Theater and My Everyday Life

Theater is my life. It is what I live for. When I first decided to do theater, I always made the joke that I didn’t know how to do anything else. After my first semester here, I realize that it is all I want to do. Theater can relate to my everyday life. Theater is all around us. We can see it in interactions around people. I know that especially in retail, selling is like theater. You have to act like you care about what people are thinking. I once had a ten minute conversation about Ford Trucks. I haven’t got the first clue about Ford Trucks. I did however make a sale. I was acting. To be more correct, I was improving. It is all around us. A group of people performing to an audience. We see this is sports, banquets, award ceremonies, etc. For me, theater has always been an escape. Sometimes, you just have to get out of the real world and transform yourself into someone else. You get the chance to completely change your personality and take on a whole new persona. It is one of the most stimulating experiences that anyone can experience. I am also very passionate about tennis. Tennis, in my opinion is one of the hardest sports someone can play. I played in High School and I was fairly decent. I can relate theater to my experiences playing tennis. I could always feel that same surge of energy when I would walk onto the court when I would walk onto the stage. The crowd would always clap when I would win a match and they would always be watching my every move. It is very much like theater. The audience comes, applauds, and are always watching what you do. I am most comfortable when I am performing. I have absolutely no problem being in front of a large group of people. In school whenever I would have to give a speech, I would always go up there with confidence. I have this quality, where I don’t care what people think. Therefore, when it comes to small things like that, I don’t get nervous. It would be the same with tennis. I was never worried that I was going to embarrass myself. If I would ever mess up, I could cover it. That is what theater is about. It’s about acting on your feet. It is being able to act around people you don’t know. I have seen this every day. People who don’t care for each other, will pretend to act like they are best friends. It’s theater. It’s all an act. Theater can be found in a variety of things. The section of theater, that I find most interesting is teaching. I think that teachers would make the best actors/actresses. They have to pretend like they care about every single person that they are teaching no matter how much they may hate them. That takes talent. Theater is a part of everyone’s life. There is no way to avoid it, and in all honesty, why would anyone want to?

They Say The Neon Lights Are Bright On Broadway

Broadway. The destination for all the young actors and the home for all the legends. I know that Broadway is one of my favorite places to be. The bright lights, the sounds, the music, the drama, the acting, it all blows my mind. Currently, some of the new shows on Broadway are: A Little Night Music, Memphis, Ragtime, Finians Rainbow, and Bye Bye Birdie. Some of the classical shows still running on Broadway are: The Lion King, Chicago, West Side Story, Wicked, and Mary Poppins. The process for choosing a Broadway show, in my opinion, is very difficult. First you have to choose the show you want to see. If you don’t have a show picked out that you are dying to see, it makes your life so much harder. I can remember, this year for my birthday, my parents said they would take me to see a show. The problem was, there was nothing on Broadway that really sparked my interest. The past three years, I had had my passion shows (Young Frankenstein, The Producers, and Chicago). I went online and looked at the reviews. I had noticed that West Side Story had had decent reviews so I decided to go online and watch some videos on youtube. I saw the Tony Awards video and thought, “Eh, Why not?” So that was the show I chose. Next I had to find the tickets. Now of course, you can go to the show’s website and buy tickets, but I have found that you can find discount tickets online at sites such as Cheapseats.com, Etickets.com, or Discounttickets.com. I was able to find $45 seats. They were in the very last row of the balcony, it doesn’t matter. You can see and hear just fine from the balcony. There are always new shows every year. Shows open and shows close so that newer shows can go on Broadway. Recently, Young Frankenstein closed because it wasn’t received as well as the Producers, which holds the records for the most Tony Awards won. It won 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical. I think my favorite show that I have ever seen on Broadway was Chicago. Chicago was the first musical that I saw that wasn’t Disney or A Year With Frog And Toad with my school chorus. I took a trip with my family and for my birthday, they bought me tickets to see Chicago with Brooke Shields. Chicago is the reason I do theater. Ever since I saw that show, I knew that that is what I wanted to do. Some of the shows that have been running the longest are: Chicago, Phantom of the Opera, Perfect Crime, and Cats. Unfortunatly, I have noticed that Broadway has been getting more commercial. The number of shows that are originals have decrease. A lot of the shows on Broadway now are based on movies. I can’t help but think, “Get an original thought people!” I am not saying that these shows are bad, but some of the best shows of our time have been original ideas. Legally Blonde: The Musical, didn’t stand a chance to win Best Musical.

The Alliance Theater Company

The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the most prestigious theater’s in the U.S. It recently won the Regional Theater Tony Award in 2007 and that put it on the map. It has grown from the Atlanta Municipal Theater which staged its first production of King Arthur in 1968. After that production is when it became the Alliance Theater Company. It has had many greats of the theatrical world walk through its doors. People such as Morgan Freeman, Richard Dreyfus, and Cybill Shepard have all been feature in various shows presented there. In 1988, Kenny Leon became the artistic director and ever since, the theater has taken off. He would put on more diverse shows so as to attract many different groups of people such as the African Americans with productions of A Raison In The Sun. Many different shows have gone through there, including Tim Rice and Elton John’s Aida, which went to Broadway shortly after and won the Tony award for Best Original Musical Score. Soon after, Leon resigned and Susan Booth took over in 2000 and under her direction, the production of The Color Purple, which also went to Broadway, and Sister Act: The Musical. Over the course of one year, the Alliance Theater will put on 10 productions, all of Broadway caliber. It is a 770 seat Auditorium, with a 200 seat Studio Theater. The theater also offers and outreach program. They have acting classes and theater for youth. Currently playing is Charles Dickons, “A Christmas Carol.” I consider like any other performing arts center, except for the fact that they welcome shows that could possibly go to Broadway or shows that are previewing before their Broadway debut. That is why I feel that it is so interesting. In our hometown, we have a Community Arts Center that houses touring shows. The Alliance Theater takes on new shows. They even have a studio theater in which, I’m assuming, local theater groups could perform in or other shows could workshop in. They do offer internships as well. It is called the STARS program and it gives younger people the chance to work behind the scenes with technical and management aspects of theater. They also offer volunteer programs for people who are interested in getting involved with theater, no matter what branch. One of the parts of the STARS program is an Ushering Organization. They teach you how to usher, and give you the experience you want working on shows that come through Atlanta. I find that this theater would be a great environment to work in. It seems like they would be very welcoming. It doesn’t seem to be incredibly political like other theaters. They also don’t have an artistic mission posted, but in my opinion, I think that their mission is to spread the world of theater. I love the fact that they do experimental theater. Most people in society frown upon experimental theater, but this is one of the more famous theaters in the U.S. and they are promoting it. All in all, I would have to say that the Alliance Theater Company is one of the more impressive theaters in our society.

Foundations Play

Scene 2

(Waiters and waitresses skate around, holding trays. A bar is nearby, with a table center
Elizabeth and Freddie sit at the center table, Derek and Tammy are around the bar. Lights go to
normal.)

FREDDIE
Hello… Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH
Hello… Freddie.

(They laugh. A waitress, the seductive Claire Voyant, skates up.)

CLAIRE
Well, hi there. Welcome to Club Helium. What can I get you to drink tonight?
ELIZABETH
I’ll have a tequila, no lemon.
CLAIRE
Mmmhmm. And you?
FREDDIE
I’ll have the same.

(He hands her the menu. They exchange a glance.)

CLAIRE
Don’t I… know you?
FREDDIE
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
CLAIRE
One tequila…
FREDDIE
No… lemon.

(They both take in a breath.)

CLAIRE
All right.

(She skates away.)

FREDDIE
It would appear we have similar tastes.
ELIZABETH
We shall see.
FREDDIE
You’re a mysterious woman.
ELIZABETH
I don’t like to give too much away.
FREDDIE
Ah, yes. I could tell by your dress. Anyway, would you say you’re a… rough… individual?
ELIZABETH
I’m just a girl who likes to have a good time.
FREDDIE
Me, too. A guy, I mean.
ELIZABETH
I assumed so.
FREDDIE & ELIZABETH
(Simultaneously) Of course, I like to be in charge. Ohhhh.

