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By Anne Flinders, dramaturg The second week of rehearsals for BYU’s Henry 5 is completed, and the show is taking shape with an exciting look and sound that is unlike most Shakespeare plays. The cast, directed by Megan Sanborn Jones, worked this week on incorporating movement from last semester’s Contemporary Performance Studies class into the play. The opening scene was developed on Thursday using viewpointing for blocking the cast’s interactions with each other and the audience as they present the prologue of the first act. It will be a highly theatrical opening Shakespeare scene! [caption id="attachment_1095" align="alignleft" width="224"] Henry 5 Movement rehearsal led by Dr. Jones[/caption] Another major element of the play is the sparseness of the set and props. This play will be a touring show, and from February through April the cast will travel to elementary schools twice a week across the Wasatch Front. The play is designed to be easily portable and able to be accommodated by a variety of school settings. Dr. Jones led the cast in exploring ways of using simple prop pieces of various sizes to represent all kinds of war implements and courtly decor. Four large square blocks serve as the only set pieces, and are being moved, stacked, and restacked by the cast in a variety of ways to create the many settings in which the play takes place. The underscoring of the play is being designed by Michelle Ohumukini, who is bringing the sounds of rock bands, string quartets, indie-pop singers, and symphony orchestras to the play’s soundscape. The music of the play is an integral ingredient to the energy of the plot and its audience appeal. This is Shakespeare like you haven’t heard it before. The on-BYU-campus performance of Henry 5 runs from February 6th through February 16th. Tickets are on sale now.

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg As The Phantom of the Opera continues to show strong at BYU I began to reflect a little on the power of the spectacle, due in part to my love for works by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Other musicals by Webber, besides The Phantom of the Opera, are also very popular: Jesus Christ, Superstar; Cats; Starlight Express; Love Never Dies (the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; and Evita. As the pictures show, there is a lot of eye candy in each of these shows, whether through costumes, musical numbers, scenery, lighting, or even directorial choices. Wherever a Webber musical arises, there are sure to be "wow" moments that send the audience on a roller coaster of fun. [caption id="attachment_1122" align="alignnone" width="584"] Starlight Express's rollerskating set[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1121" align="alignnone" width="600"] Love Never Die's Coney Island Spectacle[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1119" align="alignnone" width="510"] Cats-the costumes are absolutely incredible[/caption] Now let's return to BYU's production of The Phantom of the Opera and take a closer look at what Tim Threlfall's directorial decisions are to make this show a spectacle like the one on Broadway. Let's begin at the beginning. We have combined both the orchestra and sound bytes to help portray the show in a manner that envelopes the audience. This isn't like Oklahoma, where all the music comes from the microphones and orchestra pit. This show has pre-recorded music, such as frog croaks and Phantom voices. Also, Doug, our student sound designer, has the voices moving across the speakers, so it appears the Phantom is moving as well. This is all to create a more spectacular experience as you view the show. Also, when the Phantom decides to rain on the Masquerade parade, he enters with a very menacing costume. I was very tempted to add this to my display outside of the DeJong Concert Hall, but I want this costume to be a moment of surprise for those who will attend, and hopefully it was for those who already attended. Deanne DeWitt did an amazing job constructing this costume. What would this production be without fog and a boat? Well, pretty much nothing according to our standards. So, we have fog and a boat. This is a remote controlled car that navigates among the fog during the iconic Phantom song. Once parked on the side of the stage, it is very easy to take it off stage left. To see an up-close picture of this sequence, go to the HFAC display on the south stairwell. Our director had some issues to clear up before we could fully present this musical. For instance, how do we make the Phantom disappear during the scenes where he is supposed to drop through a trap door? The answer comes twofold: fog and flying. First, we have used a lot of fog to help eradicate the audience's view of the Phantom. This also serves as a neat effect that fills the stage with an ominous feeling of obscurity. The flying is a neat addition that helps the Phantom appear as a master magician, as Madame Giry informs us. Many hours of practice have passed so all those who are hung/flown in the musical would do so in a safe manner. These are only a few ways in which this musical has kept its spectacle at BYU. For those who have already seen this musical at BYU, why don't you let everyone else know your favorite parts that really stood out to you as a spectacle within the show. This could be costumes, dance routines, lighting, sound, etc. Be careful of spoilers though!

