Set in 1922, the show features a girl from Kansas named Millie, who has just arrived in New York City. Determined to be “modern” during the times when women started to enter the workforce, she decides to become independent, find a job and marry a rich man.

But things turn out differently for Millie once she books a room in the Priscilla Hotel and meets the carefree Jimmy. Soon, she finds herself involved in a criminal adventure and a complicated love rectangle.

The original story and screenplay was written by Richard Morris. He also collaborated on the book with Dick Scanlan, who wrote the lyrics for the music, which was composed by Jeanie Tesori. The musical is based on the 1967 film of the same name.

Jones says the excitement and energy that happened in the
1920s is similar to the passion, flair and youth on campus today, which is
reflected in the play.

The musical showcases many dance numbers, including jazz and tap, and is overall “a toe-tapping musical,” says Autumn Powers, who plays the role of Miss Dorothy Brown.

“As an audience member, I would be most excited about the dance numbers,” says Powers. “When you go to a show like this, you come to see the dance numbers.”

Allisen Beall, who plays the lead Millie, says the costumes designed by Kristen Rudlidge make the difference.

“We are all good actors, but the costumes really make the show for me,” she says. “They make or break the show.”

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” sets itself apart from the other musicals and shows that the theater department has been performing this semester, says Powers.

“All the [other plays] this semester have been a little bit darker than Millie,” says Powers. “This is a turn for the good. It’s happy. You’ll go outside the theater and humming along with the music because it’s so catchy. And it’s a good time all around for everyone, whether you are 2 years old or 150.”

Powers also says the show offers fun and a story with a surprising outcome, but it also conveys a message that can be relevant to everyone who pursues a dream.

“Millie and the majority of the characters are pushing for what they want and what they need,” she says. “And I think that’s what we are doing at SMC. The message is, follow your heart, don’t follow your head. If you follow your heart, it is leading you somewhere, in a direction that you obviously want to go and hopefully, will lead you to the right place.”

Beall says there are multiple themes in the story. One that is particularly dominant for her is women’s independence and gender equality.

“It’s very empowering, especially for women,” she says. “This was women in the 1920′s and they were out, doing what they wanted to do. And this is relevant now. Women are still having issues with being equal with men. The message is really ‘do what you want to do and let nobody stop you just because of who you are.’”

The show will be performed from May 23 to June 2. Tickets are available online, through phone or at the department office. For more information, contact the SMC theater department or go online on www.smc.edu/theatre.

There is still hope to get into a four-year university regardless of how poorly someone has done in high school — that is right, a second chance.

Three out of every 10 Californians, age 18-24, are currently enrolled in a community college, according to a California Community Colleges Scholarship Endowment statement. I was part of that 30 percent, and, admittedly, I was not too happy about it at first.

Throughout high school, I never had the best work ethic or took school seriously, which affected my grades and resulted in me getting denied to every university I applied to; getting bad grades was a horrible feeling, but getting denied to all the universities I applied to was even worse.

The first couple weeks attending Santa Monica College was exciting in many ways, such as living on my own and starting a new chapter of my life. However, as time went on, I would see all my friends I graduated high school with having so much of a better time than I was at their universities that they attended.

Although community colleges have great programs and an education system that can further help students transfer to a four-year university, nobody wants to be stuck at a community college forever — I sure did not.

As I attended SMC, I never got the experience of living in a dorm room, meeting tons of new people, or even going to “real” college parties. As many community college students can relate, this made me feel that my life was, in a way, “put on hold” by not attending a four-year university and not getting the college experience that all my friends were having.

There was something missing and I wanted to do something about it. Ultimately, that feeling motivated me to take school seriously to earn the grades required to transfer. Much of my interest in the University of Arizona, which is the college I now attend, I can credit to SMC’s college fair, an event that just recently happened on April 23.

At the event I met Gil Gastelum, a representative for UA, and, because of how he talked to me about his school, I fell in love with it.

With every phone call I made to Gastelum for more information about UA, and going to SMC’s walk-in academic advising provided almost every other day, the possibility of me transferring to a university became more and more realistic. I knew it was not going to be easy, especially since I did not consider myself to be book smart. From spending Friday and Saturday nights at home doing homework to countless hours at the library, my life was consumed by schoolwork driven by my desire to attend UA.

In just one year, and a 3.0 GPA, all my hard work paid off — I was accepted for transfer to UA for Fall 2012. I am currently a sophomore majoring in business management.

I was never the smartest kid in school growing up, nor did I get the best grades. For many of you who can relate to that, believe me when I say that hard work does pay off.

