Author Archives: Julia Bumke

A great 60s-tastic shot of Nassau Hall. (photo from www.princeton.edu)

A great 60s-tastic shot of Nassau Hall. (photo from www.princeton.edu)

As of this afternoon, Princeton has offered 726 students spots in the Class of 2016 from a 3,443-person applicant pool, the University announced at 3pm today.  It’s the first time Princeton has offered students the option of applying Early Action–meaning that admitted students are not contractually obligated to attend, and may apply to other schools for Regular Decision if they so choose–since 2006, when Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Virginia all simultaneously eliminated their Early Decision programs.  Harvard took 772 students for the Class of 2016 out of 4,245 applicants, with an acceptance rate of 18.2%, while Yale had an 18% dip in Early Action applications this year, due in part to Princeton and Harvard’s reinstated programs.

Jury’s still out on how many admitted students will matriculate, though Dean Janet Rapeleye has said that the accepted Early Action students should represent about a third of the year’s total admits.

To read more about Princeton’s Early Action pool for 2016, including a demographic breakdown for admitted students, click here.

Katherine Ortmeyer, Uchechi Kalu and Matt Spencer Seely in Craig Wright's "The Pavilion" at Theatre Intime. (Photo by Taylor Mallory)

Katherine Ortmeyer, Uchechi Kalu and Matt Spencer Seely in Craig Wright's "The Pavilion" at Theatre Intime. (Photo by Taylor Mallory)

We’ve got a great weekend of campus arts events–perfect procrastination techniques to employ before the end-of-semester push (and, let’s be honest, holiday shopping) takes over our brains.

  • There’s theater galore this weekend, starting tonight with Craig Wright’s The Pavilion, a high-school-reunion story unlike any you’ve seen before, directed by Emma Watt ‘13 at Theatre Intime. Thurs-Saturday at 8pm, this weekend and next. Also, the show clocks in at just under 90 minutes–a perfectly-sized study break. Tickets $8 at Theatre Intime.  To see the trailer (artistic design for this show is through the roof), click here.
  • Also up tonight is Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, directed by Molly O’Neill ‘14 with the Princeton Shakespeare Company in the Wilson Blackbox. Thurs-Saturday at 8pm, this weekend and next. Tickets $8 at Frist; events eligible.
  • Starting tomorrow, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a senior thesis project directed by Julia Keimach ‘12 with the Program in Theater, is sure to be a terrific bet: a great cast, beautiful costumes, and a fresh new take on a classic text (not to mention that our own UPC co-prez SKG makes his Princeton theater debut as Polonius!). December 2-3 at 8:15 PM, December 4 at 2 PM, December 7 – 9 at 8 PM, and December 10 at 1 PM. Free and open to the public; Berlind Rehearsal Room at McCarter Theater Center.
  • A light moment with the cast of "Hamlet" (those drama queens...)

    A light moment with the cast of "Hamlet" (those drama queens...)

    No matter how stressed-out you are by classes, nothing peps you up for the holiday season quite like beautiful Christmas music: the University Glee Club and Chamber Choir’s concert of Readings and Carols this Friday is sure to hit the spot. 8pm Friday in Richardson Auditorium, $5 students, events eligible.

  • Big-band jazz reinterpretations of Radiohead, you say? Just one of the many draws at the University Concert Jazz Ensemble’s collaboration concert with the jazz programs from Columbia University this Saturday: 8pm December 3 in Richardson Auditorium, student tickets $5. Events eligible.
315642_2144702616931_1227210983_33271968_581668594_nAnother week, another arts roundup!  As we mentioned in last week’s column, we’ve been faced with an embarrassment of riches on campus between now and Thanksgiving break. Follow our advice…and see it all!

  • Thursday, November 17, 8pm:Fuente Ovejuna: A Disloyal Adaptation, produced by the Department of Theater at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre, takes the classic Lope de Vega play and stages it within the context of the La Baracca Theatre Troupe in 1930s Spain; it’s a beautiful production full of great performances. Friday-Saturday Nov. 10-11, Thursday-Saturday November 17-19, 8pm; student tickets $10, events eligible. For a terrific concert, check out alt-folk legend Crooked Still’s one-night-only show at Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall, part of the Music Department’s Making Tunes concert series. 8pm; click here for ticket information.
  • Friday, November 18, 8pmThe Footnotes Jam,A Gentleman’s Game, is sure to be a great night of a cappella: 8pm Friday in Richardson Auditorium, student tickets $8, events eligible.
  • Saturday, November 19 matinee, 2pm: This weekend’s your last chance to see Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll at Theatre Intime. A play that combines Czech Communism, British rock music, ancient Greek poetry, and epic love stories…how can you resist? Thursday-Saturday at 8pm with a 2pm matinee on Saturday; student tickets $8, events eligible.  The November 18th 8pm performance will include a talk-back after the show with the Music Department’s Simon Morrison, who has an extensive background in Slavic history and music (and who’s basically the coolest thing since sliced bread).
  • Saturday, November 19, 8pm: The Triangle Club’s 2011 show, Doomsdays of Our Lives, centers on the apocalypse…and with a Ke$ha-inspired cockroach number, a killer drag kickline (the teaser: Mayan virgins about to be sacrificed), and more high hilarity, it’s not to be missed. Tickets always sell out, so buy yours now! Friday-Saturday at 8pm; student tickets $10, events eligible.
  • Sunday, November 20, 3pm: The University Chamber Choir, an offshoot of Glee Club, will present “The Unspoken Word,” a concert of Catholic music written in secret under 17th-century Protestant regimes in England and the Netherlands.  Fascinating liturgical music, gorgeous voices–and free!

382044_2269905390733_1341540238_32222342_340565205_nThis weekend and next always have the year’s largest number of arts events on campus…and here at The Ink, we want to help you to enjoy every bit of it! We’ve made a fancy-pants version of how to see it all between now and Thanksgiving break:

  • Thursday, November 10: I might be slightly biased in this play’s favor (full disclosure: I’m the director), but Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll at Theatre Intime is shaping up to be a wonderful show. Spanning 20 years of the underground rock movement in Communist Czechoslovakia, from the 1968 Prague Spring to the 1989 Velvet Revolution, it’s a fascinating play–and the cast is top-notch.  Thursday-Saturday at 8pm this weekend and next, with a talkback on November 18th with Simon Morrison, the Music Department’s preeminent Slavic music scholar.  Student tickets $8, events eligible.
  • Friday, November 11: The Princeton Glee Club’s Yale vs. Princeton Football Concert is always a great annual event chock full of beautiful music: Friday at 8pm in Richardson Auditorium, $5 student tickets, events eligible.374633_10150357682173661_653008660_8286638_2073660683_n
  • Saturday matinee, November 12: Shaved heads, Baptist revivals, gore galore, bestiality…hooked yet? The Princeton University Players’ Bat Boy at Matthews Acting Studio, a dark musical comedy directed by Claire Greene ‘13, has all that and more.  This weekend only, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm with a 2pm Saturday matinee. Tickets $8, events eligible.
  • Saturday night, November 12: We’ve got two great a cappella options for Saturday night: first, The Nassoons’ Annual Yale Jam with the Yale Whiffenpoofs, is always a blast (8pm Saturday in Richardson Auditorium, student tickets $8). If gorgeous female voices are more your thing (and you’re looking for a great concert that’s also kind on your wallet), the Tigressions Thirtieth Reunion Concert is also a great bet: it’s free at Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall at 7:30pm on Saturday.

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194706_2156284110133_1337370346_32164878_1349783074_oTime to venture forth from your midterms-induced insanity and hit the campus’s best arts events tonight! We’ve got music and theater aplenty–prime distractions from paper-writing and other assorted craziness.

  • Think on the bright side: your paper might be hellish, but at least your sociopathic wife isn’t making you kill your boss in cold blood! No one does schadenfreude better than Shakespeare, and Allie Kollaski ’13’s production of Macbeth has been getting wonderful word-of-mouth feedback over the past couple of days (just be sure to call it “The Scottish Play” if you decide to go…midterms week definitely isn’t time to tempt the Fates).  Today’s the last day: 2pm and 8pm performances in Whitman Theater, tickets $8, student events eligible.
  • Nothing soothes a stressed soul like classical music–and nothing energizes said stressed soul like a crazy marimba concerto, as Kevin Laskey ‘12 will exemplify tonight at the Princeton University Orchestra’s first concert of the season.  Featuring the music of Sibelius and Verdi, along with the afore-mentioned Rosauro Marimba Concerto, it’s a great night of music–and, at under 2 hours total, it clocks in as a perfectly-sized study break.  8pm Saturday at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall; $8 for students, but free with Passport to the Arts (it uses one of the random arts passes that don’t work for ANY other student events except for those in Richardson, so it’s definitely worth it).
  • If you’re an a cappella lover, tonight’s Co-Ed A Cappella Jam is just what the doctor ordered for midterms jitters. Featuring music from the Katzenjammers, Shere Khan, and Roaring 20, it’s bound to be a very fun event–and all of the proceeds go to Education Through Music, a terrific arts non-profit that serves students in New York and the San Francisco Bay area.  10pm Saturday in Theatre Intime; tickets $7 for students, $10 general.

Keep calm and carry on, everyone!

308459_10150865597375503_810590502_21378055_906888115_nIt’s that time of year again: let the 2015er parents descend upon the Bubble!  Whether you’re looking for quality bonding time or a way to hide your killer hangover behind quality distractions, there are some great events slated for the weekend. Here’s a handful of good bets–plus some great ones that you might want to go to sans adults.

  • Halloween comes early with the Chapel Choir’s annual silent movie-fest, where they perform alongside a scary movie with organ accompaniment. This year it’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame; it’s perfect for all ages (especially if you’ve got younger siblings coming). Friday 14 October at 9pm, adults $10 and student $2. University Chapel.
  • PSAT (The Princeton South Asian Theatrics Company) is always a blast; their newest show, Birds, Bees, and Biodata, is sure to be a great one. 8pm Friday and Saturday, Frist Campus Center Theatre; Students $7, general admission $10; Student Events Eligible.
  • On Saturday night, the University Concert Jazz Ensemble will present “In Case You Haven’t Heard,” their first concert of the year, which features pianist Jonny King (Princeton class of ‘87!) with bassist Ed Howard and drummer Victor Lewis.  A great chance to show your parents beautiful Richardson Auditorium–while keeping them a safe distance from Prospect Street.  Saturday 15 October at 8pm, adults $15; student events eligible (so you can get in for free).
  • For sheer hilarious insanity, don’t miss Theatre Intime’s 24-Hour Play Festival, where students race against the clock to write, direct, and star in new plays over the course of a single day.  Heckling is encouraged, and it’s always a blast: one night only, Saturday 15 October at 8pm in Theatre Intime. Free (but definitely not the type of thing you should go to with your parents…unless they’re into raunchy college humor).
  • If it’s Sunday and the fam still hasn’t peaced out, The Richardson Chamber Players’ Art and Memory, featuring music by Ravel, Chausson and Messiae, is a terrific bet–not to mention a great-sounding chamber music performance. Sunday 16 October at 3pm in Richardson Auditorium, adults $15; student events eligible.
IMG00067

Whitaker with Eddie Glaude, Department Chair for the Program in African American Studies, walking by Prospect House this afternoon. (Thanks to DJ Judd and Sarah Paton for the tipoff!)

