Video by Max, class of 2008
The first stage in your theatre career? It starts at Idyllwild.
Our Theatre Arts Program offers concentrated pre-professional
training that incorporates advanced techniques to guide
you toward greater self-awareness of your own potential
and resources. Concentrations include acting, theatrical
design and technical theatre, and musical theatre. Individual
programs of study are written for each student and are
geared toward personal interests and training as assessed
by our faculty, based on auditions at the beginning of
each year. In addition, individual college or conservatory
counseling, along with preparation for the Unified College
Auditions, is offered.
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The Idyllwild Arts Theatre Department presents:
THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT –
THE SMELL OF THE CROWD
Book, Music and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
and Anthony Newley
May 22 & 23 at 7:30 P.M. and May 24 at 2:00 P.M.
Long before bloated European epics such
as Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera
invaded Broadway in the 1980s, British librettists-songwriters
Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse brought their thought-provoking
musical to The Great White Way. The Roar of the Greasepaint—The
Smell of the Crowd (1965), melded an inspired pop-flavored
score with provocative social satire. This cerebral classic,
almost never revived, is a heady mix of Samuel Beckett
and Kander and Ebb. The show may have a big title, but
it deserves it -- because it is a musical that is filled
with big songs, big ideas, and bigger-than-life characters.
Written about an era of extreme social disparity in the
late 1960’s, The Roar of the Greasepaint The Smell
of the Crowd takes hold of the stage with its clear message
of the need for social equality. This satirical-yet-lighthearted
look at the systems in place to separate the haves and
have-nots continues to bear significance nearly 50 years
later. Set in an eerie and unspecified location populated
by a chorus of urchins, the abstract allegory follows
the “game” [of life] played by the bullying,
soul-less Sir, who changes the rules as he goes along
and the naïve “little guy” Cocky, a modern
day Everyman. A parable of class discrimination, one realizes
how far ahead of its time this musical is. This morality
play with smash hit songs like "Who Can I Turn To,"
"On A Wonderful Day Like Today," "The Joker,"
and "Feeling Good" tells us that the "Beautiful
Land” is in the heart. Although this still innovative
book, music, and lyrics may challenge the mind, we hope
our production captures your heart.
Howard Shangraw, Director
IAF Theatre
May 22nd & 23rd at 7:30p.m.
May 24th at 2:00p.m.