Evaluation

From the moment that we all found out we were doing All That Jazz, we were ecstatic. I was because I really liked both the musical and the film adaptation. Preparations began the week following our Christmas break up. Of course we had to audition for the parts we wanted and do we had to prepare a monologue that would fit our desired character and two contrasting songs. I aspired to be Roxie and so I thought I'd use the Roxie monologue for my audition piece. She does this monologue just after news breaks out about her and before her song, she speaks of her new found fame and what else could happen as a result. The song I chose was again one that the character of Roxie sings that follows right after the monologue and I can hear the bells from Hairspray. All that was left to do was learn each of these pieces, work on my characterisation so that I could do well in the audition. I was very happy with my audition as I feel that I had a lot of confidence compared to previous auditions, felt much more prepared and felt that I had good characterisation.

After a nervous weeks wait, we found out who got which character, I was so happy to find out that my hard work had paid off and I'd been given Roxie. I was also pleased to hear that who would play my rival in the musical was Decoda. Now that I knew who I was I then had to further explore my character and develop on what I had already done in order to progress and be stronger. I done this by looking at different ways in which different people had played Roxie, their body language, use of voice (tone and volume).

The process was quite slow at first and their were moments when things didn't always go well, we began to wonder if we'd be able to pull it off, if we'd even do the show. However we all managed to pull together as a company and rise to any challenges. The way in which we were all able to set aside any differences or conflict and help each other as well as ourselves was phenominal it really showed the strength as a team. Everything pulled together at the last minute and although it's probably not the best way and we probably should have started sooner it all worked out in the end. I would take pictures and record videos of the rehearsal process and looking back at them, I can see just how much we've improved with or characterisation, voice and body language.

Once we began to work in the theatre, see the stage and get our costumes, work with the lighting and the sound, everything came to light and it began to feel like a real show and all of us could now see that it was going to work, I think this gave us all an extra push and helped us to perform even better. Rehearsals got better and more work was done.

It's highly unfortunate that after all the hard work I had put in I wasn't able to actually do the performance, I was really beginning to believe myself to be my character as I got to into it but I'm so proud of the girls for continuing and being able to pull of a great performance despite myself not being there. They really put aside their differences and worked exceptionally well to pull off last minute changes. I'm proud of Decoda for being able to sing My Own Best Friend without me as we leaned on each other to sing that song so for her to do it without me was really good. Jamilla done well for being able to learn the lines so quickly but overall all the girls were amazing and together with the costumes, lighting, staging, and music it made a really good show. Both the scenes and the songs went well, some songs could have possibly been louder and the dialogue could have been slightly slower which is something that had always been a slight issue but still managed to work.

Overall the set and the lighting together looked amazing I really loved the jail lighting as it gave a real feel that you were in a cell. The costumes were quite simple and yet effective because the whole cast wore the same thing for the dance numbers it presented a sense of unity and it looked great in the light. All the elements like the staging in the round, the lights, the costumes, it really brought across the whole look of Chicago. If the opportunity arose to be able to do it again then we'd just need to work on the spacing of the chairs, and the speed of the dialogue alone with the volume of the songs.

Gallery 2

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

Part five

Gallery 1

May 11th

Decoda and myself decided to work together on 'My Own Best Friend' as this was a duet that we sung together. It lacked some emotion and feeling and so we decided that we needed to work on some movement for the song. 

When you look at the lyrics you notice that it brings a sense of hardship, sadness, bitterness the line "I am my own best friend" represents the feeling of lonliness. This was important to be shown in our body language just as much as it was sung.

We decided to use minimal movement which worked effectively as it showed a sense of possible vunerability. The desicion to not sing the whole song in our cells and move away from them made the song that much more effective we were then able to really express our characters emotions. 

This song was a focal point in the show for both Velma Kelly and Roxe Hart as it was the moment they had both come to a realisation that they were in the same position, that this could now be the start of a new relationship of loathing. 

Using movement meant that it was easier to remember the lyrics to the song. Whilst performing the song you could really feel the emotion behind it.

Target for next week: continue to explore the background of the song and techniques such as those by Stanislavski.

Singing

For my vocal preperation for all that Jazz would do various warm ups at home such as scales, sirens to open up the voice warm up both the top and bottom notes, tongue twisters for articulation, lip trills, breathing exercises for breath control.

I came to realise that the song Roxie was somewhat low for me and so I had to make sure that I worked on that song alot to train and work on my lower range so that I was able to carry off the song without struggling. I done this by using sirining and humming.

For further trainging my voice I'd begin with humming a five tone scale and vary the way I sing. For instance I may decide to do the scale singing it on an A sound then change to an O sound. I'd also change whether I'd go up or down by either step or leap. 

There were times when I wouldt warm up and this sometimes caused problems when I was singing as I wouldnt always be able to reach certain notes without straining and my voice would become tired really quickly and really easily. It would occasionally be evident.

I found that when singing 'Me And My Baby' I'd begin to lose breath when it got to the very last verse as that's when my movement increased and I was running around. This meant that I had to focus on excersises that would help with my breath control and work out the best way  of using my breath so that when I sing the song I'm able to still have enough breath to sing when I get to the last section. I used exersises that would help to work my diaphram.

Unfortunatly for me, as a result of falling ill before the show I therefore wasn't able to see the result of my vocal preperation in performance. But however I could see much improvement in my voice I made sure that I adjusted so that I wouldn't shout various notes and use dynamics in my singing to show the range of emotions in my songs.  I also worked on "keeping it simple" so that there weren't loads of "vocal decoration" used.

Target: to continue using vocal exercises for further improvement on my voice and breath control.

19th April

In the morning we worked on the scenes in act two the scene with me and Billy where we argue was really good as you could see how much we've worked on our characters. However the both of us paraphrased in certain parts so im going to read over my lines for that scene again.

Later we worked on the court scene, it's getting better but still needs some work. The jury still need to think of responses, actions towards what is happening in the scene and make them bigger. Additionally now that everyone is aware of their lines we just need to continue working in responses and body language.

In singing we ran through the songs that the chorus sing without movement in order to become more familiar with the structure of the song where we're meant to sing, what we're meant to sing and our harmonies. 

We started with All That Jazz then moved onto Razzle Dazzle.

Later we went in the studio and worked on the songs that we rehearsed in the theatre in the space. We worked on Roxie. There's still more work needed on it, I also need to work on what I'm doing in the middle so that its just as effective, as there is minimal movement in the routine it's clear when something isnt right. Therefore we have to continue working on the dance working out the little details so that they are accurate and in time with each other and the music. 

Im going to look at the way various actresses play the role of Roxie and how they perform the song.

Target for next week: watch various performances of the song Roxie to broaden my own ideas and develop on the way in which I perform the song. Look over lines and stage directions for the jury scene.

23rd April

Today we worked with the band, we ran through any bits that led to music being played this was really helpful for both us and the band as we were able to figure out the structure, when to start playing, when to stop and when we went through the chorus numbers any mistakes were became that much more evident this was good because we then became aware of the improvements that needed to be made. 

This is known as a Skitzprobe (German term) this is a term that is used in opera as well as musical theatre. It is used to describe what is a seated rehearsal. The literal translation would be as follows: where singers sing with the orchestra, focusing attention on integrating the two group. It is very often the first rehearsal where both the singers and orchestra rehearse together. 

Target for next week: sing through parts that I may sing in chorus numbers and run through any of my harmonies. Additionally practice my own solo songs continue vocal exercises so that I can reach certain notes in my songs without struggling.