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“A mother. A daughter. Three possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!” MAMMA MIA! The Musical performed on Tuesday March 18, 2014 at the Hanover Theater by Work Light Productions written by the British playwright Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Lloyd. A musical based on the 1970’s Swedish pop band ABBA top charter album ABBA GOLD: THE GREATEST HITS set on a Greek island vacation getaway unfolding the bride-to-be’s, Sophie, search for her self whom believes can find her answer by discovering the true identity of her father. Sophie encounters with her mother’s diary from the year she was conceived and learns the names of three possible fathers: Harry Bright, Bill Austin, and Sam Carmichael. Sophie sends all three an invitation to her wedding in hopes to uncover the identity of her absent father to join her in the walk down the aisle to give her away to her fiancé Sky. Sophie’s mother, Donna, a strong fierce independent mother whom vows she can get on with life without the use of a man beside her is in complete devastation to discover the arrival of her ex-lovers the day before Sophie’s wedding. Especially the man she cared about the most, Sam, whom she never wanted to see again for leaving her to be married off to another woman. A secret she hid all these years from everyone including her two best friends, Tanya and Rosie, whom together use to be known as the girl group Donna and the Dynamos. Except Donna herself doesn't even know which of the three is Sophie’s father because she slept with all of them in a very short amount of time one after the other. Sophie believed she would know which one of the three men was her father with just one look but is now even more confused then she was before feeling ...
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...e set in the spotlight. I want to be involved in that world… it was in the show I realized I love musical theater. I don’t know anything else in this world that would make me happier than performing on stage or being a part of the performance to come to life, weather if its behind the scene or on the scene. I want to drag the whole audience into the same world Georgia Kate Haege (plays Donna) did, she inspired me, and I fell in love with the art of musical theater.
SOURCES
1. "MAMMA MIA! The Global Smash Hit -." MAMMA MIA! The Global Smash Hit -. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
2. “MAMMA MIA! Study Guide." MAMMA MIA! Fan Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
3. Brockett, Oscar G., and Oscar G. Brockett. The Essential Theatre. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976. Print.
Theatres and How We Had Fun." Little, Brown, and Company. (Boston, Toronto, London); 1991. P. 139, 144.
Biner, Pierre. The Living Theater. Takin' It To The Streets: A Sixties Reader, pp. 288-293. ed. Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines.
Houchin, John H. Censorship of the American Theatre in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Kislan, Richard. The Musical: A Look at the American Musical Theater. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980. 84, 110, 116-121, 125-127, 128, 134, 163, 195, 201, 209. Print.
In Dialogue: Theatre of America, Harold Clurman said, “we make theatre out of life” (27), and it was precisely this view that motivated him to help create a uniquely American theatre. Clurman, considered one of the most influential directors of the modern American theatre, had a unique vision of what the American theatre could become. One of the founders of the quintessentially American troupe, the Group Theatre, Clurman was a contemporary of Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg, and even married to Stella Adler for twenty years. At a ceremony honoring Clurman, Elia Kazan stated that Clurman’s “greatest achievement [was] himself” (Harold Clurman: A Life of Theatre). An important figure in our theatrical past, Clurman’s theories on theatre and directing require close attention. In this paper, I will first provide a brief biography of Clurman, second, examine his theories of theatre and directing, and lastly, I will explore his criticisms of the then-contemporary theatre, and draw conclusions to the current state of the Broadway theatre.
Kenrick, John. Musical Theatre A History. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
thesis of how the musical brought our inner child out to realize our true struggles in life.
[8] Brown, Frederick. Theater and Revolution: The Culture of the French Stage. New York: Viking, 1980. Print.
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
Before discussing the future of opera, it is imperative to examine traditional opera and some modern trends. The primary focus of traditional is on the actors’ and actresses’ singing and acting. Apart from vocal performance, opera also puts emphasis on movement and expression. Movement and expressions are exaggerated so that audiences sitting far away can see. The movements are theatrical. Opera is performed on live stage with sets and costumes designed especially for the performance. For example in Tosca, The actors and actresses all dressed in the costume of the Napoleon era. Males have waxed hair, and they wear breeches and long coats with tall standing collars. Females wear dresses that ar...
Mackay, Constance D'Arcy. The Little Theatre in the United States. New York: H. Holt, 1917. Print.
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
10. Weales, Gerald. Theatre Without Walls, A Time of Harvest Robert E. Spiller ed. New York: Hill & Wang, 1994, p. 142.
Thom, P (1992), For an Audience: A Philosophy of the Performing Arts (Arts and Their Philosophies), Temple University Press
Kernodle, George R. "The Theater Of Exaltation: Modern Tragedy And Poetic Drama." Kernodle, George R. Invitation to the Theatre. New Yory: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1967. 217-223.