Project #4: Unconventional Theatre

1. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

• Produced by Front Row Productions and Stephen C. Byrd with Alia M. Jones. Preivews began February 12th 2008, it opened on March 8th, and the limited engagement closed June 22, 2008. This production of the Tennessee Williams classic was directed by Debbie Allen.
• "Don't miss this bold new staging of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' rich and timeless family portrait. " http://www.cat2008onbroadway.com/about.htm.
• Cat On A Hot Tin Roof had always been previously staged with white cast members depicting the family of a southern livestock business. Historically in that time period and in that region, it would be very rare for a black family to be owners of plantations and livestock. Yet this version shows that the dynamics and relationships in a family are universal across race.
  

James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery//68/?pnum=4

2. Fuerzabruta

Diqui James (co-founder/co-creator) and Gaby Kerpel (composer/musical director). Ran Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre October 11 2007 through February 18th 2008. Produced by Concert Productions International (CPI), Ozono Productions and David Binder Productions.

• Fuerzabruta (Brute Force) "breaks free from the confines of spoken language and theatrical convention [where] both performers and audience are immersed in an environment that floods the senses, evoking pure visceral emotion in a place where individual imagination soars." http://www.playbill.com/news/article/112173.html
• This performance breaks the conventions of proscenium, thrust, and even In-The-Round theatre as it moves some of the act directly above the audience. With no dialogue or spoken word, the audience is jarred by strong, raw images backed by energetic percussion. Fuerzabruta translates to brute force, and as far as conventional theatre goes, this show easily forces it's way out of that classification
  

3. Company - 2006 Revival
Raul Esparza and company in the 2006 Revival of Company

• Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by George Furth. Directed by John Doyle it opened November 29, 2006 and closed July 1, 2008. Won Tony for Best Revival.
• "This visually severe, aurally lush reinvention of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s era-defining musical of marriage and its discontents from 1970 is the chicest-looking production on Broadway."
• Company was not a traditional musical when it made its debut in 1970. It was a series of vignettes with no particular chronology, that surrounded one character's journey. The revival used the actors as the orchestra, making the meaningful music of Sondheim even more of a personal expression of emotion. Traditional musicals have the orchestra in the pit, led by the conductor, yet this pared down version of Company had the actors responsible for accompanying their fellow actors and themselves.

4. Spring Awakening

• Music by Duncan Sheik, Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater. Produced by the Atlantic Theatre Company and Ira Pittleman, Tom Hulce, and Jeffrey Richards. Directed byMichael Mayer and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, it opened December 10th, 2006 and closed January 18th, 2009 (888 performances)
• "With a few exceptions, like John Doyle's Sondheim revivals, musicals tend to follow the Lloyd Webber principle that a respectable show needs eighteen sets and huge machinery. Michael Mayer, by contrast has put a rock concert on Broadway. The band sits onstage in plain view, and along either side of the playing area are risers for audience members." http://nymag.com/arts/theater/reviews/25582/
• This show combines a period piece of writing (Frank Wedekind's 1891 'Spring Awakening') and contemporary Indie-Pop songs. But the songs not only contrast with their counterpart dialogue, they burst out from the script more as separate performances. Characters pull microphones from their period school boy uniforms and sing in contemporary vernacular what they are feeling, rather than follow the tradition of attempting seamless transition of dialogue leading into song. In some opinions, that doesn't work in the first place, so Spring Awakening embraced the different statements a musical can make with its book, and with its songs.

From the National Tour of Spring Awakening, http://www.saturdaymatineeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/springawakening1.jpg

5. Shakespeare's R&J, Houston Premier

• Adapted by Joe Calarco, Directed by Rob Bundy, produced at Stages Repertory Theatre, Houston TX
• "The first forbidden kiss of two schoolboys. Put those boys in a school where Catholicism reigns, patriarchy rules, and where simply reading Shakespeare is forbidden, and you have a world pulsating with repressed hysteria."http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/issue/i02-00/shakespeare.html
• Another reinvention of Shakespeare's classic love tale, this one makes enough of an impact to garner reproduction of the show through the years and across the country. The widely accessible story makes a willing stage for unconventional twists, like the 4 person all male cast who tell the entire story by themselves. No lush, garish sets--not even a balcony--appear in this retelling of the star-crossed lovers. The line between the actors playing the students and the students playing the characters are stretched and blurred. The audience is forced to see beyond the traditional garnishings of this play and straight into the heart of this passionate love story.

