SceneTheVolume 1 | Issue 9 | February 5, 2008

A publication of The Crimson White

Brittney OʼRourke

Introducing the culture of hip-hop and the power it has to change lives is the theme of the third annual Hip-Hop Summit. Showcasing poetry, fashion, mu-sic, stepping and a few surprises, the event hopes to show importance of the culture in today’s society, said LaToya Scott, creative director for the Hip-Hop Summit.

See the full story on page 2

Also inside:

8 UA students form new musical theater outreach group

10 Profi le of the new Crossroads Community Center assistant director

Hip-Hop Summit

Predict the Oscars | Contest ballotBest Picture

“Atonement” “Juno” “Michael Clayton” “No Country for Old Men” “There Will Be Blood”

Best Director Julian Schnabel, “The Diving

Bell and the Butterfl y” Jason Reitman, “Juno” Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No

Country for Old Men” Paul Thomas Anderson, “There

Will Be Blood”

Best Actor George Clooney, “Michael Clayton” Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will

Be Blood” Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd:

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” Tommy Lee Jones, “In the Valley

of Elah” Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern

Promises”

Best Actress Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The

Golden Age” Julie Christie, “Away from Her” Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose” Laura Linney, “The Savages” Ellen Page, “Juno”

Best Supporting Actor Casey Affl eck, “The

Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”

Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”

Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”

Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild” Tom Wilkinson, “Michael

Clayton”

Best Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There” Ruby Dee, “American Gangster” Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement” Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone” Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”

Best Original Screenplay Diablo Cody, “Juno” Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real

Girl” Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton” Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco and

Brad Bird, “Ratatouille” Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages”

Best Adapted Screenplay Christopher Hampton,

“Atonement” Sarah Polley, “Away from Her” Ronald Harwood, “The Diving

Bell and the Butterfl y” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No

Country for Old Men” Paul Thomas Anderson, “There

Will Be Blood”

Best Cinematography Roger Deakins, “The

Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”

Seamus McGarvey, “Atonement” Janusz Kaminski, “The Diving

Bell and the Butterfl y” Roger Deakins, “No Country for

Old Men” Robert Elswit, “There Will Be

Blood”

Best Original Score Dario Marianelli, “Atonement” Alberto Iglesias, “The Kite

Runner” James Newton Howard, “Michael

Clayton” Michael Giacchino, “Ratatouille” Marco Beltrami, “3:10 to Yuma”

Outguess CW critic Corey Craft, and

win fabulous prizes!

Enter the contest at www.cw.ua.edu, or bring this ballot to the Offi ce of

Student Media by Feb. 22.

Winners will be announced in the Feb. 27

issue of The Crimson White.

Employees of the Offi ce of Student Media are not eligible

to participate.

Contents

5

StaffEditor: Corey Craft

craft@cw.ua.edu

Assistant editor: Phil Owenowen@cw.ua.edu

Design editor: Kathleen Buccleugh

buccleugh@cw.ua.edu

Art director: Elliot A. Knightknight@cw.ua.edu

Multimedia editor: Andrew Richardson

andrew.richardson@cw.ua.edu

The Crimson White editor:Mike Faulk

faulk@cw.ua.edu

Advertising coordinator: Cassie Edwards

348-8995

Advertising manager: Maria Franco

348-8044

Assistant advertising man-ager: Whitney Gullet

348-2598

Creative Services manager: David Dailey

348-8042

This issueʼs contributors:Matt Abbey

Holly BlalockDianna DuffyKeli Goodson

Caleb JohnsonCJ McCormick

Laura PittsDrew Taylor

Cover photo by Elliot A. Knight

2

8

10

In every issue4 Scene it, love it; poll5 Album previews; Merchant profi le; Whatʼs in your ears?

6-7 Biweekly calendar11 Theatrical previews; DVD picks13 A word from the editor

22

1010

Hip-Hop Summit held this week on campus

An interview with Jeremiah Jones of local favorite bar and venue, Jupiter Bar & Grill

A profi le of Brice Miller, the new assistant director of the Crossroads Community Center

Students form new musical theater outreach group

88

The Scene THE CRIMSON WHITE2 | February 5, 2008

BY LAURA PITTSTHE SCENE CONTRIBUTORPITTS@CW.UA.EDU

Introducing the culture of hip-hop and the power it has to change lives is the theme of the third annual Hip-Hop Summit. Showcasing poetry, fashion, music, step-ping and a few surprises, the event hopes to show the importance of the culture in today’s society, said LaToya Scott, creative director for the Hip-Hop Summit. “I personally feel that the summit is im-portant because it gives people a different look at the outlets of hip-hop,” Scott said. “Hip-hop is a medium everyone can iden-tify with in some form or fashion.” Scott said the Hip-Hop Summit is a learning experience for all and a great way for people of different cultures to learn to understand each other. “Some students understand hip-hop artists and culture because of their up-bringing, and some can’t,” she said. “However, if you look historically at the impact and growth hip-hop has had on our culture, even those people who have no prior background in hip-hop will still

be able to enjoy the event.” The initial idea for the summit began when Scott researched the effect cultural arts has on minority groups. Scott, who is a McNair Scholar, said once she started her research she discov-ered that it wasn’t just minority groups that were affected. “Throughout my research I kept seeing that people didn’t feel a sense of com-munity and culture,” said Scott, a gradu-ate student in higher education adminis-tration. “However, when cultural events came to campus, more students felt in-volved. That’s when I decided to start the summit.”

