1. http://chassitycurlean.blogspot.com/2013/04/show-and-tell-post-2.html?showComment=1365882709566#c8595857600164940026
2. http://2130coryvincent.blogspot.com/2013/04/show-and-tell-american-dream.html?showComment=1365883476127#c6998705584899640475
3. http://mpret7.blogspot.com/2013/03/noses-off.html?showComment=1365884670006#c1588988162546160633
4. http://sstev31.blogspot.com/2013/04/show-and-tell-post-2-asssassins.html?showComment=1365886404833#c1784570751138077196
5. http://zac519.blogspot.com/2013/04/show-and-tell-angels-in-america_13.html
6. http://dontstopmemeow2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/show-tell-assassins.html?showComment=1365889356487#c7275482515724110257
Saturday, April 13, 2013
City of Angels...no not the movie
I had the pleasure of being a part of the musical City of Angels this semester and Theatre Baton Rouge. Since I did that I got to read the script...a lot, and think it poses some really interesting dramaturgical choices. So here we go!
City of Angels is classified as a musical comedy that intertwines two plots. The "real" world is an author attempting to transform his novel into a screenplay. The other world is the fictional world of the film that is set in the film noir genre. The music is written by jazz king Cy Coleman with lyrics and book by David Zippel and Larry Gelbart (the creator of the t.v. series M.A.S.H.) City of Angels opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre in 1989 and closed three years later. While on Broadway a Los Angeles theatre company began a 6 month run of the show. West End did a 8 month run of the show in 1993, and an Off-Broadway revival ran in 2006.
Both worlds are set in Hollywood, the City of Angels, in the 1940's and happen simultaneously. The show starts in the "reel" world when Oolie, a loyal secretary, ushers Alaura Kingsley, an attractive and wealthy socialite, into down-on-his-luck private eye Stone's office. Alaura hires him to find her 75 year old husband's daughter, Mallory. Mallory is a beautiful bad girl whose run away. Stone is reluctant to take the case since he doesn't trust Alaura, but is desperate for the money. Later he's beat up by two thugs telling him to drop the Kingsley case. Mallory later shows up in his bed and blackmails him for money to pay off her own blackmail. This eventually leads to Stone being framed for murder. He deals with all of this while his own past and relationship, with lounge singer Bobbi are shown to us through flashbacks , come back to haunt him.
In the "real" world Stine, the novelist, is making drastic changes to his original novel after getting pressure from his producer/director, movie mogul Buddy Fiddler. Stine struggles to balance his job pressures and his novel's integrity while his wife, Gabby, disapproves the whole time. She leaves for a business trip to New York, leaving Stine to fall back into his cheating ways as he begins an affair with Buddy's secretary, Donna. Gabby discovers the affair and leaves Stine. Stine changes the script drastically by removing a racial angel Stone gets frustrated with his counterpart and berates him for his lack of integrity. Stine retaliates by having Stone beat up in the script, then he leaves for New York to have an unsuccessful attempt at a reconciliation with Gabby. Leaving so suddenly upsets Buddy, so when Stine returns he realizes the ending to the film has drastically been rewritten. Stine, with Stone at his side, stands up to Buddy and quit. He's about to be beaten up by thugs when Stone "rewrites" it and allows Stine to win the fight. The show ends with a "Hollywood Ending" with Gabby returning to Stine's side and Stine gaining his self-respect back.
Sorry for so much, but it's really all important. When it comes to the dramaturgical choices there are two huge stands out. The first is the choice to make the "reel" world and the "real" world double cast, with the exception of Stone and Stine. The "reel" world character's are all based of off some "real" world person from Stine's perspective. Sometimes, like in the case of Alaura/Carla or Mallory/Avril, it's easy to see that their lust for power and their use of sexuality to get what they want have influenced their characters. In other's, like Oolie/Donna, it's harder to see that Oolie's "trusted girl friday" mentality is something that Donna has too, since she does everything for Buddy. There's a scene between Donna and Stine in the play where this is brought up. Stine says, "No one ever sees themselves as others write them."
The second is making the "real" world in color, and the "reel" world in black and white. It's mainly to help audiences understand which part of the story they're in, since it's challenging to follow which actor's playing multiple characters. It also lends itself to the film noir, private eye movie feel from the 1940's.
