When I had played in Jazz Band at my school I had encountered numerous Jazz musicians and styles, and no one had stood out as much as Charles Mingus. His music is very upbeat and chaotic. Check out some of his songs here (We played the latter two in class):
In response to Professor Drabik’s request, here is some free-form jazz from John Coltrane’s 1960 album, Giant Steps. This is “Giant Steps,” the first track on the album.
The first thing that catches one’s attention as you walk into the auditorium is the music. I for one was expecting some “elevator-like” music, a soft tune that’s repetitive; something one can listen to while waiting on an event to happen. What was playing in place of that soft and soothing music was outrageous. The auditorium was blasting rap music that covered the topics of many vulgar things. The funny thing about this was that the audience consisted of elderly people who probably have no idea what the slang words meant!Thankfully the music was stifled when the play started.
As for the play itself, it started off really light. The latter half of the play was not. The play began with the brothers goofing off, fighting with each other, and catching up on each other’s lives. When the last 30 minutes of the play hit, The issue of privilege came through and was argued back and forth. The play ended with one of the brothers left alone.
The actors weren’t the best. From my point of view, if one was to be in character, they would talk normally as if having a normal conversation. One of the actors kept over-emphasizing words as if he was a 5th grader reading lines off a manuscript. Another actor had his crying feel really awkward and out of place. There were some more irregularities, but who am I to criticize. I am no actor and I barely watch plays.
For the part of the play that covered privilege, I have to admit that it was very hard to digest what each viewpoint on privilege each brother has. All in all, the message was clear and I honestly think the play was worth the $25 and the attention.
