Rehearsals

The Last Few Photos: 

Rehearsal Entry: 15
We're leading up to the last few run through's before our performance now. There's not much to report however we're just adding a few finishing touches and working out a few kinks. 

I still need to work on making my voice overly deep. It's improving however it's still not quite how we want it. I feel the problem I am having is remembering the tone. I can get it right in some scenes but then I forget the register of it, causing me difficulties in adjusting back to the same tone. I will speak to Philip about working on this.


Rehearsal Entry: 14

Today was our first full run in the space! I have to admit it wasn't the best run as people (myself included) kept forgetting their lines and the spacing for most of the dances were off. These have to be adapted in our spare time, especially 'Lady in Red' as Me, Jack & Christina are cramped by the toblerone, resulting in the restriction of our movement as we're avoiding hitting each other.

NOTES: 
- Project more.
- Good gestures/actions e.g. how the woodcutter stands etc. 
- Try to change the voice of 'The Woodcutter.' It is still sounding like my natural voice so maybe try voicing it overly deep.


Rehearsal Entry: 13

It’s getting very close to tech week now! I think this is our last rehearsal until we get into the theatre. I am totally off book, I understand all transitions and scene changes however I feel a lot of this will change when we’re in costume and on the stage.

We had to finish our session early today as we had tickets to see ‘Here Lies Love’ at The National Theatre. Shelley wanted to finish the choreography for Zippadee Do Dah before we headed off. This didn’t take up to much time and everyone seemed to have a great time learning it! I think this was due to the fact that it was super cheesy, Shelley made us all laugh with her actions and sound effects. The only thing I would say is we need to work on the unison of the piece. With it being the opening number it needs to be energetic so we can grab the audience’s attention.

Rehearsal Entry: 12

Francesca, Sophie and I were late to Ballet rehearsals today as we had a morning performance at Westminster Kingsway College, Victoria. Today’s lesson was harder than usual as Mandy said our technique had dropped dramatically during the past few weeks. I think this was due to everyone’s concerns (personal and generic) about the pantomime however this is no excuse. Mandy pointed out that we were leaning back to much on the “open and rise” part of Lady in Red. She wasn’t pleased at all as it made us look sloppy, this is because none of our technique is strong enough to pull this type of movement off correctly. She said we needed to suspend the rise more and fall onto a bent leg as otherwise it would look “positively awful.”

I really enjoyed this lesson as it gave my body a refresh of ballet technique and ended up strengthening the ballet for ‘Lady in Red.’ 

Goal: Attend an extra Ballet class this week to keep form and technique. 

Rehearsal Entry: 11

Today we managed to organise another personal rehearsal in which I got to finish and teach the choreography for Single Ladies.

I seemed to face no issues when teaching it as I split the choreography into three layers, Jack’s part, backing dancers and chorus dancers. This made it easy as when I was teaching Jack he’s part, others in the group would be working on other sections and vice versa. We finished Single Ladies in this rehearsal, however some transitions such as the swapping lines need to be worked on as it is still quite messy.

Rehearsal Entry: 10

Today I found out today that Robiatu would not be coming back to college. I got into rehearsals late so Robiatu’s additional role had already been sorted. Frances said she would take on the role of costumes with Kasheem. Elliott (Second year actor) agreed to take part in the panto and he would play Robiatu’s characters, ‘Granny’ and ‘The Ghost.’

I don’t think this was a huge setback as Elliott is a very reliable person. We continued that day with a run through of Act 1 & 2 in which Elliott was a total natural. He took to the character of ‘Granny’ immediately and was already working on he’s characterisation while simultaneously learning he’s lines.

Rehearsal Entry: 09

We organised another group rehearsal in our own time so I used this session to work on ‘Single Ladies.’ I wanted to play with relationship between ‘The Dame’ & ‘The Woodcutter’ in order to give the dance number some relevance but with reference to the iconic video. I decided to use the same 3 person formation from the video but with use of my own movement. I tried to make it as “feminine” as possible so ‘The Dame’s’ character would be transmitted clearly.

Meanwhile, Shante, Francesca & Kasheem continued working on ‘Trouble’ the first song sung by ‘The Big Bad Wolf.’ Francesca was called to work on Zippadee Do Dah so Shante and Kasheem tuned to their characterisation within the dance.