City of Angels is classified as a musical comedy that intertwines two plots. The "real" world is an author attempting to transform his novel into a screenplay. The other world is the fictional world of the film that is set in the film noir genre. The music is written by jazz king Cy Coleman with lyrics and book by David Zippel and Larry Gelbart (the creator of the t.v. series M.A.S.H.) City of Angels opened on Broadway at the Virginia Theatre in 1989 and closed three years later. While on Broadway a Los Angeles theatre company began a 6 month run of the show. West End did a 8 month run of the show in 1993, and an Off-Broadway revival ran in 2006.
Both worlds are set in Hollywood, the City of Angels, in the 1940's and happen simultaneously. The show starts in the "reel" world when Oolie, a loyal secretary, ushers Alaura Kingsley, an attractive and wealthy socialite, into down-on-his-luck private eye Stone's office. Alaura hires him to find her 75 year old husband's daughter, Mallory. Mallory is a beautiful bad girl whose run away. Stone is reluctant to take the case since he doesn't trust Alaura, but is desperate for the money. Later he's beat up by two thugs telling him to drop the Kingsley case. Mallory later shows up in his bed and blackmails him for money to pay off her own blackmail. This eventually leads to Stone being framed for murder. He deals with all of this while his own past and relationship, with lounge singer Bobbi are shown to us through flashbacks , come back to haunt him.
In the "real" world Stine, the novelist, is making drastic changes to his original novel after getting pressure from his producer/director, movie mogul Buddy Fiddler. Stine struggles to balance his job pressures and his novel's integrity while his wife, Gabby, disapproves the whole time. She leaves for a business trip to New York, leaving Stine to fall back into his cheating ways as he begins an affair with Buddy's secretary, Donna. Gabby discovers the affair and leaves Stine. Stine changes the script drastically by removing a racial angel Stone gets frustrated with his counterpart and berates him for his lack of integrity. Stine retaliates by having Stone beat up in the script, then he leaves for New York to have an unsuccessful attempt at a reconciliation with Gabby. Leaving so suddenly upsets Buddy, so when Stine returns he realizes the ending to the film has drastically been rewritten. Stine, with Stone at his side, stands up to Buddy and quit. He's about to be beaten up by thugs when Stone "rewrites" it and allows Stine to win the fight. The show ends with a "Hollywood Ending" with Gabby returning to Stine's side and Stine gaining his self-respect back.
Sorry for so much, but it's really all important. When it comes to the dramaturgical choices there are two huge stands out. The first is the choice to make the "reel" world and the "real" world double cast, with the exception of Stone and Stine. The "reel" world character's are all based of off some "real" world person from Stine's perspective. Sometimes, like in the case of Alaura/Carla or Mallory/Avril, it's easy to see that their lust for power and their use of sexuality to get what they want have influenced their characters. In other's, like Oolie/Donna, it's harder to see that Oolie's "trusted girl friday" mentality is something that Donna has too, since she does everything for Buddy. There's a scene between Donna and Stine in the play where this is brought up. Stine says, "No one ever sees themselves as others write them."
The second is making the "real" world in color, and the "reel" world in black and white. It's mainly to help audiences understand which part of the story they're in, since it's challenging to follow which actor's playing multiple characters. It also lends itself to the film noir, private eye movie feel from the 1940's.
The Motor City
Ambiguity, a playwrights favorite "F you" to the audience. Detroit, by Lisa D'Amour seems to be yet another unexplainable choice made simply to confuse the reader. The play's not set in Detroit, the character's don't talk about Detroit, NOTHING in this play has anything to do with Detroit...or does it? Ultimately, the only logical connection between the two is the economic decline of Detroit.
Thirteen years ago Detroit was the nation's tenth largest city, now it's ranked 18th and is the only city in the top 20 that has had a decrease in population, by 1.01%. Because of this decrease in population the economy has decreased as well. This is mirrored in Detroit in many ways, such as the case of Ben and Mary. Ben and Mary are a middle-class family struggling in an economic decline in their city, wherever you choose that to be. They talk about how the house in their neighborhood had been abandoned for some time, mirroring the decline in population in Detroit. Also, Ben struggles with unemployment, like the city of Detroit is now. In the 1950's this was even a bigger problem then it is now since the idea of the husband being the sole provider for their families.