(They laugh.)

ELIZABETH
Well, it seems we do have a lot in common.
FREDDIE
It would appear so.
ELIZABETH
Beautiful night, isn’t it?
FREDDIE
A beautiful night for a beautiful couple.
ELIZABETH
Awww. That’s cute.

(She pokes his cheek. He is disconcerted by this.)

FREDDIE
You know, we’ve so much in common, you and me, and the night is so young and so beautiful, I just can’t see how anything could go wrong.

(CLAIRE has come back with the drinks.)

CLAIRE
Here are your drinks.
FREDDIE
Well thank you very much.

(Freddie and Elizabeth begin to drink. Freddie finishes his drink quite quickly. Elizabeth just looks at him.)

ELIZABETH
Did you enjoy your drink?
FREDDIE
Yes I did, thanks….are you done with yours?
ELIZABETH
Um…no…not quite…

(Freddie takes the drink from her and finishes it)

FREDDIE
You know, I really can’t take my eyes off of your…your…(stares at her chest)…dr..dress.
ELIZABETH
Well, gee. Thanks!...I think…
FREDDIE

Oh, you’re more than welcome!
(Freddie, picks the knife off his plate, and reaches over, slowly inserting the knife into her cleavage. She sits there, staring in disbelief. He then starts slowly pulling it out and pushing it back in until he notices the look on her face. He pulls it out.)

ELIZABETH
What the hell was that?
FREDDIE
What do you mean?
ELIZABETH
You just violated my boobs with your knife!
FREDDIE
Which means….?
ELIZABETH
Which means you’re a crazy son of a bitch!
FREDDIE
Good god you are uptight. I thought you would like it!
ELIZABETH
That’s not the point!
FREDDIE
Well what is the point!?
ELIZABETH
God, nevermind.
FREDDIE
Lovely. I think I’m gonna just… go… to the bathroom.
ELIZABETH
Take… your time.

(He gets up and moves to Derek at the bar. Attention focuses to Derek and Tammy at the bar.)

TAMMY
Do you come here often?
DEREK
No. I usually do that at home.
TAMMY
…..oh….have you ever been to Club Helium before..is what…I meant..
DEREK
No. This is my first time. You?
TAMMY
No. It’s my first time too, and you know, it’s just a bit over-stimulating.
DEREK
I know exactly what you mean, with all the lights and everything. I’d much rather be home.
TAMMY
Me too. I got dragged here by my friend.

DEREK
Me too.
TAMMY
Really? Wow, we’ve got a lot in common.
FREDDIE
Derek! Derek, let’s get out of here.
DEREK
Now, wait a minute. I was gonna stay a bit.
FREDDIE
You stay here, I’m going home. I’ve got to escape this blind date from hell!

(He leaves.)

TAMMY
Well, that was interesting.
DEREK
Don’t worry about him. He’s just a friend.
TAMMY
The one who dragged you here?
DEREK
Yeah.
TAMMY
You know, sometimes people don’t –
ELIZABETH
Psst.
(She attracts Tammy’s attention.)
Psst.
TAMMY
(Moving to the table) What?
ELIZABETH
I’m getting out of here. My date just went to the bathroom and I can’t take him anymore.
TAMMY
So you’re gonna ditch him?
ELIZABETH
Yes.
TAMMY
Well, I’m staying here for a bit.
ELIZABETH
Really? Wow, Tammy, good for you. Now, I gotta scram before the creature from the black lagoon comes back!

(She exits. Tammy moves back to the bar.)

TAMMY
Seems like my friend is leaving, too.

DEREK
Ha. What a small world. Buy you a drink.
TAMMY
I don’t have any money.
DEREK
That’s why I said I’m gonna buy you one.
TAMMY
Oh. Right.
DEREK
Barkeep! A drink!

(The bartender pops up from behind the bar.)

BARTENDER
All right, what can I get you?
DEREK & TAMMY
I’ll have a martini, shaken not stirred.

(They gasp and look at each other.)

