The Musicians Production Diary: Rehearsals

Rehearsals for Musicians have begun! It's such an exciting time in the dance studio at SRC at the moment because we're officially allowed back on the stage and performing. I will document all of our rehearsals in a diary style format where I will put the date of each rehearsal and what we did on each day. Let's get this show on the road!

Tuesday 27th April 2021

Today we found out which characters we will play in 'Musicians' and I'm pleased to say that I got Alex! When I am in cast 2 I play timpani. It was decided by Kelly that we would double cast Musicians. At first I thought it would be more special to have a single cast where we can really go in depth into one character each and develop the play to such a level that it was perfection. However, after Kelly explained that having a double cast would be the more logical option for many reasons I realised that a double cast is what works best. There are many reasons a double cast works better; first of all if anyone became ill or had to isolate due to Covid we could use someone from the other cast. The only characters that would be double cast were Alex and Roland (who is now known as Rosie). It just made more sense to have a double cast, for our grades if nothing else. 

We also completed ensemble auditions today. There was a lot of discussion about our ensemble for 'Musicians' because we know that the orchestra need to gel in the most seamless of ways. Our class were definitely not big enough to make up an orchestra so it was decided that we would host a mini workshop for the first years to see who would work best. I must say it was a lot of fun holding this workshop and it was a nice chance to bond with the first years. We started off with a few warm up games (that were inspired by my youth theatre group outside of College) to bring the energy up in the room. We started off with splat which is a classic, then a spin off of wink murder then pass the energy. After a few games we blasted Pinball Wizard by The Who on the speakers and told people to completely freak out to the song like the cast does at the end of the play. I was having a sneaky look around whilst we were doing this and some of the first years really excelled. During our workshop Tom Guest came in to teach us to love Tchaikovsky. We moved and danced to Tchaikovsky (or at least tried to) with the same passion we had earlier when dancing and having our own music on in the background of our warm up games. Tom taught us how to hold certain instruments in order to give us a feel of what to expect when it comes to performing without instruments.

 I really enjoyed today's lesson and it just makes me even more excited to get this show on the road. I know and expect the up and coming rehearsals to challenge me in a way that I've never been before.

 In the afternoon of today we worked on the part of the play when the orchestra first walk into the orchestra hall and see where they will be performing. There is surprisingly a lot of work that goes into this small little section because we need to convey the same amount of energy that the characters would have in this play when walking into the hall for the first time ever. We then played a few improv games to improve our skill in time for the final showing. Then we had a readthrough of the script as our characters. Considering that this was our first rehearsal as our new characters I think we made very good progress!

 Wednesday 28th April 2021

Today we cast the first years! When we completed our workshop yesterday there were a few people that stood out who were also eager to perform with us. Our cast is as follows;

Alex - Kate Drummond & Kate Whittaker

Rosie- Dion Brady & Sophie Ashcroft

2nd Flute - Sadie Paterson

Cello - Declan Bullock

1st Violin & Viola - Izzy Martin

2nd Trumpet & 2nd Violin - Chelsea Saunders

Double Bass - Daniel Cooper

2nd Horn - Dion Brady & Sophie Ashcroft

1st Horn & 1st Trumpet - Thomas Burton

Timpani - Kate Drummond & Kate Whittaker

Oboe - Josh Durnall

Clarinet - Magen James

Bassoon - Karly Seale

1st Flute - Justin Cromack

We were taught by Tom Guest today and we rehearsed the orchestra piece with him. Tom blocked the full orchestral part with choreography. It was decided by Kelly that the play would be staged in the round to give us an extra challenge. Therefore our job was made a lot harder! I have only ever performed in the round one time therefore was nervous to hear that I would be doing it again. 

Yesterday we tried to block the orchestra in a way that would suit being in the round. Today, Tom changed this so it looked like a traditional orchestral set up. I was curious as to how this would work with our play being set in the round and was weary that a quarter of our audience would not be able to see what we were doing behind all of our chairs.  I don't think that this was a worry for Tom because we weren't sat for long before we stand up and start getting into the music.

I must admit, when we started blocking this piece it did look fabulous and because there was quite a lot of movement the piece was still interesting to watch. I will attach a video of what we worked on today.

 I struggled with the Tchaikovsky section today due to the fact that Tchaikovsky's symphony number 4 doesn't have much Timpani playing involved meaning that for a lot of the music I'm just stood 'holding' drum sticks. I think this is quite clear in the video and I know that I have a lot of work to do. In order to improve I will watch orchestras performing symphony number 4 and study the timpani player. I quite like this role because it is a challenge for me. I do feel as though maybe this piece is a little too choreographed and it feels un natural to perform after today. Tom picked up on this and told us all to let loose a bit and really let the music move us the way it would move a real orchestra. By the end of the lesson I think that we all had a better idea of how the orchestral section would work and we were moving with more purpose. 

Tuesday 4th May 2021

In today's lesson we rehearsed the scene when the orchestra first enter the hall. This section of the script is vital as it is the first time the audience meet the musicians. This scene is a lot about pace as it is a full 17 pages of dialogue. It is the first time we have worked on this sequence thus far, therefore we were very slow and just coming to grips with what the pace has got to be like. There is not much to report on about today as it was mostly us getting used to the script and playing about with what the characters are like.

I think there are a lot of questions to ask yourself when developing a character in an ensemble;

What is the name of your character?

How would the performance be different if your character wasn't there? 

What kind of relationship does your character have with the main character?

What is your character's home life like?

All these little things really change how a person acts and how they view the world. My character of the timpani player in 'The Musicians' is quite sarcastic and argumentative in my opinion. They like to have the last word, as evident on page 25. I'd imagine my character's name to be Ingrid. In her parent's eyes Ingrid can do no wrong and I think she is quite well to do. Ingrid's parents chose the name Ingrid as it means beautiful and fair. This is of course quite the opposite of what Ingrid is like when she is with the other musicians. She is quite rude and the comments that she makes are only there to make people laugh and hide her own insecurities. I think Ingrid chose to play the timpani as it is an instrument she has full control over and doesn't have to play alongside anyone else due to there only being one timpani player in an orchestra. Ingrid can have full creative control and be in her own space when playing the instrument (which she secretly loves despite her tough outer exterior).

I have really enjoyed developing this character even though it was something I thought I would struggle with when first receiving this role. As I explained earlier, there is not much to report on from today because we were just getting used to the script. However, I will definitely mention Alex.

Before this sequence when the musicians first come in, Alex is bugging Rosie and asking her lots of questions about Pinball Wizard and The Who. Rosie gets really frustrated with Alex as all she wants to do is rehearse and practice in time for her big show on the night. Right before we see the rest of the Musicians Rosie gives a big monologue about what Pinball Wizard is about to shut Alex up completely. When the musicians enter, I play Alex as if he is (at first) taken aback by seeing so many people his age, but then intrigued and fascinated by them. 

When it was my turn to perform as Alex today I thoroughly enjoyed myself. When the whole orchestra would laugh, I would laugh harder as Alex as if she's trying to be one of them and make a point that she can fit in. If people were talking or arguing I'd try and look intrigued in between the little bits of cleaning I did. Alex does not have many lines during this portion until the orchestra settle down, so it is my job to make sure that my reactions are on point. 

Wednesday 5th May 2021

The first thing we were told when we walked into the room this morning was that we were going to be listening to half and hour of Tom Guest's playlist! The objective of today was to let loose to Tchaikovsky, and the only way to do this would be to feel the rhythm. Tom played a lot of  Beyoncé and Little Mix and told us to feel the music and dance how we would if there was no one watching … and that's exactly what we did. The dance studio at SRC was like a club in town! After we finished, we were knackered. Tom put on Tchaikovsky's symphony number 4 and we practiced what we worked on last week. I think that this time people were a lot more relaxed when it came to performing this part but there is still a lot of work to do. Today we worked on bringing some energy to the part of the song where we move in circles. It's hard to work this bit because you're so focused on knowing your lines and playing your instrument that people tend to turn into zombies almost and just walk around the room (myself included). I feel as though this piece will be a lot better when we can add our own little twist on it once we get the bulk of the choreography.

In the second half of the morning we worked on the very end of the play when the cast sing Pinball Wizard and go crazy. It mentions at the end of the play that a little part of this section is in fact acapella. Tom took it upon himself to teach us how to do this section. Prior to our lesson, Tom had watched an version of Pinball Wizard by Glee and decided that we would take the most inspiration from this. 

I will attach a link to that version now!

https://youtu.be/srsGtmzj0Yo

We started with a vocal warm up that consisted of working on diction and breath control in order to ready ourselves for acapella singing. Tom began by learning the piano chords we needed to complete this acapella version then we got to work with working out the rhythm. We decided as a group that at the climax of the song, the original version of Pinball Wizard by The Who would come in and the whole cast would completely freak out (as suggested in the script). Behind the Glee version of the song there is a constant, singular drum beat. Tom nominated Karly to clap this beat to keep us all in check whilst Josh sang the chorus of Pinball Wizard. We had done this a couple of times but something wasn't quite right and it was determined that the clapping would be passed on to Kate W and I as Karly couldn't quite keep up with the beat, plus in a non acapella version of this song it would be the timpani players keeping up this rhythm anyway. We completed this a few times and tweaked little bits here and there until we had a shell of an acapella version we could work with. I must admit I was a little concerned that the acapella went on for too long before the original version came in but that is a worry for another day and I am proud of the decisions we made today. Once again, I will attach a video of the progress we made this morning. 

In the afternoon of today there were only five of us due to everyone being out and filming! There was no point of us trying to rehearse as there weren't enough of us to get anything productive completed, therefore we had a reflective session where we discussed our worries and excitements about 'The Musicians'. There was quite an extensive list on both sides.

Worries;

• We won't nail the pace of the scene when the orchestra first walk in and it will come across as sloppy.
• People aren't as committed as others.
• Issues outside of college interfering.
• Work outside of college becoming an issue.
• Finding time for coursework, rehearsals and down time to relax.
• People letting others down by not looking at important messages or not focusing on the task at hand.
• Drama school's and having to organise things for our future whilst also rehearsing for a show
• Selling enough tickets.
• Our piece looking un-natural or too choreographed.

Excitements;

• The thrill of being on stage again after so long!
• Performing together one last time before we head off on our different paths of life.
• Having an audience full of friends and family.
• The finale of the show.
• Developing the scenes in rehearsals.
• Seeing the set and lighting for the first time.

and finally ... 

• SHOW NIGHT!

Tuesday 11th May 2021

This morning was quite a slow start. As a lot of the others were off filming or rehearsing for other things, I decided that I should probably sit and learn lines whilst there was chaos going on around me. Due to a mis-hap with filming on Friday for a short film, my movement was limited therefore I sat in the corner of the dance studio whilst others were rehearsing (and whilst I was not needed) and drilled my lines with Declan who was a massive help. We sat for a good two hours and he gave me feedback and we looked in depth into each and every line. By the end of the morning I had learned all of the lines in the first act of the play and was pleased with my efforts. 

Yet again, this afternoon we worked on the scene where the orchestra first walk into the hall which is obviously a massive scene as it is a major part of the play. We were left to our own devices as a group today and it was a group effort to put this scene together. I am very proud of the effort we are putting into this scene and I feel like we are steadily getting the hang of what the pace needs to be like and where we need to move etc. I think this scene is a lot about what kind of chemistry the characters have and digging deep within yourself to work out the type of character yours is. I would say that we are all starting to find our footing now that we have completed this scene multiple times. It's such a lovely piece to work on together as there are so many different people in this scene, therefore everybody has fully creative control with each of their characters and make them the type of person they want to be. There were a few distractions today and people did seem to be pretty restless making concentrating and trying to focus on the task at hand difficult, but I just think this is because of the chaos in the dance studio with people filming and 2 different rehearsals going on at the same time. 

Today we worked very hard on the entrance and I will attach a video. Me and Dion played Rosie and Alex today, therefore I was challenged with improving what Alex would do when the orchestra come in. I acted intrigued in everything they had to say and did little amounts of cleaning as I think Alex would do this if it meant that she can have interaction with other people her age. I tried to make Alex speak volumes about the type of person she is, despite the fact she has no lines for pages on end. It was hard to find a balance of drawing too much attention whilst performing but still fitting in with the crowd/ being invisible which is what I need practice on.

Wednesday 12th May 2021

Today was a day full of progress with Tom Guest! The first thing we did was a vocal warm up because today we were working on the end segment once again. We got straight into working on the acapella piece that we came up with last week and this time Tom cut it down and made it a lot shorter before we get into the real song which was a concern of mine last week. We added movement to it this week as well; it was decided that the orchestra would split into 4 little groups and each group would stand in a corner when Alex receives her guitar so that each side of the audience would have something to look at. The acapella would then start at one corner and diffuse around until eventually everyone is singing whilst Alex is in the middle singing Pinball Wizard and playing her new guitar. We choreographed a few little gems in the song such as Alex standing on a chair and singing to the orchestra, Alex being in control of her own little fantasy by making the orchestra dance and jump and sing … simply; just going mad!

 After rehearsing this a couple of times I think Tom was getting frustrated about staging and not knowing exactly what it will be like, so we asked for Kelly to come and help us. When Kelly arrived we did a little bit of moving around and showed her what we had so far. Tom's concern was or course the audience and where they are seated during this section and it seemed to be becoming a bit of a problem. This is a very important section of The Musicians as it is the time when all of Alex's dreams come true and she receives a guitar, so its pivotal that all of the audience should see this. There was also talk of the technician not being able to seat the audience in the round and how technically, it would be very difficult. Therefore, the decision was made by Kelly and Tom to change this play so that it was performed on a thrust stage rather than in the round.

Thrust staging is where a performance breaks out of being end on or in a proscenium arch and the stage is surrounded on three sides by the audience. This makes our job a bit easier when it comes to The Musicians because this means we can have the orchestra set up in the semi circle, traditional was without a quarter of the audience being able to see our faces. It also means there is less pacing between me and Dion when we are Alex and Rosie as that was a problem before. I felt like I had to move at every second so that all of the audience could see what was going on at all times, I was more focused on this than my actual delivery of lines at some points as I was conscious of always having to move. Thrust staging also works well because the audience still have a 3D performance in a way as they are part of the action and what is going on rather than it being a 2D performance and them watching us end-on. There are still a lot of challenges with thrust staging however because the audience are in fact still par of your stage, meaning you have still got to move often and make the performance less static. The audience are constantly watching you and there is no room for error with this type of staging. 

Friday 14th May 2021

Just a short update today! We have previously talked about the costume that people are going to wear when we perform the segment with Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony and Kelly told us that last time she did this performance everybody wore dickie bow ties. After hearing this, we decided that as a group we will wear little dickie bow ties and they arrived today. I can't wait to get in the dance studio and see what we all look like with them on. The show is approaching quickly and it's slowly coming together piece by piece!

Monday 17th May 2021

Lots of progress was made today. In our last rehearsal Kelly gave us the new timetable for the week starting today and on it was a rehearsal this morning for the main characters (Dion, Sophie A, Kate W and I) to rehearse Alex and Rosie's scenes. We were working with both Kane and Kelly from 1:30-4 to completely nail the scenes where the two are together. For the first hour and a half it was Dion and I rehearsing whilst Kate W went to maths and Sophie A learned her lines. We worked on pages 3-17 and we were taught by Kane to really unpick each line and let it land. 

After rehearsing once these were the notes received from Kane;

• When Dion calls Alex a 'Muscovite Moron' Alex probably doesn't understand a word of it but sill know it's an insult. React in a way that will channel this.
• Take each line a bit slower, especially with Alex because it will be hard to understand.
• It's all in the reactions when it comes to Alex.
• Take time to say some lines and pause as if you were translating the line from Russian to English in your head. That is what Alex would do as there is a language barrier and she needs to work out what she is going to say.
• Dion needs to be less frustrated at the start of the scene so she can build up her anger throughout until she finally snaps.
• Maybe have a little giggle after everything Alex says because she is so full of joy and just wants to be friends with this new English girl she has met. 

We then applied these notes to our characters and performed the scene again and again until we had got it right. Kelly then came into the room and watched us perform and gave us some note as well;

• Find a point to clean with Alex so that she can keep going back to it as though she is really focused on the cleaning.
• Think about the age of the characters. How old do you think they are? How does this affect the performance?
• With the monologue Dion delivers on page 16 think about Alex's reactions. The only way this monologue will be truly brought to life and humorous is if Alex has very big reactions to everything.
• When Alex is setting Rosie off in a frenzy and pranking her by saying there is no concert planned at the hall, really string out the jokes and reactions. Laugh hard in Dion's face when you tell her its a joke and hold your cheeks as if you're about to burst out laughing. 

Both Kelly and Kane said that there have been huge developments with both mine and Dion's performances and they can see us taking in each note. We just need to be bigger with our performances in general. 

It was then Kate W and Sophie A's turn to perform. We were discussing the fact that the play is double cast and our thoughts and feelings on this. I thought at first that because it was double cast I would compare Dion and I's performance to the other casts, but after rehearsing for the last couple pf weeks I feel quite the opposite. Both mine and Kate's performances are very different and there's no way to compare them. When Sophie and Kate perform its a completely different performance to when Dion and I do. I feel as though this show and process has brought me a lot closer to Dion as well and we have a friendship that we had never had before. It is fascinating to watch the other cast perform as they tame a different route to Dion and I which is lovely. It just goes to show how much possibility there is with one script!

Tuesday 18th May 2021

The Musicians is getting closer and closer and our rehearsal schedule for the next two weeks is as follows;

 

Today we were allocated jobs in the lead up to the show as it is creeping up on us quickly and it's about time we get things sorted. The jobs list looks like this;

• Program Creator - Sadie Paterson
• Costume - Kate Drummond
• Lighting - Thomas Burton & Josh Durnall
• Stage Management - Chelsea Saunders & Sophie Ashcroft
• Set Design - Declan Bullock
• Makeup - Kate Whittaker
• Marketing/Outreach - Izzy Martin
• Props - Dion Brady

I was really excited about being given this job as I have a vision for the costume in musicians. I will complete a seperate blog post all about costume. We also discussed money today and where we are in terms of budget. After selling our pantomime to primary schools in December we have £170 for this show. There is talk of us all getting Musicians t-shirts as a little souvenir to wear when we rehearse and what not. There was quite a bit of friction as to whether we buy these t-shirts with this money or costume for the play. I argued in favor of spending the money on costume to ensure that we have a cast that all look as smart as possible and all wearing the same costume when it comes to performing Tchaikovsky's symphony number 4. I aired my concerns with spending money that will not benefit the show and we came to the agreement to put half towards t-shirts and the other to costume. 

Headshots were also taken of us today by Adrian Everest (a student from the film & tv course) in preparation of putting together our program.

We then discussed whether or not we have a costume change on set to transition into act 2 of the play. Now that we have the bow ties Kelly thought it would be a nice idea to transition into the next scene by having a frenzy with the whole orchestra getting ready for the show. Kelly challenged us to come up with something whilst she was away.

This was our first attempt and as you can see it is lacking energy and quite slow. To improve, I would add more levels so it doesn't look as static and I would nominate certain persons to act more panicked or shocked or relieved or any emotion that they think these musicians might be feeling. I do think that this is a good little addition to the play as it will be nice to see this panic and rush in contrast to when the musicians walk on ready to perform. 

Declan was assigned the role of set design in musicians. After the recent decision to perform on a thrust stage rather than in the round, we had to adjust the orchestra so that it was in its traditional semi-circle shape. We had been performing the sequence when the musicians are in the orchestra hall chatting to each other in a circle which will not work as well now that we are on a thrust stage.

Declan made this sketch of where he wants everyone to be and to show everyone what the staging will look like. We rehearsed in this new shape today and although it took some getting used to, I did in fact prefer this set out when performing to the other one, plus I can imagine Dion and Sophie's jobs will be a lot easier now they are not surrounded by people and can see everyone in front of them. Below is a little time lapse of today's rehearsal. I was timpani in today's rehearsal and it was Kate's turn to practice with Alex. 

Wednesday 19th May 2021

Today started off the same as any other, we partook in a warm up to get everyone's energy high and then it was decided that we would do a full run through of the play ... from beginning to end. Kelly came in to watch our rehearsal and this time I knew to really make it count and go full out. I was playing the role of Alex today which I was excited about because now that I know all of my lines, I really feel as though I can take the performance anywhere without worrying about lines. We cracked on will said rehearsal and I feel as though it went really well today. Kelly was sat taking notes for this performance in order for us to improve which we received afterwards. These were today's notes;

I am very thankful for today's notes are there are a lot of things for mw to think about to perfect my role. Kelly mentioned that Dion and I block each other quite a lot when we are talking which I have in fact picked up on myself. I feel like a lot of the time I move without purpose and it's because I worry that the whole of the audience don't see me enough. In order to change this, I will try and clean different areas of the stage at different times to ensure that my movement looks natural and just looks like me doing my job.

