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Week nine.

We went straight in a dress rehearsal of the show in front of the second years which I was extremely thankful but nervous for as this was our first dress run and full run through of the show.

During the show I remembered all of the choreography and continuously used my facial expressions so now I am finally happy that I’m confident with the dance numbers. For all of my scenes I remembered all of my lines and there were no awkward pauses so I was extremely happy with this as we haven’t done acting scenes for a while (I have been rehearsing at home) so I’m glad I remembered them.

Unfortunately, I forgot the words for my song so I was disappointed that my nerves got the better of me. I know my lyrics as I have since the audition date so I just need to focus of keeping my nerves at bay and everything should run smoothly.

Strength of the session: Remember all of my lines, routines and being comfortable with my entrances, exits and uses of props.

Weakness of the session: Forgetting my lines and letting nerves get in the way, nerves are not a bad thing so I need to stop looking at them so negatively and remain more positive.

Area to improve: Remain more focused on the scene that’s taking place and not let the fact that people are watching scare me as they want me to do well and succeed.

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Week eight.

As the show date is approaching quickly the sessions can be spent rehearsing something that I’m in or something that I’m not in. In today’s case I wasn’t in the section our tutor was refining so whilst she worked on something else she gave the rest of us the task of creating an improvised scene. I throughly enjoyed this as it was something new and different to do and allowed me to think about what my character would do in a different scene, Stephanie liked what we did so much that a small section of the improvised scene was added into the show.

We then went onto rehearsing different numbers and cleaning them up, this stage of the show’s rehearsals are the most vital in my opinion as at these stages everyone should know what they’re doing and only slight changes should only being made. 

‘Fabulous Baby Reprise’ was also choreographed today which is a very simple dance number, as I’m playing the role of a nun in the routine I don’t have much movement to do, however, I need to make sure that what I do, do is clean and in time with everyone else.

Finally we moved onto choreographing the finale number ‘Spread The Love Around’ which is a little bit more complicated and I struggled with remembering some of the choreography for this number so I do need to go over the routine before the next rehearsal. This number also contains choreographic devices such as cannon so we as an ensemble need to make sure that we are all aware of our counts so that it looks clean as a cannon movement can easily be lost because people aren’t sure of the counts.

Strength of the session: I’m finding as I’m dancing and singing I’m taking more breath in and not snatching short amounts of breath so that I can sing more and dance without getting out of breathe easily.

Weakness of the session: I’m not entirely sure of the choreography for ‘Spread The Love Around’ so I need to make sure I rehearse this before the next session.

Area to improve: Make sure I’m using all of my time effectively, if I’m sat out doing nothing then I could be going over scenes with someone who is sat out and make myself more confident on them.

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Week seven.

For this week we were to be working with a new Musical Director Howard who would be helping us to work on ‘Spread The Love Around’ which is our finale number and the most complex song of the entire show of Sister Act.

Like I have done with the past songs I recorded all of my harmonies so that I can work on them at home and get them right. At the start of this song Hollie and I have a duet with a harmony, for the harmony I’m on the lower tune which I’ve been struggling with but this will be good practice for me to work on being a lower harmony.

Choreography was also added for ‘Sunday Morning Fever’ which is an energetic number where the nuns finally let loose and we get to see them enjoying themselves. Unfortunately I’m not in this number so I don’t get to learn the dance routine but I join in at the end of the number which I need to make sure I’m keeping in time with everyone so that we all look the same as it;s a unison dance number; because of the intensity of the dance movement whilst we’re singing I need to be careful when breathing and not snatching breathes but also need to rehearse singing whilst I’m dancing to improve my stamina.

Strengths of the session: Remaining focused, professional and engaged when learning new harmonies.

Weakness of the session: Being unconfident on my lower harmony with Hollie, I need to continuously listen to the recording of my harmony to perfect it and become more confident with it.

Areas to improve: Keep rehearsing over the choreography’s harmonies and songs of the show so nothing gets forgotten.

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Week six.

For this week we would be working with Musical Director (MD) George Francis, I was extremely excited for this as we it meant we could attempt intricate harmonies and make our songs sound really tight and clean. Working with an MD is extremely useful because they can read music to tell you how certain harmonies go instead of us trying to hear them on the track and they can tell you how the composer of the song wants certain sections to be sung e.g. one section is really quiet and another is staccato. 

