The Freaks!! Performance Report 2

Introduction

I went to the Saturday show of Side Show. It was a large theater production by UT Dallas. The performance was on the night of Saturday April 17^th . This is an adaptation of a Broadway play that was adapted for college performers. I was able to get a up-close view of the musical by seating directly in the front row so I was able to enjoy aspects of acting that may not be able to be seen close up.

Music

The first thing I notice is that the music never ends! The orchestra, which is located in a non-prevalent position in the back of the stage, accompanied the singers/actors in the front. In a large scale stage production, I believe the orchestra would be located in the pit, if the stage had one.

The instruments were common of the typical theater setup including an electric keyboard, drum set, various brass instruments, a flute, tuba, sax, and more. I couldn't distinguish a certain style to many of the songs but one song, in particular had heavy jazz influence and several songs, obviously, sounded close to carnival, side show, music. The jazz piece included elements of music like snapping by the singers. Speaking of singers, most of them used vibrato a large amount in their singing.

Performers

As I mentioned earlier, the band is located in the back. There a couple syncing issues with the music performers being in the back with no clear view of the actors. For the most part, I believe this is solved by the director having a screen to see the stage from the audience's view. I'm not sure if this is the norm for musicals with a normal pit configuration but it would certainly make sense.

Many of the actors heavily reacted to the current scene. 'Audience' members that were really actors pretended to be watching and reacting to the show. Looking at each person, there seemed to be a narrative that the actor created for that character. I think I was able to focus on one person or another more easily because I was so close to the action.

Audience

The actors were able to use the audience to actually participate in the current scene. For example, the starting scene included a side show act where the 'freaks' came from the south side stairs by the audience. When Jake the Cannibal King was on display, he 'escaped' and scared audience members (real and fake) up and down the stairs, including me. It made me, at least, feel more involved in the show as a side show, not a musical. The show included many humor elements so the audience was able to participate by laughing and clapping.

Time and Space

The theater was mostly full. There was a line of seats directly next to me that was not occupied in the front row. Being in the front let me more easily see the actor's reactions and movements up close. It was hard to zoom out and see the general picture for scenes with more than one or two actors in it (which was most of it). Being in the front also made me feel shy about keeping program notes. It would seem rude to spend the entire time with a pencil and notebook in my hand.

The stage included a large red and yellow drape on the sides. As mentioned earlier, the band was located in the back behind major prop pieces. On of those prop pieces included a large roll-able podium for an actor to stand in and large crates.

Conclusion

Overall, the musical was a large production that makes me feel like everyone involved put a lot of hard work into the production. Side Show was performed by UT Dallas students and was very pleasant for me to watch even though I would not normally enjoy watching musicals.

Works Cited

Evans, Kathryn. Program notes. Side Show. 17 April 2010. Richardson: University Theatre.

Side Show. Dir. Kathyrn Evans. University Theatre, Richardson. 17 April 2010.