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Showing posts from April, 2025

Set and Staging

In the film Reservoir Dogs,  the entire movie -- barring "flashbacks" and the opening scene -- largely takes place in one location: the warehouse. I have chosen to remain faithful to that aspect in Reservoir Dogs the Musical.   During the opening number, "Just the Tip," the entire stage is empty save for a simple diner set. There is a table, around which sit Mr. Orange, Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown, Mr. Blue, Nice Guy Eddie, and Joe Cabot. They do their song and dance and then there is a full blackout. When the lights come back on, the diner set is off and replaced with the warehouse set: walls and a ramp set up at an angle to the audience. On stage right, there is the bathroom that Mr. White and Mr. Pink chat in near the beginning of the film. It is followed shortly by the ramp. On stage left there are two double doors leading offstage. Across the room are scattered various tarps and crates and other assorted set decoration to make it look like an aba...

Soundtrack

What's in a soundtrack? There are several main types of songs in musicals and musical theatre: "I Want," "I Am," conditional love songs, comic songs, Act Two openers, and 11 o'clock numbers.  "I Want" and "I Am" are self-explanatory. The former is perhaps one of the most written and most well-known types of songs. A character tears their emotions from their chest and bares their soul, describing their very deepest desires. The latter is more of a fourth-wall breaking moment, where a character lays out exactly who they are, a la "Major General's Song" from Pirates of Penzance.   Conditional love songs are love songs where characters perhaps haven't yet realized it's a love song, but the audience has. Comic songs are, as the name suggests, comic -- a way for levity to be brought in and the mood to be lightened. Think "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singin' in the Rain. Act Two openers open the second act, and m...