Why TMA is a college of its own:

Here is something I love: mixing genres.

I love when we can play with the audiences' knowledge and they get to choose how they create meaning of it.

The BYU production of Berlin was fantastic. (Yes, if you look at that link- our own Nicole Riding Bell in in the photos because she originated the role of Stephanie) I know it will be edited to look awesome and will look great on screen in the end, but I don't know that it would ever be as moving as it was for me in person. It is kind of a surreal experience to watch the live action taking place on a film set in fluid motion as a stage play, but in the acting style and closeness of film.

There were screens set up so that we could watch what was happening inside the iron-set structure that faced itself inwardly. The sound was more powerful as well because the characters were mic-ed at film quality for the shooting, and the sound bellowed through the large speakers facing us as well as surrounding us. It was like watching an action film, and a musical on a stage at the same time which kept us as audience members very involved.

I also appreciated the attention spent on dialects because they were very tight and authentic and the costuming felt very authentic as well. I guess the simple notion that the show would be filmed adds a new dimension to how the actors treat the content of the show, but it also gives the designers more freedom to be more detailed and forces them to be more accurate.

I guess I thought of how I would love to do this someday at a high school just for fun. It might be fun to have the film students and the theatre students get together like this to be able to plan a project that could benefit both. I happen to have family that is involved in both sides of the spectrum so it would be fun. I also just think that any time we can get an audience into a space that breaks the convention of theatre it broadens the view of what can be done and incites more creative thinking about the themes of the show because it creates a sense of reality, whether we are pulled into it or not.