By Jessica Lipman
     Do you remember the movies you watched when you were younger that made you grab a blanket and a bucket of popcorn? Well, they are making a comeback and coming soon to theaters. From dramatic romance to fantasy and adventure, this summer season calls for a wide variety of genres and a return of some of our favorite and classic movies.
 
Everything, Everything : May 19th 
            Based on the young adult novel by Nicola Yoon, Everything, Everything centers around the story of Maddy (Amandla Stenberg), a teenager with bubble baby disease, causing her to be allergic to almost everything. Everyday she spends her time inside her home with her mother and nurse, but when she meets Olly (Nick Robinson), her new neighbor, she begins to fall in love. With high anticipation for this new love story, viewers like Abbey Rianhard, a Sophomore at Glenelg High School, are excited to see how the two lovers are “able to stay together despite the illness she has.”  Receiving high ratings, many fans were excited when this film debuted on May 19th. From being called  “charming and well-acted” to “modestly engaging” by Variety, Everything, Everything is a teenage romance worth seeing.
 
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales : May 26th
            Making a popular resurgence, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales stars our favorite pirate, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who endures a captivating adventure that relies on his only chance of survival. When Captain Jack Sparrow’s enemies, the ghost pirates and Captain Salazar,  escape from the Devil’s Triangle, they are determined to kill every pirate at sea, including Sparrow. With help from new faces, Jack must obtain the legendary Trident of Poseidon to gain control over the seas and defeat his enemies. With familiar faces Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley coming back, many fans of the series are excited to see these actors take on these roles again. As many different age groups are excited for this long return of this film series, it is expected that the theaters will be full when this movie debuts on May 26th.
 
Wonder Woman : June 2nd
            Being raised on the island of Themyscira and being trained by warriors, Diana in Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) fulfills her destiny when her homeland is threatened and in danger. For her first time ever, Diana must travel to the outside world where she first steps forward to become Wonder Woman. Alyssa Henderson, a Sophomore at Glenelg, describes Wonder Woman as an “interesting spin on what we are used to... superhero movies typically take on the role of a male, but for this movie it is centered around a female taking on action.” Throughout our time, comics have typically depicted men being the main character, but in this movie the roles have changed. Being released on June 2nd, watchers are thrilled to see if Wonder Woman will be a hero of our time and live up to her expectations.
 
Transformers: The Last Night : June 21st
              Now the new addition in the live-action series, Transformers: The Last Night, provides a new meaning as to what it takes to be a hero. With the world at war, it seems impossible for humans and transformers to come to an agreement. In order to stop the commotion, an alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English Lord, and an Oxford Professor come together to save the future. Reflecting on past problems in several countries and popular war tactics in the past, this film provides viewers with not only explosion filled CGI battle scenes, but it also reflects on history. This film will bring excitement to younger children and teenagers on June 21st.
           
     With popular sequels and new stories, this summer will be filled with a wide range of new films. As the theaters will be filled, we can anticipate rounds of applause for these movies and many others. It is time to grab your popcorn and enjoy these films as they are coming soon to theaters.
           
                                                  
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By Jackie Lyons

     If you don’t think you know who John Hughes is, chances are you actually do. He is the mastermind behind classic films such as Home Alone, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and The Breakfast Club. In 1985, The Breakfast Club was released and became an instant box office hit. It tells the story of five very different teenagers from separate social groups spending the day together in detention, and ultimately finding out they’re not as different as they thought.

     Each character represents a stereotype that exists in high schools. The princess, Claire, and the athlete, Andrew, confess how they bully and look down upon those weaker than them to impress their friends. The criminal, Bender, and  the basket case, Allison, both have built walls around themselves to distract them from their abusive home life. And the brain, Brian, is constantly told that if he’s not getting good grades, he’s worthless. The debut of this movie brought issues that teenagers face into a new light, displaying how they crave to fit in and to be understood. It sticks out among the normal teen movies, like She’s All That and A Cinderella Story, by being an accurate model toward the lives of high schoolers.

