Event Critique - Drama
1. What play or musical did you attend?
I attended the musical performance Fiesta Latina on board the Carnival cruise ship Splendor. The name of the company wasn’t given they were the performers that preformed every show on the Splendor.
2. Give a summary or description of the play you saw.
Fiesta Latina is full of Caribbean and Latin American sounds with artists such as the Mambo Kings, Gloria Estefan, and many others. Some of the songs were Lucy don’t touch the banana and Hey Mambo. The dancers wore many colorful costumes with many different costumes in each song and many different songs. The musical performance displayed an array of diverse cultural songs and artists with fast paced beats and crazy dancing to each song. The musical performance followed a blond girl through many dances and I think her name is Lucy because it seemed like they were trying to make her Lucy in the song Lucy don’t touch the banana. There was no dialogue in the show so everything is speculation about the dancing and lyrics to the songs. The show had many special effects and lighting techniques such as a laser show that would go off every now and then.
3. In 250 words, discuss the quality of the performance.
The performance was very good quality. You could tell that they had practiced the performance for a long time because they didn’t mess up and they all knew what they were doing. They probably have done that same performance every week for the last six months because that is how long each employee works on board the cruise ship at a time. There was a lot of time and thought put into the costumes that they wore because they were very elaborate and there were many different costumes that many different performers used during the course of the performance. There were elaborate light shows that went on during the course of the performance as well. There was a laser show that would go off during the middle of several of the dances. The performers were very good at their intricate dances that they performed impeccably. They all danced synchronized together and to the music and but on a great display that showed that they knew the show. The lead singer lady was in many of the songs that they danced to and she was very good at singing. She had a large vocal range that when really high and she danced while she sang the songs. There were some songs where most of the performers would leave the stage and only two would remain and they would dance duets together. They also were very good at their dancing and implemented a lot more crazy dance moves like lifting each other.
4. In 250 words discuss the social and philosophical issue the play addressed and indicate what answers/conclusions were reached.
This musical performance didn’t have any social or philosophical issue in it. The musical performance was all about experiencing the Latino culture through the music and dancing that happened in the show. The music was specifically selected because of its Latino origin and was used for the performance to make it culturally representing. These songs were the base for the dances that were choreographed to further show of the Latino culture through this musical performance. The dances ranged from salsa to mambos and showed an array of different dances that the Latinos dance because of their culture. Their dress also showed off their culture and what it would be like if you were to see an original Latino cultural dance performance. The dancers that were actually singing the songs also added to the experience by making it more authentic. The songs that they sang were written by Latino artists such as Gloria Estefan and the Mambo Kings. The one thing that might have even been considered a social issue with this musical performance would have been the fact that the performers who were in this performance were not actually Latino themselves. I found this rather ironic and weird because it seems like they should have been since it was supposed to be a Latino cultural show.
5. If this was a musical or opera, discuss the role the music played in the work.
In this musical performance the music was what made the entire show possible. Without the music the dancers would have had nothing to set a tempo and rhythm off of. It also was a big part of what made Fiesta Latina a cultural event. There were cultural songs and artists that sang the songs. Some of the songs were Lucy Don’t Touch the Banana and Hey Mambo with artists such as Gloria Estefan, Mambo Kings, and others. It was the music which drove the entire performance without it, it would have been a lot of people in cultural outfits dancing off been and probably out of sync with one another and it would have been kind of awkward.
6. What did you find out about the background of the work or playwright?
I found out that this musical performance has been being performed on the Carnival Splendor since 2008. I also found out that the Splendor and therefore the play were played in London, Dover, Civitavecchia, the Mediterranean, Grease, Turkey, and Florida before it came to the Mexican Riviera were I watched it. I also found that there was a performance at the white house for president Obama that was called Fiesta Latina, but I don’t know if it was the same musical performance or if it was a different one than the one that I saw.
7. Would you recommend this performance to others? Why or why not?
I would recommend this performance to those who like dancing and music. It was full of dancing, music, lighting effects, and a Latino cultural style to it all. I think that it really would come down to personal preference on whether or not one would like this performance. There were aspects of this musical performance that I didn’t like but that others might think make the performance even better. I thought that the actors should have fitted that Latino aspect of the performance and that they shouldn’t have added islander part that seemed unrelated to the theme.
8. What was your personal reaction to this performance? Would you enjoy attending this type of performance again? Why or why not?
I personally thought that the musical performance was weird. It was called Fiesta Latina yet the main singer, dancer lady was white, white with straw blonde hair. The other actors in the musical performance also weren’t Latino which I thought detracted from the supposed theme that the title suggested. I thought that I would like the performance because I have gone to many Murray High School Dance Company performances and I thought that they were great. I thought that this would be similar, but I didn’t like it near as much as our dance company’s performances.
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