Author: William Barbee

15Sep By William BarbeeNo Comments

Featured, Opinion

On Charlie Kirk and Political Violence

The recent wave of politically motivated attacks in America compels us to fear. It also compels us to unite. (Credit: © zimmytws/Getty Images via Canva.com) William BarbeeContributor, The Buckley BeaconAs I exited my apartment last Wednesday afternoon, I felt the vibrations of dozens of cell phone notifications harangue me from my pocket. I decided to take a peek at these messages, thinking they would be from friends making jokes about this thing or the other. My assumption that the buzzes came from friends was correct; that they were making jokes, however, was not.The news I received from my friends—that Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk had bee...

Summer Nights and Hand Jives: A Review of ‘Grease’

12Mar By William BarbeeNo Comments

Arts, Culture, & Scholarship, Featured

Summer Nights and Hand Jives: A Review of ‘Grease’

In a small production at Yale’s Off Broadway Theater, the catchy songs of this classic musical receive entertaining treatment. William BarbeeContributing Author, The Buckley BeaconWhen Grease: The Musical first premiered in 1971, it served as an ode by its creators to the culture of 1950s America. The show employed numerous tropes, from drive-in movies to rollerblading waitresses, which harkened back to a gilded age of American life when affluence, effervescence, and inconsequence was the norm. The 1978 film version further encapsulated these sentiments with over-the-top, yet electrifying performances by stars Olivia Newton John and John Travolta. Though never considered a dramatic masterpiece, Grease has always provided its...