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Gym Class Heroes kicked off Homecoming weekend with their concert in the Towson Center on Thursday, Oct. 11. More than 2,000 tickets were sold for the event, which featured acts, DJ Abilities and The Pack as openers.
Throughout the night, Gym Class Heroes lead singer Travis McCoy interacted with those in attendance, including inviting a young lady from the audience on stage before the band launched into hit single "Cupid's Chokehold."
The band took a breather during the show to allow rapper Tyca to briefly perform, but they returned to the stage, closing the night with the song "Clothes Off!" The band leapt from the stage and continued with the song as they moved through the mass of shocked concertgoers.
--Alex Plimack
Using the benefits of his electronic media and film major at his disposal, Towson alumnus Chris LaMartina, class of 2007, crafted the award-winning film "Book of Lore," which he later premiered at the Charles Theatre downtown on Oct. 22, 2007.
LaMartina conceived the film with former Towson student Jimmy George as the two talked about how their hometown of Catonsville was rife with myths, tales and legends, which consequently provided ample movie material.
It was filmed over a six-month period in 2007 for roughly $8,000 and would soon go on to win Best Horror Feature at ShockerFest International Film Festival.
After the Baltimore premiere in October, "Book of Lore" finally had its Towson premiere in February with a screening in Van Bokkelen followed by a question and answer session.
--Alex Plimack
Dan Keplinger sat in the Holztman MFA Gallery in the Center for the Arts on Oct. 4, 2007: on the walls, his artwork, part of his MFA thesis "Dan Keplinger: In Whose Words?"
An international celebrity after the documentary of which he was the subject, "King Gimp," won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subject in 2000, the 34-year-old Keplinger has called Towson home for quite some time. Two degrees later, Keplinger returned to Towson to complete his MFA. The thesis saw Keplinger explore with different themes in his work, including the incorporation of his wheelchair.
The opening reception was capped off with Keplinger and girlfriend Dena Williams announcing their engagement at dinner.
--Alex Plimack
Noises Off
A comedy about what really goes on backstage seized audiences in the Center for the Arts for a week in March. Written by Michael Frayn and directed at Towson by Peter Wray, the play featured British humor, slapstick comedy and lots of (purposely) misplaced props. Over the course of three acts, the play-within-the-play, "Nothing On," crumbled before the eyes of the crowd as inter-cast relationships and continuing failures in remembering lines and cues led to the downfall of the show. Audiences flocked to the Mainstage Theatre to experience what has been called "the funniest farce ever written" for laughs and to support friends, family members and the theatre department.
-Carrie Wood
Tigerfest
After weeks of being held in suspense, the students got what they wanted - The Roots were finally signed for Tigerfest just over a week before the biggest show of the year. They headlined, following The Calling, Immortal Technique and local band Fire in the Hole. Thousands of students and other people from the surrounding community filled Burdick Field on April 26, despite thick cloud cover and a high possibility of rain. Large inflatable rides and games were scattered throughout the field and various student groups had booths to give out prizes during the day. But when the sun went down - and the clouds got thicker - The Roots took the stage for an hour-and-a-half-long set. They were cut short, with their last song being interrupted with a message to the crowd to evacuate due to rain, but the students went home happy.
-Carrie Wood
Drag Show
The Queer Student Union hosted two drag shows over the course of the year - one per semester - and filled the Chesapeake Rooms in the University Union both times. QSU hired professional queens from the Baltimore area in addition to having Towson University students perform as drag queens and kings. Those in attendance at the events came with pockets full of singles to tip the performers as they paraded through the room. VIP seats were also available closer to the stage for a $5 charge. After kings and queens took their final bows, students went home having a new gender-bending experience under their belts.
-Carrie Wood
Last Comic Standing
February saw the best of TU's comedians come out to perform and compete in Towson's Last Comic Standing, sponsored by the Campus Activities Board. Over 200 students piled into University Union Paws for the event, which featured types of comedy ranging from slapstick to prop to impersonations. The judges were unable to come up with a single winner, so they chose two - Will Carey and Mike Andre. The two winners went on to open for Carlos Alazraqui and Cedric Yarbrough of "Reno 911!" fame.
-Carrie Wood
"Largo Desolato"
The department of theatre arts presented "Largo Desolato" this month in the Center for the Arts' Studio Theatre. The play, written in 1984 by Czech playwright and politician Vaclav Havel, chronicles the nervous days of a reclusive writer accused of "intellectual hooliganism" and the people who come and go in his time of crisis as he waits for "them" to come take him away. Towson's production was directed by theatre arts faculty member Naoko Maeshiba.
-Tyler Waldman
Reno 911!
Carlos Alazraqui and Cedric Yarbrough, stars of Comedy Central's spoof reality cop show, "Reno 911!" pack the University Union Potomac Lounge, for an evening of impressions, improv and karaoke.
The Campus Activities Board had to accommodate for a vast overflow of students.
The highlight of the evening was an improvised reenactment of "Reno 911!" in which Alazraqui and Yarbrough came back on stage dressed as their show characters, Deputies Garcia and Jones.
The scene involved a Towson student who volunteered to be in the show. Based on a suggestion from the audience, she played a "suspicious victim who raped a hooker." The scene ended when the student said Alazraqui had a small penis.
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