Broadway!

I LOVE Broadway. Maybe that's just the Thespian inside me talking, but something about the eager excitement mixed with the detailed costumes really grabs my attention. It's funny because I hate signing - I am a terrible singer for one. I even switched out of chorus....So you would think I would lack any appreciation for this genre and just stick to plays. Nope. My very first Broadway show was Wicked when I was in the seventh grade. I even read the book after because I was so captivated. I have since seen Memphis and Lion King and off-Broadway productions of Jump, Rent and Stomp. Rent is probably one of my absolute favorite movies and I might have watched it 10 times before going to see it. I one day hope to see Rock of Ages and Chicago.

 I watched Wicked Behind the Emerald Curtain to get a better look at what kind of technology was used that the audience might not necessarily be thinking about  while watching. The video on the left is just an example of one of the many videos available to watch. I realize that in the making of a musical, there are so many different aspects that must be looked at and put together, which all involve different technologies. If you listen to the description of how the monkey costumes are made, you realize how much time has to be put into just one costume. I liked the idea of the wing harness screwed into the back harness. These costumes aren't just thrown on loosely, they fit together perfectly and are mechanical. The hair is so life-like and comes from Susan Humphrey's original sketches. I also didn't know how many measurements went into making the wigs!

Think about the number of people and amount of time has to be put into the ENTIRE musical. Every single detail has have thought put into it from the color of tights, to lip color, to architecture.

The Birth and Life of Opera

After watching so much opera in and out of class, I have come to see that the Opera can be a way of life. I could see how someone so immersed in the Opera culture could come to live, think, and dream in an opera-style. Imagine how funny that would be if you were at school and your best friend lied to you and suddenly twenty people behind you angrily began singing Italian Opera at the top of their lungs? It's so unrealistic, but can be very entertaining.
The film The Birth and Life of Opera did not captivate me as much as Madama Butterfly but still sent out a good message. After opera was "born" in Florence and in Verona, 10,000 people a night would flood into the arena to experience the opera. The movie describes the opera as the "fusing of music with universal stories and ideas".
During the film, different examples and clips are shown to further explain the history and development of different kinds of operas. My favorite part was the part on Monteverdi and the Italian revolution he was a part of, turning opera into national propaganda. The phrase "viva verdi" was graffitied all over the streets, which could be translated to "love live Victor Emanuel, king of Italians". Opera began to give people a send of unity and nationalistic pride, and this idea was used by Wagner in his operas. Wagner was also responsible for the Ring Cycle.
Whether one loves the opera or not, it is undeniable that opera can be an escape from ones own reality into another, no matter how dramatic the plot is. Opera is filled with passion, love, and drama, giving it life.

Madama Butterfly Animation Interpretation

First off, the use of barbies immediately grabbed my attention because I thought the video was going to be a parody joke, but the film was actually produced well with a nearly accurate plot and great graphics.
The movie begins with the Japanese woman, who we know from the actually opera is a prostitute, with a butterfly on her head to symbolize the story to come. The captain comes into the picture and the two lay together. The woman falls deeply in love with him but shortly he leaves, but with a promising end note, leaving his hat on her head. As far as we know, he does not ask her to wait, but day after day she stands where he left her, committed to the idea of his return. Her belly soon grows with his child while we listen to opera music floating out of the player beside her. Instead of a real birth, a fishbowl and fish are used to represent the fetus growing inside her, and her water breaking is the fishbowl cracking. When her daughter is born, she seems to be the only joy the woman has. The child must be a comfort because she was made from the woman's lover, so the woman loves and clings tightly to her.
Then, just as it appeared he wasn't going to return, the music changed and we hear a ship's horn blowing from the distance. It's the captain and his ship! The Japanese woman puts a flower veil on top of her head and climbs to the exact spot where he left, but with their daughter. When the captain pulls up in his car, he is not alone. While gone he has found himself a new woman, and they have a car full of children. Of course in the animation, the new woman is a 'stunning' blonde barbie that matches the Ken doll exactly. The captain takes away the Japanese daughter and places her into the car with his new woman. The Japanese woman is horrified and cannot bear a second of the pain, running away to end her life. In the opera, she takes a sword and plunges it into her abdomen. In the animation, she peels off her skin, revealing a mechanical figure which she disassembles with what looks like a screwdriver or other tool of some sort.
I found the animation to be a great way to summarize the opera in just 10 minutes and would recommend it to anyone with limited time wanting a taste of the real thing.

August 29th

Our topic discussion in class began in the 1300s with the Renaissance. We talked about how preserved culture leads to a Renaissance for everyone else and dove into a brief history covering the Baroque era which I found to be interesting. In this time, people began to get richer leading to a transformation in culture including the dress, music and art (a.k.a Nouveau Riche). Why did this happen? Gold! When Spain came over and discovered the Americas, they not only wiped out a large portion of the Native American population but came to find gold, tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate and sugar.

 I remember in American History we talked about Eunuch's which were also males who were castrated to become better servants for the royal court. In AAT class, we began talking about Opera and the castration of males to preserve their boyish voices and prevent the changes of puberty. One example is Farinelli. This is a type of body modification. When "body modification" was mentioned, piercings, tattoos and crazy hair immediately popped into my head, but the gender modifications are even more of an actual body modification if you think about it.

I have never been a huge fan of opera, but maybe that is because I have never given it a fair chance. Maybe I do like opera? I suppose I will find out when I complete this weeks homework and watch an opera made before 1920. I believe Les Miserables is an opera but I will have to double check. If so, I will definitely invest my time into watching it.

Thoughts after Class #1

 There have been only a few cases where I have left a classroom after the first class and known that the teacher will bring out my full potential to not only succeed in the class, but develop skills I can use in the real world. I know this because of the level of comfortableness portrayed by the teacher, therefore allowing the students to be open and explore their creative sides. I am intrigued. I know I will have to work hard because a lot is expected of me, but because I am motivated, unlike a math or science course, I will try my best to exceed the standard expectations. As for my expectations, I only have one - to feel immersed in a project unlike any other from a high school or recreational art class. I am excited to find meaning in an in depth project I will be truly proud of when I finish. Of course I feel proud of almost every other project I accomplish, including the two hanging in my dorm room, but those were pleasure pieces, and I am curious as to what it would feel like to attach my emotions to an art project.

 I went to a small private school outside of Atlanta that prided themselves in valuing the arts. I am not saying that it was a lie, but it was not until my senior year when my friend did a whole portfolio on gay pride did people start using art around the school to actually SAY something ( http://www.theprideartist.com/pride-pieces.html). That’s where my inspiration to feel my art came from and I am really excited to see what the rest of the class comes up with as well.