Au The Shins May 3 d io concert at the C Variety Play- house received ua mixed reviews is l 2from their high- o V ly expectant audience. n W h o w o u l d r a t h e r t w a i t f o r a movie to 4come out on DVD than see it now in the e theatres? Alex Daniels. Ra n gt im t rum e st o s R

Teacher Dave Winter knows from experience the high cost of thinking The 8Grady but not expressing your drama and 6feelings to the people you appreciate the music program most. staged Ragtime this spring to rave re- erie ag views. Grady’s first n musical in six years e leads us to ask that M the next one come much sooner.

Nexus’ calendar brings you the dates you 1need to know for the best summer concerts, festivals, holidays and special events. 7 nexusVolume 1 Issue 2 May-June 2005 Cover photo by Dave Winter From the staff Straight Harrison Martin- [Design Editor] Senior year has left me battered and exhausted so I will leave you with from a quote, “Yeah, I bought all that I could at this bank, and then I got the rest from this guy Ralph in an alley.” the Don P.J. McGlynn-Section Editor [Menagerie] Part of Grady’s mission statement is to “We’re going to go to Home Depot. “appreciate and embrace diversity,” something Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get the school is very proud of having. Walking some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe down Grady’s halls, our diversity is easy to see. Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don’t know, I Individuals of different race, religion, ethnicity, don’t know if we’ll have enough time.” gender and socio-economic class intermingle on their way to class. But step into any given Grady Duy Lam-Section Editor [Visual] magnet class, and this diversity is drastically 180 school days later and summer reduced. The racial balance suddenly leans heavily break is finally here. However, before toward the Caucasian end, which is otherwise a you know it, school will be back and minority at Grady. Socio-economic diversity is close you find out that you have a quiz on to gone. the book you had forgotten to read. For the past three years, I have taken classes Alex Daniels-Section Editor [Visual] with different groups of the same 50 or so students. We’ve managed to squeeze in anoth- We are not a diverse group, and our magnet classes er quality issue for you guys. Rest don’t represent the diversity that Grady claims to assured, with full color and a batch of have. full-time staffers coming next year, Don’t get me wrong, the magnet program at the best is yet to come. Grady is a great thing. It provides an academic path of excellence for its students’ four years at Grady Chloe Blalock-Section Editor [Audio] by putting them in challenging and interesting “The problem with people who classes. Unfortunately, it diverts resources away have no vices is that generally from the rest of the school who would benefit from you can be pretty sure they’re the special attention the magnet program offers. going to have some pretty I appreciate everything that the magnet program annoying virtues.”~Elizabeth Taylor has done for me and my classmates, but the Alastair Carter-Boff-Section Editor [Audio] system in inherently unfair. I can’t do anything to make the magnet program He who fights with monsters more diverse, but I can do my part to improve might take care lest he thereby the communication and interaction of all Grady become a monster. And if you students. When we started Nexus this semester, gaze for long into an abyss, we wanted the writing to be a true representation the abyss gazes also into you. of Grady High School, not just its magnet students. Jeffrey Carpenter-Section Editor [Rostrum] So far we have failed in this endeavor. I want Nexus Everyone should appreciate the to be something that all of Grady enjoys and feels a little things in life. People in this part of. Not just a select privileged few. Help me to country take too much for grant- make this publication what it can be. Bring diversity ed and don’t think about where to a new Grady publication with your submissions. their good fortune came from. –Micah Weiss-Managing Editor

Nexus: a publication of The Southerner Volume 1 Issue 2 Contributing Writers: Jessica Advertising: Nexus is a non-profit Nexus is a submission-based pub- Baer, Justin Biggs, Alice Bufkin, Scott organization that relies on adver- lication that relies on your submis- Douglas, Kevin Hill, Sarah Marriner, tising to generate renue to cover sions for its content. Nexus accepts Max Meinhart, Sarah Muntzing, Rob- printing costs. Nexus is read by ap- submissions for all of its sections and ert Sanders, William VanDerKloot, proximately 1,500 people and is a features (submissions may be edited Thomas Walker, Omari Wallace great way to publicize. To advertise for length or content). Submission Advisor: Dave Winter with Nexus, contact Dave Winter at forms are located in the Southerner Print Staff: Alvin Hambick, Harlon dwinter@.k12.ga.us. room, or can be obtained from Mr. Heard, Michael Jackson, Adlai McClure, Winter. For more information, or to Charlotte Napper, Benjamin Shaw Nexus is a bimonthly publication of: turn a submission in, please contact Founding Editors: Harrison Martin, Henry W. Grady High School Mr. Winter or any member of the Russell Owens, and Micah Weiss 929 Charles Allen Drive NE staff at [email protected]. Atlanta, GA 30309 audio Rooney [Rooney] Rooney has been around for a few years but has gained recent Music claims popularity via The O.C. Their claim to fame song is “Shakin,’” one’s identity with an upbeat sound and music elitism limits experience unique guitar riff. Once you hear the track, you will instantly fall in

BY ALASTAIR CARTER-BOFF Review love with it. Best called “SoCal” guitar-driven pop, Rooney is a nice vacation from boring music. u s i c -Max Meinhart M can often help define a person. Their attitude, friends, style and personality may all be Bona Drag [Morrissey] influenced by the genres of music they Bona Drag shows the more listen to. You can see this very clearly at any abstract side of Morrissey’s high school. Most of the kids that listen to rap and lyrical genius. More of a R & B tend to clump together, as do the students compilation presented in album who listen to and all the other factions form, it still flows exceptionally that exist in a high school. The groups do not generally well. A great intro to Morrissey’s associate with one another, although there may be post-Smiths work, the naysayers certain crossovers. It’s almost like musical segregation, of Morrissey’s solo career should as if an unwritten rule won’t allow the groups to be forced to listen to this album. intermingle. This refusal to interact with one another I never thought I’d be moved by often causes closed-mindedness. This takes all of a song about a Ouija board. the enjoyment out of listening to music, there is no -Jessica Baer variety without experimentation and change. If these groups would get to know each Lost and Found [Will Smith] other, that unwritten rule of society Smith’s latest album is one to would be broken, and high schools help restore the faith of his fans. could operate in harmony. He offers the gentler half of his persona in the song “Mr. Nice Guy,” showing the public there’s more to him than “Sumertime.” But the release can be

Music in f monotonous and reminiscent o of the Will Smith of the ‘90s.

c Overall, the LP is worthy of the

u “Will” to buy. -Rusell Owens s

The Shins Tuesday, May 3, The Variety Playhouse hosted a sold-out show for The Shins. Since being featured on the soundtrack of the recent box-office hit Garden State, The Shins Their play list and music performance was have enjoyed a steady rise in popularity. Opening adequate and enjoyable, but the complete lack of for them were the Brunettes, a New Zealand-based stage presence left something to be desired. Their group of seven playing their first show in . wavering enthusiasm was mirrored by the crowd. The Brunettes’ set was brief and mostly A homogeneous crowd only added to the boring unvarying, with a laidback indie sound similar to shadow cast upon Tuesday’s show. The show closed the Shins. Their entourage of bandmates, however, with a predictable encore, and while the Brunettes brought character and personality to the stage, came to watch with the audience, they were not and their New Zealand accents and interspersed enough to salvage our hopes. In a sentence, the instrument collection kept the crowd engaged and Shins are excellent on CD, but their live show is cheering happily in anticipation of the Shins. more dead than alive. The Shins, however, were a mild disappointment. -Chloe Blalock

