I took my two year old twins to see Arts of the Horizon’s production of Nutt & Bolt last week. I had the opportunity to watch two artists tell an awesome story about working together without using any words. My two young boys that are usually running around like crazy actually sat still and were mesmerized by the thirty-minute show.
These two actors were communicating solely using their voice, simple instruments, and their bodies. This is important to my voice students because I am constantly talking about inflection in my studio and how we not only need to understand the meaning of the lyrics, but also the intent behind those lyrics. How can we vocally communicate frustration or excitement or timidity? When Nutt was upset at Bolt, we knew this from the tone of his voice (he may have sighed or grumbled) as well as from his body language and facial expression, two things that are also vital to my musical theatre singers.
An exercise for my readers: Pick your favorite song and tell the story without using any of the lyrics. How can your face, vocal sounds (not words), and body language communicate what is happening in the scene? After that, read through the lyrics as a story and be aware of your vocal inflection in each phrase and what that says about your character.
Arts on the Horizon produces theatre for ages 0 to 6, both in Alexandria, VA & Washington, DC. Check out their website for more information on their upcoming programming.
BeltingAroundTheBeltway 