I feel this was a good rehearsal as I got to choreograph the majority of ‘Single Ladies.’ My goal now is to finish the last verse and teach it to everyone by next week Thursday. 

Rehearsal Entry: 08

We organised our own rehearsal during one of our breaks so that we can work on material we may have personally missed or didn't fully understand. For example, I missed the learning of Zippadee Do Dah so catching up on this really helped me out.

I was also informed that I would be choreographing my own dance to Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' that would be sung by jack (The Dame.) This would mean he would be the focal point for the number, I also wanted to make reference to the iconic video so I will brainstorm a few ideas at home. 

Rehearsal Entry: 07

During today's Ballet lesson we had a normal class and then went straight into Lady In Red rehearsals. With it being review week there was a lot of people coming and going throughout the duration of the class. We added a verse to the ballet and then decided to refine and work on any issues within the chorus. 

As you may agree there needs to be several issues that need to be addressed in this section however I feel it is a great start. I noticed (and Mandy agreed) that I need to rise higher on my demi-point during the pivoting arabesque as it looks sloppy, lazy and demonstrates a lack of technical ability. 

We also added another section after the chorus, we took turns to add a one movement that linked to the last. I added a suspension movement after the rise which then was linked into a pardaboray. This rehearsal proved to be very beneficial for me and several others. It cleared a lot of mistakes and issues within the chorus and also fixed timing and unison.


Rehearsal Entry: 06
In this 'FMP' session we started blocking act 2. My character was on stage a lot more for this act as the relationship between him and the dame develops dramatically. We were still reading our lines from the script however we all had a much greater understanding of the overall storyline. This blocking session seemed to run a lot smoother than the blocking of act 1.Off stage people were running through lines and helping each other with characterisation. I noticed the three little pigs (Francesca, Shante and Kasheem) were starting to add actions and fun sequences between the three of them when they were on stage but had no lines.   

I am still struggling with getting into the character of the woodcutter. I just don't have the confidence to dive into the role as I don't want to go "O.T.T" and look silly and/or unconvincing. I understand that the more energy you put in, the greater the outcome however I am just finding it really hard to take the plunge. Jack however is facing no problems and is taking to being the dame surprisingly well. 


I also feel that because I am still on book I'm worried about messing up the lines so the faster I learn them the better. 

Tasks:
- Continue to learn lines
- Develop my characterisation 
- Have confidence in acting (What's the worst that can happen?)  


Rehearsal Entry: 05

Today we were informed by Mandy that we would be doing Ballet piece in the pantomime to Chris De Burgh's 'Lady in Red.' I have heard the song before however I was slightly concerned as the version I know is quite slow and I'm not sure how the audience will respond to this however it's a great opportunity to get more ballet into my schedule.

We began by choreographing a group unison to the chorus so that everyone had a part to rehearse in their spare time. I feel my technical ability is being held back by the lack of flexibility in my muscles and joints especially within my ankle. There is a moment in the Ballet where we go from a lunge into a arabesque-like rise, I have to focus on rising on a straight leg opposed to a bent one. Mandy also pointed out that I must extend my demi point further.

Other than the technical issues I'm having I feel the rehearsal went really well but there's still a lot to work on. 

Rehearsal Entry: 04 

This week we began by doing another a read through of the script while also blocking Act 1. I feel it went quite well and ran smoothly on "stage", however "behind the scenes" the group were quite chatty and easily distracted, myself included. Looking back now I feel we should have used our time more efficiently by running lines with each other, brainstorming possible character developments and other ideas that would contribute to the success of the pantomime. Having said this when it was time to focus we pulled together and cracked on with it. We managed to complete the blocking of Act 1 and everyone seemed confident in their entrances and exits.

I felt my characterisation of 'The Woodcutter' was pretty poor in this session. I felt a bit awkward to experiment and go "full out" as my character as we was only blocking. So I felt like I was reading the lines and not acting through them. Next week I would like to do either a run of Act 1 so we can begin getting into character or Block Act 2 so we know what the overall structure of the panto.

