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

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of the late1920s, Show Boat presents an important context for sociological and historical clues to an informed and original preparation of character roles in performance practice. The third reason to use Show Boat as a gender-based performance practice model is that Kern’s score incorporates operetta, blues, and popular singing styles that require a flexible approach and a healthy, well-trained technique for each performer. Today, the lyrical operetta style of singing is not restricted to revivals of early classic musicals like Show Boat or Carousel. It is also the preferred manner for period works that include Charles Strouse’s Rags, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime, Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, and the British “poperettas” of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Claude-Michel Schonberg (Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and The Woman in White, Lloyd Webber’s latest Broadway incursion). 15 The characters in Show Boat, parti- cularly the role of Magnolia Hawkes Ravenal, require a depth of emotional maturity and range of artistic journey that is often lacking in contemporary show performers. This type of role demands an investment of preparation to create a personal characterization that stands apart from the current trend of interchangeable young actors who sound just like the original cast recording, or those who can belt out ear-piercing decibels of “faux emotion” like the pop stars that they have become, as described by New York Times columnist, Ben Brantley. He expressed the current lack of original, informed perform- ances with the remark of “good, well-trained voices that can carry a tune and turn up the volume come cheap. What does not is the voice that identifies a character as specifically 15 “Popperetta” is a term used by Ben Brantley in his New York Times article, “How Broadway Lost Its Voice to ‘American Idol’” (27 March 2005). 7
and individually as handwriting.” 16 A method of song preparation that is based upon the classical training style of lyric operetta along with the more natural vocalization of the blues and early popular music seems lacking in the education of many young musical theatre singers. The Collaboration of Musical Theatre and Gender Studies Along with advanced scholarship in musical theatre, another area of burgeoning research in the past two decades has been the field of gender studies. In feminist theory, gender is considered a social construct rather than a biological fate. Susan A. Brasow defined gender as a “psychological and cultural term” intended to distinguish the roles of men and women in different spheres, as defined through active or passive modes of be- havior. 17 Musical theatre tradition portrays women in roles as heroines who are second- ary to the leading man hero, or as willful, wise cracking characters without need of traditional male support. Musicals are also an excellent vehicle for portraying the marginalized Other, those considered outside the hegemony of middle-class, white heterosexual male culture. 18 Since the late nineteenth century, the “Woman Question” of the feminine aspect of man’s sphere has been a popular topic of debate in literature, art, science, and religion. Woman’s role as Other in America’s hegemonic culture has been delineated in literature and art with explicit expectations and stereotypes of the domestic 16 Ethel Merman, Patti Lupone, Betty Buckley, and Kristin Chenowith are actresses given as examples of individuality in performance. “How Broadway Lost Its Voice to American Idol.” 17 Women’s Studies Encyclopedia, s.v. “Gender Roles,” ed. Helen Tierney (2002). 18 Race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation are all designations of Other as outside the American mainstream. Humorist Joanne Gilbert considers women a “marginalized majority” in the United States. Performing Marginality: Humor, Gender, and Cultural Critique (Detroit: Wayne State University, 2004), 5. Hegemony refers specifically to the power base of the dominant societal culture. 8
Page 1 and 2: LEWIS, ANNE, D.M.A. An Examination
Page 3 and 4: APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS iv Page ACKNOWLED
Page 7 and 8: for research, this paper will explo
Page 9 and 10: MacDonald, labeled musical theatre
Page 11: The musicals that have entered the
Page 15 and 16: Methodology The base of research fo
Page 17 and 18: Feminine Character in Selected Libr
Page 19 and 20: from the 1920s, they are timeless i
Page 21 and 22: e helpful to recognize the specific
Page 23 and 24: as a Cinderella-type heiress who ma
Page 25 and 26: Vereen described the “blackface c
Page 27 and 28: Casino Theatre in Manhattan. The re
Page 29 and 30: functional sets, and an eleven-piec
Page 31 and 32: The History of the Musical, Show Bo
Page 33 and 34: amount of instrumental music, the d
Page 35 and 36: Ferber’s novel begins with the na
Page 37 and 38: Act II begins four years later as G
Page 39 and 40: CHAPTER III SOCIETAL STEREOTYPES OF
Page 41 and 42: communion.” 5 This bias continued
Page 43 and 44: children, however, did allow mother
Page 45 and 46: unhealthy, sub-human environments.
Page 47 and 48: dominated by masculine traits in ap
Page 49 and 50: magazines, including Ladies Home Jo
Page 51 and 52: Nineteenth Century Stereotypes of W
Page 53 and 54: usiness. She was responsible for th
Page 55 and 56: gender) inequality forced them inst
Page 57 and 58: The 1920s was the Jazz Age, a time
Page 59 and 60: CHAPTER IV THEATRICAL STEREOTYPES O
Page 61 and 62: peoples . . . to save us from our o
Page 63 and 64:
separate seating arrangements). The
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Feminine Aesthetic in Theatre Any a
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gossip columns. 17 Exploitation on
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means to economic or career advance
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Florenz Ziegfeld, reportedly, was q
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in a subservient role as a domestic
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looked, Magnolia decided, as if the
Page 77 and 78:
When he holds me close, Close as we
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In the novel, Parthy Ann is a three
Page 81 and 82:
opens her handbag and takes out a p
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“hero”) and the piano player (t
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the nineteenth century’s gender r
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of that time. Performance practice
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possibilities for manipulation and
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order while the musical number repr
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“Finding in that sound all the ki
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often distorts vibrant voices, rend
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elationships with other characters
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Finally, the process includes a mus
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any other theater music heard up to
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een presented in previous chapters,
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“Though the cold and brutal fact
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[Bridge]: When he goes away dat’s
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angelically while caught in the act
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The song appears twice more as a pl
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CHAPTER VI CURTAIN CALL The musical
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theatre performance practice. They
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BIBLIOGRAPHY General Sources Burkho
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Long, Mary Anne. “‘All Our Girl
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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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