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kristianhrabkolma32 · 5 years ago

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Heathers Background

Background of Heathers

As we all know the classic teen movie of 1984 Heathers, it is interesting to see just how similar the musical version is with few changes in place to really give it the musical feel.

In both instances the main characters remain the same, however in the musical version each character has equally weigh importance of the role whereas movie will only show the characters if they have line coming up.

So for those who don't know what Heathers are you're in for a treat. Heathers gets its name from it being baste on the lives of three girls called Heathers. We have Heather McNamara, Heather Duke and Heather Chandler the leader of the scrunchy Gestapo.

Then we have Kurt and Ram who are the Jocks of westenburg high that's the school all of this is taking place at.

Jason Dean is Veronica's future boyfriend, sorry for the spoilers if you haven't seen it yet he will be referred to as J.D throughout. We also have Martha who was Veronica's best friend since kindergarten, now being in high school relationships change even though that lasted 'lifetime'.

Veronica is constantly bothered by others, never seems to be fitting in so she's an odd ball, her dream is to be like Heathers or to be protected by them in a sense. We can see how she becomes friend with Heathers in the musical version however in the 1984 movie the cafeteria scene begins and she is already befriended by them, just one of examples how minor details can shift the storyline.

She falls in love with a weird kid, or weird by standars of 80s culture, he seems like a loner and try to stay out of everyone's way. She really notices him when he gets into an alteration with jealous Jocks Ram and Kurt, she's falling for his mysterious nature and charismatic charms, however later on we'll see just how toxic these two can be for one another. Jason is a troublesome teen who's trauma gets the worst of, his sociopathic tendencies really highlights just how badly damaged he is . He gets upsest with Veronica and cannot live without her, he sees and feels comfort when with her as she understands his troubled past, which is unusual for Jason to see.

Moving forward, after some time Veronica is getting sick and tiered of Heathers and their rules so after Rams party she visits J.D. to plan Heathers Chandler demise. After successfully executing their plan, J.D. thinks that the only way to keep Veronica close to him is by hurting those who wronged her in the past as he sees this as necessary.

After killing three students and one trying to commit suicide Veronica begins to feel guilt creeping in, for a 17 year old to handle such a burden, each time they killed they staged the scene as a suicide rather murder, this is why J.D. though they can carry on killing people off with Veronica's perfect forgery skills.

Eventually there is a turning point when Veronica realizes that she is the only who can stop him, J.D. has organised thru Heather Duke to collect signatures from all the students of Westenburg High and with her smart whit she was able to persuade everyone. Once Veronica finds out that J.D. is planning to blow up the school to keep her happy and with him, she has no choice but to face someone who up to this point she loved and shared intimate moments with.

To round this all off, Veronica and Martha stay friends, Heather Chandler and Jocks and now J.D. are dead, Veronica become the new sheriff in town sort of speak and live moves on. This is what happens in the musical version, in the movie however it is a little bit different. Two Heathers die, two jocks and J.D. gets accidentally killed by Veronica whereas in the musical he blows himself up, taking all the bombs thus saving Veronica in both instances. Veronica and Heather McNamara stays friends and creates a version of Heathers with new buch if girls.

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kristianhrabkolma32 · 5 years ago

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Rehearsal process

Opening Scene

- Veronica moves from left to right, opening the reading from her diary.

Beautifu, the name of the opening song introduces 'Baxter hill high' which is the school where majority of scenes take place. Veronica is still reading from her diary which reveals rest of the cast throughout the whole song.

At the very start of this song my mind always tells to count, counting beats in time and rhythm of a song is very fundamental skill to have in any practitioner repertoire.

My role at this point is a moody teenager, who always wanted to be with the popular kids but secretly hated them which lead him to express wearing dark clothes and really going into emo culture yet he's still a geek at heart.

Going into a bit more technical side of this, ensemble has 3x8 to un-freeze from each of their position. So the song consists of beats knowing the mean of beats is commonly used amongst musicians, musical theatre performers or just performers overall.

On the second count of 8s in the music, curtain is lifting and allows me to be ready in time so my professionalism is shown right from the start. There are 3x8 counts leading into 4th where ensemble joins in on the first count of 8 count sequences. Progressing each 8th count into the song the ensemble starts on different count for three times.

For exanple:

FREAK!SLUT! BUNOUT! BOGEYE! - we start on the first count of 8.

Moving into next section,

FREAK! SLUT! LUSER! SHORTBUS! - this time ensemble starts on the second count, which leads to third change and this time it begins on third count.

Knowing how to count enables me to be on time in my place positioned, which shows commitment to knowing & understanding my material.

This link contains footage of our rehearsal process , I wasn't able to insert actual video here so I'm taking a different approach. In the first 18 seconds of the video, you can see techniques of progressive counting as previously mentioned in the sections above.

As Veronica takes us through the song she reveals the rest of the cast thus showing her emotions and setting the scene which is reflected in the technical aspects in choreography. The choreography is strategically placed along with music to create what the director envisioned . Near the midway of Beautiful Heathers are being introduced, there is change in music to more minor, this is an expression used to describe mood of songs or melodies. As Heather's enter through the archway created by us the non-populars , this is a strategically placed choreographed exert to showcase class diversity within the school society.

