“Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can’t always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.” – Fallen

Fallen, written by Lauren Kate, takes readers into a world where not only angels exist, but so do fallen angels, star-crossed lovers and a confused-by-love lead character who is reborn every 17 years to fall in love with the same man. The main character, Lucinda “Luce” Price, is not an angel and as far as anyone is concerned, she’s a defect.

In fact, Lucinda is spending her junior year of high school attending a “reform school” complete with video cameras monitoring students’ every move, barbed wire surrounding the campus, overgrown vegetation, a full Olympic-sized swimming pool inside a church and a military graveyard where students get to spend detention cleaning up old marble statues.

This dream school? It’s called Sword and Cross.

Luce is sent to the school after a serious accident has taken place with one of her best friends. Her parents no longer trust her and she is quite unsure of herself most of the time. However, one thing she is sure of is that when the shadows (black creatures that lurk around her constantly) come, she cannot control them and bad things tend to happen.

This book, while true to the Romeo and Juliet motif, has a much more complicated plot, which features a twist.  In addition, the other characters have their own personal stories, which are filled with hidden secrets that are revealed as the novel progresses deeper into the plot.

First, we have Daniel. Daniel is a mysterious, handsome, grey-eyed, rough-and-tough guy. He is an alluring character who clearly has some hidden secrets of his own.

Then we have Cam, who is charismatic, smooth-talking, and equally handsome, but also that character readers just love to hate. Cam is also the guy who is there to pick up the pieces after Luce first makes eye contact with Daniel…..and he flips her off.

As the introduction to the novel says, “Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce – going out of his way to make that painfully clear – but she just doesn’t seem to want to let it go.”  It would be easy enough to paint their relationship as cliché, especially as she is said to be “drawn to him like a moth to a flame,” but her motivation is runs deeper than that:  Luce is desperate to understand why she feels like she already knows him

What makes Fallen different than many of the other contemporary teen romance novels? One, there are no vampires involved in the story.  Two, through Kate’s use of descriptive elements, the story becomes both ominous and beautiful.

Fallen leads readers to believe that Luce is just another typical damsel in distress, and while this is true for the most part, in the next two books in the series (Torment and Passion), Luce’s character evolves immensely, as does the plot.

While the book could easily be compared to Stephanie Meyer’s banal Twilight series, it deserves bit more credit than that. The themes, characters and problems in Fallen are all unique and darkly romantic. Fallen grows increasingly more complex as its plot thickens and draws the reader in.

The overall theme – the struggle between good and evil – is, of course, not so new; however, Fallen takes a different spin as the way the story is presented and the twists it provides are all original, aiding to a pleasurable gothic love story featuring a winning formula of fallen angels and forbidden love.

Marriage in Hollywood is not your typical happiness and life-long vows. Nowadays it’s shocking if a couple in the entertainment world stays together for longer than two years.

Over the past few months, there have been break ups, make-ups, and a whole lot of celebrity marriage drama.

 The most well-known and recent celebrity feud  is the Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries divorce. With a total time of 72 days from the “I do’s” to the “I’m done”, It’s not surprising that this scandal is frowned upon.

 The paparazzi and gossip magazines do a good job of exposing personal information about these celeb relationships. It took less than a day for the world to discover that Kardashian had filed for divorce from her short-lived marriage.

 While some stars let magazines share the news of their disastrous relationships, others take matters into their own hands. Shockingly, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher announced their divorce via Twitter.

 It’s seen as natural in Hollywood for couples to “end things” shortly after things even began. The value of marriage has been lessened by these popular star relationships.

 Infidelity and divorce have now become common in the world of stars. Scandals are popping up in magazines and on TV daily. While these stories are popular and entertaining, it is hard to accept them in society.

Lady Gaga’s latest video, “Marry the Night”, was directed by Gaga herself to be an autobiography on her life, and rise to stardom. The video features several references to other movies and stars such as; “Fame”, “Black Swan”, and Madonna. The 13 minute mini-movie certainly takes interesting look into the mind of Mother Monster.

It starts out with Gaga waking up in,what seems to be, a mental hospital. As her nurse is caring for her, she looks up with tears in her eyes, and says, “I’m gonna make it… I’m going to be a star, you know why? Because I have nothing left to lose.” 

 Apparently, the video is a look into how Gaga recovered and recreated herself after being dropped by her first record company. It shows her at her lowest low of depression, through her unique transition process and into her auditions for becoming the pop idol she is today.

The video shows her struggling to convince various directors that she is an artist, but no one seems to give her a chance. She falls into this sort of insanity of writing songs, pouring Cheerios on her body and dying her hair. It seems that she has lost everything she ever wanted. But with Gaga that simply can not be the case.

 As she starts to rebuild herself she says, “You may say I lost everything, but I still had my BeDazzler and I had a lot of patches, shiny ones from M&J Trimming, so I wreaked havoc on some old denim. And I did what any girl would do — I did it all over again.” She comes into the scene in her glitz out ensemble with a new confidence.

 Next, Gaga is shown in a wrecked car with fire and explosions surrounding her. One could infer that the several explosions could be Gaga’s failures to make it, or they could just be added for dramatic effect.

 Then, she enters a dance studio for,what seems like, an audition. Gaga is shown stretching and trying her hardest to stand out. When the actual dancing comes into play, Gaga does an amazing job and really makes an impact on the choreographer. The dancing in the video is creative and has great musicality when it comes to the beat of the song.  

 In the end, she is seen in a car looking at her hand. Gaga’s hand is revealed, reading, “Interscope Records;Hollywood,CA; 4 p.m.” Interscope Records is the record company that Gaga is currently with and the pair seems to be happy and successful.

 The overall video might seem strange and confusing, but when looking at it through Lady Gaga’s life it actually makes sense. It shows that although she is a famous pop idol now, it took several crashes to bring her to the top. The video has some unnecessary and slightly inappropriate scenes, but as a whole, it gives an interesting look into Gaga’s climb to fame.  

MHS senior, Bryana Duley rehearsing her role as the Sugar Plum Fairy, for the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance production of "The Nutcracker". Photo by Johanna Yee.

By Johanna Yee
Round Table reporter

Dee Buchanan’s Dance Studio is presenting the Christmas ballet “The Nutcracker” for the 11^th consecutive year, which will be performed at the Middletown High School auditorium on December 17^th at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Tickets will be sold at the door, but Dee Buchanan expects the holiday favorite to have a great turnout. Those who wish to ensure admission may call ahead and reserve seats through the studio at (301)371-4228.

The popularity of this local performance each year has personalized the world-known ballet as “Middletown’s Nutcracker.” It was not initially intended to be an annual performance. Originally, Buchanan chose the Nutcracker because her dancers already have the opportunity to do musical theater and jazz, so she was looking for something classical.

“The thing that’s surprising is, when we first started, I just thought it was something we would do every few years, but the younger dancers look forward to the advancement [to a larger role] each year,” noted Buchanan.

All the advanced dancers who take ballet at the studio auditioned for each part. Most of these dancers are Middletown High School, Middletown Middle School, orMiddletown Elementary Schoolstudents. A main role, the role of Clara, will be played by Meg Kady, at the 1 p.m. show, and by Emmy Hudak, at the 5 p.m. show.

Kady stated that her favorite scene is the party scene at the beginning of the ballet. “I like it,” she explained, “because all my friends are in it with me.”

Also a lead role in “The Nutcracker” is the Sugar Plum Fairy, to be played by MHS senior Bryana Duley at the 1 p.m. show and by MHS junior Nicole Sevin at the 5 p.m. show.  When asked how they felt about playing the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Duley and Sevin replied, “We love it! It’s a challenge, but all of the hard work we put into it pays off in the end.”

During this time of the year there are dozens of different organizations and places presenting various holiday shows. Not only are schools putting on plays, but local dance studios, theatre groups and theatres in our Frederick community are also contributing to the festive live theatre. No matter where you are, there is sure to be a place around you to get you into the holiday spirit.

Everyone should come out and support our MHS drama department production of “A Christmas Carol”. Our Knights have been working on this play for months and are very excited to perform on Dec. 9 and 10 at seven pm, and a Sunday, Dec. 11 matinee at two pm. And if you want even more Tiny Tim adorableness you can also catch “A Christmas Carol” at the Weinberg. The Maryland Ensemble Theatre will be performing there Dec. 16 through 18.

The MET will also be presenting “The Eight Reindeer Monologues”, at the MET theatre in Frederick. This is a funny show, where Santa’s reindeer dish out all the gossip from the North Pole. It is sure to be outrageous comical, but a tad adult, so leave the little ones at home. They’ll be performing their reindeer riot from now until Dec. 30, so buy your tickets today.

 If you’re looking for more family Holiday spirit check out the Way Off-Broadway musical production of “Christmas Tidings”.  The show follows the life of a Christmas card and gift shop owner who, with a little help, tries to make his costumers Christmas wishes come true.  It’s a heart-warming production, with a good plot and festive holiday tunes.

“A good way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear”, this quote from the famous Christmas movie, “Elf”, perfectly describes this next holiday hotspot. The 17^th Annual Messiah Sing-Along has been a Frederick tradition for 16 years at the Weinberg. Conductor Judy DuBose leads the Frederick Chamber singers, and orchestra. Also audience members are encouraged to not only enjoy the Christmas music, but sing-along as well. This will be a sure fire way to get into the holiday spirit.

Lastly, what is the holiday season without the “Nutcracker”? Don’t worry, because our area will have two beautiful productions of this classic ballet. The most local would be the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance production, held here at Middletown High, on Dec. 17 at 1 and 5. The cast consist of mostly students from the Middletown area, and few parents as well. You can also go see the “Nutcracker” at the Weinberg performed by the Maryland Region Ballet, with some principle dancers from the New York City Ballet.  Both will be lovely performances that will leave you with thoughts of sugar plums dancing in your head.

May your holiday season be filled with merry and bright performances from the Frederick community. Our area has a lot of talented individuals and groups, so be sure to go out and support them.

MHS Theatre Department presents "A Christmas Carol". Photo by Vicki Forseth

By Veronica Clements
Round Table reporter

Sorting through costumes in the school’s dressing room, Susan Thornton, the co-director for Middletown High School’s play A Christmas Carol, exclaimed her excitement.

“It’s fun!” she said about the play. “It puts you in the Christmas spirit! But it is a lot of wrangling of a lot of voices.”

A Christmas Carol features the classic story by Charles Dickens about a miserly, cold-hearted man named Scrooge, who on Christmas night is visited by three ghosts and is given the ultimatum to change his ways or be doomed.

In order to bring the story to life onstage, the MHS Theatre department has been working on the play non-stop, starting with auditions in late September, then moving to practicing two to three times a week and having technical meetings on the weekends to build the set pieces. Not only that, but elementary and middle school students have joined the cast to portray the younger characters in the play.

“It can be challenging with so many bodies on stage,” Thornton said, “but they [the elementary students] are so energetic and eager to please!”

For some of the MHS freshmen in theatre, this will be their first official play for the school. Duncan Boszko, portraying Scrooge’s deceased partner Jacob Marley, was “ecstatic” for the chance to be on the high school stage.

“I love the rush and the feel of people just watching you perform,” Boszko said. “I love getting out into the audience and creating some sort of reaction.”

Boszko said he was also excited for a big turnout. “It’s going to be a blast!”

Behind the scenes, the stage crew has been working to make sure the set and technical aspects of the play are finished by performance time. MHS senior, Cassidy Cregan, is currently one of the two stage managers for the play.

“So far it’s going very well,” she said. “Things are getting done on time.”

In anticipation for the performance nights, Cregan said she expects that “everything will be fine”.

“The first night is always hectic because it is the first real run-through, but everything always ends up working out.”

A Christmas Carol will feature Matt Carlstrom as Scrooge, Tara Forseth as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Jessica Rota as the Ghost of Christmas Future, and Jacob Holcomb and Sam Terbush as the Ghost of Christmas Future.

Performances will be on Dec. 9 and 10 at 7:00 p.m. and Dec. 11 at 2:00 p.m. at the school. Tickets are $8.00 for students and seniors and $10.00 for adults.

 How many dancers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A hundred. One to screw it in and 99 to sit back and think, “I could have done that so much better.” This is the kind of attitude and mannerism being portrayed on Dance Moms, a peak into the competitive world of dance via television.

 Now that the new Lifetime hit, Dance Moms, has had its first season, it is getting mixed reviews from the dance community. This new show follows the Abby Lee Miller Dance Company from Pittsburg, PA.