Past, present and future

Scott said each year she likes to bring in new collaborations and new fi elds of hip-hop. “This year we are focusing on dance [and] fashion, as well as new avenues of hip-hop that most people wouldn’t think of,” Scott said. Scott said introducing the hip-hop cul-ture to younger generations is important. “One day they will share their own

experiences with hip-hop,” Scott said. “We want to show the culture in a positive light and create a positive outlet for people to enjoy.” The Tuscaloosa Central High School Marching Band and students from Shel-ton State Community College, Stillman College and the University of West Ala-bama will contribute to the event, Scott said. “It’s a great honor for Central High School to be a part of this,” Scott said. The summit is set up in three divisions: past, present and future. Each division showcases the evolution of hip-hop and how the culture has shaped America. The Greater New Testament Gospel Choir will take the summit to the past, showing how the church infl uenced the origins of hip-hop culture. “Hip-hop came from the church ini-tially,” Scott said. “Most people don’t know that, and we hope that by showing the evolution of hip-hop more people will become aware of its impact on soci-ety.” The present division of the sum-mit will feature African and modern dances, and the future division will

Hip-HopSummit

The Scene | Elliot A. Knight

3February 5, 2008 | SceneTheTHE CRIMSON WHITE

feature some “nice surprises,” Scott said. “We want to showcase some of the new and interesting things people are doing with hip-hop,” Scott said. “We are keeping those things a surprise.”

A touch of greek

Scott said the UA greek organi-zations play an important role not only in the summit, but for the campus as a whole. Greek stepping, Scott said, has a lot to do with the modern dance styles of hip-hop. She also said many times peo-ple see the greek organizations as simply stereotypes. “I believe that when we host events like this on campus that everyone should be included,” Scott said. “They have a lot to add to the show, and we want them to be included.”

Other events

In addition to Thursday night’s summit, other events are sched-uled throughout the week as a way to introduce people to the world of hip-hop. The Ferguson Center Heritage Room will host a listening party

tonight at 7:30 p.m. “This event is good because it allows students to come out and listen to local artists that are in-novative with hip-hop styles,” Scott said. On Wednesday, Feb. 6 at noon, there will be a step tease in the Ferguson Theater. Scott said this event holds great importance because for the fi rst time, all the greek step groups will be showcasing their talent. “We’ve never had it set up where all of the greeks perform at one time,” Scott said. “Usually they are all separate. This year we wanted them all in the same place at the same time to expose people to what they are doing.”

A positive light

Scott said pop culture can shed a tainted view on hip-hop culture. She hopes this year’s summit will clear the negative stereotypes of the culture from some people’s minds and remind people how important the culture is. “Last year, SGA President R.B. Walker came and told me he thought the summit was going to be like some of the hip-hop he’d seen on television,” Scott said. “He told me that what he

saw changed his views on the culture. We hope that can happen to more people that attend.” Lashara Barnes, fi ne arts di-rector for University Programs, said one goal of the summit is to show the impact hip-hop has had on the University. “The hip-hop culture as a whole has enhanced music and broadened the horizon of cultural

activities for people that may not listen to hip-hop,” Barnes said. “I think the University has paid more attention to the effect hip-hop has on the students that go here.” Barnes said even if you don’t have a previous connection with hip-hop, attending the even will impact your life. “Just come out and experience something new,” Barnes said. “It’s defi nitely worth seeing.”

The Scene | Elliot A. KnightOPPOSITE PAGE LEFT: A2Z rappers Keandre “Big Kee” Jones, left, and Andrew Cotten, a junior majoring in business, practice their rap for the Hip-Hop Summit. OPPOSITE PAGE RIGHT: Willie Wat-son, a junior majoring in business management, will participate in the summit. TOP LEFT: Nikki Knox, a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism, and Nylyn Oubre, a junior majoring in broadcast journalism, practice their tap routine. TOP RIGHT: Terrell Anderson, left, and Zoe Michael krump at a rehearsal for the summit. BOTTOM RIGHT: From left, Ashley Sanderfer, a junior majoring in fashion design; Chawntoya Brown, a junior majoring in marketing; Kendra Miller, a junior majoring in public relations; Starr Culpepper, a freshman majoring in pre-pharmacy; Courtnie Michelle Harris, a sophomore majoring in accounting; and Gilia Wilder, a junior majoring in nursing, model clothing designed for the summit.

Hip-Hop Summit events

Tuesday, Feb. 5: Listening Party, the Ferguson Center Heritage Room, 7 to 11 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6: Hip Hop Summit: Step Tease Showcase, Ferguson Theater, noon

Thursday, Feb. 7: Hip Hop Summit main event, Ferguson Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.

4 THE CRIMSON WHITESceneThe | February 5, 2008

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” on DVD — I’ve been

slaying vampires since the fourth grade and never leave home with out my collection. No matter what happens each day, I can al-ways watch “Buffy” or “An-gel” and the day suddenly gets bet-ter. Every season is worth it.

Microsoft Zune — My boyfriend bought me my pink 30 GB Zune last year, and I love it! Not only

does it hold 30 GB of music, photos and videos, it also comes in some pretty cool colors. The top three artists in my ears: Jimmy Eat World, Journey and, yes, Hannah Montana.

Scene it, love it

2.

Five must haves from Corolla yearbook editor Laura Pitts

1.

“One Tree Hill” — I’m a fi rm believer that some television shows can teach you about

yourself. “One Tree Hill” is that show. The current season has fl ashed forward the lives of each character post-college and shows them facing many adult decisions that all we all will face one day.

4.

Corolla Yearbook — The University has a yearbook — it’s true! And trust me, it’s worth getting it. If you

are a student then you should pur-chase a yearbook. It’s the only way to remember how college life was for you and your friends 30 years from now. So, make your mommy proud and buy a yearbook. The Co-rolla is $70 and can be charged to your student account (so Mom and Dad can pay for it). Check us out at www.corolla.ua.edu.

5.CorollayearbookRestoration

2007

“Guitar Hero” — It’s so addictive! After all those years of playing the fl ute and some piano, count-ing music and rhythms has never been more fun!

However, don’t give this chick the guitar. I prefer to use the controller and have been known to win a few battles and score all fi ve stars on some songs.

3.

Last issueʼs poll: When asked about the new Scene podcasts, 22 people said they had “no pod to cast upon.” Luckily, no pod is needed to enjoy the podcasts — just visit the CW Web site! Unfortunate-ly, 16 people said that they hated the podcasts; we hope that “hate” is overstating it a bit, but if itʼs not, send some of that constructive criticism our way.

How will you spend Valentineʼs Day? ■ That's none of your busi-ness, anonymous Internet poll! ■ Feeling very, very bitter at the world and/or crying.

■ Iʼm going on a date of some sort with my signifi cant other.

■ I donʼt celebrate Valentineʼs Day; itʼs just another tool the man uses to keep me down.

■ OH MY GOD I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT VALENTINEʼS DAY.

Submit your answers at www.cw.ua.edu.

LAURA PITTS

Online poll

Outguess CW fi lm critic Corey Craft for the Oscars, and win fabulous prizes!■ Employees of the Offi ce of Student Media are not eligible to participate.

■ Enter the contest at www.cw.ua.edu, or bring the ballot on the inside front cover of this issue to the Offi ce of Student Media by Feb. 22.

■ Winners will be an-nounced in the Feb. 27 issue of The Crimson White.

5February 5, 2008 | SceneTheTheTHE CRIMSON WHITE

On tap: An interview with Jupiter Bar & Grill’s Jeremiah Jones

SCENE: When did you start at Jupiter?JJ: I became the owner in March 2005. It all came around when my business partners Mark Moody and Rick Welch decided to open Rick’s Café in Starkville, Miss., around 1994. They later wanted to bring the same idea to Tuscaloosa; a place to hear great music and eat good food.

SCENE: What else does Jupiter have to of-fer besides live music?JJ: We have a lot of things we do during the week. One thing we do is that we have a res-taurant that is very affordable. We also have “Penny Pitchers” on Tuesdays, poker tour-naments on Wednesdays and “Dance Night” on Saturdays.

SCENE: What are some of the great bands that you have seen come through?

JJ: There’s been a lot to come through. Ken-ny Chesney has been playing here for about four years now. We have also had Corey Smith, Sister Hazel, Gov’t Mule, The Dexa-teens, Benjy Davis Project, North Mississippi Allstars, Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Randolph, 17th Floor and Zac Brown Band.

SCENE: What has the Jupiter contributed to Tuscaloosa?JJ: We always try to give to charities. We’ve worked with the Children’s Hands-On Muse-um, as well as sponsored the Alabama Blues Society. We’ve also worked with the Save a Child’s Life charity and different organiza-tions that advocate wetland conservation.

SCENE: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?JJ: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”

SCENE: Who are some of your favorite bands to play at the Jupiter?JJ: For me, there are two ways to like a band; are they a good band to watch, and are they a good band to work with? I love to work with

the Velcro Pygmies. I really love to watch The Dexateens and the North Missis-sippi Allstars. I really have so many bands that I love to work with that I can’t name a favorite.

SCENE: How is the Jupiter different than other music venues in Tuscaloosa?JJ: If an artist picks any other venue here, they are gonna wind up playing in a bar. Be-sides, no one has a PA comparable to ours. When you are here, it is going to sound per-fect. Besides that, you could eat, drink and hear some really good music for $30 if you wanted to.

SCENE: Where do you see the Jupiter in fi ve to 10 years?JJ: Me, Mark [Moody] and Rick [Welch] ul-timately have the fi nal say-so in if we want to keep going. Honestly, I want to go as long and as hard as I can, as long as Tuscaloosa will have it.

Local merchant profi leCOMPILED BY DREW TAYLORTHE SCENE CONTRIBUTOR

Jeremiah Jones

BY CALEB JOHNSONTHE SCENE CONTRIBUTORJOHNSON@CW.UA.EDU

Feb. 5

Hot Chip — “Made in the Dark” This British electro-pop band’s third album might be its best yet. The fi rst

single, “Ready for the Floor,” is one of the most danceable tracks of 2008, with blips and bleeps straight out of an old-school videogame. This track

does exactly what the name implies — gets you ready for the dance fl oor. There are lots of bands making elec-tronic dance music in England, but Hot Chip make it better than the competition on “Made in the Dark.”

Nada Surf — “Lucky” You might remember Nada Surf because of a little song they released back in 1995 called “Popular.” But “Popular’s” commercial success be-lied the fact that Nada Surf is one of the fi nest indie-pop bands around and has been for more than 10 years.

“Lucky” is fi lled with a melodic mix of rock and pop for music fans whom feel a little too old to lis-ten to Death Cab for Cutie. “I Like What You Say” is a standout

track that will soon fi nd its spot on iPod play lists across the country.

Feb. 12

Michael Jackson — “Thriller: 25th Anniversary Edition” Unless you have been living un-der a rock for the past 25 years, you probably own this album in one for-mat or another. That’s right, don’t act like you never tried to moon-walk to “Billie Jean.” You know you spent hours in front of the mirror trying to perfect the dance moves from “Thriller.” This re-packaging, which in-cludes six previously unreleased tracks, will remind you just that. Jackson and producer Quincy Jones’ masterpiece has stood the test of time.

Bobby BozemanJunior, journalism

1. “The Beast and the Dragon, Adored” — Spoon2. “Chicago” — Sufjan Stevens3. “When You Were Young” — The Killers

Eliza ClarkJunior, apparel design

1. “Long Trip Home” — Dierks Bentley2. “Drop and Give Me 50” — Mike Jones3. “Move This” — Technotronic

Whatʼs in your ears?Album previews | Feb. 5 and 12

COMPILED BY MATT ABBEY

6 THE CRIMSON WHITESceneThe | February 5, 2008 SceneTheFebruary 5, 2008 | 7

Submit events for The Sceneʼs biweekly calendar by e-mailing Scene Editor Corey Craft at craft@cw.ua.edu.

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday SundaySaturdayFriday MondayH

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ELECTION 2008: Alabama Presidential Primaries, various locations, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

EVENT: Hip-Hop Summit: Listening Party, Ferguson Center Heritage Room, 7 to 11 p.m.

FILM SCREENING: “The Outsiders of New Orleans: Loujon Press,” Bama Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

EVENT: Hip-Hop Summit: Step Tease Showcase, Ferguson Theater, noon.

EVENT: Community Conversations: Images and Reality — Personal Stories and Eyewitness Accounts, Crossroads Lounge, 4 p.m.

LECTURE: Dr. Micki McElya on her book, “Confronting the Mammy Problem in the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” Ferguson Center Forum, 6 p.m.

OPENING NIGHT: UA department of theatre and dance presents “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” Allen Bales Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Through Feb. 17.

Happy birthday, Burt Reynolds.

CRIMSON TIDE WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Rice, Tennis Stadium, noon

CRIMSON TIDE WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Vanderbilt, Tennis Stadium, 2 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Vanderbilt, Coleman Coliseum, 2 p.m.

EVENT: State of the Black Union Address, Ferguson Center Heritage Room, 4 p.m.

EVENT: Chinese Spring Festival Celebration, Ferguson Ballroom, all day

CRIMSON TIDE WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Louisville, Tennis Stadium, 1 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE SOFTBALL vs. Jacksonville State, Softball Stadium, 3 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE SOFTBALL vs. South Alabama, Softball Stadium, 3 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE SOFTBALL vs. Purdue, Softball Stadium, 5 p.m.

GALLERY OPENING: “Query and Repose” by Jack Earl and Tip Toland, Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, 103 Garland Hall, reception held at 6 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE GYMNASTICS vs. Arkansas, Coleman Coliseum, 7:30 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. LSU, Coleman Coliseum, 6 p.m.

