Hairspray And West Side Story

The Film "West Side Story" illustrates how the Puerto Ricans of New York faced discrimination and were used as scapegoats by the American people during the cold war time period to escape their anxieties. Due to the fear of communism and possible nuclear war the 1950-1960s time period was a very fragile time for the American people which produced an air of xenophobia throughout the country. The air of xenophobia is present throughout the play due of the repeated mention of stereotypes about Puerto Ricans and the constant feeling that the Puerto Ricans do not belong. The people of American often dealt with these anxieties in one of two ways, through escapism or through and through the scapegoating. This is made very clear through the comparison of West Side Story to the play The Music Man in the document “West Side Story and The Music Man: Whiteness, Immigration, and Race in the US during the late 1950s”. Like many waves of immigrants, the Puerto Ricans faced discrimination when they arrived and for some time after. This came in the form of people being discriminatory directly to them, housing discrimination and job discrimination. Therefore, the play “West Side Story” expresses the discrimination that Puerto Ricans faced due to the xenophobic nature of the time period.

The film ‘Hairspray’ directed by Adam Shankman, is set in June 1962 in Baltimore, America. During this time, the Negroes were segregated from the white people. There was extensive discrimination. Adam Shankman used effective film techniques that helped me to understand a key idea that is that all people should be treated equally regardless of their race and colour. These techniques include the use of prop, costume and dialogue.

Dance can show us a variation of things whether it is a story plot or retelling history events. Dance becomes an art when done with passion and enthusiasm. The audience can connect and respond with the dancer if done properly. When we use dancing in a story line musical we are attempting to give the audience a deeper understanding. As every story every musical has a “moral to the story” or main idea.

When I went to go see The Lion King on Broadway a few words came to mind after the play; amazing, stunning, and unbelievable! I was a little unsure at first, because I thought I was too young to see something from a Disney World production. I was also wondering how Disney was going to manage putting a film starring non-human characters, into a three-dimensional stage. However, using all their “Disney magic” with a little help from a great stage producer The Lion King Musical kept my attention all the way through with their; voice and diction, staging, and many other elements.

Remember the Titans shows you the mentalities of the people at that time. The movie started by showing the neighbour throwing racial terms at Coach Boone family when they had moved. Or when on the bus, they first sat with only white on one bus and black on the other. We get the sense of everyone's mentality and how they feel about it. And the main protagonist Coach Boone is also spreading a stereotype. He is the victim of racism but he did say to Coach Yoast to go his daughter dolls so she wouldn't always be at the football practices. So it doesn’t only show that one side is good and the other side is bad. It shows you the how people think at the time. But Hairspray show you as if it is one vs one. Trassy vs the producer. How she is trying to stand her point and the producer trying to stand her point. The one side versus another shouldn’t be how we represent racism. How remember the Titans portrays racism and stereotype is how it should be

Humorous, energetic, enjoyable and all-around fun, Legally Blonde: The Musical captured my attention from the get-go. This comical yet heartwarming musical portrays the story of a young woman following an ex-love to Harvard Law School only to realize the potential she possessed within herself and in the new life she creates for her own. After viewing this hit Broadway production, I am fascinated with how this theatre play was brought to life on stage with the lighting, sound, spacing and overall entertainment from the cast to the costumes. Altogether, this play is one of my all-time favorite productions and it is one that keeps my attention from the moment it takes off to the closing of the curtain at the end.

There’s a reason that English classes have students study Oedipus the King, A Raisin in the Sun, The Crucible, and many other titles in schools across the globe. Adding music to a story focused on a serious issue doesn’t impact the message that it carries to audiences. Musicals like Next to Normal, and South Pacific carry themes of extreme social struggle like racism and mental illness all with soundtracks that stand the test of time. What I love most about how theatre affects people is that most theatre kids are well adjusted due to the exposure to these wide ranges of themes, making them the best people to be around; theatre kids are well adjusted because of the awareness of theatre, and not necessarily juggling education and stage productions.

