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. .