The program showcases some of the company’s younger dancers during their competition season. It focuses on the dancers’ mothers and how they react to the treatment of their children, mostly in comparison with the treatment of the other dancers in the company. The show puts a negative light on the world of competitive dance.

 Middletown High School Junior and 13 year dancer at the Mid Maryland Performing Arts Center, Kira Jahrling, said, “I feel like everything on Dance Mom’s is unrealistic, no dance studio should be even remotely like that. I enjoy watching the show for entertainment but I don’t agree with a lot of the things on it.” 

 The dancers on the show range from age six and a half, to thirteen. The company is constantly traveling around the country to compete. They generally compete one or two group numbers, and then Abby and the pyramid decide who gets to perform solos, duets, or not at all.

 The pyramid is the way Abby Lee Miller categorizes each of her dancers, on levels. The top of the pyramid is the dancer that has been the most successful lately, and they usually get to perform a solo at competition. The bottom of the pyramid is for the girls Abby feels need to work harder.

 “I feel the show portrays dancers in a demeaning way, that all dancers are so competitive and have very little respect for one another, themselves, parents, and teachers. All in all, dance is meant for people to embrace their passion in an art,” said MHS junior, Kaylie Miller who has danced at the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance for 13 years. “It over exaggerates everything in the dance world, blowing every single piece and competition out of proportion.”

 Abby runs her studio with a very tough love approach; she likes to push and enhance her students through long hours of learning and rehearsing new choreography with her dancers. In most episodes, the girls learn and clean a new piece for competition in a week. Costuming, timing conflicts and stresses are mainly what  get the dance moms fired up.

 “I’m surprised by the popularity of Dance Moms. It has always been important to me (and every dance teacher I know) to help students explore the artistry of dance, and to help them gain self-esteem. Dance Moms portrays a whole other world, I’m grateful our dancers are not a part of it,” said Dee Buchanan, owner and director of the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance.

 The Moms themselves are a ferocious group of women who are portrayed as living vicariously through their talented children. They push their girls to be the best and fight for them if they are not receiving the proper respect or attention. The mothers are constantly picking fights with each other, but mostly they disagree with the owner and company director Abby Lee Miller.

 Kim Bower, a 25 year dance mom had this to say, “I’m appalled at the behaviors of all the adults.  The moms act more immature than the children.  I don’t understand why you would ever subject your child to such an unpleasant environment!”

 With both the pressure of Abby’s “win, win, win” attitude, and the fear of disappointing their parents, the young girls on the show are constantly tense and overworked. Some have even said that they don’t want to dance anymore because it just isn’t fun for them. The girls are constantly busy and are hardly shown outside of a dance environment.

 Meltdowns are a very common occurrence on the show, especially with the girls who don’t receive as much attention as say the top of the pyramid. Although the girls have experienced great opportunities such as being in a music video, winning National dance titles, and auditioning for a Broadway casting agent, they really haven’t experienced a normal childhood. Their mothers might argue that “Who wants their child to be normal?” but the girls are threatened by a future of blow ups and burn outs.

By Ally Caho
Round Table Editor

 The MHS Haunted House, “Things That Go Bump in the Night”, made a screaming impact on the Middletown community. Just standing in line, one could hear the screams and terrifying fate awaiting departure.

It was carefully planned from beginning to end, starting with the screeching and creepy characters laying down the house rules, to the eerie Grim Reaper who sealed your trip to the screaming lair.

 The layout of the house was cleverly designed by Bill Pressley, the tech dad of the Middletown High School drama department. He is the man responsible for creating the beautiful sets for all of the fabulous Spring Musicals, but he also designed the Haunted House to have all of the twist and turns to scare and confuse its captives. The sporadically placed niches and alcoves were perfect for the dark characters to jump out of and frighten the unsuspecting victims.

When walking through the Haunted House, one would experience various encounters with some ghoulish characters. The realistic costuming and characterization helped portray the overall idea. However, the scenes that showed bloody and gory messes were well designed, but not very frightening in my opinion.

The gore made me feel more uncomfortable and uneasy. The creepy children or people in the house also created an eerie feeling of anxiety and nervousness. The creepier scenes were usually followed by the dark characters that seem to pop out of nowhere.  

