Tag Archives: theater

President Frank Lombardo’s Message, 2011-01-05

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Dr. Frank Lombardo’s message at the theater at Daytona State College on Wed., Jan. 5, 2011 at 1pm. I got lumped in with the international students because I was sitting next to Bruno Blazevic, so I told the president that I’m from China and Ireland because my mom is Chinese and my great grandfather immigrated from Ireland. We were in the front row and got a standing ovation from all the faculty and staff, though I wasn’t supposed to be there. It was fun and they used Star Wars and Star Trek music in the presentation! Daytona State College is growing at an unbelievable pace and I am looking forward to getting my Bachelor of Science degree here.

I have made this album public on Facebook, but you must log in to Facebook to see the photos. Please go there to tag people or read my comments on individual photos. I know some people don’t want to use Facebook, but I think it’s the best social networking tool, if only because of market penetration. 80% of my friends are on Facebook.

While former president Dr. Kent Sharples wasn’t mentioned much, Dr. Lombardo did say that he led the college through an incredible period of growth and that he was very good at getting things done. Dr. Lombardo hopes to be out of a job by July 2011, because he hopes the agency the college has hired for $65,000 will have found the next president by May, and then it will take about two months to train him or her.

Dr. Lombardo can be first seen in the 9th and 10th photos below. There are 71 photos divided into pages of 30, so make sure to click the next page links at the bottom. The man at the podium is Evan Rivers, Chair of Humanities & Communications, the largest Daytona State School including English, literature, and history.

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Daytona State College 2010 Talent Show: Photos & Videos

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Photos from the Daytona State College 2010 Talent Show at the college theater, bldg. 220, Thu., Oct. 7, 2010, 6-8 PM.

This was the 2nd Annual Daytona State Talent Show and Pageant, held this year at the college theater instead of the News-Journal Center. This year’s show was presented by Student Government instead of Student Success. Read the 2010 Talent Show program here (PDF). Four performers returned from the 2009 Talent Show: Lillian Kinch, Jerred Mason, Farah Shaikh, and LaNae Wright.

Licensing: You can use these photos for any editorial purposes.

2010-10-07 Talent Show High-Res

Felipe Brasil and others in the audience, 5:55 PM.

2010-10-07 Talent Show High-Res

Prof. Elena Jarvis before the show started. She was one of the judges and is the advisor to DSC In Motion, the college newspaper. 6:04 PM.

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Jillian Chase singing a love song on guitar, 6:09 PM.

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The judges for this year’s show were Warnell A. Vickers, Elena Jarvis, Bruce Cook, Jessica Kester, and Robert Grimm, from left to right. 6:10 PM.

2010-10-07 Talent Show High-Res

Brittany taking photos for DSC in Motion. On the left is Farhana “Farah” Shaikh, who performed a dance later but is uncredited in the program. 6:10 PM.

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Preston Johnston and Marina Lins introducing the 2nd contestant, 6:13 PM.

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Daniel Lucero singing a free flowing poem about life and relationships. 6:15 PM.

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Cornelius Simmons performing a loud rap piece, 6:19 PM.

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Massiel Rodriguez Leon, Gabriela Figuroa, William Ernesto Montes, and Reina Catu performing an international dance, 6:23 PM.

2010-10-07 Talent Show High-Res

Vernon Solomon singing a love song on the guitar, accompanied on the piano by Matt Elam. He won the Talent Show. 6:26 PM.

2010-10-07 Talent Show High-Res

Brittany taking another photo with her Canon EOS 7D, 6:39 PM.

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LaNae Wright performing a dance, as the first act of the Mr. and Ms. Daytona State pageant. I voted for her. 6:40 PM.

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Sarah Bebergal singing. I think this is called “Nothing,” and it’s about a girl trying to become an actress. 6:44 PM.

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Gerard Minnis singing, 6:49 PM.

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Kristy McLarnan performing a dance, 6:53 PM.

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Ashley Lumpkin singing, while I am wondering if that is her natural hair color. 6:56 PM.

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Francis “JR” Houston preparing to sing an old Christian song. I voted for him. 7:00 PM.

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Stacey Taylor performing a dance, 7:04 PM.

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The judges, quietly judging. I have a crush on Jessica, but like all faculty she is married. She is an Assistant Professor of English just like my aunt, and my aunt’s daughter’s name is also Jessica, which is really weird if you think about it. 7:06 PM.

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Lillian Kinch singing, 7:12 PM.

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Jerred Mason, the winner of Mr. Daytona State 2009 and 2010, reciting his poem, “This is How I Am.” He should NOT have been allowed to run again, but instead should have passed the crown to his successor. In fact, it was never stated that he was the CURRENT Mr. Daytona State, which was a definite oversight. Jerred made the same speech last year, and will be receiving another gym membership and $500 scholarship this year. 7:15 PM.

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The other contestants observing as Jerred is crowned again. 7:55 PM.

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Jerred T. Mason is re-elected as Mr. Daytona State. 7:55 PM.

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I meant to cheer up J.R. but did not get around to it. 7:56 PM.

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Nicole R. Brown, incumbent President of the Daytona State College Student Government Association, smiling as always, after giving the Ms. Daytona State award to Stacey Taylor, who will also be receiving a gym membership and $500 scholarship. Vernon Solomon won first place in the non-pageant portion of the talent show, which merits no scholarship. 7:57 PM.

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Backstage with Farah, Massiel, and Reina, 8:17 PM.

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Massiel, Reina, Farah, and William, 8:18 PM.

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Farah was the most beautiful girl in the entire theater ♥. 8:25 PM.

VIDEOS

This year, I shot 16 video clips which total 1:01:28 using my new Samsung SMX-F40BN/XXA digital camcorder on a 16GB SDHC memory card. At the end, the battery was down to 1/4 capacity, which means the battery is really crappy because it should last much longer. I charged it right before the show.

Farah took me to the show specifically to film her, which is why I have no photos of her performance. I did not find anyone to take pictures for me and I couldn’t do both at the same time. I ended up filming most of the acts. I wish I would have filmed the whole show and I should have bought an extra battery a week before.

Unlike last year, these videos are in widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio with stereo sound. I have resized the FLV files below to 480×272 pixels. Optimal playback requires Adobe Flash Player 9 and a sustained downstream connection of at least 768Kbps (i.e. AT&T DSL Lite).

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Jillian Chase singling and playing the guitar. [0:23]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Daniel Lucero singing a free flowing poem about life and relationships. [3:36]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Massiel Rodriguez Leon, Gabriela Figuroa, William Ernesto Montes, and Reina Catu performing an international dance. [2:34]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Vernon Solomon singing a love song on the guitar, accompanied on the piano by Matt Elam. He won the Talent Show. [5:12]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The band, led by Michael Cummings, performing a Pink Floyd song. [5:36]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

LaNae Wright performing a dance, as the first act of the Mr. and Ms. Daytona State pageant. She was accompanied by Gerard Minnis singing Amazing Grace. [1:47]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Sarah Bebergal singing. I think this is called “Nothing,” and it’s about a girl trying to become an actress. [2:15]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Gerard Minnis singing. He was runner-up for Mr. Daytona State. [3:28]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The last 25 seconds of Ashley Lumpkin’s performance. I should have recorded her whole song. [0:25]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Francis “JR” Houston singing. I did not know he has a good singing voice. [3:03]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Jerred Mason, the winner of Mr. Daytona State 2009 AND 2010, reciting his poem, “This is How I Am.” [1:53]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

Long segment waiting for something to happen. Skip ahead to 1:30 to see LaNae Wright’s interview.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The rest of the pageant interviews after LaNae Wright. I voted for J.R. and LaNae. [8:31]

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The talent show concluded with the band playing two Pink Floyd songs including “Brick in the Wall,” Bruce Cook’s closing notes, and the awards. [14:13]

CONCLUSION

It was a good show, but the audience was only about 200, compared to 460 last year. The News-Journal Center would have been better, but someone had already booked it. The performances were all good, but it was a shame Dr. Carole Luby and Michelle Moll were not involved, as they would have done more preparation. Nicole has too much on her plate, and it showed as the MCs got confused several times throughout the show. SGA did not successfully promote this show so very few students knew about it.

Awarding Jerred Mason the Mr. Daytona State crown two years in a row was outrageous, but he did get the most votes from the audience so it was legitimate in that respect. However, I really hope someone else wins next year.

