Creating a Unique Backstory for Individual Songs and/or Individual Character Roles in Plays and Musicals


When you sing a song, you’re telling a story, whether you sing Blues, Broadway, Metal, Country, Rock, or Pop.  When you're creating a character on the stage or on film, that character has to be portrayed as a "real", a "whole" person.  This means, if you don't understand the motivation for, the reasons why a character says or does a certain thing, it is not believable to the audience.  As my Father-in-Law always said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”  An audience can be distracted by “bells and whistles” for a little while but gimmicks and vocal gymnastics are only entertaining the first couple of times.  After that, they need to hear some kind of “personal connection”.  We have all seen ensemble performances where one or more actors were, OBVIOUSLY, "acting", pretending.  They didn't know WHAT they were doing or why they were doing it, so we, as the audience, didn't believe their performance either.  This is where a “backstory” comes in handy.  A Backstory is the “history” and background you create for a song, for a character in a play or musical, or for the person singing or acting it.  In other instances, it is the story of WHY you are singing the song or acting the role in a particular way; WHY you feel the way you do and are expressing yourself the way you are; and WHAT has happened in your life to make you feel the way you do about things?  Here are a list of questions you can ask yourself to help you craft your own personal Backstory for each particular song or part:
  1. What kinds of things do you already know about the person singing the song or acting the part by analyzing the lyrics of the song or the words of the script?
  2. What does your character LOOK like?  What is your character’s most noticeable trait?  Does your character have any physical defects or attributes that cause him or her trouble?
  3. What flaws does the character have?
  4. What secrets does the character keep?
  5. What are the character’s greatest strengths?
  6. What kind of music does the character enjoy?  Does the character have musical talent?  Play an instrument?  Sing?  Dance?
  7. What is your character’s favorite Movie?  Song?  Color?  Place?  Person?  Food?
  8. Who does your character admire most?
  9. Does your character have a favorite piece of clothing?  Shoes?  Favorite Sweatshirt or something?  (e. g. Could be a stuffed animal from their childhood or their first baseball glove, or just a ratty old t-shirt from college)
  10. Does the character have a favorite Sport?  Video Game?  Hobby? TV Show?  Any other “favorites” you can think of?  Does he or she “collect” anything?
  11. Does your character have any particular weaknesses or vices?
  12. Does he or she have any fears, phobias, or apprehensions that could affect his or her performance?
  13. What are the character’s secret dreams, wishes, or aspirations?
  14. What is the character most proud of?
  15. What is the character most embarrassed by?
  16. What causes or caused your character the deepest regret?
  17. What was the worst moment or event in your character’s life?
  18. What is your character’s greatest worry or worst nightmare?
  19. What was your character’s greatest achievement?  Greatest Dream or Hope?
  20. Does your character have any kind of obsession or anything he or she will always avoid doing?
  21. What person or persons are the important to your character, important for your character to please?
  22. What person or persons does your character hold in the highest esteem, most want to please or impress, most want to avoid disappointing?
  23. Describe the character’s family…Mother…Father…Brothers…Sisters…Any Other Important Family Member, like an important Grandparent
  24. Where does your character live? 
  25. How old is your character?  Are there any birth order dynamics that impact your character, such as being the baby in the family, so always needing to prove something, that type of thing?
  26. Where does your character “live”, stay most of the time (like his or her bedroom; the basement, where the television is set up; where he or she works)?  List 3 or 4 items from the area that make it memorable and important to your character.
  27. Is your character a “Glass is Half Empty” or “Glass is Half Full” kind of person?  This means, is your character basically a negative person or a positive person in their perspectives.
  28. What makes the character angry?  What calms the character down?
  29. What makes the character happy?  Sad?  Afraid?  Excited?  Desperate?
  30. Are there things about the character that he or she would genuinely like to change?
  31. Does the character have dreams or nightmares?  Do these or other conditions cause your character to wake up in the middle of the night?  What are they and why?
  32. Are there other circumstances, beyond your character’s control, that affect his or her life?  These could be something like weather conditions, other people’s behaviors, or changing conditions at the workplace.
  33. Describe a recurring dream or nightmare this character might have.
  34. List the choices (not circumstances) that led this character to his/her current predicament.
  35. How do others, strangers view your character?  How would a loved-one describe your character?
  36. If your character only had a month to live, what would he or she do in the time that was left?
  37. Is there anything your character is hiding from others about him or her? 
  38. Now list any other specifics you can think of about your character, especially WHY he or she is singing this particular song?
       I realize this is a RIDICULOUSLY long list of questions and NO, you don’t need to answer these for every single song BUT this is a great list of things to consider even if it is for only a single song.  I recommend WRITING out the Backstory and storing that written description with your music, lyrics, and arrangement details.  All of this contributes to helping you be able to sing the song consistently, and well EVERY time, for years and years to come.
       Thanks so much for reading!  I hope this post is really practically helpful for each of you.  Please send me all your comments, questions, and suggestions for future blog post topics.  I look forward to hearing from each of you.  If you have any questions or comments about my lessons, or me please check out my website at www.SingitForward.net.  I am constantly working on new and different posts, so keep checking here.  Keep singing!  Remember, sing it forward!

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