Directing Ruined

For the play Ruined if I were to direct it, it would be hard to focus in on a certain area in the play to convey to the audience and project the main idea of the play. I feel though If I had to make a production I would have to focus on decay due to the gradual incline in chaos as the play get further and further into story. I feel this is a great vantage to project to the audience because it would help show how it is like in the Congo practically during a civil war. This play has a lot of darkness in it such as women being ripped from their villages and killed, being separated from their families, woman becoming prostitutes to makes ends meet and to survive, death, and war but I feel the way I am going to tie this grim subject into the play to convey it to the audience will be somewhat subliminal so it will not blur the true meaning of the play which I feel has a strong point at the end that we cannot hide behind our true self behind a mask or better an act that we put on everyday because we don’t want to get hurt. Sometimes getting hurt is just a way to know that we are human and still have emotions it lets us know that we are alive. If we hide ourselves everyday from emotion than we would all be numb and life with other people would be uneventful and not have any point at all.

For my production I would choose to put it on at the Isidore-Newman Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana. They have a Thrust stage that would be perfect for the production though it isn’t as big as I want it to be they space it provides would accommodate about 300 people. I choose this theatre because I need a thrust stage for my production that I am trying to pull off and it was the only one I could locate in New Orleans area. This is my target audience for this production. I feel that I would have the best turn out because the culture of the area is very southern and almost South American so I fell that they would be able to absorb the work and message of the play better then say if I put the production on at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City for a bunch of board members of big companies.

My approach to the scenic design of the set would be mostly simple. I would want to have Mama’s house/business center stage but projected forward a bit. I would use a basic old Congo house one that looked like it was handmade; it would have a front porch on it that would wrap around the entire house. Also I would have the house be capable of rotating some in order to give the audience better views when the scenes take place in the back rooms not in the main lounge area. For the walls of the house though I would use a fabric that was textured to look like wood but would be able to be drawn up revealing the room/ or rooms to the audience. The roof I would make that be fixed and have old palm frond style to it. The ground would kind of have an optical illusion to be as if it was somewhat on a hill and I would have a mach road made that went from one end of the stage to the other. For the background I would deep thick forest all around the back drop but I would want it to be piece able, meaning as the play goes on further and deeper in scene by scene as the fighting gets worse and worse I want the background of the Congo and its forest to get the sense that is it dying or being destroyed from all the mining and war. I think I would also take it to the next step and incorporate large trees into the audience setting area that would be the trunk of a tree with vegetation on it. The simulated forest in the audience wouldn’t be very dense but I want the audience to get the feeling that they are in the jungle spying on the lives of these people in this whore house.

(this is a small example of what the architechture of the house would be like, just in a different layout)

The costume design for my production would be very similar to the scene design as well. I would have their outfits look more and more worn as the scenes go on. I would have them wear old beat up work clothing during that day mostly because they would be doing chores around the house. At night I would have them in their “nicest clothing” they owned which wouldn’t be anything great because I want the audience to see that money is scarce where they are. I would have military suits for the fighters, but I would have beaten up clothing that dull colored like greens and tans for the freedom fighters that were against the military in the story.

The lighting design for my production would be very dim. The inside of Mama’s house would have very orange/yellow lighting auras to it to give the sense of older lighting methods, not like the pure white we get from lights we use now. This again I feel would help the audience get a feeling that we are in a less fortunate place here and times are tuff for them. I would have candles on the tables inside the lounge area to set the mood a little bit. I don’t think I would use and directional/spot lighting for this production it would just illuminate the entire room/rooms that were being used at the time. I would use a lighting trick for the background set as well, behind all the trees I want to have a white canvas so I can use lighting and there different colors to also give the sense of decay and destruction in the sky. At the beginning of the play the sky would be a light blue but as we get closer and closer to the climax of the play the audience would be able to see the sky get more towards an orange/red color to give a sense that the war is getting closer to them and bad things are coming.

The sound design for my production would be fairly simple I wouldn’t mic the actors at all since the stage will be thrusted out into the audience some. I am however going to place speakers in the trees out in the audience in the trees and some in the background scenery so that I can play animal noises, gun fire, sounds of vehicles driving up the path way, voices of men in the jungle, anything that comes from outside Mama’s house would be projected through these speakers directionally. This I think would help take the audience to the next mental level that they are in the forest of the Congo and they are watching this drama take place without being known by the actors.

I think that incorporating all these design elements together would be a great way to put on a production of Ruined. It would help the audience connect with the story more so than just putting it on a basic proscenium stage. The Thrust stage brings the audience into the experience and allows them to look at the actor’s life much like a doll house. That extra sense I feel is needed to get the main message of the play across to the audience.

Dearly Departed

Being a part of the Dearly Departed cast has given me a new view point on live theatre and how it functions, a few things that I noticed more so than being on the other side of the stage is that the Audience Fuels the actors more so than we think. Being behind stage while there were scenes going on a lot of times we found ourselves sitting in silence trying to see what, where, how hard, and how long the audience would be laughing at the jokes. We would use this to somewhat psych ourselves up and allow us to know when we would expect to need to pause for laughter or when we would need to emphasize more so on the some lines. It was hard for me do this with no prior acting experience but near the last three shows I found it easier to deal with mentally in pausing the lines for a few seconds but staying in character and pausing your body and facial features while everyone is laughing at something you did is harder than it seems.

Another thing that I noticed is that the audience won’t really know if you have a line mess up if you are quick to re-gather yourself you can play it off and get back into your lines and the majority of people will go with it. Judson and I had one of these moments on Sunday’s performance and not many people noticed but a few did which scared me on stage for a second but we were able to get back into character after a sec or two.

The audiences energy before and after the show was excited in the beginning and at the end downstairs was just ridiculous loud and really energetic. I’m not sure if the audience knew what they were coming to see or what kind of humor this play was going to be, because once they entered the theatre all they see is the backdrop which is all southern with General Lee x2, A giant bottle of whiskey, an alligator, and Nascar. The audience was probably going to expect a lot of deep south style stereotypical jokes but once the play started and they realized that the jokes were pretty universal they opened up and it was hard to slow them down.

The audience responded really well to the show we all felt. Our slowest night for performing we think was on Wednesday but every performance after that was almost a full house, even on Sunday’s matinee performance there was a decent sized crowd which shocked a lot of us. When we would go down stairs after the show and greet the audience we would get a lot of compliments somewhere around the effect of great job, wonderful play, loved your character, this is my third time seeing this play this week and it keeps getting better and better. A lot of the time they would be focused on Delightful and her character after the show because she had two words the whole play but had a lot of funny moments with props and Sam did a wonderful job playing her. This would somewhat confirm the humor of the crowd that is was somewhat toilet humor because they would be fixated on the burps, odd food eating habits, and uni-brow of delightful instead of the quick complex zings that each character would throw at others.

This play is without a doubt though opened up my eyes to all that goes into a play and how much hard work it is for everyone to put on a show. I would recommend everyone in class to try out for a play because it is the most fun I have had in college yet and you meet a lot of great people.

Anna in the Tropics

Audience Experience:

When i went to go see Anna in the Tropics on its opening night with my friend Stephanie, we both could sense that there was a little bit of tension and nervousness before the dimming of the lights. The audience was a mixture of adult couples and younger college students both of which i feel had no idea what the play was going to encompass which i feel caused the nervous atmosphere. The audience was very chatty before the play began and even when the lights dimmed and the intro music started playing it took them a little bit to completely go silent which i thought was kind of rude. One thing that shocked me the most though and that is one of my biggest pet peeves when going to a theatre of any sort when there audience is in the dark is when people break out there cell phones during the performance. When they do this it distracts everyone around them and even the audience on the other side of the theatre because they are seeing in their peripherals something illuminate from the darkness and you see the face of some audience member in white light stand out. I had a lady sitting next to me who did this with her phone probably once every six minutes, i should have said something but i didn't want to be disrespectful but it drew my attention away and pulled me out of the play every time she did this. I find this to be so rude that theatres need to start asking people to leaves there phones in their car or just kick that person out if they bring out the phone during the performance with no questions asked because in smaller venues like Anna in the tropics, everyone sees it and can even get distracted by it, even the performers.