My favorite acts were Daniel Lucero, Vernon Solomon, and Sarah Bebergal, but everyone was competent.

In the future, I would like to see the judges actually judge the performers after each performance, like on American Idol.

Short link to this post: daytonastate.org/ts10

Daytona State College 2009 Talent Show: Photos & Videos

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Photos from the show at the News-Journal Center, Fri., Oct. 2, 8-10 PM. I was act one. I played The Entertainer on the piano with a slideshow of my photography. I got a big applause and I didn’t clam up at all, so I was lucky. It was my first time on stage in over a year and this was my largest audience. After my act I took lots of photos below. My Dad also took videos from the audience, including my performance, later in the post. Read my post yesterday.

Press info: You can use these photos for editorial purposes such as newspapers, newsletters, and websites. None of the people in pictures signed release forms so don’t use any of these images commercially. Click “high-res” to the right of each thumbnail to download the 10 MP version. They’re pretty grainy… I was using ISO1600 a lot on my Canon Rebel XTi. But they should look alright up to 8×10. Please credit me with the line “Photos by Richard X. Thripp.”

Photos of the Show

2009-10-02 Talent Show High-Res

Jerred T. Mason reciting an inspirational poem “This is How I Am.” He was act 2 and I was act 1 but I have no photos of my act because I couldn’t take photos while playing the piano. We were both running for Mr. Daytona State. Congratulations to Jerred for winning the Mr. Daytona State title! I got a special consideration certificate. 8:16 PM.

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Seaside Music Theater merger dead; theater closing

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According to the News-Journal, Daytona State College has given up on taking over the theater. The Seaside Music Theater is part of the News-Journal Center for which a college acquisition was in the works.

Lester Malizia had this to say:

“I realize the economic situation is horrible around the country, but good God, why turn your back on something that was so positive, so good for the community and was doing such good work?”

He’s been the art director at the theater for 20 years. I haven’t been to the theater, and I see their website is a couple months out of date, but apparently they had a whole bunch of summer performances scheduled, which were canceled due to their insolvency these past six months. And they owe thousands of dollars to ticket-holders for plays that were never shown. They’re selling off computers and costumes just to refund what they owe. It was a quarter-million dollars as of July, but no one would give more up-to-date figures.

“SMT had been struggling financially since a lawsuit by Cox Enterprises, which owns 47.5 percent of The News-Journal, forced the Davidson family and News-Journal Corp. to sever ties with the theater.”

I don’t think the theater ever provided enough value to the local community to justify its operating costs. The News-Journal was taking a loss on it before, and without their help, the theater would obviously fail. It’s a shame, but this will make way for newer, better theaters.

Are you against the News-Journal Center Acquisition?

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I was reading some of the comments on Daytona State College’s buy-out of the News-Journal Center. These ones were the most biting:

If you are sick and tired of this topic and want to voice objection to the Daytona State take over of the N-J Center, contact your State Representative and State Senator to block Florida legislative approval. With the cut backs in state funding for public safety and education, the $700,000 of state funding can possibly be blocked. Daytona State does not need to assume responsibility for this project. They already have a fine facility. Show me another community college with a theatre the size of the N-J Center. If Daytona State wants to spend tax dollars, it would be better spent on campus in student related matters.

Sharples just doesnt want to be outdone by Bethune Cookman. His ego is ridiculous. The college could use that money in other areas of the college.

Let me get this straight. Tippen Davidson used company money to support this money losing endeavor, of which he only controlled 51% so his minority partner’s involuntarily paid for 49% of his generosity. And of the 51% that he did control I am sure he used his charitable donation tax deductions to reduce his tax bill thereby allowing tax payers to help foot the bill. Now a judge says the News Journal can’t do this anymore SOOOO the thearter decides to dump the whole thing on the nit wits that run Daytona Beach College and allow the state to foot the bill for this money pit and they gets to keep his company name on the building!! WHAT DEAL or BOONDOOGLE

I’ve been to the college’s theater at building 220 at the Daytona campus. It’s beautiful. Hundreds of seats, great acoustics, lighting, and layout. Does a “community college” need a huge theater? I agree with the first comment, in that I haven’t heard of any others with a theater as grandiose as the News-Journal’s.

