Musical Theatre: " Pracise Journal "

Today is the last day of my practise journal. Over the past few months, I was didn’t think I could improve my voice and other skills as much as I did through continuously doing particular and specific exercises. Due to the exercises and goals I wanted to achieve, it helped me to motivate myself to improve and keep up to the deadlines I set to myself for the exercises. I am still struggling with certain techniques in singing although there are no longer as bad as they were in the past (before I started to regularly practise). The noticeable improvements gave me the motivation to keep on improving so that I can become a better singer than I already am now. I can feel and see the improvements I have made and it makes me very proud and happy to be in the position where I am in now in terms of my singing. I have definitely improved my singing on the lower and high pitches. I have also noticed that I can sing quiet and softer notes with more easy and confidence as well as the higher and stronger ones. I am to control my voice much better and I know how I can use it most effectively. I am still continuing to practise my diction and will carry on to do so as it is my biggest weakness that I want to turn into my strength. I have also learned how to breathe efficiently and more effectively when singing so that I won’t get tired (out of breath) so easily as well as I won’t strain my vocal chords as much during a performance. I think that as long as I will continue to practise these exercises and continue to learn, I will go far as an artist (singer). I want to start taking private vocal lessons from October, in order to continue to have professional one-to-one training, to make sure that I am going in the right direction and improving. I also plan to open my own account on YouTube to create and post cover videos and start to work on my own.

 

 

Dance: "Dance Showcase- summary of the previous work"

Over the couple of weeks, we have been preparing for a dance performance that will take place tomorrow in our college (Leyton Sixth Form College) at 19:30, with free entry. The performance will consist of a ballet, breakdance and capoeira dance genre. It will also include a joint performance with the dance group from a different class. We have done this joint performance because pupils from my Musical Theatre class are also doing the dance course in a different class. In the ballet performance we have the music taken from the musical ‘West Side Story’ where they also have a ballet scene. Just like them, we will also showcase a temporary ballet. The choreography has been partly created by our dance teacher but mostly by the whole class’ ideas that we joined together to create this piece. It has been decided that for the ballet performance we will be wearing black vest tops, long black trousers or black non-see-through leggings/ tights, and of course with proper ballet shoes with hair tied back. In terms of the breakdance performance and capoeira, we will be wearing the same outfits. Black tops, black trousers/ shorts, everything black apart from colourful cap hats. The breakdance will be began with the choreography created by our dance teacher, where we will be dancing to a song by Jenny Jackson- Rhythm Nation. Straight after will be my solo with Ruth, Cagla, Courtney and Isabel’s.

After the solos we will be performing the capoeira piece, including the capoeira duos, straight after that, we will return to the solos. First one to do theirs is Marta, Nancy, Daniel and Rafa. After these solos, we will finish our breakdance performance which was partly created by our teacher and us. The biggest struggle we all faced was with the capoeira duos and solos. Through our rehearsal and practises, we were able to create god group choreography ad join everything together. In terms of the individual pieces, each and every one of us had to choose a song they want to perform their solo to and create their own choreography. I chose the song “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé where I can show off my best dancing skills in freestyle. I am continuously practising my choreography and checking if I am doing everything with grace, precision and passion, and correct technique. I am practising every day after college hours so that I am perfect at what I love to do in life- perform. I think that we are well prepared for the show. Tomorrow’s day will consist of last and final rehearsals which includes the final run to see if everything is where it should be. I cannot wait to perform tomorrow!

During the performance I have to pay attention and make sure that I do the ‘turn out’ in ballet correctly, and the timing with breakdance when dancing to Jenny Jackson’s song. These were my goals, and now after all the rehearsals, I know that I have made big improvements and now I have to make sure that I don’t make a silly mistake in the actual show. Over the weeks of practising I have noticed the significant improvement in my ballet skills. I am paying attention to every detail and hints given to me by the teachers and friends in my class so that that I can improve even more as a performer. My dance technique has improved a lot in every way e.g. dynamic, precision of my moves, timing, flexibility, and everything else. Through tough and assertive training over the two years, I can confidently state that I have acquired technicalities in dancing and can call myself a professional artist in Musical Theatre.

Musical Theatre: " Weekly Summary"

We only have 3 rehearsals before the actual show-day, the whole process has been sped up in order to finish the preparations on time. As a class (including the teacher) we have decided that Wednesday will consists of a whole day rehearsal plus tech run; setting up the stage (lighting etc). It will also include checking if everyone remembers when to get on and off the stage as well as when to move the platforms. In class, we have also discussed the costumes, so what each person is going to wear for each scene in the play. Our self-prepared costumes need to be brought to the rehearsal on Wednesday, as well as the props in order to check if everything is matching with the scene and the script. It will be a long and tough week up ahead because we have to set everything to perfection (including us and our roles). Each and every one of us is expected to have memorised the script, songs and choreography of by heart. There are no more excuses. A lot of work and no time to spare, but I believe that if we try really hard to make it work, it will be a very good show. The show will take place in our school (Leyton Sixth Form College) on Thursday and Friday in this week at 19:30 on each day, the entry is free for the audience. I cannot wait! Keep your fingers crossed that everything will be on tip top and ready. During the rehearsals as well as up to the show, I will be practising songs, scenes and choreography that I am involved in after school hours. I want this to be the best show I have taken part of, especially as it will be my last show in this group and probably in my near future. I want to be proud of what and how I’ve done, I will miss this.

Musical Theatre: " Final Audition "

For this Monday the whole class has to prepare for one of our previous assignments, one of them being the final audition. The purpose of this assignment is to allow learners the chance to showcase the skills they have learned throughout the academic year in the most basic certainty of our business, the audition.

We have to prepare song a 32 bar cut of an appropriate musical theatre song and present a one minute contemporary monologue. Also we must to provide a list of audition pieces that you considered for this audition. Our list must contain at least 3 songs and at least 2 monologues. And last thing which we also have to do is to choose one song and one monologue, and produce a document or video describing , explaining, and analysing the suitability of our choice. It may help to compare our final choice with the other choices that you considered.

