Category: Reviews

Posted on

Dear Evan Hansen’s Original Broadway Cast Album Emits a Unified Voice of Hope and Understanding

8 February 2018

Dear Evan Hansen’s Original Broadway Cast Album Emits a Unified Voice of Hope and Understanding

Even without seeing the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen, it is not difficult to be captivated by the unbridled story in the music and lyrics of the original Broadway cast album. Though it didn’t spark quite as much buzz as the Broadway takeover Hamilton, the bigger winner the year before in 2016, Dear Evan Hansen has swept the nation with its message of self love and acceptance and was the show to see in 2017. Unlike its predecessor, which features rap and hip hop influences, the music of Dear Evan Hansen evokes a much quieter pop, rock, and singer/songwriter vibe. 

… Read the rest
Posted on

Theatre’s Infinitely Ambiguous Message in Mossoux Bonte’s Whispers

30 April 2017

Theatre’s Infinitely Ambiguous Message in Mossoux Bonte’s Whispers

When one goes to the theatre, there is typically a small amount of time before the show, sometimes just five minutes, in which the audience members must occupy themselves. I spend these moments preparing for the show in any way that I can, whether that means scanning the programme note, clearing my mind of the day’s events, or familiarizing myself with the space by studying the stage or room. With Mossoux Bonte’s Whispers, I did not have a programme note before the show, so I did not have any prior knowledge of what I was about to experience before it began.… Read the rest

Posted on

The Recorded Performance Brought to Life in Superfruit’s “Rise”

31 March 2017

The Recorded Performance Brought to Life in Superfruit’s “Rise”

Regardless of personal musical preference, live performances are generally more lifelike than recorded performances. A live performance comes with a visual as well as an auditory representation of a piece of music, which greatly impacts the listener’s experience. Emotion, which drives the majority of musical messages, is much more palpable when it can be expressed through the performer’s face and body movements. Their surroundings are also vital in determining what sort of message they intend to send. A music video of a recorded performance can give these cues, but since the performance is not happening live, there is always an element of artificiality because the performers have the power to create whatever image they want, regardless of whether it can be expressed or replicated live.… Read the rest

Posted on

Emotional Affect at the Battersea Arts Centre

20 February 2017

Emotional Affect at the Battersea Arts Centre

The art of performance may consist of several different motivations and aims, but perhaps they can all be boiled down to one general goal: to affect the audience. In Theatre & Feeling, Erin Hurley defines “affect” as the “immediate, uncontrollable, skin-level registration of a change to our environment … responses we cannot consciously control” (13). To me, an audience is most easily affected in this way through a performance’s reliance on emotion, which has the power to make audience members laugh, cry, or feel momentarily moved or changed. “I told my mum I was going on an R.E.… Read the rest

css.php