# data[].attributes.body
Read through of the script:
They first sat us down and made us read through the whole script as our characters which was a challenge at first due to the difference in how the words were written in the script and how we would normally say them. Reading through this script for the first time was very challenging for me, especially as I struggle with pronunciating my words in general. Following from this, I put into practice a technique I learnt from a piece of feedback that I was given a couple of weeks prior which was to relax the shoulders and not to speak through the breathe which I believe helped me to project that deeper side of my voice which in turn helped to create a voice that better suits my character. Also, knowing how to deliver lines so it makes sense when projected to the Audience is key as this could affect the storyline and meaning of the scene. I believe that I could understand how my character was presenting himself through the way the lines were written although presenting this through character may also be a challenge physically rather than mentally.

Week 1:
On the first week of rehearsals, we were introduced to the main dance sections which included “The Dream Ballet” and “Farmer and The Colman”. We also looked at the first thirteen pages of the script including a couple of solo songs from my character “Curly”.

Opening Song “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin” & 1st Scene:
When I was told we were going to be working on the first 13 pages of the script, I was relieved as I had already been previously working on these pages at home and most of the lines in this section I knew of by heart. Structuring and rebuilding this scene to make it our own was fascinating just like any other scene although this’s was our first and watching it unfold whilst we worked throughout it was very enjoyable. I was first told to stand outside the door and wait for the cue to slowly start walking in to the room which would hear the start of the song “oh, what a beautiful mornin”. I was also told to imagine a light breeze brushing through my clothes, a cornfield either side of my pathway that would travel on into the distances and a group of trusty civilians that wouldn’t dare notice my presence as I advanced on my way to aunt ellers house. At first, I found it hard to picture all these things at once and as this was my first time, even walking and singing was a challenge. Following my previous technique, I relaxed the shoulders and kept my head up which helped me project the notes easier.

This would lead into the scene which I was surprised to see that Caitlin and Amalie had also learnt this’s section which made performing this scene much easier even though Megan was stopping us every 30 seconds, I feel like this made the process much quicker and more productive. Again, I was told by Megan to pronunciate my words so the audience can understands what I was saying, especially when I’m having to put an American accent on whilst reading these lines. I was also told to man up, be more playful and controlling, making sure I wasn’t afraid to take that lead and include it into myself traits. I found this also to be a challenge as I am not usually a controlling person so learning this and putting into practice has taken some time. I was also told not to be afraid to project out towards the audience as the setting of this scene is outside so relating what is going on in the scene with the imagery that we are seeing is very important from an audiences point of view so they know exactly where we are and especially our characters so we can fully immerse ourselves into this space.

“The Dream Ballet”:
First the first week, I was only taught the start of The Dream Ballet as there was so much other section so of choreography to be taught, there would be no point teaching me bits of choreography if we hadn’t gotten up to that section yet although I was taught the very first part where I started off by executing strong walks towards The Dream Ballet Laurey. I was told to “move with the shoulder”, this would create a stronger effect when walking on stage. I was then told to get on one knee And present my hand out to symbolise that my character was asking her to marry me. I was also to make sure my arm doesn’t flop and stay at a 90 degree angle so it doesn’t weaken the feel on the scene or the choreography. Carrying on through the choreography I was told to hold around her waist and lift her from the left side of me to the right side of me whilst she used her legs to travel over like a windmill. I found this hard at first as I would keep losing my balance due to the fact that I wasn’t using my core muscles, but after a couple of attempts, i can now lift her without having to stumble at all.

“Farmer and The Cowman”:
Throughout this week, we have been running through the song and structuring it as we go. My character has a lot of spoken lyrics in the song and at first, I didn’t know them as I had not read through this section yet, also I found that the words would begin to mix up in my head and I found it hard to say them in the correct order due to the fact I had just been reading it incorrectly to start off with. I also found it hard to find my character and present him as “Curly” as I had yet to fully memorise and learn these lines so falling into character for this section in the first week was very tough for me. I thought I was use a technique I learnt a couple of years ago which was to workoff other people’s excitement and enthusiasm which really helped me to present what I could of my character even if it wasn’t as noticeable as I had hoped it would be, I still felt that this technique was a success and helped me to grow my character as time went on.