We take audition for : "Violet" by Tesori and Crwaley , "American Idiot" by Green Day and Armstrong and "Rock of Ages" by D'Arienzo

My 3 songs are :

1) "Before its over" from Dogfight Musical
2)"I know where I've been " from Hairspray Musical
3)"Somebody to love" from Musical We Will Rock You

My first choice is song from Dogfight called "Before Its over".
Playwright: Peter Duchan
Composer: Pasek and Paul
Lyricists: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

My comments for this song:

I chose this song because first of all I really like this musical and I always wanted to sing some songs from it. I think this song can show of my soft side of singing but at the same time my range in high notes in refrain at end of the song. Also I think this song can be a good example to show all my acting skills such as characterisation (of young woman). This song will allow me to express my emotions through acting the song. This a calm song, I think it is a good song to start my showcase because with every following song will have a faster pace and will be stronger. Also, I like the mood in this song and the way how it is built; from slow and quiet to the big ending. I think that kind of songs are more interesting for the audience because they always build tension and the audience don't know what to expect. Also I think is very good comparing with musical "Violet " because as we know the play “Violet” takes place in the mid-1960’s and focuses on a young woman in search for a miracle, and who bears a horrendous scar on her face from an accident when she was a child. The musical opens with Violet boarding a Greyhound bus that is traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she hopes to be physically healed by a famous TV preacher. On her journey of self-discovery, she meets several people, including two soldiers, who soon become her friends. As the young adults traveling advances, so does their understanding of many important lessons and choices about life and growing up. Throughout the play, Violet flashes back to her childhood memories, especially those moments with her father, whom she condemns total responsibility for the accident. Ultimately, Violet experiences a form of healing that is truly more important than the physical miracle she was searching for.
So as you can see this musical have a bit similar story and some of the characters are similar to musical Dogfight too that's why I think this song is one of the good choices.

My another choice is from Hairspray- "I know where I've been"
Music: Marc Shaiman
Lyric: Marc Shaiman and Scot Wittman

My comments:I chose this song because I think it can show of my range (low and high pitch) and the control of my voice. This song is quite powerful with strong characters. I think I can connect with this song and the character easily because I understand how difficult it was for them to fight for equal rights in that time and even now some people still have to do this. This song is suitable for me because I can show my full vocal range (not just high note as in first song), also I can show power of my voice (how strong it is) and a little improvisation at the end where I can play around with my voice . From the acting side, this song allowed me to show the leader of the crowd of people which follow me and fight at the same time for the same thing as me. I will be able to present a strong character who knows what she’s fighting for. In this song I am a kind of person which is an example, a role model for people to mobilise themselves to revolution.

My last choice is song from musical "We will rock you" called "Somebody to love":
Playwright: Ben Elton
Lyricists: Queen, Ben Elton

My comments:

This is my last choice. I think these 3 songs are similar to each other but different at the same time.  They are kind of  contemporary-rocky songs which will show off all my acting and vocal skills such as: range(high and low pitches) truthfulness, connection with the characters and lyric, power of my voice in soft and strong ways. Also, I can show how clearly and easily I can sing as well as how well I can manipulate and control my voice. Moreover, from vocal skills these songs will allow me to show my colour, tune and emission of my voice. From the acting side I can show off: good voice emission, diction, ability to analyse and understand the text, dramaturgy, the ability to evoke feelings and play, improvisation, stage fight, observation and imitation of my characters. These songs are very hard to sing but I know I can do this. Whereas this song is closer to the musical "Rock of Ages " because It’s the tail end of the big, bad 1980s in Hollywood, and the party has been raging hard. Aqua Net, Lycra, lace and liquor flow freely at one of the Sunset Strips last legendary venues, a place where sex machine Stacee Jaxx takes the stage and scantily clad groupies line up to turn their fantasies into reality. Amidst the madness, aspiring rock star (and resident toilet cleaner) Drew longs to take the stage as the next big thing (and longs for small-town girl Sherri, fresh off the bus from Kansas with stars in her eyes). But the rock and roll fairy-tale is about to end when German developers sweep into town with plans to turn the fabled Strip into just another capitalist strip mall. Can Drew, Sherri and the gang save the strip–and themselves–before it's too late? Only the music of hit bands Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and more hold the answer.

Also I think this song is good choice for the musical " American Idiot" because the story, expanded from that of the concept album, centers on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions, while Will stays home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Heather. The former pair look for meaning in life and try out the freedom and excitement of the city. Tunny quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military, and is shipped off to war. Johnny turns to drugs and finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship and experiences lost love.

To summarise I think this song is closer to these musicals because of the musical style, tone, genre, power of the songs, the way the they are sang and performed, mood and topic of songs and this is why I have decided to sing this song in my musical. It is the closest song in terms of the topic and vocally to the musicals, and also through them I can show myself from the vocal side as well as from the acting side.

My choices of monologues:

1) "Like a Virgin"
2) "Lost in Yonkers"

'Like a Virgin'

No, you go. I don't feel up to it... I've got to live a bit. Maxine, I'm dying. I don't know why but I am. I don't know why I've been picked to have such a shit-awful life. What have I done that's so bloody wrong?
So you can piss off with your, 'Let's be jolly,' routine. With you, 'Lets pretend everything's alright and we'll have a laugh like we used to in the old day's.'... Do you know something? I've never had sex. I'm a virgin. Yeah I know what I said, what we said, but...well, they were just stories full of me, us trying to be gorwn-up. But I'm never gonna grow  up. I'll never grow up and be a woman and have children. Why me? Why the fucking hell does it have to be me? It's not fair. How would you like it if someone told you that you were gonna die? Come on, it's not easy is it? YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. You have got four weeks to live. What are you going to do? It's not easy is it, is it, and people are so full of understanding... so full of shit. 'I'd go on holiday, I'd travel.' What is the point in spending your time in spending your time in strange lands with strange people? S you'll have lots of happy memories and photographs to look back on. When? I haven't got time, I'm dying. What's the point in laying on the beach getting a tan? So I'll look good in coffin. So people will be able to gork into my coffin with...with..tear-stained eyes and say...'She looks really good'...'She's the best suntanned corpse I've ever seen'... Well, they can all fuck off. Sometimes I feel as though I should have some dignity and write poems and raise money for charity an' all that...Be a symbol for other people to look up to. But why should I? What has anyone ever done for me? Look at you, you're pathetic stood there not wanting to say anything in case you hurt my feelings. Making excuses for me. 'It's her condition... It's understandable... She's just a bit down.' Well don't patronise me. Tell me to fuck off. Slap me. Go on. Go on. Go on, do something.

