Broadway

Charlie and the Chocolate factory was the Broadway play that stood out to me the most. As a kid, I loved the Charlie and the Chocolate factory movies, especially the older one with Gene Wilder. This play looks really good, and I would like to see it one day. I haven’t always liked Broadway plays, but this one seems very good. I liked the movies so I would probably like the play as well. It looked very technical and fun to watch, with lots of colorful stage decorations and costumes. I tend to get bored watching plays, but this one seems very interesting.

Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly was a very “interesting” animated variant of an opera. Although there are no words, it was very easy to follow. A sailor visits an island, and has a relationship with a native, which leaves her pregnant. The native waits day and night for her sailor to return. This constant waiting leads to deterioration of the native and her outlook on life. She plays with her daughter, but each game is a way to look for her long lost lover. Eventually her lover returns, takes his daughter, and leaves with his wife and daughter, along with many other ethnic children. This story is very similar to the colonialism of the undeveloped world in the 18^th-20^th centaury, especially by the British. They entered a land, did what they wanted with the natives and land, and then left with the resources they had collected. This might not be the initial implication of the opera, but it’s the impression that it left on me.

Howard Goodall

Howard Goodall dives into the origin, development, and expansion of opera as a modern art form and means of artistic expression. Opera is one of the most unique forms of expression, because it ties in many elements from across many different art forms, all creating an art form unlike any other. The music and acting creates the message for the performance, the art used on stage and in costumes, and technology is used to further the viewing experience. I really enjoyed learning more about opera. It is something I’ve always been curious about and this video helped me learn a lot more. I appreciate opera a lot more as an art form now that I know about its background and history. I still have a difficult understanding opera that are complex, and they are very hard for me to understand the singing and language. I overall enjoyed learning about opera and look forward to learning more.