Keywords

Jason robert brown, the last five years, musical theatre, rehearsal process, communication, relationships, actor, director, performance

Abstract

Communication, in its most basic sense, is foundational for any personal, human interaction and relationship. As theatre artists, we are charged with communicating complex story lines, conceptual ideas, and emotion to an audience. Sound communication is paramount to every aspect of a musical production, be it communication between actors/characters, actor and director, amongst the production team, and arguable the most important, between the actors and the audience. My years of education as a Masters in Fine Arts candidate in Musical Theatre have been spent polishing my ability to communicate physical and emotional choices with greater accuracy, depth, and truth. By staging Jason Robert Brown‟s musical The Last Five Years and performing the role of Jamie, this performance thesis will explore, develop, and examine my mastery of the aforementioned varied forms of communication, all of which are necessary in building a successful musical production. Research will be conducted to gather information on relevant topics, including the history of The Last Five Years, the life of Jason Robert Brown, and his musical and theatrical influences. By further understanding Brown, his life, and his ideas about his works, I hope to more fully understand and communicate the message of the musical itself. A dramatic and musical structural analysis will provide further depth and insight into the piece, with the hopes of informing my production and individual performance. A thorough character analysis will provide connective tissue that will allow myself, as the actor, to more effectively communicate the psychological and emotional make up of the character Jamie. Lastly, the thesis document will culminate with a production journal, documenting the pre-production, rehearsal, and performance process. Through the journaling process, I will document and address the iii journey that I have experienced with the production, giving focus and attention to its many obstacles and discoveries, successes and failures, all of which have contributed to my personal growth as a young theatre artist.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Niess, Christopher

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Musical Theatre

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004324

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004324

Language

English

Release Date

May 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic, Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities

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