So, I could have reviewed American in Paris last week, except it had no validity as a musical. I was hard pressed to find a song that was actually relevant to the events that were going on around. It was an okay movie, but Gene Kelly should have gotten out of his little "Let's just tap dance all the time" phase. Even though I like tap dancing. Now I have a review for you of my favorite musical which I recently rewatched on DVD with my sister. The Producers. Before you shoot down the review because it's my favorite musical, I also recently learned that besides being the 20th longest running show on Broadway (And in the 21st Century no less), it won every single musical Tony that year, besides Best Revival and Best Female Lead (Since there isn't one, only a "featured"). That adds some validity to my rating. So without any more stuff: The review.
Plot: 20/20
I would be hard pressed to find ANYTHING in this musical that is filler. Every scene is essential to the plot. And how original the plot is to. A has-been Producer and his accountant realize that they could make more money by producing a flop than a hit, so they set out to get the worst play, director, cast, and anything else that will ensure their failure. Of course, this isn't as easy as it sounds. Just hearing the plot setup was enough for me to watch this movie. Just a note though, the movie is basically a filmed version of the stage production with better sets. So some stuff will seem to be over the top and hammy. Especially the first scene in the office.
Characters: 15/15
Every character in The Producers is a riot in themselves. And that's saying something considering all of the large parts in this musical. Besides Leo and Max, you have Ulla, Roger, Carmen, Franz as fairly large parts. Even some of the one shot characters seem to have very strong connections to the plot. As a female, I would feel bad about the lack of women roles, but oh well. It's hard to imagine that such unrealistic over-the-top stereotypical exaggerations can simultaneously seem so realistic.
Dialogue: 14/15
The dialogue is filled with dry jokes, clever puns, and references to things. I took off a point for the office scene at the beginning. Maybe it was poor translation from stage to movie, but it's almost unbearable for me to watch between "Opening Night" and "We Can Do It", since "King of Broadway" was a deleted scene, so I won't count that in the chronology.
Music: 20/20
The music is by far the best part of The Producers. I can listen to the whole soundtrack in order and frequently do, due to it's quality melody lines, great lyrics, and strong pit parts. Every song is catchy and good, two elements which aren't always present. There are about 20ish songs in this production, and only the rare repetition of themes. One of the best moments, however, is in the song "Betrayed", where Max Bialystock summarizes the whole musical up to that part in the space of about thirty seconds. Just the shock running down my spine from witnessing this feat was impressive. Not to mention that the songs are very well tied to the musical. You could sing a bunch of the songs standalone, but there would be no mistaking where it came from.
Adaptation: 10/10
This musical is an adaptation of a movie. A rather outdated boring movie. Well, it isn't that bad, but it shouldn't even be a question which one is better. This is the only reason why I don't completely bash adaptations. Retains most of the best lines from the movie and cuts the crap (LSD guy...).
Curtain Call: 5/5
The credit music added three MORE songs of original material. That's pretty intense for the CREDITS.
Theme/Underlying Social Message: 7/7
The only real underlying social message that you can get from this is that Max and Leo pick Springtime for Hitler because it's sure to offend people of all nationalities, religions, and creeds. The Producers itself could almost fall under the same category. A lot of the self referential humor make the musical almost a parody of itself.
Other Opinion Category: 7/8
That first office scene...
Total: 98/100
Well worth a watch. Just don't watch it with someone who will be offended easily.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Musical Review: Camelot
Last night, I watched Camelot with my sister on Netflix's "Watch it Now" option online. I had previously seen it live at the Chanhassen, but that was years ago so I only vaguely remembered it. After a lot of technical mishaps, I was finally able to watch it. I decided, why not use the rating system I developed to rate it for people?
Plot: 19/20
The plot of Camelot is superb. I know that there were some differences between the movie and musical though. However, it was three hours long. This is a long time, but the plot wasn't dragging at all. My only complaint about the plot was the erratic time flow. Years pass by at certain points, while at other points you think it is years instead of only a day. I was able to follow these, but your typical audience may not be able to. They should have clarified how much later things were or made it more obvious somehow.
Characters: 13/15
Most of the characters were great in this musical. The only problem was that there weren't a lot of them. You have Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, King Pellinore, and Mordred. And those last two were almost a stretch. Sure there are some one shot knights and the boy at the end, but I would hate to be auditioning for something like this. After Lancelot and Guinevere get together, you barely want to be around them either, so it could have used some more line soakers. I know the play had Merlin and Morgan Le Fay, so I didn't take off too many points.
Dialogue: 13/15
While "no one talks like that" now days, the dialogue seemed almost as authentic as it could get. Whether this was director's choice or merely poor writing however, most of the lines lent themselves to being whispered. I had to hook my laptop into my TV's audio so that I could turn it loud enough to hear what they were saying. Also, if someone really acts Lancelot the way play suggests, it gets rattling, since the accent could so easily be done away with. This could be more of a grasp towards authenticity, but maybe a little less thick would have made it more enjoyable.
Music: 18/20
The music in this was great. While there weren't as many songs as I would hope for (They apparently cut four or so for the movie), every one of them was memorable. They were all well written vocal parts, although the pit parts seemed to suffer from a bit underuse, which could just be because of the medieval sound. I also would have liked for other people to sing songs besides the main three. They cut both of Mordred's songs, but there is still only one (Two if you count "The Lusty Month of May") song where the company sings.
Adaptation: 8/10
While this was very well written, anyone who didn't have background on King Arthur wouldn't have understood a lot of it. And it is an adaptation still, so...
Curtain Call: 4/5
The credit music was fine. Nothing phenomenal though.
Theme/Underlying Social Message: 7/7
Some of the themes really hit home to me, like Arthur deciding to let Lance and Gwenny be together, because otherwise he's putting his rights above theirs, and he is a civilized king. This ends up being his tragic downfall however. A lot of the other issues are still comparable today, and despite being set in medieval times, it still seems very "current".
Other Opinion Category: 7/8
I took off a point because of the limited cast and long length, two things most audiences wouldn't appreciate.
Total: 89/100
That's a good score by the way. Camelot is a very good musical and I would recommend it to anyone. It doesn't have a specific niche so I think it could be enjoyed by any audience.
Plot: 19/20
The plot of Camelot is superb. I know that there were some differences between the movie and musical though. However, it was three hours long. This is a long time, but the plot wasn't dragging at all. My only complaint about the plot was the erratic time flow. Years pass by at certain points, while at other points you think it is years instead of only a day. I was able to follow these, but your typical audience may not be able to. They should have clarified how much later things were or made it more obvious somehow.
Characters: 13/15
Most of the characters were great in this musical. The only problem was that there weren't a lot of them. You have Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, King Pellinore, and Mordred. And those last two were almost a stretch. Sure there are some one shot knights and the boy at the end, but I would hate to be auditioning for something like this. After Lancelot and Guinevere get together, you barely want to be around them either, so it could have used some more line soakers. I know the play had Merlin and Morgan Le Fay, so I didn't take off too many points.
Dialogue: 13/15
While "no one talks like that" now days, the dialogue seemed almost as authentic as it could get. Whether this was director's choice or merely poor writing however, most of the lines lent themselves to being whispered. I had to hook my laptop into my TV's audio so that I could turn it loud enough to hear what they were saying. Also, if someone really acts Lancelot the way play suggests, it gets rattling, since the accent could so easily be done away with. This could be more of a grasp towards authenticity, but maybe a little less thick would have made it more enjoyable.
Music: 18/20
The music in this was great. While there weren't as many songs as I would hope for (They apparently cut four or so for the movie), every one of them was memorable. They were all well written vocal parts, although the pit parts seemed to suffer from a bit underuse, which could just be because of the medieval sound. I also would have liked for other people to sing songs besides the main three. They cut both of Mordred's songs, but there is still only one (Two if you count "The Lusty Month of May") song where the company sings.
Adaptation: 8/10
While this was very well written, anyone who didn't have background on King Arthur wouldn't have understood a lot of it. And it is an adaptation still, so...
Curtain Call: 4/5
The credit music was fine. Nothing phenomenal though.
Theme/Underlying Social Message: 7/7
Some of the themes really hit home to me, like Arthur deciding to let Lance and Gwenny be together, because otherwise he's putting his rights above theirs, and he is a civilized king. This ends up being his tragic downfall however. A lot of the other issues are still comparable today, and despite being set in medieval times, it still seems very "current".