EVENT: Artrageous Tour, downtown Tuscaloosa and Northport, 5 p.m.

EVENT: Hip-Hop Summit: main event, Ferguson Ballroom, 7:30 p.m.

CONCERT: Huxford Symphony Orchestra, Moody Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.

CONCERT: UA School of Music Celebrity Series presents Indra Thomas, soprano, Moody Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

LECTURE: Stories that Heal, Stitches that Bind: The Syphilis Study and the Tuskegee Bioethics Community Quilt Project, 205 Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, 4 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE SOFTBALL vs. Georgia Tech, Softball Stadium, 7 p.m.

FILM SCREENING: Crossroads Community Center presents “What Black Men Think,” Ferguson Theater, 7 p.m.

LECTURE: Brown Bag Lunch Series presents Dr. DoVeanna Fulton, director of African-American Studies, 308 Manly Hall, 12:30 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE SOFTBALL vs. McNeese State, Softball Stadium, 5 p.m.

CRIMSON TIDE MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss, Coleman Coliseum, 7 p.m.

Happy birthday, Yoko Ono.

CONCERT: Bluegrass, Big Bands and More series presents the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, Bama Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

CONCERT: Borealis String Quartet, Moody Concert Hall, 4 p.m.

8 THE CRIMSON WHITESceneThe | February 5, 2008

Time for a ‘Celebration’UA students form musical

theatre outreach group

BY DIANNA DUFFYTHE SCENE CONTRIBUTOR

DaWoyne Alexander Hill’s voice usually rings out in the theaters of Row-and-Johnson Hall. But soon, Hill and other students will take their talents outside Rowand-Johnson to give back to the community. These students are members of the primarily student-run musical theatre outreach group Celebration, which is led by Hill. Celebration will hold its fi rst performance at the Tuscaloosa Public Library on Feb. 13 at a time to be determined. The performance is open to the public. “We are very excited about this

opportunity,” Hill said. “This type of performance is going to be in a very differ-ent setting than what we are used to, but we are up to for the challenge.” Hill said Celebration consists of theatre and musical theatre students who put together mu-sical numbers or other theatri-cal pieces and perform them for nursing homes, schools and events around the community. “Our performance at the Tus-caloosa Public Library will con-sist of group musical numbers, solos and duets,” he said. “Basi-cally, I want each student to be able to have their chance in the spotlight, and perform a piece that they have worked on.” “We are also arranging to per-form at Capstone Village in the next month,” he said. Hill, a junior majoring in mu-sical theatre, said he started this

group in the fall with the hope of generating interest among students and the community. “I started this group to give students more performing op-portunities and give those who weren’t being exposed the op-portunity to shine,” he said. Hill said he also started Cel-ebration to offer their talents to the community. “I feel that without the com-munity and their involvement, theater wouldn’t be possible be-cause it is through the communi-ty that we get our support,” Hill said. Raphael Crystal, director of musical theatre for the depart-ment of theatre and dance, said Hill brought the idea of an out-reach group to him last sum-mer. “I thought it was a great idea,” Crystal said. “DaWoyne is very creative in a lot of ways, especially

when it comes to generating ideas for performance opportunities.” Crystal said there is a large number of talented people in the department, and fi nding perfor-mance opportunities for each of the students can be challenging. “It is our hope that this group will represent the department and give individuals a chance to show their talents,” he said. “We also hope that Celebration will become a recruiting tool for the program by performing for po-tential students to the Univer-sity.”

The performers

Hill, director of Celebration, said the outreach group has 16 to 18 members, ranging from fresh-men to seniors. “I wanted any theatre major interested in joining to be able to,” he said. “I think that it gives

The Scene | Elliot A. Knight

February 5, 2008 | SceneTheTHE CRIMSON WHITE 9

Check out our Signing Day issue on Thursday, February 7th.

the younger students a chance to work with the people who have been here for a while. “For now, the group is open to any theatre major interested in joining,” Hill said. “We hope to expand in the future.” Elise Zieman, a senior majoring in musical theatre, said she thinks Celebration will fi nd a lot to give to the community. “We encourage people to come to our performances here at the University, but for those who have trouble getting to the theater, such as those in nursing homes or younger students, we see this as an opportunity for us to bring the arts to them,” Zieman said. Lawson Hangartner, a freshman majoring in musical theatre, said being a member of Celebration is not only fun but said it’s an op-portunity to work with students he may not have classes with. “It will also be interesting for us to per-form musical theatre acts for people who may not see much of it, and gives us the opportunity to see the different reactions that we get from them,” Hangartner said.

Behind it all

Hill said he performed in his fi rst musi-cal, “Grease,” when he was a freshman in high school.

