Middle School Musical
Changed my userpic to Kumatora. I like the Lammy one, it fits my journal well, but it felt weird using it when responding to other people.
The middle school kids preformed 'Aladdin Jr.' today, and....it was okay. First off, it seems that MS shows like to include as many kids as possible (hey, it was the same thing at my old school) while the HS directors are pretty picky and often pick plays that don't have too many actors in it. Also while I saw this with my dad, my mom refused to come to the musical since it would have pre-teen boys singing. I'm not the world's best singer, so I don't really pick on the singing unless it's really uninspired or I can't understand what anyone's saying.
First off, the actress who was playing Jasmine has had past stage experience according to her bio, but she was EXTREMELY bland. She had the same facial expression and tone of voice for nearly everything, from being pissed at her dad for forcing her to marry to riding the carpet with Aladdin. Worst bit; according to my brother (who was lighting), this show she wasn't as bland as usual. Main reason I'm surprised about this is because she has acted before in a couple of plays and musicals, so you'd think she'd of learned how to show emotion a little bit by now. At least she could sing.
Guy playing Aladdin was a wee bit bland, but more expressive then Jasmine and did put effort into his role.
Sultan; boring, but he didn't appear too much so I just forgot about him.
Jafar: How disappointing for a villain! He had a hammy speech, but he was so boring to watch! Villains (especially from Disney), are hammy and expressive, but this guy never moved beyond 'arms glued to his sides'. The guy who played his parrot Iago, on the other hand, did a very good job. He had a good evil laugh, and he was a good actor who used his body well.
Genie: The director changed the plot a little so there's two genies: a Mr. and a Mrs. This was actually good because both of them did a great job acting, especially the Mrs. She projected very well (my brother said she was the only one who didn't need a microphone), she used her body well, and she could sing. The Mr. is good as well, though he was a bit quiet and not as good as a singer.
Background characters: There were mostly 'common folk' and 'guards' for background characters, one of the guards working for Jafar. Jafar's guard didn't say much, but I could barely hear him and he wasn't very good. The other guards though, were fun to watch and they really seemed to have fun doing their roles. The 'common folk' were alright. Most of them were girls who could sing, though not necessarily annunciate so sometimes I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. They also played a big part in some of the dancing, but their dancing was pretty stiff at the beginning.
As for stuff that the director most likely added: the entire segment of choosing Jasmine's future husband wasn't funny. Also my dad and I were sitting on the left side of the audience and a few times we could only see the back of some actors in some scenes. The director should of probably noticed that during rehearsals.
My dad mentioned that this was just a MS school play but just like my brother, I think that one shouldn't forget about mistakes in a show just because it's put on by Middle School kids. There's a difference between being limited and being lazy.
And now I feel like watching the Aladdin movie.
~~
While listening to Spoony's Let's Plays of SWAT 4, I got inspired to sketch two more pages of my comic. Thanks Spoony!
-Puffy
The middle school kids preformed 'Aladdin Jr.' today, and....it was okay. First off, it seems that MS shows like to include as many kids as possible (hey, it was the same thing at my old school) while the HS directors are pretty picky and often pick plays that don't have too many actors in it. Also while I saw this with my dad, my mom refused to come to the musical since it would have pre-teen boys singing. I'm not the world's best singer, so I don't really pick on the singing unless it's really uninspired or I can't understand what anyone's saying.
First off, the actress who was playing Jasmine has had past stage experience according to her bio, but she was EXTREMELY bland. She had the same facial expression and tone of voice for nearly everything, from being pissed at her dad for forcing her to marry to riding the carpet with Aladdin. Worst bit; according to my brother (who was lighting), this show she wasn't as bland as usual. Main reason I'm surprised about this is because she has acted before in a couple of plays and musicals, so you'd think she'd of learned how to show emotion a little bit by now. At least she could sing.
Guy playing Aladdin was a wee bit bland, but more expressive then Jasmine and did put effort into his role.
Sultan; boring, but he didn't appear too much so I just forgot about him.
Jafar: How disappointing for a villain! He had a hammy speech, but he was so boring to watch! Villains (especially from Disney), are hammy and expressive, but this guy never moved beyond 'arms glued to his sides'. The guy who played his parrot Iago, on the other hand, did a very good job. He had a good evil laugh, and he was a good actor who used his body well.
Genie: The director changed the plot a little so there's two genies: a Mr. and a Mrs. This was actually good because both of them did a great job acting, especially the Mrs. She projected very well (my brother said she was the only one who didn't need a microphone), she used her body well, and she could sing. The Mr. is good as well, though he was a bit quiet and not as good as a singer.
Background characters: There were mostly 'common folk' and 'guards' for background characters, one of the guards working for Jafar. Jafar's guard didn't say much, but I could barely hear him and he wasn't very good. The other guards though, were fun to watch and they really seemed to have fun doing their roles. The 'common folk' were alright. Most of them were girls who could sing, though not necessarily annunciate so sometimes I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. They also played a big part in some of the dancing, but their dancing was pretty stiff at the beginning.
As for stuff that the director most likely added: the entire segment of choosing Jasmine's future husband wasn't funny. Also my dad and I were sitting on the left side of the audience and a few times we could only see the back of some actors in some scenes. The director should of probably noticed that during rehearsals.
My dad mentioned that this was just a MS school play but just like my brother, I think that one shouldn't forget about mistakes in a show just because it's put on by Middle School kids. There's a difference between being limited and being lazy.
And now I feel like watching the Aladdin movie.
~~
While listening to Spoony's Let's Plays of SWAT 4, I got inspired to sketch two more pages of my comic. Thanks Spoony!
-Puffy