Society, Drama, & Rock 'n' Roll
Abstract
My senior capstone is acting in this year’s musical We Will Rock You by Ben Elton. The character is Galileo Figaro, a dreamer and a rebel against the disconnected society he is trapped in. For this character, I needed to conduct research on the history of rock ‘n’ roll, how it came to be, its influences and its impacts on people and the world. The musical takes place 300 years in the future where live music was banned because of the power it holds when people are together. Galileo has dreams, sees visions, hears noises and music all from the age of rock ‘n’ roll and contemporary/modern/today’s society; he gets possessed by the spirit of rock. In my presentation, I argue that the society of the musical that is supposedly 300 years in the future has terrifying parallels to today’s society and that the spirit of hope and the yearning of something that's real, qualities that Galileo possesses, are what younger generations now lack, but should get back. There is power, connection, and life when people stand together; there is none when people stray apart.
Society, Drama, & Rock 'n' Roll
Arts and Sciences 2-72
My senior capstone is acting in this year’s musical We Will Rock You by Ben Elton. The character is Galileo Figaro, a dreamer and a rebel against the disconnected society he is trapped in. For this character, I needed to conduct research on the history of rock ‘n’ roll, how it came to be, its influences and its impacts on people and the world. The musical takes place 300 years in the future where live music was banned because of the power it holds when people are together. Galileo has dreams, sees visions, hears noises and music all from the age of rock ‘n’ roll and contemporary/modern/today’s society; he gets possessed by the spirit of rock. In my presentation, I argue that the society of the musical that is supposedly 300 years in the future has terrifying parallels to today’s society and that the spirit of hope and the yearning of something that's real, qualities that Galileo possesses, are what younger generations now lack, but should get back. There is power, connection, and life when people stand together; there is none when people stray apart.