School of Rock Review

I have to say this is the best musical I have ever watched. It has a great flow of the plot with ups and downs. Besides, audiences can clearly understand why the name of this musical is School of Rok. Although its plot is just like other teenager movie that I have watched, but through Cheshire Academy’s students’ acting, this is a great one.

One thing that really surprised me is the background. There are totally three backgrounds: Lexi’s house, the classroom, and the white wall. This is the first time for me to see that back ground can also be changed when scene changes. Before watching this amazing musical, I was still wondering why this time no backstage student draws the wall. The School of Rock uses a triangular prism, which each side represent a different scene. If the play uses the traditional way, which is to separates the whole stage into three parts, the space for actors to stand would be much smaller, and some audience sitting on the edge of the auditorium may not able to watch the show. That is the reason why I think the triangular prism is a really creative idea.

On the way to black box, I kept thinking what this musical is going to be like. Last year’s musical is kind of complicate. There were four Gods, four parents, and two main characters.  However, School of Rock only has one main character. It shows that conflicts between Lexi and her dream, her friends, her colleagues, and her students. A coincidence makes people who have rock dream in their heart gather together. The students in School of Rock remind me of students in Cheshire Academy. Our parents have great expect of us. They pay more than 60,000 dollars a year and even send their kids to study in another country. However, for some of them, they are just putting their unfinished dream on their kids. For the character Julia acts, her parents want her to go to study in the school that they think is best for her. Even it ends with a good ending, her parents didn’t care about how Julia feels. She is like a robot controlled by her parents rather than a kid who follows her own heart. Another two roles who I really like about is Sam and John Jiang’s character. In the part before Sam sits and talk with Lexi, she act just like what she says, a bitch. But, when she finally opens her heart, you will realize there is also a rock dream in this extremely strict teacher. So does John. On the one side he wants to be with his girlfriend. On the other hand, he doesn’t want to give up his rock dream. John, Sam, Lexi, and all those students all have rock dreams, but the reality makes them to give up. Because this is just a musical, everyone can has a good ending. However, if all these things happen in reality, there would be no thoughtful parents, no generous police officer, and no Lexi. Many people had rock dreams, but only few of them really achieved. This is also a reason why I like musical. It can show us the good side of humanity, and make us forget about the pressure we have.

Discuss your progress

It has been three weeks since scenario was decided. Unlike other groups project, the scenario of our play was made up by me and Nancy together. So far, our group had faced many difficulties and made many changes to our scenes. Things didn’t happened as what we thought, and many were hard to achieve. We planned to have a bed and a sofa, but they are too heavy to move ,and we are not able to change the scene in a short time. One of the biggest difficulties is that  we decided to make Caroline read her mom dairy while her mom is dreaming about the diary. If our play was in a movie adaptation that would be so much easier to show that this is such a coincidence for both of them thinking about the same matter. As a result, we asked for Ms. Guarino’s advice and changed Caroline’s mom’s part from sleeping at night to daydreaming. Therefore, if Caroline and her mom are saying the same lines: “Today you left. I stood at the wharf, watching you left. That figure on boat now is gone,” as we do in Scene Two, audiences can clearly understand that they are both thinking about the good old days. Another thing is that the way we write is different from the way we speak. When we were writing scripts, the words were in a serious writing expression. However, people, especially between parents and child, speak more casually. In these three weeks, we tried our best to complete our scenes and make it better.

By reading other students’ feedback, here are some main problems. The biggest one is that all of us speaks too fast. We are not totally familiar with our scripts and didn’t combine our emotion with the words. This problem makes our acting only has less than 10 minutes. Even if we speak slower and add in the time to change scene, we will probably only have 12 minutes. To fix this problem, we need to add more lines. For example, Caroline’s mom and her daughter could talk more in the last scene when they solve the conflict. I personally think the last scene ends up too fast. We used more than half of the acting to show and explain their conflict, but we solve the conflict in only 13 sentences. Another problem is that we were too focus on our own acting and line which make the reaction with other characters’ words less. When we were acting, we had enough staging except in Scene Three. But we were lack of body language, which is also a really important part to express emotion and make the acting more vivid. The biggest problem for me is that I need to show two character in different age: one is 17, the other is 50. I have never observed how a 50 years old lady would talk to their children, and how they would sit and stand. Except using different costume to show the age difference, I need to learn from the actor in Warrior Don’t Cry who used different postures and different body languages to show the difference by using limited props.

list of costumes, props, lighting and sound cues.