Other Opinion Category: 7/8
I took off a point because of the limited cast and long length, two things most audiences wouldn't appreciate.
Total: 89/100
That's a good score by the way. Camelot is a very good musical and I would recommend it to anyone. It doesn't have a specific niche so I think it could be enjoyed by any audience.
Friday, July 24, 2009
New Musical Pt 1. (Introduction and What's in a Title)
So I put the musical I was writing on unrequested postponement. It wasn't going to be used for the purpose which I was writing it for, so I didn't feel the need to finish it. I also had too many melodies and not enough plot content. Unwilling to make another Dreamgirls, I set it aside in order to better use my creative talents. I decided it would be beneficial for my audience if I outlined the steps that I went through, for those of you who are in need of general help in writing.
I can't help you come up with an idea. My idea just came to me. It's the story of a concert violinist, who at a young age was gypped out of his father's prize violin by his treacherous younger brother, in a Jacob and Esau sort of allusion. When he is older, he is thrown out of his orchestra after a while because the violin he uses simply doesn't match up to the tone of the other violinists and it sticks out. Instead of getting a new one, he sets off to reclaim the one owed him by birthright.
Now that's just the basis. The next step for me is to come up with a working title. Which leads to the article
WHAT'S IN A TITLE?
A lot of people underestimate the importance of a good title. A lot of uninformed people only have your title to go off of. If a title sounds interesting, you will get more viewers. Otherwise it just won't stand out in a crowd. It's important to always consider the length of your title. Quickly think of the longest musical title you can. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying comes to mind for me, but the only reason is because of it's length. It's hard to generate lots of buzz about a longer title, simply because it takes more effort to mention it, and lots of people are lazy. On the flipside, shorter names don't go very well either. You pretty much have to make up a word or use a very uncommon one. Otherwise it just sounds like a brand of perfume.
You'll want to make sure that your title doesn't mislead people about the content of your musical. Most of the time this will scare away people as opposed to drawing them in. If I named my musical The Battle of Redsboro, when it's about two clothing lines trying to draw customers away from each other, I'm going to have a double dip in attendance. People who don't really like war aren't going to look at it and won't go. People who are into war will look into it, find out it's actually about fashion, and won't go. Real musicals that I believe fall in this category? I couldn't find any examples off the top of my head. However, just wait and I will think of one, just like how I just remembered A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has a longer title.
A lot of the time it will be better to have a title which could also be a title of the song in the work. Camelot, Sound of Music, and The Producers all have songs in them that are titled the same as the work. So when people think of Camelot, instantly they think of the song Camelot too. Which, if you do that you have to make sure the song based off the title is good.
Now let's look at the titles for my previous plays:
1. Ballad of Theylus Mignon- Not altogether descriptive of what happens. There is a song in it with the same title though, so we'll give it props. Vague, but won't scare or attract specific groups of people.
2. Jamodyssey- You know there is going to be an adventure in it. Lots of English professors will be attracted by the possibility of allusions. It doesn't scare anyone away, and generates a lot of buzz as a title, hypothetically.
3. The Show Must Not Go On - The subject matter is vague, but you know some matter of show will be happening. People may be drawn in by the fact that the protagonist clearly doesn't want the show to happen. There is a song with the same title.
Anyway, I have determined that the title of my next work will be The Ebony Violin. This alludes to The Red Violin, a famous named violin.
Next time, I'll tell you how to create a main character. And maybe the plot layout or something.
I can't help you come up with an idea. My idea just came to me. It's the story of a concert violinist, who at a young age was gypped out of his father's prize violin by his treacherous younger brother, in a Jacob and Esau sort of allusion. When he is older, he is thrown out of his orchestra after a while because the violin he uses simply doesn't match up to the tone of the other violinists and it sticks out. Instead of getting a new one, he sets off to reclaim the one owed him by birthright.
Now that's just the basis. The next step for me is to come up with a working title. Which leads to the article
WHAT'S IN A TITLE?
