unfortunate choice.
The final band pieces were nicely paced and rousing, and closed the concert off nicely.
This documentary was the result of a ten-week documentary film class by a group of Dartmouth students. The result was a first-rate, polished, and engaging film about local comedienne/speaker Cindy Pierce. The 23-minute documentary featured clips from shows in Middlebury, Tupelo, Lebanon Opera House, and interview with Cindy and her family (“she’s not that funny” was a classic line).
Cindy, her family, and her entourage were at the 6:30 show, and Cindy answered questions with the group of students involved in the production.
They whittled 20 hours of footage to the final 20 odd minutes after many hours in their editing studios. It seemed like top of the line equipment and strong faculty support – this is why you go to Dartmouth, after all.