Winter is officially more than a month old, but we all know that New Jersey & New York Metro area residents still have weeks of cold weather ahead of us. There are many wonderful things about winter in our area, ice skating, drinking home-made cocoa by a roaring fire, and this year if it is just too cold to get outdoors, you might take a trip downtown to see Gad Elmaleh in action at Joe 's Pub at the Public Theater. Never heard of Gad Elmaleh? He is kind of like the Parisian version of America 's Jerry Seinfeld, and he will be performing his stand-up routine until March 27, 2016 if you need a dose of laughter to get you through the winter blahs. Since it 's almost February, you may be thinking about Valentine 's Day. This year, our Renewal by Andersen replacement window team thought it might be fun to help you consider your gift options. So here goes. Impressive: Roses and other Posies Red roses are the most popular Valentine 's Day flower. Fragrant aromas tickled the senses and evoke romantic thoughts. But you don 't have to settle for ordinary roses, exotic roses come in a variety of hybrid colors so you can express your love in hues to match your favorite Valentine 's mood or preferences. Some people prefer orchids or lilies. If you are going to send a beautiful bouquet, be sure to find out if the recipient has a preference, or an aversion, to certain flowers before calling the florist. More Impressive: Chocolates Chocolate and Valentine 's Day go
For our critiquing assignment in our Introduction to Stagecraft 1, I ventured to downtown Toronto, to a small indie theatre called, The Unit 102 Theatre. There I saw the production of MISS; written by Dora Award-nominated playwright Michael Ross Albert who wrote such works as Tough Jews, The Spadina Avenue Gang with the Storefront Theatre. The set takes place in the aftermath of a shocking accident in a boarding school classroom, the story explores the tenuous connection between a high school teacher, her fiance, and a troubled student whose lives have been irrevocably changed by tragedy caused by a miscarriage, an affair, and the fear of the consequences that are not yet revealed, and finally, murder. This is a one act showdown between three
Mai Ngai’s book, Impossible Subjects, powerfully studies the unfortunately understudied period between 1924 and 1965, the lifespan of the national origins quota system. This era begins with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act in 1924 and ends with the lifting of national origins quotas through the passage of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965. The era from 1924 to 1965 remapped the nation by developing both a particular racial and ethnic identity and a "new sense of territoriality" (Ngai p.3). This period demonstrates the most widespread immigration restriction in U.S. history that literally "remapped the nation" (Ngai p.3). Ngai argues that widespread immigration exclusion created an intensified sense of national borders as well as increased security on those boarders. This helped produce what is now defined as the illegal alien (Ngai). Impossible Subjects primarily concentrates on immigrants categorized as illegal aliens, alien citizens, colonial subjects, and contract laborers. Because these are immigrants whose experiences are not greatly represented in our national narrative, the regulations that have governed them have never greatly been exposed, resulting in a collective oblivion within United States history. Ngai turns her research to important analytical use. Ngai’s most interesting lines of argument lie within her analysis of the creation of illegal immigration from Mexico and her analysis of Japanese internment during World War II.
During the midst of the Great Depression, Americans were struggling in a fight to live. Factories all around the country were shutting down, causing people to be jobless, even homeless, unable to provide for their families. But the Factories were not the only ones affected. The theatre industry struggled to live on just as much, causing any enjoyment in life to be rare; which brought brilliant idea to the table, the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). This would not only bring jobs to those who are jobless, but bring back a scarce source of life, enjoyment. An Ideal Government funded theatre program the provided “free, adult, uncensored theatre,” as stated by the secretary of commerce, Harry Hopkins. And for 4 years, the FTP was actively trying to provide what it promised, but had a tragic downfall.
As for the first theatre, I chose Book-It Respertory Theatre. Its location is at The Center Theatre in Seattle, Washington, and the address is 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109. They have just finished with the show “Emma”, which came from the book that Jane Austen wrote. During May, they will start with a new show called “The Brothers K”, and it is written by David James Duncan. Although I have never read this book before, the review said it’s one of the great American novel one hasn’t read. As for the current artistic director, Myra Platt, she will be leading and directing the show for “The Brothers K”. The theatre started in 1990, and it has been able to continue operating for twenty six years with the hard works of its members’.
The Globe Theatre became what it is today because of its history. What was its history exactly? Unfortunately, those are two questions many people don’t have an answer to. So, what is the history?
In the theater, the role of a performer is to convince the audience they are something or someone they are not. In much the same way actors pretend to fool the audience, politicians likewise use acting to conceal their true political goals from potential opponents. This strong association between the theater and politics is readily apparent in Julius Caesar. The conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus use acting to conceal their politically motivated goal to assassinate Caesar. Marc Antony likewise uses acting to not only conceal his hatred for the conspirators, but to also turn public opinion against them. This relationship between politics and the theater is reinforced by having various characters directly reference the theater when discussing political goals. However, in the end, Antony manages to emerge victorious. This is largely due to Brutus’s decision to not only spare him but to allow him to speak at Caesars funeral. This decision marks a key turning point in the play and highlights a disconnect between Brutus and the theater. This disconnect results in the failure to anticipate not only Antony’s true intentions, but also in the power of rhetoric to sway the populace. Equally important is Antony’s own complete immersion in the theater to allow him to deceive the conspirators and recognize how best to use his words to influence the people. These two factors build off each other and are critical in determining the eventual conclusion
The looming ‘culture war’ phenomena is not a new one nor a particularly unique one in any history; this mythical ‘culture war’ can found, for example, in the in social history of the 1970’s with white evangelicals fighting more moderate and secular minded reformists, resulting in race riots and abortion clinic bombings. Consequently, because this trend is cyclical, we can see it’s reverberations in modern theater and can see, in many ways, that this current direction of America. It begins with the elimination of nuance. ‘Disagree with me, you’re a fascist’ types the antifa member, ‘I’ll punch you in the face you dirty commie,” retorts the MAGA-hat-clad alt-righter: this has become the height of our political discourse. In the-land-of-do-as-you-please,
He always asked “What would I do if I were in this situation,” He teaches actors how to act in a “true-to-life” human physiology. He taught to observe people. everyone has a different personality actors can adapt other traits from other people to their character. Stanislavski also teaches “What is my character’s motivation,” a question to ask for all of your actions on stage to give your character a purpose for reacting the way he/she does. He is known for teaching emotional memory which begs actor to experience the emotions that their character feels, whether it be pain, sadness, happiness, or whatever emotion you’re trying to portray. However if the actor is incapable of replicating these emotions with ease, they are asked to reach into their past and pull from the emotions that they’ve experienced and use them onstage. He wants the emotions they portray onstage to be aucharacter entirely, you use the ever so famous “Emotional memory” which will really grasp the audiences attention.
After closing night of “Seussical the Musical”, parents, teachers, and students alike have been asking the theatre department, “What’s the winter show?!”
In The College Park Theater production of Les Miserables the sound, lighting, costumes, and set affected the play in both negative and positive ways.
Growing up in the theatre has shown me how much of an impact theatre professionals can have on someone. The most miraculous thing about theater is that someone can always be inspired by something you have created. I have been inspired by theatre that I have seen, and it has impacted my entire life. My theatre teachers and other professionals I have worked with helped me find my passion, and I want to inspire other artists to find their passions as well. It is an incredible feeling to know that a production I worked on could have inspired someone to pursue a career in the theatre. I also believe that I will have a lot to contribute to each individual production I work on, therefore making me a good stage manager. My diligence, my organization,
Historically, research with vulnerable groups experiencing health inequities has been problematic (Quinlan, 2009; Smith, 2012). The imposition of research agendas and failure to engage research participants at the very onset of a research project can yield findings that are incomplete and misrepresent the knowledge and resources of those being researched (Wilson & Neville, 2009). For example, throughout the world Indigenous groups have been researched to their detriment, often with little or no representation or rights with respect to the research process, or to the interpretation and use of resulting data (Moodie, 2010; Smith, 2012). The imposition of western research epistemologies, processes and ethics that exclude traditional approaches
In, The Necessity of Theater, Paul Woodruff writes “Good theater carries wisdom, but the wisdom it carries is human and in disguise… a wise audience is able to unmask a piece of theater and glimpse the wisdom that hides in the form of entertainment” (217). Woodruff then states “Human wisdom is not an acquisition; it is a process sustained by frequent reminders of the wonders and terrors that we are" (219). The two plays I chose that correlate with these quotes include: Young Vic's "Nora" short film and the Shakespearean play Richard III. I feel that the two plays directly relate to what Woodruff is trying to convey to us as readers and audience members. First, Young Vic’s “Nora” short film was immediately the first film I thought of when
For many, watching movies is great for entertainment, as well as a pastime. Other than viewing platforms, such as Netflix, movie theaters are great places for the best movie viewing experience possible. The release of new films attracts customers and bring in business for the theater. However, some films are not as popular as others. When this type of situation occurs, it hurts the theater because it is not getting the attendance that it should be. Just recently, the local movie theater in downtown Arlington Heights changed ownership for the third time within the past four years. It seems like the location struggles to keep business alive for a long period of time. As an employer of the theater, I can say that many of the issues come from the customers experience, along with some poor service. Even now, the theater flashes signs of struggle. With much observation, the theater should definitely consider major changes to bring back its old customers back. Arlington Heights is a small suburban town northwest of Chicago. With a much smaller population than the city of Chicago, it definitely plays a big part in the number of customers the theater receives. Not only Arlington Heights’ low population hurts its businesses, but also the lack of activities and attraction. For a town much smaller than Chicago, Arlington Heights is not really known for anything. The most popular event occurs during the week of the Fourth of July. Here the town hosts “Frontier Days”, where there are concerts and carnival games and rides that take over an entire park for the week. Besides the Fourth of July, Arlington Heights is just like any other typical neighborhood. For a business to stay long-term, the movie theater for this instance, it needs to promote and improve itself in order to bring in customers for business. Being located in such a small town is a disadvantage, but the improvement of business is simple as long as it has the right concepts.
The Public Sphere within theatre was a concept that was first delineated by philosopher Jurgen Habermas in his book titled The structural transformation of the public sphere, in which he refers to the right that all citizens hold, the right to participate and engage into discussions on public matters of interest and public issues. Habermas writes: “the audience does not constitute a space for spectators and listeners but a space for speakers and addresses who engage in debate.” (Habermas in Balme 2012). The Public sphere has now become a space, a stage, for performers, speakers and protesters to have a voice rather than for the preliminary use of entertainment for the audience, spectators and listeners.