Helen and I worked well together on this project. I think the final script reflected both my and Helen’s strengths as writers. We were mostly on the same page when it came to writing character dialogue, though I took a slightly larger role in determining the wording of the more significant beats and turning points. We decided on the sets and lighting together. Helen picked out most of the props, in particular the things on sale in the shop scenes and the clothes Lucretia looks at in Scene 3; the suitcase in Scene 4 was my idea. With both the sets and props, we wanted to include only just as much as we needed to get the point of each scene across, in order to save time setting scenes up.
The two songs featured in the piece, the one I hummed as I exited Scene 2 and the instrumental that played during the final scene, were chosen by me. I think the ending song, originating from the soundtrack of a video game I like, perfectly fits the ethereal, melancholy mood of that scene. The song I hummed was meant to be the chorus of the song “Come Hang Out” by AJR; I chose it because the lyrics are about the singer being too focused on work to hang out with his friends, which is very reminiscent of Lucretia’s characterization. If I’d thought about it more in advance I might have had the original song, preferably an acoustic cover if one existed to sell the idea that Jess was the one playing it, play over the sound system to make its inclusion more significant.
In earlier drafts, I was playing two characters, Lucretia’s roommate and an unnamed, older, returning customer at her shop. I never really figured out how I wanted to play the customer character, other than them being generally polite to Lucretia, and so I think it’s for the better that that character was cut. When playing Lucretia’s roommate, Jess, I went for a laid-back vibe to contrast with Lucretia’s uptight no-nonsense attitude. I did my best to show that Jess does genuinely like Lucretia, and is not a malicious person, but is still manipulative, irresponsible, and unreliable. If I was not also working on my role in the school musical, I would have spent time adding more nuance to Jess, but I think my performance was still satisfactory at the end of the day.
The idea we were trying to impart with this piece is that it is important to strike a balance between working to secure your future and enjoying yourself in the moment. Lucretia is admirable for working hard to make a living and achieve her dream job, but she is so focused on that that she does not care for herself emotional well being in the meantime. Jess was a burden, not actively working towards her dream and generally not pulling her weight in the relationship, but as soon as she leaves, Lucretia is totally alone; she has never found it worth the time or effort to seek out and forge any other friendships. I think we were able to get this across to the audience, particularly through Helen’s monologue in the second to last scene.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Let’s Hear it for the Kids: CA Footloose Review
I was a part of Cheshire Academy’s production of Footloose in the Black Box theater, directed by Jennifer Guarino, from March 1st through 3rd. The play, based on the 1984 film of the same name, was written by Dean Pitchford an Walter Bobbie, with music by Tom Snow. This production starred Tony Wang as Ren McCormick, Olivia Williamson as Ariel Moore, and Aaron Luo as Reverend Shaw Moore.
The play starts with Ren and his mother moving from Chicago to the small religious town of Bomont, where a tragedy five years ago led local reverand Shaw Moore to enact a series of restrictive laws, including a ban on dancing. Unable to tone himself down and fit in, Ren resolves to challenge the law with support from fellow teens in the community, including his new best friend Willard and Reverand Moore’s rebellious daughter, Ariel. Along the way, romance blossoms between Ren and Ariel, and Shaw’s walls crumble, until Ren convinces him to abolish the law as the first step to letting go of his grief. As this production was put on by an international boarding school, the Director’s Note in the program emphasizes the angle of Ren as an outsider having to adjust to the customs of a new place. In comparison to the original Footloose movie, where Ren was played by Kevin Bacon, Tony’s portrayal definitely comes off more as an earnest, well-meaning outsider who can’t help but be honest and true to himself, rather than a semi-bad boy just looking to kick up a fuss. I personally connected with this portrayal a lot more, especially since it creates a greater contrast between Ren and Ariel’s drug-dealing high school dropout boyfriend, Chuck Cranston.
I liked how some of the costumes were color coded. Ariel and her three gal pals each had a signature color that made it easier to remember them as individuals. I really liked how, in Ren and Ariel’s first intimate scene alone together, Ren was wearing a red jacket to match Ariel’s red color scheme; I wish he had worn it in other scenes too to capitalize on that symbolism, like in their duet.
In terms of staging, I liked that there was a balance between complicated sets (the Buger Blast, Joe’s Bar & Grill) and comparatively more simple sets like the Moore home. It created a contrast between the limited, plainer world the adults of Bomont run, and the bigger, more lively world beyond their control. Like in the past few CA productions, the triangles were well utilized to set the backdrops of scenes. I particularly liked the grafittied triangles used for the train scenes; they not only served their narrative purpose well, but were also just very visually pleasing.
One thing unique to this production was an intro scene set before the play’s main plotline, showing a dance party being interrupted by a car crash outside. This is meant to represent the death of Shaw’s son, the event which led him to outlaw dancing. The addition does help set the show’s more serious undertones early on, without being as overly dramatic as showing the car crash itselfwould have been. However, because the five year timeskip in between this scene and the proper opening number is not indicated in the show itself via dialogue or the playbill, with the actors wearing the same costumes in both scenes, I worry someone unfamiliar with the story of Footloose might have been confused.
