Knowledge Prep Flashcards
What is Lois’s objective in the song?
Lois’s superobjective throughout the song is that she wants to convince Bill that she does love him, and even though she flirts with other men she still cares about him in her own way
Her objective starts as being her confronting him about how he shouldn’t be jealous/talking about him and trying to reassure him, and this changes at the line ‘but naturally’ as she starts to talk about herself and how she views her actions as acceptable, defending herself to Bill - this is the shift in the song
What is Lois’s obstacle in the song?
That Bill doesn’t believe her, and she does want to be with him but just doesn’t see why she can’t both be with him and flirt with other men
What is Emma’s objective in the song?
Emma’s superobjective is that she wants to convince herself that she can trust her boyfriend and that history won’t repeat itself
Her objective starts as attempting to seem relaxed and lighthearted on the phone, trying to show him that she loves him and convince herself that he loves her. There is a shift when she hangs up the phone as she is now more desperate and pleading, as she is now thinking about how much she loves being with him and doesn’t want it to end. By the end of the song, she is calmer and she is trying to accept that he is away, and try to trust him and be hopeful
What is Emma’s obstacle in the song?
That she has no way of knowing what he’s actually doing, and she finds it difficult to trust him after her history with other men
What is Belle’s objective in the song?
Belle’s superobjective is that she wants to take in her surroundings and come to terms with her situation, so she can accept that she is never going to return to the life she once knew - she is lamenting but also looking for ways to improve her situation
Her objective starts as trying to assert herself and prove to herself that she has made the correct choice, as well as reprimanding the Beast for trapping her here. When she says ‘is this home’ her objective changes to wonder if she will ever be comfortable in this new life, as well as reminisce about her childhood and how she wishes she was home despite her lack of appreciation for her hometown. The shift in this song is where she sings ‘oh but then…’ as she is leaving behind any sadness about her original home and trying to look for ways to improve her new situation
What is Belle’s obstacle in the song?
That she is trapped there and has no other choice but to stay there forever
Explain the role of Lois in the musical as a whole.
Historical context - as the musical was written in 1948, and the play within a play is from 1590s renaissance Italy, there is a certain stereotype of women having to be a certain way that Lois defies
The musical is based partly on Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, two famous broadway actors who were married and who performed in a 1935 production of the Taming of the Shrew - Fred and Lilli’s tumultuous relationship is based on theirs
Six circumstances - She is in her mid 20s, playing Bianca in the Taming of the Shrew and is viewed as confident and promiscuous - nightclub singer in 1940s Baltimore
She is backstage in the theatre singing to Bill
It is 1940s Baltimore and they spend the whole musical on the set for the show, either performing or backstage
She is surrounded by her boyfriend Bill and the objects backstage, e.g props or costumes
Just before, she has been caught flirting with another man by her boyfriend Bill
Her relationship with Bill is currently quite strained as he is unhappy with her behaviour, and they already had difficulties due to his gambling
Character analysis - Lois is a nightclub singer who is playing in her first featured role currently, and is seen as very beautiful. She is flighty and flirty, but still has a heart of gold and never means anything harmful by her actions. She is romantically linked to both Bill and Fred. She is bubbly, outgoing and unafraid to speak her mind or go for what she wants - archetypal ‘airhead’ character and is very charming and charismatic.
Bianca is more sweet-tempered than Lois, and the similarities lie in the fact that they both have a lot of suitors. This is suggested by a difference in time, as in the 1590s promiscuity was less common, however Bianca rarely declines men and is desperate to marry
Ground map/circles of attention - at the start - second circle as she is talking to Bill
changes to second circle every time the chorus occurs
the verses are all third circle as she is talking to the audience
Explain the role of Emma in the musical as a whole.
Six circumstances - a hat-maker who is idealistic and values love above all else
she is currently in new york in the living room of her apartment, waiting by the phone as her boyfriend has just left on business
set in 1979 new york, a one woman show so she remains usually at home or on the phone/writing letters to family and friends, as well as travelling to LA previously to this
her boyfriend just left and she is alone, she is surrounded by the interior of the house and by the phone which she uses to call her mother just before
she has had several failed relationships beforehand, the most recent one is Sheldon Bloom who was in LA, and she has previously been cheated on by a man who said he was away on business, so she is paranoid that it will happen again
Her relationships - strong with her mother, fairly weak with her current boyfriend as she clearly doesn’t trust him, however she is very much in love with him and has considered marrying him previous to the song
Character analysis - Emma is a British hat-maker who has moved to America in the pursuit of love, suggesting that she is a passionate and romantic idealist - views love as so important that she will change her whole life for it. She moves from NY to LA then back to NY and meets several men that don’t treat her well, suggesting she is quite naive and easily led and tends to repeat mistakes e.g the cheating situation in this song. She is sometimes headstrong though, e.g with Sheldon she leaves because she doesn’t want to be a trophy girlfriend, and she is fesity towards the cheating in the opening song - she never gives up and is therefore very optimistic, confident and strong-willed, sticking to her goals throughout. This shows her hopefulness and how she sees the best in people, and has good morals as she intends to never use men and massively regrets when she does
Ground map/circles of attention - At the start on the phone - third circle as she is talking to him on the phone and he is offstage
when she puts the phone down - first circle as she focuses on herself
when she goes to pick up the phone again - first circle as she is focusing on the object, same at the end
Explain the role of Belle in the musical as a whole.
