Musical theatre can tell a complete story through music, spoken dialogue, acting and choreography. While performing, music, stage setting, and body language expressed by actors and actresses will form a unified whole, leading the audience from one scene to another, while conveying their genuine emotions to the audience.
Musicals have high requirements for stage techniques, requiring actors to portray characters through each word, music and stage action, helping the audience to clearly feel the meaning of the storyline and mood of the play.
In recent years, in addition to teaching, the Military University of Culture and Arts has successfully staged many musical programmes and plays, such as ‘la Do’ (Red Leaves), ‘Ban Tinh Ca Nguoi Linh’ (Soldier's Love Song), ‘Wicked’, and ‘Co Sao’ (Lady Sao).
These performances attracted the participation of lecturers, experts, and students of the Vocal Arts Faculty.
Most recently, the Vocal Arts Faculty piloted the staging of Act 1 of ‘Wicked’ - a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman.
It is difficult to deal with the original script in English, but it was even more difficult to restage the script while respecting the original version. The project team also faced obstacles in casting voices and roles for the musical.
Although the entire performance was delivered in English, it did not lose the effect of art on the audience.
The production team effectively utilised the LED screen with images that created the space of the play, and at the same time featured Vietnamese subtitles, helping viewers grasp the storyline of the musical.
The staging of the musical ‘Wicked’ and other musicals in general is a test of adaption and creativity for lecturers and students of the Vocal Arts Faculty. However, it provides a great opportunity to improve their training, learning and performing skills.
 |
Students and lecturers of the Vocal Arts Faculty of the Military University of Culture and Arts pose for a group photo after delivering the musical ‘Wicked’ (Photo: Vocal Arts Faculty of the Military University of Culture and Arts) |
The Vocal Arts Faculty’s pilot performances of excerpts from musicals ‘Wicked’ and ‘Co Sao’ (Lady Sao) received high appreciation from experts and audiences.
The initial success of the pilot performances has contributed to consolidating and fostering understanding of culture, art, and performance skills for the faculty’s students, while helping them explore their hidden potential in the field of art.
By participating in such projects, they can also comprehensively develop their professional skills, from vocal techniques and acting to dancing skills on stage. The coordination between members in the play also helps students foster teamwork skills and how to share responsibilities and support each other in practice and performance.
It took three months of practice to prepare for the musical ‘Wicked’, during which students made every effort to meet the requirements of the script, from pronunciation to delivering English lyrics, singing the high notes, dancing, and posing in many difficult postures and movements.
All of the students showed improvements through each day of practice, thus gaining more confidence to express themselves on stage in front of an audience.
Training and improving performance skills of students is seen as an important task for the Vocal Arts Faculty of the Military University of Culture and Arts. It can be affirmed that bringing musicals into the training process for vocal students is an effective teaching tool to develop skills needed to be professional performing artists.