     Within 32 years, the problems teenagers are faced with seem to have not changed. Sophomore Bryn Shane says, “The ideas of stereotypes and cliques, while they have become less prominent, are still present and have an influence on how teenagers interact.” For example, here at Glenelg, we certainly do have cliques, but most of us do not hold intense grudges against each other like how they do at the beginning of The Breakfast Club.

     An aspect of the movie that still holds up today is troubled home life. In the movie we find out that under his tough guy exterior, the criminal, John Bender, comes from an extremely abusive home and that the popular girl and princess, Claire Standish’s parents are constantly fighting and are looking into a divorce. In a 2014 study done by Childhelp, about 702,000 children and teenagers are victims to abuse at home. According to the 2011 divorce statistics, 246,273,366 people had filed for a divorce or annulment. Like the characters in the movie, teenagers today distract themselves from their home-life by taking their anger out on others and compulsively lying.

     Many teenagers today would agree with the accuracies portrayed in the movie. Senior Liam Kirchhoff says, “Teenagers are just trying to discover themselves and the world on their own and it doesn’t need to be a particular decade for that.” While The Breakfast Club is filled with big hair and lingo like, “neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie,” it’s still an applicable movie that should be passed on through the ages.
            

By Kendall Howze

       One of the first things you see when you walk through the front doors of Glenelg is a display case full of art. Various drawings and paintings from Glenelg art students are chosen by their art teacher, Mrs. Borja or Mr. Hereth, and placed in the case for the school to see. The art in the case changes throughout the year as the students complete more projects.

       Junior Melissa Kelley is one of the artists whose drawings was chosen to be put on display. In the bottom right corner of the case hangs a high school student daydreaming in class. Kelley is proud of her use of “pink undertones for the skin tone.” She wanted to creatively portray the imagination of a student, much like herself, lost in her thoughts. Kelley spent four class periods that lasted an hour and a half working on her drawing, and she believes it is one of her better pieces of art.

       Kelley has been in art all three years of her high school career, and she intends to continue taking it her Senior year. Art is one of her biggest passions. She aspires to be an art teacher at some point in her life, and thoroughly anticipates the class next year. She hopes to “draw more people and [improve] on [her] art skills.” Art class is an integral part of her high school experience, and a class that she always enjoys. It never fails to be a great creative outlet.

​       As much as Kelley loves art, she would love to share her passion with others. According to her, “More people should definitely take art because it’s so fun and it's a great way to be creative.”  Many other students share Kelley’s beliefs on art. Junior Nikodemos Koutsoheras believes that in art, “You get to refine your artistic passion.” Whether you’re good at art or not, it is the perfect place to express yourself, improve on your artistic abilities, or just have fun creating art. 

By Torin Alexander

     All we can do is dream of summer vacation. Whether it’s sunbathing on the beach or sleeping in everyday, the summer is something to look forward to. But that's every summer of every year, so what makes these year’s summer months so different? Well, for starters, new music that will have many people singing to the lyrics. There will be new, local concerts that people know are a must go to event.

Music
Kelly Clarkson
Release Date: Unknown
Album Cover: Unknown
Kelly Clarkson is about to showcase her new album, that’s title hasn’t been released, that is coming sometime in June. This will be the first album since she left her previous music label, RCA records, to join Atlantic Records, which is also home to Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Kehalni, Wiz Khalifa, and Lil Uzi Vert. Clarkson states “They’re down to make whatever kind of record I’m into.” With this in mind, Clarkson’s album should be very exciting.

Bryson Tiller
Release Date: May 26th
Album Title: True to Self
This will be Tiller’s second album of his career and first album after his hard hitting platinum-selling album, Trap Soul. His newest album is very anticipated for the rap and R&B community as he already shocked the world with his most recent song “Somethin tells me”.

Lady Antebellum
Release Date: June 9th
Album Title: Own the Night
Lady Antebellum, a known country group, has their album, Heart Break, coming out June 9th. With their last album, Own the Night, having great success, their next album has high expectations to live up to.  With these albums like True to self, Own the Night, and Kelly Clarkson’s album, its safe to say that the summer will have lots of great vibes.

Concerts (Merriwether Post Pavilion)
Dierks Bentley
Date: May 19th
This year, the country listening community have been treated to Dierks Bentley. Recently Bentley has come out with album Black. The album was able to hit number two on the billboards and quickly became popular to the public. Because of his high reputation and musical talent, Bentley’s concert was a must go.

The Chainsmokers
Date: May 26th
The Chainsmokers have recently exploded to high publicity with their catchy electronic-based music. With their recent album, Memories Do Not Open, and hit singles, “Closer” and “Something just like this” the crowd roared with screams when the first note of each song blasted out through the enormous speakers.

John Legend
Date: June 20th
An upcoming concert on that will bring many people to Merriwether’s Post Pavilion is John Legend. With 10 Grammys and 28 nominations in total under his belt, people will be able to witness the talent of a very notorious star. shown, concerts in the summer will be something to look forward with hot artists playing locally.

By Sofia Weddle


            It’s a worldwide phenomenon by now. The music, rap battles, witty dialogue, and innovative story of Hamilton: An American Musical has captivated the hearts of both young and old. While its musical score has been raved about since Hamilton’s opening night, the costumes within seem to be overlooked. Set in the period from the Revolutionary War to the writing of the United States Constitution, the show features period costumes representative of each character’s prominence and stature in society. Through the implementation of historical fashion created by the Hamilton costume designer himself Paul Tazewell, he develops a symbolic twist within the clothing that gives deeper meaning to what the musical itself, and its characters, represent.
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            During Act I, each stage character develops their personalities and aspirations through sharp humour and dialogue, as well as through their dress. Alexander Hamilton can be seen wearing brown cotton clothes, while his enemy Aaron Burr is dressed in the kingly color of purple. This stark difference in style presents the embedded plotline of the entire musical: the rivalry between Hamilton and Burr. Glenelg Sophomore Olivia LePage is one of many super fans entranced with this rivalry and the musical, and believes that, “The appeal of Hamilton is, for most people, the music, and I think that it has been so successful because Lin-Manuel Miranda infused the typical Broadway music with the modern genre of hip hop/rap”. Hamilton and Burr’s entanglement and the upbeat raps that come along with it provides for much of why Hamilton has become such a spectacle.
The remaining ensemble is clothed in drab, beige pauper clothes, which “emphasizes lack of personality as they’re the anonymous crowd” (Frankel). Although, the ensemble’s revealing breeches add a scandalous touch that may point toward Hamilton’s bachelor tendencies, specifically concerning when he cheats on his wife with Maria Reynolds, a red-dress-clothed seductress. This lackluster clothing contrasts sharply with the outrageously cliched royal garb worn by the equally as flamboyant and entertaining King George.
As the musical progresses, Alexander Hamilton increases his relevance in society as a strong political source, which is supported by his wearing of a vibrant green coat broadcasting his cocky success in the Revolution, writing the Constitution, and scrawling 51 of the 85 persuasive Federalist Papers. Additionally, the political standing of the many Founding Fathers and Revolution heroes, including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, and James Madison, is shown through their ornamental, bright garbe they begin to wear after the Revolutionary War is won. Hamilton’s wife, Eliza Schuyler may be one of the most symbolic characters of the group, as her style represents both her emotions and experiences. From the introduction of her character at a ball in a soft peach dress, Eliza presents herself “as a nurturer happy to tend her garden” (Frankel), or stand loyal beside her future husband. Eliza endures many inconceivable events in her life, such as the death of her only son, where she (along with Hamilton) wears mournful black, the infidelity of her husband, in which she dons an angelic soft blue dress depicting her innocence, purity, and kindness.
While Hamilton: An American Musical may seem unprecedented solely by its music and narrative substance by any past Broadway spectaculars, the costumes themselves are ground-breaking to the theater community, both on and off the famed street of Broadway. The thoughtful symbolistic qualities of each character’s garb provide the reason for the eminence Hamilton holds over all who see it. With each emotion, society ranking, and historical event that were taken into consideration when Tazewell designed the costumes, it may very well be that the featured clothing is as revolutionary as Hamilton himself.
 
 
 
Sources:
Frankel, Valerie E. Who Tells Your Story?: History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 15 December 2016.
Spivey, Robert. Personal Interview. 18 May 201