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.

WE WILL ROCK YOU @ the domminion theatre

On Thursday during half term I went up to London with my mum and sister because my sister had been begging for weeks to see the lion king, luckily for me we got a bit lost and ended up walking past the dominion theatre where we will rock you is currently playing and she fell in love with the giant gold Freddie mercury and the pictures all around advertising the show and so we ended up getting tickets for that instead. Happy days
I saw well will rock you about 4 years ago and I loved it back then but seeing it again now means I can appreciate it a lot more because I can understand a lot more of the adult humour and I never fully appreciated the technical side to this show such as the lighting and computer animations which are incredible. Another thing I appreciated a lot more this time round was how well it was written, in my opinion we will rock you doesn’t have the most thrilling story line like musicals such as wicked and les mis do but it’s a perfect story line. I think this because my 9 year old sister understood exactly what was going on and it really thrilled her wondering who the killer queen would catch next and would they ever find the lost instrument, where as when she watched wicked bits had to be explained to her. It’s also the perfect story line because there is a lot of very well carried out adult humour which the adults and older children really love! It’s like it can’t go wrong.
Of course the songs are probably the most amazing part of the whole show because they all come from Queen. They also are fitted in perfectly with the show, like there’s not a single song that you think ‘wow that didn’t need to be there’ showing again how well written it was. The cast this time round were just as perfect as the time before and I think the whole show is just so much fun, you leave feeling really excited almost which doesn’t happen with a lot of musicals, I think the somewhat light-hearted story line helps this a lot because shows like les mis and blood brothers are truly amazing but the story line means you leave feeling like you’ve been on a roller coaster of emotions, unlike we will rock you.
I love this show and it’s my second favourite musical of all time and I could honestly go and watch it every day and not get bored because it just has so many amazing moments in it! I would recommend it to everyone

variety show

Variety show.
In performing arts now we are working towards a big end of year show that will show off all that we have been learning through the last two years. Firstly we had to pick a theme that would enable us to have a wide variety of acts so we weren’t limited. We toyed with the idea of an Oscar’s themed show and an ‘around the world’ theme but in the end we settled of loosely basing it around the musical ‘Annie’ but focussing more on the dreams of the orphans. Straight away we got started on choreographing the opening number which we decided should be two popular Annie songs ‘maybe’ and ‘its a hard knock life’. We decided for maybe we would just focus on the singing and make sure it sounded good; for it’s a hard knock life we choreographed simple dance moves that fitted well with the musical we had chosen. Rehearsals for both these numbers were very successful and everyone had a lot of good ideas to put forward meaning it was easy for us to get it done quickly which was important as we have a whole show to devise.
To incorporate our costume construction work into our show so because our costumes were made based on the show ‘we will rock you’ the easiest thing for us to do was choreograph a we will rock you number. We settled for two songs ‘don’t stop me now’ and ‘somebody to love’. We choose these songs because they are very well known and there is a lot of room for dance and singing in both of them. Getting a routine devised for ‘don’t stop me now’ proved harder than the Annie songs because everyone had a bit of a different idea about how it should look. I think because a lot of people haven’t seen the show they interpret it differently to those who have but this was interesting because in the end we got a very good routine devised that everyone really loves performing.

costume construction evaluation

EVALUATION
For costume constriction our task was to design a fairy costume for the production of a midsummer night’s dream. We were told to focus on the fairies in the production and design a costume that would be effective on stage as well as easy to dance in and comfortable. It must also fit the theme of a midsummer night’s dream. To make the skirt I folded bits of satin fabric over in two and sewed them onto the top band of the skirt. I did repeat this step with a variety of colours that fit the scheme that I had chosen which were pinks, purples and greens. I choose these colours because they are fairy-like and also have the woodland colours that fit the production. Once I had finished sewing on the satin I added roses and leaves to the skirt to add to the effect it will have on stage and to make it more fairy-like. The leotard and tights were dyed to match the colours id chosen for my skirt and then I sewed on more roses and a few leaves onto the leotard so that it would look prettier and match the skirt better so they look like a proper set. I had to make sure the roses and leaves were secure by adding a few more stitches than really needed as if it was to fall apart on stage the whole effect would be lost and the performer wearing it would be put off. Making this costume was quite easy once id got the hang of sewing on the satin as this was the fiddliest part.