DEREK
Wow….you know…you really are pretty…
TAMMY
I know..I MEAN! You are to…HANDSOME…
DEREK
I keep getting lost in your eyes…

(The waiters and waitresses gather around the table, flanking it admiringly, and at the top of the table, Derek and Tammy go in for the most fantastic kiss ever. Blackout.)

GOD
Moral of the story….BLIND DATES DON’T WORK!

Nathan Lane

Pseudolous, Nathan Detroit, Max Bialystock, and now Gomez Addams: all characters portrayed by Nathan Lane. Nathan Lane is one of the most famous artists to ever hit Broadway. Funnily enough, his name is actually Joseph. When he went to register for Actor’s Equity, there was already a Joseph Lane registered, so he changed his name after playing Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. With the kind of person I think he is, I am not surprised. He started out doing stand-up comedy in New York City. Then slowly he started getting involved with groups in New York that work shopped new shows. He starred in a lot of smaller Broadway shows. After appearing in a production of Merlin with Chita Rivera and plays by Neil Simon, he ended up starring in the revival of Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit. This role landed him his first Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award. His big break was playing Pseudolous in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. He won the Tony award for this performance. After that, his career really took off. He worked shopped on Assassins with Sondheim, The Man Who Came To Dinner, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream. He is most known for his work on The Producers of which he portrayed Max Bialystock. He won the Tony award for this performance. It is ironic because both his nomination and his award winning performance were both roles that were portrayed by Zero Mostel. He then went on to star along with Matthew Broderick again, in The Odd Couple. I remember trying to get tickets for this show because I wanted to see it so badly, but it was impossible. He then stared in David Mamet’s play, November and now he is working on The Addams Family as Gomez Addams opposite Bebe Neuwirth. Nathan Lane has always been an idol of mine. The first thing I ever saw him in was The Mousetrap. The Mousetrap used to be my favorite movie. It was one of the movies that I could watch, rewind, and watch again. When I found out that he was in The Producers, I wanted to go see it more than anything. Unfortunatly, I found out he was in it, after he was off the show. I did end up seeing it. I saw it with Roger Bart as Leo and Tony Danza as Max. This of course did not do Nathan Lane justice. I have always kind of considered him a role model. It is my dream to be just as famous as he is one day. I have read that he is one of the nicest celebrities that you could ever meet. I want people to say that about me one day. Nathan Lane has a way of captivating an audience. He has such stage presence and you can always tell that he is doing this for the audience and because it is what he loves to do. I have only ever seen clips of him on stage and I am blown away. Even when you see him in movies, you can tell that he is really enjoying himself. I myself have portrayed Pseudulous in my High Schools production of Forum and I saw bits and pieces of him in that role and I remembered thinking that I wanted to channel Nathan Lane. Of course, I wanted to put myself in the character, but I wanted that charisma in my performance. The funny thing is I don’t think he has that great of a singing voice, but it doesn’t matter. After learning about all of the different techniques and the “foundations” of theater so to speak, I can fully appreciate his talent for what it is. That is why it doesn’t matter that he isn’t the best singer. He has a character voice. He has an amazing character voice. People flock to his shows. The tickets cost a fortune to see a Nathan Lane show. I remember that we wanted to get my dad tickets to see The Odd Couple, but it just wasn’t in the cards. I think it’s great that the role of Nathan Detroit was one of the first roles that Nathan Lane performed and then it ended up being his break out role. In conclusion, I would like to take this time to honor the great Nathan Lane. He is one of the greatest actors of his generation and he is someone that I have always looked up to.

Glengarry Glen Ross

Glengarry Glen Ross. Winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Price from Drama. Possibly one of the world’s greatest plays. It has a great story with great characters that people love to watch. That’s what makes a great play. I think that another very important factor is the conflict in the story. It is not your everyday conflict of a play. It has pizzazz. According to the Introductory to Play Analysis book, chapter five, there are six important questions to ask yourself when analyzing a story’s conflict. Who is the protagonist? In Glengarry Glen Ross, the protagonist could be a multitude of people. In my opinion, a protagonist is the character who has to fight the antagonist, whatever or whoever that might be. He/she also is the character that you are rooting for. I feel that this story could have many protagonists, but in my opinion, I feel that the protagonist is Levene; Shelly Levene. He is that character who starts off the show in turmoil. He feels that he is going to be fired because the bossman, Williamson is not giving him any of the leads that Levene needs to make sales. He says that he has a family to support and that he is one of the best people that the firm has, but he is not being used to his full potential. Williamson, who is working for Murray and Mitch, is not giving Levene leads because he did not successfully close his last two. The company is afraid Levene is going to lose money for them. Therefore, Levene and Williamson are in a Chinese restaurant and Levene is pleading with him to give him at least one lead from the B-list. Later on in the show, we learn that Levene sells eight of the properties on the B-list and makes $82,000. The only problem is that when Levene comes in with his good news, he “doesn’t know” that the office has been robbed therefore making his sale useless. As a reader, I felt awful for Levene. An audience member I think would have no choice but to root for Levene. Of course, it later comes out that Levene is actually the one who robbed the office, but you fight for him all the way to the end. Levene’s opposing forces, I think are Williamson, Murray, and Mitch. They are the upper members of the company and they are the ones who are keeping Levene down. I also think that Levene’s job is also one of his opposing forces. The pressures of his career are really causing him a lot of stress in his life, and in my opinion, it is what causes him to rob the office in the first place. He needed money and he wasn’t getting any further in life with where he was, so he sold his leads to an opposing office and made $2500. He did what he had to do in his time of crisis. In my opinion, the climax of the story is when Williamson finds out that Levene is the one who robbed the office. It is the part of the story where the audience has an “Oh shit” moment. They realize that Levene, the character that they have been rooting for, the one who had robbed the office. I know that when I was reading it, I was very upset that my favorite character was the one who had robbed the office. It made me like the character a lot more, but I was disappointed. The major dramatic question in the plot is who robbed the office. We are given hints throughout the first act, mostly in scene two when Moss is talking to Aaronow about robbing the office and how he doesn’t have a choice. That is why the moment when the audience finds out that Levene is the one who committed the crime is such a shock. I think that the major conflict is introduced in the first scene. In my opinion, the true conflict of Glengarry Glen Ross, is the complications of their career lives. This is shown in the first scene with Levene and Williamson. Levene is freaking out and is begging Williamson to give him leads so that he can go out and try and close more deals. He uses his family as a defense and says that he needs to support his daughter. I think that this is also foreshadowing to what is going to happen later on in the show. The moment of engagement is when Levene gets Williamson to give him leads off of the B-list. This is the point where Levene’s character has achieved part of his goal as a character, but ultimately leads to the beginning of his conflict. In my opinion, I think that for the most part, the proposed introductory incident, moment of engagement, and the climax all support the major dramatic question. The only one that I thought could have been stronger was the introductory incident. I don’t feel like the audience has enough in the beginning to understand why what happens, happens. It seems like Levene trying to get leads doesn’t give him enough of a motive to rob the office. With a show like Glengarry Glen Ross, discovering the overall conflict is very difficult. Each character almost seems to have their own conflicts. Because of the way the scenes are set up, it is very complicated to pick out a sort of overall conflict that each character shares. That is why I think that the overall conflict, is the robbery of the office. It is almost a sort of whodunit. Each character has a different reason to rob the office, but you as an audience member are waiting in anticipation to see who the culprit is. Also, Act One Scene Two throws the audience off because you expect it to be either Moss or Aaronow. It is one of the red herrings in the show. All in all, I think that the conflict in Glengarry Glen Ross very much groups all of the characters together and gives them all motivation to rob the office.

Urinetown

Urinetown: The Musical. In my opinion, it is one of the most interesting shows ever written. When I first read it, I thought that it was a farce on the government. Other people see it as just a funny show. Some people see it as symbolism and that the show plot stands for some sort of historic event. Who is to say who is right. All I know that this show has changed my life. I was in it as Bobby Strong. Bobby strong is the leading man/hero type. The main plot of the story takes place after a huge drought that dried up all the water so the government has to conserve the water. How might they do that? By eliminating private bathrooms and forcing everyone to use public amenities and they have to pay to get in. My character, Bobby, works for one of the amenities and one day when his father doesn’t have enough money to pay, he decides to go right on the street. Little known to the audience, it is illegal to just go right in the street. His father is arrested and is taken to Urinetown, the mysterious place that no one knows about, but they all know it is not good. Bobby realizes that what they are doing is wrong. The people should pee for free! He leads a revolution against the Urine Good Company (UGC) and ends up kidnapping the love of his life, who just happens to be the daughter of the leader of the UGC, Cladwell. To make a long story short, Bobby ends up getting tricked into meeting with Cladwell and Cladwell decides to kill him off by taking him to Urinetown. It turns out that Urinetown doesn’t even exist. They take people to the top of the UGC building and just throw them off. The revolutionee’s are furious and they decide to take Cladwell down themselves. They throw him off the roof as well and Hope takes over. They come to realize that no matter how evil Cladwell was, his laws for dealing with water consumption was just what the town needed. The water eventually all dried up and everyone dies or moves to another just as horrible town. Sure the show doesn’t end on a happy note, but it is absolutely brilliant.
The writer of Urinetown is Greg Kotis. The story behind it, is that he was traveling in Europe and he came across a pay-per-use toilet. That was all it took. Seeing something as absurd to an American as a public toilet, leading to an award winning Broadway show. This is why I think that the show is a farce on government. Kotis obviously found it funny enough to write a show about it. He then partnered with Mark Hollman to write the lyrics. They then went to Broadway but no companies would even think of producing the show because of the subject matter. In my opinion, people wouldn’t give the show the time of day because of the title. We tried to do it at my school, and they wouldn’t let us. They didn’t even read it. They based their opinion on the title. Finally, they found an experimental theater group that would let them workshop their show. When that deal fell through, they then found themselves at the New York Fringe Festival. When a friend of theirs came and saw the show, he called The Araca Group and eventually ended up on Broadway.
This show is very personal to me. When our school decided to perform it, I was so excited. I went out and bought the CD and learned the songs. It was a couple of weeks later when I learned that our principal wouldn’t let us do the show. I was furious. I knew that he hadn’t read it. I went in to talk to him and he said that he could put the title on the announcements let alone let us put on the show. I was incredibly let down. I thought this was going to be my dream show. A year later, I heard that our Community Theater League was going to be doing it. I was ecstatic! This was the part I wanted! One of my dream roles! I couldn’t help but feel that I wouldn’t get it because this was a community theater. It wasn’t high school. However, I knew that I would be just as happy being in the chorus. The auditions came and I went up and sang my heart out. They had us do cold readings and then sent us on our way. At this time, I was doing another production at the same theater. It was a student original show. During one rehearsal, the person who was directing Urinetown pulled me out of the rehearsal and told me that I got the part. I actually shouted out loud, “Oh my God!” I had stopped the rehearsal that I was currently in and people came to make sure that everything was ok. I had gotten my first part in the community theater and I was only in 11th grade. The thing you have to understand is that this community theater, like most community theaters, was one of the most political foundations I have ever seen. When they would announce their season, you could always tell who was going to get what parts based on who was directing and what the shows were. This was one of the first times that a new person had gotten a lead part. It wasn’t even a cast of the usuals. It was a cast of mostly younger kids and people who are usually involved backstage. It was one of the shows that I am most proud of. It was a show where I could really showcase myself. I had a theater scout from Susquehanna come out and see it and he came up to me afterwards and shook my hand and told me that my performance was Broadway quality. I don’t think I would go that far, but I worked so incredibly hard on this part. It is the part that I always put on my audition sheets first when asked to list theater history. This show changed my life. I also met a lot of people who I consider my closest friends now. It was probably the best theatrical experience of my life and perhaps even the best experience of my life.

