The Phantom
of The Opera which was playing at the Krannert Center in Champaign was what I thought to be a
high budgeted play because of the props, scenery, and costumes that the actors wore. My Fair
Lady which was playing at The Sunshine Company of Champaign was not as expensive as the
Krannert Center and was shown through the costumes and quality of actors that gave the play
life. I chose these two production companies because I wanted to experience one play that was
of high quality and one which lacked high quality.
The most notable missing quality in My Fair Lady was the use of specific and dated
scenery to the times. The theater which this play was given at was a small and old building with
a medium sized stage that was barely large enough to house two scenes one indoor and one
outdoor. The acting was what I considered to be good for the money with which they probably
make. The men in this play did not give enough energy to the audience and never made me feel
like I was in the play. They had no enthusiasm for what they were doing. The women,
especially the lead character Eliza Doolittle, was a decent actress in that she used her energy
wisely during the times when Eliza would get upset or angry at the other characters. The design
elements that were used in the creation of the scenery would not be considered good quality.
There was no use of proper weight, meaning that the stage was equipped with only two chairs
and shelves which held books that could be seen to be fake, while the outdoor scene consisted of
a street with the curbing and a brick wall painted in the backdrop. The doors looked as if they
should have been wider because when the actors came through the door they would have to turn
sideways just enough to be noticed. The one element that was utilized correctly was that the
stage was not bunched into one side or the other. The combinations of colors also was nicely
highlighted as shown in the outdoor scene where the grass was a pleasant deep green and the
brick wall was a deep, smooth red. My personal opinion of this production and the theater
would be that it was of course low budgeted but yet the actors and actresses gave a good
performance with what they had to work with money wise.
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
The characters address the audience; the fast movement from scene to scene juxtaposing past and present and prevents us from identifying with particular characters, forcing us to assess their points of view; there are few characters who fail to repel us, as they display truly human complexity and fallibility. That fallibility is usually associated with greed and a ruthless disregard for the needs of others. Emotional needs are rarely acknowledged by those most concerned with taking what they maintain is theirs, and this confusion of feeling and finance contributes to the play's ultimate bleak mood.
All characters in the movie were played well by the actors in my opinion. They
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.
It is imperative to understand the significance of the profound effects these elements have on the audience’s response to the play. Without effective and accurate embodiments of the central themes, seeing a play becomes an aimless experience and the meaning of the message is lost. Forgiveness and redemption stand as the central themes of the message in The Spitfire Grill. Actors communicate character development through both nonverbal and verbal cues; their costumes serve as a visual representation of this development by reflecting the personal transformation of each character. In the case of The Spitfire Grill, set design is cut back to allow for the audience’s primary focus to be on the actors and their story. Different from set design, the use of sound and lights in The Spitfire Grill, establishes the mood for the play. In other words, every theatrical element in a play has a purpose; when befittingly manipulated, these elements become the director’s strongest means of expressing central themes, and therefore a means of achieving set objectives. Here again, The Spitfire Grill is no exception. With the support of these theatrical elements, the play’s themes of forgiveness and redemption shine as bright as the moon on
A significant aspect of the play is the acting and wardrobe, because it helps demonstrate the personalities of the characters.
...ow well they played the part and told the story. Of course, like other directors Lisa Cholodenko wanted recognizable actors in order to achieve a more grand recognition for her work.
A general air of superficiality invades the production. Why? Unless done with reality, the play loses its “tam” (Yiddish for taste), fringes on mockery of the way of life being depicted, and weakens the accomplishment of the author’s purpose.
...enium arch, the stage was visually expanded. Using the arched structure, Italian set designers experimented with linear perspective and soon added movable sets to change scenery, thus giving the audience the illusion of expansive setting. Though some stages can be as much as one hundred feet deep and need little illusion, the proscenium arch theatre still opened now ways for set designers, actors and actresses and audiences to enjoy and utilize theatre.
Christine Daae has a deep connection with the “Angel of Music’. As her father told her stories of this angel when she was little, her favorite story was of Lotte a little girl who was visited by the angel and had a beautiful voice. Christine tells Raoul that she is going to visit her father’s grave. They see a violin performance by an invisible person, which she believes is the Angel of Music or angel of her father.
“Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou Romeo?” “We’re not in Kansas anymore!” These are two quotes that you have probably said or heard in your lifetime. But how could these two possibly be related? These stories are related because they are classics. The two classics Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by F.L. Baum, are very similar in terms of present references and follow ups, timeless themes, and their wide audience appeals.
and were the plays shown on a stage with no scenery? Or was it for
...to make opinions and observations about them. It also makes us as readers and viewers think about true love and what it means. I found this play to be incredibly interesting, insightful, and an overall wonderful text to read and analyze.
indoor theatre, unlike the Globe which was open to the sky, and it had the
...because of the way they displayed the environment. Without the work of both the costumes and lighting, the play wouldn’t have been as enjoyable as it was.