Evaluation of Musical Theatre Showcase-

Throughout the first year of our performance studies course we completed workshops on key skills to becoming a musical theatre performer in each art form. We also recorded all of our workshops to show the improvements we have made along the course of the key workshops. These workshops were very useful for the whole group as we were all talented in different areas so those who hadn’t necessarily had experience in acting like me benefited hugely from these whereas some of the other girls hadn’t done much dance so they found the dance workshops really helpful. These workshops also widen our horizon as we all learnt new techniques within all three art forms. These workshops helped us to prepare for the show case because some of the skills were transferred for example the Jazz technique class we took part included some Fosse style choreography so we transferred these skills when learning the Fosse repertoire. We performed our showcase called A Night of the Musicals on the 23rd of February 2017. In the run up to the performance we took on some extra rehearsals as well as our set timetabled rehearsals, this was to ensure we were prepared for the show. Not only did we work on the show but at the same time we researched what it took to be a musical theatre performer so what skills you needed what companies look for and how to get into the industry and we made a booklet for a guide to becoming a musical theatre performer and we also created a presentation.

Our main ensemble piece within the showcase was a mixture of both All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango; we renamed this piece as All That Tango this was because we joined them together. Our choreography was inspired by videoed repertoire. When learning All That Tango we had to adapt the repertoire to suit us, as not only were we dancing but we were also singing the whole song which made us need to think carefully about the choreography. Mrs Turner our Dance Director helped us make these adaptations needed for the choreography we completed this to ensure we could sing and dance at the same time without one art form looking or sounding unprofessional and sloppy. In the repertoire we saw there were some high kicks, splits and jumping however we had to take all of these factors into consideration as no matter how hard we trained before the show we would have never had the stamina to perform this so we decided to make a few adaptations. There are many different ways which Cell Block Tango can be performed such as with chairs, a ballet bar or cell bars. We decided to use a ballet bar as we thought that the repertoire using chairs looked quite static and we didn’t want the piece to look like that. Once all the set had been completed, we then had to adapt some elements of the performance as there was a reduction in the amount of space we had to perform within. There were a few main elements we had to consider such as rearranging our formations as a group, we also had to interact with the set such as the ballet bar in Cell Block Tango. Extra rehearsals were conducted to ensure everyone was aware of the new space we had to perform in. Everyone was spatially aware and used the space well, everyone stayed in formation.

Mr Sluman was our acting co-ordinator who helped us the characterisation of our monologues within All That Tango as we all needed to have slightly different characters. I personally found Cell Block Tango difficult as I had to create a character different to anything I’d ever played before and someone who has the complete opposite attributes. The character I had to portray was a flirtatious woman. By successfully being able to play my character Annie I believe this makes me a diverse performer as it shows I can perform in more than one way. I worked on my characterisation of my character by watching videos on how others portrayed this sort of character and I also videoed each

rehearsal and looked back on what I still needed to work on. To improve my facial expressions I used a mirror to help me.

For All That Tango we also required a man to act as the five women’s husband, kindly Jack from the year 11 GCSE Drama group offered to be part of this for us. The result of this lead to extra rehearsals being made as each of us needed to work with Jack individually so that we could work on the partner dance section and also to figure out what movement we would perform around Jack while performing our monologue. I also had to understand the Fosse style of dance to do this I researched into some of Fosse’s background and also took part in a few Fosse workshops before working on the Cell Block Tango repertoire. I have trained in many dance styles such as tap, ballet, jazz and many more however I had never looked into Fosse before and I enjoyed widening my range of knowledge and performing this style. Bob Fosse and Charles Glass created a duet called the Riff Brothers and their style was tap dancing, he also had a background of dancing within night clubs since an early age which reflects within his style of dance as there are a lot of hip thrusts showing the sexual dance background that he had.

We also collaborated with other teachers and students to help us within the show, to help our vocals we worked with Mrs Guy who is our vocal coach. Mrs Guy taught us the correct techniques to use when singing to help our projection; she also spoke to each of us individually about our harmonies needed for other songs within the show such as Seasons Of Love and Little Shop of Horrors. Each of us recorded our harmonies so that we could work on them at home to ensure we had progressed before our next rehearsal.

When working as an ensemble we needed to support each other to make sure each of us were at the rehearsals and put full commitment and enthusiasm into them. Some people struggled with harmonies so we all had to work together, I struggled to keep the tune and Paige helped me with progressing this for the show. During this project everyone was very supportive of one another and persuaded others to come to rehearsals and helped others within the group if they were struggling with anything. Each rehearsal we did we either filmed or took photos this is so that we could watch them back and see what needed work on. We also have teachers giving use feedback constantly so that we could go away and work on the criticism we’d been given.

During Seasons Of Love we all worked together as an ensemble and helped support each other with harmonies. To get the song up to scratch we added in extra rehearsals with Mrs Guy during breaks, lunch, free periods and after school. The reasons why we worked together was to make our performance the best it could be, overall we all got along well however along the way we had to persuade some more than others but in the end the result of our hard work paid off. When I was struggling with my harmony Paige helped me with this to ensure the performance of the song was good.

We also worked on Little Shop Of Horrors with Mrs Guy for both Little Shop Of Horrors and Skid Row. We worked on Little Shop Of Horrors first, we started by learning the words and then finding each individuals harmonies. We then worked on which parts we would sing as two people sang the harmonies on the rrr’s while others within the group sung the next verse. We then went on to learn Skid Row with Mrs Guy, we went away and learnt the words after that we learnt our harmonies and once we had leant the words we looked at solo parts within the song for example my lines were “Where the food is slop”, “Where the guys are drips”, “Where they rips your slips”. We also worked

with Mr Sluman to help us improve on our characterisation and projection when performing the short extract of dialogue where Audrey missed Seymour’s first radio broadcast. To help us improve on our characterisation we had to work on being sassy, as quoted from Seymour’s dialogue he refers to the three girls as “street urchins”.

