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Our main focus of today was sorting out individuals roles for the showcase we decided it was best to do this to maximise every opportunity to create the best performance possible.
It was decided that my role would be overall director along with Kwame meaning we would be responsible for the overall performance. Roles include looking at peoples performances and cutting them down or helping them.

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As part of the production process we decided to create a company contract, a document in which we would all have to follow otherwise we would risk our pieces being removed from the show.

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Due to me being unfamiliar with the play and any of its characters bar lucifer I decided to research the story using this website just to have a better understanding of my character, despite only being a small part but also the person I’m talking to (Faustus) so it can be done in the way the writer originally planned.

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The King Of New York- Newsies- Instrumental

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The purpose of this column is to show how we prepare for Rehearsals both physically and vocally.

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Hairspray Original Broadway Cast: The Nicest Kids in Town

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This was our first run through seeing everyone's performances and using tech.

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The Seven deadly sins also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins are a grouping of impure characteristics which can be present in mankind. The terms first came into use thousands of years ago dating back as far as 300 BC with Aristotle and were conceived as contrasts to the seven virtues. However, what is referred to as the basis for the modern seven deadly sins was a by a 4th Century Greek monk Evargrius Ponticus. As well as having a massive effect on writing and entertainment (plays and theatre) the deadly sins also had a massive effect on many religions such as the Catholic Church who still maintain these vices as they believe they show a clear indication of how one can live a bad life. As in Catholicism "they're mortal sins- sins that kill the life sanctifying grace".

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'Ease on down the road' is a musical number from the musical The Wiz. The song sees the characters of Dorothy and the scarecrow journeying down the Yellow Brick road and expressing how much fun they will have on the adventure

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Michael Jackson (Ft. Diana Ross) - Ease on Down the Road

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Come on and / Ease on down, ease on down the road / Come on, ease on down / Ease on down down the road / Don't you carry nothing / That might be a load / Come on, ease on down

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Nicest Kids in town is a musical number from the musical hairspray the song sees Corny Collins the host of a local talent show sing and dance about the cast of the show within the context of the musical it’s used as the intro to his show. The song clearly presents the many problems that were present in that society and arguably still today which are sizeism and racism as you can see all of the performers in the song are white and skinny. Even in the song the mention that once a month they have a "negro day" presenting the lack of inclusion and clear problem that shrouded the world in this period.

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This photo for me accurately reflected my character as hes left the man with no money to starve whilst his obsession has seen him grow but hes become a disgusting creature in the process.

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Hey there, teenage Baltimore / Don't change that channel / Cause it's time for the Corny Collins Show / Brought to you by Ultra Clutch Hairspray! / Oh, every afternoon when the

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"King of New York" is a song from the musical Newsies during the song it focuses on a group of young people who have discovered they are in a newspaper and their dreaming about what it would be like to be famous.

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Thoughts on what an industry showcase is and includes

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Hairspray final run 8/5/2018 Rehearsals e

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Staging that Jess, Kwame and I decided on for Dr Faustus. The reason Lucifer does not appear on the sheet is that we proposed she stand up on the balcony looking over everyone to display a sense of power

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Another photo of thoughts on what is an industry showcase and what it includes.

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Hairspray final run 8/5/2018 Rehearsals e

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Ease on down the road 15/5/2018 Rehearsals a

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Ease on down the road 15/5/2018 Rehearsals b

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Ease on down the road 15/5/2018 Rehearsals c

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I decided to create a running order for people because it just makes sense to have people in an order that works, rather than have a girl appear when its a boys name or vice versa.

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Ease on down the road 15/5/2018 Rehearsals d

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Personally I don't feel their was any negatives from today's rehearsal as we performed the whole song with maximum energy and great characterisation, so the key note I can make is that after this rehearsal its important to perform this musical number with the same amount of passion, energy and characterisation every time we rehearse.

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To help create character I used this version of the dance from the film version. I particularly focused on facial expressions and energy. I wanted my character to be representative of society so one of the cool kids simply because hes white and is good at something that is currently popular in the environment he lives in. One nuance I added was I kept fixing and slicking back my hair throughout the dance, as in the musical and film one of the key themes is image and if my character didn't do these things he wouldn't fit in with the time period and those around him.

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The Nicest Kids in Town - Hairspray (Movie Clip)

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Ease on down the road 15/5/2018 Rehearsals a

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Note: we did have to edit some of the lyrics as the lines didn't fit with the music and it was difficult to do it with 4 cast members.

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Alan Menken (Ft. Ben Fankhauser, Kara Lindsay, Lewis Grosso Matthew Schechter & Ryan Breslin) - King of New York

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King of New York Lyrics: Ya don't need money when you're famous! They gives ya whatever you want, gratis! / Such as...? / A pair o' new shoes with matchin' laces / A permanent box at the Sheepshead Races

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Vernon Little is a 15 year old boy from a small town outside of Houston, Texas who is accused of being the accomplice to his friend Jesus Navarro in a school shooting which led to the death of 16 of his classmates. This leads to those in the town being enraged and want someone to pay for the massacre which leads to Vernon becoming the scapegoat. He then goes on the run making it all the way to mexico and brought back to face trial despite being entirely innocent. This now leads into the monologue where hes somewhere between the courtroom and a jail cell. Hes protesting his innocence to his mother.

