Units 5 and 6 Performance

14/01/19
We had the opportunity to get a taste of what it's like to be a producer.
We had a few questions to answer:

1. What is a musical? A musical has a beginning, middle and end. It usually has a strong opening and there is always the climax of a story. To grab the attention of an audience, musicals have suspense and tension, highlighting problems and then finding a solution to them. A lot of musicals, for some examples Shrek the Musical, Anything Goes and Hamilton have a romantic element showing the journey of a relationship. A lot of musical theatre shows have relatable characters to engage the audience and to help them understand what is going on. 
2. What are essential elements of a musical? What does it need to include to create the arc of interest? First of all, for a performance to be called a musical, it needs to contain songs. A musical would not survive without entertaining the audience. As times change, so does the audience. Musicals used to be more about the glitz and the glam which would be exciting to watch for a 1930s audience. However, nowadays for a musical to be successful, it must have a solid plot to be able to engage an audience for two/ three hours. 
3. What are different ways songs can be used? Songs can reveal character's feelings, exposition of character, it can be used to reveal the narrative, give context and foreshadow, to emphasise a part of a story, recap elements of a story and can be used for transition.

I asked if there were such things as musicals without any dance numbers in it. It turns out that there are musicals without dance numbers or even any speaking - a musical made up of only songs. These are called sung-through musicals. For example, Phantom of the Opera is a sung-through musical.

Different types of musicals:

Book musicals - the song, script and dance all ties in to the story like a book.

Jukebox musicals - uses songs that are already out, for example Grease.

Rock musicals - a musical with rock music, for example Rent.

We were then split into two groups to create our own ideas for a musical production. I was teamed up with Ella and Alex and we created Party People!:

Here is the other group's presentation:

21/01/19
The three girls in Little Shop of Horrors are called Chiffon, Ronette and Crystal - they are name after 1960s doo-wop girl groups. We were shown some videos of performances by those groups to understand why the three girls look and act the way they do.
We were all confirmed our roles in the upcoming Little Shop of Horrors performance:

• I am helping with the technical side of the show, instructing the production people what to do in terms of lighting, sound, staging, etc.  (edit: was then changed to costume and hair and makeup - which I prefer)
• I am choreographing to "Da-doo" with Ghazall
• I am playing the role of Mushnik!

Here is what Ghazall and I came up with:

First of all, we had to know who was on stage:

• Mushnik - me
• Customer - Ghazall
• Audrey - Ella
• Seymour - Alex
• Wino - Bethany
• Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon - Nehemie, Leah and Tilia

The thing is we don't know where each character will be at the start of the song - they might be in the shop at the back of the stage or upstage, nearer the audience. However, we decided we wanted the three girls to move around together following Seymour doing small dances (similar to the 1960s doo-wop girl groups) to emphasise what he is saying. 

What I really want is to make an engaging performance, not a boring piece with everyone staying on the spot singing with nothing much happening. In order to do this, we both agreed everyone needs to be doing something, moving around/ dancing focusing on Seymour, of course.

We decided the climax of the song would be the line "TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN" and each character could emphasise that line, whoever they are playing, wherever they are on stage.

I wrote practically all our ideas in my notebook:

22/01/19
Ghazall and I were working on our choreography and I came up with a way to write down our ideas - to number the lines in the song and then show what each character should do in each line in my notebook. I also wrote some ideas on the lyric sheet:

28/01/19
Shelley showed us a new way of putting choreography on paper:

29/01/19
Today, we learnt Nehemie's choreography to Skid Row:

04/02/19
Today, we started staging and singing the Little Shop of Horrors prologue - choreographed by Tilia and Leah:

We did the same with Skid Row - choreographed by Nehemie:

In the next lesson, Ghazall and I will be teaching our choreography to "Da-Doo". However, we are still developing and refining it.

05/02/19
Today, we learnt Ella and Alex's choreography for Grow For Me. I thought he choreography was very good and considering the only person supposed to be in the scene was Seymour, I thought they did a great job of incorporating everyone:

I enjoyed learning choreography from my peers because they were good teachers and gave everyone something to do at all times.

