Once on this island review

Once on this island was an interesting musical. It had a short run time of an hour and a half with most of that time taken up by singing. In fact pretty much the entire musical either has singing exposition or dialogue while music was playing. The music is pretty good though a bit generic, it doesn't really venture away from how most musicals sounds and I think that is actually a strength. The musical did not try to be anything really special but it also never got to the point of being too samey.
        The musical has a big ensemble cast which were mainly there for dancing and singing wth the main cast. The problem with that though is whenever they weren't doing anything they would  stand unmoving with their faces betraying a sense of boredom. It also didn't help that the lights never changed the focus away from them so that if you let your eyes wander from the main cast you were instantly drawn out by these expressionless and bored faces. Half of them had their mouth agape. Beyond that though the choreography was nothing too complex but kept the viewer engaged and for the most part was preformed very well.
       The strongest scene with the ensemble is "pray". It was the one scene where I really felt that the ensemble was required and added to the scene. I'd really say that the entire song was the best moment in the musical. The tension and excitement was there and vocals, especially johns, were excellent.
        Let's now talk about the acting. The strongest performance is a toss up between Julia and Gianna. I was thinking Ryan was a good contender till the scene where he nearly gets stabbed, Julia really carried the scene there compared to Ryan's lackluster performance in that part. Anyways, I find that Gianna was perfect for her role as death, and it really stood out for me. The scene between death and teamoon was the strongest dramatic scene in my opinion. Julia did well with teamoon but it felt awkward for me because she just looked weirdly at the audience for 2 minutes in one part. The other gods did not entirely stand out for me. They all had their individual songs but honestly the only one I really remember is Gianna.
        All the side characters were fine. John stood out the most because his strong vocal presence in the song pray and his demeanor. Rachel Wallace looked her part and did good. I liked that within her ensemble role she still danced with grace but That's probably more to her being an awkward dancer then intentional. Sam weed did a good job as usual. The ensemble cast as I said before did a poor job when not in use but they did a good job with the dancing and Singing.
        My favorite part of the musical was the puppet scene because it was pretty fun and interesting. It was one of few parts that is adventurous and cool. While at times it got dumb it never was not fun. It slowed down the musical considerably from the pace it was going which I felt was fine considering the length of the scene was short and the entire musical is pretty fast.
       The costume design was alright, I especially liked the detail of the goddesses. The tattoos were pretty awesome. The set design was engaging and while it didn't really look all that great I liked it's simplicity and colorfulness. The costumes worked with the plays overall tone and the creature costumes worked well in the circumstances.
         In conclusion the musical "once on this island" worked extremely well. It hit all the notes it was supposed to and did not over stay it's welcome. It had enough in it to keep me engaged and was inventive with some of its scenes. All pieces of this musical fit together to create an fun and entertaining experience even if it is not all that original. I give this musical a 7/10.