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This is the first filmed rehearsal of my monologue. For me at the time of the recording I think its in a good place as I have time to continue building up my character and understanding the play

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For me a big decision in the choice of my monologue was with the sudden rise of school shootings in America and how the country reacts to them. as well because its also a topic that is very current and an issue that I can feel because of the horror of the subject.

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Talking about the roles that people will have in our FMP  

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Talking about the roles that people will have in our FMP  

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Video of our company discussing who should be assigned each role and what the requirements of this are.

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In general quite a poor rehearsal as I forgot a large section of my monologue and rather than carry on I proceded to stutter and make the error obvious. Throughout the performance there is a genuine lack of belieavibility and my attention seems diverted however, whilst filiming I didnt feel elsewhere. To improve I need to revisit the script and look at articles where people are recounting their experinces

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This was the first filmed rehearsal of the song 'King of New York', for a first start I'd say its got the potential to be something really special if we maintain the level of rehearsal and dedication to the song as we've shown. For the run we had Meghan watching us who noted to Jess and I that although during the solo parts we can be heard during the ensemble lines our voices are drowned out by Kwame's. So we really need to push them so it becomes a group performance not a solo. She also informed me that my portrayal of the accent was really good but asked if I could twang it more as this helps with characterisation and projection without straining you're voice.

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This was an extensive list of everything that people planned to do (taken on 23rd May) which we would then discuss next week on what we would cut down and definitely keep.

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The song 'Magic to do' is the opening number from the musical Pippin which is about a mysterious performance troupe, led by a Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin a young prince on his search for meaning and significance.(premise referenced from Wikipedia) The song introduces the circus performers which are involved in the play and the elusive Leading player.

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Magic to Do lyrics by from Pippin soundtrack.

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Magic to Do lyrics: [LEADING PLAYER] Join us........ Leave your fields to flower Join us........ Leave your cheese to sour Join us........ Come and waste an hour or two Doo-dle-ee-do Journey....... Journey to a spot ex-

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For me it was important to re-watch this video to gain a better understanding of how to portray my character. The most important information that clicked in my head after watching this was the mystery that every character needs to portray as in the play a lot of them have their own individual pasts that led to them becoming part of the troupe. After watching this and gaining a better understanding of the story I recognised the themes of the performance, for me the most important one was acceptance as in the story Pippin comes to learn that you cant have everything without consequence (when he kills his father for power). But in the finale nearly takes his own life by jumping into a box of fire and "becoming one with the flame". As well as accepting that to be with Catherine (the women he loves) he would have to give up the power he sought.

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Magic to Do (Pippin) from 2013 Tony's Awards

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A big inspiration for the dance was Bob Fosse and his style of dance we particularly took elements from 'The Rich Mans Frug' from Sweet Charity

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The choreography which helped inspire movements and the tone for our performance.

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BOB FOSSE choreography -  " The Rich Man's Frug "

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This was a timetable I created during my own independent time which has every available rehearsal to us. This was created so we can set targets for certain weeks or days and also be aware of how many rehearsals we have until the final performance.

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A quote from Lin Manuel Miranda "The fun for me in collaboration is, one, working with other people just makes you smarter; that's proven." this resonated with me throughout our production process as through collaboration, I was able to help others develop and they were able to help me to become better as well.
When directing I felt that it was important to set guidelines which would be clear and instrumental to follow they are as follows:
- All performers must contribute to the process.
- All pieces must be shown to the company and given feedback for development.
- Focus and silence at all times when rehearsing.
- All company members must be in attendance for all rehearsals unless excused prior.

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This sheet had all numbers that at the time of writing were going to be involved in the showcase and what could potentially.

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This photo shows all songs people are involved in that are not the choral numbers.

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Rehearsal of the company learning the lyrics for 'Magic to do' with all those assigned with parts performing as well.

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When in the development stage its important to watch other peoples work to use as basis or compare. Although we performed our interpretation this version helped me a lot with how to portray my character and the research element of the song, as you can clearly see throughout the whole song they have a massive smile on their face. As well as that you can observe through the body language how ecstatic they are to be in the newspaper and how this has given them a lift in life. The main note I took away from this is the energy that is required throughout the whole of the song and we need to reciprocate this in our own performance.

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Disney's NEWSIES on Broadway - "King of New York"

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As overall directors of the showcase Kwame and myself decided it would make sense for us to create the running order, we both agreed to try and have it song then monologue to keep it refreshing and not make the audience feel like they are watching the same thing consecutively. We also both agreed that "Look at me" a song by the trio of Meghan, Summer and Bayley should close act 1 as its emotional and a very strong number which leaves the audience wanting more from the second act.

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Lyrics for 'Magic to do' with all those that are singing solos and ensemble sections.

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The second page of the lyrics for 'Magic to do' with annotation stating who sings each section.

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Date created 04/06/2018

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This is the running order of our showcase dated on 6th June and could still be changed.

