CLOE Concept Street Musical

In an age where travel is increasingly within our reach, how great would it be if we could take a trip to the past? Wonderful, right?! Today we invite you to discover the “Viagem Medieval em Terra de Santa Maria” (Medieval Journey in the Land of Santa Maria)!

CLOE Concept Street Musical

One of the main objectives of the CLOE project is the production of a Concept Street Musical, performed in the streets of Italy, Greece and Portugal.

What is a Concept Street Musical?

A Concept Musical is a type of musical in which not much importance is given to the narrative plot or to the performance, but to the message it conveys.

A Concept Musical is rarely popular or particularly profitable, although it often garners critical praise, scholarly attention, and a cult following among the musical theater literati
KATHRYN EDNEY

The street dimension was added by the project team to give a more informal approach to the final result and to create a stronger connection with the local communities engaged during the process.

Why the Concept Street Musical?

The CLOE team decided to adopt this format because it can be much more inclusive than traditional musicals. In fact, the focus on the message allows the leaders to work both with experienced and inexperienced youths in the artistic and creative field.

Moreover, streets and open spaces are more inclusive than a theater venue and are a “natural scenography” for a representation open to all, to take part in the show performance.

The flexible format of this musical allows it to be staged in urban and non-urban landscapes, different from each other and in different countries contexts.
The same landscapes where the local communities live their everyday life, animating the places and becoming part of the concept musical itself.

Finally, a concept street musical allows to experiment new mixes of artistic expressions and combine different styles emerging in urban context and the youth’s amatorial world, such as “indie music”, new rock and hip-hop movements.

The message to convey

The first step for the creation of the CLOE Concept Street Musical was to identify the messages to convey with the musical.

The partners involved in the project met several times to discuss the issue and eventually agreed on the shared concept:

We chose UNISON as the main message of our Concept Street Musical. UNISON is a technical word used in music that defines a condition of harmony. It can also be interpreted in a creative way, to symbolize the act of being together and working together, being all part of a new Europe and playing in unison.

The definition of UNISON from the OXFORD DICTIONARY:

The definition of UNISON from the OXFORD DICTIONARY:

NOUN

Simultaneous performance or utterance of action or speech. (‘‘Yes, sir,’ said the girls in unison’)
in Music: Coincidence in pitch of sounds or notes. (‘the flutes play in unison with the violas’)
In Music: a combination of notes, voices, or instruments at the same pitch or (especially when singing) in octaves. (‘good unisons are formed by flutes, oboes, and clarinets’)

ADJECTIVE

Performed in unison. (‘unison congregational singing’).

This concept can be then articulated in different ways on the basis of the different country and context where the musical is staged.

For example, in different countries the idea of UNISON and HARMONY can be connected to:

Greece: the myth and the roots of Europe, dating back to philosophy and democracy, to show how much from these origins we can draw inspiration to tackle the so-called new normal.

Italy: to the multicultural European identity, highlighting the value of cultural heritage and landscapes, from which new generations can draw new creative energies.

Portugal: to the first explorers approach to new discoveries and innovations, to tell how creative minds can make the difference and develop a more inclusive and sustainable EU.

The production of the CLOE Musical

The CLOE Distance Co-creation Labs and the CLOE Concept Street Musical are 2 of the main goals of the CLOE Project and are strictly connected to one another.

The Co-creation Labs, in fact, have the objective to provide a common structure for the Musical, shared by all the involved partners.

During the process of the Labs, the participants will create a common song, with the related music arrangements and choreography, so that each partner will be able to include this shared performance in their local shows staged in Italy, Greece and Portugal.

Simultaneously, each local team will work on different performances tailored to their local communities and contexts.