For my second cultural report I decided to go see a musical called “Wicked” in New York City with my girlfriend. I made this choice because I haven’t seen the famous Broadway Musical before but I was told by my girlfriend that it is a really good musical to do my report on. The musical was seen in New York City, New York on Broadway (March 31, 2017) at 8pm in Gershwin Theatre. Wicked is the musical story of The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West and Glenda the Good before Dorothy came. Wicked spotlights the untold stories of The Wizard of Oz’s most infamous characters, the Wicked Witch of the West and her unlikely friend, Glinda the Good. The show follows green-skinned star Elphaba from birth to college and through the events which eventually …show more content…
I found the setting of the show to be visually amazing. One scene that I found interesting and heart touching, was when Elphaba and Glinda realize that it’s the end for the wicked witch. The hunters that have been chasing them have finally caught up to them and have come to kill her. Glenda and Elphaba share a moment of reflection and love that they know will be the final embrace they will ever share. At the end of the song “My life has changed forever” because I knew you, they share an embrace where you can feel the love radiate from the stage to the audience, I actually began to shed a few tears along with my girlfriend because, this scene was heart touching. Looking about at others in the audience and I noticed that they were emotional too both man and women had watery eyes or was …show more content…
The way the set designers changed each set so quickly and so detailed had me and my girlfriend stunned. Each act, each scene and each skit was nothing short of amazing and perfect. This experience shows that no matter who you are or where you’re from, you are an amazing unique individual. Elphaba was shunned because she was green and everyone assumed because she looked different that she was some sort of monster. She was actually the complete opposite and had a heart of gold. Glinda was the epitome of what society viewed as the norm and was easily accepted. The society felt that Elphaba was “wicked” because she was different but, Glenda saw love and beauty inside and out. She helped and encouraged Elphaba in every way she could, while never looking down on Elphaba or making her feel second
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.
The acting in the play was superb. Honestly everyone did an excellent job. Kody Grassett’s ability to act feminine like Mother Superior was amusing and realistic. Brianna Joseph’s dancing had myself laughing hysterically. Alexandra Voelmle’s portrayal of Agnes and her ability to switch from an innocent personality to her later sinful personality was impressive. The individual performances really showcased each actor’s strong suit which kept the audience intrigued the entire time. I can relate to all the characters as each one is struggling to showcase exactly how they want to be known to the
In Gregory Maguire's novel, Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West happen before the novel by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In Baum’s novel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, portrays the role of the Wicked Witch of the West being wicked. We have no background or personal preference to understand her life of the Wicked Witch of the West (as known as Elphaba). But in Maguire’s novel, Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, shows how Elphaba traits of a monster are similar to a typical monster that portrays in people's eye. Elphaba is an ideal model of what we see in a monster would be like: abnormal, scary looking, and blunt behavior. She is a target of gossip to those who do not even know her. Typically in monster tale, usually, monsters characterize as: wicked, unstoppable, destructive, and evil. Surprisingly since birth to young adulthood, Elphaba did not portray a role of any wickedness of a monster expected to be, but a caring person and cares about what she thinks is righteous.
The first character that I am going to talk about is Belle. Her physical appearance after she ended Her and Ebenezer's engagement was painful. She walked away looking like she had left her heart with Ebenezer and was hoping that he would come after her. I think that the actress did a very good job expressing the depression, pain, and heartbreak that she felt towards her and Ebenezer's break-up. In the movie, she made her character come to life by making the audience feel what she was going through. She expresses this by coastally looking back at Ebenezer and through her facial, and body expressions.
Wells, E A. (2011) West Side Story Cultural Perspectives on an American musical. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
The choreography kept things interesting and the dances in a musical can make or break the performance. Overall, Cherie and Abby did an amazing job directing each person to have a place among a crowded stage. Last but not least, the costumes! This play was set in the 1890s, meaning it is very important to have correlating costumes so the audience can be aware of what time period they are in.
It was good setting to get the attention from the audience and also a way to move around or change settings of the play. Although I love this play my small critic for this play was the players. Some others actors had understandable accents but others didn’t. For example, the brother of the servant his accent was confusing because he kept switching his accent from different country languages. This play was really nice it had a little of bit of everything drama, comedy, romance, betrayal. What like about this play it was how they used the dramatic structure the inciting incident and the climax. The inciting incident for this play of musical comedy murders of 1940 was guessing who the killer of the play was because there was tension building up not knowing who the murder was. The climax for this play would be for me finding out who was the murder and just being in shock how everything had change into a new scenario. Overall it was amazing show how it developed and how well an organized transition the play
The Hippodrome setting played a big role in the success of the play, because the seats were close to the stage, which made the audience feel more intimate with the actors. The set was filled with everyday electronics and video games that were popular with today’s generation, and it was good way to capture the attention of the younger audience. The costumes worked for the actors because they were outfits that teens and young adults would wear, which made it easier to relate to the characters. The lighting for the production was awesome because it went well with the sound effects. For example, when Ian was doing a simulation for his new job, he set off a missile and when it exploded the lights changed from blue to red to symbolize seriousness of the situation.
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.
The theme of this musical was different than the contemporary comical musicals in the sense that the plot had a tragic ending. This presented a huge challenge to the creators. West Side Story, for the fir...
Every face had excellent expressions, presenting their characters perfectly. Also, each actor added their own twist on the characters, anywhere from a slight accent to body language, adding more depth to the entire musical. Furthermore, every actor changed their voice in a way that depicted their character’s emotions and attitude at that particular moment. Also, the color of the lights changes according to each scene and the mood for that particular scene.
Since this is a review and its based on my opinion, I would have to say this was one of the worst plays I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't entertained by the play at all. The only good parts were the good-looking girls in the play. I like the main character Marisol based only on her looks. She played on ok job of acting. I realize she had a lot of lines to memorize which she had down, but she just didn't get to me. I think the costumes were ok. They had nothing special, or out of the ordinary except for the angel's wings, which were pretty nice. I didn't like the lighting or the scenery. I didn't know where the scene was supposed to be at some points.
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 Lion King musical is a well-known musical that has taken the stages of Broadway, West End and the rest of the world by storm (The Lion King, 1997). Regarding the process of the musical, Artistic Director Julie Taymor’s first thoughts for choosing the Lion King as the next big thing on stage, was classed as ‘impossible’ due to the film’s lack of theatrical material (The Lion King, 1997). Therefore, staging this particular work contained a great deal of uncertainty and the need for taking huge risks. Taymor (1997) suggests how ‘the Lion King was the worst idea possible to create a stage show.’ It has become evident that a number of significant barriers had to be overcome to secure the practicality of the production. In view of this controversy, this dissertation will critically analyse the success of the Lion King by exploring two significant aspects that have helped to make the musical a success. Firstly, the essential components that make up this theatrical production will be explored and secondly, the roles of each producer within the Lion King and their combined and individual influences they have had from the production will be evaluated. By analysing these two central themes, this paper will show how and why this musical has developed and achieved its phenomenal success.