Fun Home was thrilling and relatable from the very beginning. Alison Bechdel's description of a “perfect” family interlaced with Alison’s current perspective and knowledge of the many situations her younger self had gone through were hilarious, sweet, and revealing. Under the direction of Chase Kniffen this show flourished with upbeat happy dance based numbers, such as Raincoat of Love that sharply contrasted with the more solemn serious songs like Telephone Wire and Edges of the World. The show gave me new perspective on growing up and the influence a father can have on his children. Virginia Repertory Theatre did a fantastic job showing how Bruce’s actions forever altered Alison’s life. One of my favorite aspects of this show was the onstage seating. I think that it’s a wonderful way to arrange Virginia Repertory Theatre’s Theatre Gym and a wonderful way to play towards all parts of the stage. This gave the audience the opportunity to feel as if they were in the home itself. While sitting on stage left I felt included in every scene and that I was never subjected to starting at the actors’ backs. In fact, some scenes were …show more content…
When dealing with an extremely complex character, like Bruce, he was able to show the patternings of cheating and the beginnings of insanity with perfect clarity. I was not once confused when trying to understand his objective, except for the overall why he killed himself; however, I think that is the thinking point of the show. It’s a question that has been swimming around in my head all day.
In short Cadence Theatre’s production of Fun Home was thought provoking, meaningful, and realistic. The show was supported and empowered by a strong message of how your life can change other’s. The experience was highly enjoyable and cathartic, just as expected from the idea of adding a monumental musical like Fun Home, to Cadence Theatre Company’s and Virginia Repertory Theatre’s amazing cast and
The setup of the stage was very simple. It was the living room of a home in the early 1980’s. It looked like a normal household, and it had small things such as crumpled up pieces of paper lying around the wastebasket. It also had a couch, circular class table and a recliner in the living room. The dining room was to the left side of the stage and only had the dining table and surrounding chairs. There was a door in the back of the set where characters entered and exited through. Beside the door was a table and stool where Willum presumably worked on his blueprints for the hotel. The lighting design was great; it put you into the atmosphere of the
Every family has secrets. Taboo secrets are typically the one's we'd like to keep hidden the most. Unfortunately, what's done in the dark always finds itself resurfacing to the light. In Allison Bechdel "Fun Home", she recollects the memories that impacted her life the most when she was in the stage of discovering her true self. The memories we remember the most tend to play a major role in our life development. For Allison, one well-kept secret that her father contained well from her, unraveled many memories of the truth that laid before her eyes.
The Hippodrome setting played a big role in the success of the play, because the seats were close to the stage, which made the audience feel more intimate with the actors. The set was filled with everyday electronics and video games that were popular with today’s generation, and it was good way to capture the attention of the younger audience. The costumes worked for the actors because they were outfits that teens and young adults would wear, which made it easier to relate to the characters. The lighting for the production was awesome because it went well with the sound effects. For example, when Ian was doing a simulation for his new job, he set off a missile and when it exploded the lights changed from blue to red to symbolize seriousness of the situation.
Bruce is the focus of the book because he is dying; well, we're all dying, but he's dying soon.
The stage was in proscenium form so it allowed most audience members to have the same amount of viewing as others throughout the theater. Due to the theatre space being so small and intimate, it created the relevant atmosphere of everything on stage happening to be small.
In Fun Home, Alison principally characterizes her desire for a masculine life while trying to find herself in an environment
The theatre can hold up to 1500 and more people, so each performance is in front of a huge audience. Many members of the audience can watch from the grounds directly in front of the stage. Up to 3000 people can stand there to be exact.
“Theatre is like a gym for the empathy. It’s where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engaging with people that are not just like ourselves. We practice sitting down, paying attention and learning from other people’s actions. We practice caring.” (Bill English of the SF Playhouse). This quote accurately summarises the purpose of Children’s Theatre, to help the growth and understanding of children whilst also keeping them entertained through theatrical techniques. The National Theatre’s Cat in the Hat, along with our performance pieces of Cranky Bear and Possum Magic all showcased these techniques in a number of ways, whilst also subconsciously coinciding with the child development theories
The structure of The Globe Theater quite complicated. There isn’t an inside picture of the Old Globe Theater existence just a diary composed together with sketches of the interior layout. Pictures of other theaters such as The Swan and the Elizabethan theaters had similar design. Before entering the Globe Theater the audience paid a fee of one cent in the box to watch. The halfway task structures lead to yard where groundlings to watch the play. The Lord’s room rated the best seats in the house. The Lord’s room able to hear and listen to the actors clearly. The upper class paid five pennies and cushioned seats were supplied. The Heavens, ...
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.
The story “Eating Me Out of House and Home” by Sue and Allen Gallehugh reflects the 21st Century America society. Mrs. Bruja is the witch that had everything one could imagine but a good self-image. She kept herself lonely for long time and she has an eating disorder although she was obsessed with her weight. The witch blamed her depression on her parents because they did not give her a good childhood with much attention. When Mrs. B. meet Hansel and Gretel she wanted to eat them because she want to supply her eating problem and she thought it was fair to ruin someone else future because her parents messed up hers, she pictured herself as a victim. Gretel for other side showed a lot of mature and taught the witch saying “You can’t choose your
The memoir, based on a graphic novel of the same name, tells the story of Alison Bechdel and her life. Mainly, the story focuses on Alison coming to terms with being a lesbian at different points of her life, each characterized by “small”, “medium” and “”big” Alison. Kron wrote both the lyrics and the script for the show. Fun Home was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, and won 7 of them. Lisa Kron took credit for 2 of the awards, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. For Best Score, Lisa and her composer, Jeanine Tesori, accepted the award, making them the first fully female team of writers on a musical, and therefore the first Tony Winners of such. Fun Home was also awarded Best Musical and Best Direction of a
As I was seating and waiting for the performance to begin I was looking at the stage area and was very impressed to the detail they put into the set. The set was a small area with about five tables, 4 bar stools, and wood panel walls. I noticed their [there] where [were] three actors on stage: the waitress, the cook, and a customer reading a newspaper and eating his omelet. The lighting was art deco design with fluorescent round balls that hung below the ceiling.
Miller, D. A. Place for Us: Essay on the Broadway Musical. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1998. Print.
“The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation,” says Stella Adler. Theater is unique and intriguing because it blends literary and visual arts to tell a story. Before Theater 10, I viewed theater on the surface level: cheesy plot lines with dramatic scenarios for entertainment purposes. Throughout the course, I have learned what it means to appreciate theater, such as understanding Brechtian and Chinese theatre; however, I believe understanding theater’s ability to convey crucial historical and social messages, such as in the production of RENT, is more relevant and important for theater appreciation.