Today we had our first dress run, this allowed us to see if there was any changes to the choreography that we had to make because of costume restrictions. For my character I chose to wear black jeans that had elastic material, this is so I could dance easily in them. As well as this it was our first run in the set, this also meant that we had to change some things because the scaffolding is a lot higher and takes up more space than we originally thought.
Prolouge - I had to change my positioning in the opening scene, because of the scaffolding I have to go out further than in previous rehearsals, this meant that I had to work out different times that I had to move, this is because I now have to run down stairs and along the scaffolding. We have also had to work on the timing of when we all run into the middle to trap Baby John, this is so we don't all run down the stairs at the same time, we need to space it out more so that the steps are not crowded with lots of people all trying to get down at the same time.
Gym Dance - In this run we started adding more adlibs into this scene so that the energy could be built up, as well as this we started to build the relationships between characters. This helps the audience understand the conflict between the gangs and Glad hand, as well as this, in the script it us mentioned that the gym is "neutral teritory". Because of this the conflict has to be more subtle compared to when on the street, part of the reason of this is because Officer Krupke and Shrank are there to observe their behaviour and to make sure that there isnt any problems. As well as this we worked on the change in atmosphere between when Tony and Maria first meet to when Bernardo catches them, we wanted this to go from being a calm and sophisticated atmosphere to being tense and argumentive between the two gangs. In this rehearsal i think this was the best it had ever been, as this was a complete contrast and allows us to keep the audience enganged on what is happening in the scene.
America + Scene - Although i though the actual America dance went really well i think the scene that runs into it needs more rehearsal, this is because in my opinion i think at the moment is it visibly weaker than the actual dance. I think that to improve it we need to work on the proxemics involved, this is because i notices that the boys in this scene are just standing in a line, i think that this is partly to do with because Jordy, Elliott and Josh have not have the chance to learn this scene as they had just been focusing on learning the dance. Therefore they were not entirley sure on what they were doing, however their reactions to what was happening in the scene was very good. Because of this i found it easier to make my reactions better as i had someone else to interact with on my side, this was better than previous rehearsals as before i was the only boy other than Bernardo and i found it diffcult to react when i was supposed to. I thought that the transition into the dance was good as it was smooth and looked very natural rather than making it obvious that we were going to stop having a converation and start singing and dancing, if we continue to work on this i think that it will contunie to look smooth in the final performance. In my opinion i though the dance went very well based on the movement, however i think that we need to continue to work on reactions and characterisation. Personally i think that this is important to this scene as it is a battle between the boys and the girls and i think we need to represent this by our reactions, facial expressions, background adlibs etc.
Doc's Drug Store - In my opinion i think that this is my weakest scene, i need to work on my characterisation fro when i walk in to when i leave. I also need to work on my change in characterisation when Shrank wallks in, this is because we have to act neutral towards the other gang when around him and act as though we are not having a war council. Another thing i need to work on is the aggression toward the other gang, at the moment i don't think it is obvious that we are rival gangs in this scene so i think we need to add in more looks and actions towards people from the opposite gang. On the other hand i think that my reaction towards Shrank when he is insulting the PRs was good, i get up from sitting down and look at him, i thought that my facial expressions were good to show that i was angry that he was insulting me and the rest of my gang, however i think this can still be improved in the next rehearsal.
The Quintet - In this rehearsal the Quintet went very well, this was because we had previously worked on the movement and the singing in seprate rehearsals, we decided to start on the scaffolding nearest to the lighting desk. ( This is the shark area ). We sing the first few lines up here and then go down the stairs and go back to back to the Jets, then we walk round each other where we eventually break away. Both gangs then split off so they can group together, we worked on this so that it would appear to the audience that we were planning how we were going to bring down the opposing gang. I thought it would be more interesting for the audience if there was more levels being used, me and Max decided to climb up the scaffolding and Jess climbed up the ladder, whilst i was up on the scaff i kept moving around as iff i was keeping look out for anyone, once we had noticed the jets we moved down tot he ground with the other sharks to plan what our next move would be. For the climax of the song we all moved into the center of the space. When we are there we occasionally make eye contact with the other gang memebers, this is to show the audience the bond between the gang members and when the lights go down we all run off and hide in the dark to get ready for the rumble. when doing this we all have a confident attitude as we are getting ready for the rumble and to become the best gang. As well as the movement our singing was good as everyone had the correct pitching and timing, this is because we had practiced this in previous singing rehearsals with kim. in addition to this everyone had looked into what their characters personal objectives were, for example Maria and Tony had to be focused on each other, Anita is focused on Bernardo while the Jets and the Sharks are only interested on becoming the best gang on the street and beat the opposing gang. I found that this exercise helped me with my overall characterisation for the rest of the show and not just this number.
The Rumble - This scene was not as strong in this run through as i had previously seen it and therefore we have a few things that we need to practice in future rehearsals of this scene. I think one of the things that needs to be improved is we need to make the hatred between the two gangs more obvious to the audience, this can be improved by more looks and gestures towards each other. However i think the level of background noise was good, it was an equal amount from both the Sharks and the Jets, i think that is this is repeated in the final performance it will look really good to the audience and they will be fully engaged into the scene as it is full of energy. As well as this i think that my reaction was good when Riff dies and then again when Bernardo dies, this is because i wanted to have a complete change in characterisation going from being really confident that the Sharks are going to beat the Jets to being really shocked that two peoples lives were lost.
Somewhere - I think this scene was good however parts of it needs to be improved such as the part when we make peace with someone from the opposite gang, at the moment i think it is too feminine as we are currently hugging each other, i think we need to change this so that our reactions towards each other are more masculine. I also think that we need to rehearse the singing with Kim another time, because it sounded as though some people were unsure on what they were singing, this is because part of this is sung in a round and i noticed that a few people were singing the wrong line. However i think with one more rehearsal we will be able to perform this well.
Finale - When we did this our reactions were not detailed enough and the lift did not go as planned, because of this we have scheduled a rehearsal of just this scene so we can focus on it more. This is because this is the finale scene and needs to capture the audiences attention for the last time and therefore we need to work on it a lot more.
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