technical rehearsal evaluation

In preparation for our show ‘aspirations and dreams’ to take place on Friday the 27th we arranged a full cast rehearsal so we could carry out a technical run giving backstage a chance to practise with the music, lighting and microphone set up. It also gave the acts a chance to practise on the stage and use the space provided. Because it is down to our BTEC group to organise the whole production we started the rehearsal by setting up and assembling the blocks that would complete the staging area and made sure it was stable to avoid an accident. Then we got the standing microphones organised, connecting them and putting them on the staging in the position where they would be needed first with the help of our previously drawn up mic-cue sheet. We checked the two head-mics were working and ready to be used. We decided to let the guest acts rehearse first and each act did a full technical run through. We also directed all the acts as to where on stage they should be for best effect to make sure the audience got the best view and experience watching the acts. We experimented with using head-mics and standing mics on singers and actors to find out what produced the best sound and overall performance quality so the audience gets a good show. It was very exciting to see it all come together for the first time. The guest acts were all really amazing and are really going to add to the show giving it a huge amount of variety that would not have been possible if we attempted this show using just our group. On our part is was a very good decison to find a backstage crew instead of trying to manage it ourselves because none of us had anny real experience in this area, however during the tech rehearsal we did learn a lot about how the sound and lighting works which was very good for us.

picture from the rehearsal We rehearsed a few of our group numbers just to see what the sound was like and if we had enough space on the stage. We found that our ‘Annie’ numbers went very well and everyone projected their voices well so that all audience members would be able to hear. However when rehearsing our ‘we will rock you’ section we got feedback saying we weren’t loud enough when singing which is a big issue we will have to work hard on in time for Fridays performance. All in all the rehearsal went very well and it was very enjoyable to watch the guest acts as well as practise ourselves. I think the technical run through has meant we can stop worrying about lighting and musical issues and instead focus on the performance aspect of the show.

Musical theatre evaluation

Musical theatre overall evaluation. This last section of the course has been, for me, by far the most enjoyable. Its been an ongoing project with bits and bobs of the last assignment popping up everywhere. The first main project was the LHS has got talent dance competition. This was a great experience for us as a group as it was the first chance for us to show off all our musical theatre skills together as opposed to just dancing. The final ‘ hairspray’ peice was amazingly well choreographed with the singers and dancing parts working together flawlessly. The hardest part of preparing this dance was the transitions between singing and dancing and as it was our first attempt at a musical theatre peice i think we managed this very well. Performing was very exciting for us all there was a real buzz back stage and everyone really got a taste for a proper performance. Even though we did rec ieve some negative feedback from the judges we had to much fun to let it bother us that much and it was a harsh lesson in how tough the whole industry is. Working towards performing a monologue was the next task we had to face. For me this was a nerve racking thought as i find acting, especially a scripted piece, hard as there is a lot of pressure to perform the words right and i always worry m y interpretation will be wrong. But using my growing confidence gained from drama lessons in and out of school i have learnt that you should always use your gut feeling on how to interpret a piece because even if you are wrong you cant perform it properly if you don’t believe how you are presenting it. And generally there is no right interpretation and i have seen many west end shows with different leading ladies that have slightly changed the interpretation of a whole character and its always so well received by the audiences. So i took the task onboard and spent a long time preparing, because my character was Anne Frank i did a bit of research into her. i was terrified when it actually came to performing but i found the words did flow a lot easier when i relaxed into it. Afterwards i was pleased with my performance and received a distinction for the acting section so my worry was unessacary. next we had to begin work for our huge end of year show. after deciding on the logistics and themes ect we begun to work on dances we could put in that we had already devised before. we decided not use our hairspray dance as many people felt it, firstly did not fit with the theme and secondly was not popular to a lot of the group memebers so we set to work on creating a few new dances that fit perfectly,so we choose two songs from 'Annie' and even after changing our original theme we kept these in. we also devised a routine to 'dont stop me now' to go along side 'somebody to love' both put in so we could show of our costumes made in constume construction linking the two parts of the course together. the tecnical preperations for the show are what all of us struggled with most as none of us were used to it and honestly had no idea where to start. the first choice we made was to find a good technical crew that could help us in an area we werent familiar with. This was a very good decision and meant we could learn a lot about stage management and lighting ect as we planned for the show. on the night the whole production was amazing, the tech crew were such a good help and their experience put us at ease a lot! All the performances went so well and the respone afterwards was amazing. I think that if i was to try and put on a show again i would only change a few things. Firstly i would spend a lot more time learning about the backstage elements and sound and lighting because i found this was hard for me knowing nothing at all. Also i think its an important part of working in the industry and as a performer its good to know about all the behind the scenes things. Another thing i would do is have more whole cast rehearsals because for the size of the production one was not really enough but this couldnt be helped because of spacing and finding the time to arrange one. this whole unit has been my favourite! i loved it so much its everything i want to do when im older and i had so much fun singing on stage and performing properly to a paying audience and getting such good feedback was the perfect end to an amazing two years

