Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1979-04-01 Mormon Montage: Mormons in the World: A Production Script Kris Marele Morgan Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Mormon Studies Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Morgan, Kris Marele, "Mormon Montage: Mormons in the World: A Production Script" (1979). Theses and Dissertations. 4958. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4958 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. MOEMONMORMONmommon montrMOTmowMONTAirle lif MORMONSMOIRMONS IHIN telgTHHE WORLD A productionPRC DUCTION CRPTSCRIPTCR PT A project presented to the department oftheatreof theatre indand Cicinemacinematicinematicnematifcicefcicc artartsactss brigham young university F 1 in partialpart i cbl1 fulfluenbfuafu1LL ment of theohsohe reqlijrequlreraenlre rlerlt Z forf r the desreedegree mastermasfpr of arts byy eriskris msrelemerele morgan april 1979 t-thisthighi s projectsprojectypr0j e c bbyy krkriss 2iarelelarfar morganorrorgan iss aaccepacceyac cep 4 infrazza isiJ1 s I present form by theitheathe departmentdenlardencarbencart nentment ol01of theatre andand cineriaij arts af3f brigham young university as satisfying the projectprojecoroiacirot rci ec re ulirzireienzirelezeienelene for the degree of master of arts hasold877317R oaks srniarni cee zt& g lalaardaarar C ifeaettEe fretterett cdisceiscelsadisCd is erbenembererber betelfetel 1797 am date char&mlesiesleslasL hmetettenitenioenaten dear rrencenxenen chairman i ackhovhghentsAC KNOILII GIIIENTS I1 express sincere gratitudegrat iltudeiltrude to the many friends who shared their time and talents tobo helheihelpheipp nerie complete this projectJ to vancevanee everett who meticulously handcopiedhand copied the music to stuart wakefield who drewdrewdiaglramsdiagrams for this script and provided dimensions for blocks used in this production to teresa dayley who helped develop the exercises to max cropper whovrho photographed the stage structures and to ellen berrey who helped me record the choreography and stage direc- tions theyhavethey have all donated their titimeme in spite of other pressing resresponsibilitiesoonsibilities dr harold R oaks was an inexhaustible source of strength and confidence his constant willingness to stop whatever he was doing and listen to any problems set an example that will always be valuable to me these frillfriendsindsands and others not only made possible the completion of this work 5 but also helped me appreciate the basis of true friend- shipaship a willingness to sacrifice for another without expecting recompense 11 1 my arnt finally1nallynaily5 I thank famifamilycamiliyllywiy whose constantconst supportsupport 5 confdenceconfidenceconfidencesconfconfidenceycont dence and prayers encouraged me I1inf n this achievement ihiihl111 TABLE OF CONTENTSCOINTENTS acknowledgments illiti chapter I1 ORIGIN AND background 1 development of the play 1 research 0 a 2 cast selection andtryoutand Tryouttryoutstryedy outs 3 rehearsals performance and response 4 I1II11 MORMON MONTAGE 9 cast of original production 10 original cast of mormon ontagemontageM 11 script accomplishment index 11 notes to the director lu14 notes to thethedesignerdesigner 18 mormon montage 20 APPENDIX A LETTER FROM LDS CHURCH HISTORIAN 12712 B BYU LETTER SENT TO DEANS AND FACULTY OF 0 0 0 129 C activities auda10AND improvisational situations FOR TRYOUTSTRY OUTS 132 rehearsal exercises 13134 inprovisationalimprovisational situations for trycutstryoutstry cutsouts 135 D REHEARSAL SCHEDULE AND EXERCISES ika148 introduction 19149 rehearsal exercises 15154 additional references for warnwarmupswarm ups 252 E performancepreperformancePRE AND harmWARMUPWABMUPWARMWABMUP activities 25254 iv F A categorical INDEX TO THE activities IN appendixes C D AMAND E 262 introduction Is 0 0 it 0 0 263 index 6 4 0 f 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 264 G EXAMPLE OF A REVIEW orOF MORMON MONTAGE 273 H PROGRAM FOR MORMON MONTAMONTAGEE 275 I1 photographs OF complicated structures I1 1 278 J BLOCK dimensions I1 I1 303 K MUSIC SCORES 310 L choreography 336 M PUBLICITY FOR MORMON MONTAGE 34534.5 N additional references FOR CONTINUED RESEARCH 37347 SELECSELECTEDTED bibliography I1 I1 352 v CHAPTCHAPTERF-R I1T ORIGIN AMAND BACIMRCTbackgroundmi development oftheodtheof thetee playP the savior said ye shall know them by their fruits this admonition though given centuries ago still applies to the advocates of truth today members of the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints are oltenoften heralded for their religreligiousloustous scholarly achievement