On Stage and Beyond
On Stage and Beyond (OS&B) is an aesthetic education program designed to enhance audience enjoyment of a performance at The Bushnell. OS&B programs are free to the community and are usually held in the month prior to the performance.
Some OS&B programs that have been offered include:
The Overcoat
For The Overcoat, OS&B meant lectures about the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich whose music colors The Overcoat, and the Russian author Nikolai Gogol on whose short stories The Overcoat is based. Internationally-known arts consultant Mitchell Korn worked with the Education department staff to create and deliver these lectures in dozens of Connecticut corporations, organizations, businesses, libraries, and schools.
Wicked
An OS&B was created for the show Wicked. Based on the popular novel by Gregory Maguire, and using characters from the 1900 novel The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Wicked the musical is about friendship, power, and being different. Education department staff members Linda Regulbuto and Zita Christian created a program in which Linda represented the beautiful and popular Glinda the Good, while Zita, complete with green makeup, represented the fiery outcast Elphaba, the Wicked Witch. Using video clips and lyrics from the musical, they talked about the show's themes of popularity, power, and politics, the animal symbolism of certain characters, the growing problem of girls bullying girls, and how the unlikely friendship between Glinda and Elphaba created life-changing events for both girls. This OS&B program was given to hundreds of Girl Scouts and high school freshmen.
Brooklyn the Musical
Brooklyn is a sidewalk fairy tale about a young girl searching for fame and the father she never knew. Long before the show came to The Bushnell stage, the Education department staff met with the producers of the show and representatives of several non-profit organizations to discuss ways to use the story's themes of homelessness, family, and fame to raise awareness of the nationwide problem of homelessness. OS&B for Brooklyn became "Voices for Hope," a statewide singing contest. Eight winners were chosen, each assigned to one of the eight performances of the show. At the curtain call, the winner joined the cast on stage for the song "Heart Behind These Hands."
Doubt
The play Doubt by John Patrick Shanley won the 2005 Pultizer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. To create an OS&B program, the Education department examined several of the play's themes, including absolute truth, moral uncertainty, the power of doubt and conviction, the sins of omission and commission, and the damage that gossip can create. The result was a community forum held at the Hartford Seminary with the Reverend Shelley D.B. Copeland, executive director of the Capitol Region of Churches as facilitator. The Bushnell mailed a complimentary copy of the play to those who registered in advance for the OS&B community forum. For nearly two hours, men and women from all over Connecticut shared their opinions on the actions of the characters in the play. OS&B for Doubt continued with post-show discussions immediately following two of the performances. One post-show was facilitated by WTIC-AM radio personality Colin McEnroe, the other by Reverend Joe B. Jewell, author of the book, The Elements of Prayer. The cast of Doubt, including Tony Award-winner Cherry Jones, participated in both post-show discussions.
Frankenstein
In 1818, Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus was published. The Flying Machine adapted the story to create their own Frankenstein, this time as "a dark midwinter's fairy tale." The OS&B created for Frankenstein included a discussion of the myth of Prometheus and its application to a story of one man's hubris, the play's use of old English nursery rhymes, and the life and times of Mary Shelley, including her journal entries surrounding the dealth of her first child. This OS&B lecture was given to several hundred advanced placement English students at an area high school and as a pre-show discussion on the night of the performance at The Bushnell. OS&B for Frankenstein also included a master class for the high school's drama students conducted by The Flying Machine's co-founder and director of Frankenstein, Joshua Carlebach.