Chicago and Blood brothers

Yesterday I went to London to see Chicago and I've been waiting so long to see this musical I honestly couldn’t wait. The only film I seem to watch lately is Chicago and I thought the show would be just as spectacular. To start with I was a bit disappointed because I found I really didn’t like the opening. I’m not sure why because the dancing was amazing and the girl playing Velma had such a stunning voice but for me it didn’t feel big enough for some reason. But I quickly fell in love with the whole production and especially the dancing. For me it was really hard not to compare it to the film considering the songs and speech were pretty much the same and this meant at some points I didn’t like how it was carried out on stage but for my mum who had never watched the film before it was amazing and perfectly portrayed on stage.
The dancing was the main thing I noticed throughout because it was so perfect and unique to the show. I started off being really unsure about the band being on the stage because it’s unheard of but I soon realised it made the show and Chicago is probably the only show that can get away with such a bold moved. I think anyone would love this show!
After walking out of the Chicago theatre I jokingly said to my mum that I hadn’t seen blood brother for a few years and thought it was about time I went again... and she said ‘ok is it near here?’ The next thing I know we’ve found half price tickets and are sitting in another theatre for the second time of the day. Best.day.ever!
Blood brothers is the all time perfect musical. It has absolutely everything! And there aren’t that many musicals I’ve seen that I would happily go back to again and again but you can’t ever get bored of this one. It’s so beautifully written and the songs just get to you. There is nothing bad about it at all. It always amazes me how child-like the adults are and they have to go from being impossibly happy to completely depressed and out of hope in such a small space of time it must be very challenging and I admire their talent. I am also very jealous of the performers who get to be in this musical.
Seeing two musicals in one day means you can’t help but compare them. The audience reaction to Chicago was nowhere near as good as the reaction to blood brothers. I think this is because Chicago is a very almost jolly musical despite its somewhat dark themes. Whereas blood brothers is a real journey and people do connect and sympathise a lot more.

Bob Fosse

Bob Fosse is known as one of the greatest pioneers of jazz dance. He was born on June 23rd 1927. He was born in Chicago he admired the great tap dancer Fred Astaire and wanted to follow in his footsteps with the hope of becoming a great dancer himself. For this to be even attempted he moved to New York early on in his life.
He first attempted to make it as an actor but found he wasn’t offered enough roles to continue this as a career his next move was to choreograph the Pyjama game a musical that is still popular today. Perhaps his most famous musical ‘Chicago’ is what most people know Fosse for. And its in this musical his influence on the world of jazz is really shown. His evolution of jazz dance meant that routines were more stylised and specific to the story that was attempting to be told as opposed to the more improvised style of jazz previously seen. Some admirers of his work say that Fosse added ‘sex appeal’ something that hadn’t been allowed into the world of jazz before.
Fosse’s style of jazz meant a lot more people wanted to learn the dance because now it was more appealing to younger people searching for a more expressive style of dance. Some of his moves such as jazz hands have stuck around and become a massive part in jazz dance.
Fosse was drug addict and self confessed womanizer which was shown clearly in his autobiographical film ‘all that jazz’. However its his struggle though life that makes his amazing work even more admirable.

Jazz costumes

Jazz costumes
Traditional jazz costumes are black with shoes that somewhat resemble tap shoes. The general stereotype is that jazz dancers wear black hats which is true in a lot of films and routines, this makes the dance more easily identified as people will recognise this sort of costuming. Jazz costumes are about fun and should reflect the dance style well. More modern costumes consist of crop tops and baggy trousers. These outfits must allow the dancers to carry out the energetic dance style well whilst not taking away form the all important dance moves.
Depending on what the choreography is aiming to get across to the audience also effects the costume choice. Jazz, like most other dances, lets the costumes compliment the dancing and more modern costumes are very bright to add to the impact of the fun music and enjoyable dance routines.

