7.6: Lesson 5- Staging to Music
Music is an incredible asset when used in theater or storytelling. Music hypnotizes the audience and informs and manipulates the viewers perception of the visual events they are seeing. Music provides atmosphere and mood. Music can also inform the audience of the character’s emotional experiences. Music can also tell a story.
There are two ways to stage with music. You can either allow the sounds, tempo, beat, and rhythm to inform your staging or you can stage based on the lyrical content of the music. If you are staging a musical you will rely heavily on the lyrics to inform your staging because the song is being used within the story structure to progress the plot. However, you can also break up the beat into counts and coordinate movement so that it coincides with the beat count.
Music can also inspire you and conjure images and story. When you listen to a piece of music and close your eyes what do you see? There are songs that tell a story in ways that only you can express as an artist because the music connected themes, experiences, and ideas that only you have.
Staging Exercise 1
- Choose a song without lyrics and stage a scene with a beginning, middle, and end where a character goes on an emotional or physical journey and in the end is transformed into a new person.
- Rehearse for 1 hour and then present
- Discuss and critique each scene
- Remember to always focus on successful elements first. People need to know what they are doing well more than they need to know what to improve. Encourage progress and try to give 5 positive comments to each suggestion for improvement.
- Rehearse for an additional 15 minutes in order to incorporate notes.
- Present scenes a final time without notes or critique.
Staging Exercise 2
- Choose a song with lyrics and stage a scene to those lyrics. Make sure your scene has a beginning, middle, and end. Also make sure that your character's have changed in relationship or perspective by the end of the song.
- Rehearse for 2 hours and then present
- Discuss and critique each scene
- Remember to always focus on successful elements first. People need to know what they are doing well more than they need to know what to improve. Encourage progress and try to give 5 positive comments to each suggestion for improvement.
- Rehearse for an additional 15 minutes in order to incorporate notes.
- Present scenes a final time without notes or critique.
Staging Exercise 3
- Choose any song and stage a scene with a beginning, middle, and end to the music.
- Rehearse for 2 hour and then present
- Discuss and critique each scene
- Remember to always focus on successful elements first. People need to know what they are doing well more than they need to know what to improve. Encourage progress and try to give 5 positive comments to each suggestion for improvement.
- Rehearse for an additional 15 minutes in order to incorporate notes.
- Present scenes a final time without notes or critique.