“I had never been on stage before, and I had never sung or danced in front of any-one in my life,” he said. “The feeling that I had from being on stage — that rush of joy and excitement — was one that I knew that I loved and wanted to experience more of.” Hill said from that point on he has per-formed and starred in countless musicals and plays, and has received many awards and recognition throughout his young career.

“After college I plan to move to New York City and from there hire an agent, and I hope to begin the dream that I have been striving for all these years, which is to work my way [to] becoming a Broadway star,” he said.

The future

Hill said he has a vision of what this group will eventually become. “The future plans for this group are to get bigger and better,” he said. He said he hopes Celebration will one day not only perform around Tuscaloosa, but also travel all across the state. “I am just setting the roots, but, hopeful-ly, when I graduate, Celebration will con-tinue to prosper and become something that people in the community or even the state look forward to,” Hill said. For now, Hill said Celebration will con-tinue to put together performances that will bring smiles to the faces of their audi-ences. “The laughs, claps, smiles and joy of the public are what we live for as actors,” he said. “We would ask for nothing more.”

“We encourage people to come to our performances here at the

University, but for those who have trouble getting to the theater,

such as those in nursing homes or younger students, we see this as

an opportunity for us to bring the arts to them.”

— Elise Zieman, a senior majoring in musical theatre

10 THE CRIMSON WHITESceeneThe | February 5, 2008

BY CJ MCCORMICKTHE SCENE CONTRIBUTORCJ.MCCORMICK@CW.UA.EDU

F rom New Orleans to Colum-bus, Miss., to Tuscaloosa, the new Crossroads Community Assistant Director Brice Miller has a lot of experi-ence bringing communities together. To each place he moves, Miller fully ded-icates himself to the community. “I’m a real community-oriented person,” Miller said. “And wherever I am, I want to share 1,000 percent of myself with the community.” Not only does Miller have a background in academia, but he brings with him music and community development experience. “I’ve been in jazz and art education my en-tire education career along with community

development programs and cultural en-richment programs, and that’s pretty much what my forte is,” he said.

Growing up

Miller, a New Orleans native, grew up in the inner city until middle school when his family moved to the suburbs. “I grew up the fi rst part of my life in the inner city yet my parents were surviv-alists and my greatest heroes,” Miller said. “Once I got to middle school, I grew up in the suburbs and we were one of the few African American families in the commu-nity so I went from one extreme to the other.” Miller was able to go to a presti-gious private high school thanks to a music scholarship, and those same abilities

At a

‘Crossroads’

11THE CRIMSON WHITE SceneTheFebruary 5, 2008 | led to a music scholarship at Xavier University. Miller Productions, a business Miller founded while in high school, is a company that pro-vides New Orleans-style enter-tainment for events, conventions and festivals and is considered one of the top production com-panies in New Orleans. Miller and his wife also own Miller Property Investments, which buys run-down homes in the inner city and works to repair them and put them back into commerce. In addition, Miller has been teaching K-12 and working with New Orleans area universities to develop and create art-based community programs and en-richment programs.

A life-changing experience

Miller and his family relocated to Columbus, Miss., after Hurri-cane Katrina hit New Orleans. “That situation within itself was pretty much a life altering experience,” he said. “Of course, New Orleans is very rich and vi-brant when it comes to culture and art, so I kind of became a fi sh out of water when we moved to north Mississippi and pretty much was in search of the opportunity to get back into my love of academia.” Miller made the best of the situation and with the Brice Miller Foundation, held his fi rst community-wide event, the Co-lumbus Jazz and Blues Festival, in Sept. 2007, that allowed him to realize another one of his dreams. “My goal has been to allow

communities that may not havethe fortune of having a lot of culture running around to real-ize how you can bring your com-munities together, improve your schools and improve community and intercultural relations by do-ing unique programs.” The festival, which featured musicians and artists from all over the United States, attracted more than 6,000 people from the community. “You had black, white, young, old, rich, poor, uneducated, edu-cated. Just every realm of the community was there, and it was one of the fi rst times within that community that you had those cultures and persons come to-gether and congregate as one and enjoy themselves as one and for me that’s the power of beingin a cultural discipline.” Miller said he thinks it is im-portant to have a mechanism to

bring about community interac-tion, and since he is a New Or-leans Jazz trumpeter, he uses music and art. “Music has a way of touching the emotions, and once you reach a person’s emotions you have the ability to open and freely real-ize the truth of their hearts,” he said. “So I use music as a way of bringing down people’s defense mechanisms, and once we do that we have the opportunity to have an open and honest conver-sation.”

The perfect opportunity

In fall 2007, Miller made a dis-covery on the Internet that would lead him to the next chapter of his life and back to academia: the University’s own Crossroads Community Center. Following this discovery, Miller waited a bit before pursuing the open assistant director position. After meeting and interviewing with Crossroads Director Bev-erly Hawk and Vice President for Community Affairs Samory Pruitt, he was offered the job and began Oct. 1, 2007. “I took a few days before I ap-plied, because I was like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ It just doesn’t seem like this was true,” he said. “It was like the perfect microcosm that defi nes who I am as both a professional and a community-oriented person.”

An impact on Alabama

Since Oct. 1, Miller has taken part in a number of initiatives, including a Crossroads program called Your Story, My Story, in

which people gather and are paired with someone they do not know to tell their stories and ask questions. “Regardless of what your ma-jor is, you have the opportunity to participate in dialogue that I call that ‘iffy-touchy’ type of dia-logue where we talk about inter-cultural communication, inter-faith communication and gender preference communication,” he said. “Those are those topics we try to sway away from, but in re-ality they are very, very important that you do participate in them.” With the Brice Miller Founda-tion, Miller plans to bring artists into school and community-based organizations where the musical artists can talk about mu-sic and perform “informances,” or educational performances. Through this program, Miller said he reached more than 10,000 students in Mississippi. As assistant director at Cross-roads Community Center, Miller wants to see Crossroads continue expanding. “I jokingly told Dr. Hawk that I envisioned seeing Crossroads Community Center taking full effect of the ‘community center’ part, and when you think of a community center you think of people constantly coming and going,” Miller said. “I guess you could say my subliminal dream is that as we continue with these phenomenal programs that we have to tear some walls down and continue expanding Cross-roads. I would love to see more faculty, students, staff and com-munity people entering our doors and taking advantage of the pro-grams we have to offer here.”

“My goal has been to allow communities that

may not have the fortune of having a lot of culture

running around to realize how you can bring your communities together,

improve your schools and improve community and intercultural relations by doing unique programs.”

— Brice Miller, Crossroads Community

Center assistant director

12 THE CRIMSON WHITESceeneThe | February 5, 2008

BY COREY CRAFTTHE SCENE EDITORCRAFT@CW.UA.EDU

Feb. 5

Today is a pretty big DVD day, as it marks the beginning of February, generally a pretty big DVD month in itself. If

you like good things, today is no-table for the release of what is in my opin-ion 2007’s best fi lm, A n d r e w

Dominik’s “The Assassina-tion of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” The fi lm tells the story of the out-law Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his contentious relationship with the young Robert Ford (Academy Award-nominee Casey Affl eck), who idolizes the gunslinger. Their relation-ship doesn’t have much of a happy ending, as you might guess from the title. The fi lm features career-best work from Pitt, Affl eck and most everyone involved. Conversely, if you like bad movies, you also have some choices today, starting with Ju-lie Taymor’s wretched “Across the Universe.” I wrote a two-star, mixed-negative review for this fi lm in The CW and have not heard the end of it yet; the week the re-view ran, I heard young women in my classes refer to the review as being written by that … well, they called me a naughty word. Anyway, this musical featuring variations on songs by The Beatles is pretty-look-ing, but it has no more of a plot than any random series of music videos would, and shoehorns in any and every

possible cliché. In other words, it’s completely empty inside. (As I imagine most of those young women are — shazam!) And if you like really, really bad movies, check out Neil Jor-dan’s “The Brave One.” Jor-dan is a very good director. His stars, Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard, are generally very good actors. So why is their fi lm as absolutely wretched as it

is? Basically a play-by-play rip-off of “Death W i s h , ” “The Brave One” tells the story of a vengeful radio show host (Fos-

ter) who, after being violently assaulted and watching the death of her fi ancé, takes her vigilante quest to the streets to rid New York City of evil. This is an unintentionally hilarious fi lm, in which Foster is more or less playing Batman.

Feb. 12

This day features the release of Ben Affl eck’s directorial de-but, the Boston crime drama “Gone Baby Gone.” Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (who knows his Boston crime), the fi lm stars Casey Affl eck (in his other great 2007 role) and Michelle Monaghan as a dating team of private investigators who take the case of a little girl gone missing. Co-starring Mor-gan Freeman and Ed Harris as two cops also on the case, and A c a d e m y Award-nom-inee Amy Ryan as the little girl’s drug addict mother, the fi lm is a good mystery with a great end-ing, one that raises true moral questions with no easy answers and doesn’t insult one’s intelli-gence.

BY COREY CRAFTTHE SCENE EDITORCRAFT@CW.UA.EDU

Feb. 8

Kate Hudson was once nomi-nated for an Academy Award for “Almost Famous,” but since then she’s slummed it in a whole bunch of nonsense. Looking over her IMDB page, I see a lot of mov-ies I forgot existed — what the hell is “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”? All fans of that m o v i e may be h a p p y to hear that she’s reteaming with her co-star, Matthew McConaughey, in the romantic adventure-comedy “Fool’s Gold.” The fi lm involves attractive people hanging out near expen-sive-looking waterfront property, and there may be snorkeling and sunbathing, too. And a hunt for treasure, but who cares — you know this movie is all about whether or not Hudson and McConaughey will end up to-gether, which, of course, they will. (If that ends up being a spoiler and someone gets upset at me, I’m sorry, but come on.)

