Relate Theatre to your Major

My major right now is Criminology. Criminology is is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society. Theatre relates to Criminology in the aspect that when you are being a police officer, even when your personality is not normally strict, you are going to have to be strict in order to do your job correctly. So in this aspect the police officer would be acting strict in order to get his job done right. Of course they can be lenient in some aspects of their jobs, but they are normally very stern.
Also, when a criminal commits their first crime, they are label as being deviant. Once a person gets labeled as being deviant they can not usually break away from that label, so they resort to just committing more and more crimes. One field that Criminologists can take towards their profession is being a corrections officer. is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure custody. This can also, like with the aspect of the police officer, be looked to as a form of acting because of being strict or stern.
Although I am in the process of changing my major into Sociology Education with a double major in Health and Physical Education. You can relate theatre to teaching in so many different ways because everyday a teacher is acting, whether they think that they are or not. Teachers are human, they have bad days and good days just like anyone else does. Although when they are having a bad day they have to act in front of their students and continue on the day as if they were having a good day. Also, when teachers have to teach on a subject that they do not prefer to teach on they must act like they do like the subject. For example, when I was in high school my Algebra Two teacher was required by the school to teach a section on geometry. She hated geometry more than any other subject she had to teach us, but she had to act and teach it as if it were her favorite. Especially with elementary education teachers, they would have to be able to hide their emotions more than any other teacher because kids can pick up on emotions quicker than older persons.
Also when being a teacher you have to teach all the students that you have fairly and grade them fairly as well. If there is a student who acts out a lot in class that you can not stand, you can not give them worse treatment than the other kids. Yes, you can give them detention and what not but grading wise, there is nothing you can do to that particular individual. For those students that you would have that were very smart but did not do their work you would, as well, have to give them the grade they deserve. All in all, you have to act like you like everyone of your students the same and on the same level.
With being in Sociology Education you have to relate to other people that you are involved with and how they interact. This can be related to theatre because when you are in a production that deals with having lines, and if someone messes up their lines the other members in the cast have to play off that persons mistake to get the play back on task. This is the same with Sociology, which is the study of people and how they interact with one another. Because in a performance you have to act in reaction to what another performer does and make it look natural. If you just have your lines memorized and someone else messes theirs up you have to be able to improvise in accordance to their mistake.

Broadway

The show that is playing on Broadway at this point in time would have to be the Celtic Women. Celtic Women is a group of about six or so women who sing Celtic music, mostly soprano songs that are ritualistic by incorporating the Irish elements of music and dance. This group was originally put together by David Downes in 2004. This group did come to Pittsburgh in March of 2010, but I was unable to attend because I am a stereotypical college student who is poor. I love the Celtic Women because they put a modern twist to songs that are older, such as “Danny Boy.” My favorite number, by far, that the Celtic Women perform would be “Sing Out.” I love this song so much, it makes me want to literally sing the song out loud. Everyone that knows me fairly well has listened to this song because I have made them at one point or another.
The main performers who started in the Celtic Women were five Irish female artists who had not previously performed together: vocalists Chloë Agnew, Órla Fallon, Lisa Kelly and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt. Over the years, some of the group's members have changed; in 2009, the group consisted of Chloë Agnew, Lynn Hilary, Lisa Kelly, Alex Sharpe and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt. Five albums have been released under the name "Celtic Woman": Celtic Woman, Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration, Celtic Woman: A New Journey, Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey, and Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart. The group has undertaken a number of world tours. Cumulatively, albums by Celtic Woman have sold over 5 million records worldwide. The foundation for Celtic music's popularity outside Ireland and Europe was built by tapping into the success of artists such as Enya and Clannad, along with stage shows Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Celtic Woman has been described as being "Riverdance for the voice."
Being a vocalized singer myself I really love everything about the Celtics. I would love to be apart of something like this group. I do not think that anyone really understands my secret obsession with this group, and I do not know how to talk about it without sounding like a freak… but it is okay. I love everything about singing and acting along with it. If you are not involved in the piece that you are singing, then you can not sing it to the best of your abilities. You have to be one with the song or the audience will not be involved nor will they like the piece you are doing. The Celtic Women have such a way of impacting their audiences. I have never even seen them live and I like them this much, I can not imagine what people who have actually seen them live feel about them.
The Celtic Women have only done three tours within the United States. Mainly they tour throughout Ireland and Europe, because that is where they originates. Most people within the United States have not heard of the Celtics, especially from the small town that I am from. I made my Dad sit down and watch the Celtic Women’s one performance with me that was on television. He complained the entire time about how he hated it and did not want to watch it any longer. Part of this, at least I think, was because he did not want to be open to liking them because it was “un-masculine” and also because my father has no music knowledge history. Although, I think that anyone who genuinely loves music and can appreciate it should have some knowledge of the Celtic Women and how they are making an impact on the music culture of today’s society.

