In Response to: “What We Can Learn From Acting”
As
a future music educator, I will likely take part in many Fine and
Applied Arts department meetings in public schools. Although there is
no doubt that I will be a strong supporter of all art forms, Kelsey's
blog post “What We Can Learn From Acting” enlightened me as
to why I should definitely support theater programs in schools.
Acting
is not an art that I am well versed in, but after reading the blog
post, I realized there are plenty of parallels between drama and
musical performance. Kelsey writes, “What separates a great actor
from a mediocre one, is the ability to find the true core of a
character instead of 'cheating' by using overplayed stereotypes.” A
great actor must draw from his personal experiences to convey the
most convincing emotion in his stories and reach the audience more
effectively. Apparently, a large part of acting is putting yourself
into your character, and creating your own back story for your
character so you can understand their motives. I imagine sometimes
the back story is already given or explained in the play, but
sometimes it is up to artistic interpretation to decide on certain
traits and motives for your character.
Great
musicians must do the same. Our script is our sheet music, and we too
have to convey a story to our audience to reach them in the most
effective way. Some mediocre musicians would play a piece exactly as
written, using accurate notes, rhythms, and written expressions but
never fully creating a musical story to tell. Since composers don’t
usually specify the story they are attempting to tell, it is up to
the musician to interpret the song and relate it to his or her own
past experiences, using the emotion the experience gave them in their
playing. In my saxophone studio, my professor always has us write out
a story that goes with our sheet music, and this improves the quality
of the expression used in the performance. Sometimes when we listen
to one another perform, we are required to write the story that we
think the performer is trying to convey. When we discuss what we
wrote, the feedback is always extremely helpful to the performer, and
we know the performance was effective when many people interpret the
piece in a similar way.
Reading
this post also got me thinking about what a shame it is that there is
often such a disconnect between actors and musicians. I recently have
been in the pit orchestra for a musical called “Curtains,” an
experience that I have found to be rather eye-opening. For me, this
is really the only way I get to collaborate with other majors at the
Hartt school, like musical theatre majors. I spent long nights
rehearsing, something that is not always required from me as a
musician. There is such an art to acting that I have come to
appreciate much more as I watch my own peers develop the performance
to make it extremely successful. This particular show is about a
series of murders at a theatre, a rather grim topic that these actors
were able to convey in a light hearted comical way. It was incredible
to me hearing the laughs from the audience as they watched something
as horrific as a stage hand being hanged in the play. A friend of
mine came up to me and mentioned that she thought all the actors fit
perfectly with the characters they played. This makes sense because
Kelsey mentioned that a good actor uses part of his own life in the
creation of his character. It is no surprise that the actors blended
with their characters so seamlessly.
Acting,
dance, visual art, and music are all ways to connect with ourselves
by exploring our emotions and past experiences. They also make us
more compassionate and understanding of others by exploring their
stories and “walking a mile in their shoes” through different
media. Through educational exploration of the arts, children are able
to become wiser and more empathetic adults.
