What the world sounded like is too vague, so we’ll focus on music. What type of music was popular at this time and location? Give 5 examples with explanations and links. (If you can link to an audio file, great! If you can find lyrics to a song, great!)
For each example, how and where could we get a CD or an .mpeg file? Be specific and include cost.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Space
What does the world of the play look like? Include natural geography as well architecture, fashion, transportation, entertainment, etc.
Post and link 10 images that best illustrate this world. For each image, provide a caption and link.
Post and link 10 images that best illustrate this world. For each image, provide a caption and link.
Time
What was going on at the time the play takes place—global and national as well as local events and phenomena—that would affect the characters, the lives they lead and the choices they make?
What did these characters believe and value? (This includes any specifics you can find about economics, religion, war, art, politics, sex, the role of women, etc.)
The Aids Scare was in full swing in 1985. New York City officials were shutting down any establishment that provided the opportunity for what was deemed unsafe practices. There were several bars and "backrooms" shut down. If they could not prove that the "unsafe practices" were allowed on the premises then they started to look at the tax records of the establishments. The word was out. AIDS was here and everyone was pointing to the homosexual community. While the gay men of New York City were harrassed out of their social settings and their gathering places shut down, there were prostitutes and massage parlors operating openly. What seemed to be the catch is that there was an overwhelming sense that AIDS was a homosexual problem while the information was out that it was spread by the exchange of bodily fluids.
However not everyone was silent. There was a Gay Pride Parade in 1985 where five Catholic priests marched in the parade. One even said that all five were homosexual and represented a much larger group of absentee gay priests.
There was open hostility towards homosexuals not only in the bars but in the courts also. In 1985 the Supreme Court in Virginia found that, "a homosexual man was ''an unfit and improper custodian as a matter of law.'' (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DE153DF932A15752C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)
What did these characters believe and value? (This includes any specifics you can find about economics, religion, war, art, politics, sex, the role of women, etc.)
The Aids Scare was in full swing in 1985. New York City officials were shutting down any establishment that provided the opportunity for what was deemed unsafe practices. There were several bars and "backrooms" shut down. If they could not prove that the "unsafe practices" were allowed on the premises then they started to look at the tax records of the establishments. The word was out. AIDS was here and everyone was pointing to the homosexual community. While the gay men of New York City were harrassed out of their social settings and their gathering places shut down, there were prostitutes and massage parlors operating openly. What seemed to be the catch is that there was an overwhelming sense that AIDS was a homosexual problem while the information was out that it was spread by the exchange of bodily fluids.
However not everyone was silent. There was a Gay Pride Parade in 1985 where five Catholic priests marched in the parade. One even said that all five were homosexual and represented a much larger group of absentee gay priests.
There was open hostility towards homosexuals not only in the bars but in the courts also. In 1985 the Supreme Court in Virginia found that, "a homosexual man was ''an unfit and improper custodian as a matter of law.'' (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DE153DF932A15752C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Non Traditional Casting Paragraph
I believe that there can be leeway in some characters in "Angles in America" while others need to have certain charactersitics. First of all I believe that the Homosexuals in this show need to be men. The time period and subject matter require it. Following that Harper must be female if Joe is "Heterosexual". Other persons that should be cast according to the script are the characters that represent real people. Roy Cohn, for example, should be a white man in his 50's (or a male actor aged appropriatley). Almost every other character can be played with. The characters can be of any nationality or skin color. I believe that, because of the severity of the subject matter and the way in which gender lines are purposefully blurred, gender-roles should be adhered to.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Facts Part 2
The Facts: Characters and Casting (5%)Provide a complete character list including essential information provided or inferred by the script: character’s name, sex, age, race/ethnicity, important relationship info.Example: Hamlet, male, university student (age), Danish, son of now dead King Hamlet
Character List
Louis Ironson: male, 20's to early 30's, Jewish, Prior's lover.
Prior Walter: male, early 30's, white, Louis' lover that is left when he reveals that he has AIDS.
Joe Pitt: male, mid 30's, white, A closeted homosexual that leaves his wife for Louis.
Harper Pitt: Female, mid 30's, white, Joe's wife, addicted to valium, is scared of unreasonable things.