We’re used to our fare share of celebrities here in the Bubble, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still get starstruck: Forest Whitaker, the Academy-Award-winning American actor of Last King of Scotland fame, was on campus today for a meeting at the Center for African American Studies. Sophomore Uchechi Kalu was lucky enough to be on the scene: “I was working at Stanhope Hall, and everyone was wearing business casual, so I knew something was up–and then this ray of sunshine walked into the office and shook my hand!  He’s just as kind and well-dressed as you’d imagine. Thank God I decided against sweatpants this morning!”  Definitely a memorable way to end the week.

monkeys-hdr_lrgTwo weeks in (doesn’t it feel longer?) and campus arts events are up and running! As the semester goes into full swing, this batch of events is the perfect antidote to daunting workloads and overtired brains:

  • Theatre Intime, Princeton’s oldest entirely student-run theater company, starts its 2011-2012 season with Neil Simon’s Lost In Yonkers, directed by sophomore Eric Traub.  Part comic coming-of-age story and part family drama, this Pulitzer-Prize-winning play is one of Simon’s best, and features an all-star student cast. Thursday-Saturday at 8pm in Theatre Intime: tickets $8, Student Events Eligible.
  • The Department of Music’s Making Tunes concert series, which features a range of international musicians who blend traditional and improvisatory folk music traditions, continues its second week with Appalachian fiddle player Bruce Molsky.  The Tunes series’ first concert was completely sold out, so buying ahead is a smart move: tickets are available at Frist or via phone at 609-258-9220, and the event is Student Events Eligible.  Thursday at 8pm in Taplin Auditorium at Fine Hall.
  • 319614_2211111437472_1238070354_32620346_719421329_nIf you’re hoping to glimpse the next Amy Poehler or Ed Helms, don’t miss The UCB Touring Company’s one-night improv comedy show at McCarter Theatre, sponsored by Quipfire! improv troupe.  Friday at 11pm; free admission, but get there early to get a good seat! It’s sure to fill up fast.
  • Princeton’s Program in Theater opens its season with The Monkeys Are Coming!, a Russian avant-garde drama directed by senior Gabe Crouse as part of his senior thesis.  First published in 1923, the play appears here in a brand-new translation by several professors in Princeton’s Slavic Department.  It’s a genre-bending (and brain-bending) performance–and its 50-minute length makes it perfect for a pre-Street study break.  Friday and Saturday at 8pm in Matthews Acting Studio at the Lewis Center for the Arts (185 Nassau Street); student tickets $10, Student Events Eligible.
  • Speaking of theses, seniors Eddie Skolnick and Jeff Hodes will present an All-Mozart Senior Thesis Recital for the Music Department’s Performance Program on Saturday at 8pm in Taplin Auditorium.  Skolnick will play and conduct Mozart’s Adagio in E for Violin and Orchestra and his Violin Concerto No. 3; Hodes will perform and conduct Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto; and both musicians will be backed by a fifteen-person student chamber orchestra.  Free admission, with a reception to follow.

Stephen-Sondheim-HI-RES-Photo-by-Jerry-JacksonWelcome back to The Ink’s Weekend Arts Roundup! For ‘15ers (and newbies to The Ink), the Arts Roundup is an insiders’ guide to all arts events that happen in Princeton (both on and off campus) each weekend.  We’ll give you locations, times, helpful links, ticket prices, event descriptions and hype…everything you need to get out there and take advantage of all the great arts opportunities that Princeton has to offer!

Since the semester’s still in its early stages, we’ve got a number of off-campus options to tempt you with this week.  Stay tuned for later weeks when a cappella, theater, dance, music groups, and more will take the campus by storm!

  • If you think that string music’s just for old-timey Princetonians in smoking jackets, Alasdair Frasier will give you a run for your money: he’s a virtuosic fiddler who takes Scottish traditional and folk music to a wholly new level of musicality.  He’s also super-legit, as his multiple NPR visits highlight. Thursday at 8pm in Taplin Hall; admission is free with TigerTickets ($15 for general admission).  You can call or order them online at 609-258-9220 or www.princeton.edu/utickets.
  • Alasdair Fraser, fiddle & Natalie Haas, cello, will perform in Taplin Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 22.

