Comedy of Errors

1. Describe the Theater, sets, and costumes

The theater was somewhat small.  It had stadium style seating inside of it so you did no have to look over the person in front of you.  The set was very elaborate.  You had the tall buildings, houses, church, etc.  They were very detailed and added to the performance.  The costumes were very bright and dramatic. The hair color of the actors matched the color of their costume. 

2. In what period does this play take place? Who is the author? What period did the play write live?

The Comedy of Errors is set in Ephesus (Greece) during the Ancient Greek period.  The play was written by William Shakespeare.  He wrote the play between the years of 1592 to 1594. William Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616.

3. Discuss the plot

At the begining of the play the husband and wife have two twins.  They then come about a set of other twins from another family and take those to raise.  A storm come and they were all seperated.  Later on down the road they all are in the same town, Ephesus, and they do not realize it.  Everyone is confusing them for one another and they do not know what is going on.  There is a lot of confusion and conflict becuase of this.  At the end of the play they end up finding out about each other and they are all reunited as a family. 

Phantom of the Opera Assignment

Describe:
The version of the Phantom of the Opera that we watched in class starred Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.  It was released in 2004.  It is a story of a young chorus girl, Christine. While rehearsing at the Opera Populaire, where weird and unexplainable things happen, she captures the attention and the heart of The Phantom, or as the Opera Populaire call him, The Opera Ghost. But he is no ghost. He is a disfigured musical genius who has hidden away for years to avoid the cruel stares of strangers. With the Phantoms help, Christine becomes the venue's leading lady, but tragedy awaits as the young soprano has fallen for the charms of handsome noble Raoul, not realizing her Angel of Music is deeply in love with her. Insane with jealousy and unable to see the object of his affection, and ultimately his obsession, in the arms of another man, The Phantom kidnaps Christine, unaware of the lengths Raoul is prepared to go to get her back.  The Phantom realizes that Christine never loved him and she is able to leave with Raoul and have a happy life.  At the very end, Christine dies and when Raoul shows up to put something on her grave there is a single rose and a diamond that the Phantom gave her.

Analyze:
The movie was a tragic love story between the Phantom and Christine.  He was in love with her but he realizes that she never loved him.  She is in love with Raoul.  One thing that stood out in the movie was the fact that there were lots of mirrors.  The Phantom did not like to look at himself because of his disfigurement, so I found this to be ironic. 

Interpret:
The Phantom of the Opera shows just what it means to love someone.  The Phantom lets Christine go because he loves her so much and would do anything for her. 

Evaluate:
I thought the Phantom of the Opera was a great story.  The music in the Opera added meaning to the storyline.  You were also able to see growth in the characters, especially in the Phantom.  He was able to love someone enough to let them go.  It was a great love story.

Assignment #8

1. Describe the difference between opera, light opera, and musical theater.

An opera is a drama, either tragic or comic, of which music forms an essential part; a drama wholly or mostly sung, consisting of recitative, aerials, choruses, duets, trios, etc., with orchestral accompaniment, preludes, and interludes, together with appropriate costumes, scenery, and action; a lyric drama. 

 A light opera is a short amusing opera.  It usually has a happy ending and some text is spoken. 

A musical theater is a play of film whose action and dialogue is interspersed with dancing and singing.

2. How long does it take for someone to have a fully trained operatic voice?

People spend their entire lives to train to have a fully operatic voice.  They start when they are a young child and carry on through adulthood.  Most opera singers do not hit their peak until at least the age of 30. 


3. Choose an Opera by Puccini? Describe and interpret.

The opera that I chose was Le Villi.  It is an opera-ballet in two acts.  It is based on the short story Les Willis by Jean-Baptiste Alphonese Karr.  It was originally a one act opera.