but few realize the contributions that havebeenhave been made in secular fields suchasbuchassachsuch as politics education science technology and business while traveling in various parts of the world ahewherevhe e the church population is limited dr harold R oaks realized the need for such isolated saints to have identification models in the church with whom they could relate youth particularly around the world are constantly challenged and bombarded with pressures causing them to fall and lose hold of their testimonies of jesus christ if information could be gathered and a play written concerning the great contributions mormons have made to the world perhaps the pride of bingbeing a mormon could be instilled in the hearts of young people and strength could be given to other members of the church A production of thithlthiss type could also aid who know inn the work of spreadingA the c1cagospel to those do not yet of the great fruits it yields 2 according to leonard a-ringtonaringtonarringtonrringtoeton LDS church historian ttthisthis information has never been compiled it and a project of this kind will be worthwhile not onlyorayonay to BYU but to the church as a wholerwhoiewholewhole1 see appendix A dr oaks thus wrote mormonmormonmontage t which was originally produced at brigham young university in march 1978 the sesquicentennial coactcojctcommitteeleeuee of the church has shown an interest in this play and so I1 have endeavored to prepare a rehearsalrehearsalqualityquality script and production notes that are available for publication I1 recorded the process of script development and assisted in the research rehearsal and performance of the origi- nal production research to develop a script of this nature it was necessary toAto research and compile the names and accomplishmentsaccompli shmentssements of Morcormonsmormonsmons to do this we used the following method I11 A letter was sentsenad to deans and faculty members at BYU see appendix B 2 A trip was made to salt lakdaklakedakee to obtain information from the church historicalHistohistoricaldericaidericalDedepartmentrartmett and 16thedhe archives 3 the alumni association gave us lists of graduates of BYU who had achieved in their field 4 through the music department files information was gathered on variousvarvacvecrious mormon musicians and the tabernacle choir 5 the BYU library collectioncalleccollec clonciondion of mormon works as well as theses done on famous mormons were researched 3 6 articles to ask forfodfoj information concerning signifi- cant contributions made by norMormormonsronspons were printed in newspapers such as the daily herald provo utah the dailydallyliyuniverse brigham young university student newspaper deseret newsmevsmews salt lake city utah and church news a section of deseret news 7 biographies journals and personal interviews were also included in the research cast selection and tryouts mormon montage TT was written cast and produced in 1978 tryouts were held january tenth through twelfth students audi- tioning for the play were rerequiredred to sing a song plplay2 y an instrument if possiblepossinblebieand learn and execute movementaamovement sequence A one minute auditionaud tion selection was also recommended those called back were chosen because of their sparklesparkiespark- e enthusiasm and confidence before an audience honesty depend- ability and trustworthiness were1 also considered one of the greatest assets to an improvisational show of this kind is a company that works welltogetherwellweiltogether thus their ability to create in a group and relate to others was tested through improvisational situations see appendix C they were also required to test their ability to speakspeakwithvithwith an accent and put the impact of emotion behind their words former theatrical experience was not a pre- requisite as some drama students would have difficulty creating spontaneously in this type of a productproductionI11 on because of their experience in working with a formalformyormala written scripscriptc english french german and utahanubahanufcahaa accents were essential in the script 4 the director also needs to be aware of other qualities used by characters in the play such as a high soprano or strong singing voice for emma ramsay corricmorrismorric and gymnast abilities for allesandro viero thus I1 learned the importance of being sensitive to the talents of others particularly in an audition situation many backgrounds and abilities had to be assessed that were not sp- ecifically performed for example because the script had not been fully written we did not know until its completion