Roy Cohn: male, mid 50's, white, A heartless lawyer dying from AIDS. Sadistic and malicious, Cohn is the anti-Prior.
Belize: male, no specific age (under 40 I would think), An ex-drag queen and registered nurse, Belize is Prior's best friend and Roy's caretaker.
Hannah Pitt: female, mid 50's, Joe's mother, moves from Salt Lake City to New York when Joe tells her he is gay.
The Angel of America: sex not stated, ageless, An imposing, terrifying, divine presence who descends from Heaven to bestow prophecy on Prior.
Ethel Rosenberg: female, white, dead, A real-life Jewish woman who was executed for treason during the McCarthy era.
Rabbi Isador Chemelwitz: male, Jewish, elderly, An rabbi who delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Sarah Ironson.
Mr. Lies: male, no race (perhaps African American), imaginary, An imaginary travel agent who resembles a jazz musician, Mr. Lies is one of Harper's imaginary creations.
Henry: male, late 30's, white, Roy's doctor, who Roy threatens with destruction if he refers to him as a homosexual.
Emily: female, mid 30's, white, A nurse who attends to Prior in the hospital.
Martin Heller: male, early 30's, white, A spineless Justice Department official and political ally of Roy's.
Sister Ella Chapter: female, over 25, white, A real estate agent who handles the sale of Hannah's house in Salt Lake.
Prior I and Prior II: male, dead, white, Prior's ancestors who are summoned from the dead to help prepare the way for the Angel's arrival.
Character List
Louis Ironson: male, 20's to early 30's, Jewish, Prior's lover.
Prior Walter: male, early 30's, white, Louis' lover that is left when he reveals that he has AIDS.
Joe Pitt: male, mid 30's, white, A closeted homosexual that leaves his wife for Louis.
Harper Pitt: Female, mid 30's, white, Joe's wife, addicted to valium, is scared of unreasonable things.
Roy Cohn: male, mid 50's, white, A heartless lawyer dying from AIDS. Sadistic and malicious, Cohn is the anti-Prior.
Belize: male, no specific age (under 40 I would think), An ex-drag queen and registered nurse, Belize is Prior's best friend and Roy's caretaker.
Hannah Pitt: female, mid 50's, Joe's mother, moves from Salt Lake City to New York when Joe tells her he is gay.
The Angel of America: sex not stated, ageless, An imposing, terrifying, divine presence who descends from Heaven to bestow prophecy on Prior.
Ethel Rosenberg: female, white, dead, A real-life Jewish woman who was executed for treason during the McCarthy era.
Rabbi Isador Chemelwitz: male, Jewish, elderly, An rabbi who delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Sarah Ironson.
Mr. Lies: male, no race (perhaps African American), imaginary, An imaginary travel agent who resembles a jazz musician, Mr. Lies is one of Harper's imaginary creations.
Henry: male, late 30's, white, Roy's doctor, who Roy threatens with destruction if he refers to him as a homosexual.
Emily: female, mid 30's, white, A nurse who attends to Prior in the hospital.
Martin Heller: male, early 30's, white, A spineless Justice Department official and political ally of Roy's.
Sister Ella Chapter: female, over 25, white, A real estate agent who handles the sale of Hannah's house in Salt Lake.
Prior I and Prior II: male, dead, white, Prior's ancestors who are summoned from the dead to help prepare the way for the Angel's arrival.
The Facts Part 1
The Facts: Exegesis (5%)Identify and define 20 total “unknowns” in your script including at least one item from each of the following categories:-- geographic settings, locations, buildings, streets--cultural references: furniture, clothing, styles of architecture and music--real people, names, and pronunciation--archaic or foreign words and phrases--idiomatic language (slang)
1. Yarzheit- A candle that is lit in memory of the dead in the Jewish faith
2. goyische-Hebrew/Yiddish term for someone/thing which is not Jewish.
From:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goyische
3. La Cage- La Cage aux Folles is a 1973 French farce play by Jean Poiret. It was later adapted into a musicial version and two feature films La Cage aux Folles (film) and The Birdcage.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cag e_aux_Folles_%28play%29
4. Weehawken- A township in New Jersey
5. Acolytes-an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acolyte
6. Emma Goldman- was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches. She was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and derided as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution by her critics.[1]
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman
7. sibilant- Of, characterized by, or producing a hissing sound like that of (s) or (sh)
from:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sibilant
8. "applying the face"- a man applying cosmetics to appear like a woman.
