Spring Break
Distinguished a cappella troupe re-enacts World War I cease fire
KATIE ANDREW
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Out & About
"We sing everything from trench songs to highly arranged Christmas carols," Lichte said.
"We chose the idea of using a radio drama because this was the means of expression that existed at the time. Radio served a purpose in World War I."
Humble emphasized the importance of underscoring, the music playing quietly under a scene, to this particular piece.
"When you watch a horror movie with the volume turned down, it's not nearly as scary because the music isn't getting you all revved up," Humble explained. "The underscoring comes from all the songs of the time - songs the Germans were singing, songs the British were singing, songs the soldiers were singing to one another."
To bolster the radio drama concept, the show has a bare minimal set design, so the audience has few distractions from the moving story portrayed before them.
"There's not really much of a set or costumes at all. You could really listen to this on the radio and it be almost as powerful," Humble said. "We don't want to take away from the actual words of the soldiers."
Lichte also emphasized how important it is that the audience create their own visuals.
"Peter Rothstein was adamant about the fact that there's no stage big enough to graph the magnitude of war. The Christmas Truce happened along thousands of miles of the front, so we really allow these [images] to happen in the imagination."
Often, said images are so evocative, even the performers aren't immune.
"After performing the show, we saw that one of the biggest challenges was for the singers to not get too emotionally involved," Humble said. "You can't sing if you're crying."
"We chose the idea of using a radio drama because this was the means of expression that existed at the time. Radio served a purpose in World War I."
Humble emphasized the importance of underscoring, the music playing quietly under a scene, to this particular piece.
"When you watch a horror movie with the volume turned down, it's not nearly as scary because the music isn't getting you all revved up," Humble explained. "The underscoring comes from all the songs of the time - songs the Germans were singing, songs the British were singing, songs the soldiers were singing to one another."
To bolster the radio drama concept, the show has a bare minimal set design, so the audience has few distractions from the moving story portrayed before them.
"There's not really much of a set or costumes at all. You could really listen to this on the radio and it be almost as powerful," Humble said. "We don't want to take away from the actual words of the soldiers."
Lichte also emphasized how important it is that the audience create their own visuals.
"Peter Rothstein was adamant about the fact that there's no stage big enough to graph the magnitude of war. The Christmas Truce happened along thousands of miles of the front, so we really allow these [images] to happen in the imagination."
Often, said images are so evocative, even the performers aren't immune.
"After performing the show, we saw that one of the biggest challenges was for the singers to not get too emotionally involved," Humble said. "You can't sing if you're crying."
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