Here's the video for Little Shop of Horrors choreographed by Leah and Tilia:

I decided I should do movements that reflect the lyrics. So when the song  goes "You better/ Tellin' you you better", I use this line to tell off Seymour as that fits in with my character. 
Targets for  next lesson/rehearsal

1. To use the technique emotional memory to bring Mushnik's angry exasperated character to life.
2. To use more energy and purpose/intention in my movement. 
3. I should not hold back on my performance and attack each step. 

I then taught Ghazall and I's choreography to Da Doo which we are still developing. In this video, I was teaching it to the three girls:

These three Girls - Ronette, Chiffon and Crystal - are characters that narrate the story and for the most part aren't seen by the other characters on stage. They are named after 1960s Doo-wop girl groups who usually wear similar clothing, use hoover arms and do small dance movements. I used this knowledge when choreographing for this song. As the Girls voices need to be heard, I made sure to let them know that they must always face the audience when singing. When teaching my scene, I found staging it difficult because the Girls move  wherever Seymour goes and I taught the Girls what they need to  do before I taught Seymour which was my mistake. I also realised that I could make the characters use the  space better which is partly what I mean when I say I'm developing it. 

11/02/19
Today, we went to the props and costume rooms to pick out some for the production. Here is my costume for my character, Mr Mushnik:

I think this costume is a great presentation of Mushnik with the waistcoat underneath my jacket. The trousers and hat really transform me into the man that is Mr. Mushnik. I tried to give a portrayal of his character with my arms folded showing he is grumpy and what was supposed to be an angry expression which actually looks like a very tired expression - I'll work on it.

Alex - Seymour:

Seymour is an awkward clumsy character so I thought the clash of the red coat and yellow shirt was fitting. I also thought the glasses completed the costume look as it shows the nerdy side of Seymour.

Ella - Audrey:

Audrey's character is very girly and naive so I think this dress, the red scarf and small handbag is a good presentation of her.

Doo-wop girls - Leah, Tilia and Nehemie:

The Doo-wop girls are a team but each girl is individual so I think it's good that they all wear dresses and that each one is different to show each girl is different.

Ghazall - Wino #2/Customer:

Generally real winos don't have access to clothes they really want and have to wear a randomly assorted outfit. The mismatched prints and colours in this outfit show this really well in my opinion.  The  alcohol bottle completes this look  as the Winos in Little Shop of Horrors are drunkards.

Bethany - Wino #1:

I think this worn out grey jacket is a great costume along with the hat to show this Wino doesn't have enough money to buy new clothes.

26/02/19
We focused on spacing when going through the Little Shop of Horrors production today and in the scenes where Mushnik, Audrey and Seymour are together we were too close to each other so that is something we need to remember when we perform. We went through the entire play a few times and refined it. I received feedback to not improvise when 'working' in the shop and to know exactly what I'm doing in every scene and in every song. In my own time, I will go through the script and note down what I will do in parts where I improvised.

For the songs, we tried out a few different backing tracks until we found the right one - that worked with the lyrics we were singing. 

We have a lot of props, like the plants, the watering cans and my cash machine. A few more that I need is a broom to sweep the floor when Mushnik, Seymour and Audrey work in the shop, I need a briefcase and a cup of "coffee" to make a realistic work scenario.

We also focused on lighting for the song for which we choreographed - Ghazall and I choreographed for "Da-Doo" so that is the scene for which I designed the lighting:

04/03/19
We went through the whole play to rehearse and refine it so it was performance ready and I was given feedback to be more emphatic and say certain lines with more emotion. We realised we were using the wrong karaoke for the song "grow for me" so the right karaoke was found. We then covered the mirrors and filmed it. I remembered all the corrections I was given and Shelley said I did well but to be more emphatic throughout the play. I also felt that getting into character was hard today because I was in a good mood so from now on I will spend some time thinking about who Mushnik is and the back story I made for him before I start acting. Here is the video:

