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The Complete Package (Part one)

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It is the amalgamation of the story, the acting, the singing and the dancing that give us the package known as “musical theatre”. This package can also be found in a fully staged version of any opera; making opera classical music’s version of musical theatre. Each of the elements is an important ingredient necessary to complete the musical production.

In this four part series, I will address each of these elements both from a writing and performing standpoint as they apply to the musical theatre genre.

ACTING

In order to make the transition from written word to live performance, it is the actors and their ability to deliver believable characters that create the basis for any theatrical production, be it a regular stage play or a musical. It goes without saying…the better the performers…the better the performance.

As a writer of works for the stage, it is your job to create multi-dimensional characters who can illicit a response from the audience to their trials and victories. Even the best actor can only do so much with a mediocre character.

There are numerous books and websites that delve into the development of writing better characters, but by using one very simple and easily accessible tool, you can begin to add the necessary dimensions to your characters immediately. What is this tool? You must become an avid “people watcher”. The best characters are those who remind us of real people. They have the gestures, expressions, mannerisms and personalities of ordinary, everyday people.

As writers, we can get inspiration for our characters from those people who are in our lives, such as family, friends, co-workers or even the check-out girl at the local grocery store. But sometimes, we need to dig deeper and move beyond those people who are represented in our circle of friends and family. Many writers find their necessary inspiration for new characters by spending time alone in coffee shops, parks and shopping malls listening and observing the infinitesimal number of strangers that pass through these public areas on any given day. Although somewhat like eavesdropping, a writer may be able to scribble snippets of dialogue, speech patterns and expressions into a notebook and later use many of these to create a new character. Even watching the way people walk or gesture when they speak can open up the creation of new characters.

Having a notebook filled with lists of these verbal and physical traits can produce a wealth of characteristics that can be mixed and matched into just the right combinations for the perfect character. The writer’s notebook can also be a place to conduct interviews of would- be characters by asking several basic question such as: