Sunday, April 25, 2010

Side Show Musical Performance Report

Introduction:

The performance being analyzed in this report is the Sideshow Musical put on by UT Dallas students that was hosted for two weekends. The performance was in the theater room on campus; a still relatively small room, but a room well suited for a theatrical presentation such as this one.

Music:

The music performed during this concert was all performed by the live band and by the performers. The repertoire of music performed during this musical was greatly varied in genre and instrumentation (of both the voices and the band). There were numbers in which almost the entire crew participated, and there were also a numerous amount of solos, each of which were primarily performed by the main characters. The pieces ranged from musical dialogue to jazz pieces, as well as slower, more classical songs typically attributed to musicals.

The fact that a live band played the instrumental parts behind the vocal performers enhanced the quality of the show as a whole. With the live band there, it felt like the performance was being performed for each audience anew, and allowed the focus to lie in the performance as a whole (instrumental music, storyline, and singers) as opposed to solely the singers and the storyline.

Performers:

Although this performance was indeed focused on the music, there were so many other aspects that contributed to the development of the performance as a whole. First, of all, many of the songs had choreography to compliment the musical number. Secondly, all of the performers had to be able to both act and sing. The very essence of this performance being a musical was that there was a storyline connecting all of the musical pieces together in a coherent manner.

The performers were also all dressed in character, helping to enhance the presentation of the musical. In this manner, the audience could generally tell the characteristics of a character based on what costume they were wearing. The performers well adhered to their characters (especially in considering the show was based on a side show of “freaks” in which nearly every character had some peculiar trait or characteristic). The performers were quite successful at staying in character, even when the spotlight wasn’t exclusively on them at the moment. Occasionally, the performers would even interact with the audience within the confines of their character, and the audience members would react accordingly, whether or not it was an expression of fear, surprise, or laughter.

Audience:

I attended this show on the second Friday night it was being performed (the 5th out of the 6th performances). Nevertheless, the room still sported a generally full crowd, signifying the popularity of this musical, which is surprising, as generally the size of the audience generally tends to decline over time.

Despite the fact that it was the 5th performance, the performers still received a standing ovation at the end, signifying that the show was well received by both this audience and most likely the audiences before.

Time and Space:

As mentioned before, the performance was located in the theater room, which helped to establish a closer atmosphere between the audience and the performers, due to the small size of the room, and the close proximity of the audience to the stage itself.

I viewed the performance on a Friday night, which could also have contributed to the full audience. The fact that the performance was on a Friday night could have encouraged more students to come, as it was a way to start off their weekend.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this performance entailed all of the characteristics of a musical plus more. There was the fact that all elements of the performance were completely live (the band, and the actors / singers). Many numbers also contained choreography. Yet, this performance was also unique, in that there was a relatively close, comfortable atmosphere established between the audience and the performers. Also, still maintaining a standing ovation this late in the series of performances helps to establish the audience support of the quality of the production.

Works Cited:

Sideshow: The Musical. UTD Theater Room, Richardson. 16 April 2010. Performance.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Early Rock Genre

The Rock subgenre I am focusing on is the classical rock genre that is noted by artists such as Elvis Presley, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, etc. In particular I am focusing on analyzing the musical elements of this early / classical rock and then a descriptive listening analysis of Elvis’s song Jailhouse Rock.

There are many musical elements of this early rock. First, electric guitar is a prominent instrument within the ensemble of the rock band, albeit the ensemble is usually no more than 3-6 people. Secondly, a key characteristic that differentiates rock from other genres, most notably jazz, is that rock songs provide a high emphasis on the lyrics and the singing within the composition. The singing in rock is usually more emotional and powerful than that of say the pop genre, but this is more reflective of the culture of almost a rebellious energy. Thirdly, this genre of rock music usually maintains strong, simple beats (according to the textbook, usually a four-beat cycle). This simple beat structure usually allows listeners and fans to better follow the song, and even learn and sing to the early rock songs they like. Finally, the use of technology does not pertain to early rock as much as it does to later rock, but technology is often used within rock to enhance the song through methods such as multi-track recording.

In the youtube video embedded below, you can immediately hear the electric guitar when you begin the song(0:00). Secondly, throughout the entire song you can get a feel that the singing in this song is just as important as the music (beginning at 0:07). Finally, the bass line usually helps to carry the simple, four beat structure that typically defined this early rock music. The best portion of the song to hear this four beat structure is between 0:19 and 0:29 (albeit this same “lick” is repeated throughout the song). The final element, the technological element is not that apparent in this song, aside from the electric guitar, since Elvis is literally the artist that is considered to have started the early rock genre.



Monday, April 12, 2010

Gullah People Music Culture

The music culture of the Gullah people is a strong factor of what ties them together in such a strong community. The music is a way that the Gullah people feel connected to their ancestors, spirits, their religion, etc. The music culture is highly focused on the Gullah people recognizing and accepting their past history of slavery and how that grew them as a people into the identity they have today.

The music in and of itself is heavily focused on the use of rhythmic beats through percussion. The music also is highly involved with nearly everyone participating in the music in same manner such as dancing, singing, or playing an instrument, much like the African music culture in Sierra Leone that the Gullah people link themselves to. In fact, not only is singing and dancing among both the performers and the audience important but also the spiritual aspect of the dance. The Gullah people believe spirits and ancestors are incorporated into their music, not only directing their music and dancing, but also acting as the primary audience that the music directed to. This music culture uses music as a type of a remembrance of the struggle that their ancestors had while still within the confines of slavery.

However, it is important to note that the music culture is not merely focused on performances, but is in fact of integral part of everyday life. The fact that their music is tied into so many aspects of their life, such as their religion allows their music to transcend many traditional boundaries of music, and allows the music to act as a force drawing the people together as a closer community.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Shakespeare in Song

Introduction:

The performance being analyzed in this report is the Shakespeare in Song Concert that was performed by the UT Dallas Chamber Singers on the Friday and Saturday nights at the beginning of April (April 1st and 2nd). The performance was performed in the Johnson Performance Hall, a relatively small performance hall located on campus.

Music:

The music performed during this concert are the songs contained in the plays of Shakespeare. According to the program notes, the repertoire performed during this concert included “authentic [original] compositions [of Shakespeare’s plays], the solo songs of Roger Quilter, and the choral arrangements of Matthew Harris” (Program Notes). Besides the chorus, there was also a conductor and a pianist. Within the chorus itself, nearly all the vocal ranges were represented and the choir was almost evenly divided male and female. The performance itself took advantage of the broad vocal range, and sought to feature different vocal groups in different songs. For instance, in the song entitled Willow, was performed only by the female singers in the group

Performers:

Although the music was indeed important during this performance, the performers were the ones who really brought this performance to life. This was evident in many ways. First, all of the performers (including the conductor and the pianist), were dressed in very Shakespearian clothing to represent the type of music they were singing. Secondly, in between the actual songs were dialogues or occasionally monologues by the choir members in which the singers utilized their acting skills. These dialogues (with the support of the program notes and slide show) served a very important purpose in setting up each song and providing the audience a context with which to appreciate each song.

The way in which the performers interacted with each other is also of note. During the choral pieces, the conductor had the attention of all of the performers within the chorus as well as the pianist, as should have been the case. However, during the solo performances the atmosphere on stage between the performers is quite different, as the only communication between the performers is between the pianist and the soloist. In the solo performances, the pianist watches the soloists mouth to determine when to start, when to speed up, when to slow down, etc.

Audience:

I viewed the concert on the first night it was performed. The room was about 80% full, probably consisting of 100-125 people. The audience helped enhance the performance through the interaction that they had with the performers. The performer-audience interaction in this performance differed from other performances. Unlike some other concerts, the performers expected the audience to clap between each set, or after the solos, or laugh during the comical dialogues. Finally, the audience responded very well at the end of the performance; a portion of the audience gave a standing ovation

Time and Space:

As mentioned before, the concert was performed in the Johnson Performance hall on a Friday and Saturday night (I viewed it on the Friday night). I think the fact that it was on campus and on a Friday and Saturday night encouraged students to come, as it was close and on nights when the following days were not school days.

However, the actual space played into the performance as well. The fact that the performance hall was a relatively smaller performance hall encouraged a greater participation between the performers and the audience as the smaller venue created a closer, more intimate atmosphere.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, this concert was not just a pure choral recital as the program title might have suggested. On the contrary, it was a full performance with the performers acting (in costume) as well as singing, featuring both solo music and choral music. The time of the concerts encouraged students to come (even though the audience wasn’t overwhelmingly students), and the performance hall encouraged a closer, more intimate interaction between the performers and the audience, and enhanced the performance as a whole.

Works Cited

Shakespeare in Song. Johnson Performance Hall, Richardson. 26 March 2010. Performance.