St Rose Play Analysis

The College of Saint Rose is heavily dedicated to the promotion of the Arts and Drama, with an arts center and a theater, there is always a deep interaction with some form of artistic expression. The College is renowned for its top of the line music program which is what made it perfect to host a musical. On May 6th, The College of Saint Rose Drama program performed a revival of the 1970s Tony Award winning musical, Pippin, to a packed campus theater. The musical was an end of the year showcase for the drama program, highlighting the talents of some senior student who took lead roles and students from a local elementary school taking their first steps into the theater world. As the director Angela Ledtke said in her forward before the play, …show more content…
The star of the performance was by far William Heatley, who did an incredible job as Leading Player. He had a difficult role, one that required much of the singing and narrating, which he delivered on. The Leading Player is supposed to give off a malevolent yet impish vibe, which was very present throughout the performance. It also helped that his singing voice was exemplary and he managed to hit all the right notes. The music within the show was definitely its strong point. All the performers sang and played a musical instrument, the only problem is that they are slightly awkward on their feet. While the music was delivered beautifully, the choreography was sub-par, many of the actors looked like their movements were forced and had little fluidity in there dancing. An important aspect of Pippin is the dancing or acrobatic stunts, they are supposed to add to the spectacularness and imagery of the play, but it was done almost half heartedly here. The cast was clearly made up of singers and musicians and not dancers, and the fact that much of their choreography looked slightly wooden, only served to accentuate …show more content…
Musicals are a difficult feat to perform because they are inclusive of all aspects of art and theater, the acting, music, costuming, and use of set all have heavier weights than they do in the average play. Musicals also have a bad reputation of being all show and have little meaning, and Pippin does this, to an extent. Pippin finds his purpose and role in the second half of the play, but does so in a nearly rushed manner. The play spent more time with the song and dance than it did developing the character and story of Catherine and Theo, though this may be purposeful. In the end Pippin leaves with the moral that sometimes the ordinary is just as good as extraordinary, if it is spent with the right