North Central Texas College performed their version of the rock musical Spring Awakening. Their adaptation was based on the 1891 version of the play by Frank Wedekind. The modern version of the play is written in English is by Anya Reiss. The play basically expresses the challenges, troubles, and misfortune teenagers go through, but also the happiness, joy, and excitement. The play also shows that in the adolescent years, teenagers are still searching and learning about themselves and discover who they really want to be. It also shows teenagers exploring their sexuality. The play was very relatable especially to teens. The play was performed on March 1, 2014 at 7:30PM at the First Bank Center for Performing Arts in Gainesville. This report will concern four elements of the production. I will focus on the acting, scenic design, costume and make design, as well as the sound design.
For a college production, the acting was outstanding. I really felt the emotions. The lead Wendla, who was played by KyLeigh Zimmerer, was amazing. I have also seen bits and pieces of the Broadway version which starred Lea Michelle, and obviously if I were to compare the acting, the Broadway version would be victorious. However, for a college production, these actors have limited past experience, but their acting was professional. Also, when they sang the song "Those You've Known," I felt chills and had goose bumps because that was such an emotional song. You could feel all the emotions and guilt Melchior, played by Ryan Ramirez, was feeling because both his best friend, Moritz, played by Justin Noblitt, and the girl he impregnated, Wendla, died and he believed he was to blame. Moritz committed suicide while Wendla died from a botch abortion her mom for...
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...the audience and parents that tragedy that could come to them. I think it is not only a lesson for teenagers, but a lesson for parents as well. Time, effort, and energy put into this play were definitely worthwhile, in my opinion. I believe all their practice, rehearsal, and hard work paid off.
Overall, I really enjoyed the production. The storyline itself, the acting, and all the designs were amazing. Despite there being a lot of sexual terms and cuss words mention, the plot serves as a good lesson for teens and especially parents and teachers. This play teaches parents to be more open and accepting to their children. This also serves as a lesson for teachers to be less harsh to students. I would definitely want to watch it again. In fact, NCTC produced a Spring Awakening concert performing only the songs. I watched that as well and this time I was singing along!
One of the main products of this movie that popped out to me was the stars. They all seemed to be great actors even though I only knew one of them. For example, I thought that Ian Michael Smith did a great job portraying Simon Birch. He made the movie cute and funny all at once. I also thought that Joseph Mazello did a great job portraying relatable feelings in the movie. You could tell by his facial expressions what his mood was. All the actors did a great job and I can’t pinpoint one of them who did worse than the
Overall, the actors chosen to play each role were well picked. All of them portrayed the role they were supposed to very well. In particular, I think the best two were Ruby Archuleta and Ladd Devine. Ruby is a strong character in general, with obvious weaknesses, like her stubbornness in what may not have been the best times to be stubborn, making her well rounded. Ladd Devine is a good ‘villain’.
The set of the play was built decent and looked the same. The only thing I didn't like was some of color of the stones that were painted on the walls. But, that’s just my opinion. However, I did have fun splatter painting those walls and the stairs during class. I liked how there was platforms and different ground levels, that made it more interesting. Rather than just having the stage ground there were stairs you could go up or down which set it apart. Overall, I liked the set and I thought it was built well and sturdy.
The article named “spring awakening” wrote by Jose Vargas describes the impact of social media in converting the mentality of young Egyptian generations into bold and defend their inalienable rights as a citizen. This article justifies how social media can mobilize a tremendous number of people to stand up for their rights. The reasons that inspire my emotion is emerging of “Wael Ghonim” as a legendary vocal figure of action for change, revelation of social media as earthquake for change, and fundamental soci-political change.
Overall I think that the show was worth seeing, even though I let my parents pick the film--which I will never do again by the way-- I think that it was a good production. It was a little boring at first, which might have just been because I didn’t really want to see it in the first place, but the storyline was pretty good. I personally like humor, so I tend to pick shows that I know will have some humor, but I’m proud of myself for seeing something outside of my comfort zone.
Edna Pontellier Throughout The Awakening , a novel by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna Pontellier showed signs of a growing depression. There are certain events that hasten this, events which eventually lead her to suicide. At the beginning of the novel when Edna's husband, Leonce Pontellier, returns from Klein's hotel, he checks in on the children and believing that one of them has a fever he tells his wife, Edna. She says that the child was fine when he went to bed, but Mr. Pontellier is certain that he isn't mistaken: "He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children." (7) Because of the reprimand, Edna goes into the next room to check on the children.