As George was here I personally wanted to make the most use of him whilst I could so whenever he began to talk I listened and stopped whatever I was doing as the time was limited and we needed to work fast. We worked through some of the most challenging songs of the show which were ‘Take Me To Heaven Reprise’ and ‘Sunday Morning Fever’, for me the songs were extremely challenging but I was so glad that they were as it was cleared that I was being pushed as well as my peers with songs as challenging as these. I recorded all of my harmonies so that I have them to listen to so I can refine my harmony if I manage to forget them. For the songs I am mostly on the high harmony as I have a strong head register, I was thankful for this as I struggle with being on a lower harmony sometimes as I’m not used to be on them. I often find harmony work a little difficult so it takes me more time than other people to perfect my harmony.

We worked on the Latin section at the beginning of ‘Take Me To Heaven Reprise’ which sounds so good when everyone gets the correct harmony, the only problem with this is because it’s so difficult everyone might not get their harmony perfect so this could result in this song being cut from the show. For the Latin section I am confident with my harmony as again I am on the high harmony and I am confident with pronouncing the Latin words as I have rehearsed them prior to learning the song.

Strength of the session: Remaining professional in front of George to not waste his time and being confident with my harmony.

Weakness of the session: Not being confident enough to go onto a lower harmony, as I mentioned before I’m less confident on lower harmonies as I never go on them. This is a weakness as I should be able to go onto any harmony and deliver it with ease.

Area to improve: Try to go on different harmonies in the future so that I can become more confident and be better at being a more versatile singer.

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Week five.

This week we needed to push onto the second half of sister act as this is something that we haven’t focused much on as we have been refining dance numbers and scenes in the first act. Like all weeks we ran from the top of the show and continued working our way through, I managed to sing my song perfectly with the correct track and correct words, although I was a little pitchy our tutor has shared the tracks with us so I can work on pitch in my own time.

The opening scene for the second act starts with Hollie and myself on stage, with our backs turned away from each other as they’ll be a screen in between us. As I knew my lines I was confident with my delivery and I had already decided how I was going to deliver some lines from how they are written in the script, however, I found it extremely difficult from not being able to look at Hollie and react from her or see what she was doing so it was a different experience it just meant I had to listen more carefully to what she was saying and her delivery to determine how I played my next line.

We kept progressing through the script and came to a scene that again we had never done before, I couldn’t deliver my lines and kept messing them up so I had to use my script to not misread any lines. I was disappointed with myself with this because I knew I had learnt my lines and I knew the scene well enough. 

Finally, we came to the last which I knew my lines for and was able to do so confidently. The end scene has a chase montage in it which we choreographed today, we need to get this right and be in time with everyone as we are running to a track that only has a certain amount of time for us to run to different side and then end up back on stage for a gun shot to take place. Everyone has to count properly and listen to each to stay in time and to not mess the timing up for the gun shot. During the chase scene I found myself coming out of character and not knowing how to react; as I hadn’t picture Mother Superior having to run about and be in a slight panic I didn’t think about how she would react so I will have to read the scene to analyse how I can approach this.

Strength of the session: Listening and knowing the timing for the chase scene at the end as it is crucial that we don’t get the timing wrong.

Weakness of the session: Letting my lines slip from my head and panicking that I’d forgotten my lines. If this happens in the future I need to remain professional and calm as panicking will only make things worse.

Area to improve: I need to think about my character and how she would react in all situations to better understand her, this will help me to show characterisation more through scenes she wouldn’t usually find herself in.

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Week four.

After singing through ‘How I Got The Calling’ I felt more confident as I now know where I need to join in with singing the song feels much more energised and it’s clear to see that everyone has gone away (myself included) and studied to lyrics and the song to get it to a higher standard. 

I then went on to sing my song for the first time during a run through, unfortunately it didn't go as well as I had hoped as the version we are using for our show is a different version than the one I had snag in the audition so sang my song wrong. As we have to keep moving on rehearsals I will have to rehearse my song to the correct track and try again next week.

