Posted by Mark Harvey on January 2, 2009 9:40 AM|Permalink
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The production of Pinocchio at The Roxy Regional Theatre in Clarksville, Tennessee was similar to a time travel vessel because it brought its audience back to their childhoods. Most of the audience was younger, but the effect on the kid's parents was a positive one. Joel Halstad's performance as a wooden boy who just wants to be a real boy warmed hearts with its fairy tale-like but still family-oriented feel.
Part of this heartwarming effect came from the fact that the main character, Pinocchio, needs to save Gepetto's life. This man, played by Jay Doolittle, was a major contributing character to Pinocchio's journey. He lead Pinocchio to learn life lessons of unselfishness, caring, and truth. These virtues prove important for the audience members, especially if they are young. Seeing a character brought to life in order to be a better person will lead children to want to be like the character they saw and admired in the performance.
Adding to the emphasis on the virtue on unselfishness is an emphasis on bravery. Bravery is one thing that everyone wished they could have a little bit more of. Pinocchio must ultimately achieve bravery by delving deep into a whale's mouth to save Gepetto at the conclusion of the story. Doolittle's enthusiastic and proud reaction to the way his creation saved his life successfully provided a resolution for all the drama throughout the production. This event solved the audience's questions of whether Pinocchio would truly be able to step up and perform the action to officially announce him to be a real boy-proving his bravery once and for all.
The performance at the Roxy had an obvious personal effect on the majority of the audience, no matter what their age level was, noted by the smiles on the faces of the families leaving the theater.
~Samantha Swanson 1/19/09
Comments
The production of Pinocchio at The Roxy Regional Theatre in Clarksville, Tennessee was similar to a time travel vessel because it brought its audience back to their childhoods. Most of the audience was younger, but the effect on the kid's parents was a positive one. Joel Halstad's performance as a wooden boy who just wants to be a real boy warmed hearts with its fairy tale-like but still family-oriented feel.
Part of this heartwarming effect came from the fact that the main character, Pinocchio, needs to save Gepetto's life. This man, played by Jay Doolittle, was a major contributing character to Pinocchio's journey. He lead Pinocchio to learn life lessons of unselfishness, caring, and truth. These virtues prove important for the audience members, especially if they are young. Seeing a character brought to life in order to be a better person will lead children to want to be like the character they saw and admired in the performance.
Adding to the emphasis on the virtue on unselfishness is an emphasis on bravery. Bravery is one thing that everyone wished they could have a little bit more of. Pinocchio must ultimately achieve bravery by delving deep into a whale's mouth to save Gepetto at the conclusion of the story. Doolittle's enthusiastic and proud reaction to the way his creation saved his life successfully provided a resolution for all the drama throughout the production. This event solved the audience's questions of whether Pinocchio would truly be able to step up and perform the action to officially announce him to be a real boy-proving his bravery once and for all.
The performance at the Roxy had an obvious personal effect on the majority of the audience, no matter what their age level was, noted by the smiles on the faces of the families leaving the theater.
~Samantha Swanson 1/19/09
Posted by: Samantha Swanson | January 19, 2009 8:32 PM