We'll Have Manhattan (Broadway Legacies) by Dominic Symonds

Author:Dominic Symonds [Symonds, Dominic]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780199929481
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

This serves the purpose well, not only showing a decision being made but also articulating this in an appropriate idiomatic language for the character. In Ever Green the exploration is slightly different. In this, the dramatic effect is not wholly internal to the scene but makes use of the audience’s dual role as spectators of both the musical and the show-within-a-show.

The first example of this is at the end of Act One, when Harriet’s secret is revealed to Tommy as a performative act. Here the audience of Ever Green is also positioned as the Casino des Folies audience, which creates a dramaturgical distance in which tensions can play out: as the Ever Green audience, our hope for Harriet and Tommy’s relationship is dashed by her unexpected revelation and his horror; as the Casino audience, our reaction to the spectacle is disrupted by a fellow audience member breaking the illusion of the show. Combining these effects in a single moment enables the performative distancing to magnify the dramatic impact.

The second example allows for a further level of distancing to be added. The synopsis in the program explains the situation toward the end of Act Two:

Tommy has now become a great success at the Café de L’Abbaye, where each night he makes up witty verses about the guests. Seeing Harriet there with a party, he begins to sing about “La Belle de Soixante Ans,” but breaks down after flagrantly insulting her.133

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