A lot of people underestimate the importance of a good title. A lot of uninformed people only have your title to go off of. If a title sounds interesting, you will get more viewers. Otherwise it just won't stand out in a crowd. It's important to always consider the length of your title. Quickly think of the longest musical title you can. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying comes to mind for me, but the only reason is because of it's length. It's hard to generate lots of buzz about a longer title, simply because it takes more effort to mention it, and lots of people are lazy. On the flipside, shorter names don't go very well either. You pretty much have to make up a word or use a very uncommon one. Otherwise it just sounds like a brand of perfume.
You'll want to make sure that your title doesn't mislead people about the content of your musical. Most of the time this will scare away people as opposed to drawing them in. If I named my musical The Battle of Redsboro, when it's about two clothing lines trying to draw customers away from each other, I'm going to have a double dip in attendance. People who don't really like war aren't going to look at it and won't go. People who are into war will look into it, find out it's actually about fashion, and won't go. Real musicals that I believe fall in this category? I couldn't find any examples off the top of my head. However, just wait and I will think of one, just like how I just remembered A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has a longer title.
A lot of the time it will be better to have a title which could also be a title of the song in the work. Camelot, Sound of Music, and The Producers all have songs in them that are titled the same as the work. So when people think of Camelot, instantly they think of the song Camelot too. Which, if you do that you have to make sure the song based off the title is good.
Now let's look at the titles for my previous plays:
1. Ballad of Theylus Mignon- Not altogether descriptive of what happens. There is a song in it with the same title though, so we'll give it props. Vague, but won't scare or attract specific groups of people.
2. Jamodyssey- You know there is going to be an adventure in it. Lots of English professors will be attracted by the possibility of allusions. It doesn't scare anyone away, and generates a lot of buzz as a title, hypothetically.
3. The Show Must Not Go On - The subject matter is vague, but you know some matter of show will be happening. People may be drawn in by the fact that the protagonist clearly doesn't want the show to happen. There is a song with the same title.
Anyway, I have determined that the title of my next work will be The Ebony Violin. This alludes to The Red Violin, a famous named violin.
Next time, I'll tell you how to create a main character. And maybe the plot layout or something.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Avoiding Oversaturation
A lot of writers think that the trick to a longer musical is a longer script. This may seem like the obvious solution, but there are lots of wrong ways to do it (In fact, some people may find that the stuff you don't write in the script, AKA all of the song and dance parts, take up most of the time). There are lots of proper things you can do to fill out a script, like filling it with more dialogue and actual content. Then there are the things to avoid. Here are some rules to follow to make sure you don't fall into their traps.
1. AVOID UNNECESSARY STAGE DIRECTIONS
The rule of stage directions is that you shouldn't put them in, unless they are important and something that wouldn't naturally be done. Or exits/entrances. Firstly, directors don't necessarily care about following the script. They will work around the set and the physical demands and staging that they feel like. Twenty pages worth of (CHARACTER crosses stage) (CHARACTER walks to his left) is worthless. Secondly, your estimate has been thrown off. Your two hour work is now at a questionable hour and a half.
2.AVOID IN DEPTH CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Guess what the character page is for? Describing your characters. Guess what the PLOT and DIALOGUE is for? Characterizing your characters. If the need for your character to wear a redd dress has no plot significance, symbolism, or anything of that nature, cut it. Don't take half a page the first time the character is mentioned saying what they are like. You are being redundant and your script length to quality ratio will suffer.
3.AVOID UNIMPORTANT SCENE DESCRIPTIONS
You can include diagrams if you want. You don't need to describe every inch of your town scenery, if over half of it is just unnamed vendors and buildings that don't have any significance. Sets are EXPENSIVE and you certainly don't want to limit theatres on a budget by making them think that everything you mention is necessary.
4.DON'T SPLIT YOUR LYRICS INTO MULTIPLE LINES
...while you are writing the paper draft of your musical. Certainly, when you type up your masterpiece, space them out as another reference for phrase breaks and things of that nature. But when you write out your work, you will fool yourself into thinking that you have written more than you have. And it's ten times harder to write more material after you have finished than during the process.
The general rule of thumb is that a musical is about two hours long. That's two hours of dialogue, music, and "action". So anything you write in the body of your musical must be essential. Otherwise you can count your script amongst all those submitted that are too short for consideration.
