My targets for next term are to work on my facial expressions in dance, this is especially important in musical theatre because most of the time the things that are happening on stage are supposed to be over the top. As well as this the dances that are usally in musical theatre shows tell a story relate to a theme therfore facial expressions are an important part of showing a theme or a story to an audience. To imporve on this is i am going to practice with different facial expressions using the mirrors in the dance studio, this is so i can see what i look like when i dance and i can see if my characterisation fits with the theme or the subject of the dance.
Thursday 18th December 2014
Evaluation Of Bugsy Malone (Blousey)
The Opening Scene - Whilst watching back the video of Bugsy Malone i noticed that in the opening scene i was speaking too fast, in my first two lines were quite hard to hear what was being said clearly. However in the next scene that i was in i did notice that i slowed down a little bit, this was better as the words were easier to understand.
Proxemics With The Audience - As well as this i should have been more carefull with the suitcase that i carried round as i noticed that i slightly hit somone with it whilst exiting. My proxemics were not so good as it is important to make sure that the audience are not hit, in the matenee show i found it easier to make sure this didnt happen as there was more space because there were less audience around the set. This made it easier to enter and exit with enough space. As there were more people in the audience that there was space for, we had to give up our cast table. As a result of this for the time that i wasnt on stage i stood near the bar, however i was next to a lamp therefore even when the bar was blacked out, the audience could still see me. I didnt notice this untill i watched it back, if I had have noticed this during the performance I would have moved further back or backstage to avoid any distractions of scenes that I wasn't In.
Proxemics With The Other Actors - Blousey has different proxemics with different characters is the play for example she has a close relationship with the character of Bugsy however she stays far away from Tallulah. This shows the audience about the relationships between characters without any dialogue, I was happy with the way that Blousey and Bugsy were close to each other for the majority of the performance this represents how they have a close relationship. As well as this Blousey follows Bugsy around for some of the conversation scenes between them, this suggested that she has an interest in what he has to say. In contrast to this Blousey doesn't stay close to Tallulah, for example in the "Bucket of mud" scene even though she laughs at her, she doesn't stand to close to her suggesting that she doesn't like her.
Proxemics With The Set - Blousey walks around the majority of the set , this shows the audience that she doesn't really belong anywhere and she is always just looking around waiting for something to happen. Especially in the opening scene when I am walking around the set without a specific place to go to I do this again in act 2 whilst singing "ordinary fool". When I am a Fat Sam dancer I stay near the stage because Blousey wants to be a performer and she always dreams of being on stage.
Tomorrow Dance - In the first show because there were more people in the audience than expected it was harder to do this dance because there wasn't enough space to fully do the choreography. Therefore I had to decide on a pathway that I could take were I would avoid any collisions with audience members as well as this I found that I had to improvise different parts of the dance because of the space and the way that I had to move around so that everyone in the audience was able to see what was happening. In the first performance of this I should have focused more as i slightly slipped on some silly string that was used in one of the first scenes. For the second performance we decided to change where Blousey entered, instead of entering near Dandy Dans to entering through Fat Sams office, this worked better with the storyline of the play as Blousey has more of a connection with Fat Sam compared to Dandy Dan. This meant that the firs part of the dance was on the stage however there wasn't much space on this either and the stage blocks kept moving and it sounded as if it was interrupting the song as they were making banging sounds. The second performance of this looked very different to the first as i had to improvise around the space differently than before. Also there were less people in the second audience so therefore i had more space and i moved in a different pathway.
Im Feeling Fine - The first "im feeling fine" did not go so well, my pitching was slightly off and therefore the song didnt sound so good. I struggled with the pitching of the song during rehearsals on the performance it wasnt as bad as in rehearsals but it wasnt as good as it could have been with more practice. I found that in the second show this song went better, I think this is because I felt more confident whilst singing the song this is because in the first performance of it I was still struggling with the pitching of it however once I was more familiar with it sounded better.
Bugsy Malone - Whilst watching this back i found that this song didnt sound that good, this is partly because it was too high for me to sing comfortably. I also think that my pitching was slightly off and therefore I didn't feel so confident with the performance, as well as this I could have had better characterisation, this would have improved the performance because it would have shown the audience why Blousey was singing this song rather than just a reprise of a previous song in the show.
