Sideshow Performance Report

Scott Easum

MUSI 1306

M. Young

4/27/2010

Sideshow: The Musical

Sideshow is a musical dealing with the themes of social alienation and acceptance, focusing on the main characters Daisy and Violet Hilton, who are two Siamese twins from a circus troupe. Throughout their lives they leave the troupe meeting future managers and love interests Terry Connor and Buddy Foster, and bring along their friend Jake. The musical was shown at the college in the University Theatre, an average sized venue larger than the Jonsson Performance Hall, but smaller than the auditorium found in the Conference Center. I saw the play on closing night at 8pm on Saturday, April 17, 2010.

Many things, including a gigantic variety in the styles of music, can characterize the music of Sideshow. The musical seems to be split into two kinds of songs. There is the music sung by the performers to develop the story, and then there is the music sung by the performers as they are performing within the play. These two different reasons for musical numbers add to the variety, with the silly numbers poking fun at Vaudeville, and the more serious songs adding depth and emotion to the characters of the play. Not to mention, the type of music of the more serious songs varied as well, with a song even having the lyrics and sound of a song about Voodoo. The style of the singing was also extremely different from a formal choral performance like Shakespeare in Song. The change in tone and timbre of the vocals adds to the intelligibility of lyrics, which is extremely important since the musical was comprised of over twenty-five different songs. Another interesting and important note about the music was the repetition of different motives and themes throughout the musical. These themes are both themes in the musical and literary sense, with songs like “Look at the Freaks!” being repeated in both lyric and music. (Sideshow: The Musical). The twins also have a couple of their own themes that show up multiple times throughout the musical such as the melody and lyrics “I’m Daisy, and I’m Violet” (Sideshow: The Musical).

The performers were all varied in both costume and role. The musical certainly required a large budget for costumes with some characters having 4 or 5 costumes, while other performers played multiple characters that required several costume changes. Outside of the actors, the band played in a very circus themed box, still in the background, with black outfits to not distract from the performance. The actors on the other hand, had much more movement to do. Characters like Jake, the Cannibal King, had to fill extremely athletic roles. The twins also had a very interesting challenge, since they had to try and replicate being Siamese twins. Creating different costumes that helped hold the two together must have been a huge challenge as well. The performers also had to deal with complex audio equipment, since there were a huge amount of soloists using microphones to help their voices combat the larger ensemble sound of the group, while the group had to combat the amplified soloists. The lead characters also had to have a great amount of vocal and mental stamina, with the show clocking in at around two and a half hours.

The audience of the musical was very receptive to things like jokes and respectful towards the performers, giving them standing ovation at the end of the musical. It was made up mostly of students supporting their friends that were performing. There was little audience participation in the musical outside of the introduction of the freaks, where some of those in those in the front row were shown the different skills of the characters at a very close range. An extremely important thing to note about the near full house play, is that the musical has brought in the most of any production ever put on at UTD. The time and space also had an effect on the showing of the musical. The obvious popularity of the play, along with the fact that it was closing night definitely contributed to the amount of people in the theatre.

All of these elements went into the work it took to put on the UTD production of Sideshow. The music, performers, audience, time, and space played an integral part in putting the complex show on. Using complex musical themes and a large cast, the school showed Daisy and Violet Hilton’s story.

Sideshow: The Musical. Russel, Bill. Dir. Evans, Kathryn. Cond. Stone, Winston. University Theatre, Richardson, TX. 4/26/2010.

Punk Rock

Punk Rock was started early on in the seventies with bands like The Ramones and the Sex Pistols leading the movement. Like much other Rock and Roll there was a focus on the electric guitar, small ensembles, four beat cycle, and simplified progression. However, punk took many of these elements to an extreme level.

Punk has always been known specifically because it has some of the most simple progressions of all, almost always staying in the I IV and V chords. They not only use the four beat cycle, but also always keep it going, with drummers never letting off eighth notes. Though the emphasis on singing may seem like it is less, the genre survives off simple catchy hooks, also usually with an emphasis on fast eighth notes.