     The West Side Story portrays the lives of two different gangs living in America, as well as their beliefs and examples of living a good life. The expectations of what people consider the good life to be may vary on a person’s morals and their dreams of what life is truly about. In this movie, whether or not these characters were good people, lived a good life, or lived in a good society is a very controversial topic.

In her doctoral dissertation, Katherine Axtell examines Show Boat from its novel origins to its inception and creation as a work of musical theater. It is clear from her analysis that even though Hammerstein and Kern may not have intended Show Boat to be about race, it was still at the forefront of their minds. Axtell states, “sources…strongly suggest that, page for page and line for line, the composer and librettist expended the greatest energy on the development of material for the romantic leads, Magnolia and Ravenal; that they took inspiration…from contemporary African-American musical theater.”6 Axtell also cites Todd Decker, “who in 2007 included Show Boat in a larger study of ‘black-white encounters’ in selected American stage and film musicals... Decker argues that Kern and Hammerstein concentrated, from the beginning of their collaboration, on the development of interracial encounters and the creation of such numbers as ‘Can’t Help Lovin; Dat Man’ and ‘Ol’ Man River.’”7

This paper is a critique of a production of Show Boat, a musical classic with compositions by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, which was performed and produced by NETworks Presentations LLC at Emens Auditorium on the 14th of February 2001. Clayton Phillips, the director of the production, attempted to test the waters of racial discrimination by exploring controversial themes such as prejudice and interracial relationships. Show Boat takes an enlightened approach to ethnic controversy by using both music and drama to express the feelings and hopes of the characters to the audience. Even though I enjoyed the production, I felt that it was lacking in terms of its plot and may have overused its melodic reprises. However, Show

Of all the different genres of movies, horror is for sure my favorite type to watch. I was looking over the list of movies for this last assignment and my eye went straight to the horror section. After looking at all of the options for the scary movies, I thought to myself that I should branch out and watch a type of movie that I don't usually watch. So I chose musical. Although I don't watch musicals often, when I do, I enjoy them very much. For starters, singing is such a beautiful gift to the ears of people, like me, that love listening to someone sing. I love listening to people sing and it gives me chills whenever a pretty song is sung. I also love watching people dance and in many musicals, there are always a choreographed dances throughout the films.

Annie Hall is a romantic comedy directed by Woody Allan in 1977. The film is not any everyday movie but rather a film that revolves around the life of the main actor, Alvy Singer played by Woody Allen himself and his relationship with Annie Hall, cast by Diane Keaton.

Ralph saw your hair cut, alanis, and it makes him feel kind of sad for you since it makes you look pathetic in some ways and makes him lean toward that it gives off the impression of a lesbian haircut and makes him look at you as you are giving off almost a male like impression but not really but almost like one is his version of looking at you. Your picture depressed him a little bit, alanis. It is not a big deal, for he is not even sure if he will use a cup for Josh or what so he is not sure if he will meet you on this earth in person later, but he has no  plan of meeting you with your hair that short and for that matter he figures it would be past the middle of your back before he met you for a few reasons. However, as far as earth goes

At some point in a woman's life, she is, if like most women, unhappy with her hair. A woman with straight hair wishes for curly ringlets. A woman with curly hair wants stick-straight locks. Thick and coarse desires to be fine and thinner. Fine and thin begs for thick hair.

“Legally Blonde” is a wonderful musical because the colorful scenes gives audience a visual enjoyment, and the beautiful music gives them a fresh acoustic experience. “Legally Blonde” is presented by Performance Riverside and RCC Fine & Performing Arts. It is directed and choreographed by Roger Castellano, and the musical director is Dennis Castellano. I went to watch this great show, which was performed at RCC’s Landis Performing Arts Center, on September 27,2014 at 2 p.m. I would like to comment on this musical in three ways: the plot, the design, and the acting.