Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...

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their respective husbands, and the loss associated with each of those relationships. It is also an excellent example of vocal versatility for a singing actress in its varied musical settings, from “coon” song to a 1920s jazz rag. Performance practice in musical theatre is built around traditions and expectations based upon the performance and persona of the original actor. Many young performers attempt to emulate the original cast performers, but that approach inevitably re-treads the same stereotyped manner of performance. To create an informed, fresh performance, the actress must prepare her songs through character analysis, subtext, and musical score analysis. She should also research the original culture and audience of a performance to determine a correlation to the present situation and how to relate the character’s signifi- cance to current culture and tastes. Finally, an investigation of gender roles and types for that era will provide an embodied performance that effectively communicates the emotion of the text as well as the “grain” of her voice. 107
CHAPTER VI CURTAIN CALL The musical adaptation of Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II has been acclaimed as an original, a boundary-breaking trendsetter since Florenz Ziegfeld heard the opening act and confirmed his financial backing of the show. It established the modern musical theatre precedent and has been recognized for various distinctions. These distinctions include an historical accuracy that portrays a non-apologetic look at the reality of race relations and the inherent class structure in American history. 1 It established a new American version of Gesamtkunstwerk with its tightly integrated melding of plot, lyric, and music infused with specific American character traits and musical styles. Other distinctions are its serious message that is lightened with broad comedy at just the right moment, its influence upon every successive musical of the twentieth century, and now, its depiction and expansion of gender role stereotypes in American society and the theatre microcosm. Joseph P. Swain wrote that Show Boat influenced the second generation of great musical theatre composers (particularly George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers) because “it revealed what the Broadway stage could create if given the right materials and appropriate vision. It established a new set of 1 The depictions of the culture and society in the regional South of the 1890s, Chicago at the turn of the century, and New York City in the 1920s are portrayed through stage sets, historical characters, costumes, and music. 108
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LEWIS, ANNE, D.M.A. An Examination
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APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
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TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page ACKNOWLED
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for research, this paper will explo
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MacDonald, labeled musical theatre
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The musicals that have entered the
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and individually as handwriting.”
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Methodology The base of research fo
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Feminine Character in Selected Libr
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from the 1920s, they are timeless i
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e helpful to recognize the specific
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as a Cinderella-type heiress who ma
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Vereen described the “blackface c
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Casino Theatre in Manhattan. The re
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functional sets, and an eleven-piec
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The History of the Musical, Show Bo
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amount of instrumental music, the d
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Ferber’s novel begins with the na
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Act II begins four years later as G
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CHAPTER III SOCIETAL STEREOTYPES OF
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communion.” 5 This bias continued
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children, however, did allow mother
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unhealthy, sub-human environments.
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dominated by masculine traits in ap
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magazines, including Ladies Home Jo
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Nineteenth Century Stereotypes of W
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usiness. She was responsible for th
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gender) inequality forced them inst
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The 1920s was the Jazz Age, a time
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CHAPTER IV THEATRICAL STEREOTYPES O
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Page 79 and 80: In the novel, Parthy Ann is a three
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Page 109 and 110: angelically while caught in the act
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Page 117 and 118: BIBLIOGRAPHY General Sources Burkho
Page 119 and 120: Long, Mary Anne. “‘All Our Girl
Page 121 and 122: Kerber, Linda K., and Jane Sherron
Page 123 and 124: Levine, Lawrence W. The Opening of
Page 125 and 126: Song Title: Show Title: Lyricist: C
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