2 [NEXUS] May- June, 2005 Live at the BBC [Pixies] audio A quality introduction to the Pixies is hard to find. Most of the “Best Of’s” are unable to do them justice, being based more Releases the Pixies’ radio time, andthus leaving out chunks of Pixies history. Although shorter than Oasis [Don’t Believe the Truth] 5.31.05 greatest hits CDs, this is better Cheyenne Jackson [All Shook Up] 5.31.05 able to cover Pixies history. It allows a fuller introduction. Better Than Ezra [Before the Sunrise] 5.31.05 -Jessica Baer Meshugga [Catch 33] 5.31.05 4 Skins [The Good, The Bad, The 4 Skins] Coldplay [X&Y] 6.07.05 A skinhead band, not the Neo- The White Stripes [Get Behind Me] 6.07.05 Nazi racist idiots found in the Master P [The Ghetto Bill Gates] , but the hardcore 6.07.05 British brawlers found in punk Shakira [Fijacion Oral] 6.07.05 venues across England. This under-produced punk album has Foo Fighters[In Your Honor] 6.14.05 been out for a while but has had Backstree Boys [Never Gone] 6.14.05 very little circulation within the US. While not all the songs are Fat Joe [Things of that Nature] 6.14.05 pretty, this band is re-inventing dangerous music. Redman [Real Gone Wild] 6.21.05 -William VanDerKloot John Hiatt [Master of Disaster] 6.21.05 Make Believe [Weezer] Cassidy [I’m a Hustla] 6.21.05 Weezer has struck out with their Trick Pony [R.I.D.E.] 6.21.05 latest musical folly, which is part of the band’s decline since the Yin Yang Twins [USA] 6.28.05 realease of Pinkerton (appar- Robin Gibb [Live] 6.28.05 ently that album used up all their song writing ablility) in 1996. The Bow Wow [Wanted] 6.28.05 Green Album was bearable in small quantities, and Maldriot was mediocore. Unfortunately, Make Believe is absolutely terrible. -William VanDerKloot National Music S c e n e Experience Music Project A stone’s throw from the the assemblage of personal artifacts Space Needle, the Experience letters, photographs, and to be Music Project aspires to other memorabilia. In one s u r e , provide its patrons with a viewing station, I watched but it’s complete sensory music a young Dylan categorically also the part of the museum experience. But how do you reject the idea that he was that deals the least with the convert an auditory medium the voice of his generation. music itself. You simply can’t into a visual institution? Based Decades later, the museum appreciate the Beatles only by on my afternoon at the EMP, seems to be casting him in assembling the merchandise— I’d say it’s not easy. the same reluctant role. The the board games, the bobble- The current marquee exhibit best exhibit, is devoted to head dolls, the paint-by- “Bob Dylan’s American Seattle’s own Jimi Hendrix; numbers sets—that was Journey”—is comprehensive, the shallowest, to the Beatles. churned out to capitalize on but I kept wondering what The latter exhibit has the the success of their music. Dylan himself would make of most interesting and diverse -Dave Winter

3 viSUAL Fever Pitch [20th Century Fox] Set during last year’s amazing Fun at Flicks is Red Sox season, Fever Pitch is a romantic comedy about love fast forgotten and baseball. Jimmy Fallon plays a life-long, extreme Boston Red theatres are for the birds Sox fan who has to decide which

Review is more important: true love or BY ALEX DANIELS his season tickets. If you aren’t already a baseball fan, you will THEATRE be. -Sarah Marriner

can’t really re- I member the last movie The Amityville Horror [MGM] I went to see on the silver This horror film is a great remake screen. It’s not that I don’t enjoy a of a 1979 movie and is based high-budget Hollywood bloodbath as on a true story. In the movie, much as the next guy, but I’m overcome by the Lutz family moves into a sense of nausea every time I enter a theatre. what they thought was a dream Ask most of America, and I guarantee that you home. However, the house was won’t find many people that fancy an $8 admis- the site in which a mass-murder sion just so they can pay another $10 for conces- occurred. The family begins to sions, search for a seat in the dark, endure the hear voices terrorizing them. THEATRE smell of rotten popcorn, get their feet stuck to The family is chased out after only a few weeks in the house. the floor, and get ‘shh’-ed. Here’s the deal: the -Justin Biggs service sucks, the price is absurd, and when it’s all over, you realize that it’s probably . nothing that you couldn’t have waited Sin City [Warner Bros ] another few months to catch on Robert Rodriguez’s violent DVD from the comfort of film stars Bruce Willis who plays a cop named Hardigan your own home. in a corrupt city. Although the storyline jumps around it still maintains a clear and coherent flow. The movie is also shot Upcoming in black and white with a few

