Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Dead Man's Cell Phone, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2009-2010 Season

While at a café, a man dies. But his cell phone will not stop ringing. The woman at the next table, Jean, picks up the cell phone and ends up stuck in the middle of all his troubles, meeting his widow Hermia, his mother Mrs. Gottlieb, and his mistress. In the course of meeting all these people, she ends up falling in love with the dead man’s brother, Dwight. The dead man himself, Gordon Gottlieb, eventually tells his last moments himself.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/1810/dead-mans-cell-phone

You Can't Take It With You, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2009-2010 Season

Grandpa Vanderhof and his wacky family, the Sycamores, have been happily living their zany lives in his house by Columbia University in New York for many years. This family (and their friends) are a madcap group of eccentrics, marching to the beat of their own drum, with pride and joy. Their hobbies include collecting snakes, building fireworks in the basement, writing a myriad of plays that never get published, and taking ballet lessons. Things like stress, jobs, and paying taxes to the government are for other people, not for them! But when practical young Alice Sycamore becomes engaged to her …

Jerry Herman's Leading Ladies, John Mansell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Jerry Herman is celebrated for his ability to showcase strong leading female roles in his canon of work that spans some fifty years. In writing such strong female characters, he must produce strong male counterparts to these women who can communicate on their level and not become overpowered by the women's presence. I was cast in the musical revue, It's Today: An Evening of Jerry Herman, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Earl D. Weaver. My portion of the revue explored Herman's leading male roles of Cornelius from Hello, Dolly!; Mack from Mack and Mabel; Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky from The …

The Last 2500 Years: Defining, Dissecting And Directing The Less Linear Musical, Andrew Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the first recorded theatrical events, theatre has been presented in a linear fashion. It is no surprise that the majority of American Musical Theatre also follows a linear plot conception. Musicals that blatantly defy linearity are often called "concept" musicals. However, there is a small portion of concept musicals that do not abandon their linear plot altogether, but instead choose to skew the line in order to give the audience a unique perspective of the story being told. This mass categorization does not accurately take into account the extreme difference in structure of the two types of concept musicals. …

Babes In Arms, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2009-2010 Season

One of the quintessential “Hey, let’s put on a show” musicals, which boasts one of the most beautiful scores ever written, by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, including such timeless standards as “The Lady is a Tramp”, “Where Or When”, “My Funny Valentine”, and “I Wish I were In Love Again”.

A group of teenagers are left to their own devices as their parents leave for the summer to hit the vaudeville circuit. However, problems arise when the local sheriff vows to send them to a work farm unless they prove their mettle. Within two weeks, the group pushes forward …

2009 - 2010 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Nine, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2008-2009 Season

Guido Contini, famous Italian film director, has turned forty and faces double crises: he has to shoot a film for which he can't write the script, and his wife of twenty years, the film star Luisa del Forno, may be about to leave him if he can't pay more attention to the marriage. As it turns out, it is the same crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_(musical)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2008-2009 Season

First published as a book by Ken Kesey in 1962, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was inspired by Kesey's job as an orderly at a veteran's hospital and by the 1960s counterculture movement touting such themes as freedom, rebellion and fearlessness.It's the classic anti establishment tale of one man asserting his individuality in the face of a repressive, conformist system.

Dance 2009: To Each His Own, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2008-2009 Season

No abstract provided.

An Absolute Turkey, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2008-2009 Season

Georges Feydeau, master of farce, displays all his tricks of the trade in this witty, seamless and acutely funny play. An Absolute Turkey was a West End hit following its London premiere at the Globe Theatre in 1993. https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/9770/an-absolute-turkey/

Smokey Joe's Cafe, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2008-2009 Season

Smokey Joe's Cafe is a musical revue showcasing 39 pop standards, including rock and roll and rhythm and blues songs written by songwriters Jerry Leiver and Mike Stoller.

2008 - 2009 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Peter Pan, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007-2008 Season

An adaptation of J. M. Barrie's story about a boy who never grew up. The three children of the Darling family receive a visit from Peter Pan, who takes them toNever Land, where an ongoing war between Peter's gang of rag-tag runaways and the evil Pirate Captain Hook is taking place. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/plotsummary

Miss Witherspoon, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007-2008 Season

A woman named Veronica, who is a recent suicide, has to go back to the world of the living to cleanse her “brown tweedy aura” and learn the values of life. She findsherself in Bardo, a Tibetan Buddhist netherworld and the place where you wait to be reincarnated. She is not enthusiastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Witherspoon

Dance Concert 2008: Gotta Dance!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007-2008 Season

No abstract provided.

Caucasian Chalk Circle, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007-2008 Season

he Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brechtbegins with a prologue, a play-within-the-play, concerning a dispute between two groups of peasants as to which one will take control over a valley abandoned after the Nazis invaded in World War Two. http://www.supersummary.com/caucasian-chalk-circle/summary/

Urinetown, Otterbein University

2007-2008 Season

One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, Urinetown is a tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government enforced ban on private toilets.

