CollegeCandy » musical

High School…er…College Musical

Jessica- Delaware — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:00:48 +0000

It’s no secret that the current economic crisis had had a pretty severe impact on private universities. Not only have they lost some serious funding, but they’ve lost some serious student recruits who can no longer afford the high price of a private college education. Those universities, then, have been forced to get really crafty in their attempts to entice those incoming students to come their way.

And nothing says “Come to my school!” like a little song and dance.

Well, at least that’s what Yale thinks. They recently put together this gem to try and attract potential students, and other universities are scouring campus high and low for the theater kids and following suit (including mine).

Yes, my friends, that is a musical. A college recruitment musical. With singing and dancing and acting…and more singing. To get kids to choose Yale.

Now, I love me some Glee just as much as the next girl (Corey Monteith…yum), but really? Doesn’t it seem a bit…desperate…that the most prestigious university in the country needs a little song and dance (literally) to recruit? Theatre geeks might be into it, but I doubt the general student population would even give it 15 (!) minutes of their time.

Not only does it miss the mark in accurately representing college life (unless Yale students randomly break into song on the green, the treadmill or during office hours), but it is clearly an obvious attempt on the part of Yale to prove one thing and one thing only to their potential students: that there are some hot kids on campus, too (1:10, 3:04, 4:27, 4:32, 4:50 [wowza! that guy on the treadmill is smokin'!])

Yes, even at Yale.

And the lyrics! Nothing makes me want to choose Yale quite like a girl scooping out her lunch, belting out “Every college has a dining hall with a salad bar and grill….” It’s just way too cheesy on my lactose intolerant tummy.

I applaud those Yalies at creating a masterpiece and highlighting the acting and singing chops of some of the student body, but as far as wanting to go there now that I’ve seen their tour guide sing? Hm, not so much. And not even the killer guitar solos (at 12:10) will change my mind.

All I’m really feeling is sympathy for the poor kids who will never live this video down. As long as they live.

When it comes to recruiting students maybe universities should save their time and money and stick to sharing the stuff people really want to know: what the current students have to say. Not sing – say. We don’t need a cheesy song (that gets stuck in our heads for 4 hours) – we just want the real deal.

The Know: Be Green, Fabulous and Full

Jill - University of Wisconsin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:00:13 +0000

You know that really annoying friend of yours who feels the incessant need to point out that they were the first to know about a now really popular band every. single. time. it comes on the radio?

As annoying as they are, there is something exciting about the knowing of a new band, new clothing brand, great sale, awesome book or recipe, and sharing it with the ones you love. And by ones you love, I mean the ones you go back and forth with right here on the CollegeCandy message boards.

So here’s the deal: every week, we will feature things that YOU think other CollegeCandy readers just have to know about. Anything at all. Nothing is off limits.

Guffly.com
We all are trying to be green: wear more green, eat more green, recycle more green, earn more green. But sometimes it’s hard because we don’t know where to look for the best products. And let’s face it – some of those eco-friendly fashions have been hit with the ugly stick one too many times. Not to mention the sometimes way-out-there price tags – I mean I could buy some Jimmy Choo’s for the price of some of these reusable forks, frocks and eco-friendly gym bags! But thankfully, Guffly has come to our rescue. Guffly is a one-product-per-day online store (perfect for those of us who get overwhelmed by too many fabu products at once!). They feature eco-friendly products and fair trade lifestyle goods like home, pet, clothing, office and personal accessories. They have made it their jobs (literally!) to find only the most stylish eco-friendly and fair trade products out there. Now you can actually do something good for the environment, feel good about yourself AND still look cute. Sign me up.

Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds (Dark Chocolate Flavor) 100 Calorie Packs
When 4:00 rolls around, you will not want to be my friend if I don’t have a snack first. This is the honest truth. But it’s always so hard for me to find a snack that:
1)      Fulfills the cravings for both something sweet and crunchy/salty (something I believe all girls can relate to)
2)      Will actually keep me full until dinner (AKA has protein)
3)      Isn’t so high in calories that I will have to resort to a bag of lettuce for dinner
4)      Is damn good

Okay so I’m high maintenance when it comes to snacks. But I’ve found the answer and it’s the 100 calorie pack of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds! I am usually not a proponent of 100 cal packs; they are filled with chemicals, artificial sweeteners and empty carbs that do nothing but spike your blood sugar leaving you ravaged and ready to tear into any vending machine goody you can get your hands on. (Read: first stop, my thighs!) But these little gems (or Emeralds, rather) are a delish, protein (with chocolate!) filled treat. Throw one in your purse so you won’t have an excuse to buy that pumpkin loaf on your way to the lib.

Glee
You may already know about Glee, but it’s so good in that cheesy I-can’t-believe-it-takes-me-to-my-happy-place-but-it-does kind of way that for those of you who don’t know (or watch) I just had to share. The music: amazingness. The eye-candy: heavenly. Everything about this show screams “Guilty Pleasure!” except I don’t feel guilty. Not even a smidgen. When Lea Michele hits those high notes the inner “I wish I was a pop star” comes right up to the surface and, before I know it, I’m singing in my hairbrush and dancing to Journey or Celine in front of my window (until my neighbors notice). Too much? Trust me – watch it and you will be doing the same!

Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, right now. Well, not right now, but soon. Like, every Thursday.

Sick of Frat Parties? Creative Ways to Spend Your Weekend

Kathryn S — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:40:23 +0000

Frat party. Bar. Frat Party. Bar. By midterms, the same-old routines are starting to get played out. Sick of chugging watered down beers, shoulder-to-shoulder in a too-loud, too-packed college bar? Have you gotten so good at beer pong it doesn’t even feel like a game anymore? Here are some sure-fire ways to put the sizzle back into your Saturday. Just don’t forget your cameras!

1. Check out a Concert

No, I’m not suggesting you sit on Ticketmaster for hours to pay hundreds of dollars to see Fall Out Boy. Check out a band you’ve never heard of. Scour the web for open mic nights and underground punk shows. You might end up catching the next big thing to hit MTV. If there’s a venue nearby that’s known for being a breeding ground for legendary rockers, join their mailing list. Otherwise, check out sites like Underground Hip Hop Dot Com or Open Mikes to find some decent music at a cheap price. Stuck on campus without a car? See if your school sponsors its own concert series, open mic’s or talent shows, and hit ‘em up, son.

2. Pee Your Pants (Not Literally)

Underground concerts too loud for you? Hit up a comedy club or try to catch an improv troupe in your area. Comedy shows run fairly cheap, and you can bust a gut without waking up with your ears ringing in the morning. Sites like The Improv list venues in several different cities, or you can Google “improv” and the name of your town to see if there’s anything nearby. Did you know that tons of Saturday Night Live regulars got their start at improv clubs like LA’s infamous Groundlings? Or that comic messiahs like Adam Sandler used to tour college campuses before making it big?

3. Take Center Stage

My personal life motto? You haven’t lived until you’ve Karaoke’d. Find a local dive bar that hosts karaoke, and hit it up. You don’t have to worry about being embarrassed in front of townies who are doing renditions of the Dixie Chicks and Metallica, and if you can force yourself onstage without boozing it up, you really won’t have to pay anything for a kick-ass good time. Karaoke in the states is at an all-time high, so there’s bound to be someplace nearby that will let you croon “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

4. Casino Night

Free drinks while you gamble? Two words for the poverty-stricken college student: Penny Slots.

5. Stage a Cultural Outing

Everyone wastes $10 at the cinemas these days to see 90 minutes of cliches and inevitable plot lines. Get your culture on and take in a play, a musical, a cabaret, a drag show, anything! If you live in a city that’s host to a variety of playhouses, chances are, you can get student rush tix on the cheap, and if not, check out your local repertory theaters or community theaters. There have been some amazing shows to hit the stages over the past few years, and chances are, you’ve only seen them on DVD (e.g. The Producers, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hairspray… why not seem them all live?)

6. Laser Tag and Cosmic Bowling

Playing pseudo-sports in the dark, under black lights and glowing neon? It’s like a graffiti party, without the “Who the hell wrote that” factor the next morning! Let out your competitive streak by challenging your friends to a game or two, and follow up with a greasy trip to the 24-hour diner for some Disco Fries. Your arteries will hate you, but it’ll be a refreshing, welcome change.

7. Check Out Your Campus Calendar

Don’t feel like finding a DD or selling your soul for gas money? Tons of colleges these days are sponsoring quality entertainment on the weekends, in an effort to prevent their students from binge drinking for 72 hours straight. From music events to movie screenings to themed activities in the student union, you can get your fun on for cheap, or, even better, free, and you never have to worry about the cops busting up your good time.

Candy Dish: George Clooney’s Abage. Mmmm…

Jess - NYU — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:10:17 +0000

Clooney is like a fine wine

Politicians judged by their baby-holding abilities

J.Lo gets taken over by Scientologists?

WTF?!

Disturbing, disturbing babies in food costumes

I mean, who doesn’t want a white trash birthday?

Halle Berry preggers?

Break these fashion rules

Posh uses poop to maintain clear complextion

More reasons for guys to watch football

Go Go Power Rangers…not so much

That’s what SHE said!

Palin is NOT invited to Madonna’s party

Someone actually married Howard Stern

What if Beyonce was a boy?

God, those Scientologists are after everyone!

MTV’s, The American Mall: I Think I’m In Love

CC Staff — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:00:19 +0000

Looks like TV Musicals aren’t just for the tweens (and really embarassed twenty-somethings) anymore: the geniuses behind the High School Musical awesomeness have said TTFN (that’s, Ta Ta For Now, for those of you not in the know) to middle school and moved on up to MTV.

Get ready because next Monday, August 11th, MTV will be premeiring their latest hit, The American Mall.

I just watched the trailer and I. Can’t. Wait. Yes, I said it. And once you watch this badboy (below), you will agree.

