Side Show

Introduction
On Thursday April 17, 2010 at eight p.m. I went to see Side Show at The Johnson Performance Hall. Side Show was written by Bill Russell in 1997 and was nominated for a Tony award in 1998. The musical is about two twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton, who go from being the main show at a small side show to big time stage performers in the 1930s. The play is based on the true story of the twins. Some notable actors were Robin Clayton, playing Daisy Hilton, Emily McCoy, playing Violet Hilton, Ruben Rosales, playing The Boss, Bryan Thompson, playing Jake the Cannibal King, Davis Rogers, playing Buddy Foster, and Terry Connor, playing Lakshman Kashyap Manjunath.
Music
The music throughout the play goes from being dark and epic to light and Jazzy. The opening piece “Come Look At The Freaks” was very dark with many membranophones and aerophones. The main chorus brings up a strong harmony from all of the “freaks” singing. The performers were able to create a really strong harmony since there was a large amount of them. A few pieces later the song “The Devil You Know” was very jazzy and even had an electric guitar playing. There was a strong piano playing the harmony. This piece seemed to bring up the thought of the Vaudeville they wanted to go to. In the Vaudeville, the musical numbers had a much faster pace. Some pieces such as “One Plus One Equals Three” had a very 1950s big band sound. They had a bunch of aerophones and were very fast pace.
Performers
The main two performers playing Daisy and Violet had to make sure that they stuck together at all times. Even through dance numbers the two were always stuck together. The attire each character wore seemed to fit their personality. The two also had to make sure they could stay on the same note as each other even when hitting very high notes. Buddy seemed to be the more reserved and this was reflected through his attire. Terry Connor on the other hand, seemed very egotistical and his clothes showed his flaunting style. The performers did a lot of interacting with the audience. At the start of the play many performers started off right next to the crowd. Jake the Cannibal King even ran into the audience at one point in the play.
Audience
The audience of the night was very respectful of the play besides for a few people clapping out of turn. There audience was very diverse with people ranging from upper teens to the elderly. They were very generous with their applause both during and after the appearance. When the play started and the performers were right next to the audience, some members on the edges seemed to be frightened to find performers right next to them.
Time and Space
Since the play was on a Thursday night on the second week of its performance I had expected to find a small crowd in the Johnson Theatre. I found quite the opposite though; in fact just about every seat was occupied. I also expected the audience to be rather reserved since it was the end of a business day but they were full of cheer. The room was very dark which made it easier to focus on the stage. It was also had a lot of acoustic settings which made it easier to hear the performers.
Conclusion
The musical had many interesting elements based on 1930s music yet incorporated other types of sounds in the play. The cast was able to use many different sounds since they had a band behind the main stage.

Works Cited
"Side Show: The Musical - Comet Calendar." Home Page - The University of Texas at Dallas. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .

The Gullah Islands

After viewing the videos about The Gullah People and their ancestors, the first thing I noticed about their music is that they use a lot of membranophones. They focus a vast majority of the music on the rhythm. Even the dance strongly corresponds with the rhythm. Another thing is that the music culture makes sure to involve many different people of the society just as the African society does in its ceremonies. They women were very colorful dresses and some were what seem to be costumes. The singers tend to stretch out syllables over different notes. The songs' lyrics are very detailed as showed in this Gullah Song. One performance by a man seemed to be somewhat of a slam poem. These performances involve many church performances as well as anti slavery rallies. The overall ceremonies seem to be mostly based on celebrating their freedom from slavery as well as celebrating their rich heritage.

University Idol

Yesterday I attended UTD's University Idol. The contestants covered a wide arrange of talents including dance and singing. The stage was dressed up to look like Woodstock and even the host had costumes resembling Janis Joplin.
The third place winner, Sirus Badiee, did a dance that took up the majority of the stage. He was very energetic yet precise in every one of his movements. The audience was able to get involved in the song as well.
The second place winner, Andrew Previc, played and sung Blackbird by The Beatles. He was very focused on his playing the chordophone, or acoustic guitar. His voice leads the melody while he played the harmony on his guitar.
The first place winner, a man known as Ping, played Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles.He was very energetic and was even able to get the audience to clap and sing along with him. The audience seemed to enjoy this alot and it helped make the performance seem more "concert like."