1. AVOID UNNECESSARY STAGE DIRECTIONS
The rule of stage directions is that you shouldn't put them in, unless they are important and something that wouldn't naturally be done. Or exits/entrances. Firstly, directors don't necessarily care about following the script. They will work around the set and the physical demands and staging that they feel like. Twenty pages worth of (CHARACTER crosses stage) (CHARACTER walks to his left) is worthless. Secondly, your estimate has been thrown off. Your two hour work is now at a questionable hour and a half.
2.AVOID IN DEPTH CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Guess what the character page is for? Describing your characters. Guess what the PLOT and DIALOGUE is for? Characterizing your characters. If the need for your character to wear a redd dress has no plot significance, symbolism, or anything of that nature, cut it. Don't take half a page the first time the character is mentioned saying what they are like. You are being redundant and your script length to quality ratio will suffer.
3.AVOID UNIMPORTANT SCENE DESCRIPTIONS
You can include diagrams if you want. You don't need to describe every inch of your town scenery, if over half of it is just unnamed vendors and buildings that don't have any significance. Sets are EXPENSIVE and you certainly don't want to limit theatres on a budget by making them think that everything you mention is necessary.
4.DON'T SPLIT YOUR LYRICS INTO MULTIPLE LINES
...while you are writing the paper draft of your musical. Certainly, when you type up your masterpiece, space them out as another reference for phrase breaks and things of that nature. But when you write out your work, you will fool yourself into thinking that you have written more than you have. And it's ten times harder to write more material after you have finished than during the process.
The general rule of thumb is that a musical is about two hours long. That's two hours of dialogue, music, and "action". So anything you write in the body of your musical must be essential. Otherwise you can count your script amongst all those submitted that are too short for consideration.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Instrumentation
Instruments play a huge role in how your music sounds. Don't believe me? Find someone who likes MIDI compared to live instruments. If you actually did, send them to the hospital to get their hearing checked. That's not even something that you can have a preference on. Before you electronic lovers get on my back, there is a stark difference between GEN-MIDI and electronica instruments. Now, you have two main choices these days. You can have a classical orchestral sort of pit crew or you can have a more modern "rock" crew like Rent had.
Oh sorry. Did I say you have a choice?
DON'T DO ROCK PIT. DON'T DO ROCK PIT. DON'T DO ROCK PIT. Turn on your radio. Flip through all of the channels. What do most of them have on them? Guitar/Bass/Drums with maybe some keyboard and some junky percussion. Do you want your audience to be comparing your music to Van Halen, Dream Theater, or *shudder* Paramore? The trap set was the stupidest part of seeing Phantom live. Musicals aren't movies (But adapt musicals to movies, please). The music has to be a richer, deeper sound. Which is where your classical orchestra comes in.
Consider the setting of your musical. Or don't if you don't want to. Plenty of composers managed to invoke other countries in their pieces without changing their orchestration.
The typical orchestra consists of a lot of strings, that is, violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Next you have the woodwinds. Instruments that may have been spare in your band in school are more prominent here. Brass are more of fanfare players in musical theatre, besides the French Horn who will have a lot of your melodies. The important percussion is all of the auxiliary and timpani. But please, no snares.
Instrumentation plays a very important part in giving subtle hints to the audience. If you are like me, you will like assigning certain instruments to motifs and characters. Is your cello in hiding? Give a short little hint of the cello character motif in the interlude music. Not everyone will pick up on it, but some people will, and most people will subconsciously. Or in a work that I'm not going to spoil for anyone, after a certain character died, they played the reoccurring theme with the main instrument missing. It really changed the whole sound of the song and showed the audience the loss everyone was going through. Now remember that you can get completely different sounds out of instruments through altered techniques or even just different ranges. A trumpet playing low sounds a lot different than a trombone playing high. Is your character drunk? Let their instrument show it.
A lot of people also forget about instrumentation when trying to establish a certain mood. If your song doesn't sound sad enough, don't scrap it. If you reorchestrate it, you may find that your music is fine when played in the low brass instead of the clarinets, or something similar.
You should consider all of these things when you are writing for orchestra. Because you aren't writing for a rock pit, remember?
