MAKING A ROADMAP: THE ART OF COORDINATION IN MUSIC-THEATER REPERTOIRE

Abstract

The technological advances of the 21st century have ushered in completely new ways of experiencing art and stylized performance must adapt to meet modern audience demands in order to stay relevant. Music-theater, a general term used to define the singing-based performing arts (e.g. opera, art song, operetta, and musical theater) are text-driven, meaning that composers first look to the poetry, libretto, or lyrics to inform musical settings. However, teaching artists continue to prioritize vocal technique in isolation for the first several years of training, and ultimately expect students to independently integrate singing with other skill sets required for music-theater performance (e.g. acting, movement, and stagecraft). There is a neurological connection between how our bodies learn and subsequently move onstage, and how the audience interprets stage action. This knowledge must be integrated into the training of young singers. Teaching students the art of coordination that moves away from siloed learning ensures that emerging artists are prepared to work successfully post-graduation. Given this reality, I propose a new technique: one that encompasses skills that serve the vocal, physical, and emotional demands of music-theater performers in addition to vocal production. A preliminary tool for coordination is detailed, along with a paradigm for organizing analysis, exemplified by performances in the role of Third Lady (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte), the roles of Estelle Ogelthorpe and Thelma Yablonski (Musto’s Later the Same Evening), and Dominick Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf.