Week 6 Homework
10November 3, 2013 by maggiew@uoregon.edu
Well, I hope you all had a haunted Halloween!
The first part of your homework is, based off of last week’s discussion, to experience a political musical that you have never seen before (this will be harder for some than for others).This can be watching a film representation of it or listening to the soundtrack, your pick. If you do the soundtrack, however, I will expect you to tell me about the details of the show, so pay CLOSE attention to what’s going on in the lyrics.
Here are a few recommendations for those of you who have little experience with these things:
Cabaret (Examination of Berlin culture in the era leading up to WW2)
Assassins (Assassination attempts on American presidents)
The Cradle Will Rock (movie about a political musical, I highly recommend it)
Hair (talked about it last class)
Urinetown (yes, it’s a musical)
Finian’s Rainbow (for some uncomfortably racist overtones and a character in blackface)
Pacific Overtures (Another Sondheim, this one about the history of Japan’s involvement with the West. VERY cool, but difficult)
Reefer Madness (the “dangers” of marijuana)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Set in Argentinian Civil War, deals with issues of homosexuality and political involvement)
These are recommendations, but feel free to run something else by me. Just try not to do something that someone else is doing 🙂 When you’ve watched the show, write up an analysis where you address specifically why the play was chosen as a musical rather than a straight play, and what the inclusion of music does to the audience’s experience of the political content. I want to see specific details: quotations are better than plot summaries here. Keep the length to about 1-2 paragraphs; it doesn’t need to be long, just detailed.
The second, and easier part of your homework is to bring Lettice and Lovage to class so that we can assign parts. To know what kind of part you want (small, medium, funny, serious, etc.) I highly recommend skimming through the play before Wednesday so you’ll know what to ask for.
Have fun! and see you Wednesday
Maggie
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The musical that I watched this week was Les Miserables (I know, I really hadn’t seen it before!). This movie is a musical to the extreme–it has almost no spoken dialogue and the vast majority of the communication that happens between characters is sung. It is much more operatic than most musicals (for instance, Singin’ in the Rain or Hairspray), which generally involve less singing and more talking. The choice to have all the action occur in song makes the events in Les Miserables epic, especially since many of the songs involve a large chorus of singers.
An aspect of the musical form that suits the plot of Les Miserables well is the fact that songs can easily tell the stories of both the individual and the group. Les Miserables focuses on the lives of a few main characters, but many people are affected by the same events that these characters go through (specifically, class inequality, the unfair justice system, and the Paris Commune in France). For instance, the scene in which Fantine sells her hair and teeth and prostitutes herself in order to make money to send to her daughter begins with the song “Lovely Ladies.” This song is sung by a chorus of women in the same situation as Fantine, who look dirty and creepy–not like characters the viewer would empathize with. After Fantine joins them and sleeps with a sailor, she tells the audience about her life and her loss of happiness and idealism in the song “I Dreamed a Dream.” This song is sung by only one woman, but after seeing the previous song, the audience knows that there are many women in the exact same situation. Though these women are not necessarily portrayed as good people in “Lovely Ladies,” the audience now can empathize with them as a group after hearing the personal story of one. This is the power of a musical: music promotes empathy, and in this case, we are empowered to empathize with lower class citizens who fight against the injustice in their lives.
For my musical I watched the 2012 version of “Les Miserables”. I know that Ruby watched it as well, but we thought it would be an interesting experience because we read a French middle school version of the book last year in our French class. I went into the musical with an appreciation and understanding of this era in French history, though quickly discovering the film wasn’t all that “French”. It wasn’t just the fact that all the actors were British or American, but the whole entire musical was in English. While some might argue that since this is such an iconic story, it can be told in any language and that the origin of the actors doesn’t matter, but I do believe that this takes away from the heritage of the story. While the characters’ struggles are universal, the ideals of the French Revolution are a constant presence.
One part of the musical that I did enjoying was the reoccurrence of the song “Look Down”. The musical opens with convicts singing the song as they pull a ship in from the sea. They sing about looking down, doing as their told, and always avoiding the “eyes of the law”, Javert. This song expresses the excessive power that the law and state has over the convicts as well as how the convicts were considered “less than human” and should be looked down upon for their actions. “Look Down” returns later in the musical and in this instance is being sung by the beggars of Paris. In this instance, the beggars are demanding to be looked down upon. The beggars are asking for recognition and attention from those who usually avoid them. This differs greatly from the earlier use of “Look Down” as a chant to keep working and stay out of trouble. This change represents the growing tension in Paris between the Bourgeois and the lower class that eventually leads to the Paris Commune in 1871. .
The musical I watched/listened to this week was Avenue Q. This musical is interesting because it uses puppets (usually used for entertaining children) to convey important moral issues. In addition, these Sesame Street-esque puppets sing some content quite inappropriate for kids, hence, making the musical a bit controversial. I believe this is partly why the show was chosen as a musical and not simply as a play.