Props:

l   Scene One: takes place in living room---a wardrobe, a table, an umbrella on the table, a bowl, a spoon, a cooking pot, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Two: takes place in both living room and bedroom--- a wardrobe, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Three: takes place at a wharf in Haiti---An umbrella.

l   Scene Four: takes place in the living room---a wardrobe, a table, and a table lamp.

Costumes:

l   Scene One+Two: Caroline wears a long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants. Caroline’s mom wears a nightgown.

l   Scene Three: The girl (Caroline’s mom) wears a ripped dress, ties a scarf over her head, and bare foot. The boy wears ripped jeans and a white shirt on top.

l  Scene Four: Caroline wears a long white dress (wedding dress). Caroline’s mom wears a women’s formal dressing.

Stage models+ description of set

Staging:

Props:

l   Scene One: takes place in living room---a wardrobe, a table, an umbrella on the table, a bowl, a spoon, a cooking pot, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Two: takes place in both living room and bedroom--- a wardrobe, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Three: takes place at a wharf in Haiti---An umbrella.

l   Scene Four: takes place in the living room---a wardrobe, a small mirror, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

Where to put the furnitures:

Scene One & Four: a table in the center of the stage, with two chairs beside it. A bowl with a spoon inside is placed on the table. Besides the bowl is a cooking pot that used to contain bone soup. The umbrella is placed beside it, and a table lamp is on it.

Scene Two: Split the whole stage into two areas. The left stage region is the living room, whereas the opposite side is the mother’s bedroom. There is only a chair in the living room. In the bedroom, there is a wardrobe being placed on the right stage.

Scene Three: Empty (The boy enters with an umbrella).

Process

SCRIPT

Scene One:

Caroline: Oh, I can't believe I'm getting married tomorrow! No, no, calm down Caroline. Calm down and get through this day. And… oh right, tomorrow I'm not gonna have bone soup any more!

CM: My little angel is marrying that stupid Eric… What a shame to my whole family! Eric is not reliable. He is just a poor Bahamian janitor, but my baby Caroline is a school English teacher! There is no way for him to give my daughter a better future. Caroline? Caroline! Where are you! Your bone soup is ready! Carolin!

Caroline (enters the kitchen): Alright alright, I hear you！ (Mumbling) I won't have the bone soup tomorrow anyway.

CM: Why can’t you understand all I did is just for you! The more soup you have, the less torture you will get from your “so called” fiancé.

Caroline: How dare you! How dare you saying my Eric is a “so-called” fiancé?

CM: Caroline! Is this the way how you talk to me! I am your mom! Not your servant! Do you think what I did is not enough? I took care of you all by myself, ALL BY MYSELF after your father left! Why can’t you understand my pain! Why can’t you listen to me for JUST one second! Oh, Caroline, Caroline, over all, you are still a Haitian girl. Haitian girls marry Haitian husbands who can give them a better life… But look at your Eric! Your are a school teacher and he is just a janitor! I can see your terrible future without thinking! YOU，are the shame of our whole family!

