Running head: ASSIGNMENT

Mohammad Alrawashdeh

M8: Which Form of Musical Stage

ASSIGNMENT 2

Part 1 (20 points): Compare and contrast these two renditions, citing two similarities and

two differences.

The similarities between Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon

Both the scene shows a mother who is losing their son and daughter. In the end, the

mother commits suicide or disappears. The scene takes place at the end, and the husband finds

the lady already dead or dying in her husband's arms.

The differences between Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon

Madame Butterfly is dramatized in a quiet place; some instruments are played. The

character (the mother) speaks some dialogues, and then she says to her daughter and then sends

her away. Then she takes a sharp knife and kills herself. After that, her husband enters and finds

her lying dead on the floor. On the other hand, music is heard throughout the scene. It is seen that

the mother is talking to her son, and then she sends him away and disappears. When her husband

enters the scene, he finds her dying in his arms.

Part 2 (5 Points): What are the genres of these examples?

Madame Butterfly is an Opera and Miss Saigon is a Musical Theater.

Part 3 (25 points): What main theme(s) from these two renditions makes the story

translatable into different formats? What characteristics have to exist in a work to make it

relevant when it takes place in a different historical period? Explain fully.

Miss Saigon is a musical play about an orphan teenager who falls in love with an

American. Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Schoenberg's Miss Saigon tells about the tragic tale

of a Vietnamese teenage girl named Kim and an American GI named Chris. They get separated
ASSIGNMENT 3

as Chris has to leave for America. Kim struggles to live her life without Chris and thinks that

things would have been different if she had been with Chris in America. Later it is seen that

Chris marries a young American woman Ellen. Later, it is seen that Chris and Kim meet, and

things change again. This story gets easily translatable into different formats as the tragic love

stories, struggles, passion, birth, and death still appeals to the audiences ("Theatre Review:

Thirty years after its debut, ‘Miss Saigon’ themes ring true today", 2020).

The characteristics that need to exist to make it relevant when it takes place in a different

historical period should be appealing, impactful, and the characters playing the role should be

easily connected with the real ones (socially or politically). The plot and the symbolism of the

story are also significant factors of a drama. The characters who play the theater roles should

appeal to the audiences by addressing society's real issues. The plot, where the scene is being

enacted, is also an essential characteristic of the drama. It enhances the level of acting as the

climax and resolution become very interesting for the audiences. The use of props also makes a

play exciting and realistic. It grabs the attention of the audiences ("Characteristics of Drama",

2020).

Part 4 (10 points): Which of these two renditions do you prefer and why?

Out of the two renditions, I would prefer Miss Saigon because the drama was brilliantly

staged and sung. The story was successfully rewritten about 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam

War from 19th Century Japan. It deeply moved into times and tells a lot about the history. The

drama has been reformed and made into a masterpiece so that people could easily connect to it.

This drama appeals to the audience even today. It tells us about the culture, people and about the

past and it can easily be connected with the recent time as well (D.343, 2020).
ASSIGNMENT 4

Work Cited

(2020). Retrieved 30 October 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=A2netSfT8Hs&feature=youtu.be

(2020). Retrieved 30 October 2020, from

https://bbaddins.schoolcraft.edu/addins/Hum210v2/Videos/M8Saigon.html

Theatre Review: Thirty years after its debut, ‘Miss Saigon’ themes ring true today. (2020).

Retrieved 30 October 2020, from http://jhpentertainment.com/theatre-review-miss-saigon-

national-tour-tpac-2019/

Characteristics of Drama. (2020). Retrieved 30 October 2020, from

https://medium.com/@english_grammar/characteristics-of-drama-2d42c83e9a08

D.343, A. (2020). Why Puccini would love 'Miss Saigon'. Retrieved 30 October 2020, from

https://www.classicfm.com/composers/puccini/guides/why-puccini-would-love-miss-saigon/