Another notable performance was a student who sung Bridge Under Troubled Waters. He had no background music or instruments. He had a very wide range of notes that he sung and was able to sustain notes for a long period of time. He most often used disjunct motion but also used conjunct motion for different parts of the song.

Performance Report

Introduction

On March 31 I went to Denton to see The Chinese Invasion Tour. The show featured three bands, P.K. 14, AV Okubo, and Carsick Cars at Hailey’s Bar. The three bands were classified as Chinese Punk Rock bands. The three bands have made a very big impact in the Beijing music scene. Carsick Cars has even played with bands such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Ex Models and These Are Powers.

Music

This type of music most reminds me of nineties alternative bands such as The Toadies and The Pixies. There was a lot of feedback from the instruments. The guitars would usually make the harmony and every now and then they would play a melody. Usually the melody would be in the introduction and then come back up in the verse. P.K 14 and AV Okubo both had an electric piano where they would often use to loop a drone. All of the bands used many loops to play different noises. Carsick Cars had a much more trance like sound like one of there biggest influences The Velvet Underground.

Performers

While on stage, all three bands were very energetic. AV Okubo especially seemed to have energy flowing out of every performer. The clothes they wore were very flashy. The singer of AV Okubo wore a sailor’s hat while the bassist wore white girl’s pants. Although they moved around a lot they had to be aware of their surroundings because they were on a relatively small stage. P.K. 14 did not seem to have as much energy and seemed to be having some technical difficulties with the equipment. One thing I noticed was when one band was performing the other two were in the back watching the others.

Audience

The audience consisted of about twenty to thirty people. Most of them seemed to be from twenty to twenty-six. The majority of them were dancing on the dance floor while there were a few passively listening from the bar. The crowd was consuming a vast amount of alcohol which was made apparent by the increasingly awkward dancing they were doing. The clothes of the audience seemed to be from the eighties. The women were wearing loose torn shirts while the men were wearing leather jackets and tight jeans. The audience was very appeased with the concert. Although the audience was rather small, it seemed as though they could not get enough. This allowed the bands to feed off of their energy.

Time and Space

The concert was relatively small because the bands had played in Dallas three days before. Another contribution to the small size of the audience was that it was on a Wednesday night. The bar was on a dark side street and could be pretty hard to find if you were not from that area. The inside of the bar almost looked like a cave and could have affected the acoustic settings of the instruments. The majority of the listeners were listening at a very intense level because the majority of them are from The University of North Texas, an art school near the area. Most of these students have an art major and music is a very big part of their life.

Conclusion

This type of music had elements I was familiar with as well as ones I had never before heard. The music was loud chaotic with many harmonies and melodies playing off each other. As well the musicians were very chaotic and full of energy. They had tons of flow and were in a constant flux. I have never seen such a small audience possess so much energy. Overall this band was marked by their overdriven and distorted use of electrophones.

Rossini

During my free time I watched Rossini's "The Thieving Magpie" arranged for a flute quartet. It was a very light hearted song. It almost reminded me as birds singing. The melodies are very soft and have a fast tempo. The piece constantly travels from high to low notes. There are two separate moods happening at once. A very relaxed, happy mood while a lesser heard sad or jealous mood occurs in the background. Almost as if there is one person laughing at another sad person. This song appears in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" which is just that. A story about a man looking down and laughing on the weak and helpless. The song has a very strong membranophone piece. It has a very strong introduction and then calms down but starts to pick up after a few minutes. The melody would best be described as conjunct motions. Unfortunately, I could not get blogger to upload the video but I did add a link on the post. I would say although Gioachino Rossini is not as well known as Mozart or Beethoven he is able to hold his own as a composer.

Conclusion

You need to remember what this music culture means to you. The audience rarely sees how this music was made but rather how it is performed. People go out to these shows to have a good time and really nothing more. The majority of them will disperse out to the restaurants and bars afterwards and discuss the show. Then the next week they will do the same thing. I ask you to visit The Granada Theater, the same as me. It is the center of the Lower Greenville culture and it is where you will be able to take in all of the area.