 

'Like a Virgin' written by Gordon Steel in 1998.

Synopsis

 Inspired and written around Madonna's album 'Like a Virgin,' explores the lives of two best friends who are filled with all the teenage interests such as boys, parties, clothes and secret hand shakes. The two girls, Angela and Maxine are completely obsessed with Madonna, like many young girls in the 80's, and have dreams to be famous until Angela's path changes their feature forever.
Angela

 The character I am playing during the monologue is Angela, a 16 year old girl who has dream to be famous. Angela appears to be a normal teenage girl growing up in the 1980 however she is dealing with much more than any other 16 year old. Angela has Leukaemia and during the monologue she has just been told that she has 4 weeks to live. From looking at reviews of the production it appears that Angela warms up slowly however rapidly changes from a go happy teenager to a young girl battling a deadly illness. On top of her illness she had also got to deal with the reality of her parents, Mum and Dad , breakup. The family from Northern England.

 

The monologue I am performing is from Angela herself. She is in her bedroom with best friend Maxine reflecting on how society has reacted to the news of her life expectancy which Angela sees as very unrealistic and pathetic. She explains to Maxine how she finds it unfair that she is going to die and try's to explain what it is like to be told you will die. It is a very sensitive monologue that touches a lot of different emotions from sad to angry and from depressed to aggressive.

Lost in Yonkers

Me! He wants me !He wants to marry me! I want to marry him ...I want to have his children... I want my own babies.

You think I can’t have healthy babies, Momma? Well, I can...I’m as strong as an ox. I’ve worked in that store and taken care of you by myself since I’m twelve years old, that’s how strong I am... like steel, Momma.  Isn’t that how we’re supposed to be?...But my babies won’t die, because I’ll love them and take care of them...And they won’t get sick like me or Gert or be weak like Eddie and Louie...My babies will be happier than we were, because I’ll teach them to be happy....not to grow up and run away or never visit when they’re older or not be able to breathe because they’re so frightened...and never, ever to make them spend their lives rubbing my back and my legs because you never had anyone around who loved you enough to want to touch you, because you made it so clear you never wanted to be touched with love...Do you know what it’s like to touch steel, Momma?  It’s hard and it’s cold, and I want to be warm and soft with my children.... Let me have my babies, Momma.  Because I have to love somebody.  I have to love someone who’ll love me back before I die...Give me that , Momma, and I promise you, you’ll never worry about being alone....Because you’ll have us...Me and my husband and my babies...Louie, tell her how wonderful that would be...Gert, wouldn’t that make her happy?....Momma? Please say yes....I need you to say yes...Please?

Character name: Bella

Written by: Neil Simon

Played by: Mercedes Ruehl [US], Maureen Lipman[UK]

Character's age: mid-30s

Character's type: She is pathetically affectionate ;and a mess at dressing.

Time and place:1942;an apartment in Yonkers, New York

Situation: Bella is a little retarded and has been looking after her mother ;now she wants to move out and marry an older man. Her brother Louie and sister Gert are also there.

General comments:
I think that the song “somebody to Love” and a monologue from the play “Like a Virgin” are the closest to the 3 musicals I have chosen because they are very similar in terms of topic. In every of the 3 musicals, the main characters are struggling and fighting different problems such as drugs, money, death of a close person, travelling and seeking a place they can call their own and fighting for a better tomorrow. They are fighting for their dreams, love, family, equality and freedom. After analysing and explaining the 3 songs and 2 monologues, I think that they also show off my best vocals and acting skills. I feel comfortable for when I have to present them on the stage and I think that they are a good example and a good choice for the audition. I think so because it is hard to choose a song and a monologue to represent and reflect fully the message and meaning behind the 3 musicals because they vary in style, atmosphere, music style, tone… But in my opinion I think that the closest representatives for the 3 musicals will be the song and the monologue.


*Some of the information is based on Wikipedia and from other different resources

Musical Theatre: " Practise Journal"

Throughout the week we have continued to practise scenes one by one, we paused at the scenes that needed changes and improvements. We have also rehearsed particular songs that we struggled with as well as fixed or added in to the choreography where it was necessary. We have worked really hard on every little detail that needed our attention in order to make it perfect. In addition, we had to learn all of the songs and script of by heart and when each person steps onto the stage and when to move the platform that we will be using. The platforms play a very big role in the play as they are used to change the scene through the play as well as used as props. In the next week, we only have 2 rehearsals before the show-day, of which is the tech run which involves setting up the lighting and other technical stuff ready for the show which takes up a lot of time. The will also including checking our costumes and timing if there will be enough time in-between the scene to get changed for the next scene. Everybody has a to be perfectly prepared for tomorrow’s rehearsals so that there will be no stoppage during. So recapping, we have to work hard and make sure that we are perfectly ready for our last show this year.

Last Thursday after our rehearsal, our teacher gave us an overall opinion and thoughts about the whole show thus far as well as individual feedback to each and every one of us. He told us what our strengths and weaknesses, how we can improve our character, what scenes to improve on etc. I have to improve on the song “Opportunity” and “Getting Ready”. I have to practise on my diction because I sound unclear in the last couple of lines. In the second song, I have to improve my timing as I don’t sing exactly with the music as well as rushing words in certain lines. So my goal and aim for improvement was and still is diction and rhythm.

From the acting side, my teacher gave a feedback on the volume level whilst I’m on the stage. He said I am too quite at times and I need to talk louder so that the audience will hear what I am saying. Although I think this may be because he is playing on the piano throughout the play and it may appear like I am not loud enough because he sits closer to the piano and can hear it much loud. On the other hand I do agree with this opinion because I can catch myself saying lines too quietly at time, where I think I am loud enough but re-watching it on the computer shows that I need to be louder. The fact that we will all have a microphone when on the stage will make us all sound much louder. He also said to me that I need to play more with my character and let loose so that it will make it more reliable and realistic. I think that I will improve on all of the points so that on show day I will be ready to give the best performance I will ever have.

So I am pasting the 2 videos below where I am practising the points I had to improve on (including diction):

 

 

Muiscal Theatre: "Practise Journal"

In this week, we have practised and mastered most of the scenes from the play. We only have a few scenes, which mainly consists of choreography practise, before it’s all ready for the show. The scene that we didn’t practise yet is the scene from “Brand New You”. Next week, our plan is to practise the choreography with the song as well as there will be a person chosen by my teacher to present this scene. I hope that I am the one that is chosen to sing this song because I really like it, and I believe that it is another song that can show my vocal range and skill and I also think that it suits me very well. I like the rhythm and tempo of this song as well as the style, I actually like it a lot as a whole. Also in this week, we have begun rehearsing the entire play from the beginning. We started to rehears the timing of when each one of us enters the stage and other technical stage propping stuff. If there was something we didn’t like or it didn’t work, we transformed and change it so that it fits the play better. Tomorrow is another day of rehearsal of the songs, choreography and the script from the beginning. There is a lot of work to be done and so little time to spare, but we are closer to the finish day after day. I am getting more excited after every rehearsal.

Here I'm pasting the video with song  "Brand New You" from Musical 13:

 

 

    From the vocal side, during this week I have practised the emission of my voice and singing quiet and gentle notes as well as the louder and stronger ones. Of course, I am still practising my diction, this is the one thing I will have to be practising for a long time in order to get really good at, although I can see improvement week by week. I never back down and stay stubborn to my practise routine. My aim was to get better at the quiet notes and tones when singing because most of the songs I will be doing require me to be gentle and soft. There are many songs that I really like, but I realise that I don’t have an as well-rounded voice as I need in order to sing them comfortably and up to a very good level. It was a hard task to do over the week, and from the first week I honestly cannot judge if there are any improvements in this field of singing, I will continue to practise this over the next week. From the acting side, I believe that every song allows me to show myself from a different acting perspective, and I feel that with every song I improve and evolve my acting skills. With every rehearsed song I feel like I understand my character better which allows me to get in role better with every characters’ song or scene. This makes me more reliable as I act out the role as well as makes me a better actress. I also believe that it makes my performances better and more memorable for the audience. Through this skill I can an atmosphere around me and the character I am playing, and to make the audience empathise with me.

 Here I am posting two songs that I have used for this week to practise my skills listed above:
1)Big Girls Don't Cry- Fergie
2)Bubbly- Colbie Caillat

 

 

 

 

Musical Theatre:"Practise Journal"

in the past week, we have practiced as a class the scene "It can't be true", which includes songs mixed with dialogues and in addition we practiced our dance choreography for this song. We have also practiced our position of every person in the scene. We have finished the scene/ song/ choreography of "Opportunity". In addition, we have rehearsed the whole scene of "Getting Ready", we still have to practice that scene in the future lessons, although it is close to finishing it off. This is the song that I need most practice with because it is necessary to speak clearly in order for the audience to understand it well (diction). I am still struggling with a couple of lines, therefore I have to rehears and focus on this scene more than others right now.

In the song "It can be true" the thing I have to learn most urgently is the dance choreography due to the fact that I am standing in the front row, and I am leading the rest of the group. Also, I have to learn the chorus of the song because I wasn't supposed to sing it before but now my teacher gave me this as an additional part to perform. In addition, I have to practice the timing of this particular song in the second verse, as well as when I am singing at the same time with Molly. I have practiced the scenes Did that work ?You bet it did and "A little more homework" in my spare time.

In the next week, I am planing to practice all of the scenes I have already rehearsed, go over any material that I did not fully understand and focus o my role and the preparation for the show.From the vocal side, my biggest struggle/ challenge is the song "Getting Ready" because it enforces me to practice my diction which is my biggest weakness. I think that until the show, practicing the songs, will massively improve my diction, timing and other parts that I am struggling with. I will take this as a challenge and will strive to make sure i learn from it as much as I can and in effect become a better performer. From the acting side, I believe that this role will allow me to evolve and show-off all my acting skills such as impressions, improvisation, playing with my role.

Here I am pasting my rehearsal video of "Getting ready", and the second video is "It can't be true":

Musical Theatre:"Practise Journal"

Throughout this week, as a class we have focused on practising the following songs; “13”, “Opportunity” and “Getting Ready”. We have also practised the choreography for the mentioned songs. I hope that I will be able to get some videos for you to see us during rehearsals. Personally, I have already learned the first two songs (13 and Opportunity) as well as the choreography which has allowed me to have more time to prepare myself for the third solo of mine in the song “Getting Ready”. I have also practised scenes called “Hey Kendra”, “invitations” and “Any time”. I have a plan to also practise “Bloodmaster fight underscore”, “Bad news” and “Tell her”.

I would like to learn every single part in the play as soon as possible so that I will have more time to improve my imperfections in the play, and to pay all of my attention and focus on the rehearsals prior to the show. I feel like from week to week, I am learning more and getting into my role, which enables me to learn the script, sings and dance choreography quicker.

 From the vocal side, I think that regular training and practising of the vocal exercises throughout the month allowed/ made it easier for me to prepare myself/ my voice to the songs I will be performing and the play as a whole. I have much less troubles with learning the music lines/ sheets, timing and correct breathing. Due to these exercises, I can feel the difference in my singing, it became easier and I can do it with more pleasure. Whereas in the past I have stressed and got angry over my singing if I did something wrong. The learning of new songs and acts was harder because I didn’t know how to prepare and use my voice properly, and due to the exercises, I am more confident in my voice. In this week I will try to paste more videos where I practise my solos to show/ prove that from one week to the next, I am improving and my singing is better.

Here I'm pasting the video where we practised dance for the "Opportunity " scene :

 

That's the first video which we did in this week .Today we cleaned this scene and we added more staff into it , so I will be trying to upload videos all the time to show you differences and improvements'.

And also I'm pasting the video where I practise my song "Opportunity" to show you improvements from the last week:

 

Musical Theatre: "Practice Journal"

In this week I have focused mostly on practising diction and music feel. I continuously try to practise my diction through trying to speak clearly and improve my accent with other people. Whereas in music feel, I have to pay attention to practicing different song speeds so that I will know when to start and stop notes (singing). It sometimes happens that I come in the song too early or too late which frustrates me, so therefore I decided to focus on that in this week. After the entire week of practicing, I can already see improvements although they are not good enough to move on to more advanced techniques. So, I will practise these techniques and exercises in the future weeks until I perfect them and see mass improvements. As an example, I will practise to sing songs with different tempos and accents.

Here I'm pasting video while I practise those skills by slinging the song:

Musical Theatre: " 13 Musical - pracise journal"

General summary of this week:
In this week we were practising songs "Thirteen", "Opportunity", "All Hail the Brain" and "And a little more homework". These are the group songs where everyone is singing together. Each person have a line /lines to sing and is divided on different harmony.
Here you have videos of those songs:

"13" song:

"Opportunity" song:

"All Hail the Brain" song:

"A little more homework" song:

Also in this week I decided to practise scenes :"Hey Kendra" and "Invitations". Here I'm pasting the video where I play these scenes with my boyfriend.

 We really had fun by doing these scenes. I think if I will practice my scenario in my free time more than at the lessons , I will definitely learn my lines quicker than I thought. Also that will help me to build my character and my confidence with it.
After the first week of practicing, I think I've quickly adapted to the new role of Lucy. I really enjoy her as a character and I know I will be able to act out her role with humour but also professionalism. The show as a whole is a very funny play ,you can almost call it a comedy with some additional morals in the story. So I think that as a class and individually as Lucy, the show will be a great spectacle.

Here I am pasting a video where I practice my vocal and my performance solo:

 Through the continuous practice of my vocal and timing, I can see improve in that department. In addition, this song allows me to practice my pronunciation and diction. From the first week of rehearsals, I have already seen improvement in my overall performance including my vocal skills. This has also improved my acting skills, every time we rehears in class, I can feel and see that I am getting more confident and better at being Lucy. Due to the practice of the breathing exercises and the daily warm-up routine, the performance and emission of my voice has improved quiet a bit and that these exercises are getting easier for me.

Musical Theatre: " Practise journey - summary of previous work"

Today is the last day of our assignment. Over the past several weeks of my hard work and practising exercises, I feel like they have helped out a lot! By practicing these exercises on a daily basis, I have noticed a significant improvement of my voice. For example, my tone, range, high and low end pitch and other aspect that I struggled with/ needed improvement seem to get better and better ever since the start of the assignment. In order to prove my words, I am posting 3 videos of myself singing 3 different songs. Even thou this is the end of our assignment, I will not stop using these skills and practise videos with my regular practise routine because I can see through my own evaluation that these exercises allowed me to improve as a singer, which means the world to me. As you may say, ‘practise makes perfect’ and inspired by this famous saying, I will not put my voice at a halt but will keep on improving it day by day.

Every exercise that I have used to this day are pasted on the videos as well as explained; how to correctly practise them, and how you can improve by carrying them out.

*Alicia Keys - Brand New Me

 

 

*Christina Aguilera - Hurt

 

 

*James Bay - Hold Back The River

 

Musical Theatre:"Practice Journal"

Last week I was concentrating on breathing ,today I would like to work on toning. First of all I will paste all exercises which I used to practise those skills.

1)Breathing exercises:

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am pasting my videos when I practise breathing exercises:

 

 

`My comments:

In the duration of the breathing exercises I didn't think at first that they will be as helpful as they turned out to be. These exercises allowed me to relax, clear my mind which helped me to do the exercises correctly. They have also allowed me to relax my vocal chords and other parts of my body. Some of the exercises made me laugh and I have really enjoyed and had fun doing them. From now on, before starting any of my vocal exercises I will definitely begin with the breathing exercises.


2)Tone exercises:

 

 

 

 

Here I'm pasting my video when I practise toning exercises:

My Comments:

When doing these exercises for voice toning, I didn't think they will turn out this difficult to do. When doing these exercises you have to pay attention to every, even the little, details. From the exercises that I do now, I will definitely have to focus more on the toning exercises as they require more work from my side and they are a very important part of vocal training. Theses exercises will allow me to improve my vocal skills/ abilities. I believe that every individual that wants to improve their singing skills, must practise exercises on toning.

Conclusion:
Now, I have to keep on exercising with my usual routine although I have to add more breathing and toning exercises into my practise repertoire.

 

Musical Theatre: "13 Musical"

After Easter Holiday we are going to start practising for our last showcase. We will performing a musical called "13 ". First of all I will put some information about this musical and characters to make sure that you know what I'm talking about :)



13 is an original musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn.
Following a move from New York City to small-town Indiana, young Evan Goldman grapples with his parents' divorce, prepares for his impending Bar Mitzvah, and navigates the complicated social circles of a new school. 13 is the only Broadway musical ever with a cast and band entirely made of teenagers. It originally began previews on September 16, 2008 and officially opened on October 5, 2008 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
The Broadway production closed on January 4, 2009 after a total of 105 performances. The show was directed by Jeremy Sams and starred Graham Phillips as Evan Goldman and Allie Trimm as Patrice. It also starred Corey Snide as Evan on the matinee performances, Aaron Simon Gross as Archie Walker, Eric Nelsen as Brett Samson, and Delaney Moro as Kendra. Liz Gillies and Ariana Grande played cheerleaders.

Plot synopsis:

Twelve-year-old New Yorker Evan Goldman is soon to have his Bar Mitzvah, and he wants his party to be amazing, but that might not happen because his parents are splitting up as his father starts to fall in love with a stewardess, which causes his mother to file a divorce against her husband ("Thirteen/Becoming A Man"). Just as Evan thinks that maybe things will be fine, his mother calls to tell him that they are moving to Appleton, Indiana. Once there, however, Evan finds a friend in his neighbor, Patrice, who develops a small crush on Evan while telling him how Appleton, Indiana is ("The Lamest Place in the World").
Later that month, Evan meets Brett Sampson, the most popular kid in school, and tells Brett and his friends to take Kendra, a real pretty girl who Brett wants to date, to a scary movie where Brett can do "The Tongue". Brett nicknames Evan "Brain" because of his idea. Later, Brett asks out Kendra, but Lucy, her jealous friend, tries to tell Kendra she can't go (Hey, Kendra). When Brett tells Evan that the idea seems to have worked, Evan is thrilled; this means that Brett will come to his Bar Mitzvah, and if Brett comes, everyone else will come. Patrice, however, is displeased. If she goes to the Bar Mitzvah, nobody else will go because all of the others hate her and Evan will be viewed as hanging out with a geek and uncool. Evan does not think that it will be that bad, but when he hands out the invitations, he sees that Patrice is right, and in a moment of panic, he rips up her invitation so that the popular kids will come ("13 (Reprise)"). As the other kids express their excitement over Evan's party, Archie enters and introduces himself. He is upset at Evan for humiliating Patrice – his best and only friend – but promises to help to make it up to her if Evan gets him a date with Kendra. When Archie’s attempts to use his degenerative illness to guilt Evan into getting him the date do not work, Archie tries to convince him that Evan is the only one who can get Archie the date and if he doesn't, Archie will show up to Evan's Bar Mitzvah and ruin it ("Get Me What I Need"). Evan finally relents. Later, at cheerleading practice, Kendra teaches a new cheer while Lucy resolves to make Brett her boyfriend. Archie tries to talk Patrice into giving Evan a second chance, especially since she has a crush on him, but she has lost faith in him and still upset at what he had done to her ("What It Means To Be A Friend").
In class, Brett tells Evan to get his mother to buy them all tickets to "The Bloodmaster." Evan protests that his mother will not buy them tickets to an R-rated movie, but Brett points out that if she does not, nobody will go to his Bar Mitzvah and Evan will be the uncool one. Evan cycles through possible plans, eventually realizing that he will have Archie use his illness to guilt Evan's mother ("All Hail the Brain/Terminal Illness"). To make things better with Patrice, Evan asks her to go to the movie with him as a date. He then realizes that he "just set Brett and Archie up to be on dates with the same girl, on the same night, in the same place...." Evan makes Archie promise to do nothing more than sit next to Kendra so as not to screw up Brett's date. Archie agrees, and everyone prepares for Friday night ("Getting Ready").
Everyone gets to the movie, and Brett prepares for "The Tongue", Lucy is on "Tongue Patrol", and Kendra waits for it along with Brett's goons, Eddie and Malcolm, but amidst it all, Patrice is upset because Evan is not sitting with her; he is saving a seat for Archie (Any Minute). When Archie gets there, he pokes Brett with a crutch, and panic ensues: Archie squeezes his face, closes his eyes, and goes in to kiss Kendra, while Brett at the same time, turns his head, sticks out his tongue, and goes in for the kiss. Evan sees, and as he mouths 'Nooooo!', reaches to pull Kendra back, while Lucy reaches for Kendra, too, but only so she can stop Kendra from getting the tongue. When Brett and Archie don't realize that Kendra is out of their way, their mouths meet. Kendra knees Brett in the crotch, trying to stop him from hurting Evan or Archie, after Archie reveals how Evan set him up on a date with Kendra. Brett breaks up with Kendra, and Lucy asks if Brett's "tongue is still available." Meanwhile, Evan is left alone by Patrice ("Good Enough").
As Lucy and Brett begin dating, she forces him to spend increasingly more time with her. Brett's friends recognize that Lucy is good neither for Brett nor for them at all ("Bad Bad News"). Evan promises to help to get Brett and Kendra back together so that he can get back on everyone’s good side. Archie, fearing that this is a suicide mission, begs Patrice to help Evan. She tells Archie she is not going, but he knows that she is lying. When Patrice gets there, she surprises Evan by helping him help Brett, but instead of telling Brett what to say to Kendra, they end up telling each other that they are sorry, but Brett is oblivious ("Tell Her"). Brett takes their advice, and when he learns that Lucy and Kendra are fighting over him, he interferes, and makes an feeble attempt to get Kendra back, and, to his surprise, she comes back to him. Meanwhile, Lucy learns of it and won't take the hit. She spreads a rumor that Kendra is cheating on Brett with Evan, and then gets Evan and Kendra in the same place so that Brett can catch them ("It Can't Be True"). Her plan works, and Brett lashes out at Evan. Evan, finally having enough of Brett, stands up to him and says that Archie and Patrice are his real friends. After Brett insults Archie and Patrice, Evan shoves him, but Brett only punches him in the nose, causing it to bleed. Patrice immediately rushes to Evan's aid. Kendra shows kindness towards Archie before running after Brett. Evan wants to call off the Bar Mitzvah because it would only be him, Patrice, and Archie, but Patrice and Archie point out it that won't be that bad, and Evan starts to agree, and then he surprises Patrice with a kiss, and she surprises him back ("If That's What It Is"). Evan has his Bar Mitzvah after all; he is starting to understand what growing up means, and the characters tell of what surprises turning thirteen brought for each of them ("A Little More Homework"). Evan tells the audience that he is "thirteen years old. And [he's] just getting started."
An encore is performed to end the show ("Brand New You").

*Information took from Wikipedia

My Comments about my role in the play:

Lucy is Kendra's best friend, who shouldn't be trusted by anyone. She also has a huge crush on Brett, and tries to get Brett to break up with Kendra so she can start dating him. For the first time ever I will be playing a dark character role in the play. As we know, my character is very energetic and dominant which means that she wants everything to be going her way. She always gets in the way and is interupting the relation between Kendra and Brett because she wants Brett only for herself and she will do everything for it to happen and for her to achieve this goal, and not paying attention and caring that she wants to get Kedra's boyfriend- Brett.