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007-2008 Season

Set in the home of a professor in a small college, an evening of “fun and games with George and Martha” is the shattering and memorable drama that proclaimed Edward Albee one of America’s greatest playwrights. Scorching, scalding, laugh provoking, revealing and completely engrossing theatre at its best.

2007 - 2008 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Private Lives, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2007 Summer Theatre

Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realize that they still have feelings for each other.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Lives

Hello, Dolly!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2006-2007 Season

Hello, Dolly! is a musical filled with charisma and with heart. Matchmaker Dolly Levi is a widow, a matchmaker, and also a professional meddler --but everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is to find someone for herself. Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Hello-Dolly! is boisterous and charming from start to finish. https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1313/hello-dolly

Dance 2007: Encore!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2006-2007 Season

No abstract provided.

While We Were Bowling, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2006-2007 Season

Seventeen-year-old Lydia McGlaughlin takes us on a touching and hilarious tour of 1950s Buffalo. With the city and world changing around them, one thing keeps her family grounded – the great sport of bowling! With the all-city tournament on the horizon, will the McGlaughlin clan be able to beat Grandpa Whip’s all-time record of an 808 three-game series and break the curse that has long plagued them? The family that bowls together, stays together; so when life gives you a 7-10 split, load up the Ford Fairlane and head to Voelker’s!

The Braggart Soldier: An Archetypal Character Found In "Sunday In The Park With George", Paul Gebb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In preparation for performance, an actor must develop an understanding for the character they portray. A character must be thoroughly researched to adequately enrich the performance of the actor. In preparation for the role of the "Soldier" in the production, Sunday in the Park with George, it is important to examine the evolution of the "Braggart Soldier" archetypal character throughout the historical literary canon. It is also of equal importance to study an author's canon of literature to acknowledge the reoccurring use of similar archetypal characters in order to successfully interpret the intentions of the author. This thesis paper will …

Not Quite The Ingenue: The Development Of The Middle-Aged Female Character In Musical Theatre, Tara Snyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Not Quite the Ingenue: The Development of the Middle-Aged Female Character in Musical Theatre is an exploration of the influences which have defined the function of middle-aged female characters within the musical theatre genre. This author was cast in the role of Arlene MacNalley, a forty-three year old woman, in the University of Central Florida's fall 2006 production of the musical Baby. Preparation for performance of this thesis role required identification of the traits and factors which would be vital for a realistic and relevant portrayal of Arlene. This document provides the reader with a working definition of middle age. …

Defining A Character Through Voice Quality: An Analysis Of The Character "George" In Sondheim And Lapine's Sunday In The Park With George Using The Estill Voice Model, Michael Swickard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the use of the Estill Voice Model, in particular six voice qualities (Speech, Twang, Falsetto, Cry/Sob, Belt and Opera) and their permutations, to define character, character traits and emotions. Traits and emotions that specific voice qualities can influence are, but are not limited to, location, age, background, socioeconomic status, genre, intelligence, nationality, class, culture, gender, promiscuity, disposition, pain and revelations. In particular, this thesis explores the use of voice qualities to show specific human qualities of the character "George" from Sondheim and Lapine's "Sunday in the Park with George" and the people he imitates in his painting …

Poetic Pandemic, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2006-2007 Season

This was the world premier of this ground breaking play. While there is a clear political agenda here, this is not agit-prop theatre. What Kia Corthron gives us are fully realized, complicated and complex people trying to grapple with the hard questions at the core of what it is to be human.

Company, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2006-2007 Season

Originally titled Threes, its plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Bobby's 35th birthday.

Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult themes and relationships. As Sondheim puts it, "Broadway theater has been for many years supported by upper-middle-class people with …

42nd Street, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

One of showbusiness’s most classic and beloved tales, 42nd Street tells the story of Peggy Sawyer, a talented young performer with stars in her eyes who gets her big break on Broadway.

Peggy arrives to New York City from her hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania, armed with her tap shoes and big dreams. Peggy’s talent catches the eye of legendary Broadway director Julian Marsh, who gives her a spot in the chorus of Pretty Lady, his newest show. Pretty Lady stars Dorothy Brock, the classic Broadway diva, who takes an instant dislike to the new girl in the cast. When …

Leaving Iowa, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2005-2006 Season

The spark behind Leaving Iowa comes from being children of parents from the now dubbed "greatest generation." The story is a toast to their idealism and character and a little roast of their undying dedication to the classic family road trip. More specifically, it is the story of Don Browning, a middle-aged writer, who returns home and decides to finally take his father's ashes to his childhood home, as requested. But when Don discovers Grandma's house is now a grocery store, he begins traveling across Iowa searching for a proper resting place for his father. This father-and-son road trip shifts …