There was dead silence; the saxophonist had just finished performing his piece, and the announcer had turned to me. My intensive three months of work on the songs “Me” from Beauty and the Beast and “Stars” from Les Miserables would be demonstrated in front of an audience of eight hundred at the Poway Center for Performing Arts. I was unsure of the outcome, but I wasn’t afraid. As I stood before the prestigious Rancho Bernardo Chorale, a finalist in their San Diego County Performing Arts competition, I felt a wave of exhilaration pass over me as I realized the enormity of this opportunity. It’s been over six months, and I still remember the shock I felt when it was announced that I had won first place, especially considering the hefty competition. Every time I think back to that night, I can’t help but smile as it is one of my fondest memories and a huge milestone towards my path of success as a performing artist. …show more content…
Neumeier’s career in ballet and choreography, I am especially inspired by his clear passion for his work and drive towards success; traits I have adopted in my own push towards excellence in musical theatre. I decided to focus on musical theatre during my junior year in high school after moving on from football and basketball. During my last two years in high school, I worked incredibly hard to keep my grades up, hone my vocal talent and improve my acting skills so that top notch musical theatre programs, such as SDSU and UCLA, would accept my application for admission. Last year, I earned lead roles in San Diego Junior Theatre productions, notably Lurch in The Addams Family, Dr. Sedgwick in It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!, and Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing. Like Mr. Neumeier, my perseverance paid off incredibly as I was rewarded with multiple opportunities to showcase my talent, including first place in two performing arts scholarship
Thursdays at Cal State L.A. seemed like any other typical day- warm, busy, and tiring. However, on December 2, 2015, something was particularly different; not only was it the last day of class before finals, but there was also a Mariachi concert directed by Cynthia Reifler Flores. As I was walking towards the State Playhouse, I thought about how the music would be composed. The first thing that I expected was the music to have a quick, upbeat tempo, something that would be played at a festival or a party. I walked through the screen door and was given a pamphlet. In it contained detailed information about their programs, musicians, Flores’ biography, and the prodigious mariachi group. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the doors
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
On a Wednesday night I saw Texas State Theatre and Dance Department's performance of A Chorus Line. The main plot of the musical entails the audition of 17 dancers for several Broadway roles on the chorus line. However, during their auditions the director Zach asks for personal stories of each dancer's life. Though the plot of this musical is seemingly simple in its twist on the traditional audition, it explores themes that reveal the human experience, the search for individuality, and the sense of self.
To people who don’t know who I am, I have always been known as the pretty brown skinned girl that had something special about herself that they could not figure out. Nonetheless, whenever I am put in the spotlight to showcase my talents, everyone can finally see what is so mysteriously special about me. I have a quiet confidence about myself that makes people want to get to know me better, and I also stand out amongst other people who are highly confident about themselves. Additionally, I am a talented dancer that uses the special trait of quiet confidence to my advantage when I have to be a leader for my team. My talent/trait of dancing and having a quiet confidence is meaningful to me and would leave this application incomplete without it because these traits help me to appreciate who I am and they will ultimately help me have a successful future.
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
Until now, only my family and those who have had the experience of calling my house in the midst of one of my renditions of the confrontation scene between Javert and Valjean from Les Misérables knew about my passion for musical theater. For years I have endured ridicule from my sisters and their friends who have overheard me belting out the lyrics to "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof while in the shower. Ever since my first musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, seven years ago, I have been obsessed with the telling of stories through melody and verse. My heart leaps when I see that Phantom of the Opera is coming to the local theater, or when Guys and Dolls is appearing on television at one in the morning.
Lopez, Steve. The Soloist: A Lost Dream and an Unlikely Friendship, and Redemptive Power of Music. New York: Penguin Group, 2008. Print.
As I walk on the stage, I can see the spotlight shining on me. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering around. Suddenly, I remember the time when I was a little girl and I followed a butterfly a long ways. I ended up getting lost and wandering around in circles. Finally, I heard our cow’s bell clanking and I found my way home. I smiled as I sang “My coat of many colors that my momma made for me.” Being a singer was all I ever dreamed of.
Musical theatre is a unique adaptation to the classical western theatre utilizing music, song, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance to convey the humor, pathos, love, anger, and all the other possible feelings of the human experience ad infinitum. This is perfectly described by an E.Y. Harburg quote, a favorite of my own professor and famous producer, Stuart Ostrow, “Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.” This is the very characteristic that has allowed musical theatre to not only survive but to continuously impact humanity over the course of history, from humble ancient antecedents of theatre to the multi-million institution of the modern musical on Broadway. It has consistently proven that although the technological advances of humanity and the mediums from which information is conveyed to the masses are always changing, that the musical theatre shall always remain as a defining cultural trait of humanity.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
In Song in the Front Yard, the author uses imagery and symbolism to explain how a privileged and monitored childhood can lead to a rebellious and naive lifestyle. The use of descriptive words and phrases that also have alternate meanings can help the reader visualize and understand how early years filled with surveillance can alter your ways of thinking later in life. Gwendolyn Brooks uses illustrative terms such as “rough” to form a detailed image of a dirty and neglected backyard that describes the type of life she craves to explore. The use of this word conveys a lifestyle that is the complete opposite of the current one she has been given. Unlike the front yard, which can be described as perfect and pristine, Brooks wants to be dangerous
Musical theatre is a widely diverse, entertaining, and fascinating field. Yet, it is misunderstood by so many. Young students with interests in theatre are constantly insulted. Those trying to succeed in theatre as a career are looked down on. The world of musical theatre is neglected, forgotten, and ridiculed in modern society. As a result of this behavior, musical theatre and art activities in general suffer extreme budget cuts and attention loss in schools. Administrators put their funds and focus on their losing high school football team rather than the drama club which includes a handful of students who could very well be successful on Broadway one day. “Ideology, practice and evaluation: Developing the effectiveness of Theatre in Education”
Being apart of the theatre community here in Port Angeles, I’ve always wondered where theatre came from, how it changed and influenced people throughout the ages. Not only the audience sitting there watching a character come to life right in front of their eyes but how it also changes the actors onstage. Performing and watching others perform, puts a thrill in your heart that cannot be replaced by any other rush in the world. How could something so fun be so meaningful and influential, I am going to tap about the evolution of theatre throughout the years, telling you about significant playwrights in that time period and how they used their sources to produce an amazing production
For my fourth concert report of the semester, I have decided to attend the second Applied Music Student Recital of this semester. The concert was held at Palomar College performance room D-10 on March 27, 2015. The concert was only a half hour long. The concert consisted of a total of ten Palomar College students who are going to major in music. Also, Ruth Weber, a Palomar College music professor accompanied a majority of the performers.
Today was my first class. Having been involved in theatre for 20 years now and having taught drama and musical theatre classes for about 5 of those years, I can honestly say that this class is quite different from any of the classes I have taken/taught in the past. This class is different from higher level classes in that it isn’t a constant competition, and it is different from most beginner classes in that the level of participation is very high- both of these are good things.