During the process of researching about the character, I have tried to find as many facts about Lucy as possible. Unfortunately, there aren’t many facts about her on the internet and neither in books. This is a shame because I really wanted to know about her as a character and her background in the play, which may explain why she is behaving in such a way that she is to her fellow friends. Reading through the script allowed me to figure out that she is definitely from a wealthy background/ heritage. I have interpreted this because of the way she is referring to people and the way she is speaking to them. She has a bossy characteristics and she likes to tell and see people where they are by telling them. She is very full of herself and states that she is the best at everything, better than everyone around her, the way she dresses and the fact that she thinks she is the best looking girl not only in school but also in the area. I think that the reason why she is behaving in such a way is because it is the way she’s been taught and that’s the way her family treat other people that are lower class than them. She seems selfish and may not always play fair, which is presented in the play. I believe that the way she was raised by her parents resulted in her being this way to others, although another factor that may have caused this is loneliness. In many cases, people of this “classy” sort are unhappy and want to buy happiness, although they find out that it can’t be done. I think that Lucy’s parents don’t pay enough attention to her because they have other work related things on their mind (in order to get richer and richer) and the lost time they try to make up through buying expensive presents for her. As a result of this I think that Lucy is trying to attract attention of other people in order to make up the lack of attention in everyday life at home. Nevertheless, I believe that she is a good character which is presented in the scene when Lucy is trying to repair the damage she has done and get back her best friend again, she feels sorrow and anger about the way she mistreated her best friend. Also, throughout the play there are flashes of her good side particularly when she asks the audience (thinks out loud) if she has done something right or wrong.

I think that if someone would have given her a chance and helped her become a better person, I think that Lucy’s behaviour and attitude towards others would change for the better and in effect she wouldn’t feel as lonely as I think she is in the play from the start. 

Through this role, I will be presenting a character that is presented like a "teenage whore". Never the less, I am not negative towards this role because Lucy has many faces and is an interesting character to explore and act out. I treat this role as a challenge so that now I can present other/ widened skills that I have through this role. I think that the best thing will be finding myself in this role as well as searching for a way to create this character as realistic as possible. Also from the acting side I can show off: good voice emission, diction, ability to analyse and understand the scenario , the ability to evoke feelings and play, improvisation, stage fight, observation and imitation of my character.I believe that this particular role is ideal for me because I have never played such a role before and I can show off not only my acting but also my singing skills at the same time.

My timeline for this month is to practise and learn at home/in free time :
From 11th to 17th April my first and second scene "Hey Kendra" /"Invitations"
From 18th to 24th April my third and fourth scene/ songs "Opportunity"/"Getting ready "/ "Any minute "
From 25th April to 01th May my fifth scene "Bloodmaster fight underscore" "Bad, bad  news"/ " Tell her"
From 02th to 08th May my last scenes /songs " Did that work ?You bet it did"/"It cant be true"/ "A little more homework"
From 09th to 15th May - checking my work material thus far, improving work, getting everything together and ready.


Characters and original cast:

Character	Description	Original Goodspeed Cast	Oiginal Broadway Cast	Original West End Cast
Evan Goldman	A twelve-and-a-half-year-old Jewish boy from New York City.	Graham Phillips (Corey Snide on matinee performances.)		Guy Harvey
Patrice	A somewhat eccentric and bookish girl. She is the first person which Evan meets and they soon become friends. She has a little crush on Evan.	Allie Trimm		Sienna Kelly
Archie	A boy whose energy and looks are unlike anything else in Appleton. He walks on crutches as the result of muscular dystrophy. Patrice's best friend. Madly in love with Kendra.	Aaron Simon Gross		Tim Mahendran
Brett	The prototypical junior high school football star. Cool, handsome, and about as smart as a postage stamp. All the girls on the cheerleading team are head over heels to date him.	Eric Nelsen		Jacques Miché
Kendra	The prettiest and most popular girl in school. She has a major crush on Brett and they are an on-and-off couple.	Ashton Smalling	Delaney Moro	Hannah Thompson
Lucy	Kendra's best friend, who shouldn't be trusted by anyone. She also has a huge crush on Brett, and tries to get Brett to break up with Kendra so she can start dating him.	Elizabeth Gillies		Georgia Riley
Eddie	One of Brett's goons. A wanna-be who flanks him constantly.	Matthew McGinn	Al Calderon	Jack Cashion
Malcolm		Kyle Crews	Malik Hammond	Robin Franklin
Molly	One of the cheerleaders.	Caitlin Gann		Lindsay Kearns
Charlotte	One of the cheerleaders. She sees right through all of Lucy's intentions and tries to warn Kendra but Lucy quickly lies and calls Charlotte "Jealous".	Ariana Grande		Lauren Ellington
Cassie	One of the cheerleaders.	Taylor Bright	Brynn Williams	Amara Okereke
Simon	One of the boys in school.	Joey La Varco		Toby Turpin
Richie		Eamon Foley		Sario Watanabe-Solomon

Dance: "Ballet -summary of previous work"

Last week we had a showcase where we all had to dance our pre-prepared solos. The beginning of the choreography was identical for everyone in the group but the rest we had to create by ourselves. We danced the Swan Lake by Matthew Bourne and our solos were aspired by the solo of Adam Cooper. I think that for ballet/ dance skills it went well for myself. I really liked the choreography which I have created for the solo and the music to which we danced to helped me get the rhythm and get in the dance with my whole body and mind. I definitely have to learn a lot more, first of all the technique which is the thing that my skills are mostly slacking in but taking into account that we only just started learning ballet, I believe that I have done well.

Now I just need to work more at home and practise exercises all the time to make better progress each time. The most I need to focus on my turn out and make sure that all moves I finished them clearly and properly.

Firstly, I would like to paste original version of Matthew Bourne's story

Then I would like to mention video about Adam Cooper's solo:

Dance:" Breakdance and Capoeira-summary of previous work"

Over the course of a couple of weeks, the whole class tried to finish and polish off their solo’s as well as the group performance. With our teacher we have sorted out entire work and decided on the order in which we will perform. We will begin our performance with a dance called Capoeira, at the beginning of the choreography all of us dance and later we split off to two person groups where we dance with the other person. The second part of the show will be our solos which will last between 40-60 seconds each. After the performed solos our grand finale will be breakdance where we perform the whole choreography together as a class, only at the end we will have a couple of seconds to perform our breakdance solos. In our next lesson I will try to film our whole performance to show you the level of our dance skills as well as what the project will roughly look like. In this week I will attach a video showing my main solo (40-60 seconds) and the breakdance solo (10-20 seconds).
 

