In 1957, the world was introduced to a retelling of the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet that would eventually become a classic musical, West Side Story. Set in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a romance buds between Tony and Maria, which is a problem given their ties to opposing gangs: the Jets, a caucasian […]
Author: Ashley Wijangco
My Day as a ‘West Side Story’ Insider for Lyric Opera
I first heard about Lyric Opera’s production of West Side Story last year and have known since that I wanted to watch the show. I had seen the original 1961 film a few times, enjoyed it, and had listened to multiple versions of its songs, but I had never seen a live stage production of […]
Twelve Things: Favorite MCU Characters
As I’m sure many other Marvel fans did, I watched all twenty-one of the previously released movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as preparation for the highly-anticipated Avengers: Endgame. Since seeing the film, I’ve thought a lot about the impact I didn’t realize MCU has had on me, what I’ve taken away from all of […]
Twelve Things: Favorite Books
In honor of World Book Day, I felt it would be appropriate to compile a list of some of my favorite books. I will admit that I haven’t always been an avid reader—let alone someone who cared about books. As a writer, I know this sounds terrible, but it’s the truth. I had nothing against […]
Book Blurbs: March 2019
At the end of each month, I will write blurbs about books I have read, purchased, and/or received. I will briefly review books that I read, giving them a rating out of five stars. I will also briefly describe the new books I got, explaining where I got the book and why I want to […]
Book Blurbs: February 2019
At the end of each month, I will write blurbs about books I have read, purchased, and/or received. I will briefly review books that I read, giving them a rating out of five stars. I will also briefly describe the new books I got, explaining where I got the book and why I want to […]
Twelve Things: Books I Want to Read in 2019
“Twelve Things” is a blog post series in which I feature a list of twelve things that concern a specific topic. The idea behind these posts is a nod to my username “wijangco12” and my favorite number. 1. Basketball: A Love Story by Jackie MacMullan and Rafe Bartholomew How I Discovered the Book: I know Rafe and found out about it from his Twitter. What It’s About: The book is a collection of first-hand accounts from some of the biggest […]
Book Blurbs: January 2019
From beginning the Crazy Rich Asians series to taking advantages of all the book sales in the New Year, I devoted a decent amount of time to books in January.
2017: The Most Eventful Year of My Life (So Far)
I’ve known—or rather, hoped—for years that 2017 would be a somewhat eventful year of my life, as it, ideally, would be the year I graduate college. And I did just that on May 13 when I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. Going into college, I […]
The Journey of a Yerd
A yearbook nerd’s reflection on doing yearbook for six years When I was a freshman in high school, I remember filling out a form during my English class that expressed my interest in wanting to join yearbook. The form was supposed to help me determine what classes I wanted to take the next school year. […]