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg As the production comes closer, I thought it might be fun to see some of the fanfare that comes with The Phantom of the Opera. For example, the video below (which I think is edited pretty well): There is no question that a musical which has gained the hearts of literally tens of millions of its viewers around the globe is going to have its own set of fanatic fans, let alone toys. Take the following for example: [caption id="attachment_975" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Phantom Snow Globe

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg Within The Phantom of the Opera there are three operas: Hannibal, Il Muto, and Don Juan. While these are fictional operas, they illustrate the pompous and elaborate stagings of the French Grand Opera during the 19th century. Just take a look at the costumes and sets: [caption id="attachment_945" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Japan's Version of Il Muto[/caption] [caption id="attachment_946" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Phantom-Hannibal[/caption] French Grand Opera began in 1828 with the opera La Muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici) by Daniel Auber. Within this five-act show there was a ballet scene, romantic passion set in historical contexts, and the use of spectacular staging effects. Also worth noting is the first production of this opera was performed in the Paris Opera House, or known officially at the time as "Académie Royale de Musique." Later, in 1858, an attempt was made on the life of Napoleon III when he arrived at the Paris Opera to see Rosini's William Tell, and plans were subsequently made for an opera house where the emperor and his wife could enter and exit safely. [caption id="attachment_954" align="alignnone" width="674"] Salle Le Pelletier, which housed the Paris Opera in the 1850's[/caption] French Grand Opera reached its "Golden Age between 1830 and 1850. In fact, an opera mentioned during the auction scene of The Phantom of the Opera is Robert, le diable by Meyerbeer, originally performed in the Paris Opera House in 1831. [caption id="attachment_957" align="alignnone" width="640"] Robert le Diable Ballet Scene by Degas[/caption] This was one of the most iconic grand operas ever performed. In fact, Frederic Chopin who saw the premiere, exclaimed, "“If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in Robert… It is a masterpiece… Meyerbeer has made himself immortal" (http://www.roh.org.uk). The French Grand Opera is not usually performed today because of the lavish costumes, elaborate sets, and full orchestras involved. Economic factors of today make shows more prone to budget cuts than budget expansions. However, according to Professor Sarah Hibbard, at the University of Nottingham, studying 19th century French Grand Opera is important for understanding political and social issues of 19th century France. Here's a video published by ArtPoint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaV6bEuP7VQ Erik the Phantom is raised in this culture, and when we as an audience see The Phantom of the Opera, we are returning to that era when lavish costumes were the norm, the scenery elaborate, and ballet dancers essential.

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg Awhile back I created a presentation for the actors as their dramaturg. I had been given an assignment by the director and co-director to help the actors delve into their roles in this production. For example, the actor playing Raoul needs to learn what sort of life he would live during the 1880's in France to help create his back-story. The back-story is the world in which the actor will put himself so everything he does has history during the performance. For example, when Raoul says certain things in Phantom he understands why he is speaking that particular way and what kind of relationships he has with the other characters around him. My job with this presentation was to help create that world. Depending on the social class in which each character falls, I divided up the presentation into the three main social classes during the Belle Epoque of the turn of the 19th century. The wealthy would live in houses outside of the city and would be driven in on horse-drawn carriages to and from the city, as well as around the city. This was a real sign of wealth because most people had to walk everywhere. Here's a drawing of what one of these carriages would look like: Their living conditions would include bathing (about once a week) and fine dining of cheeses, wines, and other succulent meats of which only their class could afford to purchase.

