Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Site Map

CSPA is affiliated with the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in the City of New York.

One can always watch a film in the comfort of home.

Like a print publication, a film stays the same.

But the audience for a Broadway play can take away memories of a magical experience that happens just once.

Performance gives instant gratification to the audience, but no second chances to the cast.

Dedication to the stage is what keeps the actors going. The demands can wear a person down, but not the actors who spoke to the Summer Workshop members about performing in “Hairspray.”

Steven Cutts, who is making his Broadway début as Gilbert while understudying for the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs, talked about motivation.

“If it’s in your heart, you continue to strive,” he said.

The cast continued to strive and kept it fresh and energetic June 27, 2007.

“Hairspray” hit the stage with a phenomenal spunk, leaving the audience surprised, enthused and on the edge of their seats.

Live theatre engages the audience during the performance. Short pauses are carefully placed throughout to give the audience just enough time to laugh.

Also, the music and singing reverberate within the entire theatre, and the audience is compelled to feel the same emotions that the characters experience telling the story on stage.

When watching a live performance, it is vital to not focus in on one subject but rather to watch the stage as a whole.

Unlike a film, where scenes may show one at a time, a Broadway musical presents constant movement among groups and individuals acting and interacting on stage.

A main character may be speaking, but it’s the little things like the way the acting done by the two people to the side that determines a convincing, absorbing show.

The audience watching live theatre pays close attention to the performance because each show is different.

Elizabeth Botti is editor of The Clock at the Emma Willard School in Troy, N. Y., and Deborah Manog is the editor of the student newspaper at Farrington High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.