Farquharson, Faculty Advisor, Professor Linda

Vayo, Faculty Advisor, Dr. David

Wyatt, Christopher Scott

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Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 1993, 4th Annual JWP ConferenceMay 8th, 9:30 AM - 4:30 PMBums: A Musical Comedy in Three ActsChristopher Scott WyattIllinois Wesleyan UniversityDr. David Vayo, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityProfessor Linda Farquharson, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Christopher Scott Wyatt; Dr. David Vayo, Faculty Advisor; and Professor Linda Farquharson, Faculty Advisor, "Bums: AMusical Comedy in Three Acts" (May 8, 1993). John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 3.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/1993/posters/3BUMS A Musical Comedy in Three Acts Christopher Scott Wyatt, Dept. of Music., IWU, Dr. David Vayo'" and Professor Linda Farquharson'" Bums is a musical about four vagrants living in Chicago during the depression. The musical takes place in the year 1934, two days before Christmas. The first scene begins in an old run-down hotel on the south-side of Chicago that the four bums call their home. They are discovered by Officer Friedlich, a very sterI1 German police officer, who kicks them out in the cold. The following day, the four bums split up to beg for money. Fred, the lead character, is approached by Mrs. Carol, a very friendly and wealthy widowp who gives him a Christmas gift of five dollars. As Mrs. Carol is leaving, Fred notices a stray dog shivering in the cold. He proceeds to care for it and keep it warm. At this very moment, Officer Friedlich and a chauffeur show up and accuse Fred of dognapping. He is then taken to Jail and locked up. Lawrence, a monstrous jail mate, threatens to pulverize Fred. Just as Lawrence takes hold of Freds' shirt, Mrs. Carol, and the other three bums arrive to bail Fred out. Mrs. Carol discovers that her dog, Penelope, was lost by her chauffeur and that Fred retrieved it. As a result, she rewards Fred and the other three bums with fifty dollars. This project teaches a young musician to be well rounded in almost every realm of music. As a result, it requires research in composition, which includes learning and understanding orchestration techniques, style traits, and ever computer technology. It is a musical, therefore, it also requires understanding in libretto and or script writing. Such large scale works need a leader or a conductor, thereforep further development in this area of musicianship had to take place as well. The comedy and humor is based on shows such as the "Honeymooners/' and old "Bugs Bunny " cartoons. The musical style contains characteristics of both Jazz and Classical music. 

Bums: A Musical Comedy in Three Acts

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Bums: A Musical Comedy in Three Acts

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