    Alasdair Fraser, fiddle & Natalie Haas, cello, will perform in Taplin Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 22.

  • Experience the Bard’s best in one fell swoop, complete with snarktastic commentary and a Titus-Andronicus-themed cooking show, at the Princeton Shakespeare Company’s one-night-only production of Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), which they perform to packed audiences each May at Reunions. Saturday at 8p and midnight, Whitman Theater; tickets are free at the door, but bound to sell out!
  • Princeton’s improbably playing host to one of the season’s hottest theater tickets: John Doyle’s Ten Cents a Dance, a dark song cycle with a wholly new take on the classic music of Rogers and Hart. Doyle, director of the critically-acclaimed recent Broadway revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company, is one of his generation’s great visionaries; the production, co-produced with Williamstown Theatre Festival, is not to be missed.  Tues-Thurs at 7:30pm, Saturday at 8p; Berlind Theater, McCarter Theatre Center.  Tickets free with a TigerTicket (preloaded on your Prox).
  • Though it’s technically already sold out (the first-come first-serve free tickets were all gone as of Tuesday night), former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich’s public interview with composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim here at McCarter Theater is bound to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for arts lovers.  Monday, September 26, at 8pm in Matthews Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center; they’ll be giving will call tickets at the door, so it’s definitely worth stopping by!
Wilcox Dining Hall

Wilcox Dining Hall

While most argue that Wilson is pretty much the bottom of the barrel in terms of residential colleges—prepare yourself now for snide jokes from those bums who live in the castles upcampus—there are a lot of factors that contribute to Wilsonites’ steadfast pride.  An unbeatable location, lots of singles, great party-ready suites, and computer clusters that actually work help make Wilson well worth it.  Plus, you get the automatic street cred of hailing from the “too-cool-for-kumbaya” residential college, ideal for long-suffering eye rolls to impress fellow froshies.

The résumé:

Laundry: There are two laundry rooms, located on the ground floors of Feinberg Hall and Dodge-Osborn Hall.  Since Wilson’s only a two-year college, there often isn’t a line for laundry, but be warned: Upperclassmen tend to mooch off of the Feinberg laundry room during peak hours on weekends, so plan ahead!

Kitchens: One mythical kitchen in Dodge-Osborn, which I have yet to hear of anyone using.  You need a special passkey to get in, which you can get from your RCA—a bit of a pain, but the fact that it’s locked also means that it’s probably much cleaner than the typical kitchens in Rocky or Mathey.  Who knows, it might be a treasure trove of culinary wonders!

Computers: There are two clusters, including one right above Wilcox Dining Hall that only works once or twice a year.  While most froshies suffer through the Wilcox cluster (its printer was my mortal enemy for my entire freshman year), you’ll be much better off if you use the cluster on the ground floor of 1937, which has two functioning printers, eight computers (both Macs and PCs), and is rarely ever full.  If you live in 1937, Feinberg, Walker, or 1939, don’t even bother bringing a printer—the 1937 cluster will do the trick.

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Maddox in action (via Princeton Athletic Communications)

Maddox in action (via Princeton Athletic Communications)

It’s been a pretty quiet week in terms of Orange Bubble activity–with a few notable exceptions, which came from all over the high/lowbrow Princetonia spectrum.

First up, Princeton’s basketball star Kareem Maddox ‘11, who made waves with his stellar post-season performances against Harvard and Kentucky in March, has signed a one-year contract with Dutch team Landstede Basketbal, where Princeton’s assistant coach Craig Moore played in 2009-2010.  Maddox, who was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year for the 2010-2011 season, talked with the Princeton Packet about his unlikely path from the Ivy League to the European courts:

“I didn’t start thinking about it until junior year…Myself and Dan (Mavraides) thought we could go play overseas. We worked toward that effort. I didn’t realize it would happen like this. The year we had at Princeton got us exposure. Coaches were reaching out to us to play.  There’s no draft overseas; you’re reaching out to teams, and you have to give them game tapes and show them how your team did and your individual statistics…Having a good year where we meshed well and doing as well as we did helped us a lot with exposure.”