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg Here at BYU we produce playbills for each of the shows. When you arrive, one of the ushers hands you a playbill so you may learn a little bit about the actors and the world of the play. Here are some examples of previous performances' study guide covers. As dramaturgs we are responsable for the study guide found in each of the playbills for our shows.There’s a lot of work that goes into each of these study guides. As an example, I would love to illustrate our process for Phantom of the Opera. Each year advertisers buy ad space to help pay for the costs of producing each show’s playbills. The playbill is the program we pass out at the beginning of each show. Inside we have a director’s note, a dramaturg’s note, the cast for that particular show, a list of our donors, and advertisements. The BYU dramaturgs are mainly concerned with the pages found in the middle fold-out of the playbill. The process for the Phantom study guide began a few weeks ago when co-dramaturg Dr. Tanner and I met to discuss content. After speaking with the director, Tim Threlfall, we were able to decide on a few articles that would help our audiences with some interesting facts and sometimes confusing information about the musical. For example, how did the Paris Opera house come to be? (Which is one of the articles I am writing for our study guide.) After we wrote our articles, we sat down in our dramaturgy class to, well, dramaturg our articles. We spoke about the positive aspects of our articles and some opportunities that could help them be more accessible. Our ultimate goal is to help the audience have a more meaningful experience with our production. Through that discussion we were able to garner some helpful tools to rework our writing. Here's an example of Bianca Morrison Dillard's study guide for our current production of Holiday. For Phantom, Dr. Tanner and I are currently in the process of reworking our articles and working with our graphic designer to set up how they will ultimately look. However, one of the difficulties for putting together a study guide is finding pictures. There are millions of pictures found on the internet. Easy to collect pictures then? Wrong! Boy, have I found out that finding the right quality of picture can be difficult sometimes. Our restrictions for pictures are that they should be at least a few megabytes in size, as well as .TIF format. In other words, there’s a specific format for us to follow for us to bring high quality to pictures to go with our articles.

by Bianca Morrison Dillard, dramaturg Fireworks have been a New Year’s tradition in this country since I’ve been alive; we see them particularly on New Year’s and the 4th of July. They connote celebration, excitement, awe, the new year, love of country, and that excited feeling you get during a really great kiss! As a visual symbol, they are pretty packed when it comes to meaning. Holiday is a play that rings in the new year on stage. Our director, Barta Heiner, was toying with the idea of “fireworks” being seen through a window on stage as the play clocks in the new year, so she asked me if the characters would have been able to see fireworks through their window in 1928. Here’s what I discovered. The text suggests that the family lives on 5th avenue in New York City. A Google search tells me they would certainly have been able to see the Times Square fireworks from their house, had there been any that year. So the question remained: Would there have been fireworks in Times Square or elsewhere in New York City in 1928? Here’s a little about what I discovered about the history of New Year’s Eve in New York City. Before the New Year’s celebration was held at Time Square, it was hosted in lower Manhattan’s Trinity Church. In 1903, as a marketing strategy, Time magazine decided to host the celebration in their new building on Times Square. (This came as a great relief to the church, as the parties could get quite raucous--there was not only drunken, disorderly conduct, but one account I found reported that people would throw bricks in the air as part of the celebration.) A fireworks display rang in the new year until 1906, when it was outlawed, as it posed a hazard for the spectators below. (Funny, there was no mention of outlawing the throwing of bricks--but then who am I to question tradition?) In 1907 the fireworks were replaced by the famous “ball drop.” When did the fireworks become legal again for commercial displays, and when did they re-enter the New Year’s scene at Times Square? I found a source that suggested there may have been fireworks over Yankee Stadium on the 4th of July in 1927 and again in 1928 when the Yankees won the the World Series, though both of the sources I found were never quite clear as to whether the "fireworks" were the symbolic kind, made when something really exciting and magical happens, or the literal sort, where an explosion is intentionally set off for visual effect. As Barta and I discussed my findings it seemed to me that the decision (fireworks or no fireworks on stage) was ultimately up to her--she should feel free to make this decision based on her artistic sense of the moment. I asked, “Is it a symbol that effectively communicates to our audience today what you want to communicate?” This experience left me wondering, what if a historical answer was definitive? Would that decision, or the decision-making process have looked different? Would Barta still have felt empowered to make the artistic decision she felt worked best for a modern audience, or should she have felt constrained by historical findings? Should historical research constrain us in this way? What should be the most important considerations as we work to communicate an older text to a contemporary audience? Who ultimately has the final say, historical research or artistic choice? These questions don’t have to be rhetorical. What’s your take? For those of you who have actually seen the production, does the choice she made work for you? What experience have you had with contemporary anachronism effectively or ineffectively communicating to you as an audience member or as a member of a production team? Have you seen contemporary anachronisms effectively communicate historical situations in a way that was easier for you to understand as a contemporary audience member? For more reading on the History of New Year's at Time Square click here. To watch a fun video overview of the History of New Years at Time Square click here. To discuss click below.

