Water By The Spoonful

Unifying Vision

            WATER BY THE SPOONFUL is here to serve as a lesson to the audience members. The main goal is to tap into the audience’s sub-consciousness in order to identify with one of the primary characters and accompany them throughout their journey.  It is essential that audience members feel the emotions that drive the main characters in the story to act the way they do. We want the audience members to feel the emotional roller coaster ride while at the same time battle with the actions of their past.  

            Our lives can change drastically from one moment to the next without having any forewarning.  When carrying out our normal daily routine, a sudden call or text message can either make a person extremely happy or extremely sad.  With the use of sound and lighting it is our hope that the audience members will be engaged.

            WATER BY THE SPOONFUL taps into each individual’s inner demons. Elliot and Odessa held on to the demons of their past for far too long. These demons poisoned their lives and their relationship with each other, and they missed a good portion of their lives as a result. Therefore, we want the stage to have the look and feel of deterioration to resemble their lives. At the end of the play, the past did not matter anymore, and they moved on anyway. Thus, in the end, the stage will try to convey an optimistic feeling.

Theatrical Space

• Perfect location: Palau de la Musica Catalana
• Where: Barcelona, Spain
• Why: As evidence provided by the picture, this theatre was chosen because it provides an antique feeling mixed with modern era architecture. The stage design will be beneficial to the production as it has two levels. One can be used for the chat room purposes, while the main action happens on the bottom level of the stage.
• Target audience: Middle to late age individuals who have experience some sort of loss or tragedy.

Scenic Design

• Mama Ginny’s house: This is the place where the family gathered. The house served a central figure in community building. The sofas were covered so that they will last longer. Additionally, typical house items will be covered. This will be used to signify that problems were covered so that relationships will last longer.  Additionally, there will be remains of dead roses. This will symbolize a once lively house, however, now only dead things remain.
• Odessa’s residence: This is the place where Odessa is found when she is overdosed. Additionally, it is shown when Elliot goes to pick up Odessa’s laptop to sell it to see if he can get money for it. Overall, this will be really messy but with the area around the computer clean.
• Coffee shop: This is the place where Elliot confronts Odessa about not remembering to meet Yaz and him at the flower shop.  Odessa was at the coffe shop meeting a new member of her recovery group. Elliot asks Odessa for money to pay for the flowers; unfortunately  Odessa doesn’t have any money and as a result the drama is intensified. The coffee shop will look like a mom and shop store to symbolize Odessa’s current economic status. Not too crowded. Tables covered in stripped, cheap table covers and not fancy chairs.
• Flower shop: This is the place where Elliot and Yaz pick out the flowers for Ginny’s funeral and start reminiscing about mama Ginny’s rose garden and how it died because Elliot refused to water them.  The flower shop looks neat and organized. There will be less pretty flowers on one side and more pretty but expensive flowers on the other. There will be a large amount of flowers, similar to the picture above, as implied by the text. Additionally, there will be a counter with an unfriendly service person.

           

Costume Design

• Yaz: she is an adjunct professor at the nearby university. Thus, she will dress business casual but her hair will be slightly undone to signify her ongoing battle with getting divorce and possibly loosing her house to her ex husband. Her attire would be similar to the lady in the picture, dressy but not too professional. 
• Elliot: He will dress with the subway uniform for the beginning of the play and when he goes to the hospital to say goodbye to Ginny. At other events, he will dress with jeans and a t-shirt with a hoodie to symbolize how he has failed to grow up.
• Odessa: she will start wearing well-put outfits together but that show that they are not expensive. Throughout the play, her wardrobe will start to deteriorate and she will match less and less until the point when the climax occurs, she will be dressed extremely casually.