9. La Grande Geste- Littearly "The great gesture"
10. Kaposi's sarcomas-is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi, a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872.[1] It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining illnesses in the 1980s.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaposi's_sarcoma
11. lymphadenopathy-Lymphadenopathy is a term meaning "disease of the lymph nodes." It is, however, almost synonymously used with "swollen/enlarged lymph nodes".
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphadenopathy
12. AZT- or azidothymidine (AZT) (also called ZDV) is an antiretroviral drug, the first approved for treatment of HIV. It is also sold under the names Retrovir and Retrovis, and as an ingredient in Combivir, Epzicom and Trizivir. It is an analog of thymidine.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZT
There is much controversy over wether this drug helps or harms it's patients.
13. In Vitro- (Latin: within the glass) refers to the technique of performing a given experiment in a controlled environment outside of a living organism; for example in a test tube. In vitro fertilization is a well-known example of this.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro
14. bayeux tapestry- The Bayeux Tapestry (French: Tapisserie de Bayeux) is a 50 cm by 70 m (20 in by 230 ft) long embroidered cloth which explains the events leading up to the 1066 Norman invasion of England as well as the events of the invasion itself. The Tapestry is annotated in Latin. It is presently exhibited in a special museum in Bayeux, Normandy, France.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
15. Walter Winchell-(April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was an American newspaper and radio commentator. He invented the gossip column while at the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the journalistic taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity. He was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could "make" or "break" a celebrity.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Winchell
16. Belle Reeve- A character from "A Streetcar Named Desire".
17. Pauvre- In French, poor.
18. "ce n'est pas pour la joyeux noel et la bonne annee"- In English: this is not the joyous Christmas and Happy New Year
19. Bolshevik- originally also[1] Bolshevists[2] (Russian: Большевик, Большевист (singular) Russian pronunciation: [bəlʲʂɨˈvʲik], derived from bolshe, "more") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction[3] at the Second Party Congress in 1903 and ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[4] The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and founded the Soviet Union.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik
20. incipience- beginning to exist or to be apparent; "he placed the incipience of democratic faith at around 1850"; "it is designed to arrest monopolies in their incipiency"
From: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/incipience
1. Yarzheit- A candle that is lit in memory of the dead in the Jewish faith
2. goyische-Hebrew/Yiddish term for someone/thing which is not Jewish.
From:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goyische
3. La Cage- La Cage aux Folles is a 1973 French farce play by Jean Poiret. It was later adapted into a musicial version and two feature films La Cage aux Folles (film) and The Birdcage.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cag e_aux_Folles_%28play%29
4. Weehawken- A township in New Jersey
5. Acolytes-an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acolyte
6. Emma Goldman- was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches. She was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and derided as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution by her critics.[1]
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman
7. sibilant- Of, characterized by, or producing a hissing sound like that of (s) or (sh)
from:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sibilant
8. "applying the face"- a man applying cosmetics to appear like a woman.
9. La Grande Geste- Littearly "The great gesture"
10. Kaposi's sarcomas-is a tumor caused by Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). It was originally described by Moritz Kaposi, a Hungarian dermatologist practicing at the University of Vienna in 1872.[1] It became more widely known as one of the AIDS defining illnesses in the 1980s.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaposi's_sarcoma
11. lymphadenopathy-Lymphadenopathy is a term meaning "disease of the lymph nodes." It is, however, almost synonymously used with "swollen/enlarged lymph nodes".
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphadenopathy
12. AZT- or azidothymidine (AZT) (also called ZDV) is an antiretroviral drug, the first approved for treatment of HIV. It is also sold under the names Retrovir and Retrovis, and as an ingredient in Combivir, Epzicom and Trizivir. It is an analog of thymidine.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZT
There is much controversy over wether this drug helps or harms it's patients.
