Comedy of Errors

1. In "The Comedy of Errors", the Shakespearean play was performed, but had a modern twist on it when it came to the costumes, music, and set. When looking at the stage from the traditonal theater, you could see the layout of a small town or villege on the stage, which didn't necessarily look Elizabethean, and the costumes were very bright and colorful. Both sets of twins wore bright orange and purple suits, while the sisters wore bright blue and green dresses. Even the characters wigs were brightly colored and matched their costumes! I really liked this twist on the traditional Shakespearean play, because it made the play a lot more interesting to me. I also loved the modern music that was played throughout the play, because it modernized the play even more, which is sometimes difficult to do with a work by Shakespeare.

2. This play takes place in the mid 1500's, and the author is William Shakespeare. The paly write lived in the 16th century in England.

3. In "The Comedy of Errors", the play opens by setting the tone for the rest of the play. Two sets of twins become seperated from their respective twin during a storm in which one set goes with the father, and one with the mother. The actual action of the play begins with one set of twins, Antipholous and Dromio, in the town. Both twin in each set is dressed identically, and the mayhem ensues. Throughout the play, both Dromio's and Antipholous's confuse each other and everyone else in the town, including the sisters Adriana and Luciana, who both repeatedly speak to the different twins. The action finally resolves when mother and father are reunited in the town, and the two sets of twins are brought together, which is when everyone begins to realize what had been happening throughout the day.

Phantom of the Opera

Describe

The Phantom of the Opera is a powerful story that is centered around the Paris Opera House in 1870, with occasional flash-forwards to the characters in the current year of 1919. The main character, Christine Daae, is a young dancer for the opera house, who has the opportunity to sing for the new owners once the Opera House is sold. She astounds them, and quickly becomes the star of the opera, much to the dismay of the current star, La Carlotta. When she performs on opening night, her former childhood love Raoul notices her, and comes to find her after the show. Little does he know, but when he leaves her dressing room, the "phantom" comes to her room and takes her away to the underground layers of the opera. He has been watching her and coaching her since she was a little girl, since he lives and basically rules the opera house, and is very obviously in love with her. The story continues in a rapid fire way, with many different obstacles occuring for the Phantom, including Christine falling back into love with Raoul and leaving him behind. Between deaths at the phantoms hand, and threatening letters and other omens sent to members of the opera, the Phantom makes no mistake in informing the patrons that he means buisness, and things will be carried out in his ideal method. In the end, the Phantom allows Christine to leave for her life with Raoul after a brief struggle between the two suitors in the dungeons of the Opera House.
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Analyze

I think that there was a lot of symbolism in the Phantom of the Opera, which added to the mystery that the opera constantly alluded. The camera angle and camera shots were very dramatic, because they jumped from item to item and and created the allure of a mystery. The music was the most important aspect of the movie most noteably, since it was an Opera. Throughout the entire film, you could always detect the tone, and anticipate what was coming next, simply by listening to the score. The Phantom's desire to hide himself, both with the mask and with covering all of the mirrors in his chamber, show that he was ashamed of his appearance, since it had been the cause of his grief and agony for so long.

Interpret

Although the story of the Phantom of the Opera may come across and being a love story, it is so much more than that. The struggle between the Phantom and Raoul depicts a classic battle between dominant male characters, while La Carlotta losing her role to Christine Daae shows the struggle for an older performer to keep up with newer and younger talent. Although the opera was set in the late 19th century, the themes it portrayed can still radiate with younger and newer viewers.

Evaluate
I think that the Phantom of the Opera is a great work, and was as great in the movie and it was everytime that I have seen it performed on Broadway. The singing was superb, the musical score was phenomenal, the special effects fit perfectly with everything that was taking place in the film, and the actors portrayed the characters in a great manner.

Opera Assignment

 1. Opera is a classical western tradition where performers combine dramatic scenes with a musical score. Opera includes all the aspects of a spoken play, such as costume, speaking lines, and even dancing, but the addition of the musical score makes it much more dramatic and sets is differences from other types of theater. Light opera, or comic opera, has a much less dramatic nature than a regular opera, and typically has a happier ending as well. Musical theater is very similar to opera, because it contains dialogue along with musical numbers, but it differs because equal importance is given to both the music and the dialogue and other workings of the play.

2.Fully training someone to have an operatic voice takes many years, and requires an education similar to that of a college education. Singers have to spend years with a teacher learning how to to use the resonance space in your pharynx to give a fuller sound, and also how to amplify their voice so it reaches the back of a crowded opera house, since microphones are not used in opera. Someone with a fully trained operatic voice is less likely to end up in a doctors office with vocal problems, because they are trained the correct way to sing without overworking themselves.

3. La Boheme is one of the most popular operas by Puccini, and has since become a standard in the Italian opera circuit. The opera is about a seamstress and a poet that fall in love, but the poet wishes to eventually leave the seamstress because of her overly flirtatious ways. Unfortunately for the poet, the seamstress is also gravely ill, so he feels too guilty to leave her in her time of need. The poet actually feels guilty because he thinks their time together worsened her condition, since the turmoil that their relationship went through.