Lighting Design

• Mama Ginny’s house: constitute of low, dim lighting. We want to convey a meaning and feeling of sadness, despair, and death. 
• Odessa’s residence: will have minimal lighting with red undertones to convey a feeling of a struggle. One single spotlight will shine on the area around the computer, with the rest of the room in shadow.
• Coffee shop: it will have drab, gray tones on the walls which will turn into shadow as the characters in the scene begin to talk to each other. The dark walls help convey a feeling of distress. All spotlights will be in the center of the room on the speaking actors. As the scene starts to become heated, the lights on the walls will slowly start to turn into a shade of fiery red. 
• Flower shop:  it will be start with an adequate amount of light, but as the scene progresses, more and more light will fill the stage. Initially, the colors of the flowers on the walls will be hard to see, but as the story progresses, the lights will brighten more and more until the room is extremely lit. This will be done to help illustrate the fact that Elliot is starting to understand more about his life purpose.

Sound Design

• Mama Ginny’s house: sound of air moving thru an empty house in the background to aid in the portraying of solitude. The house creaks and groans to show its age. These noises will be prerecorded and looped during the scene. Each main character will be given body worn microphones.
• Odessa’s residence: Muffled noises emanating from the apartments below, above, and to the sides are prerecorded and looped. There will be slightly loud looped sounds of the computer running to emphasize the key object in the room. When Odessa overdoses; the background noise level will supplemented with a high energy, rushed, and electrifying soundtrack. Each main character will be given body worn microphones.
• Coffee shop: background noise such as doorbell ringing, people walking in, doors opening and closing. People conversing with each other and waitresses taking orders from customers.  Background noises are going to be prerecorded and looped during the scene. Each character will have their own personal microphone attached to their body.
• Flower shop:  Prerecorded background noise from a set of customers that need the florist’s attention. Prerecorded background noises coming from customers flipping of the pages of rose design books, as well as the florist cutting and preparing flower arrangements. Additionally, there will be soft store music to provide a soothing tune. Each main character will be given body worn microphones.

Picture sources

http://www.tallawahmagazine.com/2013/01/reading-room-spotlight-on-water-by.html

http://www.absolutbcn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/palau-de-la-musica.jpg

http://wednesdaysinmhd.com/2011/06/08/keep-it-local-flores-mantilla/

http://allaboutfashionstuff.blogspot.com/2012/07/business-casual-and-12-h-pants.html

Dead Man's Cell Phone

Live Play versus Film

This past Saturday, I attended Lynchburg College Theatre Department's production of Dead Man's Cell Phone. The set up was constructed differently; the audience was actually seated on the stage. As a result, seats were limited to only 100. I brought my ticket online a couple of hours before the show because I wanted to avoid the disappointment of the show being sold out. However, to my dismay, the play did not sell out that night. There were a few empty seats, which were noticeable due to the way the stage was set up.

As I walked into the stage, I felt the stage lights warm up my back and I felt I was part of the play. At first I felt a little weird walking up the stage because part of me was worried that I would have to interact with the cast members.  The stage had chairs line up along three sides of the stage with rows going up. It looked similar to the picture shown below. The stage set up is called a thrust because it extends out to the audience.    

Having the stage set up as a Thrust was beneficial because it allowed the audience to focus more on the performers and the show itself. There was more intimacy between the audience and performers which you would not otherwise get if you were watching this performance in a film version. Additionally, there was more pressure on the audience to engage completely in the play. During Gordan's funeral, someone behind me started to talk through the scene. It was a lady who was explaining to the person next to her that the scene was taking place in a catholic church. People around me immediately started turning heads towards the lady, giving her obvious signs of disapproval.

In a film version, it would be easier to pause the scene and explain to the person the missing details. If the film is being viewed at a showing, where there are multiple people around, then it will still interrupt the people around them but not the actors. Moreover, while watching a film, if a phone vibrates it is easier to look at it or answer it. However, as opposed to a live version, where it would be incredibly rude to look at your phone. During the play, my phone started vibrating, I had the urge to quietly look at it to see what the notification was, however, since we were on the stage if I were to look at my phone, the light that it emits will be extremely noticeable to the people and the actors around me, since it was really dark all around me.  