13. In Vitro- (Latin: within the glass) refers to the technique of performing a given experiment in a controlled environment outside of a living organism; for example in a test tube. In vitro fertilization is a well-known example of this.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro
14. bayeux tapestry- The Bayeux Tapestry (French: Tapisserie de Bayeux) is a 50 cm by 70 m (20 in by 230 ft) long embroidered cloth which explains the events leading up to the 1066 Norman invasion of England as well as the events of the invasion itself. The Tapestry is annotated in Latin. It is presently exhibited in a special museum in Bayeux, Normandy, France.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
15. Walter Winchell-(April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was an American newspaper and radio commentator. He invented the gossip column while at the New York Evening Graphic. He broke the journalistic taboo against exposing the private lives of public figures, permanently altering the shape of journalism and celebrity. He was a top gossip reporter, whose newspaper column and radio show could "make" or "break" a celebrity.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Winchell
16. Belle Reeve- A character from "A Streetcar Named Desire".
17. Pauvre- In French, poor.
18. "ce n'est pas pour la joyeux noel et la bonne annee"- In English: this is not the joyous Christmas and Happy New Year
19. Bolshevik- originally also[1] Bolshevists[2] (Russian: Большевик, Большевист (singular) Russian pronunciation: [bəlʲʂɨˈvʲik], derived from bolshe, "more") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split apart from the Menshevik faction[3] at the Second Party Congress in 1903 and ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.[4] The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia during the October Revolution phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and founded the Soviet Union.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik
20. incipience- beginning to exist or to be apparent; "he placed the incipience of democratic faith at around 1850"; "it is designed to arrest monopolies in their incipiency"
From: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/incipience
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Basics Part 1
The Facts: Basics
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
Tony Kushner
English
1990
Drama
3 Acts
The Gersh Agency
The SHSU theater dept will have the Fee's next week.
10 men, 7 women
Mid 80's New York city
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner
Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is also co-author, along with Eric Roth, of the screenplay of the 2005 film Munich, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and earned Kushner (along with Roth) an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_America
Set in New York City in the mid-1980s, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters. As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic, gay Jew learns his lover, Prior Walter, has AIDS. As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor, the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn. Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium-addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Unbeknownst to Joe, Roy is himself deeply closeted and, as Roy himself discovers later, has AIDS.
As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and find strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health.
The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters (e.g., the actress playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society, as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven, as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
Tony Kushner
English
1990
Drama
3 Acts
The Gersh Agency
The SHSU theater dept will have the Fee's next week.
10 men, 7 women
Mid 80's New York city
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner
Tony Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is also co-author, along with Eric Roth, of the screenplay of the 2005 film Munich, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and earned Kushner (along with Roth) an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.
From:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_in_America
Set in New York City in the mid-1980s, Act One of Millennium Approaches introduces us to the central characters. As the play opens, Louis Ironson, a neurotic, gay Jew learns his lover, Prior Walter, has AIDS. As the play and Prior's illness progress, Louis becomes unable to cope and moves out. Meanwhile, closeted homosexual Mormon and Republican law clerk Joe Pitt is offered a major promotion by his mentor, the McCarthyist lawyer Roy Cohn. Joe doesn't immediately take the job because he feels he has to check with his Valium-addicted, agoraphobic wife, Harper, who is unwilling to move. Unbeknownst to Joe, Roy is himself deeply closeted and, as Roy himself discovers later, has AIDS.
As the seven-hour play progresses, Prior is visited by ghosts and an angel who proclaim him to be a prophet; Joe finds himself struggling to reconcile his religion with his sexuality; Louis struggles with his guilt about leaving Prior and begins a relationship with Joe; Harper's mental health deteriorates as she realizes that Joe is gay; Joe's mother, Hannah, moves to New York to attempt to look after Harper and meets Prior after a failed attempt by Prior to confront Hannah's son; Harper begins to separate from Joe whom she has depended upon and find strength she was unaware of; and Roy finds himself in the hospital, reduced to the companionship of the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and his nurse, Belize, a former drag queen and Prior's best friend, who meanwhile has to deal with Louis's constant demands for updates on Prior's health.
The play is deliberately performed so that the moments requiring special effects often show their theatricality. Most of the actors play multiple characters (e.g., the actress playing Prior's nurse also appears as the Angel). There are heavy Biblical references and references to American society, as well as some fantastical scenes including voyages to Antarctica and Heaven, as well as key events happening in San Francisco and at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.
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