Presentation

Tech Week Logs:
 Tuesday 23^rd April- Theatre

What we did Today:

The objective for today was to start tech for the show. In today’s Tech we started off by doing a vocal warm up and a physical warm up in order to stretch and get ready for what would be a practical day. Shortly after warming up we decided to have a discussion about who will be introducing who after each performance and had decided that we would write a little speech to say to the audience introducing the piece and using that time to interact with audience. We then decided to run through the show but only by blocking as we wanted to focus on setting the lights and setting up any stage lights that we might need. For All that Jazz we decided to go for a Cabaret style lighting which is usually dark with some lights on the sides of the stage, with colours such as red, purple and white. As we were going full out we had also had to think about the tables and how we would decorate them and where they would be in the audience space. For My solo first solo which was Look What Happened to Mabel, I decided to begin with having a spotlight as I thought it would draw the attention onto me as I was singing and then the lighting would change mid-Point into bright light colours such as yellow and red as the mood of the song increases. For my second solo which was Fly Away in which I decided to be seated on a chair in the middle of the stage and have a dim spotlight which was coloured purple/pink and towards the end of the of the song the spotlight began to get smaller and more dim. For my first duet, take me or Leave me, Dylan and I decided to keep it simple with just side lights and we placed the table in which we were using near the left side of the stage near the side lights. In regards to my second duet, Dylan and I decided that we wanted the stage lit with white colour and ending with a spotlight. For the second Group piece, You Can’t Stop the Beat; for this we went all out with the bright colours and spotlights circling the back of the stage. Lastly for Hard to say Goodbye we decided to stand on the upper stage and have the stage lit.

Research: For You can’t stop the beat, I had another look at the stage and film version to give me an idea on how we could light the stage and notice that they had used lots of bright colours.

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZnt-0fEiT0

Stage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODHEPtcFuPM

Reflection and feedback:

After sorting out most of the lights we decided to have a run through of the show in order to see how it would look.

As for feedback, we didn’t get much, all though we were just told to have a think about what we would be saying when introducing the different pieces and how long they would be so that the person performing would have enough time to get ready.

Strengths and Improvements:

One strength is that we were able to block and light every single piece in just one day which I think was useful as we can use the rest of tech week to polish and really have full runs. One improvement is again just making sure we know our speeches.

Problem solving:

Today we faced a few problem as one of them was the microphones and haze machines weren’t available on the day so we weren’t able to tech fully with those required equipment but nevertheless we still manage to go through each piece without them.

Another sort of issue was I had fallen slightly ill and had a lot of annoying symptoms such as a sore throat, dry cough, blocked nose and blocked ears which made me perform not as well as I wanted to, however I decided to take it easy and not put too much pressure on my voice so that I was able to use later in the week. Having a blocked ear was really irritating as I couldn’t hear myself when singing and was worried that I may have sounded out of tune but I tried my best and just kept going through the songs.

Wednesday 24^th April- Theatre

What we did today:

Our aim for today’s session was to continue fixing anything to do we the lights and use the haze machine and microphones which were now available to use. First we did our daily physical and vocal warm up and then went straight into running through the pieces. I also sent over my backing tracks to Tom so that I could try singing full out. I sent him the instrumental to Fly Away and an instrumental to Look what happened to Mabel, although I wouldn’t be using that one for the show. We decided as a group to discuss what we may be saying and who’s pieces we would be introducing, I was told that I would be introducing Faiths, Dylan’s and Faith and Marshall’s Duet. We all sat down and wrote a little summary of our pieces so that we could give to the person introducing us so that they have an idea of what to talk about and decided to use them during today’s run through. During the run through Dylan and I used the headset microphones and were testing them out to see how we sound and if we needed to fix anything to do with them. We used this time in the space to also work on spacing especially in the group pieces as well the props we had on stage; for example, for Take me or Leave me we had to figure out the exact spacing for the table and how much of the space we were actually going to use so that the stage could be lit In the right places.

Research:

In regards to research, I didn’t really have to research anything, however; Tom showed us how to fit and place the mics on correctly in order to be heard through them clearly and that we would still have to project our voices as if we didn’t have the mics to get the full effect.

Strengths and Improvement

One strength that I have is that I was able to sing through the songs although I couldn’t do it as full out as I had wanted to and we were able to sort out the spacing for all the group pieces and had times the whole show to see how long on average it would have come up to.