In a live play, especially when you are seated on the stage, you feel drawn into the play. When Dwight and Jean started to fall in love, you could feel their emotions too, because the lights and  the sound were surrounding you. It was as if you were living the moment alongside the couple. Furthermore, the cellphone that Jean had with her actually rang. In a live play, you can tell where the ring is coming from regardless of where the cellphone was on stage. This made the play more believable and real. If you were watching the film version, you would not be able to distinguish where the sound of the cellphone ringing was coming from.

Overall, the play concluded nicely and I was able to better understand the plot. By having the audience on the stage, the actors were able to engage the audience more. This play would not have had the same effect if the audience members had been seated in the regular audience seats or if we had been watching this play through a film version.

Works Cited

Teckle, Selome. "Theater Appreciation. Blog #1: Blog 1: Proscenium, Thrust, and Arena." Theater Appreciation. Blog #1: Blog 1: Proscenium, Thrust, and Arena. N.p., 02 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

Alternative Paths to Performance

The American Musical

Musicals were once simple stories told through song and dance. Throughout time, musicals have changed and transformed themselves to adapt cultural phenomenon of the time periods in which they occurred. Early on, musical theatre explored multicultural textual elements and themes.  They explored racial themes before society as whole even began to deal with such issues.

South Pacific Musical

 

An example of a musical that explores multicultural textual elements and themes is South Pacific Musical. In this musical, an American nurse falls in love with a French individual. It takes place at a U.S Naval Base during World War II. The French individual has two children who are mixed-race. The American Women has a hard time accepting his children because of the race fact. Additionally, in the musical, a second romance occurs between a U.S. Lieutenant and a young Asian Woman. Throughout the musical, the issue is explored deeply. 

Hairspray

 

One of the major elements in Musical Theatre is dance. Over time dance began to change from entertainment to playing a vital part of the dramatic text. For example: dance is used to further the plot or reveal a character's state of mind or emotions.

 

Mama Mia

Musical theatre tends to have very little to no dialogue at all. Instead, dance sometimes combined with lyrics, represent the pure sensation and emotion. An example of this can be Mama Mia the musical, in this scene both actors do minimal talking and instead use dance and lyrics to convey their emotions, in this case, love.

 

Phantom of the Opera

 

Musicals can range from a variety of genres. Some are funny, romantic and others are discuss serious topics. A personal favorite of mine is the Phantom of the Opera. It is about a musical disfigured genius who is obsessed with a beautiful young performer. Although, this musical does not utilize a lot of dance, it relies on the emotions being conveyed through song as depicted above.

Works Cited

Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.
Hairspray the Musical at Royal Variety Performance 2007. YouTube. YouTube, 09 Dec. 2007. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

Lay All Your Love On Me. YouTube. YouTube, 07 Dec. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

The Phantom of the Opera. YouTube. YouTube, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught. Perf. Matthew Morrison & Paulo Szot. YouTube. YouTube, 06 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.


Pajama Game

Audience Perspective

I attended Lynchburg College Theater Department’s evening show, Pajama Game, on Saturday March 2^nd, 2013. It was an experience within itself; I arrived about 30 minutes before the show started in order to avoid the ticket window chaos. Apparently, more than 40 other individuals had the same idea.  I was surprised to see a long line for the ticket window; I was also discouraged when I found out that I had to stand in the same long line even though I had brought my tickets online.  As I stood in line, I observed around and I overheard an individual talking about how word had gotten out that the production was amazing and thus many people decided to check it out. I was surprised when I heard this and it gave me a good vibe, since prior to this evening, I had no expectations of the play; I was just attending because it was a class requirement.

As I stepped into the theater, I was taken aback to see the theater almost completely filled.  The seats in my row were almost complete as the leftover seats were for my boyfriend and me. I sat close to the wall, which did not provide such a good angle but nonetheless I was glad to be able to sit down.  There was an elderly couple next to me and they seemed eager for the show to start. The elderly lady was talking to another lady about one of the performers and how she was doing so well. I examined the audience before the play started and realized that there was a strong generational gap. Most of the audience members were older members of society, with the exclusion of a very few young Lynchburg College students who were also in attendance.  

