Mamma mia experience!
On Thursday the 24th of January 2012, I had the opportunity to go watch the live performance of the Brodway musical “Mamma Mia”, featuring the musical hits of ABBA. The atmosphere at the theatre was very promising, as there where a of people inpatient, and that was my first reaction to the whole experience.
The acting style that the actors adopted was naturalistic, which I personally made a reference to Stanislavski’s natural style of performing when watching the play, as their acting could be implicated into any real life situation. However, a lot of exaggerated gestures, facial expressions and body language where incorporated in the acting. Being a stage performance instead of a movie, exaggerated actions and gestures are needed in order for the actors to effectively convey meaning in their actions to the audience that are further away from the stage.
Also, exagerations where used by some characters, as for example my personal favorite was Sophie’s fat aunt, for a comical effect. For this, she exaggerated all her movements and facial gestures, as many times she addressed the audience with subtle but funny winks and greetings.
Dramatic strategies where used such as thought tracking, which was very helpful
wanting to know what the character was thinking in a particular moment as she spoke out loud her inner thoughts or interior monologues, and for this she/ she would cross the 4th wall, which is a technique I personally believe is a challenge for myself to do but a very effective way of addressing or inviting the audience.
The style of theatre was modern, based on the last movie of mamma mia, and incorporating modern English slang which facilitated the younger part of the audience to understand.
I felt that it was very useful for me to attend the show, as topics such as the use of lighting and sound are current topics we are studying in class, and therefore it applied perfectly with the over all scheme of the current project, and gave me an insight of their implication in real life performances.
The lighting was used in order to establish movement and mood, as the scene changed locations and time (day and night atmospheres). For this, they used :
- Gels (colored pieces of plastic that is put in front of the lens to create coloured lights on stage) to convey different feelings e.g. bright yellow and orange gels used for happy, exciting atmospheres such as when Sophie meets up with her fiends and blue gels for more melancholic lights, such as in the beginning where Sophie is sending the letters by the sea.
-No black outs or fade outs where used except for when ending the first half of the play, as between each scene the sets where changed quickly and the transition was accompanied by music. I thought this way was better, instead of using so many black outs between scenes as I personally feel it keeps the emotions vivid on stage from the last scene, and this is important for the audience to understand and feel moved by the story. Also, I believe that it picked up the pace of the play and had the audience waiting anxiously on what would happen next.
- A general wash of blue lights was used to create the sea using a frensel
- Sharp edged pools of spotlights were used to isolate characters, either when singing or emphasizing their reactions. I thought this was particularly effective when they had monologues, as they gave the actors their own acting space where their expressions are clearly visible and they were easily projected to the audience, adopting a useful technique when wanting specific focus of audiences aside. CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK:This made me think of how I will use spotlight for when little red riding hood is coming down the upstage in her entrance, so even though there will be music in the background, all the focus will be on her. I thought that when incorporating movement, I would have to use a moving head like they did in the production, to follow her as she moves, but to add a more frightening and dramatic effect to her entrance, I will use the spotlight’s light to fall on her and only illuminate the facial features that stand out from her face, such as her nose and chin, leaving her eyes in darkness.
- Incorporations of Gobo lights to add patterns on stage, principally on the disco scene, as it lightened the mood to a more party like one, as well as for the moon and to project the sky scene.
After a few weeks of watching the performance, my teacher spoke to me about the different kinds of lights used in the performance, and I made a diagram of them:
CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK: Everything was used in the performance e.g. house lights for the audiences entrances and exits, performance lights when the actors where performing and blue lights coming from the wings.
Mamma mia being a musical performance, required a great variety of songs and musical acts. I noticed that one of the reasons for why the musical was so popular that night between the public was because of the weighted music of the ABBA hits. As the music in the play was already known to the audience, it carries the weight of extra-cinematic meaning. This was most effective as it was used as diegetic sound, a she music came from the actors singing it.
CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK: This made me remember of a very fun activity in class, in which we had to give a specific music an action. I chose the song of “Levles” and acted a girl getting ready for a party, as I can correlate to that sense of anticipation for a good night when listening to it. In another exercise, we used music this time for an ironic effect, where I chose the song of “The Macarena” for a fight scene. Everyone in the class reacted well as they all knew the song, and understood the dramatic effect I was trying to create with the paradox of placing a brutal, aggressive scene with a friendly and happy song. However, I realized that this works the best when the audience knows the song, as the weighted music helps the audience understand the intentions of the director.
I loved the singing on stage, as I consider it to be much more effective when transmitting the meaning to the audience, and I believe I got to this conclusion by merely thinking that if it comes from within an actor, that means it is able to take with it the actors personal/wanted intonation, volume and strength needed to convey emotive responses. Although some singers where better than others, for example the mother who I thought did exceptionally well, the rest where also very entertaining and the musical acts were very coordinated with the dancers.
Although most of the choreography and settings where copied from the movie, it was nice to see some original touches, such as the different interpretation of the song “SOS”, where the strategy of still images was used while the other actor was singing, or in the song of “Take a chance on me” where dramatic irony was incorporated when no one else in the wedding knew the lovers had been having a romantic scene in the altar.
The props used where minimalistic, and the stage set up consisted on the structure of the house, which could be changed angle and become another part of the house or the view from the shore. I thought this was very convenient as there where a lot of set changes and no black outs, and also, because ei think that it was a good choice to dedicate the focus of the play on the acting, dancing and singing, instead of distracting it with the placements of props.
Over all, I think the desired reaction the actors wanted from the audience happened, as I left the theatre singing and dancing to their songs!
Musical theatre is definitely a type of performance that I enjoy and energizes me, and therefore I would love to explore further because of natural curiosity!
