Musical grease
description
Transcript of Musical grease
The musical “Grease” was performed at BISS as a school version. A main
subject of this musical is a love story of Danny and Sandy. This critical review
will tackle characters, symbol, tempo/pace, lighting, music/sound, costume, and
space/set design of the “Grease” musical performance.
Figure 1: Danny
One of the main characters was Danny (See figure 1). He had a problem
with Sandy, the other main character due to his wrong behavior, but he finally
made her his girlfriend. The actor who played Danny had good performance
skills. His voice was clear and loud enough therefore the audience could hear his
voice at all times. His voice also expressed his emotions well. This was shown in
the scene when Danny and Patty were dancing. Patty said Sandy badly to Danny,
and he said “Why? Why did you care?” The audience could be aware of his anger
by he emphasizing ‘why’, and his tone. It was connected to his character, because
he liked Sandy. I enjoyed his performance at the scene “Inside the Burger Palace”
in act 2 the most, because I could feel his loneliness after Sandy was gone from
his singing performance.
Figure 2: Sandy
Another main character was Sandy (See figure 2). Sandy was always
anxious on account of troubles with Danny. However, she became Danny’s
girlfriend at last. The actress who played Sandy had great performance skills.
Even though the audience was hard to hear her voice, she expressed her feelings
well through her voice. She said “Hah?” when Frenchy tried to pierce her ears.
Her voice was strong and her tone indicated she was scared. It related to her
character, because she was outmoded, and was unfamiliar of the accessories. I
enjoyed her performance at the scene “Inside the Burger Palace” in act 2 most. I
could see her difference compared with the beginning in her powerful and tough
motions, which was a slap across the check.
Figure 3: Members of Pink Lady Club’s Costumes
Figure 4: Kenickie’s red sports car
There were various symbols in the musical “Grease” of BISS version. One
of the powerful symbols was a pink jacket of people in Pink Lady club (See figure
3). Pink jackets indicated that members of Pink Lady club were bullies. Pink
jackets were successful choice as a symbol, because they were glitter and luxury.
On the other hand, there was a nice red sports car of Kenickie, which was used as
a good symbol in the musical (See figure 4). This symbolized a great popularity of
Danny and his friends, because the car was gorgeous. It allowed the audience to
understand who the main characters were. All visual symbols make the musical
“Grease” more fantastic performance.
In the scene “Sandy’s Bedroom and School Gym” in act 2, the tempo was
very slow. The start of this scene was a calm song of Frenchy, and the song
expressed the emotion of Sandy. Sandy was anxious, and didn’t know what to do
about the problem with Danny. Then, the atmosphere changed all of a sudden
from the quiet atmosphere. All the characters became pairs, and they were
dancing to the delight song. The music was really fast compared with the start,
and the stage was very messy because of dancing. The director included calm
atmosphere at the beginning, because the director wanted to emphasize dancing
scene. The quiet song with a slow beat gave a tension, and the dancing scene was
emphasized with the completely different atmosphere.
Figure 5: White profile spot
Figure 6: A pink profile spot
The lights in the musical “Grease” of BISS version were effectively used in
a symbolic manner. There was one big white profile spot when Voice 1 talked to
the audience alone at the beginning of the scene “PJ party” (See figure 5). She
told what the stage was going on, and this was important to the audience to
understand musical’s progress. This light worked nicely, because it resulted the
audience’s attention. In addition, pink profile spot was used when everyone sang
merrily (See figure 6). These lightings also worked greatly, because they created
a calm and delight atmosphere to the stage, which was fit to the song. Effective
works of lights and color selection give some strong visual messages to the
audience.
There were various songs in the musical “Grease”. Most of the music had a
merry melody, which gave a cheerful atmosphere to the stage and to the
audience. However, a music called “Alone at a Drive-In” was calm. This song was
used in expressing Danny’s emotion. Danny gave a ring to the Sandy, and tried to
kiss to her. However, Sandy didn’t want a kiss, and she was just gone. Danny felt
lonely at that time, and he sang “Alone at a Drive-In” alone. Lonesome
atmosphere was built through his singing performance. This was a successful
choice to indicate his feeling, because the melody of the music was quiet.
Figure 7: Danny’s friends, Kenickie, Doody, Rog, and Roger’s costumes
Figure 8: Sandy’s costume
The performance of “Grease” used various costumes in a symbolic
manner. The actual musical “Grease” was set in 1950. Danny, and his friends,
Kenickie, Doody, Rog, and Roger wore black leather jackets, white T-shirts, and
blue jeans (See figure 7). Their costumes contributed developing their
characters, because the costumes allowed them look like cool and handsome
boys, who were famous to the girls at school. The color selection of their
costumes was also good, because black indicated toughness of men. In addition,
Sandy’s character was developed by her costumes, which were white cardigan
and long pink skirt with numerous white dots (See figure 8). This was effective,
because the character of Sandy was old-fashioned. The color selection of her
costume was also great, because white color was usually used as a symbol of
purity. These diverse costumes helped the characters of “Grease” express their
characteristics well.
Figure 9: A big photograph prop of BISS
Figure 10: A Tree prop
The set design was successful in This musical “Grease” had the end-on
stage form as the set design. There was an object at the back of the stage, which
was the big prop of BISS’s photograph (See figure 9). This was effective set,
because it indicated the background of the musical, and also the audience could
know who made this musical. A tree prop was also used at the scene
“Schoolyard” (See figure 10). This worked nicely as the stage object, because it
indicated the setting of the scene. I thought putting two blocks on the stage
steady would improve the set design of this musical. There were many scenes
including singing performance. In addition, some scenes were required blocks.
Performers didn’t have to move blocks, and they also could stand on the block
when they were singing.
This performance was based on the love story of two main characters,
Danny and Sandy. At first time, they had a trouble in their love. However, Danny
and Sandy were getting close with many friends at school beside them. Finally,
they fell in love each other. I particularly like the sound part in the musical
“Grease”. The music caught my attention with their cheerful melodies, and they
eventually made me in high spirits. The characters in Grease sang numerous
songs nicely with joyful movements. I really enjoyed watching their singing
performances. I suggested using various types of lights as an improvement of
Grease. I only saw profile spots and fresnels during the musical. In addition, the
colors were usually white and yellow. I was bored about same color of the stage.
Moving colorful gels were able to bring a successful change in the atmosphere of
the stage. Gels could be used at dance party scene and singing performance. I
would recommend Grease to others. This musical gave a lot of fun while
watching, because it included many good performers and jolly music.