Ellie Guo
About Ellie Guo
Posts by Ellie Guo:
How to Enjoy a Live Theater Performance
To my dismay, recent surveys show that only around a quarter of American adults report having attended a live art event in the past month. However, with the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club starting its fall season, students will have plenty of opportunities to escape becoming part of this deadly statistic. I have too often heard arguments […]
A History of Comics
To probably no one’s surprise, I was a massive bookworm growing up. I credit my parents with taking me to the library every weekend and patiently listening when I read books aloud to them. They also gave me a love for comics. Alongside traditional novels, I read the pre-teen series “Percy Jackson,” “The Adventures of […]
The Art of the Dorm Layout
Are you a freshman who just got assigned a dorm of dubious legal status (multiple-occupancy rooms in Massachusetts are required to contain at least 50 square feet per resident), or a senior in the Quad who has to take an Uber to the other side of your single? Either way, everyone has school-provided, bulky furniture […]
The Ruins of the Old Summer Palace
The Old Summer Palace in China is known by many names, most famously as “Yuanmingyuan,” meaning “Garden of Perfect Brightness.” Located in northwest Beijing, about five miles from the political center, it was a beautiful, quiet place for emperors of the 17th and 18th centuries to enjoy nature, raise their children, and pursue their hobbies. […]
A Harvard Man
“That’s the Sergeant Major, but he prefers to be called Sergeant Concentrator.”
Aesthetic Nostalgia in “Singin’ in the Rain”
It seems like the best time to live is always the past. Romanticizing the aesthetics of bygone days happens in every culture, every year. “Singin’ in the Rain,” one of the most beloved films of the 20th century, is no exception to this nostalgia. What often goes forgotten is that “Singin’ in the Rain” is […]
Blown Away: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3
“At the dress rehearsal, I say to the orchestra, ‘See you in church,’” Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, in his pre-concert lecture. On the night of April 11, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra performed Gustav Mahler’s colossal Symphony No. 3 on the gilded stage of Symphony Hall. Lasting over 100 minutes across six […]
2000s Nostalgia and Feminism: “Mean Girls” At Harvard
Since its release over two decades ago in 2004, “Mean Girls” has undoubtedly become a hallmark of pop culture with its iconic imagery and incredibly quotable lines. The musical adaptation made its Broadway debut in 2018, with its corresponding movie musical version hitting theaters in 2024. After making its way through many mediums, the story […]
“Asian Women I Know”
From March 25 to 29, the Harvard Asian Student Arts Program presented “Asian Women I Know,” a one-hour play written by Mira Jiang ’26 and directed by Crystal Manyloun ’26. Inspired by a real dim sum dinner between Jiang, Manyloun, and their friends, the two transformed a meaningful conversation into a fully realized production. “Having […]
Serving Face and Serving Time: The Trials of Oscar Wilde
It is difficult to discern whether Oscar Wilde is better known for his literary works or for his homosexuality; the two were often intertwined. As queer historian Kaz Rowe put it in their YouTube video essay titled “The Unhinged Trials of Oscar Wilde,” which inspired this article, Wilde is the “premier homosexual.” His likeness lives […]
The Story of the Celts as Told Through Their Art
From Mar. 6 to Aug. 2, the Harvard Art Museums is displaying “Celtic Art Across the Ages,” an exhibit curated by Susanne Ebbinghaus, Penny Coombe, Laure Marest, and Matthew Rogan with sculptures, paintings, and artifacts dating from 800 BCE to today. This exhibition is the first major showcase of Celtic art in the United States, […]
Are You In a “Chinese Time of Your Life”?
All over social media, being Chinese has become the new trend. Over the past year, Americans have begun “Chinamaxxing,” imitating Chinese culture in all aspects of their lives. From adopting Chinese wellness practices like traditional medicine and tai chi, to discovering a newfound passion for Popmart figurines, the year of the horse, and dim sum, […]
“Truth or Illusion?”: A Review of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
From Feb. 26 to March 1, the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club performed Edward Albee’s 1962 play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in the Loeb Experimental Theater. The play contains dark themes and explores the deepest recesses of human behavior, including multiple screaming matches, copious drinking, glass smashing, profanity, and violence. Though it takes three acts and […]
Chosen In Good Taste
About three years ago, my high school music teacher told the story of when his wife walked down the aisle to “When I’m Sixty Four” by The Beatles. Somehow, the saxophone quartet consisting of four of his best friends had messed up the timing of the song, and she was stuck at the altar for […]
Dining Hall Tea Connoisseurs
The story goes that tea was invented in 2737 B.C.E. by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong when a few leaves accidentally floated into his boiling water. Since then, it has been a quintessential part of Eastern and Western life, whether it’s a cup of black tea to start the morning or an herbal concoction to […]
Silly Love Songs
BY: ELLIE GUO ’29 Legend has it that John Lennon accused his former bandmate Paul McCartney of only writing “silly love songs” shortly after the embittered breakup of the Beatles in the early 1970s. Allegedly, McCartney released “Silly Love Songs” as a single in 1976 in direct response. As the title suggests, the song is […]
I’m Batman.
On Friday, Feb. 6, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals hosted their annual global premiere of their new, entirely student-written and produced show, “Salooney Tunes.” Preceding the performance, “Batman” and “Beetlejuice” star Michael Keaton was welcomed to the stage to be honored as HPT’s 59th Man of the Year—a ceremony which included a celebrity roast, press conference, […]
The Nature of Change
When I landed at Los Angeles International Airport this past December, I immediately noticed the way that Southern California smelled. As the automatic doors slid open with a hiss, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia—as well as a literal wave of hot, dry air. Growing up in the Greater Los Angeles area, I […]
Experiencing Live Theater With “The Pirates of the Penzance”
The Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, a theater troupe dedicated to performing comic operas solely from the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, recently took the stage to perform “The Pirates of Penzance.” Though opera may seem like an outdated form of entertainment, I quickly realized that laughter transcends time. In the lobby of the historic Agassiz […]
Midterms: How They’re Made and Why They’re Taken
For first-year students, midterms mark one of the first formal assessments of their Harvard College career. “It felt a little bit daunting or scary just because I never took a college—Harvard College—midterm, and I didn’t know what to expect,” Sarah Zhang ’29 told the Independent. The first major round of exams for Harvard College students […]
A Review of “Merrily We Roll Along”
When I first saw the title “Merrily We Roll Along,” I mistakenly assumed that it would be carefree and joyous, like the nursery rhyme it references. However, within the first minute of the musical, I was thrown into a story in which no one is merry. In fact, the “rolling along” captures the twists and […]
We Can’t Read, and It’s Not Because of that Phone
“Do the readings.” I open Canvas to see what my assigned reading is for the week. A 35-page research paper, a chapter from a book written in 19th-century jargon, and a seemingly endless textbook excerpt on convoluted theory. Professors, TFs, upperclassmen, even Dean Amanda Claybaugh in the freshman training modules, repeat this mantra: “Do the […]