dialogue script

   DAISY Open another window.
Tom There aren't any more.
DAISY Then telephone for an axe...
TOM Forget about the heat. You make it worse by crabbing about it.
GATSBY Why not let her alone, old sport?
TOM That's a great expression of yours, isn't it?
GATSBY What is?
Tom turns to Gatsby...
TOM 'Old sport'. Where'd you pick it up?
DAISY Now see here, Tom; if you're going to make personal remarks I won't stay here one minute. Gatsby's foot beats a restless tattoo;
Tom eyes him suddenly.
TOM Mr. Gatsby, I understand you're an Oxford man.
GATSBY No, not exactly. 100.
TOM Oh yes, I understand you went to Oxford.
GATSBY Yes - I went there.
Tom's laugh is incredulous and insulting.
TOM Sure; the man in the pink suit went to Oxford!
DAISY Tom...!
Gatsby stands.
GATSBY(slow, intense)I told you I went there.
TOM I heard you, but I'd like to know when.
GATSBY You’d like to know when....? It was in nineteen-nineteen, I only stayed five months. That's why I can't exactly call myself an Oxford man.
Tom glances around to see if the others mirror his disbelief. But they are all looking at Gatsby.
GATSBY (CONT’D)You see, it was an opportunity they gave to some of the officers who actually fought in the war.
DAISY I'll make you a drink Tom, then you won't seem so stupid to yourself...
But Tom’s not done yet.
TOM Wait a minute, I want to ask Mr. Gatsby one more question.
GATSBY Go on. Please Mr. Buchanan, go on.
TOM What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyhow?They are out in the open at last and Gatsby is content.
 DAISY He isn't causing a row; you're causing a row. Please have a little self-control!
TOM Self-control! I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife? Well, if that's the idea you can count me out... See, nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next you know they'll throw everything overboard and we’ll have intermarriage between black and white!
GATSBY Your wife doesn't love you. She's never loved you. She loves me!
TOM You must be crazy.
GATSBY No, old sport. See, she never loved you... She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting. It was a terrible, terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved anyone but me!
GATSBY Daisy and I have nothing to hide...
DAISY Jay let’s go, please...!
TOM Sit down Daisy!
GATSBY(reassuring)Yes, Daisy, please sit down.
Tom's voice gropes unsuccessfully for the paternal note.
TOM What's been going on? I want to hear all about it.
GATSBY I just told you what's been going on; its been going on for five years...!
Tom turns to Daisy sharply.
TOM You've been seeing him for five years?
GATSBY Not seeing. No, we couldn't; but both of us loved each other all that time, old sport, and you didn't know. I used to laugh sometimes, to think that you didn't know...
TOM Oh - that's all; you're crazy! I can't speak about what happened five years ago, because I didn't know Daisy then - but I'll be damned if I see how you got within a mile of her unless you brought the groceries to the back door. But all the rest of that's a god-damned lie. Daisy loved me when she married me and she loves me now.
Tom starts to make himself a drink...
GATSBY No...
TOM She does, though... And what's more, I love Daisy too. Once in a while I go off on a spree, but I always come back, and in my heart I love her all the time...
DAISY You’re revolting...
Daisy’s voice drops an octave lower, filling the room with thrilling scorn...
DAISY (CONT’D)Do you know why we left Chicago...? I'm surprised they didn't treat you to the story of that little spree.
Gatsby walks over and stands beside Daisy.
GATSBY That's all over now. Just tell him the truth, that you never loved him; and all this... all this pain will be wiped out forever.
Daisy looks at Gatsby blindly.
DAISY Why, how could I love him, possibly?
GATSBY You never loved him.
Daisy hesitates; too late, she realizes what she is doing.
DAISY I never loved him.
GATSBY That’s right...
TOM Not at Kapiolani?
DAISY No.
TOM(a husky tenderness) Not that day I carried you down from the Punch Bowl to keep your shoes dry...? Daisy? Never?
DAISY Please don’t.
TOM Daisy...
Her voice is cold, but the anger is gone.
DAISY There, Jay.
She trembles as she looks to Gatsby...
DAISY (CONT’D)You want too much! I love you now; isn't that enough? I can't help what's past.(begins to sob)I did love him once; but I loved you too.
GATSBY(shocked, uncomprehending)You loved me too?
TOM(savage)Even that's a lie. She didn't know you were alive. There are things between Daisy and me that you'll never know, things that neither of us can ever forget.
The words seem to bite physically into Gatsby.
GATSBY I want to speak to Daisy alone. She's all excited now...
 DAISY Even alone I can't say I never loved Tom. It wouldn't be true.
TOM Of course it wouldn't.
Daisy turns to her husband.
DAISY As if it mattered to you.

TOM Of course it matters. I'm going to take better care of you from now on.

GATSBY You're not taking care of her any more! Daisy's leaving you.

TOM Nonsense.

DAISY(with visible effort)I am, though.

TOM She's not leaving me; and certainly not for a common swindler!

Tom's words suddenly lean down over Gatsby.

TOM (CONT’D)Mr. Gatsby, who exactly are you anyhow? You see, I have made a small investigation into your affairs... You're one of Meyer Wolfsheim’s bunch.