Oh sorry. Did I say you have a choice?
DON'T DO ROCK PIT. DON'T DO ROCK PIT. DON'T DO ROCK PIT. Turn on your radio. Flip through all of the channels. What do most of them have on them? Guitar/Bass/Drums with maybe some keyboard and some junky percussion. Do you want your audience to be comparing your music to Van Halen, Dream Theater, or *shudder* Paramore? The trap set was the stupidest part of seeing Phantom live. Musicals aren't movies (But adapt musicals to movies, please). The music has to be a richer, deeper sound. Which is where your classical orchestra comes in.
Consider the setting of your musical. Or don't if you don't want to. Plenty of composers managed to invoke other countries in their pieces without changing their orchestration.
The typical orchestra consists of a lot of strings, that is, violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Next you have the woodwinds. Instruments that may have been spare in your band in school are more prominent here. Brass are more of fanfare players in musical theatre, besides the French Horn who will have a lot of your melodies. The important percussion is all of the auxiliary and timpani. But please, no snares.
Instrumentation plays a very important part in giving subtle hints to the audience. If you are like me, you will like assigning certain instruments to motifs and characters. Is your cello in hiding? Give a short little hint of the cello character motif in the interlude music. Not everyone will pick up on it, but some people will, and most people will subconsciously. Or in a work that I'm not going to spoil for anyone, after a certain character died, they played the reoccurring theme with the main instrument missing. It really changed the whole sound of the song and showed the audience the loss everyone was going through. Now remember that you can get completely different sounds out of instruments through altered techniques or even just different ranges. A trumpet playing low sounds a lot different than a trombone playing high. Is your character drunk? Let their instrument show it.
A lot of people also forget about instrumentation when trying to establish a certain mood. If your song doesn't sound sad enough, don't scrap it. If you reorchestrate it, you may find that your music is fine when played in the low brass instead of the clarinets, or something similar.
You should consider all of these things when you are writing for orchestra. Because you aren't writing for a rock pit, remember?
Side Characters
Oh, side characters. The people who make us laugh and cry. The people who are played by actors who put extra effort in to be remembered by the audience. They may not be as skilled or important as the main characters, but they still help your play get high ratings. Side characters fall into four categories: Comedy relief, plot essential, required, line soakers.
1. Comedy Relief
If you have a serious play, there will be parts in the middle where your audience will be starving for some quick laughs. Usually your main characters are too serious to be funny or are in too serious of situations to be funny. This is where your side characters come in. You can easily throw together someone to filter your jokes through to the audience. Be warned though. Comedy relief side characters are the easiest ones to screw up with. If they are too annoying, the audience will hate every second they are on stage. Unlike the mains, they COULD have been cut. That will reflect poorly on you, the writer.
2.Plot Essential
These are the characters that the plot incorporates, but doesn't show up enough to be a main. An example would be the King Richard at the end of Robin Hood from the Disney movie. He is important to the plot and necessary, but he only shows up at the end. This is true for any character who dies usually too. They would have been mains, but they got killed. Typically, audiences don't gripe about plot essential characters and how they could be cut. Just avoid giving them roles that would realistically be other peoples. A king doesn't have ten messengers for the same exact recipient usually, for example.
3.Required
So maybe you wrote yourself into a little hole. Your characters go to a restaurant for a few scenes of the musical. You need to make a waiter or waitress. There aren't very many ways around this. Your character is an adolescent whose parents should realistically show up at some point even if they don't necessarily affect the plot. These are similar to "Plot Essential", however they are more realistic due to the characters existing in a "real world" instead of because the plot needs them. Audience members should never think these characters should be cut.
4.Line Soakers
This is the hardest category of side characters to justify and the ones that you need to be careful with, or you WILL have problems. Line soakers can be the characters you stick around because you don't want your two mains talking to each other for the entire play. Line soakers can also be groups of characters who collectively have too many lines. If they were all one character, they would be end up being a main character and for some reason you have opposition to this. For example, in The Ballad of Theylus Mignon, Axle, Bolt, and Girder could conceivably have been one character. However, as one character, they would have too many lines. They also have a better group dynamic than if they were one single character. Line soakers can sometimes be hard to justify, but if you do them right you should be fine.
