Jacob Rice

Michael Montel

May 11, y

Acting in Musical Theatre

A Comprehensive Course

The first seven chapters of this book were mostly review for me. The

chapters revisited the foundations of acting in musical theatre that are

essential to the core of our class. However much of a review it is, it was still

really good to revisit. I had forgotten how important the written work is to a

musical theatre scene. For instance, the Magic If, remembering First Times,

and the Given Circumstances are so important to put work and effort into

exploring. Something I really appreciated about this book is its emphasis on

acting. In most of my classes I have observed that the students usually lose

the acting of the song because theyre more interested in the music and the

singing.

Character analysis was the main emphasis in Chapter 7 and I really

think character analysis is one of the most important things to do in a scene.

If you know your character very thoroughly, you will know how they respond

to different situations based on their personality and how you know they

would handle things. Its important to know quirks and the things about them

that have made them into the person they are today. For instance, in

SCENE INTO SONG 1

Heathers: the Musical, J.D.s mother commits suicide when he was younger

by staying in a building his father demolishes. That is the most important

thing in his childhood that has made him into the teenager he becomes. So

its clear how important that character analysis is to a scene.

Over all this book has really helped me because even though it was a

revisit to the basics, it was something that was much needed at this point in

my education. The book also had exercises that were fun and helpful. I really

enjoyed it. Thank you for assigning this book and I look forward to the next 8

chapters!

SCENE INTO SONG 2