Author Archives: Jenna Bagcal

BY JENNA BAGCAL

In 1964, four boys from Liverpool changed the landscape of music forever. This was the year that the Beatles made their first live appearance in United States. Feb. 9, 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” which garnered much enthusiasm from fans all across America.

The impact that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have had on the music industry can be seen and felt by the presence that they still have years after their initial success in the 1960s.

In commemoration of the the Beatles’ 50th anniversary in America, many fans and organizations across the city and the tri-state area have been honoring the band in various ways. The New York Public Library is currently hosting a Beatles exhibit called “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles!” that has been open since Feb. 6 of this year.

The exhibit, held at the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, features an impressive array of all things Beatles. It seeks to capture the energy of years 1964 to 1966, when Beatlemania and The British Invasion ran rampant in the United States. The exhibition includes pop culture artifacts from the Beatles era, including clothes worn by the band members, their instruments, original records, ticket stubs and countless other paraphernalia. There are also videos featuring celebrity and fan interviews of what it was like for them on that fateful day 50 years in the past.

Other people like Charles Rosenay!!! of Liverpool Productions have also been celebrating the Beatles’ 50th anniversary. Rosenay!!! has been a lifelong Beatles fan since he saw the group perform on “Ed Sullivan” as a young boy in the Bronx. His company has been running Beatles conventions since 1978 and Beatles tours since 1983. His first convention took place in New Haven, Connecticut.

“I was an intern at a theatre in New Haven, Connecticut… and they wanted ideas for events. I was really pushy and I said ‘we should do a Beatles convention. Well, the theatre closed , but I had put the wheels in motion to have this convention.”

After this failed attempt, Rosenay!!! took it upon himself to have a convention of his own at a hotel owned by his parents friends and put together what in his words was a “backyard Beatles convention”, with a few hundred people in attendance.

“The first convention really was a learning ground because I thought ‘Ok I bombed in every possible way,’ I didn’t get a major guest, I didn’t really get a lot of vendors and all that. But I did it again the next year at a college, and they were really receptive to it.”

Aside from conventions, Rosenay!!! and Liverpool productions also does yearly tours in Liverpool and other parts of England that allows fans to visit the landmarks and stomping grounds of the Beatles. The “Magical History Tour” as it is known, is currently in its 31st year. Rosenay has said that these tours are still popular because the Beatles’ appeal is still so strong today.

“It’s a shared love. I think that if a kid listens to ‘Yellow Submarine’ he’ll enjoy it as much today as a kid would have in the 60s. If they’re discovering Sgt. Pepper on a musical level and they’re learning to be a musician, it has as much relevance now as it did then.”

Honoring the Beatles: 50th Anniversary Celebrations from Jenna Bagcal on Vimeo.

Charles Rosenay!!! has been a Beatles fan since he was a child and has turned his love for the band into his life’s work. Hear him share his experience watching them on “Ed Sullivan” and some of his best memories of the Beatles.

For my video project, I was thinking of doing something about The Beatles. This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ arrival in America, which was and still is an important milestone in music history. After some research, I found that there is going to be an exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. It is called “Ladies and Gentlemen… The Beatles!” and will showcase videos, photos, recordings, and memorabilia dealing with The Beatles.

I thought that I could attend this exhibition and interview the people who are in charge and also some people who are also in attendance. I would probably ask them about what the significance The Beatles have had in their lives, how long they have been a fan, etc.

For my podcast, I was thinking of doing a story about renovations to two train stations in my neighborhood. The Castle Hill train station and the Buhre Avenue train station are undergoing renovations that have been tough on commuters who regularly use these train stations. It has also affected people who drive around that area because of the debris and construction trucks that are blocking off the area where people usually drive. I thought that I could interview people who cannot take those trains and see how it has affected their commutes on a daily basis.

JENNA BAGCAL

For my photo essay, I would like to stick with something that is familiar to me, and also goes along with my beat. As we mentioned in class, there are a number of street performers and musicians in New York City. They are in the streets (obviously), in subways, and even on the subway platforms. Some of the performers have perfected their craft and are recognized by many for their dancing, singing, instrument playing, etc. Some are amateurs who perform for the pure enjoyment and to earn a few extra dollars. Whether they are seasoned or not, the performers all have their own story to tell.

For this particular assignment, I was thinking about finding various street/subway performers and photographing them. I think because of the horrible weather that we’ve been having in NYC, I will focus mostly on subway/subway platform performers. I will most likely focus on the performers in Herald Square and Times Square and will do short interviews with the subjects of my photographs. I will ask each person their name, age, how they got into street performing, if they go to school/have a job, if this is their main source of income, how much they make from their performances, etc. I hope to find a wide range of performers to make this photo essay as diverse and interesting as possible.

JENNA BAGCAL

For this semester in multimedia reporting, I have two particular areas of interest. The first of these interests is music. In the future, I definitely see myself as a music journalist, attending various festivals and concerts, talking to up-and-coming musicians about their various projects, and hopefully writing for Rolling Stone. Personally, I know many young artists who are trying to pursue music as a career, so one idea that I had would be to interview some of them and write musician profiles. I would ask them about how they started getting interested in music, their musical influences, the gigs that they’ve played, and their overall experience as aspiring musicians. For this particular project, I like the idea of doing a mini magazine or possibly video profiles in order to incorporate samples of their music into the project.

Aside from music, the other facet of journalism that I am interested in is food journalism. I am a self proclaimed foodie and enjoy everything about the culinary world. Food journalism to me is very much about being visually appealing, as well as being extremely descriptive, so as to entice people to want to eat particular foods or go to a restaurant. If I were to pursue this option, I would probably do some kind of photography project about food. I am not sure how to expand on this idea, but I could possibly do some kind of project tying food and Instagram together. Food is one of the most popular topics that people post about on Instagram (myself included), so I think that would be an interesting approach to take.