Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Dance 2006: Street Fest, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

No abstract provided.

Prelude To A Kiss, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

Peter and Rita are two young, happy lovers who are getting married. On their wedding day, after their nuptial kiss, an old man comes up to kiss the bride. During this kiss, their souls exchange, and the young, beautiful woman Peter just married now houses the soul of a dying, old man. On their honeymoon, Peter starts to notice that something's not quite right. When he discovers the truth, he confronts the old man, who now holds Rita's soul. Peter struggles with the notion that this is his young bride, and he works feverishly to put the souls back in …

A 16 Bar Cut: The History Of American Musical Theatrean Original Script And Monograph Document, Patrick Moran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A final thesis for my Master of Fine Arts degree should encompass every aspect of the past few years spent in the class room. Therefore, as a perfect capstone to my degree, I have decided to conceive, write, and perform a new musical with my classmate Rockford Sansom entitled The History of Musical Theatre: A 16 Bar Cut. The History of Musical Theatre: A 16 Bar Cut will be a two-man musical that will capsulate all of musical theatre history in a single evening. Starting with the Greeks and finishing in the present, the show will comedically inform the audience, …

A 16 Bar Cut: The History Of American Musical Theatrean Original Script And Monograph Document, Rockford Sansom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Believing that a thesis should encompass all aspects of a conservatory training program, I will write and perform--in collaboration with my classmate Patrick John Moran--a new musical entitled A 16 Bar Cut: The History of American Musical Theatre as the capstone project for my Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. A 16 Bar Cut will be a two-man show that tells the entire history of American musical theatre from the ancient Greeks to today in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The goal of the project is to pay homage to an original American art form in a night of zany silliness …

Portraying Pointillism: An Actress's Journey Through Pointillism To Define The Role Of Dot In Sondheim And Lapine's Musical Sunday In The Park With George, Chris Staffel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Upon receiving a role, an actor must research the major themes, concepts, and relationships associated with the play, its collaborators, and the character they are to portray. Only by layering this combination of research and analysis to the rehearsal process and performances in a detailed format can an actor cohesively transform the learned knowledge from the performer's training and research to a finished product on stage. Many forms of art are created using a similar process. This thesis will explore the similarities between the Post-Impressionist technique of pointillism and the actor's process in developing a role. Upon observing the basic …

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

Charles Schulz’s beloved comic comes to life in Clark Gesner’s classic musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The whole gang is here: bossy Lucy is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn’t give her the time of day, perfectionist Sally is still mocking blanket-toting Linus, Snoopy is in the doghouse, and “blockhead,” himself, Charlie Brown, is in rare form. Brief vignettes span the months from Valentine’s Day to Beethoven Day, from wild optimism to utter despair. In this revised version, with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and dialogue by Michael Mayer, the sweet, joyful innocence …

The Merchant Of Venice, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

In the melting pot of Venice, currency opens many doors. A multicultural metropolis, Venice welcomes its arms to all – so long as they come prepared for the brutality of the business of trade. Young Bassanio wants to take a gamble for brilliant Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont. He is willing to risk all he has to win her hand, but all he has is not enough. In need of extra money to make a proper suit, Bassanio enlists the help of his merchant friend, Antonio, who takes out a loan from Jewish money lender, Shylock, on his behalf. …

Jesus Christ Superstar, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2004-2005 Season

Jesus Christ Superstar tells the story of biblical Jesus in the final days leading up to his crucifixion. A rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the musical has no spoken dialogue and is sometimes considered a modern rock-opera. Loosely based on the Gospels, Superstar focuses on the personal conflicts between Jesus, his disciples, the people of Israel, and the leadership of Rome. Special attention is played to the relationship between Judas Iscariot and Jesus, as well as Jesus’ relationship with Mary Magdalene. The musical is unique among biblical retellings in that it focuses on both Judas’ struggle …

The Women Of Lockerbie, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2004-2005 Season

