Durrington high workshop

Tuesday -
Planning -
Following a discussion about the structure of the performance we decided that it would be effective to start with "We are the champions" this is because although it is near the end of the show, it uses everyone and therefore introduces the audience to the cast. Then we can perform the songs that use a smaller number of cast and end with Radio GaGa which uses everyone. In this lesson we worked on the songs we are singing for the workshop we are doing later this week, we broke off into groups and worked on our smaller ensemble pieces, we were working on I want it all. Because we are double casted and we are just doing one performance, we split the song into two halfs where Emily and Talia are singing the first half and then me and Liv take over.

Rehearsing -
When one pair is singing lead the other is ensemble, we decided this because it meant that each person was being used as much as possible. When we first tried this we were not really sure what to do when being ensemble, as a result of this we discussed and tried out different movements until we found a movement that we all like and thought went well with the song and each other. In this rehearsal i have been working on my communication with others during a performance, especially eye contact, this song helps establish the relationship between Meat and Britt therefor i need to make sure that i have constant eye contact with liv to make sure that the audience are aware of the relationship between them. As well this, for this performance we are performing as a four rather than a two, so when we swap casts half way through the song me and Emily are going to make sure that we have eye contact when we sing the same line, this shows that we have good communication throughout.


Thursday -
Planning -
Considering our performance is today and we felt as though we were not at a performance level that we were happy with as a group, scheduled another rehearsing in for before our lesson. This came from a group discussion about what needed to be covered and rehearsed to make sure that we are happy with our final outcome. In addition to this we planned what we were going to do for the workshop with the Durrington high students, we decided that we should split into pairs and take groups of students. However we changed around the groups that we usually work with, for example Britt's who usually work with each other or Meat's, worked with Khashoggi's, this was definitely valuable for the group as we have all had the chance to improve our communication skills as well as getting to know how other cast members work differently. These are all skills that are relevant to working in a musical ensemble, as well as skills that can be transferred into other projects such as delivering this workshop. I noticed  this specifically as me and Jordy were able to successfully take turns taking leadership when working with the students, this worked effectively as both of us had a different approach about how to manage the workshop, we found a good balance that the students responded well to and were able to complete the task.

Rehearsing -
In our early morning rehearsal we worked on the choreography for Radio GaGa, Emily and Talia took leadership as they had choreographed the movement previously. We worked through the movement going through each section and making sure that everyone in the cast was happy with each part... We did this by learning a part and then going through it with the music. This was a valuable way to doing this so the whole cast were at the same level, this is because if there is a few members of the cast that know the choreography and are more confident then others, it really reflects to the audience and can bring down the whole performance. However we didn't have this issue as we had used our rehearsal time effectively.  We also used this rehearsal to sing through the songs again with the piano, especially when singing "I want it all", this allowed me to make sure that i was singing the correct parts, in our previous rehearsal i was struggling with the timing of one part, after Tuesday i spent time singing this individually so i could hear where i was making mistake. Because of this we were able to spend more time developing harmonies and backing vocals, we decided that everybody in the company should sing the chorus. This is because this song requires more energy as it is the first time the bohemians are being introduced and therefore we need to show the audience the contrast between the Bohemians and the GaGas. By using everyone there is automatically a higher energy level compared to just being the featured characters, I think that this will get the audience more involved in the performance and gives the song a completely different atmosphere to others in the performance.

Performance  -
I think that overall our performance went well, we worked well as an ensemble, for example in Radio GaGa we had good communication with each other. This number was good considering we had little time to work on it, this was because everybody made sure they were aware of what other people were doing around them. This meant that nobody did the wrong movements or timing, if everyone was concerned only with what they were doing then I don't think the performance would have been as acceptable as it was. This is because we wouldn't be aware of what everyone else was doing and then we could have gone out of time easily. Before we started the performance we successfully worked as a team to make sure that the performance space was ready, we split tasks like moving and setting out chairs for audience members and making sure there was nothing in the way like bags or coats. We did this efficiently meaning that we were able to have more time to prepare ourselves. On the other hand i think there could have been more eye contact during "I want it all", i don't think we successfully portrayed what the relationship between Brit and Meat should be like. This is because we were not keeping eye contact, were supposed to be singing to each other as well as the audience, however i don't think we did this enough. Therefore this is my target for our final performance of 'We will rock you", during rehearsals i need to work wot Liv more to make sure that we can perform this song better and the audience can understand the meaning of it as well.

Blocking We Will Rock You

In this rehearsal i think i showed a lot of peer support, this was especially when i was teaching some choreography to the rest of the class. For example when we were going through the main phrase one person was confused and was not picking up the movement as quickly as some of the others, because of this i then went through the choreography with her so that she was at the same stage as the class. I did this by going through the movements slower so that she was able to pick them up easier, i think support is an important feature of a musical ensemble, especially when in a group where everyone has different strengths. For example some people are stronger at acting rather than dance, this is an advantage as we can all use our strengths to support each other, meaning that everyone can learn new things. As i am choreographing this number i am interested in what other people have to say, this is because i may have missed an opportunity to come up with ideas, however someone else could have seen this. This happened today when we were working out timing, a few people suggested different variations of the dance, we tested these out until we were able to figure out what worked best. I think i showed good determination in this part of the lesson as there were multiple times when the rehearsal was not going to plan and things were not working out, however i continues to work through them so that we could come out with the best possible outcome.

On the other hand i think i need to work on my self discipline to make sure that i am more on the ball during rehearsals, i need to make sure that i do not get side tracked. I need to make sure that when i am rehearsing scenes, songs or dances that i do so with 100% effort, this is partly so i am ready for the final performance as my muscle memory will know exactly what is happening. As well as, when everyone is giving their all, rehearsals are easier and w are able to have more of an idea of what the final product will look like. In addition to this i need to spend more time line learning so that i am ready for the off book date (2nd December) and i am confident. Once i am i can focus more on my character and becoming more familiar with her.