exceptions, but the footages THEATRE Documentary remain clear and impressive. -Thomas Walker

the education of shelby knox [PBs] Marion Lipshutz and Rose education in the public schools, Rosenblatt tell the coming of age instead of the current abstinence- story of a teenage girl who joins a only policy. Knox herself has taken campaign for comprehensive sex a vow not to have sex until she is education in the high schools of married. Lubbock, Texas in The Education of The film gets most interesting Shelby Knox. PBS will broadcast this when Knox realizes that gay people POV (point of view) documentary on can’t ever get married, making June 21, 2005 at 10 p.m. comprehensive sex-education all The film’s slow start paints a the more important for them. After picture of Knox’s life. She is then a spending time with a gay-straight 15-year-old high school sophomore, alliance, Knox becomes an advocate budding opera singer and politically for gay rights, and declares herself conservative Southern Baptist. a Democrat, something she and her When Knox learns that Lubbock parents never thought she would be. County has some of the highest Although the documentary isn’t the

Robert Maass rates of teen pregnancy and sexually most riveting of films, it does a good transmitted diseases in the country, job of showing the transformation of she joins a local youth commission one Texas girl and teaches a little sex- [NEXUS] May-June, 2005 4 that advocates comprehensive sex- ed along the way. -Micah Weiss Tekken 5 [Namco] vISUAL Tekken 5, the newest addition to the Tekken series, is almost as revolutionary as the first. With Releases more characters, moves and amazing graphics, it is another PS2 game that is worth the price DVDs tag. Although the character plots Chappelles- 2nd season [Paramount] 5.24.05 leave much to be desired, the customizable options will keep The Aviator [Miramax] 5.24.05 you playing for years to come or Be Cool [MGM] until Tekken 6. -Robert Sanders 6.7.05 VIDEO GAMES Million Dollar Baby [Warner] 6.12.05 Hitchhiker’s Guide [Touchstone] Hitch [Columbia] 6.14.05 Garth Jennings did an Coach Carter [Paramount] admirable job adapting the 6.21.05 zaniness of Douglas Adams’s book, Hitchhiker’s Guide to Movies the Galaxy, to film. Mos Def makes a surprisingly good Ford Cinderella Man [Universal] 6.3.05 Prefect, while Slartibartfast and Lords of Dogtown [Tri-star] 6.3.05 Zaphod Beeblebrox are among the best-cast characters in The Honeymooners [Paramount] 6.10.05 recent memory. The movie is [Warner] consistently funny, and borders Batman Begins 6.15.05

THEATRE on brilliance. -Scott Douglas Bewitched [Columbia] 6.24.05 Wonderfalls [FOX] War of the Worlds [Paramount] 6.29.05 Wonderfalls revolves around the character of Jaye Tyler who Video Games hears inanimate objects. She True Crimes 2 [PS2] soon learns that she must follow 6.1.05 their instructions to prevent dire MoH: European Assault [ALL] 6.6.05 consequences. One of FOX’s biggest mistakes was canceling GTA: San Andreas [XBoX] 6.7.05 the one-hour dramedy after only Batman Begins [PS2] 6.13.05 four episodes, but fortunately all 13 episodes produced are Battlefield2 [PC] 6.21.05 currently on DVD. -Alice Bufkin DVD Falcon 4.0: Allied Force [PC] 6.28.05