 

The play started with the character Hines breaking the fourth wall with his humor and commentary on the play which he continued throughout the performance. In general, many of the comments he made broke the fourth wall and satirized the very nature of musical themselves. For example, during the song, I’ll Never Be Jealous Again; Hines made a joke about how both cast members in that scene randomly broke out into song, and mysteriously knew the exact same song and dance routine. Hines provided an excellent comic relief as well as setting up the background for the entire show.

 

 

I'll Never Be Jealous Again

Throughout the first act, the audience was great, attentive and responsive. They were laughing at all the jokes, and their claps were loud and powerful. As the play transitioned smoothly from one scene to the other during the first act, the audience seemed to go right along it. During the second act, however, the play did not seem to have the same energy and flow as the first half. Each actor continued to perform well, but overall each scene seemed disconnected from the one before. The play still ended well and the audience cheered very loudly for the grand finale.

 

Lynchburg College's Pajama Game Cast

 Immediately after leaving the theater, I was overwhelmed with the amount of people in the hallway. They weren’t moving at all, and made the exit a bit more cumbersome. Additionally, I did not have a chance to congratulate the actor Kenley Hoover on a job well done due to a swarm of people surrounding him. As we walked away from the building, we both agreed that the talent of the individuals in the play was magnificent but the flow of the play could have been a bit better.  

Carnival Tradition

History

 

Most of us are familiar with the concept of carnivals but not very much with its origins. The tradition of carnival traces its lineage from ancient Rome through medieval Europe. The ancient Romans had festivals throughout the year that served as a period in which people celebrated in a communal fashion by surpassing normally acceptable behavior. The most popular was at Saturnalia, the celebration of winter solstice, where the normal rules of society were reversed. The Church understood how important the Saturnalia tradition was and decided instead to incorporate it into Christian ritual.  Saturnalia was transformed by the Catholic Church into a celebration of wild festivity before the period of Lent. As the new world was colonized, Carnival celebrations were brought to Latin America where the European tradition encountered the cultural influences of African slaves (Felner).

Saturnalia Parade in Chester,  England 2010

 

The carnival tradition continued in various parts of the conquered world. Many developed into extravagant celebrations known worldwide; Others, not so popular, but nonetheless still inspiring.
 

 

Masquerade at the Carnival of Venice

 

 

Carnival of San Miguel

Origins

Originated in 1959, when Felix Charlaix was named governor of San Miguel. Charlaix had traveled abroad extensively to places where carnivals were common. It was from his experiences where he had the idea of bringing the carnival tradition to his homeland. Chairlaix's intention behind the carnival was to have a place in which people from all social classes could partake in and hold the festivities outside so that everyone who wanted to dance could do so (Carnival).     

 

Traditional dancers at El Carnaval de San Miguel

 

Xuc

It is accustomed that the carnival opens and closes with the same song made specifically for the carnival. It has been done since 1961 and the reason why it remains a tradition to this very day is because of its famous lyrics that express the openness of the carnival to everyone. Additionally, a new type of dance, Xuc, was created to accompany this song. Below is an example of such.

 



 

El Carnaval de San Miguel traditional song and dance

 

 

The Carnival of San Miguel has exceeded the borders, and is considered as one of the most important carnivals in Latin America. Some might even say that it currently occupies second place in recognition. Second to the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (El Salvador Destinos).

 

More than four decades later, the Carnival of San Miguel has surpassed all the original expectations. Year by year, thousands of individuals visit San Miguel, with the purpose of enjoying the festivities including myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

"Carnaval De San Miguel - Edición 2012." Carnaval De San Miguel. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"Carnival." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

"El Salvador Destinos - San Miguel." El Salvador Destinos - San Miguel. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.

Folklore Salvadoreño.CARNAVAL DE SAN MIGUEL. BALLET FOLKLORICO NACIONAL EL SALVADOR. Youtube.com, 2009.

Saturnalia Parade, Chester 2010. YouTube. YouTube, 03 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.