Wednesday, April 29

UCLA student’s play “The Sunrise Club” explores environmentalism, the future

Tara Turnbull first thought of the idea for her play during a high school science class. She sat on a stiff stool at a long black lab table when a vision came to her: two students sitting on a hilltop, talking about life. Read more...

Photo: Graduate student Tara Turnbull wrote, directed and produced “The Sunrise Club,” which tells the story of a group of students experiencing their last sunrise on Earth before moving to another planet. Turnbull said the plot was inspired by the impacts humans can have on Earth’s ecology and the possible consequences. (Shelby Scoggins/Daily Bruin)


Marvel’s black, female Iron Man should only be first step to greater diversity

Marvel Comics has created thousands of leotard-clad heroes, but most fans probably can’t name five superheroes of color in Marvel’s vast cast of characters. On Wednesday, Marvel announced that the Iron Man characterwill be taken over by a new character, Riri Williams. Read more...

Photo: Riri Williams, a black woman, will replace Tony Stark as the new civilian behind the Iron Man suit in the Iron Man series. (Courtesy of Marvel)


Second Take: Universal Studios brings ‘The Walking Dead’ permanently to life

Some people have condemned modern culture as a “culture of death,” prone to immorality and violence. Considering the continued popularity of zombies in film, television and video games, it’s more like a culture of un-death. Read more...

Photo: Universal Studios Hollywood opened its year-round “The Walking Dead” attraction Monday because its seasonal Halloween experience was so popular. (Matthew Fernandez/Daily Bruin)


Opera drawn from autobiography explores experience of schizophrenia

Elyn Saks felt suffocated, trapped in a room filled with doctors. She lay restrained with leather bounds, her hands and feet tied, she said. It was her first year at Yale Law School; she was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, a psychosis defined by paranoid delusions, hallucinations, dysfunctional ways of thinking and agitated body movements, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Read more...

Photo: UCLA alumnus Stephen Karr will conduct the opera “The Center Cannot Hold” beginning Friday. It was composed by Professor Kenneth Wells based on the memoir of Elyn Saks, a professor at USC, who was previously diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. (Ken Shin/Daily Bruin)


Theater Review: “Big Sky”

“Big Sky” makes even the most dysfunctional of families look cuddly in comparison. The Geffen Playhouse’s latest show is hilarious and touching; there is something horrible yet intriguing about being privy to another person’s dirty laundry. Read more...

Photo: (Courtesy of Darrett Sanders)


YouTubers create parody video to break down South Asian stereotypes

After watching Beyonce perform “Formation” at the Super Bowl, two UCLA alumni said they felt empowered to create something that celebrated their South Asian culture. YouTubers Krishna Kumar and Kausar Mohammed released “Namaste,” a video parody of Beyonce’s song and video “Formation,” in May in order to exaggerate and critique negative stereotypes and to increase the visibility of South Asians in the media. Read more...

Photo: UCLA alumni Kausar Mohammed and Krishna Kumar were inspired by Beyonce’s “Formation” music video to make a parody about South Asian culture. They shot their video completely on an iPhone and filmed in Indian grocery stores and threading salons from their hometowns. (Courtesy of Krishna Kumar)


UCLA alum co-creates latest Disney Channel series

Josh Lehrman and Kyle Stegina spent hundreds of hours in the glow of their computer screens watching countless viral YouTube videos. The pair had postponed their typical Friday night plans in order to research cyber-world trends and lingo for their upcoming project – Disney Channel’s new TV series. Read more...

Photo: “Bizaardvark” executive producer Eric Friedman said UCLA alumnus Josh Lehrman and partner Kyle Stegina were the “success story” of the Disney Channel Storytellers Program’s first year. Through the program, the pair co-created Disney Channel’s newest show. (Eric McCandless via Disney Channel)