This footage is only to support my analysis and to help demonstrate points mentioned above, it is not our final rehearsal footage therefore it serves as a teaching tool.

Dramaclasses (2020) "Verfremdungseffekt, or the ‘estrangement effect,’ was used to distance the audience from the play and is sometimes called the alienation effect. Brecht did not want the audience to have any emotional attachment to his characters, so he did various things to break it."

Thus confirming that Bertol Brecht technique uses several techniques to alienate audience, however it can be used in different situations such as in this instance.

Following, the music comes off into a scene that takes place two weeks late, it is stated by Veronica as a clue for audience. Brecht technique is used to tell the audience there is time change or that something has changed. Brecht technique consists of literally tell the audience actors mood, intentions or it can be simple character change , this is shown through either literal representation of the change or simply writing the representation and displaying it.

Candy Store

Leading into 'Candy Store' , the scene is showing use of power within school society by Heather's. They are telling Veronica that it is their "job" to keep losers like 'Martha Dumstock' in their place. Martha is Veronica's best friend, although she thought. Veronica gets blinded by the limelight as she enters the world of Heathers, the Heathers want to invite Martha to Rams party as a joke but Veronica quickly realizes what is about to happen and try to stop them. This is when Heather starts Candy Store with the infamous " are we gonna have a problem…." line to tell Veronica you're either with us or against us.

At this point ensemble wise I'm in the scene witnessing how this unfolds, obviously feeling scared by Heathers, I'm showing this through my timid positions and acting style as they burst through the crowd of students.

I'm not singing in this scene as our director want to show female empowerment thus giving this song stronger meaning using the lyrics in quite literal sense as Heather C. Talks about school being her candy store. The viewer can see this as a very sexual innuendo situations as we are in school environment and these are three young adolescents students in mini skirts talking about how they 'own' everyone.

Here is a footage of our Candy Store rehearsal, this is only to demonstrate and support points made above. This footage is not a final piece it is only a rehearsal at its beginning stage.

For our final show I thought it would improve my performance, stamina and focus if I make a timetable to be in that mindset constantly.

Here's an example of my timetable:

I've tried my best to keep in sync with it , from our last performance I understood that it is vital for an musical theatre practitioner to have some type of regime even if they are not performing.

This gave me some room for improvement and allowed me to see how simple regimes can implement massive changes in a short time.

This semester I have improved on my overall stamina/ strength which I'm more than pleased with , however it gave me more than that. I am able to understand and apply my skills where are needed.

Fight for Me

Moving forward we have another school scene just after Candy Store, this time we are in groups that we stay with for the majority of time. We are watching how things will unveil with Veronica's new status as she meets Jason Dean or J.D. for short.

We're in semi-circle of students now, watching a fight with J.D., Ram And Kurt who are other characters known as Jocks.

Going into three different positions at the beginning of this song called 'Fight For Me/Holly Shit', just like previous we have 3x8s of call and response from the female/male ensemble leading into 4th eight where we freeze frame as Veronica confesses her interest in J.D. as he fights those two Jocks, she finds this very arousing. Our role is to be interactive students just like in a normal school environment when you see fights. This highlights the overall relationship within society and how it molds pupils into bigots from a young age.

Kurt: " Hey, sweetheart. What did your boyfriend say when you told him you were moving to Sherwood, Ohio?"

Ram: "My buddy asked you a question."

Kurt: "Hey Ram, doesn't this cafeteria have a 'no fags allowed' rules?"

J.D. : "They're seem to have an open-door policy for assholes though. "

Kurt: "Hold his arms".

As its shown above in the exert from our script on the page 33, this leads into the begging of Fight for Me. J.D. gets into an alteration, this insinuate the societal mindset structure how pupils are raised up in this environment which they bring into their adulthood thus continue the cycle of abuse.

In Big Fun we have a scene with Ram and Kurt, following rest of the students arriving at Rams party.

The scene revolves around Heathers, Veronica, Jocks and Martha's relationship, it is shown throughout in a party environment of underage drinking takes place. As an ensemble member I'm one of the guests at this party having good time, nothing unusual for a teenager that age he's no stranger to alcohol or even pretends that they don't know what they're doing.

In the next footage you're about to see there is proof of rehearsal progress, from the instructions given by tutor I now know that at the time I was incorrect in the technical intention of the movement.

For example: in the footage you can see my counts and movement itself are correct however the speed of my delivery isn't. We have been given 3x8 of step,step,step drag behind, drag behind, drag behind. It is put in as a dynamic change to show off that we are affected by alcohol or whatever substances these teenagers consume.

You can see this from 2:20 minutes into the video, notice me in my green cap and buckle belt as I do those steps accurately yet incorrect.

I was able to correct this once I understood the intention behind this movement and what it was representing.

Which brings us to Blue , this is the last scene that I was a part of before this world wide pandemic occurred.

