A Soundtrack To Black History was primarily a suited musical about inequality and segregation. Prairie View A&M University which started as a plantation and then developed into the second public coed institution of higher education. The play was primarily about how prairie view was from the beginning from being an all boy school for colored people to being a coed university for colored people. A play is supposed to give you an emotional work out. Theatre illuminates some aspect of the human condition. The artist was trying to create a picture where the audience can see the sequence and order of events that led up to the present.
The artist did a fair job on pursuing what she insisted on pursuing it could have been better. Instead of a lot
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Other than that the space was good for what they were actually trying to pull off. Significant lessons to be learned would be the actual history of prairie view which many students don’t know the play taught us the background of PVAMU what we started as to what we have established now. That was a historical period where in which political and economic special groups were able to take advantage of the use of the federal government to establish a public school. The rules to the opening of the university was that it be open to the public meaning for colored people and whites. The government was then trying to fix how the southern states were about segregation trying to end it by opening the university to the public it would become a start to ending segregation. There were eight African American men who first black race to be enrolled in PVAMU during that time on March 11, 1878. From there later it became to be open for coed enrolling young black women into the institution as …show more content…
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Malcom ex. I’ve never seen a play act out the history of the school I attend which was very eye catching to me because I really enjoy knowing history especially abut schools. Many schools don’t do that for numerous reasons but I am very glad that Prairie View A&M University had the chance to display this to the youth and everyone else who attended the play. This production does make me want to see more theatre because theatre is very interesting it resembles a movie but it’s more interesting to perform in front of a live audience and I feel as the play writer did a very good job at writing the play it’s just she should have inquired less music so that everything would have been more smoothly and not more on the confusing side that’s all other than that she did a fantastic job on putting everything together. Everyone involved in the play did a wonderful job with the play as a team they are great and I would love to see more of these productions anytime throughout the
On March 31 I had the pleasure of seeing Hello Dolly at Mandeville High School. As a talented theater student at the school, I take the shows that are put on very seriously. Being involved in the show, helping make set pieces, and working box office brings light to me as an individual, every little helping hand counts. I want to make sure that my school represents theater in the best way possible. With this production put on, I am proud to say that I am a theater student in Mandeville High.
Singing was also very important in the play. Most often, the songs that were sung in the play were used in conjuction with lighting to create the mood. Deep, slow songs indicated that times were changing from good to bad, or from bad to worse. High, fast songs introduced happy scenes. Scenes were also changed according to song, such as the jail scene. The cast began to sing a song about freedom and the jail bars disappeared, indicating through song that the men had been freed. Also, song was important in the play because the songs were specific to the african american culture.
As I waited to observe the audience as they filled the seats with pencil in hand, I was amazed by the amount of diversity I saw before me. By the time the lecture was ready to set foot, I observed that nearly the entire lecture hall was filled. I would say that the hall where our discussion was being held in could probably hold around 300 people. The majority of the audience was not students forced to write a paper on the Brown v. Board Commemoration events, but rather scholars who were on average in their mid-40s. It seemed as though everyone knew each other to some degree. At one point, I saw a woman walk in with her young son and they were greeted by one of the first presenters. Oftentimes, groups of 2 or 3 walked into the room and they would sit down in no particular section of the seating and proceed to talk moderately loudly and peacefully. There was a sense of joy and rejuvenation in the air. After making my final observations of the crowd, I noted that it was a predominantly white showing! Not something I would expect to see when attending a discussion on slavery. It was a spectacle for me to see a group of Asian Americans nodding in unison when points were made during the seminar relating to black and white race relations. I would say that African-Americans wer...
Since the decade of 1920, America has been the setting for a progressive "Black Arts Movement." This African-American cultural movement has taken shape in various genres, gaining mass appeal, through multiple capitalistic markets. Even with the use of capitalism this cultural arts movement has stayed set upon its original purpose and direction, by aiding in cultural identity awareness. The knowledge of the duel-self through community awareness as it pertains to economic perceptions and other social boundaries or the metaphysical-self; what W.E.B. Du Bois coined as "twoness," or a division of one’s own identity as a African-American. (Reuben 2) A realization of the existence of two beings within one’s mental identity, where time alters attitude and identity through environmental influence of passing events. The discovery of the "New Negro" in the Harlem Renaissance marks the beginning of this essential philosophy contributing to the 1960’s Black Arts Movement and the Civil Rights Movement; continuing to be evident in current forms of black art, such as within the lyrics of hip-hop music. These revolutionary Ideals of reform have been voiced in the lyrics of many rappers of urban realism, like the New York M.C.’s Rakim, Run-D.M.C. and west coast rapper Tupac Shakur. Though this form of expression is opposed by most academic elitists and fundamental conservatives due to their vulgar expressions of sex and violence depicted within the genre of Hip-Hop; it in opposition actually presents an internal cultural conflict revealed through the redefinition of one’s own identity with poetic lyrical expressions of realism.
It is impossible for anyone to survive a horrible event in their life without a relationship to have to keep them alive. The connection and emotional bond between the person suffering and the other is sometimes all they need to survive. On the other hand, not having anyone to believe in can make death appear easier than life allowing the person to give up instead of fighting for survival. In The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill, Aminata Diallo survives her course through slavery by remembering her family and the friends that she makes. Aminata is taught by her mother, Sira to deliver babies in the villages of her homeland. This skill proves to be very valuable to Aminata as it helps her deliver her friends babies and create a source of income. Aminata’s father taught Aminata to write small words in the dirt when she was small. Throughout the rest of the novel, Aminata carries this love for learning new things to the places that she travels and it inspires her to accept the opportunities given to her to learn how to write, read maps, and perform accounting duties. Early in the novel Aminata meets Chekura and they establish a strong relationship. Eventually they get married but they are separated numerous times after. Aminata continuously remembers and holds onto her times with Chekura amidst all of her troubles. CHILDREN. The only reason why Aminata Diallo does not die during her journey into and out of slavery is because she believes strongly in her parents, husband and children; therefore proving that people survive hardships only when they have relationships in which to believe.
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
The play encourages people of all different types of races to be proud of where they come from because it is what makes you as a person. There are certain subjects that won’t be taught to students of younger ages but it is important to know because we cannot hide the history that could benefit our personal intellect. Flyin’ West by Pearl Cleage is a play I highly recommend because she depicts the lives of these women vividly and opens your mind to all these possible outcomes of what may have happened if blacks were not
Record labels played a big role in bringing the black struggle to the mainstream through their artists music. In particular, two labels were the frontrunners for producing records that would continue to promote addressing the black struggle: Motown and Stax. Motown, a black-owned label, was seen as a more assimilationist and industrial record label that was successful in making hits that appealed to both black and white audiences, earning it the nickname of “Hitsville, U.S.A.” Stax, a white-owned label, was seen as being more representative of black self-reliance and an overall more authentic, black record label that appealed much more to the black audience, earning it the nickname of “Soulsville, U.S.A.” Despite their differences, both labels used their own style of music production and distribution to help surface the black struggle in very similar ways, and in turn they helped pave the way for black consciousness to emerge through soul music.
The musicals that were produced around that time period were meant to be strictly for entertainment, for the most part. It was a very brave move for the creative team of this musical to tackle themes like racism, violence, and death. The risk definitely paid off, because even today West Side Story still remains a very popular musical. The main message that this show is trying to convey to the audience is that it shouldn’t take a horrible tragedy to finally unite people. Just because someone may not look the same way you do, or act the same way, or share your same belief system, that doesn’t mean you have to be fearful of them. Instead we should try our hardest to embrace the fact that this world would be a very boring place without a little diversity, and it’s ok to celebrate the things that make us
Musical theatre is a type of theatrical performance combining music, dance, acting and spoken dialogue. Written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, ‘West Side Story’ is a classic American musical based on William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The through-composed score and lyrics are used to portray different characters and their cultures, the rivalry between the Jets and Sharks, and the emotions felt as the story progresses. This essay will be exploring the music and how effective the score is in realising the world and characters of the musical. Furthermore, it will discuss how Bernstein and Sondheim relate characters’ diverse ethnicities to particular musical ideas and motifs.
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
During my early years of school, I remember being taught white accomplishments and wondering if blacks and other people of color had made any significant contributions to today's world. I noticed that television consist of all white people. Throughout my research paper I hope to cover certain aspects of African American heritage. Aspects such as blacks making up the largest minority group in the United States, although Mexican-Americans are rapidly changing that. The contributions blacks have provided to our country are immeasurable. Unfortunately though rather than recognizing these contributions, white America would rather focus on oppressing and degrading these people. As a consequence American society instinctively associated white with light and all good things; while black is associated with darkness or evil.
...tical songs like Strange Fruit and Fables of Faubus because of the political issues they discuss. It’s good to hear songs that tell events of the past. They can be very informative and enhance the musical by telling a story. I believe giving the music a political subject enhanced the musical style because the music can illustrate a narrate or tell a story, encourage a certain emotional reaction in the audience, and even communicate something that is not being shown.
...on, conviction and resolve topped my mind. This play gets you to think about the society in which you live, whether you consciously do so or not. It is thought-provoking to say the very least! Not only do you find yourself replaying the scenes in your mind, but you must come to your own resolve about them. You will find yourself immersed in the plight of the slaves, their children and generations to come. This play stays with you for a long time after the curtain falls. The soulful cry of the music will haunt you, too, if you resist! I say that because the human spirit has no color or prejudice. It is the tie that binds us all. We all have the same spirit from the same maker, no matter how we chose to address or express it. And that spirit will not be deterred by anything because it is eternal. We are all cut from the same piece of cloth, whether we like it or not.
The play opened on 1 February 2017 at the smallest Broadway theatre: Helen Hayes Theatre. They are adopting an old play for the present day which is a challenging task. The themes the play is going to enact are female emancipation which is the effort to procure economic and social rights and meritocracy which is the power that a person holds.