Memphis the Musical

This has been my second semester when I decided to take an Acting class after I already studied Intro to Theater course in the fall of 2011 last year, with Professor Janet Albanese. Taking another class in Drama and theater filled was an interesting choice I ever made for the last few years. Maybe it is difficult for a person who’s not directly involved in the arts to see the value of theatre education.  Surely it’s hard for anyone to see the worth of something until they’re kneeing deep in it themselves.  I’ve witnessed several transformations of perspective over the course of my studies.  In comparison, between the two semesters, I’ve learned a lot of useful tools in acting techniques which gradually showed to me how my skills got improved and it shows  the real talents that I’ve tried to practice and be able to share it in front of the people, at least in front of the students. This semester has been very challenging for me and joyful at the same time. How? Because in the art of acting there are so many ways to say almost every phrase – which word or words to stress, how to sound natural and realistic while still allowing a live audience to hear you and how to avoid overacting in the first place. Also, we got to know and learn about different playwrights and their various styles, what messages they were, or are, trying to send to the audiences. How to improvise, which is necessary for all stage plays and other ‘live’ acting, so that if anyone says the wrong line, forgets a line, enters or exits at the wrong moment, or some disaster happens like a prop breaking or the scenery falling down you can rescue the situation and get the play back on track, ideally without the audience noticing.

We also learned how to get along with everyone, work with people you may not like at all, be able to argue a point without causing problems or offend someone, when to give in gracefully. Being able to listen to the instructor and understand what she means and be able to adapt our performance almost instantly as required. Also one of the basic special elements I found it interesting and important at the same time is to learn and to know more about is when Miss. Albanese taught us for the first period of the class at the beginning of the semester about some of the rules and instructions we must to take advantage of; especially when we do monologues, or scenes. As a result, we basically learned and focused on the following elements of acting:

   Knowing your objective: this was a key concept; it means defining the clear, urgent, immediate goal of your monologue for example; and what are you trying to accomplish.

  Visualization: you must visualize the emotion and details of your stories and examples while you are going over your script.

  Obstacles: what lies in the way of accomplishing your goal with your audience?

  Tactics: what will you do to reach your goal or get what you want out of your scene or monologue? persuade? flatter? empathize? motivate? entertain? scare? bribe? antagonize? Upsetting someone?

   Point of view and if we are capable enough to get the people understand the message behind the work we’re doing.

In This class, we were also required to see more than one production during the semester and there are many options that we can take an advantages from and go to see a play and any play the students want to go for, it could be musical, historical, drama, comedy, tragedy, or Ballet shows which is also the type of art we include in our study, too.  On April, 26^th of this year, I went to see what I consider a beautiful production known as “Memphis the Musical” at The Des Moines Civic Center, Downtown. I went with 6 more students from DMACC Urban campus, through TRIO program or its’ also called (The student Support Services at DMACC Urban Campus, which is located at building 1 second floor. I’ve been a member with their program almost for 2 and half years now. Most of the time what they do is sending their student members a different sorts of announcements for any available type of activities happening either inside the campus or off the campus, specifically in Des Moines.  So, during the month of April I received an email that invites students to sign up and pay only $5.00 dollars at their disk office to watch a production at The Civic Center; and from there I got the opportunity to join the group of the other students who already singed up to go and see Memphis Play. Plus, I heard more about this production from couple people and one of them was my instructor who mentioned this production and others at the beginning of the semester to give us an open option and be able to choose the show that appeals to us the most. Also, I went online and learned more about Memphis on YouTube and Goggled it on couple of other websites at that time, followed by different advertisements on the television.

What is Memphis about? 

Memphis: is set in the places where rock and roll was born in the 1950s: the seedy nightclubs, radio stations and recording studios of the musically-rich Tennessee city. With an original score, it tells the fictional story of DJ Huey Calhoun, a good ole' local boy with a passion for R&B music and Felicia Farrell, an up-and-coming African American  singer that he meets one fateful night on Beale Street. Despite the objections of their loved ones (Huey's close-minded mother and Felicia's cautious brother, who plays the part of a club owner), they embark on a dangerous affair. As their careers rise, the relationship would be challenged by personal ambition and the pressures of an outside world and unable to accept their love or basically how they will stand against their love story.

To sum up, I would personally say that this production has been the greatest for me. I loved the experience of watching the real talents on stage, and enjoyed every moment I spent during the entire 3 hours show. Most highly recommended because it’s full of many lessons and messages based on historical day life stories and the how people are able to take a closer look on the society from different ways and angles, and how they can find solutions for their struggles and make it up through the rest of their lives.