Friday 19 June 2015
Thursday 18 June 2015
CATS evaluation
Overall I enjoyed the making and performance of this project as it was my first musical however there were a few things I improved as we progressed with the shows and also some things I would look at if I was to do the show again.
The first point of improvement would be working on the vocals for the song Old Deuteronomy, this is something that I flagged on the day before the show. In the play I had three songs my character had solo lines in therefore I focused most of my attention on the two big ones as I only had a verse in Old Deuteronomy. Within this song there were notes that I wasn't hitting and that was due to not getting enough vocal training. My practise time was reflected on my vocals because I was uncomfortable with the song which held me back from going for it. If I was to perform cats again playing the same character I would designate my rehearsal time equally to all the songs I am in.
While the vocals could have been better getting used to using the whole musical theatre package is something that came with time. Dancing , acting and singing can be difficult when done at the same time while you push yourself to your limit. Balancing the three proved hard because as soon as I put focus on the vocals my movements we not to their best. A week before the show we started to put everything together because we had dance lessons that were separate to vocal lessons so the two never got to be done together. This made it hard for myself and a few others making us look uncertain on stage.
The body language I had on stage was one of my main strengths because I reacted to the other characters and clued the audience as to what kind of relationship I had with others . An example can be taken from the song Rum Tum Tugger. this was the main song from my character and how I danced with Bombalourina in contrast to all the other female characters implies that I may have had a thing for her. Body language can also help foreshadow the story to the audience because staying on the Tugger and Bombalourina.
The first point of improvement would be working on the vocals for the song Old Deuteronomy, this is something that I flagged on the day before the show. In the play I had three songs my character had solo lines in therefore I focused most of my attention on the two big ones as I only had a verse in Old Deuteronomy. Within this song there were notes that I wasn't hitting and that was due to not getting enough vocal training. My practise time was reflected on my vocals because I was uncomfortable with the song which held me back from going for it. If I was to perform cats again playing the same character I would designate my rehearsal time equally to all the songs I am in.
While the vocals could have been better getting used to using the whole musical theatre package is something that came with time. Dancing , acting and singing can be difficult when done at the same time while you push yourself to your limit. Balancing the three proved hard because as soon as I put focus on the vocals my movements we not to their best. A week before the show we started to put everything together because we had dance lessons that were separate to vocal lessons so the two never got to be done together. This made it hard for myself and a few others making us look uncertain on stage.
The body language I had on stage was one of my main strengths because I reacted to the other characters and clued the audience as to what kind of relationship I had with others . An example can be taken from the song Rum Tum Tugger. this was the main song from my character and how I danced with Bombalourina in contrast to all the other female characters implies that I may have had a thing for her. Body language can also help foreshadow the story to the audience because staying on the Tugger and Bombalourina.
Wednesday 17 June 2015
Fringe -- FE awards --Cats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJXQEqnpajY&feature=youtu.be
This is one of the most popular songs that have been produced this year and because of this it has been featured in much of the media. Its popularity makes it a hit with both the young people and their parents. Many people have made their own choreography and flash mobs therefore obtaining inspiration would not be difficult. On that popularity subject the song just makes the cut because unlike the song happy produced last year people have made flash mobs for it but not as many as there are for the song happy. It is also fairly new therefore it is not at the point were people are getting annoyed with the song because they have heard too many times.
FE Awards
For this performance we incorporated numerous songs from musicals that have been done in our college allowing us to work with the ex students from the college. I think what made our piece special was that it was a mash up in contrast to having one five minute song like the other colleges did. In a space of 5 minutes we sang six songs that had different energy levels allowing us to take the audience in an emotional journey. The other colleges had one song which I thought was of a high standard because they lots of time to focus on it and that showed in their performance however if that was someone's first time encounting musical theatre they would have felt left out. Another element to why our performance worked was that we tried to keep the movement to a minimum but not just stand still like a choir because no one wants to eat a meal to a choir.
Cats
The two songs I chose contrasted each other and I think that they helped express my strengths and weaknesses in my vocals which would contribute to the director's decision. One of the songs I sang was written by the author of the musical. This helped show that I could cop with songs of that genre and tone , while the other song helped express one of my strengths which was holding notes. This would make a good candidate for the songs that require a male role holding notes. Having tried tried a few other songs I chose these two because they allowed me to keep the same key while moving up and down the scales
This is one of the most popular songs that have been produced this year and because of this it has been featured in much of the media. Its popularity makes it a hit with both the young people and their parents. Many people have made their own choreography and flash mobs therefore obtaining inspiration would not be difficult. On that popularity subject the song just makes the cut because unlike the song happy produced last year people have made flash mobs for it but not as many as there are for the song happy. It is also fairly new therefore it is not at the point were people are getting annoyed with the song because they have heard too many times.
