Performance Report 2

Introduction

The performance I attend was Sideshow: The Musical performed by UTD Student. It was on April 16th, 2010 at the Jonsson Performance Theater at 8pm. The musical was loosely based on the real life story of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton.

Music

The vocal pieces featured common themes of western music in that they featured the verse refrain texture. The song "Come see the freaks" was used as the main reprise through the whole musical. During set changes and other periods during the musical the music was played in the background and helped keep the same musical theme throughout the whole performance. The tonal qualities of each song ranged all across anger, sadness, happiness and love. Love was a major theme of the lyrics presented in the music and was an integral part of the performance as a whole. The instrumental music featured many aerophones which were particularly heavy on the brass instruments. Violet was the soprano vocal part and Daisy was the Alto vocal part. The pieces also incorporated the music culture of vaudeville which song dance numbers as opposed to solely music.

Performers

A key factor in performing was the necessity to keep the illusion of the twins being conjoined. The main characters Violet and Daisy stayed attached at the hip for the whole performance except when they were supposed to be apart for dream scenes. The freaks stayed true their character by using over the top acting to exaggerate their "freakishness". Choreography from the performers featured group dance numbers in which all characters were involved and synchronized accordingly. Another note, many of the performers who were not UTD students and were able to perform to match the level at which the school provides. With talent outside the performing arts program provided, the pool of acting and performance all matched evenly allowing no one person to outshine one another. Another aspect of the musical that enhanced the aura of a circus included the performers interacting with the audience. Opening the musical, the performers lined the auditorium, creeping from corners and repeating the lines "Come look at the freaks," which allowed for a haunting and mystical feel.

Audience

Audience involvement was widely incorporated through out the performance which kept interaction and chemistry alive throughout the performance. One performer, "Jake" would climb into the audience seats and would scowl at them as a ravenous monster, invoking a sense of fear because he is a "freak." Audience participation would change and adapt along with setting changes. As the transition from freak show to Vaudeville occurred, the audience would act and interact with the settings, from fear to enjoyment. The change from Vaudeville to the Texas Centennial would invoke the audience to tame their applauses to a more relaxed feel as the setting changed to an open fair. Emotions were openly showed as audiences would sigh, few would cry and be pulled along with the emotions of the performers. Interaction was key and made the performance come alive as everyone, performers and spectators would clash.

Time and Setting:

Performances were ongoing for two weeks and were available from Thursday to Saturday allowing for more viewings of the musical considering the theater had very limited seating. Again, centrally located at UTD, students were able to easily access a show. With limited seating, each night seemed crowded to see a performance put on by the music theater program. This location was also familiar to students and was easily accessible by other spectators (ie. family, friends outside of UTD, etc.) Lighting mainly took place on stage but was dim enough for the performers to see the audience.

In conclusion, the performance introduced UTD students to the world of vaudeville through the modern musical. It is almost a juxtaposition of the classic with the new by incorporating pre-1943 Broadway through post-1943 Broadway.

Works Cited

Side Show. By Bill Russell and Henry Krieger. Dir. Kathryn Evans. Perf. UTD Cast. Con. Winston Stone. University Theatre, Richardson. April 17 2010.