Lessons of Vocal Coaching Shakespeare in Hollywood: A Production Analysis

• Main Author: Thomas, Deborah
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2006
• Subjects: Vocal coaching; Vocal; Shakespeare in Hollywood; Ken Ludwig; BT McNicholl; vocal production; Shakespeare; Arts and Humanities; Theatre and Performance Studies
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1075; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2074&context=etd

This thesis is a personal narrative of my experience as vocal coach on a production of Ken Ludwig's Shakespeare in Hollywood directed by BT McNicholl and performed in the Raymond Hodges Theatre of Virginia Commonwealth University in November 2005. Chapter one covers my identification of the play's vocal and aural challenges; what I did to prepare for those challenges; the research I gathered on 1930s Hollywood prototypes for the play; an examination of Shakespearean verse, especially that in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and how Ludwig synthesized Shakespeare's verse with that of his own.Chapter two is divided into an account of the rehearsal process; a description of my sessions with the individual actors and an exploration of the dynamics of the vocal coach-director relationship. Chapter three focuses on the finished production and summarizes my response to the experience.