¶ … theater and particularly its musical performances, have changed dramatically over the years. Their tone and style have reflected historical and cultural changes as well as shifts in attitudes toward musical theater. Recent productions like Book of Mormon and Hamilton would have been inconceivable just a generation ago. Broadway musicals are unique in that they straddle the line between popular and high culture. They have popular culture appeal, packed within the fine art of theater. In some ways, musical theater is a popular culture version of the opera. Broadway theater has matured and expanded its repertoire considerably, moving from the relatively limited domain of Steven Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Weber productions towards a more diverse and creative one. As Lewis points out, "How sadly limiting that was; it surely took some kind of toll on alternative voices trying to break free of cliche expectations," (2). Broadway has broken free, finally, and the show Book of Mormon is one of the plays, and Matt Stone and Trey Parker's play exemplifies the newfound freedom in the art of musical theater. Book of Mormon won nine Tony awards, and was nominated for five more. It took in some of the top Tony awards, too, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, as well as awards for sound, lighting, direction, orchestration, set design and actress in a featured role (Perpetua). Therefore, critics have recognized the play's significant contributions to the world of theater, music, and stage play. Yet Book of Mormon would have been impossible to produce in the era of Rogers and Hammerstein, due to more restrictive social conventions and the dark humor that is more characteristic of the 21st than the 20th century. The creators of The Book of Mormon are also the creators of one of the most iconoclastic, long-running, and beloved animated television series ever to grace the medium: South Park. The coarse language of South Park certainly does weave its way into The Book of Mormon, and expletives are written into the song lyrics as well as to the spoken dialogue. Likewise, both sex...
The Book of Mormon is written for audiences with a good sense of humor, especially ones who appreciate the South Park brand of humor. Moreover, the play contains rich social commentary.
South Park and Popular Culture South Park is an animated television show that has aired on Comedy Central for nearly 19 seasons, beginning in 1997. It began as an irreverent cartoon show about 3rd graders who used "adult language" and was meant to be for adults with an MA for Mature TV rating. Over time, however, the show began to actually deal with "adult" themes in a more satirical manner than
31). .This is not to say, though, that these themes and others are not examined. For example, Hank Hill's relationship with his father, Cotton ("I killed me fifty men") Hill explores the role of the elderly in modern American society, and even presents a poignant episode in which his father dies and he is forced to confront the mixed-blessing of this loss. Likewise, Homer manages to become more than a
Musicals Since the dawn of the classical Broadway musicals like Oklahoma! And My Fair Lady, musicals have captivated audiences in America and worldwide. The power of the musical cannot be underestimated. As Chapter 13 points out, musicals have their roots far back before New York City or Broadway. China has a long tradition of opera, in which dramas are set alongside poignant musical numbers. European operatic traditions are also the forebears
However, when I visited Big Thicket National Preserve, I got an entirely different view of Texas, which actually seems to capture the essence of the state. Driving through Texas, I learned that it is an incredibly biologically diverse land, and nowhere is this biological diversity more evident than in the Big Thicket. At the park I learned that the Big Thicket has an extremely unusual level of biological diversity,
A survey of scientific responses to extinction at the present moment is fairly unambiguous, however. Paleontologist James Kirchner calculated in 2002 that extinction rates could more or less be statistically inferred from the fossil record, and uses this to quantify what he terms "evolutionary speed limits," which is to say the rate at which the Darwinian process of natural selection (which depends upon the effective extinction of species insofar as
Parenting Style Influence on Excess Alcohol Intake Among Jewish Youth Ross Master of Science, Mental Health Counseling, College, January, 2008 Clinical Psychology Anticipated; December, 2016 The health hazards that are associated with adolescent alcohol use are well documented, and there is growing recognition among policymakers and clinicians alike that more needs to be done to address this public health threat. The purpose of this study will be to examine the effects of different parenting styles
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