Theater Appreciation 11/10/08

Theatre Appreciation 11/10/08 Another Show Change A Tale of Two Cities Closes on 11/16 Had $16 million budget 33 previews, 68 regular performances Last week, 44.5% house Mixed reviews Blamed economic turndown Replacement show: American Buffalo by David Mamet Directed by Robert Falls Three actor play with Haley Joel Osment, Cedric the Entertainer, and John Leguizamo More details to follow about ticket exchange If you have guests you must bring you extra $4 if you have not yet handed that in. We will give you the same performances as A Tale of Two Cities Jameson Project Blue / Orange 10 questions Return on Wednesday to Alaina Next Jameson (and final) will have 15 questions. Extra Credit Email me your request Must have ticket stub with your paper Another cabaret show this weekend Songs for a New World Box Office: 732-846-2134 Discussion Daisy in Disguise What was the point? To be yourself Themes? Gender stereotypes Were you able to see it through a child?s eyes, or was it hard to get into it as a college student? Was this playing on two different levels? Yes, it applied to kids, but had some adult humor as well. ** Theater for Young Audiences (TYA) What was appealing to the adults? Slapstick humor The design (it was cartoonish) The physical part of the play: Actually played basketball (weren?t that great at it!) Jump rope (one had better skills than the other) Dancing The storm Do you have a different standard for this play as opposed to It Ain?t Nothin? but the Blues? What was the target audience? 5-10 years old Huge technical difficulties Awful sound system One of the girl?s mics was not working. Would you rather see child actors or adult actors? It Ain?t Nothin but the Blues Like a review, a lot of music from a lot of different song writers What unified this production? The photographs, had a conversation with what was going on onstage Photos also displayed history There was a historical narrative It was linear (in chronological order) Instruments moved along with the story. From an African drum to a band. The actors had relationships Costumed unified it It was all American music except for the 1st song. It was all blues, all African-American music. How many people got a historical lesson out of it? Didn?t realize how much blues influences so many other genres of music. Were you moved by the songs that had deep serious meanings? How can we characterize the 1st act vs. the 2nd act? 1st was birth, 2nd was how it changed 1st was oppression, 2nd was rising up in society 1st was simple, 2nd was more sophisticated In the 2nd act, they were sill connected to their roots The tree symbolized growth. 1st was more personal, 2nd was more commercial (the music) 1st was rural, 2nd was urban 1st slavery theme, 2nd civil rights Theme of hope that never left.