Updates!

Update: Rehearsal Material for 2/4 and 2/5

By LeeAnne

Here is a compilation of materials presented during the past two nights of rehearsal. Like the character pages, even if the material does not pertain to your character, please feel free to peruse through the material below.

For Noel:

Here is some information about French poet, novelist, and playwright, Jean Genet (the man behind the quote Noel shares with the group).

Sources:

Jean Genet - https://groveatlantic.com/author/jean-genet/

Jean Genet Biography - https://www.writerstheatre.org/jean-genet-biography

Jean Genet: French Writer - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Genet

Jean Genet and the Middle East: Sexuality, Politics, and Literature - http://arteeast.org/quarterly/jean-genet-and-the-middle-east-sexuality-politics-and-literature/ 

Photo Reference of Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel

Clip: https://www.tcm.com/video/313946/blue-angel-the-1930-movie-clip-feast-your-eyes-on-me (runtime - 4:25)

• While this clip does not include the moment pictured below, it certainly provides a sense of just who Lola Lola is as a performer.

For the Robots in "This Song is Awesome":

Here are some videos to use as a reference or inspiration for your dance break and throughout this song.

Stop Motion Dancing Gundam: https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/fybieo/epic_stop_motion_dancing_gundam/?rdt=49750 

For Ocean:

In the lead up to "What the World Needs," Ocean claims "bragging" is against her "Buddhist beliefs," but what exactly are those beliefs? In Buddhism, practitioners follow Buddha's "Three Universal Truths" and "Four Noble Truths." Here are the points, or truths, that compose these teachings:

Three Universal Truths:

1. Everything in life is impermanent and always changing.

2. Because nothing is permanent, a life based on possessing things or persons doesn't make you happy.

3. There is no eternal, unchanging soul and "self" is just a collection of changing characteristics or attributes.

Four Noble Truths:

1. Human life has a lot of suffering.

2. The cause of suffering is greed.

3. There is an end to suffering.

4. The way to end suffering is to follow the Middle Path

"The Eightfold Path" is then introduced as a way to guide people to Nirvana, which can only be reached by following the Middle Path. Here are the points that make up The Eightfold Path:  

1. Right understanding and viewpoint

2. Right values and attitude

3. Right speech

4. Right action

5. Right work

6. Right effort

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right meditation

Source:

Buddhism: Basic Beliefs - https://www.uri.org/kids/world-religions/buddhist-beliefs

Update: 1/26/25

By Eva

For the past few weeks, the cast and crew have been working hard on amazing vocals and choreography as designers manifest their incredible ideas into a technical reality! Dramaturgy popped into rehearsals, answered questions, and took notes-- we have compiled some information based on observations we have made as individuals and as a team! We hope this is helpful, and if there is anything you wish to inquire about, or talk about more--feel free to contact any of us. 

QR CODE:

 There is now a QR code link to the dramaturgy blog hung up in the stage management/paperwork area of the Healy rehearsal room : 

HALLIBURTON:

This was a response to a question asked in the rehearsal report-- "In reference to page 15, What did Halliburton have to do with Up with People? ":

Up with People was a pretty influential music group back in the day, but that was due to a lot of excess funding they were getting from billion-dollar corporations. UWP was based on a religious movement called Moral Re-Armament that preached "honesty, purity, unselfishness and love." 

This (https://city-countyobserver.com/the-hidden-story-of-the-up-with-people-singers/) Article says that "the financial lifeblood of Up With People was corporate America, which recognized that it could use yuppies to promote a business-friendly image. Patrick Frawley Jr., a right-wing evangelical who owned Schick, was one of the group's biggest supporters; he purchased television time and underwrote the first Up With People album, which had John Wayne, Pat Boone and Walt Disney on the cover. But Schick was hardly alone among multinationals. Companies like Exxon, Halliburton, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, General Electric, Coors, Toyota, Enron and Searle donated tens of millions of dollars to the organization, keeping it afloat until 2000." 

Specifically, Halliburton is the world's second-largest oil company and is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It has headquarters in both the US and Dubai. Halliburton has an extensive list of controversies, the most notable being it's undeniable the Iraq War through former vice president Dick Cheney. Their methods are known to be exploitative, dangerous, and horrible for the environment. Companies like Halliburton often use "conflict overseas" as a false pretext to steal resources and land from Indigenous populations and extract oil from it. 

It is textbook Halliburton behavior-- covering up their own shady business by funding what they conceive as "moral" organizations. Many other large, predatory companies do the same!

 PENTECOSTAL WORSHIP:

In the script, it is stated that Ricky was raised by a sect of Pentecostal worshippers. Here are some examples of the religion and worship style. 

 Are there similarities to Space Age Bachelor Man, and the Zolarian realm? Any stark differences?

 BILL HICKS: IT'S JUST A RIDE:

 As we started to dive into the themes and message of RTC during table work, assistant MD Ryan shared an amazing video by late comedian Bill Hicks that may have served as some inspiration for RTC-- especially the last song, It's Not a Game/It's Just a Ride. It discusses life, death, and the joy and comedy that can be found in both-- give it a watch, if you'd like-- it could certainly be making its way into a rehearsal discussion soon, especially with team dramaturgy!

As of now-- these are all of our updates! Team Dramaturgy will be back in the room when it's time to start blocking scenes but feel free to send any messages/inquiries before then!

Update: 1/6/25

By Eva

This past Sunday, we had our first rehearsal before jumping into music! Dramaturgy presented our site, and, as promised, here are the updates from Dramaturgy land!

 Firstly, we want to reiterate that we want this process to be collaborative! No matter what your role in the production is-- if you need extra clarification on anything mentioned in this blog, questions about something that comes up in rehearsal, or just general dramaturgy questions, PLEASE do not hesitate to reach out! Our emails are on the Meet the Dramaturgs page, and we usually respond pretty quickly. (Also, if you're not sure what's a dramaturgy question, feel free to ask anyways and if it's more suited for another dept., we can let them know!) 

If we are there in person in rehearsal, you can also ask us questions. I know I will be able to pop into rehearsal on Tuesday 1/7, just to see how things are going!

That concludes any updates-- have a great first musical day!