Professor Young Music 1306
I went to a performance on Thursday, April 8th, at 8 at night called Side Show: the Musical; the performance was live in the University Theatre.
The theatre that Side Show was performed in was not huge and was not small; it was large enough to stage the props necessary for the play. Of course, by the title you can tell it was a musical; the performers were composed of UT Dallas faculty and students. The musical is based on a true story about two girls that are conjoined twins; their names were Daisy and Violent Hilton. The story turns out to be like a traditional freak show kind of thing I thought and just goes into their career, personal life, and motivation. Their personal life is composed mostly of wishes/dreams, interesting relationships, and personal hardships.
Keep in mind that this was a musical and if you’ve seen one musical you can get a feel for most of the others. This had a mixture of orchestra music and singers. The piano gave many of the songs an attitude that set the mood of the musical sometimes hinting a sense of fear or mischief. But, at other times the musical had tunes that were rather happy in texture. There was jazz music that was used to suite the time period, the early 1900s. So as you can imagine there were brass instruments, keyboards and other instruments associated with jazz.
The performers of the Side Show were UT Dallas faculty and students. The main characters, Daisy and Violet Hilton were played by Robin Clayton and Emily McCoy. The costumes or one may call visual elements of this performance were what made it amazing. Like every other musical the performers were usually singing or dancing to the music being put on by the orchestra. A unique visual element of this performance was the conjoined twins because they had to stay next to each other for the whole musical. I thought that the costumes that they used suite the time period and definitely suite their profession at times. Robin and Emily did a very good job on playing the twins because there was hardly a moment when I was bored of watching the show. This could also have been due to the constant movement of people on the stage and the interaction of the audience with the performers. It also seemed like all of the performers had their movements and lines recited very well.
The night I went there were actually quite a bit of people in the theatre. This surprised me because the musical was not free of charge. My crowd was composed primarily of students and adults. The adults I assume were mostly parents of the performers and the students were probably there to watch the show for a class. Anyone was aloud in the door as long as they paid. The musical isn’t a very famous one so I from what I saw there weren’t many people there for the pure entertainment of the show. The audience to performer interaction was unique because of the combination of costumes and music. Not everyday you get to see freaky costumes with jazzy music.
The time and space of this performance seemed much different than the performance that I went to not too long ago. The attitude of the performers was different, almost over energetic. I believe that this was caused because it is the last performance of the semester. Like I said before, the performance had a good flow, or good transitions between scenes.
In the end the performance turned out to be a well choreographed musical with a good representation of the time period. The orchestra played flawlessly and so did the actors. This piece over Daisy and Violet Hilton proved to entertain a younger audience, with songs telling an interesting story.
Works Cited
Evans, Kathryn. Side Show.4/8/2010.Richardon: University Theatre.Evans
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Extra Credit due 4/20
It’s amazing how much material the “Side Show” musical has in it and how many of the questions it raises are a part of peoples’ lives. Seems like in every movie that is about high school or college is about the main character or one of his/her friends searching for their calling, their identity. The norms in today’s society are viewed by many as an impossible way of life, one that is not desirable at all. The interaction by the people that live their life the way that is viewed as right and the multiple other ways is also present in “Side Show.” The life of the conjoined twins in “Side Show” was very affective when trying to portray the life of a social outcast or a freak. The characters are also very affective in portraying someone that is alone in the world with what seems like no one that he or she can trust in an endless journey to find ones self. Honestly, with how messed up my high school was I’m surprised that there aren’t more musicals or any type of presentation with content like “Side Show.” In the end the problems that Violet and Daisy faced are not that uncommon.
BLOG POST 12
Out of all the sub-genres of Rock and Roll I chose classic rock. I am a big fan of classic rock because I love the instruments and the sound. One of my favorite bands would have to be Led Zeppelin. Classic Rock bands tend to be quite loud selecting instruments primarily from Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Piano, and Electric Guitar. Almost always there is a Singer and some type of Guitar. The Guitar is often plugged into some type of amplification system for a louder noise. Typically, classic rock bands perform in front of a lot of people in venues that are built to equip them with the feeling of a concert. Going to a rock concert you can expect to leave not being able to hear too well. The singer is usually the center of attention for the bands while they are in concert. The other members of the band don’t participate in the entertainment of the crowd quite as much as the singer in most cases. The pace of their music or the tempo is generally faster paced than most, but there are so many different classic rock songs that it is hard to identify one speed. Back to performances, audiences of classic rock concerts are not one specific age I would say that it is between 20 and 50. Led Zeppelin is and was a very popular band and I decided to link the song Stairway to Heaven because I love it and it is a perfect example of classic rock.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Blog Post 11
The Gullah music culture is primarily made up of drums, dancing, audience
participation, and singing. In the videos linked in the class blog there
was extremely fast paced drumming with a mix of what sounds like loud
animal noises, but are definitely human voices a very African based
polyphony. The Gullah culture is very interesting; they have their roots
in slavery and basically the long road for freedom as a people. Their land
is located in the Georgian islands and is a very nice looking place. It is
constantly under attack by the development industry, the Gullah people are
basically the only ones that own any land on the only undeveloped island.
