When I was in high school, my friends and I went to the movies every weekend. I loved going to the theater, sitting with my friends, and, since we had the right, critiquing every part of the movie; commenting on the actors, the plot line, the costumes, and the like. One of my favorite things was, during the movie, I would pick a character that I could relate to the most and I pretended to be the character. It got to the point where I would be saying the line with the character as they were saying it under my breath. Weird, I know. I guess it was early theatrical tendencies that were starting to emerge within me. I used to love everything about movies; the acting, the reality of them, how you could get wrapped up in the storyline to the point that you forget it's fiction. However, once I came to college and started studying Theatre, I realized how skewed my perception of the film world was; how weak and unrealistic. During my first semester, I took a class called Intro to Acting. Throughout the class, we were taught how to make our performance mimic real life; a technique called conversational reality.
After studying different stage plays, I came to the conclusion that this type of performance is, by far, more convincing than the flat, two-dimension performances of the "big screen". In movies, the themes and plot lines are too unrealistic. For example, the movie The Day After Tomorrow, that came out in 2004 starring Jake Gyllenhall and Emmy Rossum, tells that story of the end of the world caused by a global ice age. This plot line, however entertaining and thought provoking, is not realistic in the slightest. Although the idea might be plausible, it cannot be conveyed in a real, "life-like" fashion because it has not happen before.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319262/ Also, since I have taken this class, I simply cannot watch some film actors perform. I never noticed how stiff and fake they seem compared to stage actors. Unlike stage actors, film actors do not have sufficient time to actually get into character. They are just through into one scene where the character is fully developed, then shoot a scene from the beginning of the movie, where the character is immature and has not grown yet. This confusing process reflects on the actors ability to change emotions and to make it seem like it's natural; a feat most of them lack. In a stage play, everything is in sequence, making the growth of the character seem more realistic because it is being played out right in front of your eyes. http://www.infoplease.com/cig/movies-flicks-film/film-acting-vs-theater-acting.html
Despite my continual love for movies, my new found love for my plays makes me realize how overplayed and materialistic they have become. Although epic car chases and secret agents crashing through windows trying catch a bad guy is entertaining to you, in the back of your mind, you know that you could never experience those things personally. A SWAT team is not going to beat don your door and demand that you stop as you dive out of your third story window (unless you're a convict, then this does not apply to you). When it comes down to it, people, people like to watch something that they can relate to; something that could actually happen to them. And I say that the stage is the perfect place for that. After all, " The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation." (Stella Adler)
http://www.easybib.com/export/html
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
They Did What Now?!?!
When I decided to pursue Theatre Arts as a major, I was both excited and nervous at the same time. The excitement was obviously stemming from my impending urge to be in the spotlight; the nervousness came after I discovered that Theatre is the most controversial and unpredictable profession out there right now. I figured this out while I was still in high school, and went into college with an open-mind and open-heart. I told myself that if I really wanted to do this, I would have to be tolerate to things that I was not used to being tolerate to before; i.e homosexuality, pre-marital sex, cursing, and the like. Of course, this didn't mean that I had participate in these activities; just that I had to be accepting and nonjudgmental, just like any other young adult maturing in this day and age. Although I had prepared myself, I still was not "college-level" prepared; I was Southern small town prepared. There are absolutely no restrictions put on Theatre students. What I mean by that is that we are encouraged to let go of the preconceived notions placed on certain things and portray it in a way that does it justice. Truthfully, I was quite intimidated at first. Having to let go of prejudices are hard to do when they have been drilled in your had for so long. But, after some time, and being engrossed in works such as RENT and Spring Awakening, whose topics took a running start and leaped over the "social appropriate" line, I have been able to adapt myself to the "anything goes" philosophy. Unfortunately, a lot of the social community do not see things through the same gray-lensed glasses that Thespians do. To most, everything is still black and white; even thought there is evident change around us.