Cabaret

For the last few weeks we have been perfecting our ‘Chicago’ dance to the song ‘all that jazz’ because as part of our final jazz assessment we had to perform at the annual cabaret show. As the dance was already choreographed it only needed tweaking and improving certain sections to make it perfect for the show. Unlike with pervious performances this one was less stressful simply for the fact the choreography already existed. In the lessons building up to the performance we focussed on characterization and facial expressions because the context to this routine and song are very important to the whole persecution of the dance. The main change we made was to cut out the singing. This decision was made because for this performance in cabaret we were only to be assessed on our jazz dancing and the singing would distract focus from the dancing which had to be the most important feature. To further help the audience understand the context of the dance we planned our costumes and make-up very carefully. As we had all watched the film before it was a unanimous decision to wear fish net tights with a black leotard and black jazz shoes. Ideally we would’ve worn black heels as in the show but firstly no one owned appropriate height heels and black jazz shoes are easier for dancing. For our hair and make-up we did a high bun with no hair on our face for safety reasons and as it would take away from our facial expressions. Then we did big stage make-up with red lipstick to add to the sensual side to the dance. Before the performance started everyone began to get a big nervous especially about the chair section as that was when most could go wrong. Then to add to the stress of performing once we were on stage the wrong music was played 3 times, but like true professionals we stayed in our opening position and tried to hide the nervous giggles the best we could. The performance was very exciting for me because I love the film Chicago and the dance we had created was by far my favourite routine over the two years. I loved it! The chair section is the most fun part although still the most nerve racking as the chairs could easily slip. The reaction from the audience was amazing! Everyone really loved it and the hair and make-up made the performance much more interesting visually and feedback told us that it did help portray the dance better for people that haven’t seen the film. Everyone commented on the exceptional choreography and how professional it was carried out! So all in all a massive success. If I was to d it again I would perhaps try and enhance the costumes more who heels just to give it a greater feel and I would definitely make sure the music was to start on time as waiting on stage just added to nerves

EDIT: the part in the chair section that we found so tricky was firstly the part when we have to lean back( so our back is flat) and extend one leg this was because on stage the chairs felt unstable. Secondly the part when we had to kick whilst standing on the chairs, this was hard because of the small space and again the chairs felt unstable even though they were perfectly safe.

the talent studio

The talent studio After school on a Monday i take part in a singing/drama club called ‘the talent studio’ in Watford. Its run by Jeff,a familiar face in the west end who most recently played Javert in Les Miserable’s. I got into this club through a friend and have been taking part for 10 weeks now. The first few weeks were full of games and short acting improvisations that were designed to get us to know each other because it is a completely new drama group so no one knew each other previously. Then we started looking at singing techniques and in such a short time i have already learnt some very helpful tips and some great voice warm up techniques. Jeff’s voice is stunning and so powerful and i get Goosebumps just listening to him and i think his loudness and brashness when singing encourages the rest of us to be loud and try hard as well which is very helpful. He also taught us in great detail about different parts of our voice from the ‘witchy ‘ sound found by the top of your mouth to the ‘bear, soft’ sound found in your throat. Hes also taught us some great songs my favourite of which is ‘purple summer’ from ‘spring awakening’ a musical i am now desperate to see. We’ve also started learning about animalistic acting and comparing a persons character to that of an animal to gain a greater understanding of how they should compose themselves. I really look forward to Mondays now and this term were putting together a small show which is very exciting

2012 Rock challenge showcase

On February the 22nd it was finally time for our school to showcase our entry for this year’s rock challenge at Stevenage leisure centre. With so much effort and time going into our performance this year it’s safe to say everyone was very excited to finally get to show off to the other schools there that day. This year our theme of a ‘midsummer night’s dream’ meant that there was extra pressure on us as everyone is well aware of this famous play unlike in previous years where the story we performed would’ve been previously unknown to the audience this and the fact that we are now a premier league school meant a lot more effort and time went into this year’s entry.
Once we had got there it was clear everyone was just as excited to be there as us. Watching the other schools rehearse was lovely for us and seeing just what everyone else had managed to put together and it really helped us get into the spirit of the day. When it was time for us to rehearse we all got a bit nervous because of the expectation on us, this was good though as it made everyone realise we did have to be the best there and we knew we were capable of it. I thought both our rehearsals went really well and I loved every second of it! Hearing the audience cheering along from the moment the tap dancers started was a really great feeling and I think it motivated everyone to put there all into it.
After the excitement of our very successful rehearsals died down the madness that is getting everyone ready for the real performance began. It was really amazing watching everyone get dressed up especially the fairies as there make up and costumes were just so lovely and extravagant. I think this year’s costumes and make-up are by far the best yet as so much detail went into everything. The costumes that our btec group made looked even more spectacular on the dancers especially with the amazing make-up as well.
Once everyone was ready the real nerves began to set in as this was when we realised we now had to own the stage and be the absolute best we could be. And we were! The performance couldn’t have gone better! And the noise from the crowd made it so much more exciting. It’s safe to say everyone was chuffed with how it went! It was definitely worth all the hard work just for the buzz that came after knowing we had done so well. The nice thing about Stevenage is that we don’t have to compete so there is no real pressure yet there is an almost nice pressure to be amazing. I had the best day and I can’t wait for Portsmouth now!

evaluation of jazz workshops

The jazz workshops I participated in were really enjoyable and I had great time learning about the dance styles I wouldn’t usually even think about. I found learning the rock and roll version easiest I think because its most like what I’m used to but the contemporary was still great fun to try out. I enjoyed rock and roll most as well because it was really pace and cute and the music choice was well selected to make it more fun. If I was to do my own workshop again I would perhaps try to break down the moves I’m teaching more because some people struggled with street as it was so different to the ballet/contemporary style they were used to. And maybe pick a faster song because the one we choose was quite slow and people may have enjoyed it more if it was faster and had a stronger beat, this would also have made movements look more effective. I think that the workshops worked really well and everyone had a great time. More importantly we all learnt how to teach a routine to a group of people and break it down to make it easier which is an important skill to have. The routines themselves were really lovely! The ballet one especially flowed well and had some nice technical moves in that were nice to learn and looked very effective. Considering it was our first go at teaching an entire routine I think everyone did a really good job and the final outcome shows this.

costume construction final outcomes

In costume construction we have been working on putting the final touches on our rock challenge fairy costumes as well as adding bits to goblins costumes as well. The hard work involved in making the costume was finished a while ago with all the sewing on of fabrics and dying of leotards and tights but this last few weeks have been devoted to getting the leaves and roses we made onto the costumes to give them that ‘wood land’ effect that is required of a midsummer night’s dream. We also had to cut up some dark brown trousers and decorate them with leaves to be the goblins costumes. The four main fairies costumes also had to be completed with a lot more roses being put on Tatiana’s and glitter. Thankfully we have managed to get them all finished in time for the show and now it just stands to see if they’ll survive being used on stage. I’m very pleased with how all the costumes look and I’ve enjoyed making them a lot more than I thought I would.