Passion Piece

My favorite musical is going to have to be the one entitled “Bye Bye Birdie.” Conrad Birdie was the biggest rock & roll star of the 60's ever to be drafted into war. Aspiring song writer, Albert, is convinced that he can make his fortune and marry his girlfriend Rosie if he gets Conrad on the Ed Sullivan show to his biggest fan goodbye before he goes to war. Albert's mother will do anything to break him up with Rosie. Kim and Hugo, the high school steadies, live in Sweet Apple, Ohio where most of the action takes place. When Conrad gets onto the Ed Sullivan show to kiss Kim, Hugo busts in and punches Conrad in the face. Conrad is knocked out and everyone gets into a big furry. After this is all over Conrad leaves for the war. The man to write this initial book is known as Michael Stewart. The man who wrote the screen play is who is known as Irving Brecher. The director was George Sidney, and it was release on April 4, 1963. The themes of “Bye Bye Birdie” include: musical, family, comedy, fantasy sequence, young love. The reason that I personally respond to this material is because when I was a sophomore in high school this is the musical that we performed for our community. I always have loved performing in front of an audience. I think it gives you a rush that you can not get from anything else. I have always performed in front of people my whole life. In doing these musicals in my high school, in a way, people in the community respect you more when they know that you have been apart of them. I want to say that it puts you up higher than other people in a way, because everyone knows how much time you have given up in order to make the show a success. In order to put on any performance you must be committed to it entirely, if you are not then it will not work out. Everyone who is involved must, without a doubt, give it their best effort. You really learn how to work with others, especially people that you do not like, you have to learn to get along. Tensions will run high when you are working with the same people everyday, and you have to learn how to work through them. Having these qualities and learning to work with people so closely will definitely help anyone in the long run, and I recommend that people get involved with them. When I was a sophomore being in this musical, I loved it. Honestly loved it. Because being a sophomore in my high school you basically just have a role that consists of being in the background or the “mob,” if you would. You make so many friends when you do this musical, so many different characters that I would have never, ever met if I did not become a part of this annual musical. There was a lot of down time during rehearsals where you basically have to get to know other people, or sit by yourself in a corner. I choose to get to know other people, and it without a doubt changed my life in so many ways. I can honestly say that I love everyone that was involved in the productions that I was apart of. Through my high school years and going threw the different roles that I had I progressed in my acting, singing, and dancing… for the most part anyway. In my senior year I even got the role of a Pirate in “Peter Pan“. I really do not think that I would have gotten this role or any other role of this significance if I would not have been involved in “Bye Bye Birdie.” Because if I would not have gone out for the musical my sophomore year I would not have done it any other year from then on out. I will never forget these memories that I have made during this musical. The friends I have made who somehow turned into my family at that point in time. It all meant so much to me and it still does. I really do think that everyone should be involved in something like this. I want to say that this musical itself spoke to me and that if I watched another school perform it that it would speak to me personally…but I doubt it would. Being in a musical and seeing it be performed are two complete different things. Although both can most certainly be life changing.

Costumes

I choose to do my costume design blog on those that were used in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. I choose this production because I thought many of the costumes were very interesting. Such as the character of Lumiere, the candle, his costume had to have been very carefully thought out. Also, mostly all of the costumes that are used are very glamorous. Also The Beast’s costume is amazing in itself, with his thick facial features. When the musical originally starts out Belle is just a regular school girl bookworm dressed in a plain blue dress with her normal dog. Everything is just very plain in the beginning. Then when Belle meets The Beast he whole life gets turned upside down. Her dog turns into a footstool and she is held captive in a huge castle owned by The Beast. Another interesting character would be Cogsworth, he is the man who is turned into the clock. Also, how Mrs. Potts and Chip are brought to the stage is very original, I think. Mrs. Potts is dressed in an elaborate dress that has a stout on the one side to pour the tea and a handle on the other side, naturally because she is a tea pot. But even more interesting is how Chip is portrayed. The person who plays Chip is in a box, so you can not see their body, and all that you can see is their face. The rest of their head is covered by a little tea pot figurine. Then there is the feather duster whose costume is also very elaborate. She has a wide, duster- like, bottom to her dress as to depict the use of it being an actual duster. All in all, the costumes used throughout this play are all very elaborate and thought out, I think so at least.