Final Paper by Holand
Write papers, get concert tickets! It seemed too good to be true, but it was real. OnStage, ISU's theatre program for high school students, had arrived. A veritable smorgasbord of events, I would get to see an opera, a musical, a string quartet, a symphony, a play, and much more.
The program was full of surprises. While I had known about Aïda, I knew the opera, not the musical. The creations of Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice were amazing, and I now count Aïda as one of my favourite musicals. Likewise, I was familiar with Figaro from The Barber of Seville, I was wholly unprepared for the continuation of the mischevious tenor's antics in The Marriage of Figaro, and it was a very pleasant surprise.
I thought that string quartets were limited to classical music. I was wrong. The Turtle Island String Quartet played jazz that was smooth like a New Orleans night. I also believed that Taiko drumming, because it came from Japan, would be refined and elegant. I had no idea how passionate, how chaotic, how firey it was!
Getting to see such a variety of performances made me reevaluate how I had previously looked at theatre. When I saw that my initial assumptions had been quite off the mark, I grew to understand that good performances are hard to categorise, and that indeed, it's best not to try, but to let yourself get caught up in the action.
I also got inspiration from the performances. I am currently working on a musical, and I learned how successful musicals work, as well as getting to hear music that has elements that I might use in my score. For example, the frantic, vibrant drumming of the Taiko drummers is evoked in a scene that deals with a revolution. Likewise, the jazzy flow of a violin is evoked in the theme of a laid-back, nonchalant character.
In conclusion, I learned not only about the wide variety of performances that is theatre, but also, about myself. I'd like to thank ISU and Stephens Auditorium for such a great opportunity, and who knows? Maybe something I write will be performed there on the boards.
The program was full of surprises. While I had known about Aïda, I knew the opera, not the musical. The creations of Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice were amazing, and I now count Aïda as one of my favourite musicals. Likewise, I was familiar with Figaro from The Barber of Seville, I was wholly unprepared for the continuation of the mischevious tenor's antics in The Marriage of Figaro, and it was a very pleasant surprise.
I thought that string quartets were limited to classical music. I was wrong. The Turtle Island String Quartet played jazz that was smooth like a New Orleans night. I also believed that Taiko drumming, because it came from Japan, would be refined and elegant. I had no idea how passionate, how chaotic, how firey it was!
Getting to see such a variety of performances made me reevaluate how I had previously looked at theatre. When I saw that my initial assumptions had been quite off the mark, I grew to understand that good performances are hard to categorise, and that indeed, it's best not to try, but to let yourself get caught up in the action.
I also got inspiration from the performances. I am currently working on a musical, and I learned how successful musicals work, as well as getting to hear music that has elements that I might use in my score. For example, the frantic, vibrant drumming of the Taiko drummers is evoked in a scene that deals with a revolution. Likewise, the jazzy flow of a violin is evoked in the theme of a laid-back, nonchalant character.
In conclusion, I learned not only about the wide variety of performances that is theatre, but also, about myself. I'd like to thank ISU and Stephens Auditorium for such a great opportunity, and who knows? Maybe something I write will be performed there on the boards.
posted by ISC On Stage @ 9:21 AM
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