Aura - Hands on a Hard Body

            In class, we discussed aura and how that changes with distance. I thought that this related to seeing shows in person, rather than on a screen. I saw Hands on a Hard Body that was shown at University in the Tornabene Theatre.

In this production, there was a live band that was playing above the stage. Instead of just having backing tracks, instruments were being played live. This gave the overall play an authentic and country feel. One of my favorite songs in the musical was ‘Stronger” sung by the character Chris. In this song, Chris finally opens up about who he is and his journey to where he currently is in life. Previous to this song, Chris had not said much and had not joined in on the group’s joyous dance numbers. In this song, Chris discusses his experience with serving overseas and the harsh realities of that life. The clarity and precision of the actor’s voice alongside the live instruments brought this story to life. I could clearly feel the emotion with every word that was sung. I believe that with the live band, it added to the intensity of the emotion as I could feel every beat pulse through my body. This song almost brought me to tears. The actor used the appropriate volume for each given moment within the song. The actor did an excellent job of allowing the audience to connect to his story through his body language, the control over his voice, and his facial expressions. This character quickly went from someone that I did not think twice about to my favorite character.

            One of the most interesting parts of this musical was the set design and choreography. The main part of the set was the red truck in the center of the room. There was also and office and a table for the radio station towards the back of the set. The interesting part about the truck was that they could get it to move on the stage. Over the course of the play, the actors and actresses were constantly rotating, circling, and climbing on the truck. Throughout each one of the songs, they had choreographed dances where they were moving the truck on the stage. I believe that the moving truck allowed them to keep the audience’s attention throughout the entirety of the show. Since the plot was centered on the characters not moving their hands off the truck, the moving truck added excitement and movement to the scenes. The choreography appeared to be extremely difficult with the amount of people moving in different directions and the moving vehicle. However, I believe that the cast made it look like it was second nature to them.

            Overall, I think that distance does affect aura. Seeing a live performance of the show gave me an experience that I could not have gotten through watching it on a television. I was able to see and feel the characters’ emotions as they acted them out onstage. For anyone who has never seen a show live, I highly suggest it.