Musical notation

The Lubbock Moonlight Musicals in partnership with Texas Tech’s School of Music definitely did not disappoint with their amazing performance of Phantom of the Opera. This is one of the most well know and classical musicals but doesn’t fit into any specific category. It is not exactly classic musical theatre due to the music being for classically trained singers, but it is not exactly an opera either because it has dialogue while an opera is traditionally completely sung. This makes for a…

can have many purposes. It can change the mood of the audience, alert them to danger, or even be used to give exposition of the story to the audience. The latter, along with its variation, such as a monologue delivered in song, are used to create musicals--a genre used by Disney since its very beginning. For this journal I watched Disney’s Moana to see how it used music to move the plot, and influence its audience. The song “Where You Are” is used in Moana to tell exposition and to forward…

West Side Story book turned musical was written in 1957 by Arthur Laurents. West Side Story is a musical interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, giving it a modern spin and a change from the original class to race rivalry. The setting of this play is based in the 1950s in the Upper West Side of New York City. The rivalry is between two gangs called the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. Comparable to Romeo and Juliet the main plot to this story is based on the…

Premiering in 1997, the musical Ragtime, written by the trio of Terrence McNally (Book/Script), Stephen Flaherty (Music), and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics) was something along the lines of a smash hit. Featuring a star studded cast, with such luminaries as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, and Audra McDonald, the musical won four Tony Awards and was nominated for 14, including Best Musical. The musical is based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1974 novel Ragtime, a work of historical fiction that has various…

“Of Mice and Men” was also adapted to theater in both The States (2014) and Spain (2012). The Broadway version is something which caused a ripple of fame for director, Anna D. Shapiro. Spanish director Miguel del Arco presented his version of the novel as a play in Madrid in 2012, where it was also surrounded by amazing reviews. One might wonder how such a short novel could have inspired a chain of successful interpretations all over the world, but the answer lies in the simplicity and…

Whether you need some quality headphones for private listening at home or work or you just want some great-looking accessories that can help you express your personal style, you must know that there are hundred of models which can help you satisfy your needs. With so much variety in headphone style, it's impossible not to find a model that works for you. There are various types of headphones available on the market, and each one of these small units comes with an advanced technology and various…

On Sunday, June 21st, I went to see the Dallas Symphony Orchestra perform “The Music of John Williams and Hollywood’s Great Composers” at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco. The concert was held in the church’s worship room at 6:30pm. This was a great place for the DSO to perform because the audience and the orchestra were very close and, in a way, felt more personal. The show included fourteen pieces: “Overture to Captain Blood by Korngold, ‘Tara’ – A Short Poem for Orchestra from Gone with…

duplex apartment above the main stage that Belasco utilized for his own occupancy. The room contained a window that allowed Belasco to remain in his quarters but still see the productions from afar. The Belasco opened on October 16th, 1907 with the Musical “A Grand Army Man.” The Architecture of the Belasco was one of neo-Georgian style. The Belasco is reminiscent of the neo-medieval and neo-renaissance style, with is grandiose flair of the dramatics and its thirteen stories makes it one of the…

in 1951 starring Audrey Hepburn as the title role. Fredrick Lowe wrote the original music for the play. With great success from the original movie and the first run of the show on Broadway, Heidi Thomas took on the role of readapting the Broadway musical for audiences today. The revival…

Jerome Robbins' suggested the idea of developing a musical based off of the story of Romeo and Juliet to Leonard Bernstein in January of 1949 (originally proposed title: East Side Story, set in the less privileged areas of New York at the concurrence of Easter-Passover celebrations). In August of 1955, a gathering with Arthur Laurents took place where another idea emerged -- two teen-age mobs as the conflicting groups, one of them newly-arrived Puerto Ricans, the other self-styled…