In-Depth Review PSP fights for handheld dominance Here’s a holdover for PlayStation fans until the handheld’s slick PS3 is released in 2006. Sony’s new handheld design and glossy- system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) has black paint make it an revolutionized the world of handheld eye-catcher that won’t go gaming. unnoticed. A solid line of games With MP3 capabilities and the ability (Metal Gear Acid, Gran Tourismo 4 to display full-length movies, the PSP Mobile, Ridge Racer) are already has pushed the envelope beyond available. simple gaming and rendered the The system itself sells for around competition obsolete. High-resolution $250. Software runs on the pricey side, images and DVD-quality video are with games running as high as $50 and displayed on a crisp, 4.3”, 16:9 LCD display, and UMD movies around $30. Sony has also admitted game graphics are only a notch below those of to a problem with the PSP’s short battery life. the PS2. Prices aside, the PSP is a capable system that Games, video, and other media are now stored everyone should try to get their hands on. on special UMD-formatted disks (inset), and the -Omari Wallace 5 ROSTRUM Don’t just think it‚ show it Why expressing your appreciation for people matters BY DAVE WINTER was having this perfectly I’m writing this in the hopes that I some of you will find places in your own wonderful reunion dinner with experience where you can avoid this same hurtful misperception. My new a former student and managing motto: when you think an appreciative thought about someone, say it. editor of mine when the The ironic thing is that the time that I get whole evening changed to express the most appreciative words me forever. She was then a sophomore at Emory about my students and I had just joined the faculty at Grady. I was is when I’m writing having a good time, catching up and reminiscing something they aren’t with one of the most reliable and accomplished supposed to read: student journalists I had ever taught. their recommendation Then suddenly, her whole demeanor became letters to get into rigid and her tone cold and frank. college. As I’m writing “I think you should know that during my these all-important senior year, I never felt that you appreciated me informal assessments, or the work I was doing.” I often wonder if I I was stunned. My jaw must have landed made these feelings just short of the table. known to the student How could she not know how much I that I’m writing about. appreciated her? She worked so hard, she set Sometimes, I even the tone for our entire program. She was our wait for a moment best reporter, our most mature manager. She when that student was integral, and I recognized that fact and seems to be having appreciated it every day that I worked with her. a particularly bad But evidently I didn’t say it. day and ask them if “I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad,” they want to read the she said. “I’m telling you so that you don’t make “It means a lot to letter, or I even ask the same mistake again.” them to proofread Teachers often say that they learn more recieve a small the letter (I can’t from their students than they teach them. That edit my own writing statement was never truer for me than it was that gesture of apprecia- worth a darn), in part day. because I want them I was thinking about that dinner four years tion from people that to know how much I ago this week as I was teaching (of all things) appreciate how hard caption writing to my sophomore journalism class. you care about.” they’ve worked in I told one, two, then three embarrassing stories my classes or on the about horrible mistakes made by wonderful people that worked publication staff that I advise. hard and did great things. I know I’m supposed to seal the letters and sign the envelope as proof that “Have you ever produced a perfect newspaper?” one the letter is a confidential assessment, precocious sophomore asked me, and I admitted that I never had. but then I think about my new motto and I also realized that I had come off as this fault-finding perfectionist that night at the Flying Biscuit and I’m not who sees only the errors and not the overall. conflicted about sharing the contents of I think I’m often guilty of that sin— of expecting excellence the letters. from other people and then assuming it’s always going to be there While I get to express my appreciation from the people I admire and trust the most. Perhaps it’s a natural for my students in the letters I write, human tendency, but it’s also why one of my favorite former students don’t always reciprocate by students looked me square in the eye and told me that I had never thanking me for writing them. That I made it clear to her how much I appreciated all that she had done enjoy writing rec letters doesn’t mean that to make our shared work meaningful and successful. it doesn’t take a long time or that it’s not I never want another wonderful student to feel that way again. difficult work that competes with my other continued page 7 6 [NEXUS]May-June, 2005 ROSTRUM continued from page 6 The gesture doesn’t have to commitments. I urge you seniors to •The thank-you bowl of pesto to be large; in fact, the small gesture find away to show your teachers that share with the wife and kids of appreciation is more poignant you appreciate what they do for you. •The coffee that a student because the small gesture says, “In Folks like Ms. Simmons, Mr. McCurdy, remembered to buy when visiting an ordinary moment, I was thinking Ms. Willoughby, and Mr. Cramer Jamaica about how much I appreciated you, have been helping people get into •The heartfelt handwritten note and I just wanted to make sure you know how I felt.” the colleges of their choice for a long on a thank-you card I received another thoughtful time. And you can thank teachers •The old-time baseball book expression just two days ago from for the other amazing things they a student buys you because he an appreciative student. The irony: do for you. For that matter, you can remembers that you’ve loved she brought me cookies and biscuits thank all of the people in your life to baseball your whole life from the same restaurant where whom you owe a debt of gratitude. •The quick note to your parents I had learned the value of such It means a lot to receive a small scrawled on their newspaper gestures and the terrible high cost gesture of appreciation from people subscription: “thank you for your of missing the opportunity to make that you care about: son” them. School diversity fits Ragtime BY KEVIN HILL