Moving onto ‘Raise Your Voice’ I am not physically in the song however I will be singing off of stage to support the rest of the cast. I have a relatively easy role for this song as I’ll just be singing the chorus and certain sections for support. I have recorded my harmonies for the end section which needs to be tight and everyone needs to be on key to make the ending strong.

Finally, our tutor choreographed ‘Fabulous Baby’ which is a similar dance number to ‘Take Me To Heaven’ however this has more choreography and is a little bit faster paced. The movements still have a show girl feel to them with a slight jazz twist and again this routine is very stylistic so I need to work especially hard on using the correct style to this dance as this is something I struggle with. The routine was choreographed in one session and I am confident that I will be able to fully know the choreography after a couple more rehearsals as the routine is difficult I need to put extra time into rehearsing this number outside of timetable.

Strength of the session: Becoming more confident with ‘How I Got The Calling’ and now I know what I’m doing and when I’m supposed to be singing.

Weakness: Not knowing the correct version of my song, I know all of my lyrics but just not the correct version of the song.

Area to improve: I need to go away and learn the correct song so that I can come to lesson prepared next week and be able to try it inside of the run through.  

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Week three.

Before we move onto something new that we haven’t rehearsed before we always run the show from the top until as far as we have gotten so we can repeat everything we’ve already done. We use repetition in rehearsals so that we don’t forget what we’ve already done and we keep rehearsing to improve, refine and change what we’ve managed to complete. The more we repeat the more confident and comfortable with the show I become as I know I can’t forget what we’ve done now.

We divided up the solo lines in ‘How I Got The Calling’ and gave lines to ensemble nuns as it makes it more interesting to see small sections of the nuns coming out in character and this way the audience will get to feel like they know them better just from these short lines. We chose the lines carefully as the lines can impact a nuns character in the show, one example being the line of “I had a revelation when I skipped my medication” which was given to Georgia who is playing a character called Mary Martin of Tours who is a sweet character that spends her time mostly being confused or day dreaming. Another example of a line that was chosen carefully for comedy effect was “The outfit just did wonders for my frame” which was given to Charlie who is playing a nun, it works for the comedy effect as Charlie is a tall, slim boy who is obviously not a girl.

As the harmonies for the song have been finalised, the character lines have been assigned the only thing that needed to be added is choreography. Our tutor added in extremely simplistic choreography that looks really effective when everyone is in time with each other. As the choreography is so simple it needs to be really performed, as the movements are small and simple I need to ensure that my movements are precise so the choreography isn’t lost.

The more we have rehearsed ‘How I Got The Calling’ the more I have been able to experiment and try different things, I’ve been able to establish a reason as to why I am in the song and I’ve been able to create set movements and contact with Deloris throughout the number that works well. As the nuns are asking Deloris how she got the calling I’m trying to keep Deloris from telling them why she’s there to continuously keep her quiet which I feel works really nicely with the characterisation I have given with Mother Superior; as she likes to be in control but isn’t for the remaining part of this song. I would like to keep pushing myself in this song to see if there is anything else I’m missing interaction wise and comedy wise.

Strength of the session: Finding my purpose to be in the song and keep character all the way through.

Weakness of the session: I find myself not singing to my full potential at all times as I’m unsure if I sing in certain sections.

Area to improve: Finalise if I am singing throughout the entire song or just in certain sections, I will ask Steph in the next session so she can make an executive decision.

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Week two.

We began the session by recapping ‘Take Me To Heaven’ it’s important to recap so that we can go over things anyone might have missed or forgotten, me me this was beneficial as I was struggling with a small section of choreography that I had forgotten. 

We came up to my scene where I first meet Deloris to which I was fully prepared by being completely off script and knowing my lines, I was confident going into the scene and not worrying able whether I knew my lines or not. I believe the scene went well as Hollie and myself established a strong connection and were bouncing our energy off of each other. It’s good to be working in a scene with someone who won’t reject any offers or ideas you make to the scene so that you can experiment with them as much as you like knowing that they will just go along with it.

We moved onto our next scene of the show which included the ensemble nuns and the song ‘How I Got The Calling’, again I knew my lines so was off script so that I could play around with actions and make relationships with the other characters. In the scene I tried delivering different lines with changing tones, volumes and inflections. This allows me to be able to communicate to an audience if I’m unsure about something or being sarcastic etc.