Some of the songs performed in the show include, “The Internet is For P-orn”, “If You Were Gay”, and “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.” As you can tell from just a few of the song titles, this musical is quite straightforward with the issues it addresses (including sexuality, racism, pornography, etc). The way the puppets perform and sing these songs make these issues seem less heavy and serious than if they were simply being spoken. The songs are pretty entertaining and contain basic and blunt lyrics. For example, here are some lyrics from “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist: “If we all could just admit that we are racist a little bit, and everyone stopped being so PC, maybe we could live in harmony!” In this way, the musical addresses issues that are not usually spoken of in politics or society, and presents them in a light and funny way, making them slightly less taboo and unspoken of. Other instances in the musical include when one of the puppets is telling his male roommate it would be okay if he were gay and that he would love and accept him no matter what. Another is when one of the female puppets refuses to believe that people mostly use the internet for pornography. This song is very funny as one of the male puppets, Trekkie sings, “Why you think the net was born? P-orn, p-orn, p-orn!” Overall, expressing these ideas by puppets through comical song makes the audience less tense and maybe more open about heavy issues that aren’t often spoken of in our society. It brings matters such as racism and homosexuality to light in a way that could not be executed as well through spoken word by human actors.
P.S. I had to write “p-orn” because the blog wouldn’t let me post just the word
I have seen the play “Wicked” and have seen scenes from the “The Wizard of Oz”, however I have never watched the whole movie all the way through. I always considered it to be a child’s movie, however after doing more research on “Wicked”, I discovered that “The Wizard of Oz” has strong political undertones. The overall message of the play is about Money Reform in the 1980’s. For example, the Wicked Witch of the East symbolizes the East coast elite, while the Wicked Witch of the West represents Western monopolies over water. Meanwhile, Dorothy represents the average American, the munchkins the “little”, people the scarecrow mid-western farmers, the lion William Jennings Bryan, and the tin man industrial workers. Furthermore, the Emerald City stands for Washington D.C, and the end of the movie when the power is shared among the men, it symbolizes giving power to the average working-class Americans.
“The Wizard of Oz” was chosen as a musical for the widest possible audience to enjoy. Not only can adults and children alike enjoy the play, but this allows the play to come off more as a cheerful story than as overtly political and offensive. Also, the audience is more receptive to a message that comes in song, and it can be more effective as it will better stick in their head. Additionally, the ideal audience is common Americans, so this form of political entertainment is what would have the greatest influence on them.
The musical I chose for this week’s homework was Urinetown. The main reason I chose this one was because of its name. Besides Shipoopi, I have had very little exposure to musicals so I didn’t know what to expect when I listened to the soundtrack of Urinetown. Knowing that the list of the musicals were all politically driven, I knew this wouldn’t exactly be a full fledged comedy as the name would suggest but I also didn’t expect it to be a satirical with such strong political undertones.
Urinetown was about a corporation, Urine Good Company, and had very strong opinions on capitalism and corporatism. Urinetown focused on the privatization of everyday necessities and the effiency/profit over equality aspect of capitalism and the burden it had on the middle class. The issues addressed in the musical were the opposite of a comedy but it had a stronger impact in musical satire opposed to a grim musical. For instance in Act I, “It’s a Privilege to Pee”, local toilet supervisor Penelope Pennywise sings about the privatization of urination, which was a metaphor on the growing power of corporations and the power it had on our private lives. By singing about such an absurd topic, urination, it was easier for the audience to absorb the perils of capitalism rather than singing about Lassiez-faire microeconomics. In addition, her name Pennywise was a play on word to her nature of money and profit.
For this assignment I watched the musical “Cabaret.” The musical is set during the build up to the rise of Hitler. One of the most political songs in the movie is “If They Could See Her.” The song talks about love between and man and a Jewish woman. In the movie it is performed on the cabaret stage, and the singer is accompanied by a gorilla who is supposed to be the Jewish woman. The blatant parallel, demonstrates that in Hitler’s Germany, Jews were considered to be animals. The song ends:
“Oh, I understand your objection,
I grant my problem’s not small;
But if you could see her thru my eyes,
She doesn´t look jewish/isn´t in disguise at all!”
The end of the song emphasizes that despite Hitler’s anti-semitic views, underneath the label, the woman is still a woman. One of the other songs that stood out most prominently was the addition of “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.” This song was the anthem of Hitler youth, and was meant to express the vision of Hitler’s utopia. This haunting tune is chilling because it is sung by a young and innocent child in a pure voice, yet as the audience knows, Hitler’s agenda led to massive suffering and destruction. The song is reprised and is mocked later on in the play to further emphasize that no one knew what Hitler was capable of.