All of this can be demonstrated in the very famous song "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones.

0:00 The song starts in with a simple guitar line and the drums start a basic pattern using constant eighth notes. The pattern changes slightly but the eighth note backing is there for the rest of the song.

0:03 The first vocal line starts. One of very few in the song, which focuses on short hooks.

0:17 The second vocal melody starts.

0:54 The "guitar solo" of the song which features only one note begins.

1:08 Key change!

2:04 The last vocal change is introduced.

Gullah

The Gullah people, who live in South Carolina and Georgia, have a very rich culture. They live in these areas because their ancestors lived there in slavery on the same plantations. Even though time has passed, and the plantations have evolved into golf courses, the Gullah have retained their heritage.

Much of this is done with their very active music culture. This culture is a very traditional culture, and is always passed on orally. Many of the songs are also in their native African languages. The most important aspect of the music culture of the Gullah would have to be how spiritual it is. Since it is for a religious purpose, it also involves the entire community, with things like funeral songs using drums.

Different types of music still center around this very spiritual center. A good example of this is the “ring shout”, where the people performing get in a big circle, and feel possession by the Holy Spirit at the end of the ritual dance. These ideas are also not the only things in the religion. They also believe in different forms of witchcraft. All of these reasons to perform this music lend to the reason that the Gullah music culture is so communal.

Performance Report 1: Shakespeare in Song

Introduction

The performance Shakespeare in Song is a mix of acting and singing performed by the UT Dallas Chamber Singers in the Jonsson Performance Hall on Friday at 8 p.m. at UT Dallas. The performance takes different scenes from eleven different Shakespeare plays, and puts songs after acting many of these scenes out.

Music

The music of the concert was very varied. There were many minor and major songs, with solos accounting for about a third of the music. The minor songs tend to be more romantic, with quite a bit of dynamic difference. On the other hand, the songs in major keys tended to be more classical, with some even just seeming to go up and down the scales.. Another big difference between songs was that while soloists seemed easier to understand, they also used much more vibrato. Many of the songs had similar themes, especially since they all came from Shakespeare. The laments were plentiful, though certainly not the only types of song. In fact, some songs didn’t even use words. For example, one used onomatopoeia throughout while another kept repeating the phrase “ding-a-ling” over and over throughout the song (Shakespeare in song). Many of the songs also used similar structure types. Most of the minor songs resolved at the end with a major chord. Also, in keeping with this older type of song, both the minor and the major songs would resolve different sections of song by using a suspended fourth to a major chord.

Performers

The performers themselves were dressed up to play their parts, in what seemed to be Shakespearian clothing. The accompanist and the director both seemed to have more lavish clothing than the choir itself. The performers themselves played many different roles, splitting between singing and acting. Some of the members of the choir actually played multiple characters from the excerpts of Shakespeare’s plays. The soloists seemed to always act out parts from their plays before singing, since the text of the acting usually sets up the scene where the song is performed. A really surprising thing about the soloists is that none of them performed with the choir. They performed their solos and then sat down in the front row with the rest of the audience. The acting itself had no movement outside of emoting along with arm and hand movement. However, the members obviously had fun with it, especially with the drunkard giving messages. Much of the text and context was almost incomprehensible without the extensive paragraphs about each play in the program for the performance. Even the powerpoint that changed between each song gave almost no information about the text of the song or play. The acting was peppered with inside jokes of the plays that were also made much funnier with a quick read through of the program.

Audience, Time, & Space

The theatre itself was a very small auditorium, and the lights were surprisingly undimmed. This gave a very interesting air of informality about the concert. The crowd of the performance might have also contributed to this feeling, with many very informally dressed college students attending the concert. This audience was made up mainly of students supporting their friends that were members of the choir, and the parents and family of the choir members. Though this was true, the time of the concert was more typical of a formal setting, since it happened at night on a weekend. The audience did clap between each song, and there was still one accidental clap somewhere in the middle of a song. For this particular audience, it seemed very noticeable that many were taking notes for their respective classes.