Project # 3: Too Hot to Handle

1. NYC Today

"Word is Will Ferrell's new Broadway show, You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush, has audience members storming out mid-performance because of some sizable imagery: a "supersized" photo of a flaccid penis!
The audience is led to believe the displayed phallus is attached to the former prez himself. "We were joking that now he was out of office, he could do whatever he wants… so I said, 'Let's have him show his own penis," explains You're Welcome America director, Adam McKay. "
http://perezhilton.com/2009-02-09-will-ferrells-new-broadway-show-offensive-to-many-prudish-theatergoers-walk-out

Not only is politics involved with this highly satirical look at the former president, but now so is male nudity--or at least a picture of it. Will Ferrel made a name for himself with his parodies of George Bush. Now the jokes seem, for at least some people, to have gone a little to far.

2. Naked Broadway: Daniel Radcliffe in Equus


"That Broadway revival of Equus that's packing them in at the Broadhurst (93% attendance, giddyup!) has been getting a lot of press, much of it focused on Daniel Radcliffe's frenzied nude scene, in which [spoiler?] he runs amok and blinds some horses. Michael Riedel at the Post has dubbed the show's big attraction "Harry Potter's other wand" ha ha, but at least one person is not amused by the quip: Equus's author Peter Shaffer, who tells the columnist, "How very naughty of you. There is a great deal more going on in the play, you know. I'm not writing porn, for God's sake! I was irritated that people talked on and on about it. It was so infantile." He's absolutely right! So let's have no immature comments about these NSFW cell phone photos of Radcliffe's penis taken by an Equus audience member the other night." http://gothamist.com/2008/09/11/equus.php

Because of Daniel Radcliffe's 'Harry Potter' celebrity, the play--and his bare body--recieved a lot of attention. So much so, that the play itself was somewhat forgotten. I mean, do we know of anyone else who performed with Daniel?


3. Gay Broadway: Terrance McNally's Corpus Christi


"NEW YORK -- It's the gospel according to Terrence McNally, a polemical Sermon on the Mount that has produced an opinion from just about everyone -- whether they have seen the play or not. We're talking, of course, about ``Corpus Christi,'' the so-called ``gay Jesus'' play that off-Broadway's Manhattan Theater Club decided to produce after initially canceling the production because of death threats. " http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-156992605.html

Mixing religion and homosexuality in a script is a recipe for controversy. Whether people know what the play is about doesn't even matter. For some, religious beliefs are a fiercely guarded subject and any kind of tampering with the Scriptures is blasphemy. Offense is sure to be taken with this subject.


4. Racist Broadway: Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon


"ACTORS' Equity-perhaps the only union whose unemployment rate regularly hovers somewhere above 90 per cent-announced on August 7 that "it cannot appear to condone the casting of a Caucasian actor in the role of a Eurasian" and therefore it was denying the British actor Jonathan Pryce permission to appear on Broadway in the role he. originated in London in Miss Saigon, the hit pop opera by the authors of Les Misgrables that transposes Madama Butterfly to 1975 Saigon. The show's producer, the phenomenally successful Cameron Mackintosh (Cats, Les Miz, Phantom of the Opera), had threatened to cancel the production, despite a record-breaking advance, should Mr. Pryce be prevented from reprising his role in New York, and promptly did so." http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:q4VctfheU1EJ:findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n18_v42/ai_8859928+race+controversy+broadway&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

Actor's Equity later reversed their decison, citing the use of "moral principals on an inappropriate matter." The fear of public outcry and backlash shaped this organization's decision. This is an instance where the attempt to avoid public criticism severly backfired.

5. Raided or Closed: The Padlock Law, New York 1927

"Shortly after Mae West announced plans for a Broadway production of her play The Drag, which opened with a Doctor decrying the criminalization of homosexuality, the controversy reached a head. On February 9, 1927 the police raided the plays and arrested members of their casts. Soon after the New York legislature passed the Padlock Law, which prohibited the production of plays that dealt explicitly with homosexuality." http://books.google.com/books?id=L9Mj7oHEwVoC&pg=PA904&lpg=PA904&dq=homosexual+controversy+broadway&source=bl&ots=cbpwU55U-l&sig=SMulRKQTDdizLX_kONHufYJI89s&hl=en&ei=ZL2tSeCICIqhtwfSxI2GBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result