Many students get discouraged being at a community college and tend to give up. But, for all of you thinking about transferring and do not think you are smart enough, I am here to tell you that you are wrong. A student’s greatest weakness lies in giving up; the desire to succeed and the urge to reach your full potential are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

Smith is being charged with making felony criminal threats. Authorities have placed a $50,000 bail over his head.

According to the California Penal Code 422, a “criminal threat,” formerly known as a terrorist threat, is a threat of “death or great bodily injury to another person.” The guilty party can be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony, and spend up to four years in state prison.

The 19-year-old phoned at 8 a.m. Thursday morning threatening to “shoot up the school,” according to a press release from the Santa Monica Police Department. The suspect made references to other schools in the city, prompting the lock down and evacuation of several institutions that morning.

Smith turned himself over to police via Psychological Services. He was unarmed.

LAPD is leading the investigation.

Police detained the unarmed suspect in SMC’s Psychological Services department after he turned himself in.

The suspect threatened to harm others and indicated he had a firearm in a call made at 7:30 a.m. from the suspect’s cell phone to California Highway Patrol, Lewis said.

Upon receiving the call, CHP dispatchers instructed the student to turn himself in to the nearest medical facility.

By 8 a.m., dispatchers at CHP had informed both SMPD and SMCPD of the threat. The two departments worked together to establish a command post to assess the situation.

The suspect, who was already on campus for an 8 a.m. class, received the mass phone call sent out to all students that morning about the lockdown. He knew the lockdown was in connection to him and proceeded to turn himself in to SMC Psychological Services.

The student was suicidal, with no apparent suicidal history, Lewis confirmed.

Lewis said the Los Angeles Sheriff Department and Los Angeles Police Department were working with similar incidents with a “same name subject and similar cell phone number.” Authorities believe that this case is linked to the threats that lead other school campuses in Los Angeles to be evacuated this morning.

Administrative assistant Martha Whitfield, who was manning the desk in Psychological Services when the suspect was detained, said the student was clearly “scared and depressed.”  The school sent her home for the day.

Police also placed John Adams Middle School and Will Rogers Elementary on lockdown in response to the threat. SMC’s satellite campuses were evacuated that morning as well.

The south side of campus was closed, as police cordoned off Pearl Street from 16th to 20th Street. Armed police officers stood watch and directed traffic on Pearl Street and 17th Street.

Students were allowed access onto the main campus otherwise.

“I thought it was just another scare, but I didn’t want to take any chances and come here,” said student Ryan Farnam, who was at home when the robocall was sent out.

“I saw the cops and they told me not to come in,” said student Lawrence Kotovets. “I saw everyone else here, all the students, they were acting like nothing was going on.”

Police escort alleged gun man off SMC campus. (Photo by Emilio Sedeno)

Santa Monica College went on lockdown after a student called and threatened to shoot on campus, authorities said.

The 19-year-old supsect phoned in at approximately 8 a.m. this morning, claiming that he was going to open fire on campus, unconfirmed reports said.

The suspect could possibly be the person responsible for the gun threats around the state.

John Adams Middle School was also closed this morning after the call came in.

The lockdown coincides with the evacuation of East Los Angeles College earlier this morning, when a gunman was reported on campus. Monterey Park schools were also locked down.

SMC classes were on lockdown until 9:42 a.m. The library opened at approximately 10:10 a.m.

“The safest place is to stay put, stay in class and keep everyone safe,” said Ingrid Cardwell, science department administrative assistant, who warned classes in the science building.

Johnson was a student at SMC from 1997 to 1999, and spoke to what it felt like to be back.

“I’m back here, back to my roots how it all started, trying to remember what it took me to get to where I fell from,” Chad Johnson said. ”This is where it all started, so I’m back to it.”

The practice session was organized by Jeff Johnson and Jay Tatum, owners of a company called Elite Athletes. Jeff Johnson, who trained with Chad Johnson, said his company works with young athletes to “keep kids off the streets.”

“We like to use sports to wheel them in to get their attention and then of course send them out to the right sources,” Jeff Johnson said.

Students were lined up on the football field, smartphones and tablets in tow, trying to catch a glimpse of the players before being dispersed by athletic director Joe Cascio.

Neither Chad Johnson nor Jeff Johnson ruled out a repeat visit to SMC for future workouts.

These are the themes in Mary Trunk’s documentary “Lost in Living,” which showed the lives of four women and their daily ups and downs as mothers, artists, daughters, and friends. Between work, family and change, they are “lost in living.”

On May 9, Trunk screened her documentary, which she directed and produced with Ma and Pa Films, at Santa Monica College.