Week 1 Round-up:
In conclusion to this weeks rehearsals, I felt like getting to grips with my characters traits, movement, characteristics e.t.c, was a big part of this week. Putting my own techniques into practice and that of other techniques that’s I have gained from feedback from the past has also helped me to present my character with more intention on what he is thinking, what he sees, where he’s going, how he feels and why he feels that way. I’m very excited to carry on expanding on this process and see  how I build on my character.

# data[].attributes.body
Week 2:
Throughout this week, we went through “The Smokehouse Scene” which included my character “Curly” and Callums character “Jud”, “The Farmer and the Cowman” scene, carrying on layering the dream ballet and “People will say were in love.

The Smokehouse Scene:
Throughout the weekend I had scanned through and looked at the lines for this section so I felt confident coming into this scene and running it for the first time. Trying to remember the lines whilst we slowly structured the Scene tough especially when it came to adding props such as ropes and barrels which I had to move around throughout this scene. Also knowing where to refer to when saying my lines was a very challenging job as this scene did require a lot of movement on the lines which layered the piece but made memory of the lines much harder. I feel like I could work wel with Callum also as I had worked with him in the past at another academy. Notes I was given by the tutor was to really project my words and point out everything I’m saying so the audience doesn’t lose what’s going on and the meaning behind why I’m pointing and what I’m pointing at, I was also told not to bend down as much as this can been seen as lowering my status and keeping that hierarchy characteristic was vital to the plot of my character and the status he holds. I listened to this feedback I was given and thought if I leaned on the chair or even jay down but kept my back straight and my head up, this would keep up my hierarchy status which in turn doesn’t effect my status becoming lowered.

"The Farmer and the Cowman”:
Throughout this scene as I have explain, I only seem to sing spoken lines which is pretty easy now as I learnt the words for this song through the weekend. My approach to these lines have changed and the way I express myself when saying these lines have made it more understandable for the audience to understand that I am making a joke out of what “Carnes” is saying, especially on the line where I say “And build them right across our cattle ranges” I am making a joke that there going to take over our land when in fact I am informing him we are stronger subconsciously. Advice I was given was to not look down at the floor when walking forward and to make my lines clearer and bolder so the audience knows who it is saying these lines. Again as I had already been told about keeping my hierarchy status up, I kept on working on building my character and this may not come straight away but I am still working on this.

“People Will Say Were In Love”:
Working on this scene for the first time was very enjoyable especially working alongside one of my close friends at college “Amalie” who is playing “Laurey”. The lines for this section weren’t too tough to learn as they were short and the cue lines were easy to follow. A note of improvement I was given was to point out specific words so the intention didn’t come across wrong such as my line where i say “Nothin just everybody seems to expect “ME” to take you” where the word “Me” is pointed out so Laurey knows that its me they expect to take you and no one else. Singing the sing for the first time was also a struggle as I had not learned the lines of by heart yet so singing them in the right order was a challenge. Also following the tune was a challenge also as I saw it as very different to other songs I had sung as it included high notes which were randomly included into sections such as “why do you take the trouble to bake my favorite pie” where as in the word “pie” the pitch is raised which I tend to forget but hopefully through practice on the weekend I will come to remember this.

Week 3:
This week, We mainly focused on touching up the whole of act one and also adding in the fight scene with “Curly” and “Jud”.

After running each scene section by section, I feel very confident with my lines, a couple of the lines in “people will say were in love” still seem to be getting muddled but hopefully by week 4 I will have corrected this and the song will he complete.

“Curly” and “Jud” Fight Scene:
Structuring this piece together was so enjoyable as with last years fight scene, I didn’t get the opportunity to be thrown around which I find pretty fun anyways. Also as I’ve mentioned before, working with Callum made the process so much easier and making the fight scene look as real as possible was also so much easier than it would have been if it were anyone else. I was given no notes on this although the choreography did change throughout the week but we were able to adapt and work on this scene more until we were getting reactions from the teachers.

So far I’m really enjoying the process and can’t wait to start act 2.

# data[].attributes.body
Week 4 & 5
For the last 2 weeks, we started working through “The auction” scene, “People Will say were in love - Reprise”, “The wedding” scene and The Epilogue. I feel like so far everything is going as planned and everyone is keeping up with the schedule as much as we’ve only been given 5 weeks to learn the lines and then perform it to an audience.

The Auction Scene:
Starting work on the auction surprised everyone as it is a very big scene and the lines that are included into this scene are very all over the place and there are a lot of one liners that are broken up between 10 characters which has thrown a lot of the other members of the cast off, especially Caitlin who is playing aunt Eller. I found that with this scene, all I start off by doing is sitting in a stool although the tutors have change the layout of where they want me to stand as before they wanted me to stand at the back in eyeline of aunt eller but now they have sat me on a stool next to Alex who plays Ali, after a couple of lines, carnes comes to the front and confronts will then when Ali makes his second bid, carnes turns his gun towards Ali which startled me so I move to the back set for Laurey’s hamper. I found the re-staging was easier to work around than most of the other scenes I’ve had to work around in act 1. The bidding starts then when aunt eller looks at me to signal me to bid I walk off with an idea. I come back on and this is when I start to speak again. I feel like learning these lines have been easier to learn as I don’t have many long paragraphs to speak except the reprise but because I’ve already learnt this scene for the auditions, I already know these lines. I was told by one of my tutors to make sure I use diction when speaking these lines as they are very important to the storyline as I’m bidding for Laurey and putting everything I have for her up on the line so expressing those lines were very important.

"People will say were in love - Reprise”
I felt pretty confident coming into this scene as I had already learnt the lines, now it is just putting these lines into action and structuring the scene. I felt pretty nervous at first as I had never had a kissing scene in any of my previous shows but because I knew Amalie pretty well, I feel like i was confident enough not to laugh or make things awkward even though for the first couple of tries, we did laugh but this was just because this was our first time doing this scene so learning from this and building on from this made it easier to express the storyline more than concentrating on trying not to laugh. I was told by my tutor to really imagine the changes I’d have to go through to become a farmer and making sure each change was spoken differently so it points out each specific job one by one so the audience can also understand and feel what I will have to go through to change for her. I feel like delivering these lines were hard at first but after a couple of tries and putting the feedback into place became an easy choir. I found that putting the emotion from the voice into actions also was tough but l after a week of constantly going over lines, I felt less pressured and more relaxed when delivering and acting those lines.

"The Wedding Scene”
The wedding scene wasn’t as such a struggle for me as I was more nervous about the song rather than the acting that goes along with it. Also as me and Laurey had a quick change, we had to make sure we were changed and ready to go on as the scenes don’t stop and the and will continue to play, after practicing this quick change at college, it became easier to change as the days went on also after doing it around 3-4 times, it became easy so making sure we were ready to come on for this Scene was sorted. Learning lines for the song in this scene which was “Oklahoma” was tough to learn at first and I did make a couple of mistakes but after a couple of tries singing and looking a lines, I was able to perform this song without having to stop. Also this song is very repetitive so learning it wasn’t as much of a challenge as I thought it was gonna be. The tutor told me to stand up straight and not lean against the chair in this scene as again this lowers my status of hierarchy and standing up straight and showing everyone this beautiful town is what makes this scene beautiful and after I was told not to lean, I can’t think of one other time I did. This scene after the song I found pretty tricky as the words were very jumbled and became a struggle to speak. The lines I were struggling at were “You better get into that other dress, gotta get goin in a minute” which followed on to “Hey will! Will you hitch the team onto the surrey for me?” Which again with these 2 lines, for some reason I really struggled to say for the first couple of day but after a week, I was ok with these lines although I did manage to stumble on them if ever I was feeling nervous.

The Epilogue:
In this scene, all we did was come out down stage down the stairs and up the isle which would lead into bows although before all of this, we had a super fast quick change so having to do the buttons up on my shirt, put my shoes back on, put my belt back on and my hat whilst amalie changed into another dress became a very stressful 10 seconds although I feel like after a week, this quick change became easy and we were able to master this and finish the show. As we didn’t have any lines I’d say this was the easiest scene out of all of them and that this was just the scene to finish the show.

Overall I’ve Really enjoyed this process and I’d love to do something like this again in the near future, this experience has really opened my eyes to what working hard gets you and performing as Curly has been the best experience of my career so far.