Their strive for freedom and equality is easily seen in their character and
music. Virtually every interview done with a Gullah Island resident they
spoke of their hardships and how they wanted to be left alone to live their
own life. The Gullans also seem to be Christian and it seems to influence
part of their music culture. Their dancing in combination with music seem
to be very fast paced movements either with some kind of percussion
instrument or hands free shaking their body everywhere. The performances
they put on for the public initially had only a few dancers but it is part
of the music culture for members of the audience to join in and participate
with the fast paced dancing.
participation, and singing. In the videos linked in the class blog there
was extremely fast paced drumming with a mix of what sounds like loud
animal noises, but are definitely human voices a very African based
polyphony. The Gullah culture is very interesting; they have their roots
in slavery and basically the long road for freedom as a people. Their land
is located in the Georgian islands and is a very nice looking place. It is
constantly under attack by the development industry, the Gullah people are
basically the only ones that own any land on the only undeveloped island.
Their strive for freedom and equality is easily seen in their character and
music. Virtually every interview done with a Gullah Island resident they
spoke of their hardships and how they wanted to be left alone to live their
own life. The Gullans also seem to be Christian and it seems to influence
part of their music culture. Their dancing in combination with music seem
to be very fast paced movements either with some kind of percussion
instrument or hands free shaking their body everywhere. The performances
they put on for the public initially had only a few dancers but it is part
of the music culture for members of the audience to join in and participate
with the fast paced dancing.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
performance report 1
Taylor Ellett
Professor Young
Music 1306
Introduction
I went to the Shakespeare in Song on march 27, 2010 at 8:00 in the evening.
It was located in the Jonsson performance hall in a not large sized
theatre viewing a stage that is big enough to hold a piano, a bleacher like
setup, and space for acting. The performers were all students of the
University of Texas Dallas and most likely all part of the theatre class or
club that is offered that is also part of the School of Arts and
Humanities. The performing arts school performs many live acts and so you
can imagine that this was well done, with little mistakes.
Music
How the performance was setup was a director, pianist, choir, and a lead
singer/soloist from time to time. Including all songs, the performance
went up to Act V Scene 1 which was enough time to fit 17 songs into the
night. Some of the songs including solo performances, other requiring
acting and singing, and others with the whole choir and the pianist. There
was not one real rhythm to the whole performance and there were a mixture
of textures depending on who was performing. The men and women sang in
harmony, most of the time singing different lyrics than the other which
obviously displayed talent in the performers.
Performers
The performers like said, were UT Dallas students enrolled in the School of
Arts and Humanities. The director of the UT Dallas chamber singers was
Kathryn Evans, who is the Associate Dean for the School of Arts and
Humanities. The accompanist was Michael McVay, an accompanist is the
person that is playing the piano for the choir. There were few visual
effects but they had an effect on the overall feeling of the performance.
There was a projector screen pulled down for the songs and info about the
songs to appear on. There were also many props used in this performance.
Every member of the choir including the director was wearing an outfit that
would have been worn at the time Shakespeare based his story. The members
of the choir when they were acting out a particular part of a song they
used props like empty bottles etc to convey their character’s attitude in a
more meaningful way.
Audience
Anyone could attend this event; most of the audience was composed of
students that were most likely there for a class of theirs. But, there
were older folks none the less, meaning that people come there to see the
choir perform because of their interest in the performance and not because
they are being graded on it. The audience participated in the applause of
each song but that was about it, no unique audience involvement and there
was most definitely not a feeling of insider or outsider within the
performance hall.
Time and Space
The time and space played a factor in how much I could enjoy the
performance, to be honest. The fact that it was inside a school made it
less enjoyable. The audience didn’t really make the act more energetic,
the choir and piano with frequent additions of solos made the performance
plenty energetic. One thing that I noticed was that a good amount of the
seats were taken which means that their effort to make the performance free
most definitely brought more people to the campus event.
Conclusion
The Shakespeare in Song performance turned out to be a very well
coordinated showing of a choir, director, soloists, and accompanist. The
chamber choir of the UT Dallas performing arts school under the direction
of the Associate Dean for the School of Arts and Humanities by Kathryn
Evans performed the five acts on March 27th.
Works Cited
Evans, Kathryn. Shakespeare in Song.3/27/2010.Richardon: Jonsson Performance Hall.Evans
Professor Young
Music 1306
Introduction
I went to the Shakespeare in Song on march 27, 2010 at 8:00 in the evening.
It was located in the Jonsson performance hall in a not large sized
theatre viewing a stage that is big enough to hold a piano, a bleacher like
setup, and space for acting. The performers were all students of the
University of Texas Dallas and most likely all part of the theatre class or
club that is offered that is also part of the School of Arts and
Humanities. The performing arts school performs many live acts and so you
can imagine that this was well done, with little mistakes.