A few days Ragtime is important are still feeling more than a after the last because it ties the hundred years later. performance of Ragtime development of Much like the style of as I was basking in the a style of music, ragtime, Grady is a culturally glow of a successful run, ragtime, to events diverse community rich I was taken aback by a that occurred in with a variety of musical comment from someone America during and artistic talents. This is in the community. By the early 1900s. why our performances of this point I was quite It examines how the musical Ragtime were used to the glowing cultures came so successful. Even as I comments about the together and often write this article I am made talented cast or the collided to create aware of this very fact wonderful costumes and this wonderful, as two of our seniors are scenery. This comment, beautiful and practicing on either side of however, was unique and concert at Spivey Hall on important style of my office. In the orchestra revealed something I had the Clayton State University musical expression. The room I hear Marian Helsel, completely overlooked. Campus. Grady students w i s d o m a cellist, Though I don’t remember were quick to point out that a n d “The wisdom of Rag- working on the exact wording, the one of the other choirs was profundity time is that out her part for compliment pointed out almost completely African- of the tonight’s that there are very few American while the other m u s i c a l of horrible events concert. In schools around that could was almost completely Ragtime is comes a style of my right even attempt Ragtime European-American. that out of ear I hear due to the necessity of a Unfortunately, this is very (or maybe music that has in- D a v i d racially balanced cast. common throughout the in spite fluenced culture Brown in I am often reminded state. Always the exception, of) some around the world.” the chorus when I visit other schools the membership of the p r e t t y r o o m that Grady is a pretty Grady Chorus reflects our h o r r i b l e e d i t i n g unique place. Earlier in the population. events, comes this style of one of his numerous R&B/ semester, the Advanced This was also the case music that has influenced Gospel compositions on the Chorus performed with with our performance music and culture around keyboard. What awesome two other schools in a of Ragtime. The story of the world. An impact we music.