My Name Is Tallulah - In the first part of this dance i was out of time, this was obvious and didnt look so good because i was too fast to keep in time with the other girls. As well as this the backing vocals for this were too high for the song, this made it sound as if the chorus doesnt fit with the rest of the song. However inbetween the first two shows we rehearsed with the piano to make sure that we got the pitching right. Because in the second show it sounded better as we were in tune with Tallulah.
The phone box scene - When watching the performance back I noticed that I spoke too fast in this scene, it would have been better if I slowed it down a little so that it was easier to understand. I thought that in the second performance I did slow down, this is partly because I felt more confident. As well as this in the first performance I felt like when I was talking to Bugsy on the phone I was looking across the set at him when I should have been looking at the phone. This would have been better as it would have looked like I was actually talking on the phone to him rather than a face to face conversation.
Ordinary Fool - In the final rehearsals of this song I was advised to sing the song whilst slowly moving around the set, this is to make sure that everyone in the audience saw. This also made it look more interesting to the audience because I wasn't just standing on a stage block singing. Overall I thought the first performance went well, my pitching was mostly correct which was an improvement on previous rehearsals where it did not go so good. As well as this is thought that my eye-line and focus was good as I felt confident with the performance, this allowed me to show that the character of Blousey is both upset and angry as I wasn't looking down I was able to use facial expressions to show this. Although the first performance went well I thought that the second went better, I think that this is because I felt more confident being alone on stage in front of an audience. Even though it was better to be moving around the set during the performance it would have been better if I had properly worked out a pathway that I could have taken and timed it with the music, this is because I felt like sometimes I was walking too fast and therefore has to stay still for some parts as I didn't want to be constantly walking around the central stage block. In both performances I thought that the last verse went well, the dynamics in this verse are louder than the rest of the song. I wanted to do this so that the song didn't sound the same the whole way through.
Fat Sams Grand Slam - In the first performance of this our timing was slightly off as we were not able to rehearse as a group much, however everyone in this dance had high energy which is what it needed. This is because we were supposed to be flapper girls in a 1920s speakeasy and were a type of entertainment for the people that came into the speakeasy therefore we had to be interesting to watch. I thought I had good characterisation in this performance through facial expressions as they had to be over the top so that everyone in the audience was able to see the full context of the song. In my opinion the second performance of this song as much better than the first this is because we were more confident so we were able to be more over the top than before. As well as this we had rehearsed more inbetween the two shows so the we were more in time with each other, this improved how the dance looked a lot. I thought that the vocals in both performances sounded good as everyone put in a lot of effort to make sure that it was loud enough whilst staying in tune with each other and the music.
You Give A Little Love - In the first performance of this song we as a class noticed that we didn't space out as much as we could have. This meant that not all of the audience got a good view of the dance steps that were being performed, as well as this I got some of the verses mixed up with each other as I hadn't had run through the song enough times. Before the second performance I practised it more to make sure that I got all of the words right. As well as this the class spaced out al little bit more however this was still not as good as it could have been. In the next part of the song when we were in two circles the timing of the arm movements were all in time, this looked good as we were all doing the same thing at the same time as we had rehearsed this many times in the dance studio and in the set.
Overall Characterisation - When watching back I thought that I could have portrayed the character of Blousey better, in the first scene I could have shown that I was lost in an unfamiliar place. I partly did this by looking around as if i was lost however i could have tried other things such as eye-line and facial expressions to show this more. I thought that my characterisation was better in act 2, especially in the dances like My Name Is Tallulah and Fat Sams Grand Slam where the dancers have to be over the top. As well as this we stayed in character in the interval, this helped me with my performance in the second act as there wasn't a break where the cast came out of character. This meant that we didn't have to spend time preparing for act 2. I thought that my characterisation was better in my second performance, this is because the first performance went well so the whole cast including me felt more comfortable with the performance so everyone felt more confident staying in character. I could have improved on my facial expressions this is because Blousey has different moods for example happy, angry and sad I could have used facial expressions to show the audience these moods more to the audience. I think I partly did this but I could have worked harder at this in rehearsals to make sure that it was better.
