Its 6.30 am on Saturday morning, watching Breakfast TV, reminded that there is another world outside the rehearsal studios and rather wishing I could pause the Cinderella song tracks in my head! After all it is the week when Obama got back into the Whitehouse, and Philip Schofield pitched in with his list to the PM. This strange thing that over 50 of us come together to do for stupid hours is frighteningly addictive and totally disruptive to any semblance of a balanced life frankly.
I can just see "I'm a Celebrity - Make me a Panto" having some real legs as a TV reality show. Ok, ok so I'd watch it!
This show is getting under my skin, and I don't think I am alone. Its funny, it just sometimes happens, (and I think most of us have probably experienced it from time to time) that as if by magic you find yourself part of a team that just clicks, and this Cinderella Team is one of those. Of course this doesn't mean we don't argue (see today's video!) and there is always a real danger that we can be so intoxicated by the ideas, the people, the music that we can lose track of our critical eye and objectivity! Have you ever seen those student reviews where everyone on stage is clearly having a ball but leaving the audience totally excluded, bemused and rather nauseated? Well this isn't one of them! The fact that its a strong and creative team should mean we can push the limits by being highly demanding of excellence from everyone, and accepting nothing less. Whether you are one of our little mice Ella, Freya, Ellie and Zarmina, or one of the more mature ( you know who you are!) there is no compromise in where we all want to get to.
Any way enough of home spun philosophy!
Yesterday was a long one, starting with a Stage Management meeting at 8.30 with our lovely MJ, who has decided that he is my carer! (PLEASE) We are still on target with just a little to pick up at the end of scene 6 and 7, and then 8,9,10 by Monday evening so that Chloe can get her lighting design fully underway.
Whilst there are lots of similarities between straight theatre actors and musical theatre actors there are also some fundamental differences as I am finding out daily in my An Idiot's Guide To How To Do A Panto tutorials from Phil and Owen and which Phil continues to remind me. I've really noticed it in the children too. You see I have to let you into a secret, but please don't tell anyone or I will have to give myself the sack, but I have to admit to a certain harboured prejudice against the Stage School thing. Isn't it all about pushy parents cutting their children's competitors' ballet ribbons, jazz hands and American teeth? (Sorry Coral and Gabby, the braces look beautiful!)
You see I do believe in total access and participation opportunities for everyone in the arts - and that hasn't changed, but what has become abundantly clear to me over the past few months working with the Youth Chorus and now the Principals, is that the level of discipline, repetition, skills acquisition is unsurpassed in these guys. Sheer hard work and training is an absolute essential in making musical theatre. Its not enough just to turn up the day before a show opens and expect to be able to deliver. I think a lot of us who haven't made this type of theatre before are probably very lazy - everyone can just act - can't they? Well no actually. If you want to dance and sing, you've got to put the dedication and sheer hard work in, you have to learn technique, train your voice, warm your body so it can do what you (or the choreorapher) expects of you, and believe me Phil and Owen take no prisoners! There really is no way round it. A note is in tune or its not, simple. A sequence of steps has to be perfect or you will end up looking and sounding like a herd of elephants. There really is no where to hide.
What I also noticed when the children first arrived was that their self discipline and desire to master technique is unsurpassed. But when it came to doing the "acting" bit, most of them were way behind on technique than in the other two disciplines. I don't blame them for that - its just rather a disgrace that the third discipline does not appear to have the same rigour or understanding of technique as the other two. This has been a salutary lesson. And I think I have realised that I am prey to this as much as any straight theatre practitioner, we place so much emphasis on the taking part that we woefully neglect and under estimate the techniques and skills that performers need to master all three disciplines. Indeed many young actors who come to me having completed a three year drama course, are probably worse than when they started in terms of technical acting skills sadly.
I have seen through this rehearsal that Owen and Phil expect as much from the 8 year olds as they do from the adults, which is quite a revelation, but believe me I am on it and do too now! Its of course like learning any new skill and being serious about excellence, whether its a sport or learning an instrument. I read recently that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at any skill. So start counting, there are no short cuts.
Anyway to return to the specifics of Cinderella, we managed to stagger our way through Act One Scenes 1-6 at 5pm last night. It was pretty erratic of course, with some great holes in it that are my responsibility to sort, but overall it wasn't half bad for two and half days. It showed us what we can achieve I believe, its a way off yet - but at least we know where we are heading!
Off to rehearsals this morning - and I will let you know how disciplined the cast is this morning after our "Let Your Hair" down Pizza and Beverage social last night. I am a bit of a bear with a sore head myself today, so lets see if I can actually walk my talk! I'll let you know later. Video Diary to follow later this morning.
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