Brief intermission curtain9/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Holly is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild and holds a BFA in design and music from the University of Texas at Arlington. Holly was recently commissioned to write lyrics for the Alma Mater for Legacy High School in Tyler, Texas. Holly and Kelvin were commissioned to write “That’s What Friends Do” for Girlhood the Musical (CPA Theatricals) and Camp McAuliffe, which is now Camp the Musical, a fully customizable grade school musical. Holly (book/lyrics/music) and her husband Kelvin Reed (music) are thrilled about the trajectory of their upcoming holiday musical TRUE NORTH. In addition to bringing over 20 years experience in creative direction, marketing and brand consulting for the non-profit, startup, and entertainment industries, she is also a speaker, writer, and coach to aspiring entrepreneurs and dreamers of all sorts. Holly Reed is the owner and Creative Director of Reed Creative Group, an award-winning design studio, and CEO of. 4 The “Mini Curtain Call” – Musical Examples So instead of feeling anxious about a disaster that just occurred, the audience can spend their intermission curious about what new turn the story is about to take-so many to choose from! It can, however, introduce a plethora of possibilities for where the story might go. While it might help the audience remember all the characters and what their unique problems are, it doesn’t really leave them with a “cliffhanger.” The other option is more of a summary of what’s just happened. Leaves the audience wondering: “Will Rose drive Herbie and Louise away too?” As Madame Rose sings (having “taken leave of her senses”), “Herbie and Louise cling to each other for safety, desperately afraid of how all of this could possibly end. Thus when everything else has been destroyed, the monster turns on its own vulnerable young that is left, and because its very nature is to devour, it grasps its young with a twisted, delighted realization that this one-this precious one-MUST be the one that will satisfy. Ah….when a character’s want is so consuming that they can’t see a good thing when it’s staring them in the eye. The audience is slightly relieved, however, in hopes that Rose’s selfish pursuits are finished and perhaps a reconciliation with Louise and a wedding proposal from Herbie are in store. Rose is now without June, Louse is now without Tulsa. It’s the death of a dream for both Rose and her “lesser” daughter Louise. Unrelenting and delusional stage mom Rose has just been made privy to the news of her star daughter June running off (and away from showbiz) and eloping with Tulsa. The “Unraveling Curtain” – Musical Examples It’s almost like his or her best intentions completely backfire.Īnd what’s important here, is that the audience doesn’t have a solution any more than the protagonist does. Then all of a sudden, the rug is pulled out from under them-and us. We’re championing them, rooting for them, and expecting that they’re going to emerge victorious. When your protagonist has a giant want and is willing to overcome all odds to get it, we stay on the edge of our seats. Good stories are built on conflict, and the best stories are built on LOTS of conflict. This is how an act traditionally ends: in a crisis that seems completely beyond redemption. What lingers in thought as the house lights come up has much to do with the last thing the audience hears-the final song of Act 1.Īccording to Jack Viertel in The Secret Life of the American Musical, there are two conventional approaches to thematically structuring this song.įirst, what he suggests is most typical: “the unraveling, in an instant, of everything everyone has planned.” 1 The “Unraveling Curtain” If the audience is allowed to push the pause button and re-enter the reality-and mental hijack-of crowds, bathroom lines, and social media updates, then the creative team better have a carefully devised plan on how to keep at least a little hook in an audience member’s brain. Let out a little line during intermission, but keep the audience on the hook. ![]() Work through the positives and negatives, and justify it. It’s an important question, and there’s no clear-cut answer.īut never assume you must have an intermission. When show length is teetering between the 90-minute to 2-hour mark, a writer has to decide- intermission or no intermission? Is it best for the show to take a breather and allow the audience to ponder what’s already been told? Or would it be best to plow on through and keep the momentum up? Intermission is a critical point in an evening of musical theatre. ![]()
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