This past week, a letter was written to the Editor to the East Carolinian and was published in the March 17, 2011 edition. In the article, it "reviewed" (Notice the quotation marks, seeing that the review was only a paragraph long) the ECU/Loessin Playhouse's latest production, The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee. It discussed how the play was offensive because it portrayed a wrong message to young people by having 6th graders curse. The writer of this article was particularly offended by the play's use of the expletive "G.D", which was used frequently throughout one of the songs. He continues to bash ECU's theatre department by saying that it "reveals the dulled spirit" and the "insensitivity to the prevailing religious and spiritual values". Of course, this offended me immensely, being apart of this dull, insensitive spirit, and all. But, even if i wasn't in Theatre Department, I would find that this view is identical to the view of the rest of the community. Especially seeing as Greenville is located in the center of "The Bible Belt", whose views sway to the right side of the political scale.http://www.theeastcarolinian.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-concern-about-play-1.2110269
I am a Christian and I believe that the Bible tells us to live and act a certain way. With all of the exposure that I have from being a Theatre major, I feel that my views have been change; making me (once again, I say this because I feel that this is an important point) tolerate to certain things. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in all of the principles that the Bile teaches us, but I have been enlighten. I've learned that it also teaches us to not be judgmental and to accept others for who they are. The radical choices made by the Theatre are used to make a statement about life; to express the times and to educate the masses on what it entails. Yes, it might be difficult to understand or, for some people, to even watch. But, as you can look and observe around you, life can be difficult to understand and hard to watch sometimes. The world is full of offense. It's the Theatre's job to show you that offense in it's rawest form; making it scary and entertainment at the same time.
I find it completely and utterly fascinating. But, of course I do. I am, after all, a Thespian! :)
http://www.easybib.com/export/html
I am a Christian and I believe that the Bible tells us to live and act a certain way. With all of the exposure that I have from being a Theatre major, I feel that my views have been change; making me (once again, I say this because I feel that this is an important point) tolerate to certain things. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in all of the principles that the Bile teaches us, but I have been enlighten. I've learned that it also teaches us to not be judgmental and to accept others for who they are. The radical choices made by the Theatre are used to make a statement about life; to express the times and to educate the masses on what it entails. Yes, it might be difficult to understand or, for some people, to even watch. But, as you can look and observe around you, life can be difficult to understand and hard to watch sometimes. The world is full of offense. It's the Theatre's job to show you that offense in it's rawest form; making it scary and entertainment at the same time.
I find it completely and utterly fascinating. But, of course I do. I am, after all, a Thespian! :)
http://www.easybib.com/export/html
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Great White Way and All It's Splendor!!!!
Last May, my senior class went on a trip to New York City to celebrate our graduation. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and went into an even greater shock when I discovered that we were going to being seeing a Broadway show. An actual Broadway show in New York City. Being the only Thespian in my class, I was excited to the point of annoyance, I'm sure. When the day finally came and I walked out of Laguardia airport onto the rainy streets of NYC, my ever-growing excitement swelled to a head. On the third night of our trip, our group, decked out in our finest attire, made the trek of about 5 blocks to the Gershwin Theater to see Wicked, the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. I sat there, completely and utterly amazed and enthralled at the greatness that was being played out before me. The show was so magical and the storyline seemed to pull you into the conflict that was happening of stage. During intermission, my friends joked with me saying, "Hey, Shelby. One day we'll see you up there." They all made plans to come see me and told me not to forget them when I "made it big". As a general opinion of the group, that night was the best part of the entire trip; even the "non-theatre lovers" of the group agreed with this statement. Of course, I could have left New York that night completely happy with my experience, even though I had three more days left of the trip. To be a part of the biggest money making industry in The Big Apple is the dream of any Thespian who strives to achieve in their craft.
