On Thursday night April 15, I gathered a couple of friends of mine to attend a musical called Side Show. During the performance, I saw many key aspects which really stood out to me. These key aspects shaped my experience of the musical.
Music
Side Show featured lots of "Broadway"-style music. There were some nice bouncy songs where all the cast danced to and others that were more passionate. Music was very prevalent throughout the whole show. With few dialogue taking place between the characters, almost everything was conveyed through singing or dancing. The music had a live pit orchestra to play for the singers. The orchestra was hidden for the most part in the back of the scenery but that did the volume or quality of their performance. The musical numbers had a lot of solo acts for Daisy and Violet, the protagonist of the story. Through these musical numbers the audience gets a glimpse in to what the twins are thinking and how they felt.
Performers
The performers were once again composed of UTD art students. The students wore clothes apporiate for their character. The twins, Daisy and Violet, had on blonde wigs and flowing skirts to set them apart from the other characters. Jake the Cannibal King wore a loincloth for a short period of time in the beginning but changed in to business attires once the twins and him were accepted to go on the musical tour.Buddy and Terry had on slick savy clothing throughout most of the musical.
The light show help to provide the performers with the necessary time to transition from one scene to another. The performers seamlessly shifted from one scene to another. Many people in the audience were amazed at how smooth the musical progressed throughout the night. The dance numbers accompanied the transition from one scene to another well, too.
Audience
The audience was composed of mostly UTD students and some senior citizens who lived around the area. The Performance Hall was packed with spectators. Everybody was rubbing shoulders with their neighbors but no one seemed to mind. It was apparent that some members of the audience had not been to many musicals before when they clapped in the middle of a solo because there was a long pause. Once some of the audience clapped, everybody clapped, too, as to not make the performance awkward.
When it was time for the intermission, many people had decided to leave. However, once they got outside, their hopes of escape were dashed away when they saw that it was raining hard outside. Some people braved the storm and left the musical while others not so strong-willed decided to stick around until the storm died down. When the intermission was over, most of the people who attended the first half came back for the second and even some new members showed up.
Time and Space
The musical took place on Thursday night at about 8 p.m. Despite the musical being on a weekday, a lot of people turned out for the musical. The night-time suited the musical well. If the musical had taken place at any other time in the day, then it would not have had the same effect on the audience. By that time of the night, almost everybody in the audience was just looking for a good time. They just wanted to unwind and relax for the evening. Everybody in the audience was having a good time and they did not feel shy to let the performers know it.
The performance proved to be a rich musical event filled with lots of song and dance. It was an event that both the performers and audience enjoyed.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Gullah Music
Gullah music was originally performed by slaves in South Caroline and Georgia area. Their culture share similar traits with other people in Sierra Leone since that was where many of the slaves in that area came from. The people of Gullah have a distinctive culture and music as opposed to other slaves because large numbers of slaves from one part of Africa were grouped together in one part of the US for their rice farming skills.
Gullah music features a lot of membranophones and other West African instruments. All the instruments were simple, compact, and easy to transport. The performers expect the performance to be participatory in nature with the audience jumping in to dance along with the songs. The songs also featured fast beats and lots of improvisation by both the performers and the audience. These aspects of the music are constant with the music aspects in Sierra Leone.
During the performance, there is often a lot of movements done by the performers. The Gullah shouters often chant phrases while the music is playing. When performing, the Gullah people are either in plain modern clothing or are dresses in traditional loose attire. There are few if any material culture associated with the Gullah music culture. Besides the sale of some CDs and performances, there is not a lot of material culture.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Performance: Shakespeare in Song
Introduction
It was early Saturday on March 27. My friends and I went to see the 2 o'clock showing of Shakespeare in Song performed by the University of Texas at Dallas art students. The sun was up high in the sky with no cloud in sight. It obviously did not set us or any of the audience in the mood for a performance. I was getting ready to attend a choir performance of some of Shakespeare's song.
Music
The UTD music students' performance featured many musical pieces from Shakespeare in Song. The songs sung came from ten Shakespearean plays. Their program included two or three pieces from each play.
A couple of pieces featured a solo part for a select few performers. The play opened up with the different sections in the choir singing verses in different rhythm. While the original Shakespeare songs were meant to be sung as an opera with a solo vocalist accompanied by a pianist, the performers at UTD decided to add another element to this. They choose to add in choir pieces throughout the show. The choir provided accompaniment for the soloist which helped provide a richer texture in the piece because the different parts in the choir only had to focus on their own notes so it helped to produce a rich sound.