On Thursday the 24th of January 2012, I had the opportunity to go watch the live performance of the Brodway musical “Mamma Mia”, featuring the musical hits of ABBA. The atmosphere at the theatre was very promising, as there where a of people inpatient, and that was my first reaction to the whole experience.
The acting style that the actors adopted was naturalistic, which I personally made a reference to Stanislavski’s natural style of performing when watching the play, as their acting could be implicated into any real life situation. However, a lot of exaggerated gestures, facial expressions and body language where incorporated in the acting. Being a stage performance instead of a movie, exaggerated actions and gestures are needed in order for the actors to effectively convey meaning in their actions to the audience that are further away from the stage.
Also, exagerations where used by some characters, as for example my personal favorite was Sophie’s fat aunt, for a comical effect. For this, she exaggerated all her movements and facial gestures, as many times she addressed the audience with subtle but funny winks and greetings.
Dramatic strategies where used such as thought tracking, which was very helpful
wanting to know what the character was thinking in a particular moment as she spoke out loud her inner thoughts or interior monologues, and for this she/ she would cross the 4th wall, which is a technique I personally believe is a challenge for myself to do but a very effective way of addressing or inviting the audience.
The style of theatre was modern, based on the last movie of mamma mia, and incorporating modern English slang which facilitated the younger part of the audience to understand.
I felt that it was very useful for me to attend the show, as topics such as the use of lighting and sound are current topics we are studying in class, and therefore it applied perfectly with the over all scheme of the current project, and gave me an insight of their implication in real life performances.
The lighting was used in order to establish movement and mood, as the scene changed locations and time (day and night atmospheres). For this, they used :
- Gels (colored pieces of plastic that is put in front of the lens to create coloured lights on stage) to convey different feelings e.g. bright yellow and orange gels used for happy, exciting atmospheres such as when Sophie meets up with her fiends and blue gels for more melancholic lights, such as in the beginning where Sophie is sending the letters by the sea.
-No black outs or fade outs where used except for when ending the first half of the play, as between each scene the sets where changed quickly and the transition was accompanied by music. I thought this way was better, instead of using so many black outs between scenes as I personally feel it keeps the emotions vivid on stage from the last scene, and this is important for the audience to understand and feel moved by the story. Also, I believe that it picked up the pace of the play and had the audience waiting anxiously on what would happen next.
- A general wash of blue lights was used to create the sea using a frensel
- Sharp edged pools of spotlights were used to isolate characters, either when singing or emphasizing their reactions. I thought this was particularly effective when they had monologues, as they gave the actors their own acting space where their expressions are clearly visible and they were easily projected to the audience, adopting a useful technique when wanting specific focus of audiences aside. CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK:This made me think of how I will use spotlight for when little red riding hood is coming down the upstage in her entrance, so even though there will be music in the background, all the focus will be on her. I thought that when incorporating movement, I would have to use a moving head like they did in the production, to follow her as she moves, but to add a more frightening and dramatic effect to her entrance, I will use the spotlight’s light to fall on her and only illuminate the facial features that stand out from her face, such as her nose and chin, leaving her eyes in darkness.
- Incorporations of Gobo lights to add patterns on stage, principally on the disco scene, as it lightened the mood to a more party like one, as well as for the moon and to project the sky scene.
After a few weeks of watching the performance, my teacher spoke to me about the different kinds of lights used in the performance, and I made a diagram of them:
CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK: Everything was used in the performance e.g. house lights for the audiences entrances and exits, performance lights when the actors where performing and blue lights coming from the wings.
Mamma mia being a musical performance, required a great variety of songs and musical acts. I noticed that one of the reasons for why the musical was so popular that night between the public was because of the weighted music of the ABBA hits. As the music in the play was already known to the audience, it carries the weight of extra-cinematic meaning. This was most effective as it was used as diegetic sound, a she music came from the actors singing it.
CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS WORK: This made me remember of a very fun activity in class, in which we had to give a specific music an action. I chose the song of “Levles” and acted a girl getting ready for a party, as I can correlate to that sense of anticipation for a good night when listening to it. In another exercise, we used music this time for an ironic effect, where I chose the song of “The Macarena” for a fight scene. Everyone in the class reacted well as they all knew the song, and understood the dramatic effect I was trying to create with the paradox of placing a brutal, aggressive scene with a friendly and happy song. However, I realized that this works the best when the audience knows the song, as the weighted music helps the audience understand the intentions of the director.
I loved the singing on stage, as I consider it to be much more effective when transmitting the meaning to the audience, and I believe I got to this conclusion by merely thinking that if it comes from within an actor, that means it is able to take with it the actors personal/wanted intonation, volume and strength needed to convey emotive responses. Although some singers where better than others, for example the mother who I thought did exceptionally well, the rest where also very entertaining and the musical acts were very coordinated with the dancers.
Although most of the choreography and settings where copied from the movie, it was nice to see some original touches, such as the different interpretation of the song “SOS”, where the strategy of still images was used while the other actor was singing, or in the song of “Take a chance on me” where dramatic irony was incorporated when no one else in the wedding knew the lovers had been having a romantic scene in the altar.
The props used where minimalistic, and the stage set up consisted on the structure of the house, which could be changed angle and become another part of the house or the view from the shore. I thought this was very convenient as there where a lot of set changes and no black outs, and also, because ei think that it was a good choice to dedicate the focus of the play on the acting, dancing and singing, instead of distracting it with the placements of props.
Over all, I think the desired reaction the actors wanted from the audience happened, as I left the theatre singing and dancing to their songs!
Musical theatre is definitely a type of performance that I enjoy and energizes me, and therefore I would love to explore further because of natural curiosity!
