Once More with Talent

Abstract

The room is silent, black, yet complete in its created emptiness. You cannot see the person sitting next to you, the face that looks back in the darkness. Suddenly, from nowhere, a few shaky piano notes fill the air. A melody so simple yet so memorable, it pulls you away from your metal seat and thrusts you into another existence. You float around in this reverie, content, happy, until all is shattered by a fatal wrong chord. And you fall back to earth, back to your chair, back to the not always so wonderful world of student run drama.
It is said that theatre is best appreciated for the first time as the first time. Prior knowledge and conceptions hinder the experience and can alter any perception of the play itself. However, sometimes a point of comparison can be helpful when analyzing the production elements themselves. We were able to combine this familiarity with first time impression to completely break down the mechanics of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More with Feeling and honestly question when and when not the musical delivered its message. The purpose of the play is to serve as a rude awakening, an almost moral reminder. No matter how hard one tries to prevent it, the truth will always show through, and in the end, the unsuccessful lies hurt more. This is a common theme, but the surprising twist is to have the truth forced through song via a spell cast on the characters. A unique idea, and more entertaining than simply spoken word, but it is also the source for most, if not all of the problems that lead to this point not being communicated to the audience.