We watched it altogether as a class and were told to watch and to write constructive comments about someone. Tilia and I were told to critique each other.Here are the  constructive comments I received:

• to show more anger in my facial expressions, not just in my voice
• in Skid Row, in the walking part, stay in character
• my general walking in the other parts of the play is in character and is appropriate for Mushnik
• to not fade off when I say "suddenly" before the customer comes in but rather stop abruptly as the bell rings - this is an interpretation of the line so I will try it out and then choose if I stay with my interpretation or change to hers
• I used good body gestures
• to perhaps imitate throwing up when I see Seymour flirting with Audrey for comical effect - I have never done this before, but I will try it out
• Be more dramatic in the fight scene in Skid Row

Shelley also told me to gesture to Audrey to get the roses - outside the shop when I say "Yessir, right away, sir!" so that when I say "Twice as many!" instead of sounding amazed, I am shouting to Audrey to let her know how many roses to get.

My corrections for myself - reflecting and evaluating the video:
To not fiddle around as much with my feet and arm movements. To achieve this, I need to go through the script and write down exactly what I am doing whether that be typing on the cash machine or reading the newspaper, etc. and to know where I am on the stage. Once I am confident in what I am doing, hopefully I will not be so unsure about what I am doing and will be able to deliver a great performance to the best of my abilities. However, I must add that my voice projection has improved, I have made my movements bigger and have become more confident in my acting skills. 

05/03/19
Today, we rehearsed Little Shop of Horrors in the theatre. We built a Q-Build which made me realise we work really well as a team. It felt very crowded on the Q-Build so Shelley gave us a few ideas of ways to have less people on stage, for example, Audrey will stay off the Q-Build after Skid Row. Also, it was initially twelve blocks, so to add more space, we are going to add two more stage left and the stairs will face Stage Front.
I had an idea of a way to use the Q-Build for our Addam's family routine. The initial idea was the first years/ancestors lie on the floor at the back of the stage but I thought we could lie on the Q-Build instead.

Little Shop of Horrors - Prologue:

Skid Row:

Grow for me:

We found a 'screen' to use as a shop display/ door. Nehemie will create the shop sign.

We need to adjust the use of stage space to bring the acting further stage front as from the perspective of the audience, centre stage seems empty.

To make the flower shop more realistic, we spent time afterwards creating flowers out of colourful tissue paper.

We also plan to add a few blocks at the "back" of the shop to display the flowers at different levels. 

We still need:

• 'trash'/ boxes on stage
• briefcase for Mushnik
• newspapers/magazines 

11/03/19

We rehearsed Little Shop of Horrors with Ghazall and Bethany (who haven't been in college for two weeks) making sure they know all the choreography they need to know. Even though I know the script, I still improvise what I am doing on stage at some points in the play. I have written down exactly what I am doing on stage in the script but I haven't learnt it well enough yet so that is what I have to revise tonight to prepare myself for tomorrow's tech rehearsal.

As I am in charge of the hair and makeup for the girls, I need to do some research to know exactly what hairstyles I will do and to see what makeup they should have for the stage performance. I also need to ask each actress to bring their own makeup and perhaps inform them of what I have designed.

We performed the Addam's family routine to Shelley which she thought was great and had very good characterisation . I felt really in character and I feel like my confidence has really improved since I first started learning it which has helped me let go of my personality and become a zombie. To do better, I need to work on my singing which we will do in lesson but I can also work on it at home.

I will be singing Almost There from Princess and the Frog in the performance on Wednesday. After performing in front of Shelley and my peers, I received feedback to work on projecting my voice and sustaining the notes. The characterisation was there but I need to practise the singing as I am definitely capable of doing much better.

Tech rehearsal 12/03/19

We rehearsed in the theatre today with the production students - who practised the lighting and sound. Before this, I discussed the lighting for Da-Doo with them, explaining what I wrote on the sheets.

I found rehearsing on stage really helpful in getting to know the space and plotting where I am on stage. The production students were experimenting with the lighting and it was fascinating to see how the lighting could change the mood and atmosphere on stage - I felt like it added a new dimension to the play. In the first scene, we missed out a paragraph of the script but kept the show going which has now given me a lot of confidence that no matter what, the show will go on and run smoothly. I am sure I know all my lines off by heart and won't forget them on stage. Hopefully, I won't be too nervous tomorrow because I was very excited today and want to take that passion into tomorrow's performance. 

We also discussed about the transition between each performance - for example, after we finish Little Shop of Horrors, I will give my costume to Bethany whilst everyone else clears the stage because I am the first person to sing after it. After yesterday's rocky performance of my solo song Almost There, I am nervous to sing it tomorrow but Shelley assured it was good enough so I will practise tonight and do my best tomorrow.

We also went through the Addam's Family routine, where in the "line dance" part I was too close to the side of the stage - this meant everybody had to move further stage left. It was a good performance and I am very confident in this routine for tomorrow.

I have told Shelley I need a briefcase for Mushnik but if something happens and I don't get it, I can perform without it. I also forgot to bring a newspaper so I will make sure to bring it for tomorrow. One mistake I made today was rushing my lines, I have done this before and I made sure I stopped it. I think this happens because I get nervous so I will keep this in mind when I am performing tomorrow. Also, I will pack my costume for tomorrow, as much makeup as I could possibly need and hair products and accessories.

Pictures from the Tech rehearsal:

Pictures of set:

Dress rehearsal 13/03/19

We dressed in costume for this rehearsal which helped me see myself as Mushnik. We went through the whole production from our songs to Little Shop of Horrors back to some songs and then the finale - the Addam's Family routine. This was very helpful in knowing how to transition between each part of the production and knowing where we are at all times. The production team did a great job with the lighting and sound and it made me confident that the performances would run smoothly. I have been confident about the Addam's Family routine for a long time and with my costume, I am even more confident about it now I look the part!

Little Shop of Horrors:

Addams Family routine:

My solo song is at the best it can be for the moment and I know that my voice projection and technique will take time to improve. I have to remember that I have always had a quiet voice and that once upon a time, without a microphone an audience could not hear even one word. 

The matinee performance 13/03/19

Little Shop of Horrors:

Addams Family routine:

My solo song - Almost There:

Final Evaluation:

Over the term, we have worked Act 1 Prologue, Scene 1 of Little Shop of Horrors. We worked on four songs altogether: “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Downtown (Skid Row)”, “Da Doo” and “Grow for me”, the script and choreography. I knew this was a lot to learn and I quickly realised I had to learn my script as fast as I could. I also knew it would be different performing in the theatre than in the studio. The character I played, Mr. Mushnik, was very grumpy, mean and spent most of his time complaining and shouting. These characteristics are different from my personality – I am very shy, quiet and reserved so I could foresee that a challenge for me would be to get into character and to physically shout.

We were given a brief to choreograph, direct and produce a song from Little Shop of Horrors in collaboration with a partner and work with the group to bring all four songs and script together. I was teamed with Ghazall to create choreography to “Da Doo”. I found it difficult to put my ideas on paper because they were very detail-orientated. I initially wrote my thoughts in my notebook which became quite messy. Shelley then showed us the proper way to map choreography: we draw the stage and the characters and main props on it, then draw lines from each character showing direction of movement:

For inspiration, we looked at Doo-wop girls’ performances in the 1960s, for example the most memorable was the Ronettes performing “Be My Baby”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVbawRPO7I

Their use of Hoover arms and other little gestures helped me understand what type of movements the three girls should be doing.

I gave instructions to each character and told them what they were supposed to do. However, the Girls had choreography to learn which I taught and a very important thing which I picked up from my research was that the Ronettes would move in unison so I told them to make sure to do the same. Ghazall and I worked on the development of the choreography and she gave her thoughts and ideas on some changes which I found helpful. I received positive feedback from Shelley about the choreography – which was that I understood how the Girls were supposed to move.

When it came to focusing on lighting for this piece, I was thinking about where each character was on stage. I thought about what I call the main line of the song – “TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN” and thought about ways to emphasise it using lighting. I thought about who I wanted the audience to focus on – Seymour – so I would put a white spotlight on him whereas less relevant characters in this scene – Mushnik and Audrey – would be in an area with dimmer lighting.

We were given planning sheets for the lighting which had already mapped out the stage, the Q-Build and the larger props. I used three of these sheets for before, during and after “TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN”. You can see these sheets on my blog. I drew where I wanted the main spotlight, the Fresnel lights and side lights and annotated it showing what colour the lighting should be and when it should build/ fade. In “Da-Doo” there is a line where Seymour says he hears a strange humming sound, so Shelley gave the idea of inserting a humming sound in this part which I thought was a good idea so we told the production team to do that.

I thought that the production elements successfully met the demands of every scene and song in terms of communicating theme and creating mood and atmosphere.

I also designed hair and makeup for the Doo-wop Girls after looking through pictures from 1960s Doo-wop girl groups and learning how to create it through online hair and makeup tutorials.

I thought the final performance and my skills in it was good for a college production. I think I did well in terms of communicating my character to the audience – I think I successfully portrayed the unnecessarily mean and grumpy boss that is Mushnik. However, there are faults in my performance that will take more training and experience to improve.

During my time learning and rehearsing Little Shop of Horrors, I have learnt that developing a stage performance needs each individual to rehearse at home and come more than prepared to each class. For example, in the first couple of rehearsals I had to use the script and it really got in the way of me performing properly and being in character. Also, I know for next time that no matter how much you think you are being expressive, dramatic and projecting your voice, it is not enough. Also, working in a team and creating choreography requires a lot of patience and willingness to sacrifice some of your ideas to make a true collaboration with someone else. I think if I practised more at home and filming myself, I could have improved more which I may do next time. I will also learn my lines as fast as I can so I can spend more time developing my character. I also know that whenever I don’t understand a member of my group’s vision, I will tell them so I can sort it out so we will all be happy in the end. It’s also my responsibility to make sure each actress understands my (and my group’s) vision and they have enough rehearsal time to make it look like our vision.

Another repertory piece we worked on this term was a Jazz routine to “When You’re An Addams” from The Addams’ Family Musical. I used my practical knowledge and skills to help me get into character as a zombie and execute every dance move whilst dancing like a zombie. I looked at other productions on YouTube to see what other “zombies” did in this song to get inspiration and help fuel my creativity.

For this piece, we wanted blue lighting to create a dramatised dead, cold atmosphere. However, blue lighting gets easily washed out by the black stage floors so green lighting was added. For costume, we all had to wear something that was either black, grey or white. Luckily, I found a very pretty white lace dress to wear over a black leotard and leggings which I thought gave the effect of a ghost because the dress was very floaty and see-through like a ghost. I think my performance met the demands of the character I was playing and my dance technique was good.

I also worked on “Almost There” by Randy Newman which I performed for my recital in Singing BTEC. Most people agreed it was my best song and suited my voice. Considering I already knew the song and had spent weeks rehearsing it, it seemed my best choice for a solo performance. I continue to struggle with having good breathing technique and projecting my voice when it comes to singing, especially singing on my own. However, I know breathing exercises off the top of my head, so before the performance this is what I did along with other exercises to warm up my voice. In my own time, I went through this song and picked out times to breathe to help me project my voice and sustain notes. I think I have improved since the beginning of this course but it is very difficult so I must keep practising.

For each solo/ duet performance, everyone had a simple spotlight because we were only singing one song each and had quick transitions between each performance. I wore a black T-shirt and trousers which was underneath the costume for Mushnik, as I performed straight after the Little Shop of Horrors performance. I thought that my voice was not very good but I have to remember I am a work in progress and I have definitely improved since the beginning of the year. I don’t think my performance skills were as polished as I would have liked in this performance because I was improvising the small movements/gestures whilst singing; so next time I will make sure I know exactly what I am doing in a future singing performance so I will be more confident.