First I'm pasting mine and Ruth's group choreography:

 



Here I'm pasting the video when I practise my short breakdance solo:

Also I'm adding video when I practise my another solo on which I still work on:

Here I'm pasting few pictures which describe some breakdance movements. Some if these poses I used to create my solo.

 

 

 

 

 

Musical Theatre: " Performing Arts Business"

This week our assignment was to describe a range of different methods of funding and financing performing arts events arts. Also we had to explain the different private and public methods of funding and financing performing arts events. And the last thing which we had to do was to critically comment on various private and public methods of funding and financing performing arts events.

*Deadline for this assignment is 15th March 2016.

Scenario for this assignment is that we are a journalist for the Guardian Newspaper and you have been asked to write a report on the current state of the funding of the arts in Britain.

Here I'm pasting my work:

                                                   Arts funding

 

First of all, I would like to explain the meaning of funding. Funding is the act of providing financial resources, usually in the form of money, or other values such as effort or time, to finance a need, program, and project, usually by an organisation or government. The different methods of funding are:

1)Government Grants

Government could allocate funds themselves or through government agencies to projects that benefit the public sector such as students or researchers and even organisations. At least two external peer-reviewers and internal research award committee review each application. The research awards committee would meet together to discuss the first stage shortlisted applications, and then a further shortlist and ranking is made for the chosen applications. Projects are funded and applicants are informed.

2)Crowd funding

Crowd founding exists in mainly two types, reward-based crowd funding and equity-based crowd funding. In the former, small firms could pre-sell a product or service to start a business whereas latter, backers buy certain amount of shares of a firm in exchange of money. As for reward-based crowd funding, project creators would set a funding target and deadline. Anyone who is interested can raise an interest of investment on the projects. Projects must reach its targeted amount in order for it to be carried out. Once the projects ended with enough funds, the project creators will have to make sure that they fulfil their promises by the intended timeline and delivery their products or services.

3)Raised from investors

To raise capital, you require money from investors who are interested in the investments. You have to present those investors with high-return projects, meaning that the money invested will be paid back with extra return on top of the sum. By displaying high-level potentials of the projects, investors would be more attracted to put their money into those projects. After certain amount of time, usually in a year’s time, rewards of the investment will be shared with investors. This makes investors happy and they may continue to invest further. If returns do not meet the intended level, this could reduce the willingness of investors to invest their money into the funds. In addition, the amounts of financial incentives are highly weighted factors to keep the funding at a desirable level.

Public funding:

Now I would like to explain what is public funding and what are the public advantages and disadvantages. Public funding is money that is generated by the government to provide goods and services to the general public.

Advantage: Public
·  Purpose set by legislation ·  Focus on functions usually impacting significant groups in society such as performing arts. ·  Have the most money and more likely to award large grants/contracts. ·  More likely to pay all project cost and/or cover indirect costs. ·  Easier to find information about and to stay current on project needs/interests. ·  Application processes and deadlines are public information and very firm. ·  Use prescribed formats for proposals many use "common" application forms. ·  Possibilities of renewal known up front. ·  Plentiful staff resources most projects have specific contact person. ·  More likely to have resources for technical assistance. ·  Funds available to wider array of organizations (for-profit and non-profit). ·  Accountable to elected officials if administrative staff don't follow the rules.
Disadvantage: Public
Are much more bureaucratic. Lengthy proposal requirements and complex application, administration and compliance procedures. Often require institutional cost-sharing and matching.  Reviewers tend to favour established applicants. Sometimes difficult to sell new ideas and high-risk approaches. Cost to applicants much higher expensive application and compliance procedures. Changing political trends affect security of some programs availability of funds can change rapidly. Private funding Now I would like to explain what is private funding and what are the public advantages and disadvantages. Private funds available in the private sector without government involvement, support or guarantee.   Advantage:   Private ·  More likely to focus on emerging issues, new needs, populations not yet recognized as "special interests." ·  Often willing to pool resources with other funders. ·  Wide range in size of available grants -- some can make very large awards, others are strictly for small local projects. ·  More willing source of start-up or experimental funds. ·  Full length, complex proposals not always necessary. ·  Can be much more flexible in responding to unique needs and circumstances. ·  Able to avoid bureaucratic requirements for administering grants. ·  Can often provide alternative forms of assistance, i.e., software/hardware donations, materials, expertise, etc. ·  Fewer applicants in most cases. ·  Can generally be much more informal and willing to help with the proposal process.   Disadvantage: Private ·  Average grant size usually much smaller. ·  Priorities can change very rapidly, continuation support can be difficult to predict. ·  Applicants have limited influence on the decision making process. ·  Information on policies and procedures must generally be researched, can be time consuming. ·  Less likely to cover all project costs and most do not cover indirect costs. ·  Limited staff  fewer opportunities for personal contact and/or site visits. ·  May not be clear about reasons for rejection hard to improve for 2nd attempt. Comparing and contrast the two different methods of funding, I believe that private funding is the better option out of the two. Although the funds may not come in huge lumps and there will be an expected additional profit to the investments from the private investors. The private funding allows almost an immediate injection of money to kick off the project, whereas with, public funding it could take some time before the transaction. Most big organisations in Performing Arts get their funding from private investors as it’s a quicker and bigger injection of money that is necessary for the project to work although big organisations mix both private and public methods of funding.     For a new choreographer/artist I would strongly advise the public funding at start as he/ she is not well known and hasn’t got the contacts and history with private investors. The public sector will be more likely to give money to the choreographer/artist in the beginning although he will have to prove his eligibility to the government or organisation before getting the fund. Later on in their performing arts career, the choreographer may refer to private sector because of the immediate money as well as team work with big time investors meaning it will create contacts for the choreographer/artist for the future. *information based from: www.wikipedia.com www.literacy.kent.edu www.onlineprograms.lcu.edu