We know Sharples wants to shed the community-college roots. All the press releases brag that the school is getting bigger, expanding, growing, becoming ever larger and more bureaucratic. Does that really benefit the students? Does moving the theater three miles from the campus benefit the students?

Sometimes I wonder. Leave me a comment and tell me: are you for the News-Journal Center acquisition, or the college’s continued expansion in general? Why or why not? There are plenty of good reasons from either side, but we’ll get a much better general opinion from blog comments than press releases.

Daytona Beach City Commission to Vote 2008 Sept. 3 on News-Journal Center Acquisition

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An update on the News-Journal situation: it’s getting closer. Daytona State’s board of trustees has said yes to leasing the News-Journal theater center from the Lively Arts Center for one year.

The Lively Arts Center is giving $800,000 to the college, but I suppose the college will pay even more back. However, the state has to match this gift, so the college will get 1.6 million dollars. That should help a little.

The transfer is in fact mandated by a judge, because the Seaside Music Theater isn’t paying for the center anymore. The News-Journal won’t either, and the land is the city’s, so a profitable tenant must be found. Enter Daytona State College.

Kent Sharples (DSC president) says the state legislature needs to vote too, because they’ll be paying $700,000 per year toward the operating costs if the transfer goes through.

Clay Henderson of the Lively Arts Center’s board of directors said something interesting:

“We all are trying to keep everything going in the same way Tippen Davidson envisioned. Because that could not happen, this is the best way.”

Tippen Davidson was the News-Journal president till his death in 2007 January. He was the “driving force” behind the News-Journal Center, says the News-Journal. Apparently, he’d be rolling in his grave now, because Daytona State’s acquisition of his center is repugnant to his beautiful vision.

Either way, I’m excited that the college’s classes resume tomorrow at 8 A.M. My schedule: Calculus I 8-9 A.M., Speech 9-10, Physics I 10-11, and Biology 11-12. I wish my bag had wheels. The books are so heavy.

Daytona State to Buy News-Journal Center, Replacing Theater

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Daytona Beach News-Journal Center

I just read read that Daytona State College is buying the Daytona Beach News-Journal Center.

Have you seen the newspaper’s huge building at 221 North Beach Street, near International Speedway Boulevard, pictured above? The college is buying that. The Foundation, the philanthropic wing of Daytona State, is spending $2.6 million to pay off the terrible debt the Journal owes.

Even now, the building is not for the newspaper’s production; it’s a theater and “cultural community center.” The DSC foundation president, William Olivari, made this statement to the press:

With the college getting ready for a renovation of its own arts center, we thought this would be a great addition, since it’s (the News Journal Center) a new building, and we can use the land under the (college’s) center for new classrooms rather than spend millions in renovating.”

So they’re going to convert the Theater Center to classroom space on the campus, and then use the News-Journal building as the college theater.

My concern is the travel distance. Right now, the theater is conveniently at the Daytona Beach campus. How far away is the News-Journal Center? I wanted to know, so I looked it up on MapQuest. It’s 2.92 miles. Moving something as essential as the theater miles off-campus doesn’t seem right to me.

Kent Sharples has been talking to the Daytona Beach commissioners this week to get them to transfer the land the building rests on to the college. The land is leased from the state of Florida to the city of Daytona Beach to the News-Journal, so there are many layers of bureaucracy. The red tape will take a while to cut through. Daytona Beach appears to be paying a token sum of $1 per year for the land, so the college may not be paying a lot for the acquisition. The News-Journal quotes the transfer as a “gift agreement.” I’m sure it won’t cost 2.6 million dollars to the college, though. This will find some way to cost at least $5M.

It’s going to be more work for DSC to own the News-Journal center outright; it has to appear before the state legislature in March of 2009. So the plan is to lease it in the interim. Eventually, the name will be changed to “The News-Journal Center at Daytona State College” if possible. The new website will be thenews-journalcenteratdaytonastate.com. Nah, just kidding about the last part. :cool:

Still, I wonder how this will affect the college. This positions the theater as an entirely separate branch of the college, by placing such distance between them, and will impede non-theater students who casually visit. Still, the new building is much more impressive, so the college will be able to put on more grandiose and culturally enriching performances. I’ll be tracking the progress of the transfer over the next weeks and months.