Sideshow Performance Report

Post 1942 musicals became more an expression of American society and often have a romantic conflict or love triangle. This past Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 8pm, I attended Side Show the musical at the University of Texas at Dallas University Theatre. It encompassed a story about these Siamese twins, Violet and Daisy, and their quest to become famous and in love. They started however at a low point in the beginning of the musical as the main attraction at a freak show due to their faults. However when two individuals Buddy and Terry come into the mix, they see bright futures for the Siamese twins. From there the story, drama, and romance begin to take place. A love triangle forms between Daisy, Buddy, and Jake the Cannibal.
I would like to begin by describing the scene and setup of the musical and also the audience. The stage was mostly dark and mysterious with boxes and a backdrop which left the orchestra exposed. There seemed to be a lot of technology that went into the making of this musical compared to some of the other performances that I have seen at UTD. The conductor for the orchestra had a small television screen so that he would be able to see the stage even though his back was to it. Some of the performers had an abnormal way of using a microphone which appeared to be attached to their forehead and the wire ran back through their hair. Everyone in the audience was required to turn off all cell phones because the signal could affect their recording of the performance. Regarding the audience, it was nearly completely filled. Later, I found that Side Show had pulled in more audience than any other performance at UTD over the past 2 weeks of their performances.
The music for this musical was comprised of both vocals from the performers and from the orchestra. I would like to begin by describing some of the vocals that were supported by the orchestra. The vocals were very supported of each other. The vocals were very homophonic, both when the group of freaks were singing and when the Siamese twins were singing. Even though the story revolved around the Siamese twins, there were other characters that had an equally large part in the story. Jake the Cannibal was one of the members of the love triangle and went with the twins on the journey for stardom. The music was very conversational. The responsorial singing would go back and forth between characters and was the primary driver for continuing the story along. However, the story did not feel rushed. I felt very involved in the music, and like I was part of the performance. Jake helped include the audience when he would run into the crowd and increase the emotions from the crowd to get them more involved with his character. There was a point at which Buddy and Terry were conversing and the music would change in conjunction with who was singing. Buddy would have a progressive melody performed by the orchestra while Terry had more of a repetition of his melody. During this scene, Terry was more responding verbally instead of vocally singing. This support from the orchestra was demonstrated throughout the musical. Another interesting addition that you might point out about the music is that it was the major factor in building the suspense. I felt that the words from the songs would help me understand the story but the orchestra and music would help me feel the story. In other words, my emotions were brought out through how the music was playing rather than how it was sung.
The Siamese twins throughout the majority of the play were very supportive of each other. A case in point is whenever they would introduce themselves, one would sing, then the other, and then they would sing together. This is how the majority of their parts would go. Either they would be conversing with each other separately or together whenever they would perform. I thought it was very helpful in moving along the story and supporting each other.
The performers would be required to play multiple roles except for Daisy, Violet, Terry, Buddy, and Jake. All the others would play the freaks, and go off stage but then would play in the next scene as businessmen, reporters, or couples at a party. All of the vocals were memorized by the cast while the orchestra was mainly in the back. Most of the performance, the orchestra was hidden behind the curtains but they still played a crucial part in the performance of this musical.
In conclusion, the musical can be characterized as a combination of vocal and orchestral music that converse and support each other throughout the performance. The combination of the different textures of music come together to help support and balance the performance.