FE Awards
For this performance we incorporated numerous songs from musicals that have been done in our college allowing us to work with the ex students from the college. I think what made our piece special was that it was a mash up in contrast to having one five minute song like the other colleges did. In a space of 5 minutes we sang six songs that had different energy levels allowing us to take the audience in an emotional journey. The other colleges had one song which I thought was of a high standard because they lots of time to focus on it and that showed in their performance however if that was someone's first time encounting musical theatre they would have felt left out. Another element to why our performance worked was that we tried to keep the movement to a minimum but not just stand still like a choir because no one wants to eat a meal to a choir.
Cats
The two songs I chose contrasted each other and I think that they helped express my strengths and weaknesses in my vocals which would contribute to the director's decision. One of the songs I sang was written by the author of the musical. This helped show that I could cop with songs of that genre and tone , while the other song helped express one of my strengths which was holding notes. This would make a good candidate for the songs that require a male role holding notes. Having tried tried a few other songs I chose these two because they allowed me to keep the same key while moving up and down the scales
Friday 12 June 2015
Rehearsal Log
Rehearsal video
This was the first video evidence we recorded for the Brighton fringe festival performance. In this rehearsal it was starting to come together in contrast to the previous rehearsals were we didn't have much material. I think that it was hard for us to start because of the number of people in the group , having six heads all wanting to have their own way to start the piece was a challenging because I thought we were going to be having trouble coming up with any sort of material. I pictured the piece starting with one person followed by another till we were all in almost like a flash mob effect because we were the opening act of the second half therefore we needed to grab their attention. As the rehearsal went on we agreed to run in and hype up the crowd because it was an upbeat song. In the rehearsal we polished all we had planned last few rehearsals and watching it back I think that it looks great even though we could be a bit more fluid and uniform with our movements.
Uptown funk is a 3 minute and at this point we have about a minute worth of material therefore in the next rehearsal we will start to play around with choreographic devices to enhance our piece. A choreographic device we could use is repetition, I think that if we had a motif that was repeated we stand a good chance of leaving a mark on the audience as they would think of our routine every time they hear the song. Repetition would also extended length of our piece plus it could be used alongside other choreographic devices like fragmentation to spice up our choreography.
Another obstacle we faced in this rehearsal was not having all the members of the group in the rehearsal. This had an effect on the ideas we generated because we had less brains in the room plus if we were all in we could have worked on tiding up how we looked as group. Everyone is allocated a solo in the song therefore not having people in means we just stand through their part(s) which reduces our feel of what it will be like when we perform it next week.
Fringe Performance Tech Run
Above is our tech run just before the show , it looks great however there are tiny little bits were some members don't remember the routine therefore when we get there we will run through them quickly to ensure we perform to the best of our abilities.
Final performance
This was the first video evidence we recorded for the Brighton fringe festival performance. In this rehearsal it was starting to come together in contrast to the previous rehearsals were we didn't have much material. I think that it was hard for us to start because of the number of people in the group , having six heads all wanting to have their own way to start the piece was a challenging because I thought we were going to be having trouble coming up with any sort of material. I pictured the piece starting with one person followed by another till we were all in almost like a flash mob effect because we were the opening act of the second half therefore we needed to grab their attention. As the rehearsal went on we agreed to run in and hype up the crowd because it was an upbeat song. In the rehearsal we polished all we had planned last few rehearsals and watching it back I think that it looks great even though we could be a bit more fluid and uniform with our movements.
Uptown funk is a 3 minute and at this point we have about a minute worth of material therefore in the next rehearsal we will start to play around with choreographic devices to enhance our piece. A choreographic device we could use is repetition, I think that if we had a motif that was repeated we stand a good chance of leaving a mark on the audience as they would think of our routine every time they hear the song. Repetition would also extended length of our piece plus it could be used alongside other choreographic devices like fragmentation to spice up our choreography.
Another obstacle we faced in this rehearsal was not having all the members of the group in the rehearsal. This had an effect on the ideas we generated because we had less brains in the room plus if we were all in we could have worked on tiding up how we looked as group. Everyone is allocated a solo in the song therefore not having people in means we just stand through their part(s) which reduces our feel of what it will be like when we perform it next week.
Fringe Performance Tech Run
Above is our tech run just before the show , it looks great however there are tiny little bits were some members don't remember the routine therefore when we get there we will run through them quickly to ensure we perform to the best of our abilities.