6. Arrested


7. NEA 4: Holly Hughes, Tim Miller, John Fleck, Karen Finley
"...the case involves four avant-garde performance artists who sued the Endowment in 1992 for overturning grants that an NEA peer panel had favorably recommended. Known as the 'NEA 4' the artists--Karen Finley and Holly Hughes from New York, and Tim Miller and John Fleck of Los Angeles, work with sexual and political themes. These artists were among the first to be affected by a 1989 backlash against the NEA-funded exhibitions of Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano, whose photograph of a crucifix immersed in urine drew the wrath of North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms." http://www.lamurals.org/Newsletters/0197Nwsltr/0197A.html#anchor285054

Art is met with opinion by everyone who views it. When those viewing it sit behind a government desk, things can get more complicated. Instead of focusing on art for art's sake--the NEA let it's fear of how the PC world woud react get in the way of it's original purpose. A government led organization avoids backlash in anyway possible. This time, they received more attention than they thought possible.


8. Regional Theatre: Center Stage, Baltimore MD, 1970-1972


"In 1972 the theatre offered the first all black production of Death of A Salesman, and two Center Stage productions 'Slow Dance on the Killing Grounds' and the musical 'Park' were transferred from Baltimore to the New York stage in 1970. The theatre also survived some official public outrage occasioned by its mounting of 'The Trial of the Catonsville Nine,' a liberal play in which the subject was too close for comfort (Catonsville is a suburb of Baltimore.)"

http://books.google.com/books?id=-uyTMSptXZYC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=outrage+play+regional+theatre&source=bl&ots=jFORb3F5kf&sig=bdEBJ-odwS4ONSBQqVhsiRfcJvU&hl=en&ei=HMetSdSnOpO5twegiZ2DBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result

Certain plays or certain versions of plays can evoke emotion and illicit response more than others can. A theatre that has no qualms in choosing to produce these type of plays refuses to "play it safe." And good for them. Creating innovative and relevant works is an admirable trait of a theatre.

9. College/University: The Vagina Monologues, Santa Clara University, June 2, 2008

" 'The Vagina Monologues' won't be making any noise on campus this year. After controversy over the explicit sexual nature of the play caused headaches last year, coordinators decided to avoid the administrative red tape and move the production off campus. Despite these issues, people were turned away at the door due to its popularity last year." http://media.www.thesantaclara.com/media/storage/paper946/news/2008/05/22/News/Controversial.Play.Moves.Off.Campus-3374899.shtml

Students from our very own Sam Houston State produced this play a few years ago, and it too was performed at an off campus venue. This show is a thorn in the side of many Catholic Universities as well, and there is even a committee whose sole cause is to stop productions of this play. The subject matter is, well, genitalia, and it's frank treatment of the feminine sexuality is seen as offensive and even immoral. Administrators at schools don't want to risk the almost certain public outrage if they were to back a show like The Vagina Monologues.

10. High School: Rent: The School Edition

"Too provocative, in the view of some high school officials and parents. At least three of the planned high school productions, in California, Texas and West Virginia, have been canceled after administrators or parents raised objections about the show's morality, its portrayals of homosexuality and theft, and its frank discussions of drug use and HIV, according to administrators, teachers and parents involved in those cases. " http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/20/1n20rent004712-stage-set-controversy-when-schools-/

Rent rocked the world when it came to Broadway with it's pop/rock soundtrack and in your face depiction of AIDS, homosexuality, and drug use. It made a powerful statement to the liberal New York audiences alone. With those issues still present in the school edition (the fact there was ever a version adapted for schools still boggles my mind) I can easily see the reasons behind this hot topic. What I want to know is how those schools who did schedule the rock opera for their season get the show past their community standards clause.

Project #2: Option 1

Angels In America: Thinking Critically About Production Choices




Casting:


"Most of the cast members perform double duty...playing various roles throughout the story. It’s left unclear whether they are playing different characters or manifestations of a single character... The only one that doesn’t fit is Streep’s initial appearance, which serves more for a lark than thematic importance." http://www.thecinemasource.com/movies/reviews/Angels-in-America-DVD-review-2356-0.html



In regards to the question of whether or not to honor Kushner's original intent with the double casting of certain parts, I definitely would follow what is specified in the script. The reason being that I think there is thematic and artistic statements made in the choices of which character doubles which part, and that appeals to me as a director. For instance, the Actor playing the Angel and Emily also plays The Woman in the South Bronx as well as Sister Ella Chapter, Hannah Pitt's one real friend in Salt Lake City. After Hannah leaves Sister Ella and the safe haven of Utah for New York, the first person she deals with and is helped by is the slightly psychotic Woman of the South Bronx. The double casting is an important specification by the playwright that should not be ignored if given a choice.

