Sunset Boulevard Play Analysis

“The Producers” is one of the most famous musicals in Broadway. Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan adapted the musical from the 1968 film of the same name. The musical is about two producers that oversell interest in a Broadway flop in order to become wealthy. The musical consist in play with in the musical. The producers, Max and Leo, choose the worst play ever written and the worst director. However, the play turns out to be successful and Max goes to jail and Leo escapes with the money to Rio. The two more important external event in the play are the event when Leo decides to help Max and the moment when the play becomes a success.

The technical aspects of the production such as scenery, properties and costumes also played a keynote in the productions success. The scenery was fabulous it truly made the play. It was very realistic and extremely vibrant. Almost the entire play was performed in one setting, except for the railcar and dance scenes. The house, the main setting, was magnificent with painstakingly placed detail in every corner. All elements in the house matched wonderfully, for example the furniture, the photos on the wall, the telephone and even the trash can. Little bits of detail were everywhere adding to the beautification of the set, for example the lace decorations on the chairs, the etched glass above the front door and even the Christmas tree.

Each element gave the stage a different feel that matched every scene , complementing each brilliantly. The only element that lacked for me was lights, although very bright ; in my opinion the reoccurring blue wasn't the best option. I feel if the lighting designer would have had more warmer colored lights against the already vibrant set pieces, it would have made the stage pop more. But one thing i did particularly fancy, were the costumes the characters wore and how they fit each character. Each character's’ costume showed the dichotomy between the personalities and tastes of each individual. For example Ilona played by Jane Krakowski was dressed in a scarlet / pinkish dress with a high slit up the left side; showing her seductive character type. Meaning when i saw Ilona on stage, I immediately knew who i was looking at . Lastly the sound effects included , like the door jingle sound or The bike bell , added to the whole idea of being inside and outside of a retail building. These effects gave the stage an outdoorsy feel , drawing you in , giving the audience illusions of really being in 1930’s

One feature of the play that really amazed me was the perfection of the acting. The actors and actresses seemed as if they actually were the characters in which they were playing. I was particularly impressed by the way that the characters seemed to actually emotionally feel and exist in their own unique roles. The

In the film Sunset Boulevard, we meet various different characters filled with their own backstories and struggles. Throughout the film we see the main character Joe go through ups and downs and hard decision making. This movie shows the impact of how you see yourself for what you are and what actions you take to show your true self. The film also shows the consequences of the actions you take and how even honesty can get you killed. In Sunset Boulevard it teaches you to really look at your life and make you decide how you see yourself and how you want others to see yourself.

And the picture of you that was out front with all the casting actors, wow you looked gorgeous! Once again I was extremely impressed by the stage design. The back Catholic Church wall was such an amazing structure. The paint and texture that was used to build the wall, gave off the appearance of a real stone wall. The wall design was flawless, and the size and scale it in which it was done in is astounding! Ms. Livingstone office was also well placed; it kept a focus point to the center of the room. The decision to go with a see through glass desk and small offices chairs allow the stage space to seem larger and didn’t block or hide when the actors sat down or walked around the desk. The area with the steps that lead to Mother Ruth desk was also well crafted, but I felt it was not utilized enough. It was barley used and wasn’t sure if it was Mother Ruth office or apart of the church altar. The church pew was a nice addition as well. I was also really impressed with the lighting effects, especially from the church windows. I first thought the stained glassed windows were fixed lights that couldn’t be changed, but once Livingstone took center stage and began to speak the colors changed to a red color (I think). When that happened it felt like the world froze in place while she spoke, and resuming when the light turned back to a bright morning light. I also liked how the lights would change throughout the play to set a different mood. For example, when Ms. Livingstone was hypnotizing Agnes, she told Agnes to imagine herself being in water all of the sudden the room color was

The set was designed in a way that was very versatile and yet, still convey a serious message. By versatile, I am implying that the open-stage with two ramps crossing each other in the background was plain and simple but served a purpose of several scenes -- such as a bar, church, and even a funeral. A set prop that were a key pieces in the play were the wooden benches, these made it possible for the actors to switch scenes. Some examples on the usage of the benches were when they stacked two benches one on top of another and turned it into a bar, they turned the bench in a vertical position and created a podiums to express different religions, or setting the benches in a close and aligned design to create a church. Other props that influenced the scenes were snow, umbrellas, then using the umbrellas as angel wings, and of course lighting. Instead of building entire sets, or making the audience use their imagination with no props included in the play, the set designers and directors created visuals that were ordinary objects and interacted the audience to use their imagination and "build" the appropriate set for the scene in their minds. I believe by keeping a low budget, the designers of The Laramie Project accomplished a bigger impact on the audience with a simple-low-budget set rather than an expensive-big-fancy set.

I know that it is a small stage so you couldn’t do much to it, but I wish they at least put up an actual door instead of a pretend door so that you could distinguish between houses. In the end I really did like the play because it kept me interested and wondering on what was going to happen next. My boyfriend came to the first half of the play, but then had to go to class for the second half. Since the ending caught me so off guard I had to tell him what happened in the second half. The play was like a delicious dessert that you could not just stop halfway in; you have to keep enjoying it until the very end.

I will be honest with you I had a lot of trouble enjoying the play, like I said the dialect gave me trouble, plus my seats were not that great. I did however like the movie quite a bit, but I realize I am a product of a different generation as well. I have been brought up around TV and movies rather than plays

Before I watched the play, I expected it to be terrifying and nightmare inducing, using different dramatics elements to strike fear. I was unsure on how they’d effectively use minimal props and actors and the final scene where the wife and child died. I thought that the timing of the performance would

The scenic design in this play was extraordinary, and I could tell there was a lot of effort put into it. In this play there was a stairway towards the back of the stage. It brought in a new way for the actors to enter/exit the stage. I thought this was very creative idea that was easy to move on, and off stage if needed. There were many scenes that had the moon and the stars in the background. I loved this because it showed the audience when it was night time. I also love looking at the moon and the stars, I feel it creates a very romantic atmosphere. There were times the setting was inside a house or a pub, and then there were times that the setting was outside like the war scene, and the balcony scene. I

The scenery revealed multiples information about the setting. The opening scene conveyed that the musical is set in the present times. The set looked very rusty and depressing implying that the setting was very poor-like, the set designer did an extraordinary job on creating the tone. In the beginning the tone was very melancholy, but as the musical proceeded it turned into a cheerful comedy. In the beginning the colors of brown and gray dominated the scenery, but the colors frequently change depending on the musical number acts and what the musical numbers wanted to accomplish. The scenery didn’t have many moving parts, but they had many pulleys that change the set. The main setting was this huge background wall that was dominated by many geometric shapes, this was mostly used when the main character reunited to hold their rehearsal for their final performance. Also, there were many lights manipulations to change the setting, the big wall was diminished by black lights and they use simple sets like urinal stall and beds to represent the club’s bathroom and the bedroom respectively. I knew that this musical was realistic because there were not any absurdities in the set. Another aspect to carefully evaluate when you go to the theater is the costumes and lighting. The costumes were very simple and not too literal, the main characters were all middle-aged men. Their wives had a much fancier

The lighting of any production is the most important part in my thought. the lighting puts you in the mood that you have to be in, in order to fully understand that part of the show and to actually live it like they do. For example, when they were in the park and it was raining, they had their umbrellas, and the background effects of rain made it really seem as if it was raining in the theatre. The lighting was always focused on every part of the stage, especially on those who were the main parts in that scene.

Throughout the play, I enjoyed the role of music used to set a comic atmosphere and replace the dialogs during comic scenes (e.g. when they chase each other around). I also thought that they made a good use of light to indicate the moment of the day the scene was happening or to set the atmosphere of the scene (e.g. pink colour during the romantic moments). Lastly, I liked the way the play ended. Even though it was a little messy with everyone running after each other off and on stage, and this policeman coming out of nowhere, which really surprised me; I couldn’t think of a better way to end the play.

A fragment of life in Hollywood is being spread over the screen of the Music Hall in Sunset Boulevard. Utilizing as the premise of their forthcoming, burning dramatization a shameful circumstance including a blurred, maturing quiet screen star and a destitute, pessimistic youthful scriptwriter, Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder (with an aid from D. M. Marshman, Jr.) have composed an effective story of the aspirations and disappointments that join to make life in the cardboard city so entrancing to the outside world.