Vaudeville, Burlesque and Cabaret

  I enjoy going to see live stage productions.  Since I was a child, I've grown up watching all the Disney movies and many times pretended I was one of the characters in it.  One of the top places I would like to travel to is New York City. While I'm there I would like to see a Broadway play.  I have seen a few Broadway musicals when they came to Orlando but I feel nothing can compare to actually seeing one in the Big Apple.  One of my favorite shows I saw was Wicked.  Musical productions seem to mesmerize me.  Although vaudeville, burlesque and cabaret were before my time, viewing these shows was entertaining.  The way these shows were performed back in the 19th and 20th century would not be as popular today.  People today want to see more action, violence and nudity I feel.  I have often considered getting a minor degree in theatre production.

Evewright

I have to say that I wasn't the biggest fan of the Evewright presentation today. I felt the video itself was repetitive. He could have cut some of the scenes out and still have gotten his message across. I thought the actually design he made in the sand was beautiful. My favorite part of his presentation was when there was a close up shot of the horses running in the sand. I would have liked to see more close up shots like that throughout the film. Over all, it wasn't my favorite thing to watch.

Black Facing

      Black facing lasted for many years in the U.S. before people started to realize how offensive it really was. In the past it was not really frowned upon because it was the norm. In today's society however, doing such things would be consider racist.  African americas realized that if they wanted to be a part of "the industry" that they would have to go along with this trend.

       Joséphine Baker was one of these individuals. In order for her to have a career in America, she had to paint her face to fit the norm of society. Over time though, she made a name of herself in Paris. I feel happy that people like Joséphine were able to make names for themselves and move past the unjust action that our society had placed on her. In the end, today's society would never let such a thing as "black facing" last as long as it did.

Gawain Opera

    The reason I chose Gawain as my opera, was because I have alwaysed loved the stories of king King Arthur and the round table. After doing a little research into which opera I would have liked to do, I stumbled across this one. I felt that I could really go into this while writing the paper on the video game with ease. I figured since this opera is set in the Medieval, I would have a lot of material to use.

Madama Butterfly

         The opera Madama Butterfly tells the story to two individuals from two different cultures who fall in love.  The man, who is in the navy must leave but promises to return for his love.  She conceives his child and years pass.  She does not give up faith that her love will return for her and their child.  When he does return, he arrives with his wife and family and takes his child from Madama Butterfly to live with him and his wife and children.  Madama Butterfly is devastated and ends her life.  This opera portrays the message that things do not always turn out the way we plan in life.

Panopticon

      The Panopticon is a building or room that is circular where one person can view and observe everything going on inside it. The meaning of Panopticon is, all (pan-) to observe (- opticon). The designer, Jeremy Bentham, felt this type of building would be perfect for prisons where there would be a central tower in the middle to watch the prisoners. Even though one person could never watch all the prisoners at one time, the prisoners could not see if there was anyone in the tower and believed they were being watched. Bentham felt society should function the same. People should believe that they could be surveilled anytime and anywhere. With new technology, a person’s movements are able to be tracked throughout the day by cell phones, internet, credit cards, etc.

        This type of circular structure is not only effective in prisons, but hospitals, schools, daycares, auditoriums and sports. In society today we are always being observed. As Michel Foucault stated, “We now live in the panoptic machine”. Just as in wrestling the ring is set up with this in mind. Performers compete in a ring that is surrounded by an audience. They must perform a show and project their fight throughout the audience. All this is like the ancient Greek and Roman coliseums and theaters. The stage is in the middle and the building is set up so the acoustics can extend throughout the audience.