Trunk filmed for over seven years, witnessing the women’s struggles and successes to balance their responsibilities toward their families with their passions for art.

“[As a mother], you are always pulled into different directions — motherhood, art,” she said. “And within those, there are all these other choices. There is the friendship, and the work, and the change, and all these different themes that make things [go] in different directions. And when you become a mother, you often don’t get to choose.”

Over the years, Trunk has heard different stories of bad marriages, best friends and regretful mother-daughter relationships. But they all share one similarity- art as an outlet to offset their daily duties.

Trunk’s own life as a mother and artist inspired her to start this seven-year-long project. Like her other films, the documentary was prompted by the struggles she went through and that helped her to discover and express her thoughts, she said.

When Trunk moved to Los Angeles with her one-year-old daughter, she said she “felt lost in the toddler life of taking care of a child.”

“I had to kind of jump-start my creative urges,” said Trunk.

Trunk said that she did not only use the movie as a way to express her creativity, but also as a means to tell stories that needed to be heard, but are not always told.

The different paths that these four women take and the decisions
that they make are not supposed to serve as guidelines or directions for
other women, Trunk said.

“It is about a situation and the people,” she said. “It is not an argument or a statement on what you should do. The voices of women and mothers are super important in this film. It’s about story.”

Trunk developed compassion for her subjects by filming, observing and listening to them for more than half a decade. As a result, her subjects developed trust in her, she said.

“You learn compassion more than anything because when you make a film where you are really listening to people and not engaging in conversation so much, you have to accept them for who they are,” Trunk said. “And in doing that, you are learning about people what you normally wouldn’t learn about. They are going to divulge and trust you in a way they wouldn’t otherwise. And that’s a real gift.”

The honesty and frankness in the stories of the four women in the film seemed to give some female viewers a sense of affinity and encouraged them to share their thoughts.

“What I appreciate the most is the honesty and transparency of the movie,” said Elsa Mora, artist and mother of two children. “That’s why I think it’s extremely relevant to everybody. Suddenly I realize that probably every single mother in the world is going through the same time but we don’t…talk about our frustration because we feel embarrassed. I am part of a huge thing. I am connected to something else and it makes me feel good.”

Maize Connolly, another artist and mother who attended the screening, could relate to the subjects in the movie.

“This was probably the most relevant to my own life movie that I could have seen right now,” Connolly said. “It’s about the things that I am doing, which are balancing being a mother and an artist. I’m taking away a feeling of community with other people experiencing what I’ve been experiencing. But I haven’t been sharing as much. Now I’m thinking I should.”

But upon closer inspection, the real message of the art piece comes through. Words like “trafficking,” “victimization” and “violence” were written on cards showing seemingly-malnoursished children, depicting the horrors of the fashion-making industry

The Santa Monica College art department had the opening reception for its annual student exhibit at the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery at the SMC Performing Arts Center last Friday.

Various art techniques, such as paintings, sculptures and prints, were displayed at the exhibition.

“It’s not just one medium, it’s all the classes in the department,” said Mirian Winsryg, the gallery director who has been teaching at SMC since 1987.

Winsryg said that it is important for students to have their work shown for others to see.

“In the art world, you want to have that experience,” she said. “It’s part of the experience of being an artist that you actually show your work. Otherwise, why do you make it?”

The faculty from the department choose at least two works from students in their classes to show at the exhibit.

For the last three years, the art in the showcase follows a specific theme. This year, it was Poverty & Wealth, Want & Waste: The Unevenness of Globalization.

Students who had work showcased in the gallery were present at the opening reception, and had lots to say of what it felt like to be a part of the exhibition.

“It’s kind of surreal just cuz I’ve never had my work showcased in a legit gallery before,” said SMC student Michelle Rhee. “It’s nice to be a part of the SMC art community.”

Brandon Otani, SMC student since 2006, has shown at the student art show before as a part of the Art Mentor program.

“It’s cool to be on display again,” Otani said.

Tara Gruchalski, 20, has been an art student at SMC for three years. She feels the art program on campus has helped her in a lot of ways.

“It really helped me kind of try to hone in on what I was good at, what my strengths were, what I needed to work on and what school I wanted to go to,” said Gruchalski, whose work was on display last Friday. “It’s been a really holistic experience.”

Art department chair Ronn Davis said the program’s objective is to prepare students to transfer to four-year colleges, as well as developing the skills of young artists.

“Our goal is to put you in a place where creativity is now an integral part of your everyday life,” Davis said.

The next showing of student art will be the exhibition for the Art Mentor Program this June.

The current exhibit is open through May 25.