Arts/Cultural Response: Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball Tour

I grew up with Bruce Springsteen. When I think about my childhood, I think about The Rising playing in my dad’s jeep. I remember going to the concert with my entire family after the 9/11 attacks. As a second grader, I understood that Bruce was the epitome of an American working class symbol. I stood on the seats with my sister for three hours screaming every word to “Thunder Road” at the top of my lungs. When I heard he was coming to University Park, I immediately invited my sister to come visit. I had been looking forward to this for months. Hurricane Sandy hit the same week that Bruce was suppose to be rolling into town and I got nervous the concert was going to be cancelled. The show went on but my sister couldn’t leave Long Island. I decided to go to the show anyway. 

The thing you can count on when you go to a Bruce Springsteen concert is three things most definitely. First, there is never any opening act. To say the least, the Boss does not need one. Second, the concert is always at least three hours long. The man how to put on a show and he intends to entertain. Lastly, the audience will have a very wide range in ages. He reaches all ages and has fans all over the country.

The first two hours was mainly the Wrecking Ball album. This was expected. He had to play his new stuff and get it out there. This is not what the people came for though. This audience came for his old stuff. I was sitting all the way in the back. My friend and I were surrounded by mostly adults who had obviously traveled a fair distance to come. They spent much of the time sitting down waiting for the songs they knew. At around 10 o’clock, he started to break into the music everyone knew. “Dancing in the Dark,” “Born to Run,” and “Rosalita” got everyone up on their feet. The college students in front of me were rallying this elderly couple in front of me to get up and dance. 

For another two hours and three encores, the Boss himself put on a great show. He had shout-outs and dedications to Clarence Clemens, Hurricane Victims, and Food Banks all over Pennsylvania. All of these were reminders of why we Bruce was able to get up on a stage at the age of 63 years old. He plays for the average American and is always looking to help his fellow neighbor. He is always there for us in our times of need and reminds us that we should be there for our neighbors as well. 

In Red and Brown Water: My Experience At Penn's State's Theater

In Red and Brown Water tells the story of Oya, the fastest runner around her neighborhood. She’s so fast she has the opportunity to move to a collegiate level but gives it up to stay with her sick mother. The play tells Oya’s journey at a second chance at her scholarship and her love life along the way. 

The most important part of Oya’s story is that she is given the chance to leave the projects and find a better life. She gives up on this the first time because she chooses her mother. Her mother is a single parent and Oya’s only true family. She puts family above all. When her second chance comes around, Oya falls short because she has become side-tracked with her love life to focus on running. For a single man, she puts what she loves to the most on hold. Running was Oya’s outlet. It not only gave her opportunities to an outside world but it was an escape from her current place in society. 

The most compelling part of this play was there were three piviotal points that Oya experienced hardship in her life. Each time something had gone wrong, things seemed to pile up and there were consecutive events tearing Oya down. The first point was when she had to give up her scholarship. The second was when she wasn’t her first love, Shango, leaves her to enlist in the army. The third was when Shango impregnates another woman. The three points show a distinct change in Oya’s life. Every time things seemed they were going to be alright, something comes around to keep Oya from rising to her full potential. 

From the first scene, I was confused on the setting of the play. The props, music, dancing, and set made it seem like the actors were in tribal Africa. When they spoke, the actors talked of living in the projects. The projects is usually more urban than the set that was provided for this play. I just began to assume they were in the projects based on the conversations that were going on but because it was vague I couldn’t tell the time period. Also, each character said their stage directions aloud. This makes it a little baffling and hard to follow. It takes a few scenes until you are truly able to follow their commentary on the play as it is going on. The only positive to this was it allowed you to become aware of each character’s presence within a scene. 

This was my first time experiencing a play at Penn State’s theater. I loved the theater itself. It was smaller and cozy which allowed for a more intimate settings. It allowed for a less passive audience because the actors were using the whole theater to their benefit. I wasn’t a fan of the play itself. The storyline wasn’t very interesting to me and I was often confused or lost. I have been to many performances before. They are usually much more large scale and well known plays though. I think I should have went into this play knowing a little more about it like I have for others.