Now, what are some mistakes people make with their side characters? Not only am I saying this next part from the view of a writer, but also an actor and an audience member. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating side characters:
Firstly, make a spider web of all your characters and their hypothetical connections to each other in the plot. If they are going to encounter other characters, connect them. Anything like that. Now look at your spider web. Do you have any characters that only are connected to one or two characters? Ask yourself why these characters aren't connected to anyone else. If they are imaginary, in hiding, any of those things, that's fine. It makes sense. Otherwise, build some more connections or cut them. If your play is running long or boring, these will be the first people your audience will have a problem with.
Secondly, do you have any characters that should show up more? When I was in Mr. Hobb's Vacation, I played whatever the chick's name is boyfriend Sam. Now, I only showed up in the first scene. However, the chick was in every scene, the family was always talking about Sam being around, and there was no real reason for him to be absent. That was poor writing on that playwright's part. People were confused and multiple people asked me what happened to him. Make sure you give all of your characters the stage time they require.
Thirdly, if you are going to have someone show up for one scene, give them a bunch of lines in that scene. There is nothing worse than the person who is not only insignificant enough that they don't show up in the rest of the play, but aren't even prominent in the scene they are in. That's just a glorified chorus member. Don't make some poor sap happy by giving their character a name, without the satisfaction that comes with named parts. This goes for you Beauty and the Beast, who named all of their chorus members, which severely distorted who was actually important and who wasn't.
Go through your play. Decide which category your side character fits in and make sure that they dont' violate any rules. This should bring you closer to a more perfect product.
1. Comedy Relief
If you have a serious play, there will be parts in the middle where your audience will be starving for some quick laughs. Usually your main characters are too serious to be funny or are in too serious of situations to be funny. This is where your side characters come in. You can easily throw together someone to filter your jokes through to the audience. Be warned though. Comedy relief side characters are the easiest ones to screw up with. If they are too annoying, the audience will hate every second they are on stage. Unlike the mains, they COULD have been cut. That will reflect poorly on you, the writer.
2.Plot Essential
These are the characters that the plot incorporates, but doesn't show up enough to be a main. An example would be the King Richard at the end of Robin Hood from the Disney movie. He is important to the plot and necessary, but he only shows up at the end. This is true for any character who dies usually too. They would have been mains, but they got killed. Typically, audiences don't gripe about plot essential characters and how they could be cut. Just avoid giving them roles that would realistically be other peoples. A king doesn't have ten messengers for the same exact recipient usually, for example.
3.Required
So maybe you wrote yourself into a little hole. Your characters go to a restaurant for a few scenes of the musical. You need to make a waiter or waitress. There aren't very many ways around this. Your character is an adolescent whose parents should realistically show up at some point even if they don't necessarily affect the plot. These are similar to "Plot Essential", however they are more realistic due to the characters existing in a "real world" instead of because the plot needs them. Audience members should never think these characters should be cut.
4.Line Soakers
This is the hardest category of side characters to justify and the ones that you need to be careful with, or you WILL have problems. Line soakers can be the characters you stick around because you don't want your two mains talking to each other for the entire play. Line soakers can also be groups of characters who collectively have too many lines. If they were all one character, they would be end up being a main character and for some reason you have opposition to this. For example, in The Ballad of Theylus Mignon, Axle, Bolt, and Girder could conceivably have been one character. However, as one character, they would have too many lines. They also have a better group dynamic than if they were one single character. Line soakers can sometimes be hard to justify, but if you do them right you should be fine.
Now, what are some mistakes people make with their side characters? Not only am I saying this next part from the view of a writer, but also an actor and an audience member. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating side characters:
Firstly, make a spider web of all your characters and their hypothetical connections to each other in the plot. If they are going to encounter other characters, connect them. Anything like that. Now look at your spider web. Do you have any characters that only are connected to one or two characters? Ask yourself why these characters aren't connected to anyone else. If they are imaginary, in hiding, any of those things, that's fine. It makes sense. Otherwise, build some more connections or cut them. If your play is running long or boring, these will be the first people your audience will have a problem with.
Secondly, do you have any characters that should show up more? When I was in Mr. Hobb's Vacation, I played whatever the chick's name is boyfriend Sam. Now, I only showed up in the first scene. However, the chick was in every scene, the family was always talking about Sam being around, and there was no real reason for him to be absent. That was poor writing on that playwright's part. People were confused and multiple people asked me what happened to him. Make sure you give all of your characters the stage time they require.
Thirdly, if you are going to have someone show up for one scene, give them a bunch of lines in that scene. There is nothing worse than the person who is not only insignificant enough that they don't show up in the rest of the play, but aren't even prominent in the scene they are in. That's just a glorified chorus member. Don't make some poor sap happy by giving their character a name, without the satisfaction that comes with named parts. This goes for you Beauty and the Beast, who named all of their chorus members, which severely distorted who was actually important and who wasn't.
Go through your play. Decide which category your side character fits in and make sure that they dont' violate any rules. This should bring you closer to a more perfect product.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Importance of the Curtain Call
Most people under estimate the power of a good curtain call. The last thing the audience remembers is the curtain call, and if you make it bad, they will remember. When I have assisted in directing musicals, I always take this responsibility to make the best. But how do you even do a curtain call right or wrong?
1. You need to pick a song in duple meter or quadruple meter. Usually audiences like the curtain call clap of "ONE-TWO-ONE-TWO". I always start it when I can, and you should to. You're clapping with the song, with the backup music for the actors. What more connection can you have? Don't be like the fools who put a slow ballade on or something in 3/4? Or the ones who plain don't have music during curtain call? Fools.
2. DON'T HAVE SINGING DURING THE CURTAIN CALL. There is nothing worse than having an idiot director who decides that everyone should stop clapping to hear this last little bit and then resume clapping. It's disorienting. People are already leaving when the actors start coming on anyway. It's just a waste of your actors' energy.
3. Make the curtain call at least medium length. Short curtain calls not only make standing ovations less likely to occur, but you don't give all of the parts their fair response of applause. And you have to really suck to not get a standing ovation professionally, so anything to make that worse is a bad idea.
4. Acknowledge the pit, tech crew, etc. so that people can appreciate their work too.
Now, here's a true "Corbin" curtain call. Acknowledge if you use this, or I will make you suffer.
Have each group of characters come out to their respective music. So a medley of all the memorable music themes you have had. Always make sure that the slow songs get sped up for this. Hopefully you can find the right tempo for songs in 3/4 so that the audience can still clap away if you are forced to use one. They come out from least important to most important. If you aren't doing curtain calls at least THIS way, you are doing them wrong probably. If you have a lot of doubling of parts, have everyone be their best one.
If you do curtain calls wrong, your play will close faster on Broadway. Guaranteed.
1. You need to pick a song in duple meter or quadruple meter. Usually audiences like the curtain call clap of "ONE-TWO-ONE-TWO". I always start it when I can, and you should to. You're clapping with the song, with the backup music for the actors. What more connection can you have? Don't be like the fools who put a slow ballade on or something in 3/4? Or the ones who plain don't have music during curtain call? Fools.
2. DON'T HAVE SINGING DURING THE CURTAIN CALL. There is nothing worse than having an idiot director who decides that everyone should stop clapping to hear this last little bit and then resume clapping. It's disorienting. People are already leaving when the actors start coming on anyway. It's just a waste of your actors' energy.
3. Make the curtain call at least medium length. Short curtain calls not only make standing ovations less likely to occur, but you don't give all of the parts their fair response of applause. And you have to really suck to not get a standing ovation professionally, so anything to make that worse is a bad idea.
4. Acknowledge the pit, tech crew, etc. so that people can appreciate their work too.
Now, here's a true "Corbin" curtain call. Acknowledge if you use this, or I will make you suffer.
Have each group of characters come out to their respective music. So a medley of all the memorable music themes you have had. Always make sure that the slow songs get sped up for this. Hopefully you can find the right tempo for songs in 3/4 so that the audience can still clap away if you are forced to use one. They come out from least important to most important. If you aren't doing curtain calls at least THIS way, you are doing them wrong probably. If you have a lot of doubling of parts, have everyone be their best one.
If you do curtain calls wrong, your play will close faster on Broadway. Guaranteed.
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