 Tom turns to the others and speaks rapidly.

TOM (CONT’D)See, he and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of 'drug stores' and sold bootlegged alcohol over the counter!

GATSBY What about it, old sport?

TOM Don’t call me ‘old sport!’ This drug store business is just small change compared to the bonds stunt you and Wolfsheim have got going on now.

GATSBY Well your friend Walter Chase isn’t too proud to come in on it

TOM I’ve been giving that some thought. How does a reputable banker like Walter Chase find himself up to his eyeballs in debt to a little kike like Wolfsheim?

GATSBY It’s called ‘greed,’ old sport.

TOM That’s right; you’ve got half of Wall Street out there swilling your free booze at that fun park every weekend...I’m surprised you hasn’t tried to drag Nick in... 

Tom registers this. 

TOM (CONT’D)My God, you has...

GATSBY He’s got nothing to do with--

TOM With your little racket...(to Daisy)Daisy... Can’t you see who this guy is? With his house and his parties and his fancy clothes; he’s just a front for Wolfsheim, a gangster, to get his claws into respectable folk like Walter...!

 GATSBY(a vicious sneer)The only respectable thing about you, old sport, is your money, that’s it, and now I’ve just as much as you; so that means we’re equal!!Tom smiles with smug, condescending scorn.

TOM Oh no, no, we’re different; I am, (gesturing at Nick and Jordan)They are...(now at Daisy)She is; we’re all different from you - we were born different, it’s in our blood, and nothing you do, or say, or steal or dream up, can ever change that... And a girl like Daisy will never...!

Gatsby explodes with terrifying rage.

GATSBY SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUTTT UP!!!!

Shock jolts the room. 

We float toward Gatsby. 

His rage-filled eyes stare into the void, as, with all his willpower, he restrains himself from ripping Tom apart..

Tom snorts a dismissive laugh. 

TOM That’s right Mr. Gatsby, show us those fine Oxford manners...

Gatsby recovers and turns to Daisy, who is trembling in the corner, on the verge of tears.

GATSBY My sincerest apologies. I... I seem to have lost my temper.

 Struggling for self control,

 Gatsby turns toward her as if Tom suddenly no longer exists.

GATSBY Daisy darling... None of this has any consequence. Don’t listen to him Daisy.

Daisy blanches; 

Gatsby, now desperate, babbles incoherently.GATSBY (CONT’D)We’re going back to Louisville to be married. Then we’re going to live together in our house;

There is a feeling of excruciating unease in the room

monologue review

My monologue was from the phone call scene of the movie Taxi Driver. In this scene the main character is calling a love interest in one last bid for her affection and fails. It is supposed to be a sad scene and the saddest scene in the movie. My goal was to recreate the sadness of this scene because I am not a very serious actor nor have I really explored that area of acting.
I do not think i captured that all that well. I come across as anxious more then sad and i keep making weird sounds with my mouth. My body language makes it seem as if i am aguring with a buisness partner or something rather then a ex lover. I keep bobing my head up and down and that really is not how people talk to eachother on the phone. I did like the fact that I stood up and began pacing, I felt it added fluidity to the scene and a good sense of the character being frustraited. The words I speak seem a bit fast and hurrying the conversation then trying to preserve it which was not what I wanted to come across.
I certainly need to be aware on how my body looks to the outside and how my words come across to the audience. I think i did well on the memerization asepct and the accent seemed alright.
On another note, I really do not think I learned much of anything from watching the other monologues. Maybe that is because I do not remember half of them. I did however like abligal's sentiments on will's monoluge "I liked how you channeled a new emotion into every paragraph of the scene." That is something new to learn, I thought that if you did that you would not be able to create tone but it worked well with what will did. Prehaps that has to do with the contenet of his monologue or because it was so longwinded. I do not know, what i do know is that people usually do add diffrent emotions into one conversation. I also learned that Ryan is truely the romeo of this school.
ttyl

Monologue movie

I really do not like watching myself