Reflection and Feedback:

As for feedback Shelley told us that we needed to interact and make our speeches longer and to be aware if the next person is ready before you introduce them onto the stage. We also had noticed that during some of the songs, we were receiving some feedback from the head mics and had to figure out what was the problem.

Problem solving

The only main problem is linked to the microphone in which we realised that the we might have had the mics to close to our mouth but also the production student had to fix a couple things upstairs so we ran through a couple of the duets and solos to see when the feedback were arising.

Thursday 25^th April- Theatre

What we did today:

Our aim for today was to have a full run through with lights and mics but without costume as Shelley suggested that tomorrow we used costume and just wanted us to focus on the performance aspect of things. We used the speeches that we had prepared for the run through and again timed the show. We used this time also to fix any lights and continue to figure out what was causing the feedback.

Feedback:

As for my solos, Shelley said that for Look what happened to Mabel that I need to stay grounded some parts as I kept moving around the stage more that I needed to and that it will have more of an effect being grounded at some points. As for Fly Away, Shelley said it was sung really well, I just needed to figure how I would be sitting on chair and if I would change the position, what would I do it to.

As for all that Jazz, we were told that we need to work more on the spacing and timing of certain movements and that we should make sure that we are looking at the audience as it channels the full effect of Bob Fosse and the stare gives better effect.

As for You Can’t stop the Beat, Dylan and I were told that we needed to think about what movement we would be doing towards the end, we were also told that we needed to keep singing, and as we were dancing and singing at the same time we sometimes found it hard to breathe correctly.

Strengths and Improvements

One strength is that I was able to again sing through my songs and knew the routine and timing for You can’t stop the Beat and All that Jazz. One improvement is I need to practice my breathing when it comes to You can’t stop the Beat and go over the words and figure out where I could breathe.

Problem Solving  

In regards to any problems we had we decided to ask if Grant who is the head of tech, could come and take a look at the mics and adjust anything from upstairs that needed to be fixed and once Grant took a look at it he changed my mic and added new batteries to both microphones which helped and also positioned the mic correctly on my face which made the feedback stop. Another problem was the Look what happened to Mabel backing track. The reason for not using the one I sent to the production students was because Shelley and I didn’t like the men’s voices that kept interrupting the backing and thought it would be better if I found another backing which I couldn’t so we finally came to the conclusion of asking Charlie who is the head of Performing Arts, if he could kindly do a piano version of the backing, which he agreed to doing tomorrow.

 Friday 26^th April – Theatre

What we did today:

Our aim today was to look at costumes and have a couple runs although the tech students were not in today so we would need to use speaker. We began by looking at each other costumes and looked for anything we needed in the costume room. I then went upstairs with Charlie to the recording studio to record the backing track to Look what happened to Mabel. The way we did this was I would sing through the song a number of times and Charlie would record him playing the piano with sheet music until I was happy with the speed and tempo of it and that it was in the correct key. We also were told by Shelley that she thinks it would be good to pre- record us singing You can’t stop the Beat because it would help us when singing and dancing as we can sing over it, this was arranged to be done on Monday with Grant in the recording studio.

Feedback and Reflection

Although going with Charlie upstairs took up most of my rehearsal time when I returned Dylan and I thought it would be a good idea to go through both of our duets and we closely focused on Anything you can do, and explore different ways we could use the space and figured out how to interact with each other more to show the moral and story in which the song and Dylan and I were trying to portray.

Strength and Improvements

One strength is that we finalised what we were going to be doing in both duets and I had recorded my backing for Look what happened to Mabel. One improvement is I want to work more on the group pieces and use light and sound with costumes on Monday and try to have a proper run.

Problem solving:

The only problem that we had was Charlie said he would prefer to record the backing on his piano at home as it would be more clear and would have it ready for Mondays rehearsal.

Monday 29^th April – Theatre

What we did today:

Our aim for today was to have a full dress run through. We began by warming up and stretching before started the run. We wanted to have a full feel on how the show would go this included having our speeches which Shelley kindly typed up our speeches so that they were more clear to read. We also went to the recording studio with Grant to record a new backing for You can’t stop the Beat. We began by singing different sections and recording them over again until Charlie and Grant were satisfied with the sound of it. We continued to rehearse but decided that we wanted to change the way we performed Hard to say Goodbye as we initially came up with a routine then decided that I didn’t do enough justice, followed by using stools instead which would help just sing and perform out to the audience without doing much movement.