When it was time for intermission the audience left the theatre to refresh themselves. I went outside where me and Stephanie started talking about what could possibly happen in the second act, then we were joined by an older couple who i heard talking about how they remember when Tampa used to actually be all cigar factories, so i could tell that the play was connecting with some of the members of the audience. Lights started flickering signalling for everyone to return to their seats. Once inside and seated the atmosphere felt a little anxious because everyone in my section was talking about what might happen in the next act. Once the lights dimmed and the stage lit up and there was Conchita and Juan having a love affair in the factory it kind of caught everyone off guard and there were mixed emotions from the audience. I do not think everyone was prepared for such a scene to happen in a college play, at least i wasn't expecting it myself, and then again i was caught off guard when Ofelia is drunk and alone with Cheche and the scene ends leaving it for the audience to speculate what happened, but i think we all know what happened. When Cheche shot and killed Juan in the factory everyone in the audience jumped in their seats because we were all caught off guard by the loudness of the gun shot that occurred, some people got big eyes and other who jumped started to laugh slightly which i felt was kind of awkward to do at a death scene.

When the play was over the audience didn't do a standing ovation, but the applause was rather loud and the atmosphere was great because people were stuck talking about how shocking the last act was, and how so much happened in such a little amount of time. Outside the theatre everyone shook the cast members hands and congratulated them on their pretty much flawless opening night which is great. On the car ride home we both talked about the play and again act two mainly and how we both were caught off guard, but it wasn't bad because it brought us into the play more and kept the energy high. I feel that with audience conventions as they are now, at this play they were normal and what i would expect from any theatre performance but again the cell phone issue somewhat killed the first act for me, its rude and shouldn't be allowed.

The American Musical

There exists well over two thousand recorded American Musicals to date. Many of these musicals though, never make it to the big time on Broadway in NYC. This is the dream of many Musicals and has been ever since the mid 1850's when Musical plays in NYC, near the end of the Civil War, started becoming more popular. The first ever long-run Musical that was a hit on Broadway was called The Elves and ran for 50 performances. (History of the Musical) This Musical started an American tradition that is still in full force and is even getting more popular today. The next big Musical that came to Broadway was Seven Sisters in 1860 and that play ran for a total of 253 performances. (History of the Musical) We can see how popular musicals were becoming in America and mainly in NYC because every big musical that would come out would have a longer performance run than the previous musical. Today the longest running musical to date is The Phantom of the Opera with 9419 performances since its release in January 1988 and it is still being performed on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre. (History of the Musical)

(The picture above is from the American Musical In the Heights. In this musical they incorporate a lot of the current pop cultures music and dance styles into the performance to help tell the story whether it be through rap, pop, break dance, or salsa. This is an example of how with every decade and time generation we see how the American Musicals are being written.)

Now that you have a little background on Broadway and the impact it has had on the Musicals, lets look at what how Musicals have been Americanized into the popular American Musicals that exist today. The Main differences between a Musical and an American Musical is that American musicals incorporate dancing, props, bright costumes and sets, special effects and well scored music which is used to tell and guide the story and portray the emotions of the performers. (EHow) All these things were added onto the traditional Musical play, which back in the mid 1800's and early 1900's was opera style which came over from Europe. (EHow)When Operetta is introduced in the 1920's, we start to see the transformation away from Opera and the beginning of the American Musical genre with new components being implemented every decade it seems to distinguish its-self from Opera. (EHow)

(The picture above is of a production team during a workshop session on a musical, collaborating their ideas together and trying to connect each others elements such as lyrics, music, choreography, or story so that the musical flows together.)

American Musicals are composed of many elements such as music, lyrics, choreography, set design, and the list goes on and on. Behind all these elements are the minds of many people. The main figures in the creation of an American Musical are the composer, who writes the music; the lyricist, who writes the lyrics; the choreographer, who stages the dances and moves; the book writer, who writes the dialogue of the play; the director, who stages the production; the music director, who leads the musical elements of a production; and a talent scout, who helps in finding talent and manages auditions for the performance. (Theatre History) All of these components of the American Musical are done during the workshop period of a musical and can take on average four years to perfect to the point where they can move onto the next stage of production, rehearsals. Once rehearsals are over the next step is preview of the musical for a few weeks to work out any bugs before opening to the public. This step was normally done on tour back before the 1970's were plays would take their play on the road, before going to NYC, in order to work out the plays issues but this was very costly and now musicals get only two to three weeks to work it out before performing to the public for opening night. (Theatre History) The musical will still go under small changes until it is felt to be perfect during its running time, but normally these changes aren't anything major or that noticeable to the audience. The goal of most American Musicals is to be successful enough to have a branch company do road tours, and to get a contract with Hollywood to do a film of the musical but musical films aren't very popular today which makes it hard for this to be accomplished. (EHow)

(This video of the American Musical Next to Normal is during a part of the play where the mother is confused with why her boy Gabe, who died as a baby isn't around anymore and today would have been his 18th birthday. Her family tries to make her realize that she needs to let go of him but she pushes them away and her bipolar disorder takes over. This is a great example of how the set is modernized, how the use of props and music flows with the performers emotions during the song.)

One American Musical on Broadway now and I feel is a great representation of American Musicals its self is Next to Normal. This musical is about a mother who has bipolar disorder and the effect that this has on her family. The musical also addresses such issues as grieving a loss, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and suburban life. The majority of the the American public can relate to in some way or another and though it is a sad musical it has elements of humor in most scenes that lighten the mood and allow the audience to take a step back out of the seriousness of the story and laugh. Next to Normal has a very modern 3 story set with a lot of light play, incorporates different types of music from rock to softer more dramatic music, and has a lot of prop interaction to help exemplify the performers emotions. Next to Normal has won two Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.

Interesting Facts

• The Oldest Broadway Theatre that is still in existence is the Lyceum Theatre in NYC.
• The Highest Grossing American Musical is Wicked with over 900 million in sales alone.
• The second largest hub for musical theatre is at London, England.
• The oldest that musical theatre dates back to is with the Greeks in 5th century BCE.
• The Musical Hair, sparked the rock musical era with shows follow like the The Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Works Cited

1. "History of Broadway Musicals | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.
2. "A History of the Musical." Piero Scaruffi's Knowledge Base. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.
3. Lubbock, Mark. "American Musical Theatre: An Introduction." TheatreHistory.com. Web. 09 Oct. 2010.

Beijing Opera

There exists over 300 different forms of Chinese Opera in the world to date. They range mainly from either northern or southern regions of China and are therefore classified as such. I choose to focus on Beijing Opera which is associated with northern Chinese Opera. Beijing Opera is also known as Peking Opera. (China Culture) Beijing Opera started in the late 18th century and though it is not as old as some of the other forms of Chinese Opera it is easily the most popular and recognizable one of them all. Originally Beijing Opera was intended to be for the Emperor and his court but was later introduced to the public where it gained popularity and took off around 1845. (Cultural Heritage...) Beijing Opera consists of many different forms of art which range from music, literature, aria, face painting, elaborate costumes, dance, and martial art. Many of these styles the Beijing Opera took influence from the older Chinese Opera, Huiban. (China Culture)

(The picture above depicts two Beijing Opera performers demonstrating just one of the many acrobatic stunts performed and just how physically demanding Chinese Opera is on a performer. Also in this picture you see the use of the long banner being used in the stunt, they use banners in Chinese Opera to help represent forces of nature and other natural elements.)