Synopsis of the Opera:
Family and guests dance at a celebration of the engagement in marriage of Roberto and Anna. Roberto must leave before the ceremony to collect an inheritance, and Anna worries that she will never see him again. Roberto comforts Anna telling her that it will be fine and they will marry when he returns from Mainz. Anna tells Roberto of her dreams of him dying but Roberto tells Anna that she should not worry about his love failing and that she may doubt her God but not his love for her. The crowd returns and Anna is still worried about Roberto leaving. Roberto then asks Guglielmo, Anna’s father, to bless them before his journey and Roberto sets off for Mainz.  Roberto is then enchanted by a seductress, and forgets Anna. Anna waits through the summer and the autumn and in the winter dies in his absence. The legend of the fairies (Le Villi) is then explained. Basically it means when a woman dies of a broken heart, the fairies force the heart breaker to dance until death.  Anna's father, Guglielmo, holds Roberto responsible for Anna's death and calls upon the Villi to take vengeance on Roberto. The Villi call upon the ghost of Anna and lure Roberto into the forest. Roberto, now penniless and abandoned by the seductress, returns when news of Anna's death reaches him. Hoping that he will be forgiven the Villi stalk Roberto as he mourns the loss of the days of his youth. Roberto then finds the one last flower left alive in the winter and tries to find hope that Anna lives but is repelled by the Villi when he ties to knock on the door of Guglielmo's house. Roberto then tries to pray for forgiveness but finds he cannot because of the curse put upon him by the Villi. As Roberto curses his fate Anna appears to him and tells him of the suffering that she had to endure. Roberto begs for forgiveness and he too feels the pain of Anna burning in his heart. But Roberto is not forgiven and Anna calls upon the Villi, who curse Roberto with cries of "traitor." There, the Villi and Anna dance with Roberto until he dies of exhaustion at Anna's feet.

This is an opera about a woman's love, Anna, for a man, Roberto that ends up killing her when they are apart.  She gets so worried about him that it ends up killing her. Then the father seeks revenge on Roberto for killing his daughter.  He calls upon the Villi and they end up making him dance to his death.  The Opera is a romantic tragedy. 

Assignment #7

1. Describe the difference between a thrust stage and proscenium stage.

A proscenium stage is where the actor faces the whole audience on the front (downstage) of the stage.  This stage also has a procenium arch surrounding it also (see picture). A thrust stage is where the actor is surrounded on 3 sides by the audience. Think of a proscenium stage as the people coming to the front to see the actor and the thrust stage is where the stage comes out into the audience.

2. What is the fly gallery?

A fly system is a system of ropes, counterweights, pulleys, and other related devices within a theatre that enables a technical crew to quickly move components such as curtains, lights, and set pieces on and off stage by moving them vertically between the stage and the large opening above the stage

3. How does a scrim work?

A scrim is a device used in the film and television industries, as well as by photographers, to modify properties of light. There are a variations on types of scrim, depending upon its use, whether with natural light, or on manmade light sources. However, their basic use is the same to reduce intensity, and/or harshness of light.

Dance Assignment

1. Even though the shag is danced to music that is 4/4 time, how does the dancer count when they are dancing the shag?

The shag is a 6 count dance.  The dancer counts 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5,6. 

2. Discuss the Big Apple building. Discuss its features architechtural feature of Columbia, and a brief history. What was the first name of the building?

The Big Apple building has a wooder floor and the outside of the building is also made out of wood.  There is a balcony on one side of the building.  The building had high ceilings.  In the middle of the building was a dome with a stain glass window in the center of it. The building is well lit with natural lighting.  There are multiple windows going around the room.   The building was originally used as a Jewish Synagogue.  It was known as the House of Peace Synagogue.  In the 1930's it became known as the Big Apple Night Club.  The night club was used by the African Americans and the white people were not allowed to participate in the dances.  They watched from the balcony.  They began calling the dance "The Big Apple" and it started to spread across the nation. 

3. Discuss the Shag. What is the history of the shag and what is its relevance to South Carolina?

The shag refers to the nationally popular dance of the 1930's.  The dance came from the Aftican American's from Myrtle Beach and the white students of the 1940's.  The dance was originally known as the jitterbug but the dance and music both slowed down and it became known as the Shag.  The Shag is also the state dance for South Carolina.

Museum Art Assignment

The photograph that I chose was "My Love London" of Paul McCartney

The photograph was fairly large.  It was about two feet tall by three feet wide.  The photograph was taken in 1978 by Paul McCartney's wife, Linda McCartney.  The photograph is of Paul McCartney and he is looking in the rear view mirror.  You can see half of his face in the photograph.  The picture is in color. Most of the colors in the picture are very dull.  The sky is gray in the photo and the buildings are very dark.  The bold colors are concentrated in the rear view mirror of Paul McCartney's face.  The bold color stands out in the photograph.  The artist printed the picture using Inkjet print.  

In the photo Paul McCartney is looking in his rear view mirror.  You are only able to see half of his face in the photograph.  The setting of the photograph is in London.  I feel that the photograph shows an intimate side to Paul McCartney since his wife took the picture.  While driving through London, he took the time to look at her in the rear view mirror and she caught it in a photograph.  

The artist of this photograph was Linda McCartney.  She married Paul in 1969 and later became a member of his band, Wings.  Paul adopted her daughter into their family and they had three children of their own.  They shared an Oscar nomination for the co-composition of the song, "Live and Let Die."

Quotes from Paul about Linda:

"Every love song I write is for Linda."

"When we went for a drive, Linda always wanted to get lost. I had an in-built panic about being lost. I always want to know where London is. I don’t want to get to, say, Staines and not know my way back. We would go down to the most obscure places, have a great time, find a little tearoom or a riverbank. She taught me little things like that, to relax and be down to earth. It was very valuable to me then, a great part of the healing process after the Beatles broke up ... Linda was a very natural woman. She loved the fresh air and the freedom and the privacy of the countryside ... She was just a great person to hang out with: very funny, very smart and very talented. "

Quotes from Linda about Paul:

"We spend so much time together, because that's how we like it. I never used to go on girl's nights out, even at school. And Paul has never liked going out for a night with the boys, either."

"I wasn't looking for another marriage. I had been married before. He is a nice man -- a geologist, an Ernest Hemingway type. But Paul and I married because of convention."

It was at the Apple press conference that my relationship with Paul was rekindled. I managed to slip him my phone number. he range me up later that day and told me they were leaving that evening but he'd like it if I was able to travel out to the airport with him and John."

**This photograph was taken from google.  When we were at the museum they said we were not allowed to take photographs. 

Assignment #6

1. Describe the baroque period of dance.

Baroque dance is a theatrical and social style of dancing that European upper classes did.  It was popular between the years 1650-1760.  It was a precursor of classical ballet.  It was established and developed in France at the court by Louis XIV. 

2. Discuss why people dance?

People dance for a variety of different reasons.  One reason why people dance is because it is a form of self-expression.  People are able to express their emotions through dance and also relieve stress. Many people use dance as a way of escaping for a short period of time.  It allows people to engulf themselves in the movement and forget about everything going on in their lives and in the world.  For that moment they are free.    People also use dance as a form of communication.  Dancers are able to tell a story though their movements and also evoke certain emotions on the viewers.  Another reason people dance is because it is a part of their culture.  Many cultures have dances that they do on special occasions and gatherings.  Some even use dance to connect with their God.  Dance is also a way of making music come alive. 

3. Describe one non western dance art form.

Salsa is a syncretic dance form.  It originated in Cuba in the 1920's.  Salsa is generally a partner dance but there is also a form where you dance solo that is called suelta.  There is also a version where multiple couples exchange partners throughout the dance.  This is known as Rueda de Casino.  Salsa is well known throughout Latin America as well as the United States, Japan, Israel, Western and Eastern Europe.  It is becoming a global phenomenon.