The choice to tell this story plays off of the fact that the play is set in a Cabaret. The addition of music only feels natural since the setting is in a place with music. The story unfolds outside the cabaret, but the return to the cabaret for each song reveals a greater theme and political view, which reflecting the lives of those outside the Cabaret. It creates a space that allows for over-the-top acting and dancing, but at the same time expresses extremely complex political statements.
I chose to write about Hair!
Set in the 60’s at the climax oft he Vietnam War, the musical questions the idea of duty to one’s country, as opposed to duty to passivity. The protagonist, a young member of a peace-loving hippie commune, lives the life of an ordinary 20-something in the age of Aquarius but is drafted by the army to fight in Vietnam. His central conflict is the decision to either perform his duty to his country by responding to his draft notice and serve in the army, or to dodge the draft and become a criminal, but remain true to his peaceful principles.
Music plays a critical role in Hair – after all, it IS a musical. People associate strong feelings with music, and the politically charged lyrics of songs in Hair inspire strong feelings towards war and peace. As Professor Mossberg mentioned last week, Hair reminds people that, unfortunately, nothing has changed. Half a century later, and America still finds itself at war in a foreign land, in conflicts that don’t necessarily involve us,while our youth have to decide between pursuing peace (in fear of breaking the law through civil disobedience) or serving their country by ignoring their own beliefs about violence and it’s place in the world.
Singing and paying close attention to what other people singing is a natural part of the human condition. We sing about things that matter to us. And Hair’s music shows us that half a century ago, the youth of America CARED about questions of duty and peace and the relationship between them. Even now, we still do. Because of its topic, Hair is a musical that will continue to hold meaning for people generations from now.
After hearing some discussion about in class and becoming intrigued, I decided to watch “Spring Awakening.” I made the mistake of watching it immediately prior to going to bed, which ultimately left me tossing and turning for hours before I finally drifted off to a slumber filled with dreams of botched abortions and teen suicide. Needless to say, it is not a happy tale. The story follows a group of teenagers in late 19th-century Germany who, as a result of their community’s intense religious fervor, know little to nothing about sexuality. While the title of the work is “Spring Awakening,” which implies life, rebirth, knowledge, and happiness, the impact of the play underscores the lack of preparedness and compassion that many teenagers face as a result of their parents’, teachers’, and communities’ mistreatment. Instead of presenting this work as a straight play, I believe Duncan Sheik made it into a musical in order to show the contrast between the stark realities of adolescence and the frivolous, carefree perception that adults have of their teenage children.
For example, the very first song of the play, “Mama Who Bore Me” is Wendla Bergman’s way of pleading with her mother to treat her as a young adult, rather than as a child. Expressing her need for knowledge and respect, Wendla laments her unwanted innocence. In contrast, however, she later sings the song “The Word of Your Body” with love interest Melchior Gabor, in which her nervousness and apprehension about her body and sexuality are evident. Wendla is caught between wanting to grow up and wanting to obey her parents’ and community’s wishes that she stay young and innocent. Thus, the play represents this alternation between youth and adulthood, and ultimately results in the loss of innocence of all the teenage characters, especially Wendla, Melchior, and their friend, Moritz Stiefel, who kills himself after failing school and being kicked out of his parents’ home. In essence, the message of “Spring Awakening” is fully encapsulated in its title; the teenagers experience an “awakening” of sorts to their sexuality and to the stark realities of adulthood, although this awakening is not an altogether positive force.
I chose to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show, mainly because I’ve been meaning to watch it for 5 years and now I have a reason to:) Initially, finding the political message sort of slipped my mind because the movie is slightly outrageous, depending on how conservative you are. Then it occurred to me that the political message is in the outrageousness. It’s all about sexual freedom, and even prosecuting people for it, also gender roles, homosexuality, and aspects of American culture like “musclemen”, Rock’n’Roll, and science fiction movies. Frank, who is obviously very sexually open, is punished for abusing sexual freedom by being killed in the end by Riff Raff. The song “Sweet Transvestite” illustrates Frank’s openness regarding his sexuality. Then at the end during the Floor Show, Riff Raff enters and says “Frank N Furter, it’s all over, your mission is a failure, your lifestyles’ too extreme, I’m your new commander, you now are my prisoner, we return to Transylvania, prepare the transit beam”. Frank sort of tries to justify himself during “I’m Going Home”, and the mood of the movie changes and you can tell he is giving a final plea for his life but it doesn’t work. He actions aren’t justifiable and Riff Raff kills him. I believe it was chosen to be a musical because it fits with the ostentatiousness of the characters and the plot. It’s really on over the top satire of sexual revolution. However, I feel that the musical element takes away from the various underlying social and political dilemmas and makes it more of a joke. Also, the movie has many biblical references which I’m sure wasn’t appreciated by the religious community.
A great article on “Inside Rocky Horror” http://www.newlinetheatre.com/rockychapter.html