Shortly after entering the world of theatre, I began to gravitate towards the musical world of the stage. Even from a young age, I loved music that told a story. Maybe it was my mother playing music like "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" and "Hotel California". So, it was only natural that I began to love musical theatre. As of today, I have grown fond of the musical stylings of Jason Robert Brown and today I have been listening to his 1998 show "Parade".
Tony Awards Performance:
"This is not over Yet"
This show tells the real life story of Leo Frank, a New York business man who moved to Atlanta and was the subject of great antisemitic actions. A girl was raped and murdered in his factor and due in no small part to newspaper propaganda he was sentenced to hang. After reviewing his case, he was lifted of the death penalty until further review of the case. However, on the eve of this decision, an angry mob entered his cell, took him away, and hung him.
It is this kind of storytelling that most appeals to me. Through listening to the soundtrack one reaches an emotional catharsis for their own environment. By presenting these antisemitic themes, one comes to realize the cultural impacts of story and situation.
Now, I have no hands on experience with this show from Jason Robert Brown. I have worked on and acted in two of his other shows: Last 5 Years and Songs for a New World. My enjoyment from these other two shows did I come to explore this show and enjoy this story. I am not Jewish and have rarely experienced any racism or prejudice in my lifetime. But to see people not unlike myself savagely discriminate others make me feel ashamed. However, I also feel educated on other topics. I hope that other people watching and listening to this musical will spread knowledge and catharsis for this kind of discrimination.
When thinking about music and how to use it in a classroom, I did not even think about musicals. However, after reading your post, I've started to think about how they might be useful. How do you think you would use them in a classroom. Would they be used as a separate unit or would you incorporate into a larger lesson?
ReplyDeleteI know that there are many Shakespeare adaptations that turn many of the monologues into songs. This might be useful to discuss why or how certain elements of a scene are pulled out. How is the theme changed or developed when it is changed into song?
I think musicals are good to pick out theme with greater ease. They have plot development and the same time that they use music, which is loaded with easily detected connotation.
Well when I see teaching a musical I reckon it can be mainly used in two ways: 1) teaching the form of the musical and relating it back to how it is relevant to the world around us or 2) using it as a support to another form. There are a lot of songs that seem Shakespearian-like soliloquy form (see "Where is the Life that late I led" being similar to the Petriucho monologue from "Taming of the Shrew" near the end of act 3) and to be able to translate it to a more modern kind of language. Another good point of teaching here would be to ask what is different in message between the two (what changed or what is left out in translation in). If you are interested in learning more about how I see musicals as a teachable medium, send along your email and I will invite you to my Ning project on Teaching Media Adaptations and more specifically relating it to the Wicked to Wizard of Oz translation.
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