Caroline: I am the shame of this family? Ok, ok, I'm done. I'm so done with it. I'm so done with the every day bone soup. I'm so done with you! Now you've said what you'd always been thinking in your mind. Yes, I don't understand you because I'm not a Haitian. I am an American! (slams the door and exits)

Scene Two: (Stage changes. Living room-->the mother’s room. At night)

Caroline: That stubborn old lady must be sleeping right now. Is there any of my stuff left in her room? (Enters the mother’s room, walks soundlessly towards the wardrobe and opens the drawer)

(Takes out an old diary) what is this? Diary? It should be mom’s.(starts reading)

‘Today you left. I stood at the wharf, watching you left. That figure on boat now is gone.’ (Lights off at C’s side. Lights on at CM’s side)

CM:( mumbling, washing dishes in Kitchen) I still remember a boy. It was a rainy day. I stood at the wharf, watching you left. That figure on boat is gone…

Scene Three:

Boy: (Holds an umbrella)I never know today will rain, seems like the city doesn't want me to leave. I hope the day were sunny, not a rainy.

Group Members:

l   Yimeng (Nancy) Lu

l   Yuexuan (Chantelle) Gao

l   Junliang (Johnny) Liu

Setting:

• New York City,1992 (the day before Caroline’s wedding)
• Haiti, 1959 (the day when the boy leave Haiti)

Scenes:

l   Scene one: Caroline is packing her stuff to prepare for the wedding. Due to the coming wedding, she is kind of nervous. However, the mother is always saying something about the wedding that she is not satisfied with and what her expectation is for the wedding. This angers Caroline, and she argues with her mom for the first time. The mother and the daughter have an intense conflict, arguing about their cultural differences and their perspectives. At night, Caroline wants to check if there is anything left, so she goes to her mom’s room since there might be some of her stuff. She opens her mom’s wardrobe and accidentally finds out her mom’s diary that her mom wrote about her first lover in Haiti decades ago.

l   Scene two: She opens the diary and starts to read. On the other side of the stage, CM lies on a rocking chair, starts day dreaming, and then begins her monologue. She recalls the days back to her seventeen year-old age. It was the day when the boy was leaving Haiti by boat.Then the light turns off on Cm’s side, and turns on on C’s side. C starts reading out loud the words she reads: “Today, you left me. Finally, you steps on the boat to Miami…”. Then the flashback starts. The girl meets the boy on the beach in Haiti...

l   Scene three: Flashback. The boy and the girl meet on a wharf. CM comes to say good bye to him.

l   Scene four: The next morning, Caroline has a long talk with her mother; therefore, they are able to understand each other and respect their cultural differences.

Staging:

Props:

l   Scene One: takes place in living room and kitchen--- sofa, wardrobe, a table, a bowl, a spoon, a cooking pot, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Two: takes place in bedroom--- a rocking chair, wardrobe, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Three: An umbrella.

l   SceneFour: takes place in Living room--- sofa, wardrobe, a small mirror, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

Costumes:

l   Scene One+Two: Caroline wears a long sleeve shirt and a sweat pants. Caroline’s mom wears a nightgown.

l   Scene Three: The girl (Caroline’s mom) wears a ripped dress, ties a scarf over head, and bare foot. The boy wears ripped jeans and a hoody on top.

l  Scene Four: Caroline wears a long white dress (wedding dress). Caroline’s mom wears a women’s formal wear.

Character Analysis

My Character is Caroline’s mom (CM) in Caroline’s wedding. At the same time, I am also playing the role of the girl in Children of the sea.

Caroline’s mom is a really traditional Haitian woman who faithfully believe that Haitian women should marry a Haitian men. Also, women in a family should serve for her husband and her husband should be the man of the family. She gives birth to Caroline at the age of 25. 25 years later, when Caroline marries Eric, her mom is already 50 years old. Growing up in Haiti is not the only reason for her to be such a traditional Haitian woman: she is also affect by her own marriage and her parents. In her dream, it will tell audiences that what CM’s life used to be like in Haiti. Her parents forced her to marry a guy who she never had a relationship before. This act of her parents affects her view of marriage, which become a reason why she is so radical on the problem of Eric is not a Haitian. Also, she lost her first lover, her husband, and her parents. There is no other family member of her who lives in America misses Haiti as much as she does. Her lonely and traditional heritage idea makes her really want to put her own believe on Caroline. For the costume part, CM appears in the first scene wearing a nightgown and slippers. To show the difference between old CM and young CM, I plan to use different posture to distinguish them. For old CM, I need to be a little bit slouch and stoop, using a relatively low voice to speak. Since she is already old, I want to show her tiredness and dissatisfied through scuff and make sound by the friction between my slippers and stage. The emotion CM has in the first and the third scene is very different. In the first scene, CM wants to express her anger and dissatisfied to her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, and their wedding. She knows there is nothing can be changed, but she just can’t stop grumble. After she and her daughter quarreled, she was tired and aimless. In the third scene, Caroline and CM’s conflict has resolved, so CM is happy and released.  

