Grace, I'm having no luck with your blog so thought I would post it on mine, it's just a little comment for your descriptive piece of writing.
Hi Grace,
You've got a great piece of descriptive writing here! I thought that it was a really interesting and original idea to describe not only aspects of the show itself but also of the anticipatory excitement that so often comes before it.
The inclusion of the little girl provides not only the contrast that you were able to describe in her behaviour before and then during the show, but also gives the essay structure, acting as a little theme that connects the beginning and the end of your writing. As a good piece of descriptive writing should, you have included a huge variety of exciting descriptive vocabulary creating a vivid picture in the mind of the reader.
You really drew me in with your writing and it was enjoyable to read!
Thanks,
Laura
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
A Note for Grace!
Hi Grace,
Just to let you know that I've tried a couple of times to write a comment on your blog over the last couple of days but I seem unable to post it. I really liked one of your pieces and very much wanted to comment on it so am not sure what to do. Do you know if anyone else is having problems on your blog or just me, because if it's just me, does anyone know what i'm doing wrong or is it just that my computer is being annoying. I'm a little puzzled as yours is the only one I've had trouble with as yet.
Sorry!
Laura
Just to let you know that I've tried a couple of times to write a comment on your blog over the last couple of days but I seem unable to post it. I really liked one of your pieces and very much wanted to comment on it so am not sure what to do. Do you know if anyone else is having problems on your blog or just me, because if it's just me, does anyone know what i'm doing wrong or is it just that my computer is being annoying. I'm a little puzzled as yours is the only one I've had trouble with as yet.
Sorry!
Laura
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Descriptive style writing
Leading up to the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Evita ‘it has been very exciting to see the show coming together, merging all the components to make the final spectacle.
The first scene begins on a terracotta coloured stage with a crescent of tall mirrored double doors and decorative balconies as the back drop. In the midst of a sensual tango dance, couples on stage are suddenly interrupted by the morbid voice of a man, his figure flooded in bright white light, highlighted on the balcony from those below him. He announces the death of ‘Eva Peron’ and the crowd collapse and crumple, clinging on to each other in despair. The choir break into a heart wrenching and solemn song as Evita’s coffin, draped in the Argentinean white and blue flag is slowly pushed to centre stage. The crowd, transfixed by the object, part to either side falling to their knees as it enters.
From this first sombre setting depicting the end of Eva Peron’s life, the cast then shed their black veils and solemn faces, trading them for smiles and brightly coloured suits and dresses as they go back to the beginning of Evita’s story. As the rhythm section of the band livens up and jumps in to replace the yearning grief of the violins, the performers dash across the stage as the uplifting melody of ‘Buenos Aires’ brings the exciting and colourful aspect of Argentina to the audience. The dancers energetically flit over the floor from position to position, gesturing to Evita with outstretched arms, inviting to her to dance with them, to sway her hips and ruffle her skirt to the new emphatic beat.
Gradually as Eva Duarte progresses to become Eva Peron, shedding her peasant clothing for luxurious dresses and jewels, the cast of Evita transform into yet another persona. The women, adorned in a variety of long black evening dresses with their arms coated in long red velvet gloves take on a snooty stance and expression as disapproving aristocrats, whilst the men look smart and stern in dull green military uniforms, posing as dissatisfied members of the army.
Whilst the well rehearsed choreography and characters are presented on stage, hidden from the audience is the frantic hurry the cast are thrown into as they leave through the wings, calmly exiting until the point they become invisible backstage before scurrying around like mice. Scenery clunks and creaks worryingly as the back stage crew push it to and fro and people desperately run up and down the balcony stairs diving on stage to make their next cue. Dancers and choir scurry into the quick change rooms flinging various bits of clothing here and there, whilst the costume ladies simultaneously zip up costumes and shovel up the mess into organised piles. Props are scattered around in any spare nook or cranny, and often cast members will be draped upon them grabbing at any chance to rest, exhausted from several days’ rehearsal.
The orchestra, through a fantastic variety of rhythms and tempos provide the performers on stage with an exciting and electric atmosphere resulting in a wonderful team effort and a show not to be missed!
