Because this is my final curtain call, I thought it would be fun to reminisce on my last four years in this department. Vaudeville 2014 Academy Presents I auditioned with one act, animals if you remember that masterpiece, and if you can imagine, I was actually pretty shy. I had always known I wanted to be in theater, but I didn’t know that joining Gibson Southern theater came with a huge supportive family. I quickly grew out of my shell and felt at home here.
After academy presents was Mary Poppins. Talk about an experience. We missed 12 of our last 20 rehearsals, and our first full runthrough was four hours long. I know the thought of this still makes Bledsoe shutter, but as for me and the rest of the seniors, I don’t think we actually knew
…show more content…
what was going on that entire time. My next show was a part of the Young Playwrights Project, where I got casted the role of Helen in Kira maddel’s play This Is Me.
This was the first time I really had to act on stage and it was a challenge. Let me tell you that saying the word “so” to Kira Maddel’s standards is not easy, Sam, Lizzy, and Callen feel me on that. As for Maddy Cox’s Musical Island of Misfit Fairytales, I was upgraded from ensemble to pesant and was pumped about it.
Vaudeville Haunted Hotel was one of my favorite shows to be a part of. This was the year I got to perform as a school kid from Matilda and a raggedy orphan from Annie. My favorite memory from that show is when Jackie and I got pulled over on our way to school for the Saturday show. The cop asked where we were headed and Jackie told him that we were late for getting our zombie makeup done, in which the cop replied “I’ve never heard that one before”.
Next was Shrek… Iconic. This is the show that we first got to really work with KP, and where we came to know our theater momma Lisa. I was super involved in this show as Baby Bear, a Duloc, and a Tap Rat. I was asked to choreograph the tap routine, which I was pumped to do and am still pretty proud of. It was major groovy if you recall. The only way it would have been better… I mean the only way, is if Bledsoe would have let me put the tap rats behind the main instead of the mid. I am still salty. Stinkin
…show more content…
Paco. Young Playwrights sophomore year, I was cast the role of Evey Grey in Lexi Rigsby’s play Egg Lady.
Matt Merch and I acted our booties off for that play, except for that time on press night where we skipped an entire scene, that was special.
Vaudeville Deck The Halls, I know you all still feel the magic. This show was where Lizzy and my hip hop careers came alive during Goon Squad, I danced to Cell Block Tango while Fr. Tony watched from the audience, and Mya J blessed us with her Hallelujah.
Which brings me to Sister act, BEST. MUSICAL. EVER. Not only did I get to play the role of Sister Mary Patrick, my spirit animal, but I got to sing a ton of fun music with my sistas.
Vaudeville Muppets Takeover was yet another successful show where I performed in an overwhelming 12 acts.
Cinderella, my final show. It was an emotional ride for sure, but I couldn’t think of a better show to go out on. I played the role of Madame, the evil stepmother, and that was weird for me. I had to be irrationally mean on stage, but oh well, that’s
theater. It’s safe to say that I have had my fair share of fun and memories these last four years and i’d like to thank my peers, KP, lisa, and bledsoe… even though your jokes are bad. But there are two people I could not have done this without, Mom and Dad thank you for always supporting me in everything I do, in every extracurricular activity and crazy idea I have, even if you do think i’m overdoing it sometimes. Especially thank you for supporting me in my theater journey, through every character and show. What we have here with Gibson Southern Theater is special, and we know that. This auditorium is one of my favorite and most stressful places ever. But I think most of you would agree that this is the place, in this auditorium, where we can be the truest forms of ourselves. Where we can be awesome, crazy, weird, theatre kids. I’m so thankful for that and I can’t say enough to express that. Theater is special, and it’s weird, and not everyone realizes it’s true beauty, but for those of us who do, never forget it. Never forget this place where you get to come and literally step out of your own life story, and create another…. Where we take the ball of theater and we are asked to raise it….. Consider it rose.
Cullen, Frank, Florence Hackman, and Donald McNeilly. Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
The play I went to see was The Music Man performed by the Mesa Encore Theatre at the Mesa Community College. I saw this performance on November 20th. The main performers in this play were Zac Bushman as Harold Hill and Lauren Koeritzer as Marian Paroo. Alongside them, a mix of both adults and children as young as 8 acted in this production. The cast and crew used appropriate clothing to match the time and place. Lights were utilized scarcely, with not much more than spotlights or front and back lights. The set was extravagant, cute, and fitting for the setting and time. Overall, this musical was vibrantly performed and left me with positive impressions regarding presentation and production.
If there is truly tradition to be found among the great theatres both on and off Broadway, then certainly the Sullivan Street Playhouse and its long running production of The Fantasticks rates as one of the most celebrated of New York theatrical traditions. Maintaining its place as the longest running production Off Broadway, The Fantasticks remains an enchanting and insightful tale of both young love and bitter disillusionment. It also reminds one, in this age of spectacle and the mega-musical, how powerful and truly inspiring theatre itself can be. Clearly, one of the great strengths of this production and a large part of its appeal for audiences over the last four decades lies in the fact that both the story and the style of presentation compliment each other so completely. Here we find the non-essentials are stripped away, and we are left to rely simply on the imagination of both the audience and the performers to create a magical evening.
Chicago is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal." Fred Ebb explains: “So I made it [Chicago] a vaudeville based on the idea that the characters were performers. Every musical moment in the show was loosely modeled on someone else: Roxie was Helen Morgan, Velma was Texas Guinan, Billy Flynn was Ted Lewis, Mama Morton was Sophie Tucker,” (Kander, Ebb, and Lawrence 127). Velma indeed is a reincarnation of Texas Guinan who “acted as hostess…for the entertainment…she was also a born press agent, constantly inventing stories and promoting herself,” (Slide 218). Roxie’s “Funny Honey” Amos is eerily reminiscent of Helen Morgan’s “Bill” from Kern and Hammerstein’s 1927 classic Showboat. Amos, too, in his “Mr. Cellophane” number, imitates Ziegfeld Follies star Bert Williams’ iconic hit “Nobody” “right down to Williams’ famous costume of oversized clothes and white gloves,” (Miller).
... my sister and I returned to New York. Once again we made the trek to the Nederlander. We took our seats and relished the memories. While the cast was different, the affect was similar. It opened our eyes and renewed our appreciation for those that are different than us. I feel in love with it all over again. Even though I had seen the show in Indianapolis and Chicago, there was something about sitting in that theater that made it special.
On the 30th of July, I was fortunate enough to see Motown the Musical which was performed in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Walton Arts Center. The theatre itself was extraordinary. As I entered
Throughout the musical, the prowess of each individual performer was on display. Every performer, with the exception of Kristine, expressed a power and vibrato that was breathtaking; the highest notes lilting and the lowest notes thundering. I was in awe during a majority of the performances because of the commanding singing in each performer.
I experienced 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.
"Into The Woods," is a mixture of Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Jack In The Bean Stalk, Rapunzel, and The Baker and The Baker's Wife. It was held at the Springfield Theatre on Lawrence Street, on the eighth day of the tenth month of the year 2000. The plays were not separated in their own section the whole time. They mixed them all together most of the time. It was very interesting and entertaining. This musical was set in the woods (the whole time). Every skit was just like the original ones, but they put a little twist to them to make them funnier.
The musical Spamalot produced at Parkland College overall was pleasent to watch with the actors who ...
In 1878, Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore premiered in the United States. Their arrival sparked an overwhelming response from the people, the craze that was, was known as “Pinafore-Mania”. The songs that were sung in the show became the language of the people, and became part of everyday conversation. Even though it seemed all was good, some were not pleased and happy with the two “invaders”. “In the century since Gilbert and Sullivan, people on both sides of the Atlantic have bitched about “invasions” coming from the other side. America and Britain have continually sent each other their best shows for over a hundred years. If the balance tilts a bit every now and then, no matter: it will shift again (musical 101.com)”. With the growth of the American cities and with the Industrial Revolution going on, the theater-fans were becoming more sophisticated. With this, the homegrown musical entertainment, due to the success of Gilbert and Sullivan, looked second rate.
The performance I attended this semester was a theatrical play called The Cradle Will Rock. It was held at Columbus State Community College and performed by the students at Columbus State Community College. The play had the contributions of the humanities and communications department to help bring the contemporary opera-like play about. The performance was about strike on steel production in the 1930’s. The play mentions how people want better conditions and goes through each character’s association with Mister Mister and how he pays them off to be a part of a group that didn’t have the best intentions. The play was thought out well and was a great performance, due to the set design, the actors playing the part, and even the performance space.
During attending school and college, I have had numerous opportunities to get involved in performing. One of my best experiences was being part of the cast in Beauty and The Beast
The time for our big scene came. We waited in the wings for our cue and finally we were pushed out on stage.
I was surprised by the things I liked, I never expected to like the Blues. The Blues is the type of music my dad listens to and his music doesn’t always sit well in my ears. I was surprised by the range of shows we saw. I almost expected every one of them to be a musical or a comedy because that is what a councilor told me the class was like. Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders was a musical that was occasionally funny, but we didn’t get to the musical comedy until the end which was almost a save the best for last moment for me at least; Imaginary Invalid was my favorite show in the "cabinet".