The Ballad of the West

January 28, 2016 12:00 AM

<a href="http://4thwalldramaturgy.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TwelfthNight.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4192" src="http://4thwalldramaturgy.byu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TwelfthNight.png" alt="TwelfthNight" width="1164" height="531" /></a>Christian Riboldi

by Christian Riboldi, dramaturg As we discussed last time, Shakespeare has been changed and adapted over time for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's in order to be true to Shakespeare, and other times it's purpose is to appeal to a different audience. In our version of Twelfth Night we have set the stage in the Wild West. Sebastian and Viola were separated in tornado and now Viola finds herself in a town called Illyria. But this isn't your regular western Shakespearean town. It's a town where everyone can sing and dance...well almost everyone. As you can imagine, cutting Twelfth Night down from 140 minutes to 50 minutes is a major feat. In order to do so many scenes and a few characters were merged with others in order to simplify and essentialize the plot. In addition to cutting, a few musical numbers are added throughout the script to clarify and connect one scene to another. Our script adapter Rick Curtiss and our director Professor Jones did an amazing job creating the lyrics to accompany these comical musical parodies Every song that is in this show is an original parody of a famous western song and will be sung and accompanied by our talented cast. We have a guitar, trombone, tambourine, ukulele, percussion, and even a cow bell.

As an example here are some of the lyrics to a song sung by Sebastian as he enters sung to the tune “I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry”.

I bet you all forgotten me, I’m an unlucky guy, Stuck out in the desert alone, I’m so thirsty I might die.

I only had one can of beans, for when the end was nigh, a coyote came and stole the can, I’m so hungry I might die.

At night the critters crawl on me, by day the vultures fly, I met a snake, it bit my foot, I’m so poisoned I might die.Hey what is that up on the ridge, Is that a ranch I spy, I hope it has some pretty girls, If not, I just might die.

I hope you can imagine how fun this show is going to be now! Here are the links to the other songs that inspired our parodies. We hope to see you at the show so you can hear the rest of our fun songs! Until next time!

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4BvF_sb3Y[/embed]

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGEubdH8m0s[/embed] [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDm_ZHyYTrg[/embed] [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjdRgBAY278[/embed]

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN2U5wkhRWc[/embed]

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by Shelley Graham, dramaturg [caption id="attachment_7692" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Director Tim Threlfall works with four actors in an early rehearsal.[/caption] Each performer in this production had a unique opportunity to create a character in ways we've never tried before. Such singular opportunities bring with them challenges. I reached out to our performers in the middle of blocking and choreography rehearsals, to see what they thought about the process. Here's what a few of them had to say. One of the challenges I've experienced with this production is the need to exactly replicate every inflection in my dialogue. People speak and inflect the same words differently in different contexts, on different days, and for endless reasons. Because we recorded the audio before filming, the challenge was to match our performance with the inflection we had on the recording day. I'm a fairly emotive person, and I rarely say things exactly the same way twice. In order to be successful with this production, I had to spend a lot of time listening to the recordings of myself, a strategy I've not used in preparing for roles in the past. Brendon French During this process, it was a challenge to not have in-person rehearsals when learning the score. I personally learned how to plunk out my notes on the piano, worked with those in my vocal part, and was able to meet privately with Korianne [Johnson, music director] to confirm that I was on the right track vocally, and that I was ready to record in a group! This has been such a wonderful experience despite the challenges! I have learned so much and am grateful to be a part of this production Riley Holmes I think an obvious challenge is covid. It's been affecting this whole process! The worst part about it is that not everyone can be on the stage, so I feel like it is a little more difficult to be able to react to the other actors that are "on stage." You just have to imagine that they are there! Luke Gonzalez I think the biggest challenge for me was having to learn everything alone, without any guidance or direction from either the vocal or acting directors at first. It was super interesting and a great learning opportunity, because I got to put my own spin on everything before it was altered by the directors, but it was still really hard. I think the way that I overcame this challenge was just lots of time putting into memorizing and learning and practicing. Practice makes better! AJ Klomp Highlights from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance is live streaming March 31, April 1-2 at 7:30 pm. Don't miss it!

The Ballad of the West

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