Feedback and reflection

For feedback Shelley thought we should sing Hard to say Goodbye standing on the upper stage as it will help us perform out to the audience and really deliver the message, that is our final performance and that we are proud.

Strengths and Improvement

One strength is that we were able to record You can’t stop which will help with our performance, we also went through Hard to say Goodbye and had an idea on we wanted to do. One improvement is to watch more of how the Supremes move and try and install that into some of the movement that we are doing.

Problem solving:

The only problem that we had faced was Hard to Say Goodbye as we were still unsure whether sitting on stools were a good idea and had decided to sing on stage instead then moving down to the centre stage towards the end of the song to then take our bows for the end of the show.

Tuesday 30^th and Wednesday 1^st April – Theatre

During these two days we did full dress runs as the show was less than 48 hours  away, we used this time to clean and change any last minute things that needed to be done. We then focused on costume and our speeches and made sure we were able to get changed in time and deliver our speeches.

Down below are images of costume , set and the programme.

Costume : 
All that Jazz: All black, with dance heels, leggings and T-Shirt

Take me or Leave – Grey check trousers suit with white T-shirt and dance heels

You can’t stop the Beat – white T-shirt, Polka dot skirt (red and white) black tights and dance heels

Hard to say Goodbye- black leggings and black and white dress/ top and dance heels

Fly Fly away- Green glitter vest top and black wide leg trousers and dance heels

Look what happened to Mabel- black leggings, black long sleeve top and white patterned apron

 Anything you can do- long green dress/ gown and dance heels

Make up was neutral with a change of lipstick for different pieces /red and pink lipsticks
Props that I used were:

Table and chairs – Take me or Leave Me
Book and Pen - Take me or Leave me 

Lipstick and Mirror- All that Jazz

Stools/ high chair- Fly Fly Away

Theme of Cabaret;

Audience tables and chairs

Upper stage and mic

Cocktail and Snack Bar

Poster and Programme.

Hair was slicked back into a bun for all pieces.

Friday 22nd  March Milestone  Assessment

What we did today:

In today’s lesson we had our mid- point assessment where we had performed each of our pieces so far and got our peers to write notes and feedback on our performance. The whole point of this assessment is for our teacher so see what needs to be worked on, cut or changed, it also gives us an opportunity to look at Each other’s and give and receive constructive Feedback.

Fly fly Away

Strength: A nice beginning at back and walking down and forward which made you become more intimate with audience. A good range of emotion clear contrast between happiness and sadness.  Good characterisation

Improvement: look up and out sometimes and stand centre stage sometimes to have more focus. Don’t look at the ceiling so much and to communicate with audience. I could possibly hold a mic whilst singing. Random pacing and lost focus at some point in the song. Listen to the words carefully

Look what happened to Mabel

Strength: good facial expressions which drew the audience’s attention

Improvement: build the song more and pronounce words more clearly

All That Jazz- more precision, lead with hips and make sure to use big movements and remember to look at the audience, don’t smile.

You Can’t stop the Beat-use the space and work on spacing , be more accurate with movement , the piece needs more energy.

Hard To Say Goodbye-

The flowing arms need to stop as well as the movement needs to be sharper and much more bigger as it is your final piece.

Take me or Leave me-

more interacting with the audience is needed as the relationship between you two is already now strong.

less pacing and stick to choreography of the piece as you can get lost and tend to wonder (Savannah )

Don't be afraid to push Dylan away as you are doing it softly which look as if you don't want to hurt him.

The skills that were needed in order to communicate with the audience were I needed to learn how to use the hand held microphones in my solo. I also needed the skills of singing and dancing at the same time for all of the group pieces. Dylan and I watched several video of anything you can do and Take me or leave me to help develop the relationship between the characters in both of the duets. For anything you can do, Dylan and I discussed what the characters were feeling towards each other and what they were going through and what was the message that the characters wanted to get across through the song. For the fact that most of the pieces had to be taken out of context. We had to ensure as a duet and as group and solo pieces that we made the message of the piece clear enough without creating a scene around it.