Before seeing “The Bridges of Madison County Musical” I already had high expectations. The movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood was one of the most beautiful storylines and best acting that I have seen on the big screen. Knowing “The Bridges of Madison County Musical” won a Tony Award for Best Musical Score definitely became a must see musical in my eyes. Here are some of the reasons why this musical is now one of my favorites. After seeing this musical, now I understand why it won a Tony Award for Best Score. The music was able to make you feel the emotions that the actors wanted the audience to feel. Every song related to the scene that it was in, so every moment was easy to follow which helps to keep the audience’s attention. It was marvelous how the actors in the present would be reminiscing about the past and the person from that past would come on stage to complete the other half of the story by song. In other words, there may be multiple actors on stage but that does not mean they were in the same time period. Personally, I have never seen this done before in a play or musical so I was intrigued how they played with time. The music really helped to …show more content…
In the movie there was not too many scene changes, but because the playwright, Marsha Norman described in the Playbill that she wanted a sense of community and delve more into Francesca’s past so she created more scenes within the musical. They had the ensemble sitting on stage the entire time to change the scenery, this benefited them by not having too many blackouts. As the audience we saw them change the set from act to act, but they did this seemingly. The lighting design was spectacular on how it switched from night to day and really kept the audience focus on the stage. Both the scenic and lighting designers played a critical role in the overall feel of the musical and it turned out
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
One of its numerous strengths was the costuming and set. This musical would not have been the same had these elements not come together to transport the viewer. In addition to the costuming and the set, the actors were very well cast. Each actor was in a role that fit them and they portrayed their characters very well. For example, the man who played Glen really seemed like a greedy Wall Street worker. The choreography was also well done. It fit true to the style of dance in the 1980s and added to the immersion experience. The only thing that could have made this experience better would be to add more music. This may just be a personal preference, but when I see a musical I like for the music to be central like it is in Hamilton or Les Miserables. However, this musical was very good and not much could be added to enhance the
I have listened to the cast albums for both the movie and the Broadway production, and many songs from the Broadway production were taken out of the movie. Some lines were not even taken out, but were spoken instead of sung. Personally, I think that when these line are sung rather than spoken, they evoke more emotional reactions in the audience. In the movie version, there are also some characters that do not appear in the original Broadway version. An example of this is seen through Roger’s backstory with April, his dead girlfriend - the movie shows Roger and April together, whereas in the Broadway version, she is only
Hamilton: An American Musical, the spellbinding play by Lin-Manuel Miranda, nominated for a record breaking sixteen Tony Awards and winning eleven. How have they gotten their success? It doesn't only consist of an amazing sore and script, actors can make or break a musical/play. What makes Hamilton: An American Musical revolutionary is not only the talent and experience of the cast its the background and races of the cast. Though all the characters are white, the main actors are all different races. The founding fathers and mothers of the United States are played by an assortment of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Puerto Ricans, and Caucasians. 2016-17 has proved to be a very diverse year for Broadway, with revivals
Of all musical genres country music is perhaps the one most influenced by a male presence. Country music is often associated with the classic cowboy strumming a guitar around a campfire or riding his horse with a guitar strapped to his back. Even the politics of country music is inclined towards a male-dominated, republican, conservative, pro-war stance (Spong 184). The stereotypical women of country music “behave properly” and passively follow the same values as men do. Therefore, in 2003 when the Dixie Chicks, a three member all female country music band, became the top selling female group of all time it was quite an accomplishment. Their success began in 1997 with an image that embraced their versatility. Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, who are sisters, played fiddle and banjo and provided background vocals to lead vocalist Natalie Maines, gifted with a strong, clear voice. Maines stood out from the others with her forceful stage presence. They wore feminine, bling infused, non-countrified outfits. They were pretty to look at and kind of goofy in demeanor (129). The kind of young women fans could imagine having a lot of fun with, but also the kind that young women could identify with through their music. Songs like “Goodbye Earl” described a strong woman who has had enough of her abusive husband and ends up killing him. However, the band delivered it in a style that was far from morose. It sent a clear message of girl power for many women (129). Many accolades followed from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association (CMA) which included Entertainer of the Year, Top Vocal Group, and album of the Year (Towner 293). During the first five years of their career they sold 28 million copies of the three records...
Many people wish that their life will have purpose and meaning. In The Bridges of Madison County, the Italian farmer’s wife Francesca faces the daunting fact that she may have spent her life doing something she hates- living as a farm wife instead of traveling the world. When her husband and kids go to the state fair, Francesca is left home alone. A national geographic photographer, Robert, asks her for directions and the two end up falling in love. Francesca is faced with the moral dilemma of leaving her family to enjoy a more exciting life, or to stay with her family and support them. This inner conflict haunts her, until she makes the ultimate decision to stay with her family despite her love for Robert. In the play The Bridges of Madison County, dramatic lighting and the prop of the telephone develop Francesca’s inner conflict of deciding whether to
The sound effects and music for the play was recorded to go with the actions of the character’s and whatever was taking place on stage; for example, when Ian and Chuck would play a game since there was no television they needed sound effects to better depict them playing a game. The music used in the play was relevant to today’s period and fit in well with the scenes, like when Ian says he’s going to get a job the song “I’m going to win” fit in perfectly, because it showed his determination. They also used music to help...
...ked throughout the concert. The pacing of the selections seemed appropriate. No piece sounded like the one before it. There was a great variety of songs played. There were songs played that were written by famous jazz composers and songs played that were written by some of the performers themselves. This added to the excitement of the show.
The musicians were able to keep time by taping their feet, listening to the piano and drums play a steady beat, and along with a lot of practice beforehand. When it comes to the meter of the piece I noticed that when each musician was playing their part in the song the rhythmic structure would change. When the trumpet player and saxophone player were playing together the beat was steady and loud, but when they were playing separately the sound was not as loud, but the beat remained the same. Each instrument created a different feeling to the music, even though they were playing the exact same part.
While the set, the costumes, and the lighting, the sound did not much help me nor did it hinder me with the play. For sounds I mostly just heard them every time a door to the dinner opened up, which were of either of wind or truck. Although some background music did help feel a certain way for the
The theatre used to be a cinema, which was converted only a few years ago. The stage is around 10 metres long and 6 metres high, which makes it a fairly small set. The colours usually stay on the neutral side, from white, brown, grey and navy blue. I think the set designers decided to use these colours to give the set a vintage, 1800’s feel. The scene changes are simple, usually only using black outs and spotlights to take the focus away from props, actors and actresses coming in the background. I think this was done effectively because the scene changes happened quickly and the movement in the background wasn’t noticeable. The only major changes on the set from scene to scene would be the props. Some props, such as the windows, drew down from the ceiling. One significant prop from the musical was this vintage looking couch that was used in many scenes. For example, in the beginning of the play, the m...
The music I was heard was very pleasing to the ear. It was soothing, steady, and pleasant. It matched up to the rhythm and beat of the original song perfectly. The performers were attempting a historically "authentic" program. The song was originally released in 1965, so they attempted to make it historically authentic.
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
The musical selections and songs that were sung told a story and narrated the almost the entire film, as is expected in...