The performance elements of music and song play a strong part within our piece with the majority of scenes being led by or even narrated through song, music ‘communicates meanings which in some way refer to… actions, emotional states, and character.’ (Meyer, 2008, 1) Some music used within the piece has been chosen by Sam and are purely tracks to accompany a scene. However, as a company, we have been working to adapt covers of songs that we can include in the performance as well as investing time to write our own songs and music. We are fortunate that we have some strong singers within the company and have therefore found that with the addition of music we are able to make scenes funnier or where appropriate, increasingly emotional. Three examples being;
- Within the final scene, I sing Robbie Williams’ version of Mister Bojangles which narrates a tap dancing scene in which one of our character’s ‘Billy’ is confronted with the problems that he has experienced through his destructive relationship with alcohol.
- Also, the company wrote the lyrics and music for a song about selfies and the surrounding hype they generate. It is through the use of our lyrics and comedy that we highlight and suggest the pointlessness of a selfie.
- Following discussion, another point in the performance that we felt would be enhanced through the creation of original music was a scene in which a wedding ceremony takes place. It was decided that the company would create a close harmony acoustic version of Pachelbel’s Canon (below). This specific use of slow, smooth harmonies was chosen in order to evoke further emotion to impact on the audience’s experience as they watched the scene unfold.
Having the responsibility for online marketing, I have found that it was important to share posts about music so that potential audience members were able to see that this was to be a key aspect within our performance. This strategy is intended also to appeal to those members of the community, and therefore potential members of the audience, who are interested in the performance of music and song. To maintain coherence with all our marketing for the show, we planned to busk in the town centre, presenting tasters of the musical aspects of the performance. This event provided us with the opportunity to include music and song within our material marketing strategy. As anticipated, busking this week proved to be a successful marketing approach as it not only assisted us to raise money for the company but also to raise awareness and interest. Members of the public, again our potential audience, were provided with the opportunity to hear us play and sing, read our flyers and ask members of the company any questions about the show.
Works Cited
Meyer, L. B. (2008) Emotion and Meaning in Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
robbiewilliamsvevo (2011) Robbie Williams – Mr Bojangles. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zif1W8fxEJU [Accessed 23 April 2015]