The Technologies of Broadway!

 I got a little worried while viewing the Broadway clips from …. Blog because the objective is to find ways technology was used in a good way.Growing up in this generation, technology is almost everything, and has definitely put its stamp on most of our world. I look at these clips waiting for some phenomenal technologically advanced set, when in reality, most of the clips focus on lighting, costumes and of course the music. I decided to take a step back, and consider the technology I may consider simple, and look at it for the impact it really makes on the show.

1.Time Heals Everything   

        I have always wondered what made a concert so great! I mean it is usually just one person and the band on stage, and  you may not be able to see them well depending on the seat. What makes us able to feel the emotion of the song, other than the volume of the speakers… the lights! I realize it is the lights and no matter how simple the song or the lights, everything adds to the grand scheme of the performance. A simple example of this is Bernadette Peters performing Time Heals Everything: Score written by Jerry Herman. The piece begins with red and blue lights. There is a low, spotlight on the single voice performing. The saxophone in the piece mimics the performers voice and the rest of the lights mimic the intensity of the orchestra. Initially there is less red light and it is surrounded by the blue, but as the music’s intensity grows, the red light grows as well.

2.  

    Man of La Mancha

I am not familiar with this piece, but I understood the content of the piece. The man sung about triumph and hi “glorious quest”. The costumes of the two performers were appropriate to the Spanish style story, and the music played a big part, A lot of the text touched on heavenly things, stars, and the stage light brought the drama of the song alive. The lights were dim, like a summer’s night, almost as if it was lit only by the stars and the moon. As the man’s spirit rises in his “quest” he sings more passionately. At this time, he was also lit by two bright lights, like the moon found him specifically and the woman on the stage fell into the shadow as the lights dimmed down. At the very end, the sung “to reach the unreachable star” and held the end note while he raised his hand. Of course to ad d to this, the same bright lights found him again and the entire background fell into the shadows.

3.    

  The Goodbye Girl

I loved this one partly because im a romantic! But mainly because in theater you really must figure out how to provide just enough visual information so that the viewers understand what they are seeing. One of the videos we watched in class said it best, people know they are going to the theater so they fill in the blanks. I liked this set because the it really looked like the top of a building, and the lighting added to this look, with the ground being lit, the backdrop being lit (the night sky) and the props of the set being lit as well. 

1. Broadways lost Treasures: My One and Only:

I am not familiar with the story line of this show but I really =enjoyed this 5 min clip of what I will call the wedding dance! It was a simple set with low blue lights and a moving stage separator that had my one and only shining in big stage lights. The “coolest” firm of technology was probably the little bit of smoke that was used when the bride and groom entered the dance. I choose this piece because of the dance itself as well as the costumes. They were a big part of how the dance was perceived because the it was supposed to be so exciting the costumes were designed were they had a lot of movement. The choreography reflected this excitement as well.

2.      The Grand hotel, “Take a Glass” was really cool. The background was this contour of a hotel building in little lights! And the dancers were in costumes of normal men and hotel maids. The cool part was the flexible bar that the two main dancers used for their performance. This flexible bar was the most important part of the set because it served as the bar top where the two men took a drink. It was also the support for the “drunk dancer” to use in order to fully execute his character and the difficult tap dance number he had to perform. I thought it was a simple but creative way for his drunken character to really be shown off.