I went to go see a Charlie Brown Christmas at the Coterie. This production did look like a lot of work was put into it, but it did not seem to be too expensive of a set. It could be compared to some of the college or high school performances I have been to. The costumes and sets were pleasant and simple. Clothes were old fashion, but common. The backdrops were plain and hand painted and few props were used on set. Throughout the show, I did not notice any challenges that anyone had. Not the actors, nor the techs. This show was at both 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock in the afternoon, almost every day of the week since the beginning of November. I think that actors and crew must have everything down to muscle memory by now, whether it has been the …show more content…
The drop was painted like a snowy outdoor scene, while indoor scenes, on the school’s stage, had a curtain that went over it. The curtain was cool because they did so little work on it, just busted black painted lines on the pink large curtain that went across the stage behind the proscenium arch and made it look like a cartoon stage. I also really liked how on the left side of the stage, there was a wooden type door that could swing other way and create a backdrop to a scene. Close it and there was a mailbox, open it and its an outdoors scene. I really liked how little props there were on stage. There was only Snoopy’s doghouse, trees at the tree farm scene, the small iconic piano, and then handheld props like paper and pencil as well as snowballs. The space was very crowded, so it was nice how few props there were because the space didn’t feel crowded. What the little kids really liked was the fake snow. In multiple scenes, the characters would blow fake, glittery snow into the audience or off a ledge. It made some of the kids laugh and laugh. I sat far enough to the side that I couldn’t see the very backdrop of the stage, so I was thankful to realize it was fairly simple and the actors rarely went all the way back to there, but it was fairly frustrating when I could not see a portion of the …show more content…
One girl, her only lines were to boast about her naturally curly hair and nothing else. Another girl’s lines were just to be rude to Charlie Brown. I do not remember the original cartoon of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” but I felt like those girls would have had better lines and been more developed. I think they had those girls with such small, negative parts was to keep the show shorter. I very much appreciated this because making it short for the audience of 100 children sitting at the actor’s feet. I am a college student that sits through hour-long lectures every day, and I was starting to get fidgety. I couldn’t imagine being a three-year-old kid squished in the middle of other kids, wishing the play to be over so they can go back to playing. Overall, I thought they did a very good job on the production, but I do not think it was because of the director. Having a friend that was a stage manager, I realize that directors do a lot more than we think. In the ways that I think the director excelled in, would be in his guidance, supervision, and most of his artistic decisions benefited the play greatly, given the type of audience. I loved the colors of the costumes, the costume choices were my favorite part of the play, but I wish there were more colors in the lighting
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
As a student of hers, I am confident in saying that she puts all of her hard work and efforts into her productions. Hard work pays off and thanks to her, the transitions between all scenes especially act two scene three to the finale were a great success. She did a extraordinary job casting the actors and hiring Abby Peterson Murrel as the choreographer. Abby did a fantastic job directing the “Waiters Gallup” there was so much movement and this song/scene that it is easy for it to become a jumbled mess, however she made clean, cut movements that is was a breeze to follow. Rudolph Reisenweber played by Garrett Johnson, the head chef of the overwhelming restaurant, was well placed. We see the first and second cook dressed in completely different outfits making appearances on either side of the stage while other waiters are dancing to songs in the middle. The choreography kept things interesting and the dances in a musical can make or break the performance. Overall, Cherie and Abby did amazing jobs directing each person to have a place among a crowded
The production had many elements which for the most part formed a coalition to further the plot. The characters, the three part scenery and costumes represented well the period of time these people were going through. As far as the performers entering and exiting the stage, it could have been more organized. There were a few times when the performers exited at the wrong times or it seemed so due to the echo of the music. At certain moments the music was slightly loud and drowned the performers. Many of the songs dragged on, so the pacing could have been more effectively executed. Though the music was off at times, the director's decision to have most of the songs performed center sage was a wise one. Also the implementation of actual white characters that were competent in their roles came as a great surprise to the audience and heightened the realism.
The key props that adorned both settings were not much different from that of the film. In the play, however, there were more pieces that adorned the pie shop, and the raggedy arrangement of the background props compare to the distressed structure that the film wanted to show as well. In the movie there was more room to experiment and add to the locations. For example, in order to show the age of the barber’s shop, they added peeling wallpaper, creaking floorboards, and panels that were detached from the
The director’s concept was again realized in a very creative and simple way. The stage crew did not have time to literally place trees on the stage, or to paint a border that elaborate—the light made the slatted walls look real and really allowed the audience to become a part of the experience.
...tly, the costumes in this production of Wicked were incredible! There were so many beautiful costumes! Many were very elaborate and detailed, while there were also various simple and elegant costumes. This was extremely refreshing to see as an audience member. The costumes always matched the characters’ emotions, which made the plot go along much smoother. I noticed that in numerous scenes the costumes were the same color as the lighting in the scene. I think the director did this on purpose to emphasize certain moods, but in some cases, a variety of colors would have worked better.
The most successful aspect of the performance for me were the scene changes. I found that the rotation of the blackboard, center stage, where the actors were able to stoop beneath it in order to enter and exit the stage, was an effective touch to this non naturalistic performance. When this was first used, at the end of the first scene, when the characters Ruth and Al left the stage, I thought it didn't quite fit as at the beginning the style was leaning towards realism. But as the play progressed and the acting style became more and more non naturalistic, and this rotation of the black board technique was used more frequently it fitted in really well and became really effective.
When I went, I had gotten there just in time. There were three women there that had an extra ticket, and to top it off their tickets/seats were in the front row center. So I had a very good view. As I sat down, I noticed on the stage one of the actors. He was Jack for "Jack in the Bean Stalk." Jack is one of the teachers at Ursuline Academy, Dale Mason. He was not my teacher, but I did know him. I thought that that was pretty cool.
The set used vivid colors and the different levels of height which made the set more impactful. For the most part, the set seemed sturdy, but some parts were a little shaky. When the bridge was moved into the center stage during the auction scene, as Sister Julia, Child of God, played by Matt Stone, went down the stairs the set piece shook back and forth. Also, on both of the nights I saw the show, there was a reoccurring problem with the birdcage. Repeatedly, this prop fell at moments it wasn't supposed to and this was evident in the actors’ reactions.
The most obvious special effect was a projection used with a picture of Cinderella’s dead mother that appeared on the tree in the beginning when she visited about her wish to go to the Prince’s festival. An interesting effect was seeing a scrim put to use for a Lil Red’s Grandmothers house that the audience could see inside of as soon as Red entered and by shining light from behind it. Knowing now that is actually a cloth that can look so realistically painted on the outside and the walls becoming so transparent you could see what went on behind its’ closed door. Before knowing of a scrim it would have been just dismissed as possibly a thin plastic or something instead. There was also turntable located towards the back of the stage that seemed to be in a rake position for most of the play but could turn around and be a platform and it was used throughout the play to depict their travels as surface areas changing just like in a real forest.
The beauty of this particular show is the jarring realization that the placement of props tended to be sparse. For someone who has not seen the performance, this might seem like an impossible scenario. After all, The Lion King is known for being a Broadway hit and you cannot become a Broadway hit by having no props, right? Turns
Overall the reviewed production seemed to very much benefit the script, with the staging of projections and sets apparently being a great enhancement to the production, and having an actor such as Phillip Seymour Hoffman as part of your cast almost certainly cannot hurt your
The set, props, and the clothes all looked good. It really looked like it was in the 1970s, especially the printing
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire