Broadway Musical Analysis

Superior Essays
When professor mentioned that we would watch and discuss about a Broadway Musical show named ‘Memphis’, the first that came to my mind was, the actual city Memphis in the southern state of Tennessee. I was still confused as to how a city and its activities could be incorporated into a Musical show, which is assumed to be entertaining with melodramatic components, dance and music. I had an assumption that it would be academic, political, boring since it is to be watched in a classroom setting and that a professor would not choose something entertaining or something of the liking of the younger generation. I deduced that this play might touch the topic of race since race defined how a person is treated in most southern states. I assumed that …show more content…
I did not have much knowledge about theatre or drama except that I was aware that Western understanding of theatre originated from the Greeks and they had a tradition of wearing masks to identify with the characters, they are also assumed to be the inventors of tragedies and comedies. I was aware of the Greek tragedy Agamemnon because I read an excerpt of a play named ‘The Browning Version’ in which one of the characters, who is a student, remarks the play as ‘muck’. I read Macbeth by William Shakespeare in 9th grade and I also read a famous play in 10th grade titled ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller, it is known to be one of the most prominent plays in American literature and culture. Although, I have not seen many plays as much as I have read them. The recent play I watched was my high school production of Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ which although was a small production, was still …show more content…
Especially in the beginning when Delray started singing in the bar with many dancers around, it was difficult to suspend my disbelief and two reasons for this might have been that I was just getting into my mode of watching a drama and secondly, I am not a big fan of Delray’s acting. When the scenes changed, especially the transition from the bar to the department store where Huey worked was difficult to suspend my disbelief. In the beginning of the play I could not forget that the characters are just actors and that Memphis is just a play in general. On the other hand, there were many moments when I dived into Huey and Felicia’s world and was successful at suspending my disbelief. One of the moments were when Felicia’s coat is removed in the background and the scene is transitioned into her concert and also the scene of Huey and his mother having a conversation in their home. The setting and the conversation was so heated that it took me into their world and out of mine. The emotional height of the scene when Felicia started singing “Coloured Women” was at the time when I suspended my belief. There were also many conscious and unconscious moments of singing of characters in the play. One of the examples of conscious moments of singing is at the beginning when Delray and Felicia are singing in the bar after the opening of the play. And one example of unconscious moment of singing of the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    After hanging up from talking to my mother, I decided to take her advice. If I have to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show for class that it would the best if I was to actually experience the show, this culture, this step into the past, instead of just watching the musical on my laptop and thinking this is the strangest musical in the world. I looked up if there was even any showings still of this musical, and lucky there was one this the Nuart Theater, of course the midnight showing. The price was only $11, a price I luckily could afford as a poor college student. I called up a few friends, family members, and my roommate…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Broadway Melody” by Frederick Seidel is somewhat humorous but realistic impression of elderly people. I can honestly say that I laughed after reading this as well as slightly being moved by the beauty of it towards the end. I find it a unique poem, because of the subject matter and context, as well as the cruelty and the offensiveness of the tone with the speaker. In addition, In my interpretation of the poem the main focal point revolves around the idea of ageism in which everyone in this world will face some day, and how some people may view ageism as a sorrowful way to spend the remainder of their lives, by only enjoying life as much as your physical body allows you. Frederick focuses on the ugliness of age and the decrepitly that comes…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Napoleon Hill once said, “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. ”African Americans have endured and struggle through much throughout history, fueled by hate and thought of superiority. However, many African Americans in the south also struggled coexisting amongst each other. Instead of all black people fighting for their rights together some just wanted to coexist with those of the white race. Jonathan Norton’s play, Mississippi GODdamn, completely captures the struggle of African Americans to coexist with one as well as the racial conflict of the 1960s.…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although Lorraine Hansberry spoke truth in her writings about racism and how it impacted an African American’s family modern day struggle living in an era during what we now know as the civil rights movement, controversial issues were still chosen to be taken out. Ingles also discusses how these decision’s affected the play and ultimately unraveled what made it so honest and more emotionally real. Marketing and understanding what would sell was the main focus driven for the main reason as why these decisions had to be made in order for the success of Hansberry work as well as everyone involved with making the movie to be more successful. Ingles also describes the amount of effort put in towards this film.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    She told all the blacks to leave this town it’s not safe for them 3. What is the theme (main focus) of this play? That blacks need to quit being lynched for no reason 4. Where and when did the play’s events take place?…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rent: Musical Analysis

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The production, Rent, is a rock musical that is based on a group of distressed artists having a hard time striving in the days of Alphabet City with HIV/AIDS constraining their lives. The original playwright, Billy Aronson, came up with the musical as a renewal of the opera La Bohemia of 1988. Aronson collaborated with Jonathan Larson, a playwright and composer, and created one of the most popular Broadway musicals to date. I watched and experienced a production of this musical at California State University Long Beach, University Theater, on Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at exactly 8:00 pm. This production was directed by Joanne Gordon and choreographed by Brian Moe.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    April 29th 1996, Broadway’s Nederland theatre is sold out to capacity and the audience is gritting their teeth with excitement, but an overture is nowhere to be heard, the curtains are missing and the haphazardly placed lighting rigs have not yet dimmed. All at once, the stage erupts with cast members running in-between and out of the industrial themed set, a strum of a guitar is heard and a critically acclaimed overnight sensation is born in the image of Jonathon Larson. Adapted from the popular opera La Bohème, Rent the musical was created in the hopes of representing the minute bohemian culture of New York City at the end of the 20 century who were confronted with impoverishment, HIV and homosexuality. Going against traditional musical theatre…

    • 2019 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I uses the accompanying section of J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye": "Furthermore, the band began playing one of those truly moderate tunes, similar to "Stairway to Heaven" or "Freebird" that most likely have truly extraordinary verses or something however the melody itself simply is terrible recently dreadful. At that point this genuine fake person, with the hair all slicked back on the highest point of his head remained strong with the Sax and did a performance. I nearly passed on. That is to say, totally kicked the bucket in that spot. It must be the cheesiest solo I had ever heard.…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On November 10 I attended Elf the Broadway Musical written by David Berrenbaum and directed by Sam Scalamoni. I attended Elf the Broadway Musical which was put on by Texas A&M University and MSC OPAS. Elf the Broadway Musical was a comedic musical that appealed to audience members of any ages including a range from myself a college student to the family of four sitting next to me. Elf the Broadway Musical was a delight surprise, since I had seen Elf (film) I expected the play to appeal more to a younger audience, but was surprised when I found myself laughing alongside the two children sitting next to me. I honestly did not have very high expectation from this play for some reason I was just not very excited to attend this play maybe it was…

    • 1606 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Shakespeare is believed to be one of the greatest playwrights in history. His plays are performed everywhere in the world today and students of all ages read and write papers about the plays he is credited for writing. What if, however, William Shakespeare did not write any of the plays that the people of this world give him today? What if someone else wrote them and William Shakespeare stole the works? What if another playwright used William Shakespeare as a public figure to hide his face from the public?…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a line in the musical Spamalot where Sir Robin sings to King Arthur; “In any great adventure, if you don 't want to lose ... you won 't succeed on Broadway if you don 't have any Jews!" (PBS, Broadway Musicals). If you can look past the sweeping generalization, Sir Robin’s surprising lyric turns out to be very true about musicals. Historians have recognized that Jewish immigrant culture heavily influenced the content of musical theatre when it was popularized in America during the early twentieth century. But in turn, it was the sociopolitical and racial climate of the 20th century that inspired the creative and thematic content of Jewish productions as well.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theatre Analysis

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Choosing a theater productions could be difficult, or even writing a paper could be hard for someone, but for my theatre production that I chose to write about was really easy for me. Maybe because I love the production and the production that I have seen was a great show, and I'm really excited to tell you about my Theatre Analysis! The show that I chose to see was "Little Shops of Horror" at The PlayHouse in the Park. I have seen a lot of musicals over time, and I love seeing them, but when I saw this production I was wowed! Lets first talk about the area that the production took place.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wicked Musical Analysis

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Two of Broadway’s most talented voices emerged from the hit musical, “Wicked.” Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth both had been in broadway shows long before but wicked was the one that blew them into stardom. The musical displays numerous singing acts that tell the story of a girl who grew up slightly different from the rest and a stereotypical popular girl that tried to help her gain her confidence. Idina and Kristen’s voices are like no other in the musical because their voices bring our qualities in their character that complement the character so well. The dark alto tones of Idina plays off of the envy and awkwardness her character constantly lives with.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history audiences have been drawn to stories of tragedy. The plays Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller are considered to be the greatest fictional tragedies of their time. While Oedipus the King and Death of a Salesman are very different tragedies, it’s amazing that even with 2,400 years separating them, these plays manage to have many similarities and differences in their stories. Oedipus the King was written around 420 BC by Sophocles which was considered to be the most successful writer of Greek tragedies for his time. The main character in Oedipus the King is Oedipus; he was the noble and respectable King of Thebes.…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chicago the Musical is set in the 1920’s during the jazz hot era with its genre as Burlesque. It is casts by Catherine Zeta Jones as Velma Kelly, Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart, Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, Queen Latifah as Matron “Mama” Morton and John C. Reilly as Amos Hart (IMDB.com). The first scene, Velma murdered her husband and sister for cheating on her and hid the gun in her drawer while Roxie’s scene, upon learning that her boyfriend will not help her to become a star, she took the gun inside the drawer and shot him. These made me perspicacious about the image of the gun which foreshadows dangerous event.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays