Theatre is composed of two major show types, straight plays and musicals. Both shows have their pros and cons, typically resulting in the audience liking one over the other. These two show categories make a theatrical season, usually consisting in a fall play and a spring musical, allowing drama students to have an option of what show they would like to audition for. However, actors enjoy performing in both straight plays and musical for different and complex reasons.
Straight plays only consist of verbal roles, no singing or dancing. There are a majority of actors who only enjoy speaking and focusing on acting. If an actor is uncomfortable singing or dancing for an audience, they sway towards non-musical, or straight plays. The public views straight plays as less challenging than musicals, but plays require much stronger acting and character impersonation. In a play, an actor cannot hide behind a pretty voice, they have to show their character through movement and verbal tones. Plays can also carry a more emotionally strong message and have a bigger impact. In the audition process, actors are only required to recite a monologue or cold read a scene from the script. Straight plays usually attract a more mature
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Being a triple threat, dancing, singing, and acting, will help the actor the most in receiving the lead on their desired role. A musical is physically demanding, meaning the actor has to be strong mentally and physically. Rehearsal is typically four to five months, due to learning all the music, lines, and choreography. The cast and crew are larger for muscle, having to hire a director, vocal coach, choreographer, and the cast consisting of leads and the ensemble. Auditions require the actor to learn a choreographed dance and sing a thirty second verse from a song. Musicals attract audience members that are young and old, entertaining both with song and
In this production, there are many different characters but if need be, one person can play multiple characters as some did in Kaufman’s production. There are twenty four characters in the play, including eight narrators but not including the parts entitled, “others”. Most casts for this play are all men due to the fact that the character’s in the play are men. However, if putting this show on at Oklahoma State, there would have to be some flexibility due to lack of one gender
Since theatre was established as an art form, it has constantly been changing and developing as new methods of theatre styles came to light. This is also true with how musical theatre developed into how we know it today. Vaudeville and burlesque were forms of theatre in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that forged the way for the American musical to emerge. The elements that writers used from vaudeville allowed for not just musical acts to be performed during the course of the story, but eventually became a way for the story to further be told. The American musical was not always as big as it is today, and vaudeville and burlesque acts made it possible for such a type of performance style to develop. Musical writers used multiple elements, not just the song element, in their stories. This change did not just happen overnight. The evolution from vaudeville and burlesque was a gradual one, taking years to further develop the performance styles into the Broadway musical we can see today.
On a Wednesday night I saw Texas State Theatre and Dance Department's performance of A Chorus Line. The main plot of the musical entails the audition of 17 dancers for several Broadway roles on the chorus line. However, during their auditions the director Zach asks for personal stories of each dancer's life. Though the plot of this musical is seemingly simple in its twist on the traditional audition, it explores themes that reveal the human experience, the search for individuality, and the sense of self.
In the world of theatre, auditions are critical in order to have an exquisite show. However, auditions can be tricky and demanding, especially if it is for a musical. A regular theatrical audition is different in comparison to a musical audition; the steps may look more complicated, and it can seem convoluted for a first time auditionee. For this reason, it is difficult to get into a show without prior experience. So, this guide can benefit a majority of people who wants to undergo an audition, especially if it is their first time auditioning. Furthermore, the age can range from 13 to 30 years-old. This guide may benefit the first
From the late 1800’s up through the present date, musical theater has changed. Though customs and love for the theater will always be carried on, origins, trends, and styles will change throughout time.
Musicals, a play in which singing and dancing are essentials parts that developed from light opera in the early 20th century. Now because of our technological advances musicals are able to come to life in movies such as the West Side Story. This is not the only change that has happened, there is also the genre of music used to tell their story. Hamilton is a great example of this change.
The use of original practices, the costumes and male characters used to play the role of female characters are due to the different gender identity attributes and sexuality concerns from the play. Although the producer insists that the use of male characters to play female roles was mainly to show case the original set-up and forms of acting it can also be attributed to the producer wishing to raise different sexualities from the audience. The different actors who play the roles of females while they are male characters have been used by the producer to raise different sexualities since the heterosexual people in the audience view of the audience since gender as asserted by Bulman is performative rather than
Lazarus, Joan. "On the Verge of Change: New Directions in Secondary Theatre Education." Applied Theatre Research 3.2 (July 2015): 149-161. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/atr.3.2.149_1.
In the first part of the 20th century, musical theatre consisted of vaudeville and minstrel shows....
production begins, an actor must memorize all lines and cues for the first rehearsal. Once
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising
...drama has its own strict rules that can be extended to certain rules. The Plots are based on mythological stories which are well known by society. So, audience does not come to see what is going to happen, they come to see how the playwright is going to present to story. So, the differences between them are mostly in the development of story and characters.
I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of how theater is more than a mere performance, but rather an artform with nuance and depth. My knowledge on theatrical styles has expanded and some of my favorites we have studied in class are Brechtian and Chinese theatre styles. I grew up participating in musical theatre, but never had the opportunity to truly learn the history and details of the craft. After studying RENT, I am inspired by the various possibilities for theater beyond acting, singing, and dancing. Theater can be used for activism or as a form of commemoration. Theater is relevant by communicating issues to the world. Theater is so much more than a dramatic presentation. The theater that I have come to appreciate the most are the performances that relay a greater purposeful message about society amidst the theatricals on
Since there was a limited number of actors allowed on-stage, few non-speaking roles were allowed to perform on-stage. The chorus quickly evolved into a very active part of Greek theater. Theatrical culture began to flourish throughout Greece during the year 700 BC. Tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays were the theatrical forms that were performed in the theaters. During this time tragedy and comedy were viewed as completely separate genres. While the Satyr plays dealt with the mythological subject in comic manner. Every Greek theater consisted of three main elements, the orchestra, the skene and the audience.
The type of theatre can be changed, by changing the three properties, for example, the space in which the actors perform.There is street theatre, in which the actors generally mark out an area of the street and perform a piece of drama whilst the audience gather round or watch a short part as they walk past. On the other hand there is rehearsed theatre; this is usually performed by highly skilled actors that perform for a living. The space that is used for this would have a large stage, seated audience, and special lighting to help the performance come to life.