Conclusion

The concert as a whole was an informal concert showcasing many of Shakespeare’s well-known works through both song and context from the play itself. It is obvious much time went into the production, whether shown by the complexity of the last song with 16 different rounds, or by the extensive program notes on each play that was performed.

MLA Citations

Shakespeare in song. Dir. Kathryn Evans. Perf. UT Dallas Chamber Singers. Cond. Kathryn Evans. Jonsson Performance Hall, Richardson, Tx. 3/26/2010.

Evans, Kathryn. Program notes. Shakespeare in Song. 3/26/2010 Richardson,Tx. Jonsson Performance Hall

Rossini: Barber of Seville

The opera Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini is easily the most well-known opera by the composer. In this particular clip, the song employs very fast 16th notes and is forte throughout the majority of the piece. This contributes to the singings feel of snappy rhythm. The song's accompaniment, like most of Rossini's work, is very light and uses only strings and winds. Like nearly all opera, the singer himself uses a lot of vibrato. The vibrato may hinder the ability to understand the opera, but since I don't speak Italian it is a little hard to tell. While most of the song remains in forte, their are definitely a few of the 'Rossini crescendos' throughout the song.

The set up is very standard for a recorded for television performance. The singer is in front of the accompanists, with a microphone and standing up, while the rest of the performers are sitting. There seems to be a relatively large audience as well, though that could easily be a camera trick. The singer in the opera surprised me with his voice. While I did expect the normal low baritone tone to the voice, his stature and face just don't seem to match up. I also think the uncanniness may be linked to the fact that the audio is slightly off with the video.

The Music of Avatar

Wanda Bryant certainly had an interesting task with helping produce the film score for Avatar. While the movie definitely does contain a tribal "vibe" in the music, that is not always present throughout the film score.

How could it be? After all, a soundtrack that sounds like it came from the opening scenes of The Lion King can't exactly be expected to instill dread in the hearts of the massive amounts of people who saw the film. So while some of the nicer moments of the film, such as Jake's first flight with the dragon-like creatures contains a chorus and tribal drums with a happier sound, other scenes such as the toppling of the great tree the Na'vi live in calls for old-fashioned, loud, scary brass instruments.

Of course the culture of the fictional blue race is still obviously apparent, with a shaman like set of leaders, and constant gatherings of what appears to be the entire tribe. The only music they really make throughout the movie is a kind of chant where they all join hands. However, this kind of group music is the only kind that would really make any sense with the large tribes, real or fictional. Whether or not they are real, the Na'vi certainly do have their own culture in Cameron's three hour epic.

Musical Ethnography

Scott Easum

Professor MaryAnn Young

Music 1306

3/11/2010

Musical Ethnography

Introduction

I am covering the open microphone culture in and around Irving, TX. In my research of this culture, I have found that the main focus of the culture is on setting that goes alongside the music. Rather than the ideas and activities music itself being important, it is the social setting in which they are performed. The music is there to add to the environment the audience is in, rather than the audience attending to hear the music that is being played.

Methodology

Throughout the last five or so years, I have participated in many different music cultures, participating in things like bands as often as possible. However, even with doing those things, I had never seen an open microphone type of event done outside of a school up until this point. What I did to go learn about how these events operated was go straight to the source. In this particular case, the even was held at ZuRoma’s Sicilian Kitchen. Even though that sounds odd, the restaurant stays open late and has an entirely different atmosphere for the open microphone nights every other Wednesday.

It was immediately obvious as I walked into the “Sicilian Kitchen” that the event had changed it. Smoke filled the air, and the bar was full with about twice as many people it should even be able to hold. This restaurant was quickly turned bar. My main method of research at the now transformed restaurant was just going up and talking to the people who were there. Most of the interviews were done more as casual conversation, such as with the 15-year jazz drummer, whose band frequents the event, which happens every two weeks. Even though others there were talked to, they were more of the audience than the performers, and the drummer had given me the same information already. However, I also did a more formal interview with my guitarist Jasen Wagner at his much calmer and quieter house. He has a huge amount of experience in different types of music performance, and was a perfect candidate for the interview about the culture as a whole rather than specifically.