There are 3 main types of characters in a Beijing Opera . The first being "Sheng", which is portrayed as either a older man with a beard "Lao", or a younger man without a beard "Xiao". This character role in the story was usually to be a decency figure. (China Tours) The second is "Dan", who was portrayed as a strong minded middle aged women woman who was very elegant, and again this was broken up even further by either a Senior Woman "Laodan", little girl "Huadan", or a woman that was good at fighting "Wudan". (China Tours) The last type of character you would see is "Jing", who were usually clearly represented by having a painted face. They would often be associated with either being a comic character, villain, or righteous person in the play. the rest of the roles in play are all considered secondary roles and have little effect on story in the opera. (China Tours)

(In the picture above we see a woman or "Dan" performing in a colorful costume. Normally in Beijing Opera the role of the "Dan" was traditionally played by a man since 1772 when the Emperor banned female performers in Beijing. In 1912 though, the ban was lifted and women started having a more active role in performances. Still though, some Beijing Opera companies today stay to tradition and wont allow women in their performances.)

If you were to go to a Beijing Opera you might get lost or confused because in Beijing Opera there isn't a line to line script that is spoken aloud to the audience to guide them through the story. Instead in Beijing Opera, and many other Chinese Operas, the story is told through the movements of the actors body and the music. The tempo of the music and movements of the actors in a Beijing Opera are crucial and are what connect the audience with the emotions and story of the performance. There is occasional singing and dialogue during the performance but its main purpose is just to utilize the tone of the voice to further enhance the musics effect and usually directly compliments the tempo of the music. (World of Theatre) While watching the performance you would be mesmerized by the stunning acrobatics and martial arts of the actors which again is in tempo with the music and if the stunts that defying physical means doesn't grab your attention then certainly the amazing vivid and bright colors of the make up and costumes will draw your eye to the stage and pull you into the story. The stage in which Beijing Operas are performed are normally very dull and bland with lack of major props and setting that we would normally see in modern theatre productions today.

(This Video is an excellent example of how the performers use the tempo of the music with their body movements to help tell the story of the performance. It also demonstrated the typical stage of a Beijing Opera and you get a glimpse of some of the instruments used at the end.)

Interesting Facts

• Beijing Opera grew to great popularity in during the Qing Dynasty were it was recognized as a cultural treasure.
• The most popular Beijing Opera performance is "Farewell my Concubine" which was made into a movie in 1993.
• Beijing Operas music is composed mainly by percussion instruments, two stringed instruments and a flute.
• In Beijing opera, costumes and adornments are categorized according to roles and professions, thus bringing out the best of both characters and adornments. For example, four banderols are decorated on the back of a military officer's costume so that people will be able to recognize its role as soon as the actor shows up.

Works Cited

1. Transformative, By Using. "Beijing Opera, Peking Drama, Oriental Opera, Facial Painting, Lianpu." China Travel Agency,China Tours,Beijing Tour Packages,24/7 Service. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
2. Wertz, Richard R. "The Cultural Heritage of China :: Entertainment :: Chinese Opera :: Beijing Opera." Ibiblio.org - Linux. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
3. Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print
4. "Beijing Opera - China Culture Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Xun Huisheng,." Arts - China Culture. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
   

Wicked - The title says it all

Though we have to use theatrical events we go to during this semester on our blog for credit i decided to write about the play i went to go see with my girlfriend just a few weeks ago because it is such a moving and wonderful piece of theatrical work i feel everyone must see if in their lifetime. I went up to New York for our anniversary and was pleasantly surprised when she gave me two tickets to go see the play Wicked tucked away in the middle of the book Wicked: Son of a Witch. We took a train into the city on Saturday morning and spent the day hanging out in china town and little Italy until it was time for the show. We got dressed up, hailed a taxi and departed for the Gershwin theater. When we arrived we waited in line to get our tickets scanned then took our seats. Once you enter the theater you cant help but notice the amazing set and the spinning gears that are twirling. Hopefully some of you have read the book, which i highly recommend but at the top of the stage they have the dragon clock which plays a big part in the book. The play started and right away the lighting used and the costumes stand out so much that you will be awed it made the play so amazing and your eyes will be glued on the stage for the next 3 hours.

The play is a bit different from the book but it throws in a lot of comedy and will keep you laughing. At the end of the play i guarantee you that you will never view The Wizard of Oz the same way again. The play is just so well put together in every aspect its no wonder it is named the best musical of the decade. So next time you are in NYC or any of the other 6 cities it is stationed in do your self a favor and go see wicked.

http://www.wickedthemusical.com/#