A big part of my performance in act 2 is also me 'translating' what Dion says. There is a section of the script where Alex rings her dad in hopes of him finding the orchestra's instruments. My Russian in these sections needs to sound very believable and last a long time whilst also being comedic. In order to do this to the extent of fooling the audience to believe it's Russian, I will learn a few Russian lines and string them out whilst also being as loud and cheery as possible that hopefully people won't notice!

As for the notes for the ensemble, I think all are very interesting. It is exciting getting notes and a second opinion of things when we complete rehearsals as we cannot see ourselves perform. When it comes to the ad-libbing note I completely agree with Kelly. We spend a lot of time at  college playing warm-up games and things to improve our improv, therefore we have become really confident and when we rehearse musicians I do think we get too carried away with ourselves. This was a very valid note and I look forward to improving. 

Overall, I think a lot of progress was made today. Kelly told us that all of these notes were very picky and that she is very proud of how we are progressing. Here is some footage from today's rehearsals:

Later on today Kelly showed us the ideas she had for both the poster for 'The European Festival of Youth'. This is the competition that the musicians are partaking in during the play and we need posters for both the entrance to the theatre when our audience walk in to set the scene for them and a poster for Rosie to show Alex when she is telling her about it. All of these little elements really excite me as they are just little easter eggs that make our performance that little bit more detailed. The poster is as follows;

Kelly also made a little poster to advertise our tickets on ticket source;

To conclude todays entry, I think it has been the most progress we have made thus far with musicians and I look forward to taking in Kelly's notes and improving from them!

Thursday 20th May 2021

The whole cast of the musicians was in today for an extra rehearsal. We started with our daily game of splat and then Sophie led the warm up as her recent title of stage manager. 

The first thing I made sure to sort out this morning was who had what costume. I made a list of what everyone had and then a list of what we needed to buy in order to get the costume sorted as quickly as possible so it wasn't a worry to us. After I'd spent the morning sorting through costume, we moved onto the Tchaikovsky segment and blocked it through once again. With the Tchaikovsky segment it is all about practice and getting comfortable with all of the choreography and what not. We sorted out the details of the orchestral section such as who Rosie has to conduct and when and the way instruments are held. The whole piece just needs to look more precise and thought out. We blocked each movement so people knew exactly where we were moving. After drilling the piece a few times it seemed that everyone was on the same wavelength and we really managed to let go. 

During this sequence the music dips and the characters begin speaking their inner thoughts. This is a very meticulous section as we have to get it done as quickly as possible whilst also making it as effective to the audience. I do love this section of the play as it is a mystery to me whether or not the characters are actually speaking or if they are just that in tune that they are communicating via their minds. We were struggling to deliver these lines whilst moving so I suggested that we sit and drill the lines until we get every one right with the right pace. So that's exactly what we did. I definitely feel more confident with this section after today. 

The very end section of the play was touched on today and we also blocked through it. The only other time I have rehearsed this section has been with Tom Guest so today Kelly talked us through how she envisioned this section. The section with Dion and I before the cast burst into Pinball Wizard is very vital to the play and it is the first time we see Alex upset. She is happy for the success of the orchestra but gutted that she is stuck cleaning the hall and her life will amount to nothing more. Dion and I performed this section today and the only note I got from Kelly was to not let my projection suffer as a subject of me being sad. We then blocked through the Pinball Wizard section and I think this will just improve with time as it is something we need to practice, practice, practice!

Overall, I think today's rehearsal was successful and we made a lot of progress. I think that we should come in more often to practice little bits of the play.

Sunday 23rd May 2021

Just a short update today! We received our headshots for the programs Kelly is making what Adrian took a few days ago and they are really good. I can't wait to see the program all put together as it will be a lovely keepsake to have of the show. I like the fact that the headshots are in black and white as I feel as though they look more professional for some reason. 

Tuesday 25th May 2021

Rehearsals were in full swing in the dance studio this morning. We started with the usual warm up to bring the energy up in the room and then Kelly sat us down and we had a very interesting conversation. 

Today we were taught about the the behind the scenes of putting on a show; ticket prices, ticket sales, facilities etc. I must say I find it very fascination discussing the business side of putting on a show. 70 tickets per show is how many we have to sell for musicians. That means we need to sell a total of 280 tickets. Kelly was telling us how she has taken a risk booking the theatre out for that many shows and how when we are performing there are many worries surrounding it. For example; I learned today that if we put on a show on a Monday or a Friday at college, we have to pay for the facilities and to keep it open due to the fact that college usually shuts way earlier at the times of our shows. We were then taught about how ticket source also take some of the money from our show as they take a percentage of the money and keep it for themselves. 

Kelly had been and bought costume for the show as well today, therefore everyone is sorted with a costume. We spoke a lot about show week as well today and how everyone must dedicate their time to it. To honour this, I have taken the week off work so that my whole focus can be on our shows. No matter if there are 7 people in the audience or 70 we must be on our A game and deliver shows that we are proud of. Our focus needs to be on performing the absolute best we can. To ensure that all of our shows are the best that they can be we have arranged a rehearsal on Friday 4th June during the half term to scrub up our show and rehearse a final time in the calm before the storm.

This afternoon started off with Dion, Izzy and I having a line run-through the whole of the script. I really feel as though I know my lines well now and have them nailed. The last section of the play where Alex is sad is my weakest part but I will ensure to practice at home in order to improve. I must say, I am really proud of how well Dion and I seem to work together, over these past few weeks our friendship has flourished and I think you can pick up on it during rehearsals. Dion is very passionate about the show and her character just like me, so every time we come into college its an enjoyable experience because we are eager to improve and continue learning more about our craft. 

After our line run-through and when everyone was back from lunch I got straight into sorting out costume and handing out school shirts and skirts. This took about half an hour to sort and luckily all of the costume Kelly had bought fit everyone and everyone was happy. Then the lovely Izzy had brought in a load of hats, scarves and gloves for us all to get a feel of what we should be wearing when the musicians first enter the hall. It is essential that everyone walks onto the stage looking like they have just come out of the freezing cold Russian air and to prepare, we all brought in our big coats and tried everything on together. I think that this excited everyone as spirits were high in the dance studio and everyone was on the ball with trying on costume and seeing what did in fact fit and what didn't. I made note of who needed what costume and by the end, we had a shirt spare for anyone if they needed it.

Afterwards, we got straight into rehearsals. Our focus once again was when the orchestra perform Tchaikovsky's symphony number 4. The weather was pretty sporadic this afternoon and it went from sunny to hail stoning in a matter of minutes. We began by running through the part when Dion is conducting the orchestra and wow. After rehearsing this piece countless times, today was the first time it felt breathtaking. Everyone was on the same wavelength and I think the hail stoning (which was uncontrollable at this point) really added to the atmosphere in the room. Everyone seemed to have focus on the task at hand and just performed as if no one was watching. It was my job to control the music during this sequence today and it turned out that we had performed for a minute longer than usual, yet it felt like the quickest it was ever done. Don't get me wrong, there was still work to do when it came to the part where the musicians begin to speak but I think that this time we had the movement nailed. I'll attach a video of one of the first times we practiced this scene but unfortunately I don't have one of the time we nailed it.

Due to us still being a bit unsure with lines and pace during the Tchaikovsky section I suggested that we all sit down and drill them a few times to the music to work out the pace. So this is exactly what we did and I think it was very useful to do so. 

Wednesday 26th May 2021

Musicians is approaching quickly and today was one of the first times we performed in front of a bigger audience. Tom Guest has never seen us rehearse the acting in Musicians, therefore we performed in front of both him and the first years. It was Dion and i performing today and I was a little more nervous than usual but I put my game face on. Today it seemed that people were a lot more nervous to perform and there were in fact a few line mishaps. I personally don't think that today's performance was up to it's usual standard which is completely understandable because we haven't performed in front of an audience in a year due to COVID.

After watching our performance Tom had a few notes;

• It was suggested by that the staging should be moved again so that during the pages 3-17 Dion is conducting and practicing to the orchestra. This would be fine during the Tchaikovsky section but I didn't think it would be best for when Dion and I first meet as she would have her back to a third of the audience all of the time.
• We need to feel the music more and really let go during the 4th symphony.
• I need to clean with purpose and clean a section of the stage at a time as if Alex has a set plan in her head of what she needs to clean and when.

After lunch we all got into our costumes we will wear during the orchestral parts and Adrian (who took our headshots) took some photos of us for the program. I did feel quite emotional whilst doing this I must admit because today was the first day I realised that our time at college is very quickly ending and soon we will not see each other everyday anymore. I have made a friend in each and every single one of the people at college and I will miss them so very much when we leave.

After taking some photos with Adrian, we performed for Nina and Makeup. We were struggling as once again there were people missing but we did get there in the end. I will attach a photo of the notes Kelly sent us today.

This was the last rehearsal before the half term which is both scary and exciting! Therefore my next entry will be about our rehearsal in the half term.

Friday 4th June 2021

First thing this morning we were awoken with a message from Izzy in the Teams chat mentioning that she had made posters for both the entrance and exit to the theatre on our show days. Over the past couple of days Izzy has been asking us all to send in quotes from our character for newspaper articles she was making. To be quite frank, I didn't really know what she was up to but I sent her quotes none the less. Izzy made these posters for both days of our show as a little easter egg for our audience. Pictured below is the poster for when audience members walk into the theatre.

This one is for when the audience leave;

I really love these posters as I think they add a lot of depth to the play. Izzy has done a fantastic job of them and I love how much detail she has gone into!

It was quite an exciting day today. Due to nobody else being in college and our show being next week we came in to rehearse in the theater which we have all to ourselves. Like any other day, we started off with our warm ups. A quick game of splat then a game about projection where we had to walk around the room and say our favorite line from the play we were rehearsing to another person on the other side of the room. The trick was not to shout but to project our voices. 

Now that we are in a much bigger space our voices need to be heard so much more. We started a run through with Sophie and Kate as Rosie and Alex and straight away, they could not be heard. We have been practicing in a dance studio where we do not need go project our voices too much- if at all. Now that we are in the theater we desperately need to work on projection. The black walls in the theater also absorb any sound therefore our volume is just sucked up. 

It was hard to do a run through this morning as Declan and Sadie were missing and they are two of the main characters in this piece. The pace was patchy due to this but we made do. Then it was time for the Tchaikovsky performance. It was much better to practice this in the theater with a lot more room. Our notes after the Tchaikovsky section were as follows;

• Try not to scarper to places too quickly and just move where the music takes you.
• Use the space and spread out.
• Concentrate.
• Some people are a bit stiff during the piece.

When finishing this part we moved on to Pinball Wizard at the end of the play when the cast go crazy and it was fabulous and the best we ever did it in my opinion. All we need to do is get used to the spacing of the theater and spread out more.

Our T-Shirts also got delivered today! Poppy (Kelly's daughter) and I got to work on handing them out and wow. They are so lovely! I was really feeling emotional today because we have a week until the end. Of course we took the opportunity to go and take some photos in them! 

This afternoon was very chilled and I feel as though I learned a lot. We went to dance studio 1 and Kane, Kate and I ran through the dreaded Pinball Wizard section at the start of the play.

As soon as Kane said we were rehearsing this part my heart dropped. I haven't done this since my audition! To ease our nerves a bit and show us how it was done, Kane performed first. He was surprisingly fabulous and I couldn't help but laugh when seeing Kane dance around the studio like a Rockstar to Pinball Wizard. I was still very nervous however, as was Kate so we played rock, paper, scissors to see who would perform first. I won and it was Kate's turn next. Kate was once again fabulous and absolutely turned it out. 

Then … it was me. I stood up with broom in hand and just went for it. As soon as I started I did feel better and my nerves had settled. These were the notes I received after my performance;

• Hold the broom further up as if it were a guitar.
• Be a bit more in the moment and try not to make eye contact with anyone.
• make sure you are thinking about levels. Really go down to rock out when you're strumming your guitar.
• Maybe lay on your back and rock out like a real Rockstar?

After a few, we went down to the dance studio and watched the first years rehearsal of 'Stuff' then me and Dion did a quick little rehearsal to get used to the space. 

And just like that rehearsals are over! I must say that Musicians is the best show that I have ever worked on and I am absolutely in love with my character and the play and the whole thing! It has been an absolute pleasure working with my class whom I love dearly and working with Kane and Kelly who could bring back the show that they have done once before to life. Musicians will always hold a very very special place in my heart. That's that! Peace out Musicians 2021.