Musical Theatre Workshop

Yesterday I got straight to work finishing making the rocks for 'Deep Blue Tales'. Here are some images of the almost finished and finished product:

Afterwards I participated in a musical theatre workshop. It was also an audition for Letchworth's West-end-style musical 'The Night Before Christmas'. We were asked to sing, dance and act through movement. 

We had to learn two dances. The first took me a while to pick up. However, after a few times of running through it, I learnt the dance quicker than usual. This time, it was my timing that was completely off. I would have benefited from 'counting' in my head. I also could have put a lot more energy into it, in order to make my performance more aesthetically pleasing. Afterwards, we learnt a dance that included elements of The Tango. I felt that I could have put a lot more energy into this dance also. I was even slower at picking up this routine and my timing was even worse. I could have put a lot more into my characterisation for both of the dances. During previous workshops such as Commedia Dell' Arte and in drama clubs I have always poured myself into becoming certain characters and I've made an effort to stand out. During this workshop I didn't commit to any character enough for them to come across. This was partly due to the fact that I was focusing on the choreography. In future workshops, I need to come up with and commit to more over-the-top characters, as I have managed to do in the past.

We learnt a new song from the show all together and then we were asked to sing half of the first verse as a solo. We had to sing in front of the piano individually and we had to sound as 'ugly' (not necessarily singing well and singing with a twang ('nya' sound)) and as London (cockney) as possible. I sang with a cockney accent. The first time I was nervous and I was worried about not being able to remember or read the words well, so I made a lot of mistakes. However, the second time I was asked to look up (instead of burying my head in the lyrics sheet). This time I managed to make only one mistake and it was the most confidently I have sang at college as of yet (possibly because I sang with an accent). We were also taught about the 'C Curve' (the shape that the neck makes when the head faces down), which, if not straightened, can cause singers to loose around 3 notes form their vocal range.

The Workshop Leader spoke about workshop audition etiquette. He mentioned that you shouldn't fold your arms, you shouldn't talk or run through choreography at the sides, and you should always give your full attention to the person who is holding the auditions (by looking at them when they are speaking).