Thirteen years ago Detroit was the nation's tenth largest city, now it's ranked 18th and is the only city in the top 20 that has had a decrease in population, by 1.01%. Because of this decrease in population the economy has decreased as well. This is mirrored in Detroit in many ways, such as the case of Ben and Mary. Ben and Mary are a middle-class family struggling in an economic decline in their city, wherever you choose that to be. They talk about how the house in their neighborhood had been abandoned for some time, mirroring the decline in population in Detroit. Also, Ben struggles with unemployment, like the city of Detroit is now. In the 1950's this was even a bigger problem then it is now since the idea of the husband being the sole provider for their families.
When Worlds Collide
Water by the Spoonful, by Quiara Alegria Hudes, is a play where the motif of worlds colliding makes perfect sense. The coexistence of the supernatural world, the real world, and the virtual world allow characters to interact with each other on different levels of "realness". By creating these barriers/worlds for the characters to hide behind Hudes highlights the complex relationships her characters engage in.
While the presence of the supernatural world is an important one, the intertwining between the real and virtual worlds are the ones most shown in Water by the Spoonful. Odessa and John are allowed to live in a carefree virtual reality where their addictions don't seem to be as big of a problem as they actually are. Their conversations seem like they are talking about the weather, rather then being crack addicts. What's interesting is that even with this safe barrier, they lie to one another. When they have lunch in the real world they continue to follow the rules of the virtual world until Elliot and Yaz show up. Elliot and Yaz break the rules of the virtual reality by fussing at Odessa for not helping out with her sister's funeral costs and antagonizing Odessa. Odessa lets her light and airy mask crack and shows John some of her true intense colors. John, and the audience, begin to fully the depth of the virtual reality mask, and Odessa learns that no matter how hard you try to hide from you past; the truth will always come out eventually.
While the presence of the supernatural world is an important one, the intertwining between the real and virtual worlds are the ones most shown in Water by the Spoonful. Odessa and John are allowed to live in a carefree virtual reality where their addictions don't seem to be as big of a problem as they actually are. Their conversations seem like they are talking about the weather, rather then being crack addicts. What's interesting is that even with this safe barrier, they lie to one another. When they have lunch in the real world they continue to follow the rules of the virtual world until Elliot and Yaz show up. Elliot and Yaz break the rules of the virtual reality by fussing at Odessa for not helping out with her sister's funeral costs and antagonizing Odessa. Odessa lets her light and airy mask crack and shows John some of her true intense colors. John, and the audience, begin to fully the depth of the virtual reality mask, and Odessa learns that no matter how hard you try to hide from you past; the truth will always come out eventually.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Buried Life
Buried Child is a "realistic" play. The set is a typical normal house and the characters are like stock characters that you see in ever family. I mean let's be honest most families have some sort of dad or grandfather that drinks heavily. The ambiguity of the show is what distinguishes from the other "realistic" plays we've read this semester. The parents of Vince are always a little up in the air since barely anyone seems to recognize him. The crops thing is confusing since Halie and Dodge say they haven't planted crops in years and then all of a sudden corn is there. Not only is that weird, but no one seems overly concerned about it either. Honestly, though the ost important and most ambiguous thing in Buried Child is that you NEVER figure our who the buried child is!
Insert Door Puns Here
When looking at Noises Off the
motif of doors immediately jumps out. Farces hinge on exact timing and the misunderstandings that follow. If an actor misses their entrance, or a door is stuck making it impossible for an actor to leave, then the comedic timing and possibly plot line will be ruined. Noises Off is interesting because it not only shows how the doors/entrances and misunderstandings effect the actors onstage, but also in their real lives behind stage.
I think a good tag line for this show would be "don't miss your exit". If you miss your exit on, or off the stage, then you would end up in even more misunderstandings and complicated situations.
I think a good tag line for this show would be "don't miss your exit". If you miss your exit on, or off the stage, then you would end up in even more misunderstandings and complicated situations.
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