The musical “Cats” is an outstanding show that captivates audiences of all ages. It is based on a book of poems called, “Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats”, written by T.S. Eliot. “Cats” tells a nonsense story of different cats. The amazing music, unique costumes, and intricate dance choreography bring a breath-taking story to life that a leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.
T.S. Eliot’s poems from his “Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats”, not only inspired the play “Cats”, but are also used as the lyrics for all of the songs in the play. The music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and T.S. Eliot’s poems are sung to the adopted tunes with very minor adjustments. “Cats” is the longest-running show on Broadway and it even Won the 1983 Tony for Best Musical. Although the play is 2 hours and 40 minutes longs, it’s unique songs and theatrical performances keep the audience members wide awake.
The characters in the play are all cats. The costumes consist of body suits and talks with matching hair and face paint. The actors have fake fur attach to their face that matches their costume and face paint. Each “cat” has unique markings and plays a specific character. All of the cats have their own names such as, Alonzo, Bombalurina, Macavity, and Skimbleshanks. The actors take on mannerisms of real cats and when they are in full costume, the audience forgets that these aren’t actually just big cats running across the...
What do you think the cats in the movie actually represented? (6 pts) This should be a minimum of one paragraph.
The Cat’s Table follows the archetypal journey of innocence to experience. Michael boards the ship expecting a three week adventure without parents “free from the realities of earth”. (7, 2, 14-15) In no way was he prepared for the changes he would undergo as the voyage progressed. Michael’s immigration from childhood to adulthood is mirrored with that of the Oransay’s route. In the beginning, Michael and his two friends, Cassius and Ramadhin, are in high spirits. Life on the open ocean holds no end of excitement and there are plenty of opportunities to discover and explore. Two objects of interest fascinate them: there is a prisoner on board as well as a knight; Sir Hector de Silva who lies dying. The boys make it their mission to discover everything they can about these two men who, while at opposite ends of the social ladder, eventually arrive at the same fate during the voyage.
A lovable, heartwarming story of love is one of “ Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. A story of seven men who have no guidance find themselves in love. The two main characters in the play are Adam and Millie. By being husband and wife they help the story out with their own love and romance. The seven brothers fall in love with seven beautiful woman and through out the play we see al the ways they try to get their gals. The singing in this play helps us figure out the songs: “Bless Your Beautiful Hide”, “Goin Courtin”, and “Sobbin Woman”. The style of music they use to get this point across is old fashion, traditional music.
Musical theatre has been around for quite a while. But where exactly did it come from? The book Anything Goes, written by Ethan Mordden looks to explore just that. From operas to musical comedies, Mordden covers the basic history of musical theatre and why it’s important for the world to know.
On a cold, brisk Tuesday night, I attended the musical called Urinetown by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. Urinetown was held in Rowand-Johnson Hall, at the Marian Gallaway Theatre. As I quickly walked in the entrance, I noticed that people were wearing casual attire. I gave the usher my ticket and walked to my seat. This time my seat was located up at the front so I had a great view of the stage. This particular theatre is my favorite, it is very open and you can see from every seat. This musical is known to be a musical comedy which deals with different themes, unique text, and extraordinary technical elements.
In 1935, Gershwin’s most ambitious work, “Porgy and Bess” opened. He called it a “folk-opera,” and it is now one commonly regarded as one of the most significant American operas of the twentieth century. Through this work, he crossed lines and broke barriers, doing what none before him had. “Porgy and Bess” tells the tale of Porgy, a disabled black beggar living in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina, and his attempts to rescue Bess from her violent and possessive lover; it deals with themes of drug addiction, prostitution, violence, and murder. It was based on the novel “Porgy” by DuBose Heyward. “Porgy and Bess” contains some of Gershwin's most sophisticated music, including a fugue, a passacaglia, the use of atonality, polytonality and polyrhythm, and a tone row.
When I first watched Chicago at the movie theater, I was not fully satisfied. I wanted more, so I went back to get some and watched it six more times with different friends and family members! Last summer during a visit to my native Mexico City, I had the opportunity to watch drag queens perform several numbers from the movie-musical. They did an amazing job, without surpassing the outstanding performances of the actors in the film. Last year, I visited NYC for the first time and indulged in the rows of the Ambassador theatre experiencing Chicago, the Broadway musical, and because I had seen the movie many times before, I knew all the songs and dances by heart. I loved it, but it was actually the movie that influenced me to become a “Chicago fan.” The movie is based on the 1996 Chicago revival of the original musical version of 1975. It was thrilling knowing that the making of the musical into a mainstream production would increase its accessibility and widen its distribution into all the corners of the world; now there is no excuse for people not to experience Chicago, and though not everyone can go to Broadway to see it, just about anyone can indulge themselves in this dazzling movie in the comfort of their homes. In addition to a fantasy world of singing, dancing and Vaudeville, the film also provides a narrative that is explicitly presented through Roxie’s point of view, creating a counter human side to Roxie’s fantasy world so that the audience can easily identify and engage. Chicago is a must see film for anyone who likes to spoil themselves with an outstanding award-winning musical composed of a catchy plot, truly superb acting, commendable direction, and a clever soundtrack.
Ostlere, Hilary. “Taming The Musical.” Dance Magazine 73.12 (1999): 84. Expanded Academic ASAP. Westfield State College Library, MA. 15 April 2005.
Sater, Steven. "Preface ." Sater, Steven and Duncan Sheik. Spring Awakening: A New Musical. New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc. , 2007. VII-XV. Print.
For many years, American musical theatre was defined as being mere entertainment for the people. It ranged from operetta, burlesque, vaudeville, and more. If there is one towering figure in the history of American Musical Theater, that person is Oscar Hammerstein II. He was a lyricist-librettist, as well as a distinguished poet and director. For over forty years, as the theatre’s forms of entertainment shifted, he helped merge everything into the art form known today as the musical. Born twenty-three years after Hammerstein, came Alan Jay Lerner. Idolizing Hammerstein’s work, he would grow to become another distinguished lyricist-librettist in musical theatre history. In this paper, we will look deeper at who these lyricists are and their writing style. Then we will examine one of each of their works and factors that fueled their creation.
Town of Cats written by Haruki Murakami, is an exquisite short story about a young man named Tengo. The story describes one particular day in Tengo’s life while also reflecting on his unimaginable childhood. The story provides an immense amount of information on Tengo’s relationship with his father, especially at a younger age. The suffering relationship between father and son is very evident in the story.
In a more extreme version of the play, directed by Baz Lurhmann, some of the weapons such as swords were replaced by modern day guns, but despite this he still managed to keep it all in context by cleverly placing words, or using other satire. With this paper I hope to produce my own unique version of the play.
The play first debut on February 12th 2018. One aspect that is visually striking is, for the first time in the revivals of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the choice of an all African American cast. The cast is portrayed through the characters. David Cote, the theatre
Today’s domestic house cats sure have changed and traveled far from their old wildcat ancestors across the world. Cats have traveled halfway across the world and now live around the world in various breeds and sizes. Even though they live today in their domesticated form they still retain some of the traits that their ancestors bestowed upon them. The African wildcat is believed to be the ancestor of all domestic cats, and they’re even still alive to this day. Over thousands of years of speciation, domestic house cats came to be from these wildcat ancestors.
Wells, E A. (2011) West Side Story Cultural Perspectives on an American musical. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.