Feb. 14

The studios are releasing fi lms on Valentine’s Day this weekend

— in spite of the fact that it’s a Thursday — and yet only

one of these fi lms is a roman-tic comedy! That fi lm is “Defi -nitely, Maybe,” which defi nitely sounds like it has a gimmicky premise and maybe will make the most of a reasonably appeal-ing cast (including Ryan Reyn-olds, Rachel Weisz and Eliza-beth Banks). But it’ll probably end up like most other movies of its type; that is to say, I won’t remember it in three weeks, and odds are nobody else will, either.

Doug Liman is a pretty good director. There, I said it. Though no one will say “The Bourne Identity” is the best of that se-ries, it’s well-done, and “Swing-ers” is still a damn funny movie. But as of late he’s moved into larger-scale action movies, in-cluding the absolutely incompre-hensible “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which allegedly was recut by a focus group. So what do we make of Li-man’s new fi lm, “Jumper”? Who knows? The trailers indicate some pretty neat (if woodenly-acted) special effects shots, with Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson hitting each other, and teleporting, or something. But it has a mid-Febru-ary release date, so how good can it be? We’ll see; hopefully Liman has regained the personal, human touch that made “Bourne” such a treat. Here we are in the darkest, most dismal moviegoing sea-son of the year, and what do we have? Some studios actually pos-sibly releasing fi lms of quality? I’ll believe it when I see it, but word has been good on Para-mount’s kids fantasy fi lm, “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” and not just because it has the trailer to the new “Indiana Jones” fi lm attached to it — but that certain-ly doesn’t hurt. The fi lm comes from a popular book series, directed by Mark Wa-

ters, cowritten by the legend-ary John Sayles, and stars Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn and Nick Nolte, along with some seriously skilled

child actors in Freddie High-more and Emma Bolger. That’s a whole lot of talent right there, and hopefully this will turn out better than recent kids fantasy fl ops like “Eragon” and “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” — but it can’t get any worse.

Movie preview | Feb. 8 and 14 DVD picks | Feb. 5 and 12

Note: Today’s issue of The Scene is brought to you by the letter R, the number 17, and the phrase “vehicular manslaughter.”

It’s amazing, looking back on my columns in this magazine, how bitter some of them are. That being said, I just want to yell at people, maybe smack them around a little bit — but I don’t want to kill anybody. That would be terrible. So it puts me in a really diffi -cult position, I think, when I’m driving down University Boule-vard, it’s raining, and no fewer than four different people at four different traffi c lights decide it’s a good idea to step in front of my accelerating car. While it’s accel-erating, and while I have a green light. Let me break this down: you

don’t have the right of way in these situations. And let me tell you something, 90-odd-pound girl carrying an umbrella and talking on your cell phone and not looking both ways be-fore you cross the street, that’s an entanglement you will not win. I drive a small car, but it isn’t that small, and some people around here drive cars

approximately the size of Reese Phifer Hall. Look, I appreciate that it’s raining and you don’t want to stand in it any longer than you have to, I really do. But stepping in front of my car will, in all like-lihood, delay you from reaching your destination even longer. Plus I hear being dead is a real drag — not to mention I know some professors who won’t ac-cept death as an excuse if you miss class. And frankly, you can’t say you weren’t warned; the sign said DON’T WALK, and yet you walked. There is this myth that the pedestrian right of way also applies to roads with traffi c sig-nals; this is not true. If you are at an intersection with one of those helpful traffi c signs that indicate when you may walk, and you

disobey it, you are jaywalking, and you are a hazard to yourself and drivers who don’t really want to hurt you. I’m writing this, I guess, as if I hit someone. I didn’t. But there were a few close calls, and all I could do was stare in stunned disbelief and hit my brakes really hard. It’s a good thing my brakes work, let me tell you. But other drivers may not be as up on their maintenance schedule as I am, and if you step in front of one of those people, my friend, you had better pray to Jesus or Bud-dha or Ron Paul or whoever that you land on something soft. So this is just a friendly cour-tesy reminder from The Scene. We’d like you to stay alive through your four or fi ve or six years at this university — because if you don’t, who will read our magazine?

February 5, 2008 | SceneTheTHE CRIMSON WHITE 13

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A word from the editor

Corey Craft | craft@cw.ua.edu

You pedestrians are really brave

Be sure to capture your favorite college memories

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CorollaYou can purchase it by going online

to corolla.ua.edu or by calling 348- 7845.

Get your yearbook pictures made in the Ferguson Center January 22nd and 23rd from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. or on Febuary 19th and 20th

from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.