The first scene begins on a terracotta coloured stage with a crescent of tall mirrored double doors and decorative balconies as the back drop. In the midst of a sensual tango dance, couples on stage are suddenly interrupted by the morbid voice of a man, his figure flooded in bright white light, highlighted on the balcony from those below him. He announces the death of ‘Eva Peron’ and the crowd collapse and crumple, clinging on to each other in despair. The choir break into a heart wrenching and solemn song as Evita’s coffin, draped in the Argentinean white and blue flag is slowly pushed to centre stage. The crowd, transfixed by the object, part to either side falling to their knees as it enters.
From this first sombre setting depicting the end of Eva Peron’s life, the cast then shed their black veils and solemn faces, trading them for smiles and brightly coloured suits and dresses as they go back to the beginning of Evita’s story. As the rhythm section of the band livens up and jumps in to replace the yearning grief of the violins, the performers dash across the stage as the uplifting melody of ‘Buenos Aires’ brings the exciting and colourful aspect of Argentina to the audience. The dancers energetically flit over the floor from position to position, gesturing to Evita with outstretched arms, inviting to her to dance with them, to sway her hips and ruffle her skirt to the new emphatic beat.
Gradually as Eva Duarte progresses to become Eva Peron, shedding her peasant clothing for luxurious dresses and jewels, the cast of Evita transform into yet another persona. The women, adorned in a variety of long black evening dresses with their arms coated in long red velvet gloves take on a snooty stance and expression as disapproving aristocrats, whilst the men look smart and stern in dull green military uniforms, posing as dissatisfied members of the army.
Whilst the well rehearsed choreography and characters are presented on stage, hidden from the audience is the frantic hurry the cast are thrown into as they leave through the wings, calmly exiting until the point they become invisible backstage before scurrying around like mice. Scenery clunks and creaks worryingly as the back stage crew push it to and fro and people desperately run up and down the balcony stairs diving on stage to make their next cue. Dancers and choir scurry into the quick change rooms flinging various bits of clothing here and there, whilst the costume ladies simultaneously zip up costumes and shovel up the mess into organised piles. Props are scattered around in any spare nook or cranny, and often cast members will be draped upon them grabbing at any chance to rest, exhausted from several days’ rehearsal.
The orchestra, through a fantastic variety of rhythms and tempos provide the performers on stage with an exciting and electric atmosphere resulting in a wonderful team effort and a show not to be missed!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Marketing style writing Draft 2
The State Theatre Vanemuine welcomes you to the 2009/2010 season of dance and music productions celebrating its 140th anniversary as the oldest theatre in Estonia.
We would like you to celebrate with us and join us in the exciting national premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s renowned musical ‘Evita’, premiering at the Nokia Concert Hall, Tallin, Estonia on November 27th 2009 through to 12th June 2010.
Bringing Argentina’s national heroine to the heart of Estonia’s capital city, ‘Evita’ is a musical about the life of Eva Peron, second wife of the Argentine president Juan Peron. The story, told through the eyes of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara, reveals the sensational life of Eva Duarte, beginning with her poor and illegitimate childhood through to her struggles and success as a young actress and finally to her overwhelming influence over the Argentine people as wife of the President and her tragic death aged just 33.
Originally published in 1976 as a musical album, the amazing popularity and success of ‘Evita’ lead to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s collaboration with director Harold Prince for the London West End production which premiered in 1978 and then in Broadway in 1979. Since then the show has been running throughout the 20th and 21st centuries around the world, arriving this autumn in Estonia.
Already there has been an incredible demand for tickets, so if you want to be a part of this special occasion don’t hesitate to book now before you miss the opportunity.
Not only will you be enthralled with the music, ranging from classical ballads through saucy tangos and paso doubles to the occasional bit of rock, but you will also be thrilled by the beautiful set and costume designs by Ellen Cairns (Scotland) and the exciting and clever choreography by Igor Barberic (Croatia). The whole show will be brought together by Swedish director Georg Malvius. However, this international team of professionals want to bring this musical to you through an Estonian voice with an entire cast of Estonian singers, actors and actresses, and collaboration with translators Peter Volonski and Hannes Villemson so that the whole score can be brought to you in your national language.
There will be subtitles in English and Finnish, so don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out if you’re not fluent in Estonian!
Come and join the cast of ‘Evita’ and get a taste of Argentina and its people, from a family living in one room through to the terracotta ballrooms full of tango dancers, the garden tea parties of the rich to the inside view of the Presidential apartments. Step back in time, be a part of history and experience through the music the world of this incredible woman, the spiritual leader of Argentina, the ‘Santa Evita’.