While I briefly talked earlier about Tony Wang’s portrayal of Ren, I would now like to highlight my other favorite performance in the show: Aaron Luo as Reverand Shaw. He does a lot to make the play’s antagonist, whom one might assume at first glance to just be a fun-hating bigot, nuanced and sympathetic. You could see the joy in his face when he was delivering his opening sermon, showing the passion he had for his job. He displayed multiple distinct levels of anger, allowing the tension in his scenes to build more gradually (the scene before his solo number in Act 1 being a prime example) and keeping his performance from being one note. In his final monologue, where he gives Ren permission to throw a dance, his vulnerability compared to the calm, charismatic professionalism he had worn around others up to this point was emotionally compelling and highlighted Shaw’s development. While he did not get many comedic moments, his “embarassing dad” moment in the final prom scene was adorkable and always got some laughs.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. The cast had great energy and were consistently hillarious, with emotional performances from the leads. The music was great, with strong harmonies and vocal solos.
Footloose is an example to me of how plays do not have to stick to one tone throughout. Characters like Willard add levity to every scene they’re in, but everything to do with the Moore family had me emotionally invested. For a show I had initially assumed to be cheesy and morally simplistic, lines like “I’m sorry your father won’t ever get to know you” from Shaw to Ren hit me hard. I don’t think the balance always works; some lines that are meant to be meaningful just come off as silly to me, like “I’m becoming a mime”. However, after seeing this production, I can see why this musical is a classic.
The play starts with Ren and his mother moving from Chicago to the small religious town of Bomont, where a tragedy five years ago led local reverand Shaw Moore to enact a series of restrictive laws, including a ban on dancing. Unable to tone himself down and fit in, Ren resolves to challenge the law with support from fellow teens in the community, including his new best friend Willard and Reverand Moore’s rebellious daughter, Ariel. Along the way, romance blossoms between Ren and Ariel, and Shaw’s walls crumble, until Ren convinces him to abolish the law as the first step to letting go of his grief. As this production was put on by an international boarding school, the Director’s Note in the program emphasizes the angle of Ren as an outsider having to adjust to the customs of a new place. In comparison to the original Footloose movie, where Ren was played by Kevin Bacon, Tony’s portrayal definitely comes off more as an earnest, well-meaning outsider who can’t help but be honest and true to himself, rather than a semi-bad boy just looking to kick up a fuss. I personally connected with this portrayal a lot more, especially since it creates a greater contrast between Ren and Ariel’s drug-dealing high school dropout boyfriend, Chuck Cranston.
I liked how some of the costumes were color coded. Ariel and her three gal pals each had a signature color that made it easier to remember them as individuals. I really liked how, in Ren and Ariel’s first intimate scene alone together, Ren was wearing a red jacket to match Ariel’s red color scheme; I wish he had worn it in other scenes too to capitalize on that symbolism, like in their duet.
In terms of staging, I liked that there was a balance between complicated sets (the Buger Blast, Joe’s Bar & Grill) and comparatively more simple sets like the Moore home. It created a contrast between the limited, plainer world the adults of Bomont run, and the bigger, more lively world beyond their control. Like in the past few CA productions, the triangles were well utilized to set the backdrops of scenes. I particularly liked the grafittied triangles used for the train scenes; they not only served their narrative purpose well, but were also just very visually pleasing.
One thing unique to this production was an intro scene set before the play’s main plotline, showing a dance party being interrupted by a car crash outside. This is meant to represent the death of Shaw’s son, the event which led him to outlaw dancing. The addition does help set the show’s more serious undertones early on, without being as overly dramatic as showing the car crash itselfwould have been. However, because the five year timeskip in between this scene and the proper opening number is not indicated in the show itself via dialogue or the playbill, with the actors wearing the same costumes in both scenes, I worry someone unfamiliar with the story of Footloose might have been confused.
While I briefly talked earlier about Tony Wang’s portrayal of Ren, I would now like to highlight my other favorite performance in the show: Aaron Luo as Reverand Shaw. He does a lot to make the play’s antagonist, whom one might assume at first glance to just be a fun-hating bigot, nuanced and sympathetic. You could see the joy in his face when he was delivering his opening sermon, showing the passion he had for his job. He displayed multiple distinct levels of anger, allowing the tension in his scenes to build more gradually (the scene before his solo number in Act 1 being a prime example) and keeping his performance from being one note. In his final monologue, where he gives Ren permission to throw a dance, his vulnerability compared to the calm, charismatic professionalism he had worn around others up to this point was emotionally compelling and highlighted Shaw’s development. While he did not get many comedic moments, his “embarassing dad” moment in the final prom scene was adorkable and always got some laughs.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. The cast had great energy and were consistently hillarious, with emotional performances from the leads. The music was great, with strong harmonies and vocal solos.
Footloose is an example to me of how plays do not have to stick to one tone throughout. Characters like Willard add levity to every scene they’re in, but everything to do with the Moore family had me emotionally invested. For a show I had initially assumed to be cheesy and morally simplistic, lines like “I’m sorry your father won’t ever get to know you” from Shaw to Ren hit me hard. I don’t think the balance always works; some lines that are meant to be meaningful just come off as silly to me, like “I’m becoming a mime”. However, after seeing this production, I can see why this musical is a classic.
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