A mother from New Jersey roams the hills of Lockerbie Scotland, looking for her son's remains that were lost in the crash of Pan Am 103. She meets the women of Lockerbie, who are fighting the U.S. government to obtain the clothing of the victims found in the plane's wreckage. The women, determined to convert an act of hatred into an act of love, want to wash the clothes of the dead and return them to the victim's families. The Women of Lockerbie is loosely inspired by a true story, although the characters and situations in the play are purely …

The Dinner Party, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2004-2005 Season

The Dinner Party is the 31st play by Neil Simon. The action revolves around a French dinner party that is hilariously chaotic. Six people, who do not know one another, have been invited to dine in a fancy Parisian restaurant. There is an air of mystery in this comedic play, because the diners do not know why they have been brought together. As it turns out, the dinner is about their damaged relationships and whether or not they can reconcile.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/1604/the-dinner-party

The Ugly Duckling +2, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2004-2005 Season

No abstract provided.

Violet, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2004-2005 Season

Set in 1964 in the Deep South during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, Violet follows the growth and enlightenment of a bitter young disfigured woman. In hopes that a TV evangelist can cure her, she embarks on a journey by bus from her sleepy North Carolina town to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Along the way, she meets a young black soldier who teaches her about beauty, love, courage and what it means to be an outsider.

https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1787/violet

The Music Man, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

When Harold Hill, a traveling con man, arrives in River City, he convinces the locals to start a band by purchasing the uniforms and instruments from him. His intention is to flee as soon as he receives the money. Librarian Marian Paroo suspects Harold is a fraud, but holds her tongue since her moody brother, Winthrop, is excited about the band. As Harold begins to develop feelings for Marian, he faces a difficult decision about skipping town.

Medea, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the "barbarian" kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason.

Dance Concert 2004: Broadway Babies, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

No abstract provided.

A View From The Bridge, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

A View from the Bridge tells the story of Eddie Carbone, a Brooklyn longshoreman, whose incestuous love for his niece drives him to his own destruction. Playwright Arthur Miller first heard the story while doing research in Red Hook, Brooklyn for a totally different project. https://www.shmoop.com/view-from-the-bridge/

The Challenge Of Playing Multiple Arthurian Characters, Cynthia Lowa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the portrayal of multiple roles in a production of Camelot, written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Performance and content analysis identifies and explores the difficulties and challenges in portraying multiple roles in this production, including the understudying of the leading role of Guenevere. A detailed historical analysis provides background into origin of the Arthurian legend and an examination of its historical development. A social analysis provides information on the role of women in medieval society with a discussion of the customs and laws that applied to them. Furthermore, a structural analysis of the script examines …

School House Rock Live!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

No abstract provided.

The Butter And Egg Man, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2003-2004 Season

The play's title, of course, is Broadwayese of the moment—a generic name for all those gentlemen who come trustingly to Gotham with bankrolls, bent upon either reckless expenditure or equally reckless investment. — From the dust jacket for the first edition of The Butter and Egg Man (Boni & Liveright, 1926)^[

Kiss Me, Kate, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2002-2003 Season

Egotistical leading man, director, and producer Fred Graham is reunited with his ex-wife, Lilli Vanessi, when the two are forced to play opposite one another in a new production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. The battle of the sexes continues onstage and off, as it becomes clear that, as much as this couple profess to hate each other, they are also still in love. Alongside their bickering liaison, the show’s supporting actress, Lois Lane, supports her gambling boyfriend, Bill, as he attempts to evade the the clutches of local gangsters. Throw in a number of cases of mistaken …

The Laramie Project, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2002-2003 Season

The Laramie Project is a play by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project. “On November 14, 1998, members of Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, and conducted interviews with the people of the town.” The Play is “edited from those interviews, as well as from journal entries by members of the company.” (The Laramie Project, "Introduction") The Play is about the town of Laramie, its citizens, and their reaction to Matthew Shepard’s murder.