West Side Story

Over Thanksgiving break, for my friend’s birthday, I took him to see West Side Story in New York. I was fairly excited to see such a big show, and such a well known show, done on Broadway. When we got there, we discovered that we were in the very last row of the balcony. What can you expect for 45 dollar tickets? As far as the acting goes, everyone seemed to do a fairly decent job. I really enjoyed the girl who played Anita’s performance. She had stage presence and when she walked onto the stage, she owned the stage. Even if the scene she was in and she only had one line, she made the most of it. The girl who played Maria also did a great job. She had the character down. It was really exciting to watch her change in her character from the beginning to the end. Maria has a definite character 180 and the girl playing her pulled it off fantastically. The man playing Tony however, was not so great. He didn’t seem to have any chemistry with Maria at all, or with any of the other characters for that matter. His voice also didn’t fit the role at all. He sounded much too “poppy” like he should be in a music video. He didn’t have a bad voice, but all of the other characters had character voices, so it made his really stand out. The chorus for the most part, was very talented. They were all very skilled in their choreography and vocal ability. The woman who plays Riff’s girlfriend definitely stood out over everyone in the chorus. She has the dance solo with Riff in the Gymnasium and she blew me away. Her legs were all over the place. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She had the perfect “dumb blonde” thing down. She was one of the characters that stood out the most. Overall, the ensemble did an amazing job. They were really into their character and they all had great interaction on stage with each other. The perfect example would be the scene in the gymnasium. Having the two clashing groups doing the same dances, but showing the different styles was absolutely breathtaking. The choreography in that scene was stunning and having the different ways of dancing the same dance really helped convey the author’s main points.
Everyone knows the story of West Side Story. It is pretty much a semi-updated version of Romeo and Juliet. The revival, which is currently running, has been tweaked a little. A lot of the dialogue of the Puerto Ricans has been changed to Spanish. I found this to be a little annoying. I had no clue what they were saying. I did not take Spanish in high school. What are the people who come to see the show, who don’t know Spanish supposed to do? I thought it did make the story more realistic, but from and audiences point of view, it was not the best choice on the writer’s part. The genre of West Side Story is drama. A lot of the characters in West Side Story have turning points. Almost everyone in the show, at one point or another, changes their entire outlook on the situation and some even on life. I love the characters of West Side Story. I feel like they all personify the traits that they have. I also enjoy the parallel it has to Romeo and Juliet.
All in all, the direction of the revival was just ok. I have gone to High School productions of West Side Story and in all honesty, I have had more fun. Of course the talent ability was much better on Broadway, but there were some directorial choices that I just didn’t agree with. I think that since West Side Story is so well known that the director felt that his actors would just automatically assume what they were supposed to do. The blocking just seemed to be very stagnant. It did seem to move unusually slowly. I understand that it is a long show, but the second act seemed to drag on more that it should have, and it is significantly shorter. I feel that the director decided to let his show rest on the fact that the choreography would be amazing, which it was. However, I think that the direction could have been much stronger.
On the technical side of the show, I thought that the set was amazing. It was very simple. There were three buildings on both sides of the stage with fire escapes coming down both sides. This was the main set. Then they had minimum set for the rest. For example, Doc’s shop was simply a bar, a door, and a booth. The bar and the booth came on from the side and the door rose from the floor. The lighting that was used wasn’t all the exciting. It was mostly darker set except for the big dance song, America and the dream sequence, Somewhere. I think that the light plot worked well for the story however. I really enjoyed the costumes. The costumes for Anita worked really well for her character. The different styles used for the Sharks and the Jets contrasted wonderfully. The costumes look amazing in the gymnasium scene. The sound wasn’t that great either. That could have been because I was in the very last row, but the sound should have reached where we were sitting. I couldn’t really tell how well the make up was done because I couldn’t see the faces. Our tickets were in the last row, but we only paid 45 dollars for them, so what can you expect. The inside of the theater was very unique; however, getting to our seats was quite a hike. They only had one elevator and it was rather small. You could also take the stairs. We decided to take the stairs and we ended up going up 4 flights. The ushers weren’t exactly friendly either. The show had a great audience. It was packed and they all seemed to really enjoy it. The man sitting next to me did feel the need to sing along at some points, but I got over it.