Voice (Accent) - For the character of Blousey I had to an American accent, this is because the play was set In Chicago therefore everyone in the cast has an American accent to relate to the context. It was important that the cast sticks to their accents so that the audience understands the context, also because the audience were in the set it helps make them more involved in the show. In the first rehearsals my accent didn't go very well as I found it difficult to say some words like "wisey" however after I had practised it more I found it easier. In both shows I think that my accent in dialogue was good but I felt that when I was singing my songs I lost my accent. I need to work on keeping accents whilst singing for any future performances.
Voice (Diction) - I thought that my diction for Bugsy Malone wasn't very good, this is partly because I was doing an American accent, some of my words became slurred. I found it hard to not slur my words, so I tried to slow down my dialogue but It didn't really work. My diction was better whilst I was singing mostly in "ordinary fool" however it still wasn't as good as it could have been if I had worked on diction more during rehearsals.
Voice (Projection) - I didn't think that my projection in the show was very good, this is because I didn't make all of my dialogue loud enough for all audience members to hear. For example when I was by the top stage area I don't think I was loud enough for the people sitting by Dandy Dans to hear clearly. For future performances I need to work on my projection to make sure that my projection for dialogue and singing is better so that everyone in the audience can hear me clearly. My projection for the songs "Im Feeling Fine" and "Bugsy Malone" was not good, I think this is partly because I didn't feel very confident with these songs. Also I was on the top stage compared to "Ordinary Fool" where I was in the middle of the middle of set I found it easier to project this song because more of the audience was closer to me.
Posture - In the first act Blousey is quite shy and therefore my posture was more introverted, this was to show the audience that her character feels lost as she isn't confident in the way that she moves around. In contrast to this, in act 2 Blousey feels more confident as she got a job at Fat Sams and feels as though she has achieved something. Because of this I walked slightly faster as she is more familiar with the space around her, my posture was also less introverted than the first act.
Communication To The Audience - As Blousey is the character in the show that gain the audiences sympathy as she is constantly having bad luck, she finds it hard to find a job and she has trouble with Bugsy. To make sure that the audience understood this I tried to act like I was nervous, however when Blousey gains confidence in act 2 she is more like the other flapper girls she is not as outgoing as Tallulah but there is still a contrast from the beginning of act 1 and the beginning of act 2 . I showed this contrast by using facial expressions to reflect her different moods that she has during the play as well as this by the way that I walked around the set, for example in act 2 I walked slightly faster with more confidence. There is also a difference in the way that I moved around the set in " ordinary fool "and " fat sams grand slam ", where in " ordinary fool it was almost as if I was dragging myself around as I walked slow and changing my eyeline to looking down and then back up, this showed that Blousey is feeling completely fed up and upset that she has been let down again. However in "fat sams grand slam" when she feels more happier and I have more smiley facial expressions and more choreographed dance moves as she has just found out that she is going to Hollywood with Bugsy and her dreams are coming true.
Targets For The Next Show -
- Pitching of songs - During rehearsals of Bugsy Malone I struggled with the pitching of my songs, to prepare for my next performance I am going to practice singing exercises like scales to improve my pitching. This is important so that any songs that I sing are sung in the correct pitch and so my voice doesn't clash with the accompaniment.
- Extension in dance - When looking back at this performance I noticed that my extension of dance movements were not as good as they could have been. It is important that all movements are fully extended so that they look better as they are finished instead of half done. I am going to work on this by practicing dances infront of the mirror so that I can see what I am doing.
- Facial expressions - This is important so that the audience can see the moods of the characters without any dialogue having to be spoken, I need to work on this because I noticed that I don't show much emotion through any facial expressions. I am going to do this by using the mirror when rehearsing for performances including songs and dances.
- Slower speech - I notice that when I feel a but nervous I talk faster, I need to work on slowing down so that the audience can understand what I am saying.
- Focus during performances - In one of the performances of Bugsy Malone I missed my cue to go back on stage after "Ordinary fool". I need to make sure in the next performance I make sure that I am listening to what is happening on stage so that I don't miss any cues.