Historical context - the musical is set in 18th century France, and the original book was published in 1740 with the purpose of helping young girls accept arranged marriages. The French revolution also occurred around this time, linking to the small provincial French village Belle lives in
Six circumstances - 17 year old daughter of an inventor who lives in a dull, predictable town and feels like an outsider.
She is in her guest room after the beast has just taken her out of the dungeons, and she is alone after the beast has just told her the rules and left her there
It’s set in 18th century France in a small, provincial village, and this is presumably in the evening as the Beast asked her to join him for dinner
She is surrounded by her guest room, e.g man made objects such as a bed and a table, and there is a wardrobe and teapot set that we find out later are characters in the play
She had been abandoned by the beast just before after being imprisoned there in place of her father, since she had gone to search for him in the woods and found him in the dungeons of the castle
She is quite isolated, as she has a very poor relationship with the Beast and resents him for what he has done, and she has new surroundings so she is uncomfortable. Her relationship with Maurice is very loving as he cares for her deeply and she is willing to sacrifice herself for him
Character analysis - Belle is very mature and self-sacrificing, as seen by her actions in this song towards her father. She lives in a town where beauty is highly valued, and while she is seen as very beautiful people don’t understand her because they think it’s strange that she likes to read and values other things more/wants adventure, meaning she is trapped and feels like an outsider. She is mature because she can see through the Beast’s exterior and sees the beauty within him, linking to the historical context - shows she is compassionate and caring (helps with his wounds)
Ground map/circles of attention - third circle at the beginning as she is talking to the beast, who is offstage
‘what i’d give…’ looks out to the audience, in the third circle
‘is this home’ first one - second circle as she is looking around the room and looking at objects and props onstage
‘i was told…’ first circle, focusing on herself/memories of her childhood
Describe the work and influence of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
When I think of ALW , I think about how he wanted classical music to transcend and become more relevant to a current audience, and how he has many different styles
The most well known work associated with his name is Phantom, which is a help as it is the longest running Broadway show, however it did hinder him as it meant people assumed his style was always quite melodramatic and over the top and put him into a box
He had a strong influence on the west end - he uses a lot of special effects and many different musical styles to create showstopping performances and brought many big shows to the west end - previously most shows had been on broadway and he changed the west end to make musical theatre more accessible to not only the UK, but to a wide variety of an audience - Don Black claimed he ‘more or less single handedly reinvented the musical’
He has been inspired by composers such as Lionel Bart, but also by his family as they were very musical, and his father was a composer and organist, his mother a violinist and pianist, and his brother a cellist
He works with many styles and themes, but religion is a theme that he has worked on several times, e.g in Jesus Christ Superstar or Joseph - quite controversial as not only is religion being combined with MT, it is also combined with rock music etc
He writes mainly to entertain, e.g with cats he has often been asked if there was a political or social message behind it but he only wrote the show to write an entertaining story about cats
I would say his varied music styles have inspired many current composers, for example Lin Manuel Miranda’s use of rap music in Hamilton or Duncan Sheik’s use of rock music in Spring Awakening
His legacy boasts many widely renowned shows such as Phamton, Evita, Starlight Express, Cats, etc and he has won 6 tonys, 4 grammys, an oscar and an emmy. He is also the first composer to have had 3 musicals play simultaneously on broadway/west end - evita, joseph and cats
His first musical with Tim Rice was the likes of us - unsuccessful but they often work together e.g on JCS or joseph or evita or the wizard of oz
ALW has also appeared on TV e.g when he did the show Over the Rainbow to help cast his version of the wizard of oz on the west end
The future of his work is still ongoing - he has just done cinderella on the west end for example
why did i choose him?
Describe the vocal techniques required to perform your song in relation to vocal warmups
In order to sing well you have to warm up well
Warmups - alignment of the body - alexander technique - helps with grounding and links to book exercise we did in class - alexander (australian actor and author) believed that bad posture would cause health problems
sirening - this goes through your entire range and allows you to eliminate the passaggio (mine is A flat - G area), also helps with pitch, as it helps you sing a higher note
resonance - frees the voice and aids projection, which is useful here (feel the vibrations in your chest etc)
Subtext in musicals is more explicit as it is done through music
Estill/SLS/CVT - speech level singing, complete vocal technique
Jo Estill is proficient in 3 main areas of vocal expertise - performance, voice, science and education
I use estill - looking at the anatomy of the voice to allow you to focus on specific sounds
I use SLS - sings from the top to the bottom of your range to help you to eliminate the passaggio
Who created the use of objectives?
Stanislavski
Who created the idea of shifts/events in songs? Give examples in each of your songs.
Katie Mitchell - an event is a turning point in a song
Song 1 - ‘but naturally’
Song 2 - when she goes to pick up the phone, but doesn’t
Song 3 - ‘oh but then’
Describe how you prepare to sing a long note.
Mixing twang and belt at the end of the song to make it less straining and the use of breathing exercises or diaphragm exercises, e.g ‘ha ha ha’ singing exercise
Belt is a thick-fold mass vocal cords, in twang they are thin so it’s more of an effortless sound
Which voice qualities do I use?
Voice qualities - speech at the start, mix of belt and twang throughout to make the belt less straining and help with the accent
