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re: Comment, question and link to Times review

Posted by: ukpaul 03:03 pm EST 11/20/14
In reply to: re: Comment, question and link to Times review - StaunchKarakter 01:52 pm EST 11/20/14

Musicals aren't inherently joyful; most Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals most definitely aren't, there are joyful moments but they also visit some pretty dark places.


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re: Comment, question and link to Times review

Posted by: StaunchKarakter 06:48 pm EST 11/20/14
In reply to: re: Comment, question and link to Times review - ukpaul 03:03 pm EST 11/20/14

Thanks for drawing attention to my use of the word "joyful." I hear what you're saying, but I guess I'm using joyful in a broader sense. Singing begins when regular speech isn't enough. The music comes in and lifts the whole experience to a new plane.

I had an acting teacher long ago help me with this when I was doing a production of "The Last Five Years." I was playing Jamie and struggling with "The Schmuel Song." She spoke to me about several things, including the joy of singing. The joy of connecting through song. The JOY! And that doesn't always mean your action as an actor is joyful, but that you understand the joy of connecting in that way. It's a lifting of attitude, style, and understanding. It brings vulnerability and presence to the connection.

So, as a musical theater performer, I often think of this joy; and it always gives me the desired effect in performance. I agree with you that serious musicals with strong moral messages aren't joyful in terms of action, but there should always be joy in the style. Otherwise, why do we even want to watch?

I hope that makes sense.


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re: Comment, question and link to Times review

Posted by: ukpaul 07:21 pm EST 11/20/14
In reply to: re: Comment, question and link to Times review - StaunchKarakter 06:48 pm EST 11/20/14

Well I'd say that the introduction of song is to amplify emotion - not just the positive emotion that the term 'joy' suggests.

I tend to direct rather than perform and, when doing so, I refer to the difference in energy that comes with with song, a heightened sense of communication, so I'd refer to 'energy' not 'joy'.

I do think that Doyle does that well and, unlike a number of other directors of musical theatre, grounds it in an emotional reality that bypasses the ersatz indicated emotion that comes too easily (and which many think of as typical of musical theatre). What is even more interesting about him, I feel, is that he does this, but then allows it to rub against a more theatrical mode pf presentation, whereby the performance realism is thrown into relief by a different scenic and staging style. I think some get stuck on the latter and it means they don't see the former but, for me, that balance makes it a much richer and rewarding experience.

I hope we see this in the UK at somewhere like the Menier (where Doyle has done some work) but I'm not holding my breath on that.


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