The musical aspect of the performance was fairly hidden during the acting. There were about 14 musicians and a conductor, but for the majority of the time, they could not be seen, only heard. They were normally hidden behind some sort of large prop such as the entrance to the circus or the entrance to a performance hall. The music consisted of several wind instruments such as the tuba, trumpet, trombone, and flute. There was also an acoustic guitarist, drummer, and a few instruments which were rarely played such as a chime. The conductor made sure everyone was tuned and ready to play before the performance, so the quality of the music was quite high. The texture (volume) of the music had to be kept quite low so that it would not drown out the performers while they were speaking during each act. The music was almost always in perfect time with the performers. No discrepancy was noticed between the music and the acting; this was probably due to the conductor paying close attention to the play and having a accurate sense of time. The rhythm was usually a fast paced one with almost a mystical tone to it so as to match the feeling of the play itself. As far as the singing in the play itself, it was fairly straightforward; almost no ornamentation was used because of the fact that most of the accentuation was done by physical motions. Things such as Hand gesture, facial expressions, and props were all used to accentuate the vocals of the performance. The singing was also in a play type call and response where they were practically speaking to each other, but in a musical fashion.
The performers were all dressed in brightly colored costumes, as would be expected for a play about circus performers. Make-up was also used to bring out certain aspects about the characters, for example “Jake” (Bryan Thompson) had scars painted onto his body to show how violent his character was. The interactions of the characters were also unique and a prime example of this was the connection between “Violet” and “Daisy” (Emily McCoy and Robin Clayton respectively). These two women were the primary characters of the play and they were connected at the hip to show their state of being Siamese twins. There was almost always someone moving during the performance and it made for a livelier and interesting show. Even the performers in the background would have facial expressions to match the situation of each act.
The majority of the audience on this night was made up of students. There were a few adults, some of which were probably parents of the performers, but the rest probably consisted of residents from nearby neighborhoods since UTD has a strong connection with the surrounding community. The rest of the audience consisted of students who either knew some of the performers or needed to see the performance for a class of some sort. The audience filled practically every seat of the auditorium this night, and, judging by the director’s (Kathryn Evans) comments on the opening of the first act, it was probably full on all the other nights as well.
The auditorium itself contains 275 seats with a large 40X40 foot stage (University Theatre). As stated before the auditorium was full, but vision was not obstructed because of the stadium seating. The was excellent lighting of the stage, and quite a bit of decorations and props such as a colorful curtain, podium for “The Boss” (Ruben Rosales), and a stage entrance complete with lights for “Violet” and “Daisy”. There was also a very large carpet with 5 differently colored circles to bring even more vibrancy to the stage. The performance was held at 8:00 PM at night on a rainy night, but one would never know about the dreary weather while inside the performance hall.
Overall the performance seemed to have gone flawlessly and was well prepared. The audience was polite and clapped when appropriate while the actors and actresses were ready and right on cue. The entire play was vibrant and fast paced, eliciting several different types of emotions.
Sideshow. By Bill Russell and Henry Krieger. Dir. Kathryn Evans. U.T. Dallas University Theatre, Richardson. 04/20/2010.
Sommerhalder, Christian. Program notes. Sideshow. 04/20/2010. Richardson: U.T. Dallas University Theatre.
"University Theatre." School of Arts and Humanities. University of Texas at Dallas. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2010.
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