The history of jazz

Jazz
Jazz is a dance style that has had some influence in almost all modern dance styles today. Its recognised world wide as a fun, swing-like dance that films always portray as having a full scale band behind it as a music source.

The history of jazz
Jazz dance has been around for many years however what we class as jazz dance today is nothing like what the original forms of jazz actually were. Prior to the 1920’s jazz was used to refer to the African American vernacular dance. This vernacular dance was like a folk dance used at social gatherings to bring people closer together. It was mostly improvised but had an odd twist to it and was mostly based on improvisation. This completely different dance style had to have a completely different name and the term jazz was devised. Its not the dance itself that resembles modern jazz in any way it was more the instruments that go along side it that let it lend its name to what we call jazz today. Although this was the first time the term ‘jazz’ was used its thought that the dance side of the creation of jazz began in the 1800’s with African slaves dancing as a method of keeping fit.
However it wasn’t until the 1950’s that the dance we know and recognise as jazz began to take form. Jazz music came before jazz dance and the brass instruments with a smooth sort of sound led to the creation of jazz dance. Pioneers of the dance form such as Katherine Dunham took the traditional Caribbean/African dance and transformed it into a performing art that became not just enjoyable to perform but to watch. Still at this point jazz was not a very popular dance form.
As the music at the time was the main influence in starting modern jazz when the music began to make a regular appearance in Broadway it follows suit that jazz dance also found a way to the stage. It was on Broadway that the dance continued to evolve into what is known and taught as jazz today, much smoother and more flowing than the very first origins of the style.
Today jazz has become a dance style in its own right. Its thanks to inspirational choreographers such ad Bob Fosse that so many people have become interested in the dance style. Its break into the modern world through films such as ‘Caberat’ and ‘all that jazz’ mean that younger people are constantly being drawn to the style and mean its popularity continues into the modern world.

Ghost the musical

Ghost at the Piccadilly theatre
As a birthday present I went to see ghost the musical last Friday. I’ve been in love with the film for years and was desperate to see it before Richard Fleeshman stopped playing Sam. I was mostly curious to see how they could possibly make such a classic film a musical and as to how some of the effects would be carried out.
One thing I noticed straight away was how they kept it as close to the film as possible. Id clearly watched the film to much when I noticed big parts of the script were exactly the same. I thought this was very good even the set and costumes were as close to the ones in the film as is possible on a stage. I did think the very first song felt weird though. I think this was only because so far it had been so close to the film, and because I’d seen the film way too much, it just seemed a bit cringey and out of place to start with. But once I managed to stop comparing it to the film I think the songs made it all so much more enjoyable to watch.
The effects were amazing! When Sam (Richard Fleeshman) dies the way another body is there instantly to replace his when he runs into his ghost form was flawlessly carried out. All through the performance the ‘ghosts’ all had a slight blue tinge to them which was very effective in letting the audience distinguish between what actors we were meant to be seeing as alive and dead. Also the sections of the show carried out on the train station were extraordinary. The ghost of the train appeared to have the power to make people around him float along with their processions. The first time this happened I think the whole audience had a moment of ‘wow’. Then the next time this floating people thing happened I was determine to find out how it was done. So it very cleverly turns out that people dressed in black from head to toe performed balances and lifts with the actors which in contrast were all dressed in very bright clothes. And they were simply lifting the props to give the floating effect. The darkness of the current set and the low lighting when this happens means that unless (like me) you are purposely looking around desperate to find out how this was happening you would have no idea. When I realised my mum hadn’t sussed it I was quite pleased with my detective work and then the final time this happened she noticed the odd hand shape as well.
All the actors were fantastic but Oda May made the show. She was perfect! Following in the footsteps of Whoopi Goldberg must’ve been terrifying but in my opinion this actress was funnier, I couldn’t say why but just something about her and her natural flare for this character made her stand out a lot more than any other performer. Her voice was so powerful that it was impossible not to admire her.
I would recommend this musical to anyone i'm so glad I finally got to go and watch it!