is SA a concept show?
is SA a concept show?
is SA a concept show?#1
Posted: 6/13/07 at 10:35pm
Spring Awakening, is it a concept show? If so what is the framing device?
I remember nonintegrated numbers that did not necessarily advance the plot but still gave a certain feeling or idea across. What is the concept here? Is this some kind of new show and that is why “Broadway will never be the same?"
SA fans, help explain.
is it just "taboo" for the sake of being "taboo?"
re: is SA a concept show?#2
Posted: 6/13/07 at 10:48pm
I personally, hate that slogan, and am a large fan of the show.
It is different, though.
Using music to portray thoughts, and an original play to keep the plot moving. Also, the purpose of handheld mics, and possibly the onstage seats.
I think that phrase is a bit far stretched, but it is different that a traditional show.
re: is SA a concept show?#2
Posted: 6/13/07 at 10:54pm
So i guess, in a way, it really will change things. And i guess i am kind of glad it one the tony so that people will not be afraid to spice things up creativly.
i mean if you look at lennon or in my life... they are so different but didnt last. if this does well perhaps we will soon see a brand new type of musical? maybe?
re: is SA a concept show?#3
Posted: 6/13/07 at 11:03pmYou could probably make an argument for Spring Awakening as a concept musical with a rock concert being the framing device. I don't think ANY of the songs advance the plot. The closest they come, IMO, is probably the letter in "And Then There Were None," but that's not even sung, just woven in between verses of the song. But I could definitely see the idea that Spring Awakening uses the framework of a rock concert to comment on the plot. It probably would have been clearer if the device was used more consistently.
re: is SA a concept show?#4
Posted: 6/13/07 at 11:04pm
As an avid poster on the "Down With Spring Awakening" thread with your jadded costar that got cut from SA Auditions in Boston, it amazes me that you're attempting to have somewhat rational, dare I say "intelligent" conversation about the show.
There is nothing particularly "taboo" about it. Much of the musical can be attributed to the source material, Wedekind's play.
A artistic or literary work can have a "framing device" without being a "concept show".
re: is SA a concept show?#5
Posted: 6/13/07 at 11:31pm
Some songs do advance plot, or at least give information.
Instead of saying "Wendla, Anna, Thea, Ilse and Martha are made at their parents for lying to them" they sing an angry song to show their emotions.
re: is SA a concept show?#6
Posted: 6/13/07 at 11:41pm
I'm not sure what you think concept show means. It's usually a show with a non-linear plot based around some general idea. COMPANY, of course, being the best example (as well as Love Life)...which are based around the idea of marriage.
SPRING AWAKENING is not this. It has a plot. It just uses the songs in a different way than the traditional musical. It's more quasi-Brechtian than anything, really. (Quasi-Brechtian seems to be its own art form, separate from the Brechtian concept, anyway.)
But if you mean concept in a general term - well, every show has a concept. It's why we care about the show. Learning to fit in or getting a car to fly. Those are themes or ideas - or concepts. They create the overall picture of the show. Concepts can also be the way we approach the material (such as the rock analogy in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR).
But the technical term for these is not "concept musical."
The based way to describe it is "a play with rock music." Or, like I said before, "a Quasi-Brechtian play."
Updated On: 6/13/07 at 11:41 PM
re: is SA a concept show?#7
Posted: 6/14/07 at 12:18am
well yes indeed but if we are agreeing that Company is an example of a concept show to show ideas surrounding marrage with Bobby's brithday being somewhat of a frame, and Follies being a concept show about living in the past with a reunion as a device, cabaret maybe being a concept show with the night club and emcee not really doing anything plot wise but a story being woven in and out commenting on the governments opression and how it effects a group of people...
what i am trying to understand is what would one best put SA under, and why. Because when i saw it maybe it was so new and innovative that i truely did not know how to watch it.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: is SA a concept show?#8
Posted: 6/14/07 at 12:37am
Marlene
I didnt audition for Spring Awakening.
ever. the end
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