Theater Assignment #7

1. A proscenium stage is the most common in theater, and is a very traditional stage. In this type of setting, the audience sits on one side of the stage and looks directly at it, while the other three sides remain hidden by the performers and stage crews. Thrust stages are pretty similar, except they have an additional platform or area of the stage that continues and allows the audience to sit on three sides of the stage. Thrust stages allow there to be more intamacy between the actors and audience members, but still allows the convience of the backstage area that the proscenium also has.

2. The fly gallery of a theater is the system of lines, rigging, pulleys, and counterweights that allow the stage crew to quickly and efficently raise curtains and other props out of the audience's view into the fly loft above the stage. Fly gallery's are most common in proscenium theater's because they are designed to house the additional area needed hold the rigging and props. These fly gallery's contain fly systems that are either manual or automated, depending on the theater.

3. A scrim is thin piece of material that can be used in a couple different ways in the theater. One way is in lighting, because when placed over different lights in different fashions, scrims can create many different and interesting lighting effects. It is also used on stage to create a thin but transparent veil between the actors in front of it, and the scene behind them. For example, in The Nutcracker, the audience can see the christmas scene in the living room through the scrim, while the young girl is standing in front of it pretending that she is peeking through a crack in the door. It can also be painted to simply allow a silhouete to take place behind it.

Big Apple Art Event

1. The dancer counts a 6 count while they are dancing the Carolina shag.

2.

You can tell by first glance that the Big Apple is an older building, and that it was built to be something other than a dance club. There is slight Greek revival that you can see, such as the peaked top of the building and the doric columns right outside the front door. The Big Apple was originally the House of Peace Synagogue, which was later converted into a "juke joint" called the Big Apple Night Club. Three students from the University of South Carolina were interested in the music they heard when driving by one night, and repeatedly brought their friends to the club, even though they were not allowed to participate and had to sit on the balcony. The club was later transformed into a hall that now hosts all sorts of occasions such as dance lessons, weddings, rehersals, and other functions.

3. The shag is a dance in which the upper body and arms remain relatively still while the legs do fancy kicks and footwork. It is similar to the Carolina jitterbug, which as an 8 count, but it relatively slower, with the shag using a 6 count. The shag originated in cities throughout North and South Carolina, with the term shag actually being coined at Carolina Beach, North Carolina. It is a descendent of the "Little Apple", which was started in Columbia by the same 3 boys that were interested in the music at the Big Apple Club. The shag is extememly relevant to South Carolina, because without the Little Apple that was started in Columbia, and the Carolina Jitterbug, the shag may not have even developed. Shagging is still popular in South Carolina not only for adults, but also for young adults. I know in my sorority here at USC, we shag dance at all of our functions, because it is so much fun!

Columbia Museum of Art Event

Describe the Photograph:

-The photo was about 5x3 feet, so it was pretty large.

-The photo was courtesy of Charles Peterson, who also owns the photograph.

-The photo depicts fans crowd-surfing and slam dancing in a mosh pit at a grunge concert in Seattle in 1991.

-As you can see, this photograph was shot in black and white.

Analyze the Photograph:

-The photo is about fans in a mosh pit at a concert, and it was trying to depict the insanity and intesnity that goes along with it.

-The people are dancing to the grunge music, crowd-surfing, and slam dancing at a concert.

-The subjects in the photograph are wearing t-shirts, jeans, plaid shirts, and other "grunge" type attire.

-This photo reveals the insanity of the crowd and the type of people that attend grunge concerts. The photographer had to throw himself right into the insanity of the moment in order to capture such a powerful shot. He said that he had spent a lot of time during his youth stage diving and slam dancing, so he knew how to react to the culture.

Assignment #6 - Dance

1. The baroque period occured between 1600 and 1750, and was based on different art, music, dance, and architectural flourishes and interpretations. In baroque dance, exagerated movements, drama, and grandeour characterized the period. Elaborate music and performance were used during this time, and dancers were not afraid to be self-confident and portary emotional exuberance. Some composers during this time were Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Henry Purcell, and you can tell the dramatic movement of this time period through their music.

2. People dance as a way to express themselves, because even though there are specific forms of dance, you can truly dance any way that you wish. People also dance for a variety of other reasons however, such as for exercise, like in zumba classes the the gym, for tradition, such as the first dance at a wedding, and for performance, such as at a concert. Most people simply dance for fun though, because you never truly need a reason to simply let loose and just dance.

             

3. One non-western dance form is a ballroom dance, the argentine tango. It is known as a social dance, composed in 4/4 measurments. The argentine tango movements are much more varied than typical ballroom tango, and has a clear, distinctive, repeditivte beat. This tango relies heavily on improvistation, and the dancers have to use their emotions, and the emotion of the music, to create movement.