We would like you to celebrate with us and join us in the exciting national premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s renowned musical ‘Evita’, premiering at the Nokia Concert Hall, Tallin, Estonia on November 27th 2009 through to 12th June 2010.
Bringing Argentina’s national heroine to the heart of Estonia’s capital city, ‘Evita’ is a musical about the life of Eva Peron, second wife of the Argentine president Juan Peron. The story, told through the eyes of the famous revolutionary Che Guevara, reveals the sensational life of Eva Duarte, beginning with her poor and illegitimate childhood through to her struggles and success as a young actress and finally to her overwhelming influence over the Argentine people as wife of the President and her tragic death aged just 33.
Originally published in 1976 as a musical album, the amazing popularity and success of ‘Evita’ lead to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s collaboration with director Harold Prince for the London West End production which premiered in 1978 and then in Broadway in 1979. Since then the show has been running throughout the 20th and 21st centuries around the world, arriving this autumn in Estonia.
Already there has been an incredible demand for tickets, so if you want to be a part of this special occasion don’t hesitate to book now before you miss the opportunity.
Not only will you be enthralled with the music, ranging from classical ballads through saucy tangos and paso doubles to the occasional bit of rock, but you will also be thrilled by the beautiful set and costume designs by Ellen Cairns (Scotland) and the exciting and clever choreography by Igor Barberic (Croatia). The whole show will be brought together by Swedish director Georg Malvius. However, this international team of professionals want to bring this musical to you through an Estonian voice with an entire cast of Estonian singers, actors and actresses, and collaboration with translators Peter Volonski and Hannes Villemson so that the whole score can be brought to you in your national language.
There will be subtitles in English and Finnish, so don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out if you’re not fluent in Estonian!
Come and join the cast of ‘Evita’ and get a taste of Argentina and its people, from a family living in one room through to the terracotta ballrooms full of tango dancers, the garden tea parties of the rich to the inside view of the Presidential apartments. Step back in time, be a part of history and experience through the music the world of this incredible woman, the spiritual leader of Argentina, the ‘Santa Evita’.
Academic style writing
Throughout her life and indeed after her death, Eva Peron has been heralded by many as a heroine and saint and was even given the title of ‘Spiritual Leader of the Nation’ shortly before she died on July 26th 1952. So when in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Evita’ she is referred to more as a ‘whore’ than a ‘saint’ it leads to the question, ‘ Is the musical/opera ‘Evita’ a fair portrayal of the life of Eva Peron?'
‘Prostitute, Fascist, Profligate- Eva Peron was much maligned most unfairly’ (Thomas Eloy Martinez, ‘The Woman behind the Fantasy’- Time Magazine).
One of the most negative aspects in the portrayal of her life in the musical is almost certainly the introduction of the character ‘Che’, whose role is to narrate the story. Strongly based on Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary of the era, he is constantly present on stage, criticising and questioning Evita and her lifestyle. From the very beginning of the show, as the other characters representing Argentinean people mourn for Evita at her funeral, he is singled out from their grief singing ‘Oh what a circus, oh what a show’, demonstrating his belief that the reaction to Eva Peron’s death is ludicrous.
Two Evita Biographers, Nicholas Fraser and Maryssa Navarro, have suspicions that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice based their opera/musical on Mary Main’s biography ‘The Woman with the Whip’, which Tim Rice openly praised. This biography looks very negatively upon Evita with Mary Main claiming that ‘Eva did evil things’, and so it would seem that ‘Che’ is almost the embodiment of author Mary Main’s views.
Mary Main grew up in privileged Anglo-Argentine society, far from the poverty Eva experienced as an illegitimate child, struggling to make her way in the world. It is easy to see how Eva’s efforts to become an actress could be misinterpreted by someone from a privileged upper class. In the musical, during the song ‘Goodnight and Thankyou’, Eva Duarte is shown letting men in one door and out the other once she has got what she needs. The character ‘Che’ sings the lyrics
‘Goodnight and Thankyou Emilio, you’ve completed your task...............
And that will be all, if she needs you she’ll call,
But I don’t think that’s likely somehow.’
This is suggestive of a prostitute’s behaviour. But when Eva arrived in Buenos Aires she was just fifteen, with little talent and no money. As Thomas Eloy Martinez points out in his article for ‘Time Magazine’, ‘Each time Eva auditioned for a part in radio, theatre or film, she was expected to pay a sexual toll.....It was a matter of survival.’
In the song ‘And The Money Keeps Rolling In’, the character ‘Che’ also takes a very negative stance on the ‘Eva Peron Foundation’, implying that Evita was keeping some of the funds for herself. This is quite explicit in the lyrics:
‘Now cynics claim a little of the cash has gone astray,
But that’s not the point my friends.’
This aspect of the musical relates strongly to Mary Main’s opinion that the foundation was merely a way of channelling government money into private Swiss bank accounts controlled by Evita and Peron. However in their 1996 book ‘Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron’, Fraser and Navarro counter these claims, saying that the Minister of Finance did keep records and that the foundation ‘began as the simplest response to the poverty encountered each day in her office’. They also state that the foundation was started with 10,000 pesos that Evita provided herself.
Scholars now recognise that much of Mary Main’s biography is made up of scandal and gossip and the close relationship between the book and the show suggests the musical is also prejudiced. So even though towards the end of the second act, Evita is finally given a chance to fight back in ‘Waltz for Eva and Che’, I would conclude overall that the opera/musical is great entertainment, but not a fair portrayal of Eva Peron’s life.
‘Prostitute, Fascist, Profligate- Eva Peron was much maligned most unfairly’ (Thomas Eloy Martinez, ‘The Woman behind the Fantasy’- Time Magazine).
One of the most negative aspects in the portrayal of her life in the musical is almost certainly the introduction of the character ‘Che’, whose role is to narrate the story. Strongly based on Che Guevara, a very famous revolutionary of the era, he is constantly present on stage, criticising and questioning Evita and her lifestyle. From the very beginning of the show, as the other characters representing Argentinean people mourn for Evita at her funeral, he is singled out from their grief singing ‘Oh what a circus, oh what a show’, demonstrating his belief that the reaction to Eva Peron’s death is ludicrous.
Two Evita Biographers, Nicholas Fraser and Maryssa Navarro, have suspicions that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice based their opera/musical on Mary Main’s biography ‘The Woman with the Whip’, which Tim Rice openly praised. This biography looks very negatively upon Evita with Mary Main claiming that ‘Eva did evil things’, and so it would seem that ‘Che’ is almost the embodiment of author Mary Main’s views.
Mary Main grew up in privileged Anglo-Argentine society, far from the poverty Eva experienced as an illegitimate child, struggling to make her way in the world. It is easy to see how Eva’s efforts to become an actress could be misinterpreted by someone from a privileged upper class. In the musical, during the song ‘Goodnight and Thankyou’, Eva Duarte is shown letting men in one door and out the other once she has got what she needs. The character ‘Che’ sings the lyrics
‘Goodnight and Thankyou Emilio, you’ve completed your task...............
And that will be all, if she needs you she’ll call,
But I don’t think that’s likely somehow.’
This is suggestive of a prostitute’s behaviour. But when Eva arrived in Buenos Aires she was just fifteen, with little talent and no money. As Thomas Eloy Martinez points out in his article for ‘Time Magazine’, ‘Each time Eva auditioned for a part in radio, theatre or film, she was expected to pay a sexual toll.....It was a matter of survival.’
In the song ‘And The Money Keeps Rolling In’, the character ‘Che’ also takes a very negative stance on the ‘Eva Peron Foundation’, implying that Evita was keeping some of the funds for herself. This is quite explicit in the lyrics:
‘Now cynics claim a little of the cash has gone astray,
But that’s not the point my friends.’
This aspect of the musical relates strongly to Mary Main’s opinion that the foundation was merely a way of channelling government money into private Swiss bank accounts controlled by Evita and Peron. However in their 1996 book ‘Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron’, Fraser and Navarro counter these claims, saying that the Minister of Finance did keep records and that the foundation ‘began as the simplest response to the poverty encountered each day in her office’. They also state that the foundation was started with 10,000 pesos that Evita provided herself.
Scholars now recognise that much of Mary Main’s biography is made up of scandal and gossip and the close relationship between the book and the show suggests the musical is also prejudiced. So even though towards the end of the second act, Evita is finally given a chance to fight back in ‘Waltz for Eva and Che’, I would conclude overall that the opera/musical is great entertainment, but not a fair portrayal of Eva Peron’s life.
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