Music
How the performance was setup was a director, pianist, choir, and a lead
singer/soloist from time to time. Including all songs, the performance
went up to Act V Scene 1 which was enough time to fit 17 songs into the
night. Some of the songs including solo performances, other requiring
acting and singing, and others with the whole choir and the pianist. There
was not one real rhythm to the whole performance and there were a mixture
of textures depending on who was performing. The men and women sang in
harmony, most of the time singing different lyrics than the other which
obviously displayed talent in the performers.
Performers
The performers like said, were UT Dallas students enrolled in the School of
Arts and Humanities. The director of the UT Dallas chamber singers was
Kathryn Evans, who is the Associate Dean for the School of Arts and
Humanities. The accompanist was Michael McVay, an accompanist is the
person that is playing the piano for the choir. There were few visual
effects but they had an effect on the overall feeling of the performance.
There was a projector screen pulled down for the songs and info about the
songs to appear on. There were also many props used in this performance.
Every member of the choir including the director was wearing an outfit that
would have been worn at the time Shakespeare based his story. The members
of the choir when they were acting out a particular part of a song they
used props like empty bottles etc to convey their character’s attitude in a
more meaningful way.
Audience
Anyone could attend this event; most of the audience was composed of
students that were most likely there for a class of theirs. But, there
were older folks none the less, meaning that people come there to see the
choir perform because of their interest in the performance and not because
they are being graded on it. The audience participated in the applause of
each song but that was about it, no unique audience involvement and there
was most definitely not a feeling of insider or outsider within the
performance hall.
Time and Space
The time and space played a factor in how much I could enjoy the
performance, to be honest. The fact that it was inside a school made it
less enjoyable. The audience didn’t really make the act more energetic,
the choir and piano with frequent additions of solos made the performance
plenty energetic. One thing that I noticed was that a good amount of the
seats were taken which means that their effort to make the performance free
most definitely brought more people to the campus event.
Conclusion
The Shakespeare in Song performance turned out to be a very well
coordinated showing of a choir, director, soloists, and accompanist. The
chamber choir of the UT Dallas performing arts school under the direction
of the Associate Dean for the School of Arts and Humanities by Kathryn
Evans performed the five acts on March 27th.
Works Cited
Evans, Kathryn. Shakespeare in Song.3/27/2010.Richardon: Jonsson Performance Hall.Evans
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Blog Post 10
I chose the youtube video on O beau pays de la Touraine from Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots." This is sung by the wonderful Joan Sutherland. This opera is from France from the grand opera style. Les Huguenots is about the thousands of french that were slaughtered on St. Bartholomew Day Massacre and all the sadness that followed from that etc. I'm not very good at spotting cadences but I'm sure that a few occurred during the opera. The only instrument that was involved in the clip was a piano, which is a chordophone. The audience was sitting below the stage and all the attention was focused on Joan, honestly the piano didn't even exist. Joan's vocals were the only thing that I could pay attention to because her vibrato is amazing and very skilled. The whole story behind the opera is very sad and includes many deaths of characters in the story involved with the opera. The main focus of the opera is the protestants and the Catholics, mainly involving Valentine and Raoul. The song lacking orchestral ornamentation and embellishments is still very intense and is well played.
Monday, March 22, 2010
BLOG POST 9
It has been a while since I've seen Avatar so I decided to listen to the soundtrack and get a feel for the the sounds of the movie. I also must say that I enjoyed this movie very much.
When listening to the Na'vi music I get the feeling that I am listening to some of the music that we heard from Senegal. That African tribal kind of feeling with the drums and a chant. It brings a very special feeling to the Na'vi, in my opinion the music is what gives you your feelings towards the people. This music was completely different from the film score music from avatar. I personally liked the Na'vi music more just because it doesn't sound like it was made in a studio as much, it has a wild taste to it.
The Film score side of the movie was just like any other movie in my opinion. Brass instruments and chordophones mixed together to make epic music for movies. Film score adds theatrical greatness to a movie, and in Avatar's sake it was a great mixture of film score and na'vi music. Two different types of music one mixing a tribal feel of idiophones and chanting and the other heavy brass and chordophones.
When listening to the Na'vi music I get the feeling that I am listening to some of the music that we heard from Senegal. That African tribal kind of feeling with the drums and a chant. It brings a very special feeling to the Na'vi, in my opinion the music is what gives you your feelings towards the people. This music was completely different from the film score music from avatar. I personally liked the Na'vi music more just because it doesn't sound like it was made in a studio as much, it has a wild taste to it.
The Film score side of the movie was just like any other movie in my opinion. Brass instruments and chordophones mixed together to make epic music for movies. Film score adds theatrical greatness to a movie, and in Avatar's sake it was a great mixture of film score and na'vi music. Two different types of music one mixing a tribal feel of idiophones and chanting and the other heavy brass and chordophones.
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