The characters all played their parts frightfully well, and created that spine-chilling feeling throughout the house. They all were remotely disturbing with their voices, actions, and facial experiences, but I found that some characters had trouble staying in character.

Although the displacement of character hindered the illusion, it also put some of the more frightened patrons at ease, and gave them a second to collect themselves.

Overall, the effect of the Haunted House was astounding. The tech work and set was very well done. The two rooms that stood out the most were the “dot room” and the “hall of mirrors” due to the disorienting effect they had on visitors.

 The moving of the “dot” people on the wall and the illusions of all the mirrors made one feel mystified and slightly claustrophobic. The panic made one try to escape the mirror room in hurry. This lead to the final area: the asylum.

The asylum had a mix of gore and jumpy effects. The constant yelling of the patients kept the house goers on edge. The electric chair effect was mind-boggling, between the strobe effect and the acting of the unfortunate electrified created the real effect of watching a man being electrocuted.

The overall effect of the Things that go Bump in the Night left Middletowners screaming for more, and I’m anxious to see what the drama department can brew up for next years Halloween house of fright and terror.

From soft piano to rock bands, Middletown High School’s Student Government Association hosted the annual Talent Show on March 18 to showcase the many talents of MHS’ student body.

All of the performers attended a dress rehearsal and a sound check before the performance. The rehearsals gave everyone the chance to become familiar with the stage and the beaming lights glaring down on their instruments and juggling balls.

The money collected  at the show was donated to Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit organization which strives to help starving children throughout the world by instilling compassion to responds to the cries of those in need. The SGA collected $1108.52 towards the organization.

Though the money went to a good cause, many students were more than enthusiastic in sharing which performance they thought was best.

“My favorite performance was Paul Fritz and his juggling act because that shows talent, and since it was a talent show I think he really fit the part,” said MHS senior Samantha Dostalik.

“My favorite was Megan Rigby. Singing is something that Megan loves to do and that song was perfect for her and she nailed it. She is really talented in the art of music and she will always continue to be the best in music,” said MHS senior Shannon Buckley.

“I thought all of the performances were great! My favorite was Christian King because he was amazing and has mad guitar skills. His song made me happy because of the mood of the song,” said MHS sophomore Elena Marrone.

With the quick deliberation of the judges, the String Quintet, which consisted of Sarah Abernathy, Maria Skowronski, Sarah Weltman, Sayre Posey and Maddie Nissel, won the bragging rights to be crowned the most talented group in all of MHS. The winning performance was an instrumental version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” and the Quintet was awarded a $100 gift card to Best Buy.

Violet has a special power. She can’t fly. She’s not super strong. She can’t stop time. She’s not indestructible. But she can find bodies.

Ever since she was a little girl, bodies have been calling out to her. Sometimes it’s a sound or a taste, other times it’s a color or feeling. Some she’s able to control the sounds, while other times they call to her so strongly that she’s pulled to them. However, the bodies aren’t always animals. Sometimes they’re human.

In The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, a killer has started attacking Violet’s town. Violet finds the first body accidentally, and before long, more girls go missing. Her uncle, head of the police department, knows Violet is the only one who can find them.

As she struggles to find the killer, Violet is forced into life-threatening situations that test her mental strength. While she deals with a killer, she also must deal with the changes in her relationship with her best friend Jay.

The killer becomes more desperate, striking closer to home, and Violet knows she only has a few days to figure out who it is before he strikes again. However, the closer she gets to him, the closer he gets to figuring her out.

Derting’s approach to such a radical power is both thrilling and terrifying. The way she adds in parts of the killer’s thoughts creates a whole other dimension of depth to the story.

The novel lacks surprises and twists, but the book is still good enough to not be able to put down. I wish it had contained a few, which would further increase the suspense in the book.

Unfortunately, the plot wasn’t quite scary enough for me. I don’t typically enjoy scary stories, but I expected more from a novel about a girl with the ability to find dead people.

While the plot lacks terror, it balances with realistic aspects. Although Violet has a weird, supernatural power, she is mainly a normal teenage girl. She struggles with dealing with her friends, her parents and Jay. The relationship between Violet and Jay is heartwarming, sincere and romantic as they discover how to deal with the killer.

As Violet and Jay start piecing together their murder mystery, the killer begins moving in on them, faster than they think. Before Violet knows it, she could be next.