Musical Theatre (33) - Additional rehearsal

Today we stayed behind after school for an hour to work on some numbers that we really felt needed improving before next lesson.

• Goodbye Love:   We ran this number several times today as we were really struggling with the timing. We found the track really unusual as it wasn't clear when certain parts came in. Timing wise, the first section of the song (that has everyone in) was fine, but the section between Mark, Roger and Mimi was not working. We soon realised that the track actually needs to be paused at one point before Mimi comes in. They then all worked out when they need to come in and how long they have to sing / say their parts. After the vocals and the timing was all sorted, we worked on the staging and the acting side of this number. We had to remember that this song is an argument, and we remembered our key note of acting and re-acting. We altered the blocking to make the scene work a bit better - I know stand between Alice and Will, to literally split them up, but also to show that my character doesn't want to create a scene and is purely trying to shut Maureen up and stop her fuelling the argument. When Maureen shouts back at Joanne she flips - Mimi understands how Joanne feels as she sings ("he was the same way"), therefore it works better now that Taylor and I are standing next to each other at this part of the song. We then polished the ending part of this song as well, simply re-capping the movement we had created in a previous lesson.
• Happy New Year:   We did this number once just to improve on the acting side of it.
• La Vie Boheme:   This was done with a purpose to improve the energy side of it. Alice and I now know what we are doing on the two occasions where we are "caught out", as it were, by Warren. As well as improving our energy, we also ensured that we didn't end up in a line, but also that we were acting throughout and utilised the character relationships we had built up during Act One (e.g. Joanne and Mark understand each other).
• I'll Cover You:   Lewis and Owen act this song really well and the staging looks good, but the harmonies sometimes clash - so therefore they sang this through a couple of times to try to resolve this issue. They shall also be going through this song soon with Mr Falconar (as he can help them with their harmonies).
• You'll See Boys:   I think this number is in a really good place now and doesn't need any additional work. They all act this number well and it sounds fine.
• Today 4 U:   This number is also looking and sounding really strong.

Next lesson we shall be getting into costume, and seeing how much we can get through of the show.