This is how a standard Shakespeare song would e performed:
This is an example of what the UTD performers did:
Performers
The performers were dressed in simply Medieval like clothing. The girls all wore long dresses while the guys had on long tights that clung to their legs. Everybody wore simply clothing which allowed them to blend in with their fellow performers. However, a few of the performers had on a hat or a big necklace in order for them to stand out a little from the choir. This was usually a good indication that he or she had some important role in the piece.
For example, Lakshman Manjunath who played Guiderius in Cymbeline wore a bright blue outfit with a big flamboyant blue hat. Manjunath stood out from the rest of the choir members because he had to. He was the soloist for that piece with only the piano for accompaniment. All eyes from the audience where on him, as well they should be, as he sang every note perfectly.
The choir director/ conductor had small cues which she would give to both her performers and the audience. For the whole performance, her back faced towards the audience. Whenever she did face the audience, it meant that a certain piece of the performance had ended and that it was a place where the audience could/ should clap. She also gave slight and often flawless commands directing the choir members to their new placement flawlessly on the cramped stage.
Audience
The audience consisted of many people from varying age groups. Some were as young as nine years old while others were in their mid 60s. The majority of the audience consisted of college students attending UTD. Throughout the performance, there was virtually no interaction between the performers and the audience. Few people in the audience looked like they had had any experience in this music culture.
Time and Space
The performance took place in the middle of the day on March 27 in the Jonsson Performance Hall. Since it took place in the middle of day and it was the shows second showing, there very few people present. Despite the number of people present at the performance, the crowd gave the performers loud cheers.
Conclusion
The performance of Shakespeare in Song provided a great opportunity for the local community to experience this music culture. The performers put on a unique show that few people get to experience on a regular basis.
Work Cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPzakEsRbeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=941FKrYhD_E
Shakespeare in Song Program
It was early Saturday on March 27. My friends and I went to see the 2 o'clock showing of Shakespeare in Song performed by the University of Texas at Dallas art students. The sun was up high in the sky with no cloud in sight. It obviously did not set us or any of the audience in the mood for a performance. I was getting ready to attend a choir performance of some of Shakespeare's song.
Music
The UTD music students' performance featured many musical pieces from Shakespeare in Song. The songs sung came from ten Shakespearean plays. Their program included two or three pieces from each play.
A couple of pieces featured a solo part for a select few performers. The play opened up with the different sections in the choir singing verses in different rhythm. While the original Shakespeare songs were meant to be sung as an opera with a solo vocalist accompanied by a pianist, the performers at UTD decided to add another element to this. They choose to add in choir pieces throughout the show. The choir provided accompaniment for the soloist which helped provide a richer texture in the piece because the different parts in the choir only had to focus on their own notes so it helped to produce a rich sound.
This is how a standard Shakespeare song would e performed:
This is an example of what the UTD performers did:
Performers
The performers were dressed in simply Medieval like clothing. The girls all wore long dresses while the guys had on long tights that clung to their legs. Everybody wore simply clothing which allowed them to blend in with their fellow performers. However, a few of the performers had on a hat or a big necklace in order for them to stand out a little from the choir. This was usually a good indication that he or she had some important role in the piece.
For example, Lakshman Manjunath who played Guiderius in Cymbeline wore a bright blue outfit with a big flamboyant blue hat. Manjunath stood out from the rest of the choir members because he had to. He was the soloist for that piece with only the piano for accompaniment. All eyes from the audience where on him, as well they should be, as he sang every note perfectly.
The choir director/ conductor had small cues which she would give to both her performers and the audience. For the whole performance, her back faced towards the audience. Whenever she did face the audience, it meant that a certain piece of the performance had ended and that it was a place where the audience could/ should clap. She also gave slight and often flawless commands directing the choir members to their new placement flawlessly on the cramped stage.
Audience
The audience consisted of many people from varying age groups. Some were as young as nine years old while others were in their mid 60s. The majority of the audience consisted of college students attending UTD. Throughout the performance, there was virtually no interaction between the performers and the audience. Few people in the audience looked like they had had any experience in this music culture.
Time and Space
The performance took place in the middle of the day on March 27 in the Jonsson Performance Hall. Since it took place in the middle of day and it was the shows second showing, there very few people present. Despite the number of people present at the performance, the crowd gave the performers loud cheers.
Conclusion
The performance of Shakespeare in Song provided a great opportunity for the local community to experience this music culture. The performers put on a unique show that few people get to experience on a regular basis.
Work Cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPzakEsRbeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=941FKrYhD_E
Shakespeare in Song Program
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