7 photo by Dave Winter Clockwise from left: Tateh (Nick Ward), Little Girl (Caroline Denton); Evelyn Nes- OVERVIEW bitt (Courtney Hunt), Judge (Chandler Kelly); Emma Goldman (Sophie Cox); Cast survives, Maid (Viviana Chavez-Vega), Little Boy (Zachary Gaslowitz), Mother (Kimberly then thrives After six years of one-acts, plays Hagan), Younger Brother (Joe Oliver), and recitals, Grady’s theater was Sarah (Morgan Phillips-Spotts), Police- once again the site of a musical: man (Dylan Woodliff and Chris Collier); Ragtime. The play is based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow about family Henry Ford (Dylan Woodliff) and his and race relations during the turn of Model T (Miles Keeney-Ritchie). the century. The Grady adaptation, photos by Dave Winter by Ms. Lisa Willoughby and Mr. Kevin Hill, proved successful and will hopefully pave the way for future musicals. The choice to perform Ragtime was carefully considered. “We wanted a show that would start off the program with a bang,” Ms. Willoughby said. “[Ragtime] seemed like a natural choice for the Grady audience.” Ms. Willoughby and Mr. Hill chose Ragtime because it had high educational value, because it required a diverse cast, and because it is a challenge to produce. “Mr. Hill wanted to make sure the musical was feasible but still challenging,” Ms. Willoughby continued. The play did prove challenging, incorporating more than 60 students, from cast members to stagehands to the orchestra, which provided most of the background music for the play. Participants also had to deal with coordinating the music and voices, finding space for the orchestra and filling in roles when actors dropped out of the play. “Everything that could go wrong went wrong up until the show,” said senior Morgan Phillips-Spotts, who played the character Sarah. Yet the production pulled together due to the joint efforts of the large cast and crew. “It’s always true that the ensemble creates a real bond,” Ms. Willoughby said. “I was really gratified at the extent to which that was true in this show.” Both Ms. Willoughby and Mr. Hill hope to do more musicals in the future, though probably on a smaller scale. The skill and commitment of the students will hopefully make a regular musical possible once again. “A school full of talent can do an awful musical,” Mr. Hill said. “It’s students willing to work hard and commit to it that makes it different.” -- Alice Bufkin Clockwise from left: “What a Game”; Father (Raphael Velez), Little Boy (Zachary Gaslowitz; Sarah’s Friend (Marian Davis) fronts the chorus mourning the death of Sarah (Morgan Phillips- Spotts); Man (Chandler Kelley).

photo by Dave Winter photo by Jane Zamarripa

photo by Dave Winter

THE VIEW FROM THE PIT Bringing a taste of Broadway to Eighth Street Whenever I travel to New York City, I always would wait for what seemed like an eternity. But, anything to make our next entrance. Because we see a Broadway show. New York has many things to as the show approached I started to feel like a real were a tad under-rehearsed and a little nervous (at offer: food, Central Park, and people watching, but Broadway musician; rehearsals ran smoother, and least I was) we had our mishaps. the thing I always have on my mind is the theater. our intensity rose to performance level. On performance night we had a job to Not only do I love the acting, I love the music even I could remember getting up during the do, and it required our complete attention. As soon more. The mysterious glimpse of the baton as it intermission during my latest viewing of Fiddler as the lights dimmed, my eyes became adjusted to grazes the top of the orchestra pit makes me want on the Roof, teetering on my tip-toes and peering the bright stand light that I had always wanted to to relieve my curiosity and climb in. A few weeks over the edge of the crater-like structure, just so I illuminate, the light I could only see on my tip-toes ago I got to experience this mystery right in our could see the musicians turn off their stand lights during intermission. Putting on his headphones, own theater. or furiously practice before the next act. Behind our our conductor, Mr. Hill, became our superior— we At first, I was reluctant to be a part of the solid gray screen, that was used to keep us under were now devoted to his every instruction. The once production of Ragtime. By being part of this wraps, we were “extreme counting,” as I call it. Every distant baton was in fluid motion right before our production I had to attend long rehearsals time our mouths opened we melodically whispered eyes. I was no longer curious of the activities that and learn music that seemed impossible. measure numbers, glancing over each other’s occurred in the many pits of Broadway, I was in the The first couple of rehearsals I attended were shoulders, reading each other’s lips to see if we were first of many pits to come to Grady. stressful. When an actor missed his or her line, we in synch. We would tap our feet and snap our fingers, -- Sarah Muntzing

photo by Jane Zamarripa Clockwise from left: Booker T. Washington (Charles Gibson), Younger Brother (Joe Oliver), Coalhouse Walker (Russell Owens); chorus members (Kimberly Hagan, Sarah Tay- lor), Evelyn Nesbitt (Courtney Hunt); Mother (Elly Bookman).

