Chicago: All That Jazz
The stage performance of Chicago offered a spectacle that I expected before attending the show. I knew there was going to be scantly clad girls with dark makeup and saucy attitudes. The performers brought to life all that was raunchy in the entertainment business during the roaring twenties. The lifestyle in Chicago featured jazz, booze, sex and crime. More importantly, Chicago had beautiful, young women with the dream of having their own Vaudeville act. The two main female characters, Velma and Roxy were two such women hoping to capture the public's attention. The composition of the show is a metaphoric integration of Vaudeville type acts amongst the book scenes and diegetic musical numbers.
Chicago is an
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In Vaudeville shows there is no book or story plot as opposed to musical theatre. There may be a common theme between the acts but there is no formal plot. Also in Vaudeville there is change of content between shows. Depending on popularity of the performer an act can be cut or added. In contrast musical theatre productions are final cuts in terms of the content of the show. The addition of Vaudeville acts into the show brings about the purpose of the show. Sassy entertainment!
In Chicago, the main plot revolves around women who murder the men in their lives that have caused some injustice. Each woman has a story to justify the reason why the men had to die. Billy Flynn is a charismatic criminal lawyer that has never lost a case for a female client. The proceedings in jail and in the courtroom are anything but legal and ethical. It is clear that the plot is not serious. This justifies the fact that the female prison inmates are allowed to interact with each other in song and dance. Also the so-called warden can also act as a contract agent to get the girls their own Vaudeville act. The main purpose of the show is to water down the book plot and add individual entertainers. This is done to integrate the Vaudeville quality within a musical. In doing so the courtroom and jail is paralleled with a nightclub scene. The main purpose to maintain the Vaudeville quality is suggesting the cliché "all the world's a stage." In
Reaching notoriety during the Great Depression, Screwball Comedies developed the idea of strong female characters in society being the equals of Men. Focusing on the film “Sullivan's Travels” this theme of equality amongst the sexist is aggrandised through use of ScrewBall techniques including use of repartee, the inclusion of a strong female role, and strategic use of slapstick between hero and heroine.
Vaudeville was a theatrical paradigm in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance consisted of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female
In her play Chicago, Maurine Watkins incorporates several different themes that express the realities of the 1920’s. Some of these themes are more easily noticed than others. Among the more noticeable ones is the theme of manipulation. Watkins exemplifies the fact that manipulation was one of the most vital keys to success during this time period at several different points throughout the play. Through the encounters of Roxie Hart, Watkins shows that every character, with the exception of Amos, is manipulative and perform their lives in order to obtain success within the corrupted system.
The era of the Roaring Twenties, was a time of great societal change. Many of these changes were greatly influenced by jazz music. During this time, the country was coming out of World War I and the attitude of most people was dark and dismal. Dance and music clubs became tremendously popular in an effort to improve the quality of life for many people.
At first glance, Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, and Henrik Isben’s A Doll House seem to have nothing in common. However, the short story and plays have many similarities. Particularly, five women from these tales— Louise Mallard, Minnie Wright, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Hale, and Nora Helmer—make drastic decisions that appear to be motiveless. Without context, any reader could be confused by Louise’s death, Nora’s departure, and Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale’s unanimous effort to cover up the murder that Minnie Wright committed, which also seems to lack serious motive. However, all of these women’s settings, situations, and lives have connections that make their motives similar. Emotion motivates all five women—not just
Initially, the first jazz is said to have been played by funeral bands that wailed music full of soul and sadness as the followed horse drawn hearses down the streets of New Orleans. It was blues music though (Winfield 157). Many historians mark the start of the “Jazz Age” on November 12, 1917- the day the Department of the Navy closed a thirty-eight square-block neighborhood known as storyville in the city of New Orleans. Fearing the health of its sailors, the navy shut the doors of Storyville’s brothels and nightclubs, forcing
In the novel “The Scarlet Letter” and the musical “Chicago”, we are able to see many ideas and events that are similar, but there are also occasions where the actions that the characters take, differentiate. Both the novel and the musical’s main storyline is about a woman that committed adultery and have to face the consequences and criticism for what they did.
Baseball in Chicago was very big it grew a lot in Chicago back then in the 1800’s.
If you truly want to appreciate the music you listen to, I would recommend that you
One striking characteristic of the 20th century was the women 's movement, which brought women to the forefront in a variety of societal arenas. As women won the right to vote, achieved reproductive freedom through birth control and legalized abortion, and gained access to education and employment, Western culture began to examine its long-held views about women in a world controlled by male dominance while developing their individual personalities. However, before the women’s movement of the 20th century, women’s roles were primarily of a domestic nature. Trifles by Susan Glaspell indicates that a man’s perspective is entirely different from a woman’s. The one-act play, Trifles, is a murder mystery which examines the lives of rural, middle-aged, married, women characters through gender relationships, power between the sexes, and the nature of truth. The play, written in the early 1900s, long before the women’s movement and while men considered women their possessions. In the story of Trifles, it is easy to recognize the role of men and women portrayed in society during this time. The play illustrates the lines between the gender roles of early twentieth century Americans. The drama describes the differences between men and women. The men seem to take over the woman 's world, they dirty her towels, ridicule her for knitting and mock her for making preserves. Glaspell’s play delivers a message to women that they are as capable as men at completing any job, the play encourages
The play Chicago was written in 1926 by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The director of the Movie Chicago, Rob Marshall, used all resources available, the movie starts out in a club with Velma dancing on stage. Roxie is standing in the back her nonchalantly. Roxie had no idea was to come.
The Jazz Age was more than merely a musical revolution—“The Jazz Age denotes not only a period of early big band, but also the events and fashions of an era”. During this decade a number of modern developments were invented, which included an expanded telephone service, network radio, electric inventions, and records set in aviation. These modern developments had a profound effect on American culture, creating a rise in leisure, specifically mass leisure. Automobiles, movies, and the radio overtook the lives of Americans, becoming necessities and part of everyday routines. This period also marks the beginning of films with soundtracks, an audio component, marking the rise of the musical and giving the American people
With exhibitions of the most thought-provoking art, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is one of the Nation’s largest facilities devoted to the art of our time (“About the MCA”) . The mission of the MCA is to offer a direct experience to the public of modern day art and living artists. German architect Joseph Paul Kleihues designed the new building with seven times the square feet of its previous facility (“The Building”) . October of 1967 the museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. The Museum of Contemporary Art is a symbol of modern art, culture, and the artist of our time. It is a stepping stone in history and will leave footprints in the heart of Chicago for many generations to come.
Some other inexpensive attractions in Chicago are the different museums and exhibits scattered around the downtown area.
My capstone project was to go to Chicago and to see many high quality art in art museum and murals/monuments in public in the city. It was also to study the diverse art culture of Chicago.