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We decided to add all of the songs together and find out how long they are so we could calculate how long are show would be, as we are currently aiming for anything between 70-90 minutes with an interval. We decided on this amount of time as it gives everyone enough time to be involved in multiple performances to showcase range, whilst still being entertaining for the audience

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Date created 14/06/2018

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For this rehearsal its clear that the opening 3 minutes is very strong and near enough everyone is confident with the movement however, once you pass this the cracks start to show as peoples hand gestures and timing weren't as refined as during the beginning of the song. As well I noticed that the spacing for certain sections isn't as clear which I will feedback to Naomi and Summer the choreographers of the dance.

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For the song we didn't like the way in which it ended so we decided that we would have a piece of music sampled from earlier within the song to allow us to sing another verse as opposed to a dance break.Collectively we felt from 1:40 onward would be the right time to have the earlier music be cut in.

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Overall as a company this was quite a strong run as we were able to progress through the whole song with all those with parts singing, timing was something that has significantly improved and it was important for that to happen as it makes the performance look more refined which is an essential part of Fosse. However, I look unsure with my movements so I will need to either practice independently or watch the video again to gain a better understanding for future rehearsals.

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This rehearsal was mainly used to learn the choreography and I was able to do this until the last section as seen by the video. Where its apparent I have no concept of what I'm doing so after today's rehearsal I'll need to rewatch this video and practice it in my own free time, so its to a much better standard in the future.

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For 'Magic to do' my key piece of feedback is to give more specifically for my solo as I'm not pushing my voice to the limit as I don't like the way the line is performed.

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Rehearsal of Monologue from 'Dr Faustus'

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Rehearsal of Monologue from 'Dr Faustus'

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Feedback for the rehearsal above

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Still image of our posistining for a section of the song.

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Another still image from a section of the song.

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we started off by doing multiple top and tails which was needed so people understood their cues without prompt for someone else this was repeated many times. Overall I think the run was much better in terms of choral numbers as opposed to individual pieces. I say this because there has obviously been a lot of rehearsal time in terms of ensemble pieces, so not everyone had practised solo pieces as much which is natural but it was blatantly obvious.

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Overall this wasn't a successful run however, it has given us a lot to anaylse and help build upon. For example throughout the song we need to slow down the pace as lines are being said out of time and it takes away from the performance, this is especially noticeable in two instances the first being the opening verse from "A pair of new shoes" until "my personal puss on a wooden nikul" where it ruins the performance despite good characterisation and energy. The second being from "almost about to drown in the drink" where during this we weren't accommodating for breath so the whole verse was being done with one breath rather than using the short gaps in between each line for a quick inhale. I also learnt how much I was going to have to utilise breath control because after I slid across the floor I was so out of breath that getting through the final 4 lines was extremely difficult and exhausting.

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This is feedback received from Innes for 'King of New York' all of which is very true and things that we will develop in between rehearsals and the performance.

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During this rehearsal a problem arose for all those in my group for 'Ease on down the road' where some of us struggled to grasp the movement specifically kicks. After the rehearsal someone suggested we cut the movement to save time however, many of us gave our opinion that the movement was good and worked with the piece and given time as a company we would be able to perform it.

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As spoken about in a prior post we originally wanted to cut a piece of music from our song however, we decided against it as the edit sounded too strange and didn't work as the flow wasn't consistent and it would just look better if we added in a dance break or a short piece of text. What we finally ended up doing was adding a piece of audience interaction where I would say "I'm in the newspaper, have you" and the rest of the boys would react to this. We felt like this would be a more appropriate choice rather than two box steps, as the piece is very energetic and funny and we wanted to take another opportunity to put a smile on the audiences faces

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For Dr Faustus Jess and myself agreed we would have it performed in its classical text but have the characters dressed in modern day attire wearing silly trinkets as shown below. We agreed this because whilst the scene is a comedy a lot of people don't understand the language, therefore they don't understand the humour but if you have Lucifer the personification of evil wearing cheap devil horns there is something quite stupid and funny about it

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The above are videos of our rehearsal of the song "Ease on down the road" overall I was really proud of myself and the company as we devised and rehearsed so much in such a short space of time. In general we wanted to create it like a dance off of two rival groups who then put aside there differences and come together

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In the beginning of the dance there is a section where the two rivals interact and mock each other however, this needs to be made bigger to emphasise the relationship between the two. As well my group needs to look at our positioning in the first section as its not spaced as its meant to which is a square with each person in a corner then one person in the middle. If not it looks wrong because one group is spaced in a certain way that looks clean and precise whilst we look messy and unorganised.

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In the beginning I need to have more energy and show more resentment to the rival group and match their energy. As well its apparent that I'm putting too much focus on getting the movement correct and not feeling the dance which is an instrumental part of it.

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The above videos were taken a week before our performance and I think its in a good position despite adding new pieces of movement and changing moves slightly. For me its reached a stage where its a true reflection of what we had originally set it out to be in the brief of the dance, I believe its taken different elements from Bob Fosses style and our choreographers unique interpretations. With more rehearsal the performance has the opportunity to be to a very high quality come performance day.