I mean, honestly, how can anyone NOT be excited for this:

Singing

Dancing

Drama set to singing and dancing

Crazy Taylor from The O.C.

The fact that it is on MTV and, therefore, not nearly as embarassing as watching HSM (6 times….)

A free movie!

Seriously, invite the girls (and me!) over, make some popcorn (and Sangria) and turn this on.

Watch the trailer after the jump!



How To Deal With Reverse Homesickness
ccandyjessne — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:30:49 +0000
So you’ve finished your first year of college! You’re relieved, excited, and filled with pride (hopefully) at your academic accomplishment. You say goodbye to your friends at school, and make the journey home.
For me, that journey home was pretty long: 1330.45 miles, if we’re being exact. And after two weeks at home, and that initial joyful reunion with my friends from high school, I am suffering from a major case of reverse homesickness.
During my first semester of school, all I wanted to do was go back to Florida, transfer to a school where academics are often neglected for tanning and water sports, despite the fact that I had come to Boston to get away from such a scenario. Nonetheless, I was ready to throw in the towel and head back home.
Second semester, however, I really began to find my footing at school, and I had a wonderful time. I did well in all my classes, fell into a groove that enabled me to balance my academic goals with some semblance of a social life, and participated in our school’s spring musical. My last night in Boston was the night of our cast party, which was not short on the debauchery or tearful goodbyes.
Suffice it to say, when I arrived home, I was feeling a little morose. I wasn’t going to see anyone from Boston until September! And now, as a couple weeks have passed and it’s getting stiflingly hot here, I miss Boston and my school friends like nobody’s business. I’ve even come to miss the simplicity of my tiny freshman double, the greasy food at our dining hall, even the drunken frat boys screaming outside my window at 3 in the morning on a Thursday night…I could go on, but I’ll spare you.
So, partly for my sanity, and partly for yours, I’m come up with a few ways to avoid, or at least diminish, that reverse homesickness.
1. Get a job/volunteer: Now, I know the majority of you will do this anyway, but seriously, it has basically saved me these past couple days. A job, no matter how miserable it is, will keep you from sitting at home all day, looking longingly at pictures of your college exploits on Facebook for hours straight. And, if it is miserable, it will give you something to focus on besides your missing friends and school life.
2. Reconnect with old friends from high school: You know you haven’t kept in touch with people this year. Not everyone, at least. Your best friends got some calls and a lot of emails and such, but some of your other friends probably got completely neglected. Now is the time to call them up and plan something to catch up. And if you’re both suffering from reverse homesickness, you can commiserate together.
3. Keep in touch…but not too much: Facebook is a great invention. You and your school friends can check in periodically, just to keep that connection established and to keep up with each other’s lives. Don’t, however, neglect everything to talk for hours on the phone to various friends from school. You both have lives to live, and this dependency is NOT healthy. I’m speaking from experience here people, just trust me.
4. Just have a good summer! It’s really as simple as that. If you’re dynamic, and make your summer amazing, it will be easier to not focus so much on how you miss everything about your school. Go

         


Barackula: Our Vampire Killing Candidate
Carly - Grinnell — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:30:44 +0000
MTV (who apparently has nothing better to do) is reporting that a movie musical called “Barackula”  will debut online in the next few weeks. Billed by its director, Mike Lawson, as a “short political horror rock musical about young Barack Obama having to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990,” the film…hell, I’m not even going to finish that sentence.
Surprisingly enough, the cast and crew actually appear to have some talent. Lawson reportedly worked with Clint Eastwood on “Letters from Iwo Jima,” and one cast member has acted on “The West Wing.”
All this begs the question of… why? The movie’s site makes it clear that the cast and crew support Obama, but maybe they could’ve donated a few thousand to his campaign instead of making a movie that depicts him as a singing killer of vampires.
On the other hand, I have to admit that this will grab people’s attention more than a drop in Obama’s campaign bucket would. MTV asks the question “Is all publicity really good publicity?” but I don’t think that’s the issue. In fact, I think the real question here is: why does Obama’s persona lend itself so well to multimedia inspirations?
I’m not gonna lie. When I was undecided about whom to vote for in the primaries, Obama Girl and her famous video made me first sit up and actually take notice of the canidate she was singing about. Hey, I can’t help it if the song is catchy!  And now that I’ve actually found out more about Obama, I’m a supporter all the way (and I really can’t get the freaking song out of my head).
So, maybe the question about “Barackula” shouldn’t be why, but why not? If it gets a few more voters who have a penchant for vampires, Harvard, coeds, or musicals to give a longer look to Obama and what he stands for, then I’m all for it.

         


Hot Purse-suit: Accessorize Like the Stars
CC Staff — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:51:48 +0000

• Katherine Heigl’s sunglasses… Hayden Panettiere’s Maxene boots… Get the look for less.
• If you could only choose 5 cable channels… which ones would they be?
• The Shin’s Martin Crandall roughs up America’s ‘Almost’ Next Top Model.
• Anne Frank’s Diary… The Musical???
• Milo Ventimiglia is a baby.