Performance Report - Sideshow the Musical

I attended Sideshow the Musical on Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 8:00 pm. Directed by UT Dallas faculty Kathryn Evans, this performance took place in the University Theatre. The original Broadway production of this musical was directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom. The musical was performed by UT Dallas students and faculty. Due to this performance being a musical, the focus was mainly on the performers and their singing rather than the orchestral background music.

Because this was a musical, almost everything was sung, including the conversations between the characters. The singing of the performers mostly reflected on their respective character’s characteristics. The Cannibal King, for example, sung in a fierce and loud voice. He had a harsh timbre quality. Buddy Foster, on the other hand, had a very soft and almost feminine voice, reflecting on his inability to make decisions and act manly. The singing also included lots of vibrato as well as frequent changes in volume and pitch.

The orchestral music, which played in the background and did not get as much focus as the singers, was just as instrumental in the performance. The orchestra featured many instruments including the piano, clarinet, oboe, flute, guitar, trumpet, and drums. One of the most easily recognizable factors regarding the orchestral music was the main theme song of the musical which was played many times throughout the performance. However, there were many different songs and melodies which significantly affected the experience of the musical.

The music was usually slow during the sad or tense parts and fast during the lively parts of the performance. The speed and tempo of the songs changed frequently and quickly during some of the songs. During the introduction of the Attractions, for example, the music changed in melody and tempo for each of the different “freaks”. The music blended with the scene and also changed in accordance with the characters’ emotions.

The performers were almost all students and come from many different backgrounds. This fits in well with the musical because the Attractions also come from many different backgrounds. This also improved the experience of the performance. The performers had to be both good singers and actors because it was not just a concert or a play, but, rather, the combination of the two. Therefore, they made many facial expressions and hand gestures to make the performance better. Most of the time, the performers smiled. The performers in the background (i.e. the musicians) were usually very calm and serious but smiled both at the audience and at each other at times.

The musical also had comical aspects such as the different actions of the scene changers during the changing of the scenes. For example, when the others were doing their job, one of them took out a bottle of “whiskey” and drank from it. Another time, one of them sat on the couch on the set. This helped entertain the audience between scenes. Another thing that caught my attention was that the performance ended right after the “Fat Lady sang.”

Because it was Thursday night, the musical was free for everyone and the audience included students and faculty as well as friends and family of the performers. There were many senior citizens who, one would assume, were grandparents of some of the performers. They really seemed to have enjoyed the musical as I heard the conversation of a couple during the intermission. The husband asked, “How do you like it?” and the wife replied, “Oh, this is good!” Almost all members of the audience, including the elderly, stood up at the end of the performance to applaud everyone who took part in the musical. Throughout the performance, however, the audience was extremely quiet except when something funny happened, in which case, they laughed.

Because the performance took place at 8:00 pm and went on until about 10:20 pm, both the audience and the performers grew tired and sleepy. In fact, one of the performers yawned at about 9:20 because it was starting to get late. Apart from that, the time and place did not affect the performance much.

Sideshow the Musical was performed a total of six times from April 8 to April 17. This UT Dallas rendition of the Broadway musical caught the attention of both the UTD community and the general public. It was met well because of its quality of performance, in terms of music, acting, and choreography.

Works Cited

Sideshow the Musical. By Bill Russell and Henry Krieger. Dir. Kathryn Evans. Perf. UTD Students. Cond. Winston Stone. University of Texas at Dallas – University Theatre, Richardson, TX. April 15, 2010.
(Sideshow the Musical).

Evans, Kathryn. Program notes. Sideshow the Musical. April 15, 2010. Richardson, TX: University of Texas at Dallas – University Theatre.
(Evans).