A Guy, A Girl, And Gershwin!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2002-2003 Season

No abstract provided.

Scapino!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2002-2003 Season

Rave reviews from every critic on Broadway! With the first line of the play, we plunge into the situation as Octavio cries, "I am lost! I am ruined! What am I to do? My world is crumbling around me. Disaster after disaster!" Into this comes Scapino who states, "The good Lord has blessed me with quite a genius for clever ideas and inspired inventions which the less talented, in their jealousies, call deceits and trickery!" At one point, with the girl's father hiding in a huge sack, Scapino pretends to be a Japanese waiter shouting, "Ah so—Kung Fu—there is something …

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2002-2003 Season

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a hilarious, interactive whodunit mystery musical that allows the audience to enter the action and become the ultimate detectives. The show is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. In small town of Chesterham, England, the young and charming Edwin Drood has been mysteriously murdered. But by whom? His leering romantic rival, John Jasper? The infamous purveyor of opium and vice, Princess Puffer? The mysterious Landless twins, newly arrived from Ceylon? Or someone else even more dastardly and villainous? Dickens passed away before he was able to reveal the culprit. Rupert …

The Secret Garden, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2001-2002 Season

When young Mary Lennox loses her parents to a cholera outbreak in India, she is sent to live with her uncle, hermit Archibald Craven, who lives in an imposing, secluded manor on the British heath. Inside the haunting house upon the hill, Mary finds a reclusive, long-suffering collection of souls. Surrounded by spirits from the past, who both warn and welcome her, determined Mary begins to peel away the layers of sadness that cover the house and the garden, showing us the power that “one small girl” can have when she “wants things to grow.”

https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1435/the-secret-garden

Ctrl + Alt + Delete, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2001-2002 Season

Tech whiz kid Eddie Fisker joins forces with a new technology leader to create what amounts to a billion dollar house of cards. Surrounded by corporations that remember books as “little paper websites” and remind each other of various characters from the Muppets, the two try to survive the shockwaves, real and imagined, that threaten to topple their new product’s success.

https://www.broadwayplaypub.com/the-plays/ctrl-alt-delete/

The Mikado, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2001-2002 Season

Since its premiere in 1885 at the Savoy Theatre in London, The Mikado (or The Town of Titipu) has become one of the most-performed pieces of musical theatre in history. As with many of Gilbert and Sullivan’s productions, the show satirizes aspects of Victorian Britain’s politics and aristocracy; in The Mikado, however, the duo cleverly cloaked these criticisms behind a charming story set not in Britain, but in exotic Japan. Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Japanese emperor), has fled in disguise to avoid marrying a much older suitor, and to find and marry his own beloved, the …

Book Of Days, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2001-2002 Season

When murder roars through a small Missouri town, Ruth Hoch begins her own quest to find truth and honesty amid small town jealousies, religion, greed and lies. This tornado of a play propels you through its events like a page-turning mystery.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/s/13099/book-of-days

A Midsummer Night’S Dream, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2001-2002 Season

In one of the most famous of literary love quadrangles, A Midsummer Night’s Dream tells the tale of Hermia, Demetrius, Lysander, and Helena; four misguided lovers whose journey into the woods lands them in even more trouble, as members of the fairy kingdom decide to use them as veritable pawns in their own love games. Against the backdrop of the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta, and the fiery battle of wills between the Fairy King and Queen, Oberon and Titania, the four lovers are challenged by magic and trickery to finally work out what love is all about.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/450/a-midsummer-nights-dream

Oklahoma!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2000-2001 Season

The first collaboration of famed partners Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma! set the American musical theatre standard. Set in Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the 20th Century, the spirited rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys provides the backdrop for the love story between Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a beautiful farm girl. The road to true love is anything but smooth, but there is no doubt that these two romantics will succeed in making a life together. As the road to romance and the road to statehood converge, Curly and Laurey are poised …