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.
Overall, I enjoyed this play. Even with the dull ending, I found it to be entertaining and a good use of my time. The cast was great and they made good use of a decent
The society of Grand Isle places many expectations on its women to belong to men and be subordinate to their children. Edna Pontellier's society, therefore, abounds with "mother-women," who "idolized their children, worshipped their husbands, and esteemed it to a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals" (689). The characters of Adele Ratignolle and Mademoiselle Reisz represent what society views as the suitable and unsuitable women figures. Mademoiselle Ratignolle is the ideal Grand Isle woman, a home-loving mother and a good wife. Mademoiselle Reisz is the old, unmarried, childless, musician who devoted her life to music instead of a man. Edna switches between the two identities until she awakens to the fact that she needs to be an individual, but encounters resistance from society. This begins the process of her awakening.
Their acting chops were very impressive whether it was comedic, emotional, or just stunning overall. Yet, on the other hand, some minor characters weren’t as well heard as others. I feel as the play could be better if some of the minor characters had projected their voice more, allowing their character to be known. However, although some voices were much stronger than others, all actors were full of talent, capable of dealing with script’s requirements, and did a good job
In conclusion, the overall experience of the play was great. The actor’s did a really good job at delivering their lines, and blended in well with their characters. The lighting and the music were used well, and helped transitioned into new scenes. The director and producers of the play made the characters relatable and realistic, Caldwell did a good job at portraying her image of how the play should go and it was effective. Leveling up is a great play that all generations could love.
Kenneth Eble states, “…She undertook to give the unsparing truth about women’s submerged life” (2). Speaking solely about Kate Chopin, this quote puts emphasis upon Chopin’s disputes with her society. She used her writing as a technique to indirectly explicate her life by the means of narrating her stories through the characters she created. Kate Chopin was one of the modern writers of her time, one who wrote novels concentrating on the common social matters related to women. Her time period consisted of other female authors that focused on the same central theme during the era: exposing the unfairness of the patriarchal society, and women’s search for selfhood, and their search for identity. In Chopin’s novel The Awakening, she incorporates the themes mentioned above to illustrate the veracity of life as she understood it. A literary work approached by the feminist critique seeks to raise awareness of the importance and higher qualities of women. Women in literature may uncover their strengths or find their independence, raising their own self recognition. Several critics deem Chopin as one of the leading feminists of her age because she was willing to publish stories that dealt with women becoming self-governing, who stood up for themselves and novels that explored the difficulties that they faced during the time. Chopin scrutinized sole problems and was not frightened to suggest that women desired something that they were not normally permitted to have: independence. Chopin’s decision to focus on and emphasize the imbalances between the sexes is heavily influenced by her upbringing, her feelings towards society, and the era she subsisted in.
the play was good. The first act was a little slow and tedious but the
The entire show was an amazing experience, as Elle is an incredibly layered, interesting character. The most important moment in that show to me was the song “Legally Blonde”. The song is watching all of Elle’s dreams being shattered and all her achievements cheapened. Her worst fear is realized: She is not good enough or smart enough. And she never was. Every time I sang that song, I cried. It was a deeply emotional song for me. Elle’s worst fear is my own. I was singing about feelings I had felt, experiences that directly related to my own. Not to mention, the lovely man who played my Emmett, Elle’s best friend, was and is my own best friend. Everything on that stage felt incredibly real to me. I learned truly how powerful it is to see your own life played out onstage. I understood Elle because she was me in that moment. I realized that theatre can touch people in a way no other art form can. I as a performer was allowed to share a piece of myself with the audience and receive a piece of each of them in turn. Theatre is a partnership between actors and audience. Understanding is the true theme of what we do. We’re trying to understand each other, to relate. No other platform does it like
I have always heard of “Rent” but never got the chance to see it; I even knew the song “Seasons of Love”. I was very ex cited to see “Rent” because I have heard so many good things about it and I love musicals. I was not disappointed. I love that this musical shows us a small piece of what it may look like in the life of someone who has an addiction or HIV. This is usually a taboo topic but this play says otherwise. I believe if this was just a play it would have been just another play. The music in this musical really brings the story to life and I think this is so important because of the topic of the musical. The music also gives a chance to bring comedy to a very serious situation. Though Aristotle ranked music as 5th of his Six elements of Theatre music may have been the most important and enjoyable aspect of this musical.