The scene felt flat as there wasn’t enough energy being fed into the scene as no one seemed to know how to react or had thought about their character, this also effected me as i found myself trying to engage with people who didn’t know how to react.

In ‘How I Got The Calling’ I don’t have any solo lines so I just sing as part of the chorus, I find this difficult as I feel like I don’t have a lot to do in the number so I try to react to the nuns stories as if I haven’t heard them before and Georgia who is the closest person to me physically. The harmonies for the song are relatively easy but we have been given the direction that this song would work better if it was sang in a character voice, I believe singing the song this way will be extremely effective and will help to inject energy into the scene as we won’t be focusing on the sound of our voices but the characterisation instead. For this song we need to be especially careful as an ensemble regarding our diction as the number tells a story we need to deliver the message to the audience clearly so they can understand what is going on and what is being said.

Strengths of the session: I used characterisation in the scene as I know my character well and tried to experiment with things to do in the scene.

Weakness of the session: I wasn’t entirely sure what to do in ‘How I Got The Calling’ so I need to be more adventurous and be prepared to make mistakes as somethings won’t work but this is how progress is made.

Area to improve: Try different things with different characters and try to find a reason as to why I am in the song ‘How I Got The Calling’ as I don’t feel that I have found my purpose for being in the song.

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Week one.

For our show Sister Act, I will be playing the role of Mother Superior, who is the head of a female religious community. Mother Superior is in her mid 50s so I have to be careful of how I carry myself as I can’t act like the age of a 21 year old, I have to be fully characterised.

As we have been casted and know what our role is we had a read through of our script, this is important to do before beginning rehearsals as it helps you to fully understand the storyline, characters and establish the relationships between characters. Reading through helped me to pick point how I should deliver certain lines and it allowed me to think about what my character’s motivation is behind certain lines and get a better understanding of her nature.

We started to work on the show, the first thing to be worked on being our opening show number; ‘Take Me To Heaven’. As a dancer in the number it is very important for me to be a versatile performer and be able to adapt to different characters well, in this routine I need to be energetic, flirtatious and quick on my feet which is everything that Mother Superior is not; because of this I need to make sure that I am aware of what characteristic I use when I’m playing a different character. Having a skill like this is especially useful in the industry for someone who is a ‘swing’ for a show, a swing is someone who has to know a range of different roles and know where they are needed for all of them so this could mean learning five different character voices, lines and harmonies for songs.

The choreography for ‘Take Me To Heaven’ is influenced by 70s disco music and movement so it’s fun and entertaining to watch. As the choreography is extremely stylised I was struggling to adapt my movement to what our tutor, Stephanie, was showing us. I had no problem with understanding the movement but I couldn’t perform it the way she did. To help me to better understand the stylistic movement I need to embody I searched on YouTube and found a group of dancers, called Pans People, and watched how they moved. Here is the clip I watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXHxLg6MAU

The choreography they have is very simplistic but the way they move their bodies and use their facial expressions makes the dancing enjoyable to watch and their actions have that ‘cheekiness’ to it that I need to apply to myself. I know I have stiff arms and shoulders when I dance due to a lot of Ballet training so I need to work on relaxing my body up to be able to dance with more fluidity in my movements.

When we are dancing we also have to sing, this could be extremely difficult as the choreography is simple but we are constantly moving so it’s very easy to get out of breathe. To help me to control my breathe more when dancing I need to remember to breathe properly as I usually take short snatches of breathe and I need to work on singing whilst dancing to get my stamina up as this will help build my fitness so I won’t get as out of breathe with practice. The harmonies for this number are simplistic but effective, as it is our opening number they need to be strong so I need to ensure I know my harmony and be confident when singing, to ensure I am confident I have recorded my harmony on my phone so that I can practice at home and revisit the harmony if I manage to forget it.

Strength of the session: Having a strong read through and being able to connect with my character and start establishing relationships with other characters.

Weakness of the session: Not being able to apply the stylistic approach to the choreography and therefore feeling a little awkward whilst dancing.

Area to improve: Being able to adapt to different dance styles, I need to educate myself more in different styles so that I can know how to apply different techniques and am more knowledgable.