"Reflections, doubleness and ambiguity organise the protagonists' world, a fact emphasised already by the double casting of many of the roles." http://www.dialogfestival.pl/eng/programme-spectacles-angels.htm




The Angel:


"She appears rather undramatically as just a very special nurse, an interesting angels-among-us concept that nonetheless diminishes a grand theatrical and potentially glorious musical moment." Photo taken from An Opera Unlimited presentation of Angels in America, an opera in two acts with music by Peter Eotvos, libretto by Mari Mezei, based on the play by Tony Kushner. Directed by Steven Maler. Conductor, Gil Rose. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117930862.html?categoryid=33&cs=1




This is a review of the operatic version of Kushner's play, yet it encompasses the same feelings I have towards the presentation of the much anticipated angel. Throughout the show, the angel's voice is heard, heralding an impending event of great importance. The arrival of the angel is arguably the play's most most powerful visual statement. The flying of the angel should be realized with an artful, dramatic, and beautiful approach.



"One of the most notorious lines from Millennium is Prior's reaction as the angel crashes through the ceiling at the end of the play: "God Almighty . . . very Stephen Spielberg!" Yet however effective this moment is on stage, it becomes problematic when the medium of the play is, in fact, film. The HBO production thus made the somewhat predictable choice to omit this line. The special effects of this scene in the film are remarkable-the ceiling crashes in, books tumble off the shelves, the entire room tilts and shakes, and eerie light emanates from closets as items fly mysteriously outward. Yet although this scene may look like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, no reference to Spielberg remains. This is an unfortunate cut, because without this line the film does not access the metatheatrical potential of the angel's arrival in the same way that the original play did, so we are left instead with a great deal of dust and debris and a dangling angel (Emma Thompson) who looks uncertain as to what her role in these proceedings should be. "


Nudity


"In a posting on MLive.com, Glenn called the nudity in the play, 'tax funded porn.' " http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:CfHoa6ipN5gJ:www.pridesource.com/article.shtml%3Farticle%3D24847+angels+in+america+prior+nudity&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us


In my production of the show, I would keep the nudity to, again, perserve the raw, button-pushing script that Kushner has provided. AIDS is not a pretty disease, and the nudity really drives this point home. However, I do think it should be handled with taste and respect. If the community standards called for a different approach, this is one area that could perhaps be toned down with staging effects like the use of a scrim, or lighting.

" 'I opted not to pretend, or to keep secrets,'' she said in a telephone interview from her home in Middletown after a recent rehearsal. When two men kiss, for example, or there is a nude scene, it is possible for a director to soften the images or darken the stage as an offering of protection, one might say, but Ms. Gardiner said, ''I feel it's all part of Tony's storytelling.' " http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9D03E6DE143FF935A1575AC0A96F958260




Language


"What I still don't care for (and what would have made this very wrong for the theatre for which I read this originally)is the graphic language and imagery. " http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37604505

Yes, there are a lot of hot-button issues touched upon in the play, aided by the use of curse words, graphic expressions, and racial slurs. The Roy Cohn character, being the primary advocate of foul language, is defined by such syntax. A Roy Cohn walking around on stage without his distinctive adjectives is far less effective and completely against character. The curse words are so frequent in Roy's speeches that cutting the language would leave the actor playing Roy far less lines to memorize.

"Although I felt the book was surprisingly full of language and explicit details, details I sometimes think should have been left to my imagination, I can't help but appreciate the truth that it provided for me by being so real and surprising. We live in a sheltered world where we want to shelter our children from all that can harm them, but in the end we don't realize that it is the sheltering that does the most damage to our youth. " http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:wPOVXnueZpIJ:www.amazon.com/Angels-America-Parts-One-Two/product-reviews/1559361077+angels+in+america+review+language&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us

Intermissions

"I don't think I can adequately express how good this performance was. The play started at 7 and we were out at 10:30 (there were two intermissions). I didn't even notice the time." http://www.goldstar.com/events/fullerton-ca/angels-in-america.html#member_reviews

Personally, I like where the intermissions fall in the script and would take two 10 minute breaks between each Act. However, the way we are doing it here - with just one intermission - is also quite effective. In this case, I feel that either choice would be acceptable, and factors like the type of audience, theatre, and run time goals would help shape the decision.

"And Carter J. Davis, as the sincere and nervous Louis, helps us forget how slowly the time is crawling by. But it's not enough: After the two-hour first act, I wanted to leave. So I did." http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=640938