by Ariel Mitchell, dramaturg This past week, our Gone Missing production team has broken into groups: Design and Dramaturgy. [caption id="attachment_731" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The design team deep in discussion.[/caption] The designers will focus on how the show will look, how many screens we need, how we will use lighting, costumes, and projections to tell the stories of loss outlined in Gone Missing and The Cleverest Thief. [caption id="attachment_732" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Some of the performance writers (Sarah Porter, Ali Kinkade, and Jenna Hawkins) putting a moment on its feet.[/caption] Meanwhile the dramaturgy group will be workshopping the moments we have chosen into a text that the actors can memorize and use. Basically what this means is that the four main writers will each take one moment we have chosen home. They will treat it as it's own play thinking of traditional plot structure (inciting incident, rising action, climax) and write a draft. The next time we meet, they will bring it to class. The actors will read it and we will all give our comments and ask questions. The next night, the writer will take home a new moment (taking into consideration the comments given in class) and the whole process starts over again. We repeat this until we have a polished script that we can present at the end of February.

by Nicholas Sheets, dramaturg The other week we sat down in production meeting to discuss our visual projections for the show. Pretty much the entire meeting was devoted to hashing out the process of filming certain scenes in order to project them later in stills and in videos during the show. Since Phantom of the Opera is set in the 1880's, the director desired to have more of a flicker book feel to the videos, since the "motion picture" was still a new invention at the turn of the 19th century. I am super excited to see this collaboration between the media arts and the theater department. Having both of these departments working together just adds another level of creativity and awe to this production. Also, Dr. Tanner, the co-director is a professor at Eastern Michigan University, and myself, are working on our study guide for the playbill as well as the lobby display. With some collaboration between the two of us, and the visual arts department, we have a working display for our production. One of the problems with the HFAC is that the majority of space seen inside the main area of the building is used for the visual arts department. Students showcase their work and ideas in really neat ways. [caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="400"] photo by Hilarie Ashton[/caption] However, when it comes to theater students using that space we need the visual arts department's approval. Jason, with Gallery 303, was super kind and offered some walls and space so that we could put something on display for all of you who will be attending this production, and which also respects the space needed for the visual arts department. I'm really excited as we continue with neat ideas of what to put in this "lobby display." If you have any ideas to offer that would be really neat. Just add your comments at the end of the entry. We will take all comments into consideration as we near our deadline to have something put together.

by, Bianca Morrison Dillard - Dramaturg At one of our first rehearsals for Holiday, Becca Ingram (Linda Seton) came to make her first entrance. As she entered, she puzzled as to where to put her coat in the scene. She pointed to a chair next to the “door” and said, “What is this, is this a coat rack?” to which the rest of us replied, “No, it’s a chair.” The funny thing is, it was a chair. Not funny? Let me see if I can explain. This story isn’t funny because Becca doesn’t know what a chair is, it’s funny because in rehearsal things are not always what they seem. A chair can sometimes actually “be” a coat rack. [caption id="attachment_652" align="aligncenter" width="800"] “Is this a coat rack?”[/caption] Some might see a play and only imagine the actors rehearsing on the ornate set complete with furniture, props, costumes, and fantastic lighting. Not so. Rehearsals almost exclusively take place in an entirely different location and lack most of the trappings you see in performance. The actors rely heavily on imagination and pantomime. This week will be the first time the actors have had access to the stage, set, props, costumes. As we move into this new stage of rehearsal, I thought it would be nice to share what the bulk of our rehearsal has looked like. [caption id="attachment_653" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Empty Rehearsal Room[/caption] Our rehearsal space is in a large room where the floor has been outlined with colored tape to delineate where the walls, doors, and furniture will be, with different colors for each room of the set. The “set” is then furnished with chairs, tables, and theatre blocks--this gives the actors a sense of where things will be once they get on stage. [caption id="attachment_654" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Rehearsal “set”[/caption] In production, the actors will have real props, including liquid to drink and sandwiches to eat. Now they employ pantomime, or use “hand props” (props that they use in place of their real props).