Final performance
Variety Report
Variety is were different types of acts are put together to form one show. What one may classify as a variety performance can be anything from dancing to circuit to comedy , any type of performance qualifies. Popular acts back when it all started would have been comical singing however some acts were 'were unashamedly patriotic or sentimental, about true love, mother love, moon and June, idyllic villages, shady trees and wandering streams' which enforces that variety can be any type of performance.
Its origins can be traced back to the 18th century where it first appeared in music halls and supper rooms. Supper rooms was where working class citizens gathered for some food and entertainment as the owners noticed that providing entertainment increased their sales in alcohol. In Britain these supper halls had a rough audience that talked over the performers and sometimes attacked them with food if they didn't enjoy the performance. At the end of a long day the middle class men would attend these supper rooms and for an affordable price provide food and entertainment for them. The acts that were mainly successful were comical songs written for the working class about the rich for example songs mocking their bosses that they would sing along to. This type of entertainment saw the birth of Sam Cowell and other comical singers like Sam Collins.
Super rooms were male only and as time went some evolved to music halls that provided more professional singers, allowed females to attend and also a less harsher crowd. The London pavilion is an example of this because it started as a supper room and in 1861 became a Music Hall. Music halls did not enforce social divide however you were likely to find more working class in super rooms than in music halls.
The evolution of variety turn a slight turn with the induction of music halls because singers kept the comedy element from super rooms singing about everyday life (bosses, rent, unfaithful wives etc.) and addressed social issues in their entertainment. an example can be found in on the VAM website 'Many songs, and much of the comedy, were a comment on social conditions. They reflected working class life. Marie Lloyd’s hit 'My Old Man Said Follow the Van, and Don’t Dilly-Dally on the Way' was about doing a moonlight flit to avoid paying the rent and Gus Elen’s 'If it Wasn’t for the Houses in Between' was about the overcrowded living conditions in London’s East End' This was a form of one of the popular acts known as character songs.
The Victorian Era saw rise of Lion Comique and George Leybourne was noted the best in Comiques. This was the birth of boy bands that have now evolved to groups such as the modern one direction and take that. During the Victorian Era these were young character singers that sang about the high life and their attitudes were 'distinctly laddish' in contrast to modern boy bands.
Surprisingly audiences would go back time after time to see the same acts which allowed them to memorise the songs and sing along to them just like people at football games would go watch their team and chant the same songs match after match. I think that media played a big part in their society because they didn't have any sort of media therefore they had to the halls to see and listen to their favourite songs. Think had a knock on effect to modern variety because people can now access thousands of entertainment however variety is still popular in modern context for example shows like
Britain's Got Talent are still a big hit and there are also other nation loved programmes that originated from variety for example the X Factor (offers a range of different singing genres.)
These super rooms turned to music halls that encouraged women to attend and offered different entertainments on different days. The Canterbury music hall was the first of the music hall kind. It provided free entry making profit through food sales. I think that this place had a significant impact on the evolution of Variety because it was the first to provide tables and seats (700 seat capacity as the business improved) for the audiences to comfortably enjoy their food and entertainment. Music halls were a big hit with the society because it allowed women to dine with men and not just sit at home all day this meant more sales in alcohol and food for the owner therefore more places like this started to open.
Variety continued to evolve as the early 20th century saw large purpose built theatres like the Edwardian Theatres mainly designed by Frank Matcham. These theatres were beautiful with golf leaf traits and red chairs that were fixed in contrast to the table settings in music halls. Eating and drinking faded away in these sort of theatres and the darkening of the auditorium minimised the interaction between the audience. Its capacity and pricing was a big hit for the upper class and still affordable by the average working class which meant that it generated larger audiences.This the beginning of modern theatre as we know it because our theatres have red seats that are not in table settings. We have now added surround sound and 3D viewing as adaptations from the 20th century plus some places now offer 4D screenings.
Music halls provided more professional singers such Sam Cowell however the 20th century saw new built theatres that provided top end performers and everything was controlled by the new developed role of producers. This was the beginning of the large number of jobs that the theatre offers. Many traits of modern theatre originated from variety for Oswald Stoll owned a string of music halls and tried to pay his actors as little as possible which is something that we modern times leading to minimum actors pay laws to be introduced.
Historically media (writing and performing) was used mainly to consult social issues because people did not have the right to speak up to authority or go against them because punishments were extreme in modern views. Nowadays media is still used to consult social issues for example Malala used Facebook to get support on fighting for girl's rights to attend school in Islamic states. As technology has advance media has grown and most use it for entertainment purposes and the media industry generates lots of money through providing entertainment.
Variety has grown overtime and there are lots of programmes seen in Morden television that enforce this for example there are plenty of dancing / singing / comedy shows that offer different types acts within the same genre. Apart from being separated into categories some people have kept it original proving performers in their bars ,others offering karaoke nights. The evolution of variety is mother to stand up comedy and open mic evening provided in theatres.
Britain's Got Talent offers the general public a chance to perform in the royal variety show and sum prize of £250 000. The awards provide them with publicity and thousands of people enter the show which means thousands watch the show which generates them thousands of pounds plus people get to vote for their favourite acts making them even more money. In the eyes of the public they are offering a large sum of money for next to nothing however from that they get lots of money just like the alcohol provided lots of money behind the acts performing back when variety started. X Factor works just about the same way which reflects the evolution of variety and how media is used to get these events/ programmes popular.
In 1912 the Royal King George V and Queen Mary attended the 'Royal Command Performance' which is the equivalent of the Royal Variety Show where only a chosen few get to perform in front of the Royals. This still happens every year and it is a big owner to even get a ticket to be a member of the audience in this event let alone to perform in this occasion. The first royal theatre saw 'Vesta Tilley appear on stage in trousers' which was a big deal because it was not considered moderate for a women to be seen in a pair of trousers at that time.
The contrast between the famous acts back when it all started to modern context is quite sublime as more acts have been added to variety performance for example Britain's Got talent the last two year his been won by dog acts. Out of thousands of performers trained animals seem to a hit with modern society. When variety first started it was all about comical singing for example performers like Sam Cowell were a hit with the public. 'The theme of the ballad is the traditional one of lovers parted by parental interference who then commit suicide and are buried in one grave' something along the lines of Romeo and Juliet.
Two acts I might do would be a solo in our variety show or a group performance in the Brighton Fringe festival. I that the main difference between the two would be audience that come to see it for example in the college variety show friends and parents would come and watch therefore it is guaranteed not to be a harsh crowd. On the other hand a bigger audience is guaranteed however most members of the audience may have had a bit to drink and maybe not so friendly towards the acts that they don't like just like the super room set up in the super rooms. Another important factor with the differences between the two would be that in a solo I will have to generate the ideas by myself in contrast to the group one were I will be working alongside others to come up with material. Both have cons and pros because the trouble with having more people is that there are more chances of conflict leading to slow progress being made in contrast to a solo where I could just get on with my idea and there would be no clash of ideas.
After considering a few factors I decided to go for the Brighton fringe because it will be a chance to represent my college. The group setting will enhance hard work because of the motivation given to be by others and some that I give out. I find it easy getting along with others in a project and I think that it will also help me perform at my best.I would have more rehearsal time as it would take the group longer to be in sync.
(sources used-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_show http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/music-hall-character-acts/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9NWMmiXtWw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZTliSF_c9s
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/music-hall-character-acts/ )
Thursday 4 June 2015
production role
For this production I was assigned the marketing role with Saxona. Overall it didn't go well because I didn't not manage to secure any donations or sponsorships. I think that the main aspect for the failure in the production role was time. I didn't manage to get hold of Sax outside college times therefore I decided to take matters to my own hand by writing the letter. I hoped that she was going to help me spread the letter round to potential targets since the production was based around fashion. After a few weeks of no progress I started sending the letter to big companies such as H&M , Next , New look and others. The emails I sent were straight to their administrators and some took a week for the replies. All the replies gave me an email to redirect my enquiry. At this point it was a fortnight away from the show and I sent out the emails. Some of the companies notified me that their charity enquiries can take up to six weeks for me to get a response , others said they don't support charity works as they run their own charities and some said they will get back to me a decision in the coming weeks. Having received the production role I should have done my research to how long it takes and what companies Do and what companies Don't support individual projects. A positive would have been that I attempted my role and if I was going to be assigned this role in the future I would have my later ready earlier and reach out to more companies because the more companies I required with the higher the chance of us getting some sponsorship.
Hi my name is Magic Sine Sibanda currently studying musical theatre at Worthing College. I have been put in charge of the marketing for this production. Cats will be our last performance and by far the most memorable because of the sheer amount of dedication and preparation that is going into it.
Our version of the traditional Musical, reflects on the different roles & personalities that can be found in the Fashion Industry and also touches on the concept of people having another chance in life through a character who is despised by all the others in the play. Fashion is very important to people because it represents who they are and can portray different aspects of their personalities.
In order to accurately reflect our theme we need to have lots of glamorous clothing and it made sense to turn to you for donations of any shiny or sparkly clothing that you do not use or need!
Anything donated would be very much appreciated, as we are planning to have two rails filed with clothing. In return you will get your logo in our program, free tickets to all your staff members that may be interested in attending the show and lots of happy faces.
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