New York City is known for it's glamorous city lights and lifestyles. Most people move there with the intent to do something significant with their lives. This is a popular idea because of it's reputation for high power industry; the "Go Big Or Go Home" mentality. With this in mind, one will notice that this applies to everything in New York City, from the towering skyscrapers of businesses, such as The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building, to the gleaming lights of Times Square, which cuts right through the heart of the Theatre District. With 38 Broadway theaters located between 41st and 53rd Streets, about 50 smaller off-Broadway and 200 even smaller off-off-Broadway theaters all scattered throughout Manhattan, millions of dollars are pouring in weekly as the popularity of the shows go up. http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/newyork/newyorkcity/new-york-city-broadway.html For example, the show that I saw, Wicked, has been on Broadway since 2003 and is currently still running on. Each week, it grosses over 1 million dollars every week and has a 97.62% gross rate. According to 2broadwayworld.com, for the week of May 16, 2010, Wicked grossed $1,549,754 and has made a total of $82,893,687 since January 3, 2010. Now add this total to the weekly grosses of the 37 other Broadway theatres, the 50 off-Broadway theatres, and the 200 off-off-Broadway theatres who have shows going on at the same time and you have over $398.5 million. http://www2.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=WICKED&year=2010 That is after just one week of shows. That should cover maybe a fourth of the combined light bill of all of the theaters.
What peaked my interest in Broadway and it's shows was the way that each theater advertises. To put their shows out into the public, to bring in revenue, they put posters on any and everything around the city. Times Square is a great example of this method of advertisement. Gigantic posters of the shows that are playing at the time are placed over the windows of the buildings lining the street, particularly the ones on the corners. One of the more amusing ways that is common is putting them on the double-decker buses that circle Manhattan. This way, the entire borough knows about the show. Although these ways are very effective advertising methods, the most effective way is the use of the media. To advertise an upcoming show, a company will put out what is called a preview. This can be a mini version of the show done by the cast in the actual theater that people can pay to see or a video of highlights and music from the show that is put out on the Internet for the entire world to see. Here is a video of the preview for the show The Addams Family that opened on April 8th, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CT4SR6cFM With all of these methods, Broadway brings in audiences from all over the world, making it one of the big money making industries in the States; blinding everyone with the light and splendor that radiates from the stars that it showcases to the world.
http://www.easybib.com/export/html
New York City is known for it's glamorous city lights and lifestyles. Most people move there with the intent to do something significant with their lives. This is a popular idea because of it's reputation for high power industry; the "Go Big Or Go Home" mentality. With this in mind, one will notice that this applies to everything in New York City, from the towering skyscrapers of businesses, such as The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building, to the gleaming lights of Times Square, which cuts right through the heart of the Theatre District. With 38 Broadway theaters located between 41st and 53rd Streets, about 50 smaller off-Broadway and 200 even smaller off-off-Broadway theaters all scattered throughout Manhattan, millions of dollars are pouring in weekly as the popularity of the shows go up. http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/newyork/newyorkcity/new-york-city-broadway.html For example, the show that I saw, Wicked, has been on Broadway since 2003 and is currently still running on. Each week, it grosses over 1 million dollars every week and has a 97.62% gross rate. According to 2broadwayworld.com, for the week of May 16, 2010, Wicked grossed $1,549,754 and has made a total of $82,893,687 since January 3, 2010. Now add this total to the weekly grosses of the 37 other Broadway theatres, the 50 off-Broadway theatres, and the 200 off-off-Broadway theatres who have shows going on at the same time and you have over $398.5 million. http://www2.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=WICKED&year=2010 That is after just one week of shows. That should cover maybe a fourth of the combined light bill of all of the theaters.
What peaked my interest in Broadway and it's shows was the way that each theater advertises. To put their shows out into the public, to bring in revenue, they put posters on any and everything around the city. Times Square is a great example of this method of advertisement. Gigantic posters of the shows that are playing at the time are placed over the windows of the buildings lining the street, particularly the ones on the corners. One of the more amusing ways that is common is putting them on the double-decker buses that circle Manhattan. This way, the entire borough knows about the show. Although these ways are very effective advertising methods, the most effective way is the use of the media. To advertise an upcoming show, a company will put out what is called a preview. This can be a mini version of the show done by the cast in the actual theater that people can pay to see or a video of highlights and music from the show that is put out on the Internet for the entire world to see. Here is a video of the preview for the show The Addams Family that opened on April 8th, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CT4SR6cFM With all of these methods, Broadway brings in audiences from all over the world, making it one of the big money making industries in the States; blinding everyone with the light and splendor that radiates from the stars that it showcases to the world.
http://www.easybib.com/export/html
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