There is a scene leading into this song , including Heathers and Veronica as she is called into the woods for help yet instead is misled and offered up for a daterape.

This I a kind of thing people do to one another on daily basis, 'rather you than me' type of situation.

The song itself talks about teenage boys testosterone levels rising out of control, (this is the nicest way I can put it) boys from early teen hood develop testosterone levels high enough so they are ready to mate. In this instance it is forced upon Veronica by Heathers, knowing that parental views and opinions impact their children and how they treat on another, proves why Ram and Kurt thinks it is okay to treat women with such disrespect. Maccoby (2020) states, "There is clear evidence that parents can and do influence children."

You can see this throughout the footage , it is solely focused on how the boy needs help and would do anything for you once you help them.

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kristianhrabkolma32 · 5 years ago

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Audition process

For this this musically really wants to share my versatility as a musical theatre practitioner.

Previously I have played a variety of characters raging from Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, Ursula the sea witch in Disney then we have Fred casely from Chicago leading up to our last performance of Kinky Boots where I was in the ensemble as an Angele, one of Lola's backup drag queens.

So this time I wanted to change it up a bit, I wanted to show my masculine side of portrayal in characters.

In our current musical Heather's there are several male roles that I can go for however one of them stood out the most which is Jason Dean or better known throughout the show as J.D.

Looking into this character was very interesting, he is one of the most peculiar characters of the show, if we were to have it in the reality TV setting he would be classed as the villain.

"But for villains, you need two extra ingredients: delusions of grandeur and susceptibility to producers’ persuasion."

Callenberger, J. (2016) How to Create a Reality-TV Villain [online].

JD is one of the main characters he's troublesome individual who's mature for his age of 17. He lives with his father who is blowing up buildings as a job we can look at this as a danger exposure of JD's mind. When you look at demolition as an action it is to tear down and to destroy. He doesn't have a great relationship with his dad which only reflects on how his mind made an association to his father's job.

However there is a stronger underlining reason.

When Jason was young his mother was still alive who obviously loved and cared for him, cherish them just like any mother would until the accident happened, I'm calling in an accident however his mum must have been an activist of some sort or she really disagrees with her husband job decision, as she was willingly to entered a building which was about to be demolished by her husband.

JD was present to witness this situation father must have felt very strongly about his job if he left this happened. On the page 91 of our scripts we can see J.D.'s retelling of the events to Veronica. J.D. " My dad said it was an accident. But she knew what she was doing. She walked into the building 2 minutes before dad blew it up. She why she waved at me out the window, and then.... kaboom. She left me."

When this kind of event that take place in ones life it can be classed as a traumatic experience, it only contributes the J.D.'s mental health issues and personality development .

Going forward into the audition process I was really nervous I didn't know what to expect as I've never really played 'straight' character but I really wanted to show my versatility . I knew that I have this charismatic personality of my own and it got me so far where I am right now however I really wanted to push myself and to see where it can get me. Moving forwards I was up against one of my close friends called Jamie who has mastered the ability of being charismatic in character and really portraying the mental side of Jason Dean, I was really pleased to see how he portrays his character but I was more concerned about myself of producing a really strong and solid performance.

Drawing from my own personal experience of being with sociopaths in the past, I really wanted to showcase this strong, evil but charismatic character, through his facial and body expressions . His intention however were a bit unclear to me, until the announcement of our show I wasn't really familiar with the characters at all, I knew of the show and seen few exerts so it was a bit challenging for me to know what the panel wanted to see. This was one of my disadvantages however I have felt really confident in delivering even though I've messed up a bit , after all that's what matters most to deliver strong and wrong rather than not at all.

Going up against all of my competitors who were rightfully strong and talented just as I was, it was a pleasure seeing somebody else getting this role as they are deserving of it.

One of the greatest things that came out of this audition was my tutor explaining to me how I wasn't suitable to play this role, which was a bit disappointing however knowing this now only allows me to broaden my horizon for character choices and my delivery techniques .

As I mentioned previously of one of my roles who I played was a drag character, well I have been soing drag for so many years now it only makes sense that I embody the characterisation of those characters and it disables me to portray a different one, this is my challenge to disconnect myself fully from characters to be able to switch to another.

What was really interesting in my audition process was when we had our call back date the next day and my tutor asked me to go for Heather Chandler, I was pleased as I could portray bitch- like character, after all that's was drag is about, embracing that strong version of us that we all possess.

I was going up against few of my other classmates who are so talented and so fit for the role, however my character was on point with having to run to a shop at night buying all the costumes necessary to create this character overnight I was really pleased with my final presentation. However ultimately the role needs to be fair to our entire cast and we need to look at the entire cast from all sides to see how it will fit and work together therefore the character wasn't given to me yet it was given to my other classmate who rightfully so embodies that physical look of a Heather. If I was playing the role of Heather Chandler it wouldn't be as visual pleasing due my own height and manley stature it wouldn't be crowd-pleasing to see a tall 6-ft 4 individual next to two woman statures. However if I were to be casted, it would change the whole dynamic of casting which would only innovate the system and break down bares.

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