In contrast, the girl in Children of the Sea, who is also young CM, is only 17 years old. She is immature and full of expect to romantic love. She is at adolescence, which makes her extremely rebellious. For everything her parents tells her, CM is only going to do the opposite. The harder her parents try to separate the girl and the boy, the deeper she loves him. The boy is probably her first love, which explains why she is so brave and impulsive. When the boy gets on the boat to Miami, her and her whole country was poor. To show this feature, I decide to wear a ripped dress, tie a scarf over my head and bare foot. Even though she is poor, the girl is healthy and positive. I want to show it by standing straight, walk normally, and have dramatic action when speaking. Since I am acting the character at the same age with me, I’ll just use my normal voice.

Brainstorming ideas

Group Member:

l   Yimeng (Nancy) Lu

l   Yuexuan (Chantelle) Gao

l   Junliang (Johnny) Liu

Characters:

l   Jonny-the boy in Children of the Sea (18years old)

l   Nancy- Caroline (25 years old)

l   Chantelle- Caroline’s mom (50 years old)+ the girl in Children of the Sea (17years old)

Setting:

Reality: New York City,1992 (the day before Caroline’s wedding)

Dream: Haiti, 1959 (the day when the boy leave Haiti)

Three scenes:

l   Scene one: Caroline is packing her stuff to prepare for the wedding. Due to the coming wedding, she is kind of nervous. However, the mother is always saying something about the wedding that she is not satisfied with and what her expectation is for the wedding. This angers Caroline, and she argues with her mom for the first time. The mother and the daughter have an intense conflict, arguing about their cultural differences and their perspectives. Caroline is checking if there is anything that has not been packed, so she goes to her mom room since there are some of her stuffs. She opens her mom’s wardrobe and find out a stack of letters that her mom wrote to her first lover in Haiti.

l   Scene two: She opens the letters and starts to read. In Caroline’s mom dream, she recalled the days back to her seventeen year-old age. It was the day when the boy is leaving Haiti by boat.

l   Scene three: The next morning, Caroline and the mother understand each other.

Staging:

Props:

l   Scene One: takes place in living room--- sofa, wardrobe, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Two: takes place in bedroom--- a bed, wardrobe, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

l   Scene Three: takes place in Living room--- sofa, wardrobe, a small mirror, a coffee table, and a table lamp.

Dress:

l   Scene One: Caroline wears a long sleeve shirt and a sweat pants. Caroline’s mom wears a nightgown. 

l   Scene Two: The girl (Caroline’s mom) wears a ripped jeans and a long sleeve shirt. The boy wears jeans, and a hoody. 

l  Scene Three: Caroline wears a long white dress (wedding dress). Caroline’s mom wears a women’s formal wear.

The theme of this play is to show conflict between parents and children. Especially in the book Caroline and her mom grow up in different culture and got different level of education which makes their gap and conflict fiercer.

My vision is through Nancy, Johnny, and my acting to show that every individual’s fate is similar. Currently many parents always rest their own dream upon their children and hope their children obey all rules they set. But some time they forget that everyone is an individual person. The pressure they give to their kids may be given to their grandchildren one day. To end this vicious cycle, one of the parent or the children has to compromise. In my play, Caroline’s mom recalls her old days when her father separated her and her lover, then force her to merry another man. She realize she is now being the same kind of person as her father used to be. So Caroline’s mom who sacrifice and gives her daughter freedom. I expect this play can not only show conflict between immigrant parent and child, but also the cycle of fate.