By Emily Santiago-Molina
On My Block
The new Netflix show, “On My Block” stars 4 teenagers starting their first year of high school, committed to staying friends no matter what happens in their town of Ridgewood in East LA of California. But this is not your typical coming-of-age television series: “On My Block” features a cast complete with people of color, actors who portray different cultural experiences of growing up. Best friends Monse, Jamal, Ruby, and Cesar have known each other for forever, but their friendship is put to the test when Cesar tragically ends up joining his older brother’s gang, the Santos. Monse urges the group that they need to save him and the show continues over ten episodes with different antics and stories over the teenagers’ dilemmas.
The four young actors who play the diverse protagonists are relatively unknown and this show is truly their first big moment. Fans have slowly been stirring the pot on social media, encouraging everyone to join in and watch the show. Stars Brett Gray, Diego Tinoco, Sierra Capri, Jason Genao, and the rest of their cast members have taken to Twitter and Instagram leading the campaign for a second season, which after a very abrupt cliffhanger at the end of the final episode, hasn’t been promised. Having premiered on March 16, the show has surely captured the attention of young viewers who have found themselves in these diverse characters, proving how much representation matters.
Lin and Ben’s Hamilton/Dear Evan Hansen Medley
In the spirit of today’s youth changing the world of tomorrow, Hamilton creator Lin Manuel-Miranda has once again created a musical track to support the social justice event of the month: the March For Our Lives. The song is part of a series of tunes he has dubbed “#Hamildrop”, promising to release one song a month for the year of 2018, following the creation of the “Hamilton Mixtape” album. This time, Miranda invited a fellow musical star to sing with him on the latest release, “Dear Evan Hansen” alum Ben Platt. Broadway fans everywhere began to truly look forward to what the two were working on.
Come March 18th, Miranda released his creation: a mash-up of “Story of Tonight” from “Hamilton” and “You Will Be Found” from Platt’s “Dear Evan Hansen”, two songs telling of the children who will proclaim the history their predecessors are making, encouraging the young leaders that they are not alone. Their voices meld together to form a wonderful anthem for hearts, young and old, to sing along to. Along with a music video of the two performers recording the song in a studio, the collaboration track is available to download on iTunes and Google Play, where a portion of the proceeds will go to March For Our Lives Initiative. The pair also marched and performed on the main stage in DC for those in attendance at the march. Please listen and enjoy two talented voices coming together to provide not just entertainment, but hope.
Margot Robbie Female-Centric Shakespeare Series
By Yanit Mehta
When one takes on the challenge of updating something as well-known, loved and appreciated as Shakespeare’s plays, it comes with a lot of attached expectations and baggage. However, Margot Robbie fresh off of her success with “I,Tonya” is fearless and has decided to produce a series that revises Shakespeare’s plays with a focus on the female characters the Australian Broadcasting Network. Robbie is boldly pushing forth the fight for gender equality all the way to Elizabethan England, directly challenging flawed gender stereotypes and representation predominant in popular media.