Skills required for singing were memorising lyrics, melody lines and harmonies. We also had to ensure our timing was correct we completed this by repetition during the rehearsal processes and also evaluating each rehearsal to ensure we knew exactly what we needed to work on. As a company we also had to characterise the songs we performed, these were: Skid Row, Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango (Chicago) and Seasons of Love (Rent). We also worked on breath control by standing tall, trying out different breathing techniques and supporting the diaphragm. We also worked on our pitch; we completed this by working with Mrs Guy our vocal coach around the piano, this was to ensure all vocals remained strong so that you could hear the top harmony, the lower harmony and also the tune. For acting some of the skills are the same such as memorising lines and our projection when performing our lines, this was to ensure we could be heard on stage and also by the audience and also to make sure we looked professional by knowing all lines. We also needed to characterise the songs, dialogue and monologues we were performing within the showcase, the reason behind this is because the audience have to believe the character to engage with the piece. For acting we also had to put on an American accent as both Little Shop of Horrors and Chicago are set in America. This resulted in us needing to put on an accent to give a professional element to the show. We also needed to be able to dance in the Fosse style so that the repertoire we were learning was accurate to the specimen.

For my solo I performed the Dream Ballet from Oklahoma with a small monologue before the dance, I used the original London Cast version however I had to adapt some elements of this dance for the spacing that we had available. The reason why I chose to perform the Dream Ballet as my solo is because my strength is dance within the three art forms and also because my natural style is ballet. This is because I have a floaty softer dynamic when dancing. I used the steps within my solo as my entrance onto the stage so that it was a more subtle way of transitioning from the act before me to my dance. I also used the steps to sit on while I performed my monologue as it was like I’d fallen asleep and the dance was within my dream.

This photo shows me using the steps to enter the stage.

These two photos are from when I performed the Dream Ballet repertoire.

This photo is from when I performed my monologue. When performing my monologue I had to have a dream like quality to my voice.

This photograph is the last position at the end of my dance where I picked the perfume bottle back up smelt it and ran off.

During the showcase process my strengths were characterisation as I managed to stay in my character throughout All That Tango and managed not to break it. I completed this by using a mirror to help with my facial expressions; I also worked on my characterisation through trial and error to see what worked and what didn’t.

I also feel as though this was a strength of mine as I hadn’t previously done any acting, I created a good character for All That Tango as naturally I am totally opposite to the person I had to portray. I also feel the dancing element was one of my strengths however sometimes I was a little in front or behind the other dancers within ensemble pieces.

My areas of weakness during this process were my singing skills as I struggled to keep on my harmony as I started to match pitch rather than keeping to my part. To help me stick to the tune we were involved in extra rehearsals and I also recorded my part so that I could keep listening to it to keep it in my head. I also had help from Paige one of the other members within the group as she had many experiences within singing as she had been part of choir and other ensemble and solo singing pieces. I also need to work on my projection when singing as I struggled with this however throughout this process I learnt some key exercises to help me with my projection.

Little Shop of Horrors dialogue- Not only did we perform Little Shop of Horrors and Skid Row we also performed a short extract of dialogue from the script where there were three sassy girls called Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon and the main character Audrey. I played the character of Chiffon I portrayed this character by acting as

These photos were from our performance of All That Tango.

Within my monologue I interacted with Jack by performing movements such as pulling on his tie, the reason why I pull him from the doorway is because I said “I met Ezikle young” so I met him at the door. When I said we hit it off right away, we exchanged a look to show the connection between the two of us.

These two photos are from my partner dance with Jack, this shows that I am in charge of him by pushing him.

Rent

For my solo I had to work on my timing and projection as it was hard to heard me when I was singing and also I had to work on my timing as sometimes I was slightly off.

Rent, Seasons of Love. For Seasons of Love we had to work as an ensemble and work out our Harmonies. We sorted out our harmonies by working with Mrs Guy, our vocal coach. We also put in extra rehearsals with Mrs Guy and alone to work on Seasons of Love to make it the best it could be.

For seasons of love we had to work on our diction and pronunciation of words for example love as sometimes you miss heard the L so all you heard was ove.

We also learnt some extra choreography for the ending which was Hairspray for this we stood on the stairs. For Hairspray we took part in extra rehearsals after school to ensure we were confident with the choreography. We also were involved in extra rehearsals at lunch time to originally learn the choreography so that after school Hairspray rehearsals were used to perfect and make elements better with the whole cast.

From my research from ‘Life of a Performer’ and the showcase I have learnt many key skills to help me within the industry such as characterisation as I needed to ensure I portrayed my character well and put in extra work to succeed as I’ve never been involved in an acting piece before. From ‘Life of a Performer’ I have learnt about all the routes into the industry and what companies look for from a

performer. I have found this very useful as I now know what I need to improve on to help me succeed within the industry.

I have learned that in order to be a successful cast member, I had to be flexible as extra rehearsals were often called. In all my research of being a musical theatre performer, flexibility was an important aspect. I ensured I was as professional as possible throughout and I attended every rehearsal, I was always on time and I was always committed to every rehearsal. I feel I have dramatically improved since the start of the year, and I have strengthened my voice through continual practice and advice from our vocal coach.

The audience members were very complimentary and were impressed with 'All That Tango'. I am very proud of myself and I am please my hard work has paid off. For the next project, I want to continue working on strengthening my voice and work on my projection as I feel this will help me when on stage at the next big show.