Group Review: “Snow”

Ty Defoe and Tidtaya Sinutoke’s song, “Snow,” showed two students, one from Thailand who was a foreign exchange student who was excited about snow because it doesn’t snow in Thailand. The other student experienced snow where she lives and she hints that it isn’t as good as the singer from Thailand romanticized. The other singer spoke very highly of the snow, she went by how white it was and how beautiful it looked, to experience the cold as well, however the other student proceeded to speak negatively in other words, the reality of it before she finally was uplifted by their togetherness. Eventually the student who wasn’t too fond of the snow finds it to not be so bad after talking about a memory she had playing in the snow. Her grandma and her used to put maple syrup in the snow and eat it, a core memory that warmed her up to the idea of snow.

The scenery of the play was plain, making it hard to make the watcher hooked. It was more of a concert setting, it makes it up to the audience to imagine what the setting is based on the song that they were singing. It was a pretty heart warming story because it was nice to see how people from two different environments view the seasons and how together they can change their views on it as well, just as the student who viewed snow more negatively began reminiscing and realizing that the snow wasn’t too bad. Their voices also compliment each other given that the girl viewed things more differently than the girl from Thailand. The girl from Thailand had a more bubbly and higher voice than the other girl. The other student, her voice was a bit deeper. It was also noted that the student who had experienced the snow already, her voice grew a bit more softer as she warmed up to the idea of snow. Overall, the play was well done, besides the slightly bland scenery, it was well done and nice to hear the students sing about their wanted experiences and the ones that they already have. 

EKPHRASIS: It is writing about a visual work of art, like a film, or a sculpture. 

The photo looks like it was taken in the 1800s. The man looks significant, noble, respected and sophisticated. His head is looked up which makes him look noble. His body language shows that he is serious. With his hat in his hands makes him look more powerful and classy it shows that he has manners. By the looks of his clothes he looks like he is in an environment of work maybe. His eyes look serious but almost concerned at the same time like he is thinking about something. With the background he has, the photo looks intentional. This photo overall looks like someone who has significance and is important, taken in the past and his expression looks unreadable at the same time it looks like he is concerned about something. 

The woman looks graceful with her dress and jewelry. Her facial expression looks like she’s in the middle of something and maybe taken off guard. She looks classy but in a more cultural way, her jewelry on her neck, ears, head and arms show that it isn’t just pearls. Her hair seems put together but slightly messy which goes back to why it seems like this photo was taken in the middle of her listening to someone speaking. Her emotions seem attentive and drained or concerned almost. I say drained because her eyebrows are raised up and her eyes just present that emotion to me, but that can simply just be because she was taken off guard. 

A performance in my high school where a band performed the song “Everlong” was memorable to me and admirable because as someone who played the guitar, they did way better. Their stage presence was interactive and they sounded almost identical to the actual song and I think that’s what made the performance stand out the most. Their body language and the way they played expressed that they were passionate about music and were passionate when learning how to play the song given how perfectly they played. I think when you can see the passion in a performance and see their hard work pay off it makes the performance more memorable. 

A genre of music that I enjoy is rock/heavy metal. Describing this genre is difficult, however you can think of it as a rush of emotions that gets you stimulated and energized. The majority of the songs in this genre talk about deep emotion, and sometimes that even goes unnoticed because of the instrumental intense background. It’s loud and vocal, sometimes the song will put its main focus on certain instruments like the guitar or drums to a quick transition of the singer. But don’t think of rock just being songs with singers, oftentimes there are songs with just instruments, each one colliding together and creating a song where you choose where the emotion is. It is a wide genre and can come in many different ways, but they all have the same intense background or intense kind of vocals that tend to make it unique and set it apart from others. 

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The scenery of Shuffle Along has a sense of bringing the musical together and making it eye-catching for the audience. The scenery isn’t too intense, allowing the outfits and choreography to pop out more. The lighting does a good job in bringing out each actor, and bringing out the colors of their outfits more. The title of the musical name being written at the top creates significance with the musical itself. These are all important parts of the scenery with the brick wall, because it creates a more lively and organized appearance, letting the audience know that the actors are the center of attention. The changes of the lighting color represents different parts of the musical, signifying certain parts of it and enhancing the meaning of Shuffle Along. Before the actors came out and introduced themselves, the orchestra played music to bring a sense of introduction, and as the musical went on, the music enlightened the performers movements, establishing the emotion and passion behind their singing and dancing. 

Shuffle Along (possibly writing about): 

• The acting is something that interests me because theatre acting is different from the usual acting you’d see in a show or a movie. I think their acting in the show is significant because it expresses emotions more, rather than something you’d get from the actor’s words. The movements and facial expressions are more dramatic, making things more clear to the audience. The acting is old fashioned, creating a better way to prove their point. 
• The outfits are also a part of the show that interests me because each outfit almost represents the role of each actor. For example, the audience can tell that the woman in the blue dress is significant because her outfit is different from everyone else. When her appearance was first shown she was in the middle of a group of guys in suits which made her blue dress more eye-catching. The wardrobe is done in a way where some actors are more seen than others. 
• The music is the final thing that interests me because it is almost the point of the musical and it brings everything together. Each song tells its own story and has its own significance. The songs make the scenery make sense, the outfits and the acting make sense and brings a sense of significance to the musical.

Rent 

• Something I noticed about rent that seemed crucial was the type of music that was being used. I think the music was important because it opened up to a style that this musical was heading towards and the song that we listened to today opened up a genre that this musical will be heading towards. The song expressed how the family was struggling and the music in the background helped associate with the lyrics and dialogue of the song and overall what the play is seemingly about, a struggling family. The instruments, especially the guitar used, helped enhance the lyrics that were being said and allowed more emotions to be expressed through the actors and audience. It also caught my attention the most out of anything else.

1. Focus in on the tone or sound of the music itself. Why does the guitar play a pivotal role or why does make you/the audience a certain way. Is the music of all the songs like that? Is the energy consistent? What emotions do the songs bring out in you?
2. You could speak on just how the song(s) tell you about the characters and their situation. If their sitaution is dire, why is the tone of the song energetic?
3. Why did the sound director use such innovative music /in his play? Who is his audience? Why do you particularly enjoy it?

In the world of Rent we can learn how each character interacts and how it impacts the play. “Questions to Ask a Play” can be something that can be gone on and on about because there are many things about Rent that can be asked. We can go in more depth with every song and movement to question it and understand it better than just watching it. From the visual elements of these songs and scenes that I would have not known from listening to the song, only being able to visualize each character and understand fully what each voice is expressing. Being able to see the costumes, the acting and body language gave a better understanding of what certain songs mean. The lighting and the costumes were in a Christmas theme The costumes and the decorated scenery provides better understanding to the song. The costumes change, but not much between songs, only certain parts of the outfits change to enhance the songs better. The lighting wouldn’t change much in the first song but during the second song the spotlight would move subtly on the actor who is singing, and it would subtly change depending on the song but it wasn’t an intense change. The only intense change was when two of the actors were singing by themselves. The sounds fit each song with an upbeat tempo, expressing the struggle with rent, almost as if they are complaining but being optimistic about it. Certain instruments would pop out more in the middle of a song, emphasizing the optimism.