Completed Task: Possible Characterisation of The Woodcutter
Personal Task: Begin to learn lines. If you find it hard search for tips online. 


Rehearsal Entry: 03

Today we were assigned our characters for the pantomime. I was given the role of 'The Woodcutter.' Opposed to the classic story of 'Little Red Riding Hood' 'The Woodcutter' in this adaptation is less of the hero and more of a "butch dummy" with a caring heart. Being the principal boy's father and also 'The Dame's' love interest it was obvious that he would rank up a considerable amount of stage time. I was worried about this as I would have a considerable amount of lines to match. 

As we started to read through the script for the first time my concern of memorising lines become more prominent, I had more lines than I initially expected so this worried me.This being my first acting experience, the closest I have ever come to learning lines is memorising an episode of 'Friends.' So I am little concerned about how I will do this for a whole pantomime however I will look for tips online and speak to some of the drama students.


Another concern of mine is being a convincing character within the pantomime. I know pantomime actors are not necessarily the BEST actors, nonetheless they are still utterly convincing and fun. I feel overall the read through went quite well, obviously there were sizeable amount of mistakes from various people, myself included but I think with time we will get used to understanding, speaking and acting through our characters.

Personal Task: Read through the script, gain further knowledge of 'The Woodcutter.' Also look at at other pantomimes and how other actors of 'The Woodcutter' portray him.

Things To Think About: Think about 'The Woodcutter's' accent, how does he speak, how does he stand? etc.



Rehearsal Entry: 02

In this session we began by further discussing what we had done last week. It was decided that the touring companies would not work in the way that they had hoped for, so we would be performing a "traditional" pantomime in the college theatre. I feel the majority of the group wanted to split into touring companies and perform in local venues, giving us an insight to the world of a touring performer. I however, felt neutral between both of these options as my main concern was circling around being a convincing character within the pantomime.

Once we had finished discussing this we then moved onto selecting the pantomime itself. We were presented with two scripts, one was 'Little Red Riding Hood' and the other was 'Puss In Boots.' On first impressions I wanted to do 'Puss In Boots', however this was only due to Puss' character in the 'Dreamworks' film 'Shrek 2.' After dissecting the script my feelings towards 'Little Red Riding Hood' changed drastically, I found the script to be a lot more interesting, funny and more suitable to a diverse audience. Most of the group seemed to agree with this and was overall happier with choosing 'Little Red Riding Hood.' 

Now that the script had been chosen, Tracy said she would read and adapt the script over the week and then assign characters to us. Having an hour left of the session we quickly decided to create a finale dance for the pantomime. Most pantomime finales are a joyous number to round off the show to leave the audience feeling positive while also encouraging them to applaud and join in. Francesca pitched to the group 'We Go Together' from the musical 'Grease.' Everyone's response was positive and so we began to learn/create a dance to it. As it was the early stages of the panto we wasn't sure where people would be as the story developed. So we decided to pair up in a boy/girl formation, in accordance to our characters for the pantomime. For example, I was partnered with Jack as 'The Dame' & 'The Woodcutter' have a "romantic" relationship between them so us being partners saw most fit. We managed to get around half of the song done within the last 40 minutes of the session, however transitions and formations need a lot of work.   


Rehearsal Entry: 01 

Today we started discussing what we would be doing for our Christmas pantomime. We were presented with two options; split into two touring performance companies and perform a short adaptation of "x" pantomime in local schools and venues, namely primary schools. The other was to perform a "traditional" pantomime in Westminster Kingsway College Theatre with the option of inviting other schools in. 

As this was our first time discussing this we wasn't sure how feasible the idea of a touring company would be as we have to consider costs, pop-up scenery and several modes of transport. So in this session we decided to brainstorm a few ideas of what we would perform as if we were a touring company. My group chose to workshop a section from the classic fairy tale 'The Three Little Pigs.' We based our section on the final scene between the three little pigs and the big bad wolf mainly focusing on movement, which ended in something similar to a physical theatre performance. 

Some of us (namely dancers/myself included) wasn't to keen on the drama side of this project, I think that is why our initial task ended in something similar to physical theatre. I have never done any acting based shows in which I've had to speak so I am going to have my work cut out getting into the character of a pantomime.