Aspects of the Music-Culture

The ideas of the culture are not complex, nor are they set in stone. For the most part, the culture of the open microphone exists to bring people together in a social setting. Both the audience and the culture seem to define their music as needing at least one guitar and a singer, though other instruments are both widely accepted and encouraged. The songs are usually faster to please the audience, since everybody is “[t]here to have fun and just hang out”(A). The dress is very casual, and in this particular case, the crowd. The music is performed at the event on stage at nights that change depending on where you go to this type of event. Once it starts though, the music is almost nonstop outside of the different acts changing between each other.

The activities in the culture are very open to everyone. Neither the audience nor the people running the event are picky about who is playing the music at all. Immediately when we walked in, we were asked what we would be playing. Though the instruments were certainly a dead giveaway, it shows that this really was “open”. Being a new act, the band that I played with at this open microphone went fairly early on into the night. The reception was there but the noise died down to minimum during us playing (ZuRoma). Though I was worried about it, he assured me “they may not seem like it, but they’ll remember it later” (Wagner). Sure enough, his statement was proved later in the night as somebody got up on stage and then as he hit a high note the crowd wailed along with him (ZuRoma). The ideas about the purpose of music are hugely different. Some of the performers are obviously passionate about their music, while others are just playing as they hang out with their friends. The music is always played, but for the most part, the crowd is always talking and being loud as well. Though I was there in the middle of the semester, the jazz drummer I met there along with just about everybody I talked to me said that the event was “standing room only in the summer. Sometimes even over one hundred people”(A). This creates a conundrum for the more serious artists. Even though they risk a crowd being louder than them and not even paying attention, if they can win over that crowd, they have a possibility of a huge following. However, most of the performers there are just people with their friends in a social setting. This means that the music is not really preserved on the internet or CD most of the time. It exists only in the minds of the performers and the audience members who frequent a certain place for an event.

The repertoires of music in the culture are widely varying. This music culture most definitely fits into the rock genre, but it does have the pop music focus on vocal melodies, especially with acts that just use an acoustic guitar and singer. However, these genres are not the only ones that are present in the performances, with people just doing things as jokes. Parodies of slow rap songs, and at the event I attended there was even a prerecorded song using auto-tuning and R&B styling as a joke (ZuRoma). The repertoires also vary greatly between cover songs done by other artists and originals. The music is composed outside of the formal event itself, and if it is transmitted from one person to another, it is usually in smaller areas practicing for events like this. Movement can accompany the music, but it is not a choreographed movement. Rather, some people movie with the beat of the song, most often when there is a lot of energy or a fast tempo in the song. There are lyrics, but they are unimportant to the audience. Though at my particular event the audience did keep yelling for somebody to “play us a sex song”(ZuRoma).

On that note, the material culture doesn’t include too many things. However, it most definitely includes alcohol. And judging by a table of 8 wailing at as high of a pitch as possible, the culture includes copious amounts of it. There are other things like guitars necessary for purchase for some people to play. However, since the event has no music being purchased, the places running it need some way of making money, which is why there is so much alcohol being sold. This, of course, is why the event is such a social setting. The plan also obviously works since the particular restaurant I went to is Sicilian Kitchen by day, and loud music playing bar by night.

Conclusion

Even with the focus on the social aspect in this culture, the music is still very important to the culture in many ways. Whether just to play and mess around or to try and win over the crowd and gain a following for other places, there is always a reason for the music to be playing, and the crowd will always be wailing along with it.

Works Cited

Person A. Personal Interview. 17 Feb 2010.

Wagner, Jasen. Personal Interview. 20 Feb 2010.

ZuRoma Open Mic Night. ZuRoma’s Sicilian Kitchen, Grapevine. 17 Feb 2010. Performance.