photos by Jane Zamarripa

A c t o r Style of Ragtime, diversity of Grady mesh together perfectly I have never worked so hard and tirelessly villain or the hero, is one of your primary goals. To see on anything else in my life; and neither have I taken the audience cry with your character and feel his agony, more pride and satisfaction in the finished product of to see the audience sympathize with your character and anything I’ve ever had a part in producing. Acting in relate to him, to have them laugh when you smile and Ragtime was one of the most genuine experiences of my grieve when you die is the thespian’s true reward. life. Working with the cast and backstage crew Playing the principle role of Coalhouse was amazing. I became good friends with many people. Walker Jr., was fun, yet it required an immense amount There were times, however, when the racial tensions of dedication, focus, and talent. For anyone to pull off portrayed in the musical mirrored relations amongst the a role as complex and emotional as Coalhouse requires cast. We were able to overcame these instances as the an extreme amount of talent and determination (sorry characters eventually did in the musical. That’s when if I came off a little conceited). While attending Grady, you can tell when a play hits home: it stays with you, and I’ve been involved in several productions, but I have it affects your life in ways that nothing else can. Plays not fallen in love with any other character like I did reflect society, and the struggles, differences, and ideals Coalhouse Walker, Jr. that are inscribed into it. Something that caught my attention was Everything I look at now seems to harness how the audience fell in love with Coalhouse as much in it a quality or value that I observed in Ragtime. And as I did. To an actor, being able to have the audience everywhere I go now, I carry with me a little piece of receive your character and love him, whether he’s the Coalhouse Walker Jr. --Russell Owens The GeorgiaToccoa Mountains Destination House for Discriminating Travelers

–5 bedrooms, 5 bath –7-person hot tub –Sleeps 18 –Kitchen with stainless steel appliances –Dining table seats 12 –6 Satellite TVs with VCR/DVD –Stereo system with 22 speakers throughout the lodge –Pool Table –Gas grill –Gas-log fireplace, and wood-burning stove –Child and pet friendly. –Pontoon boat for cruises Toccoa House is available weekdays and weekends for private rentals. For more on nearby Lake Blue Ridge. information contact Greg Spencer at: Metro Atlanta: (404) 661-4531 Toll free: (877) 868-5382 menagerie 1 2 3 4 i Screen on the Los Lonely Virgina Green: Some Boys and Highlands Like It Hot Santana play Summerfest, at Piedmont , admission is Park, begins at 8 p.m. free. sunset. 5 j 6 u 7 n 8e 9 10 11 Last day of Coca-Cola NBA Finals Music Midtown the Georgia Summer Film begin on ABC 12 with new Renaissance Festival at 8:30 p.m. dates. Tickets Festival begins at the Screen on the are $75 for . Green: To Kill the weekend. a Mockingbird

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Modest Mouse Screen on the Decatur Beach plays the Fox Green: The Party, 60 Theatre, 8 p.m. Birds. tons of sand Harry Potter poured in the and the Half- streets with Blood Prince live music. released. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Father’s Day Screen on the Atlanta Pride Green: Mom- Festival at mie Dearest

26 27 28 29 30 Collective Soul Screen on the plays the Roxy Green: Grease Theatre, 8 p.m.

eBay Items of the Month My Invisible girlfriend Starting Bid: $5 ($5,000 Buy It Now) Description: A paper description of the seller’s invisible girlfriend is being sold to someone looking Seller Location: for the perfect woman. She does laundry, dishes, Valley City, N.D. makes dinner and loves watching sports. She is List Date: “5’6’’, 120 lbs with blond hair and a great smile.” May 10, 2005

Split my mystery bank roll Current Bid: $356.99 (15 bids) as of May 11 Description: A gambler played Texas Hold ‘em in a Michigan casino for 13 hours straight and is Seller Location: auctioning off half of his winnings. The mystery Michigan amount looked like a mountain of $5 chips at the List Date: May 11, 2005 end of the night. 17