Advanced Topics in Theater Arts
21M.704 Musical Theater Workshop
Spring 2006
Thomas F. DeFrantz
defrantz@mit.edu

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT #3
DUE Thursday April 20, 2006

Sweet Charity Character Backstory

view the film version of the musical Sweet Charity, available HERE.

Write a 2 page analysis of a single character in the musical. Using the musical as a starting point, construct an imaginary character biography that might include a family history, social and geographic circumstance surrounding your character’s upbringing, the story surrounding his or her arrival in the place where we meet the character in the play, or how he or she forms relationships with people.

Do not write a backstory for Charity Hope Valentine. You may choose from any of the other characters that you feel offer you enough information to imagine. You should support your flights of fancy with some textual evidence. For example, if the playwright tells us that the character is claustrophobic, be sure that your biography offers evidence that might contribute to that condition. If your character cries easily, you might imagine the situations that made this so.

Your analysis should be ‘written,’ that is, you should frame specific arguments in English with an attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Be creative, but be sure to ground your invention in the reality of the play, its time period, and the character information provided by the playwright. Your paper need only be two-pages long, so you probably will only have time to take on a few important incidents or character traits in your analysis. Be particular, and offer examples or evidence supported by the musical to underscore your arguments.