Anand Thaker: A Concert Analysis

For the remainder of the month we got together three times a week to write, rehearse and iron out details of the show. That was one of the most stress filled, exciting months of my life. On one hand the pressure of the show gave us motivation to make more progress in music that i feel like i ever had in my entire life, but on the other hand that creeping feeling that we weren't going to be prepared enough by the time the show rolled around was just as constant. After weeks of stress filled practices and promoting the show to our friends and family, and around town, the night was finally

Standing backstage, mentally going through every measure of music for our performance, me and the other percussionists representing Prosper were about to play our three ensembles that we prepared for the North Texas Percussion Festival. With the group before us finishing their last song, we were all mentally preparing to show the judges the best of what we had spent hours practicing for after school and late into the night. Before we went on stage to set up everything, I thought of where I was just three years ago, not knowing how to properly hold mallets or work well with a group of people.

The first time that I watched a performance was when I was nine. My older brother got a lead in a production and my parents forced me to go. Once the house lights turned off and the stage lights came on, I felt like it was just me and the actors. I was caught. Acting was a crime and I the criminal. The lighting, the facial expressions, the blocking, it all captured my attention, and I couldn’t let it go, I can’t let it go. When the play ended, I asked my brother what I could do to get the chance to get up on that stage and he said, “Act,” Since that day, the only thing I did was act. I looked for monologues online and started getting really involved with other people that also enjoyed theater.

As the show captivated my senses, it captured my heart, and turned from what I thought would be a trite show like the soap operas my mother enjoyed into a breathtaking experience. The dancers leaping and flipping across the stage were astonishing, and filled me with a sense of wonder. I was not consciously aware of it at the time, yet in some way, I aspired to emulate them in my own life. Now I in no way wanted to be a broadway star; however, I wished to gain even just an ounce of the talent they possessed. Exiting the theatre, I had a different attitude than when I had first gone through the doors. I had finally found something that I did not just enjoy, but that I was fervent

Sometimes a wrench can be thrown into your plans and where you end up may not be where you thought you’d end up in a million years. However, like one of the first rules of improv, going with the flow is the best way to live an unpredictable life. It’s important to dream big and have goals, but one person’s dream is not always another’s. Sometimes staying in a small improv troupe with friends is a better life path than making it onto national television, and that’s okay. There’s more than one road to happiness.

In December, I watched the televised play of The Wiz, that aired on NBC. While I have mixed emotions about this play, itself, I have a better appreciation and understanding about how a play should be presented now that I have researched the history of american musical theatre, and that is unity of the story being told, thru song, dance, and performance.

In a specific scene, I needed to command the attention of my on stage boyfriend and friends before the climax of the show. At first, I merely said my lines and moved about my designated area. After a few tries and my directors telling me to “give more,” I started to use my hands along with my words and feisty inflections. My body language expanded and started to tell Anita’s story with zeal. My volume and confidence soared and I owned my presence on stage. I had never truly allowed that sort of sass and power to course through me like I did in that performance. Later in the same scene, I sang and danced a number with my fellow ensemble ladies. These girls could now play off of my bold actions and enthusiasm, and the scene was made so energetic that it stole the show. I burst my comfort zone to truly embody Anita, and I will never regret doing so seeing what it has done for me now, months after the curtain has

Having two pianists playing at the same time is not so common and it might be a challenge, but the experience resulted efficiently for Aaron Diehl and Dan Tepfer whose different minds and approaches to music complemented each other for an earnest performance on Thursday, April 27 at Greenwich House in NYC.

I had never been to a live play before and really did know what to expect. When I read that we had to attend a play I was "like no way". Overall, I must say I enjoyed the play and actually laughed majority of the time. I think the director did a great job with organizing the realization of

In the weeks before Dinner Theatre I knew I wanted to perform a solo. I was finally starting to overcome my own personal anxiety and my confidence was higher than it had ever been. I picked out the song quickly and I already knew it by heart, but singing it alone in my bedroom was completely different than performing it in front of a full auditorium two nights in a row. That’s when the reality of what I was doing finally sank in. I had performed with the chorus more times than I could count, but I hadn’t performed completely alone in years.

For as long as there has been someone valiant enough to grace the stage, there have been people willing to stop and watch. Though this stage has evolved over the centuries and become a metaphor, alluding to new media such as television and the radio, there is no form of entertainment more direct and authentic than that of the original platform. Thus being where the experience is live and therefore more direct. Although this can quite clearly be said for theatre, this essay will look to argue that of all the live experiences there is no experience more natural than that of the stand-up comedian, which is why clear when you examine the relationship between the performer and their audience.

The emotion that the actors had for their show would rub off on me and I would be ecstatic for days after, thinking about the lights, and the costumes, and the songs. I want to do the exact same thing for other people, I want my work to inspire others and have them be glad through it. I was in multiple productions, including ’30 Reasons not to be in a Play’, in my junior year of high school, and our showing of ‘Pippin’ in twelfth

The day came, and all of us were excited to finally play our music for 1500 people. We boarded our vehicle, a yellow school bus, and headed to Edmond North. All of us were in such a cheerful, happy mood that afternoon since missing school was an added bonus to the opportunity of performing rock music. The first two hours were rehearsal and were not so bad. Fortunately, the stage was not crowded, so we got our own stands. However, we had to stand up, so we got really worn-out. At about four, we finished rehearsal and went to get food.

For my third campus event, I chose to go to the Friday night viewing of the KISS Improv Show. I found out about this event from the campus events listed on the class calendar on d2l, but also when Professor Palazzo highly recommended this event at the beginning of the semester. I had never been to an improv show before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was very surprised to see a small room with no stage, and chairs very close to the performance area. I did not know that improv shows were so interactive with the audience. Saying this, the show was very interesting and engaged with the audience throughout the whole night. I learned what an improv show is and how they work, and that each performance is completely different. I think this event

It is this assignment that I owe a growth in perspective and enlightenment for plays. On October 2nd, 2015, I went to my first play in general. It took place at the Campus Inn Theater on the Rio Hondo College campus. I went into the theater and was greeted by what I presumed to be as ushers, as he handed me the night’s itinerary. A curtain was drawn and a pathway presented itself as I walked through. There I could see the stage and props already revealing itself. There was a makeshift bar with drinks and a table at center stage. Proceeding to my left where the audience would be, I found a seat and looked around. The environment was quaint as a few people were seated around me. I looked over the schedule of what plays would be showing and did not have any expectations. The room started to fill and lights dimmed and the plays began.