Editor’s picks: The top culture stories of 2023
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In 2023, the Syracuse community demonstrated its individuality, embracing new aspects of campus culture while shining a spotlight on Syracuse’s storied past.
This year, The Daily Orange’s culture section covered art, music and history from communities on campus and beyond. SU continued traditions like Redfest and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, while celebrating new achievements like “How To Dance On Ohio” hitting Broadway stages.
Check out the list below for some of the culture section’s top stories of 2023:
Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
Dottie Riener, Tom Gaughan, Madeline Hall and Bianca Sabene all live in Brookdale Summerfield Independent Living and have offered their advice for the youth. March 22 is recognized as national As Young As You Feel Day so the residents celebrated with their youthful souls.
Local senior living community residents reflect on their lives for As Young As You Feel Day
Residents at Brookdale Summerfield Independent Living are “young at heart,” and our writer set out to learn what advice senior citizens have in store for younger generations.
Some residents focused on love, and the importance of finding someone who supports you in everything that you do. Dorothy “Dottie” Reiner, 100 years old, advised readers not to “give up on the short guys.”
Other seniors gave advice about focusing on knowledge and personal growth. Bianca Sabene, 95 years old, spoke about her insatiable hunger for learning and how it has shaped her.
“I’m supposed to be this old, quiet Italian Catholic lady … ain’t gonna happen,” Sabene said. “I’m nearly 96 and I’m so filled with joy in life. I have never felt so alive.”
Courtesy of American High
(From left) Luke Burke, Grace Reiter, Julia DiCesare, Ryan Micho, Aidan Micho. Together they work to create witty, sometimes inappropriate content as part of American High Shorts.
Abandoned high school is the comedy playground for American High
From on-the-street interviews to scripted sketches, short-form content is becoming a regular part of the SU filmmaking scene. With over 1 million combined followers, TikTok accounts “American High Shorts” and “College Life” make comedy sketches and other content for their fans.
The team, composed of SU students, films at an unusual location. When their shorts aren’t set on SU’s campus, they film at an abandoned high school in Liverpool, NY.
The cast members work in a collaborative environment with a production style similar to Saturday Night Live. They learn from each other to create popular, comedic content.
“I’m just absorbing my castmates’ skills,” cast member Julia DiCesare said. “When I started, I was like ‘OK, I can do X, Y, Z,’ and then you find yourself being able to do so much more than you were able to do.”
Cassandra Roshu | Asst. Photo Editor
Organizers of Redfest discuss the event’s activities. ESF graduates and current students worked together to plan the festival.
Redfest festival unites SU, ESF in a day of music
Since 2012, with the exception of two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, ESF has hosted Redfest. A music festival run by students and for students, it is a staple of the ESF music scene.
This year, the festival organizers wanted to expand the event to SU students as well. For the first time ever, the band lineup included SU and ESF artists, drawing a crowd from both colleges.
“It had really been an ESF thing before and now we’re trying to make it a community thing,” said one organizer Foster Valle.
Meghan Hendricks | Senior Staff Photographer
The historical house located on 527 Oak Street has recently gone up for sale. David Haas highlighted the property on his TikTok and Instagram @syracusehistory.
Syracuse native breathes life into the city’s history through TikTok account
For the past nine years, Syracuse native David Haas has highlighted the beauty and intrigue of Syracuse history.
With 257,000 followers on TikTok, his account has garnered a large following. Syracuse citizens and Su faculty and students alike follow the account to learn about the city they know and love.
For new students, the page serves as an introduction to their new home. By telling the stories of buildings and organizations under the radar, Haas tells stories that aren’t being told elsewhere.
“I hope that the page introduces them to this city and encourages them to get out and about and learn more about this community that they’re spending four years in, and hopefully get involved and potentially stay here long-term,” Haas said.
Megan Jonas | Contributing Photographer
In his drag performance as Dirty Lucciano, Dominick Allen bends sexuality and gender norms. This persona was made possible by his friends, helping him with his costume, hair, makeup and performance.
Through drag persona Dirty Lucciano, Dominick Allen takes control of his sexuality
SU’s Pride Union holds a variety of events throughout the year for the LGBTQ+ community on campus. This year, they held the 21st Annual Drag Show in the Schine Student Center Underground.
Dominick Allen performed in the show as his drag persona Dirty Lucciano. He aims to “change the negative stigmas surrounding the gay community” through his drag. With his passion for positive representation, he made an impact on the audience.
“I want to put that in just to show people that, just because I am comfortable with my sexuality and some of my performances are sexual, it shouldn’t be seen as filthy or something that is wrong,” Allen said.
Flynn Ledoux | Contributing Illustrator
‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’’s long standing tradition of audience participation sets it apart from other productions. Members of the crowd are expected to yell, get out of their seats and throw things at the performers.
SU’s ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is a haven for anyone ever labeled ‘outcast’
SU’s Black Box Players’ annual production of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” holds a special place in the heart of its cast and crew. As a shadow play, its unique performance style draws crowds every year.
The tradition of “Rocky Horror” as a show about self expression makes its performances special for marginalized communities on campus. Junior Seth Wintermute said showings of the film historically are a space for queer people to be themselves and embrace their identities, justice and love for the community.
The team behind the show aimed to highlight its unique aspects. With rainbow boas, extravagant costumes and gender-bent characters, they made this year’s show special.
“It’s a haven for those who might feel like outcasts,” junior Ben Freedman said. “A movie like ‘Rocky Horror,’ it’s so different and so unique from everything that has come both before and since then, that it just has this amazing legacy.”
Courtesy of Curtis Brown
Musical ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ had its world premiere at Syracuse Stage. This December, it will open on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre.
From Syracuse to Broadway, ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ is making history
This year, Syracuse Stage made history. It held the world premiere of “How to Dance In Ohio,” a play that broke barriers by casting nine neurodivergent actors to play neurodivergent characters for the first time in history.
With the show headed to Broadway, the cast and crew are thrilled to share the show’s story with a larger audience. In Syracuse, audiences were enthralled. They fell in love with the characters’ stories and, most importantly, the neurodivergent community who saw the show felt respected and represented.
“For me, it’s really meaningful to try to make art that is also advocacy. That also has a mission to it,” director Sammi Cannold said. “I’m really grateful that the piece that I take to Broadway is one that, to me, is equal parts art and advocacy.”
Cassandra Roshu | Photo Editor
Neighborhood art festival, Art on the Porches, is more than an art festival. Local artists play on a makeshift stage and help create an ambiance of family fun.
The return of Art on the Porches brings ‘joy into everyone’s lives’
Right outside of SU’s campus is a lively neighborhood with a passion for community. The Greater Strathmore Neighborhood Association looks to shed light on a unique urban lifestyle and celebrate all the city has to offer with Art on the Porches.
The Association hosts the event each year to demonstrate the art and creativity of the neighborhood. With fun for kids and adults, the event has something for everyone.
“We know that Syracuse can get a bad rep sometimes, so we want people to know that city living is alive and well — it’s diverse, it’s fun and we are committed to the city and to living here,” chairperson Kelly Weiss said. “It is really cool to live in the city of Syracuse.”
Maxine Brackbill | Asst. Photo Editor
Throughout their performance Friday night, The Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked the Dome crowd. During the song “I Could Have Lied” lead singer Anthony Kiedis gave an emotional performance as the audience held up flashlights from their cell phones.
Red Hot Chili Peppers revisits hits, captivates audience at JMA Wireless Dome
Besides football and basketball, the JMA Wireless Dome hosts various musical guests on tour. In 2023, the Dome’s stage saw a vibrant performance from the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the first time since 1991.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers welcomed thousands of fans sporting bandanas, backwards hats and tie-dye T-shirts to the Dome on April 14. King Princess and The Strokes opened for the rock supergroup, which played a mixture of their old classics and songs from their latest album “Unlimited Love,” which came out last April.
With handstands and dancing, they created a high energy performance typical of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fans young and old gathered to listen to their favorite hits.
“I was a freshman in high school and began listening to them then,” fan Carey Chairs said. “We’ve been wicked fans for 40 years.”
Isabella Flores | Assistant Photo Editor
The exhibit “In Pursuit of Justice: Pan Am Flight 103” shows artifacts from the bombing killing 270 people, including 35 SU students in 1988. The exhibit can be found on the sixth floor of Bird Library.
Bird Library’s ‘Pursuit of Justice’ exhibit honors the legacies of Pan Am Flight 103 victims
SU honors the tragedy of Pan Am Flight 103 each year. For the 35th anniversary of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Vanessa St. Oegger-Menn curated an exhibit, “In Pursuit of Justice: Pan Am Flight 103,” to help a new generation understand the attack from the day it occurred to the present.
The “Pursuit of Justice” exhibit features personal items of victims like SU student Gary Colasanti’s camera and photographs. It’s a way to empathize with the history, St. Oegger-Menn said. Most of the items in the exhibit are primary sources.
“You want the items to talk to each other, as sort of strange as that might sound, but to work together to tell a story and help us understand clearly, without sensationalizing anything,” St. Oegger-Menn said.