In other news, Princeton’s Annual Giving skyrocketed this year, with over $50 million in alumni contributions and a record-breaking participation rate of 61% from over 36,000 alums.  The Star-Ledger reported last weekend that the newly blazer-clad Class of 1986, which celebrated its 25th reunion in May, contributed over $9 million, the all-time record for any Princeton class.  Looks like Reunions works its magic yet again!

Last, but certainly not least, a new blog called The Ivy Leaker went Code-Orange viral this week, hitting eating club listservs, Facebook, and Twitter alike (and warranting a post over at The Prox late last week).  The blog, which tells the dramatic tale of a sophomore girl facing bicker at “the Cottage,” is written by an anonymous blogger who lists Gossip Girl as one of her major influences, and her posts don’t disappoint: they’re full of midnight meetings at Firestone, secret club handshakes at dawn, and perfectly-shaken cocktails made by guys with “lightly touseled dark hair” named Alejandro.  Sure, it’s not quite This Side of Paradise, but let’s face it: when summer cubicle life gets tedious, desperate times call for desperate measures, and this blog delivers unintentional comedy in spades.

cv11mainhedT-minus 24 hours until blessed freedom is upon us!  Or at least until we get to take a brief breather, enjoy some relatively normal springtime weather (knock on wood!), and savor all the Lawnparties revelry before buckling down for the final push come Monday.  We’ll have a more extensive Lawnparties breakdown soon (stay tuned!), but until then there are a ton of exciting ways to kick back with the arts this weekend.  You’ve earned it!

  • An oldie but a goodie–Communiversity, Princeton’s annual town-gown spring festival, strikes again on Saturday, and the picture-perfect weather forecast means it’s bound to be a happening scene. With five stages’ worth of music and performance groups, from a cappella to jazz to flamenco dancing, there’s something for everyone.  Come mingle with the townies, eat great food, and savor some time outside the bubble!  Noon to 5pm on Saturday in downtown Princeton (click here for more detailed descriptions of some of the weekend’s events).
  • ppf11-logo340If it’s a cappella you’re craving, look no further than the Lils’s 40th anniversary Jam at 8pm tonight at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall, featuring a guest performance from the Nassoons.  Tickets $8 for students. The Jam will also focus on the legacy of women here at Princeton to kick off the weekend’s She Roars festival (which is hosting the likes of Sheryl WuDunn ‘88 and Sonia Sotomayor ‘76!).  You can read the full lecture schedule here: it’s a star-studded list of events, and many allow walk-in guests!
  • The University’s also hosting its second annual Princeton Poetry Festival this weekend.  Organized by New Yorker poetry editor (and Lewis Center director) Paul Muldoon, the Festival has a killer lineup of readers.  There’s nothing more soothing or exhilarating than having someone read to you–especially when that someone happens to be a poetry legend like Sharon Olds or Mark Doty. Drop in as you wish at Richardson Auditorium, even for a brief while: don’t miss it!  Click here for the full schedule.
  • If pure laughs are more your thing, nothing goes better with the craziness of houseparties than the killer wit of Quipfire!, which will be doing 10pm shows Thursday-Saturday in Theatre Intime. Tickets are $6, and they’re bound to sell out (be ready for some serious drunken revelry!), so buy yours ahead of time in Frist.
  • The newly-formed Princeton Opera Company is presenting Love, Laughter and Libretto, a free concert of opera scenes from Mozart to Bernstein, at 2pm on Saturday in the Rocky Common Room–a perfect break from Communiversity or a compliment to a late brunch.