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Unit 42 - Musical Theatre Performance. Oklahoma!

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Unit 42 - Musical Theatre Performance. Oklahoma!

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We have been rehearsing Oklahoma! now for two weeks and I must say it has been a difficult process in my opinion. Not only has it been difficult but it has been something I have never experienced before. Although I have been studying musical theatre for over 6 years I have never came across a show as demanding as this one. When we all first found out that Oklahoma was going to be the show we were putting on I was very excited as I knew that it was going to be very different from anything I have done previously but I knew that I needed all my time, focus and energy to be put into my practise to ensure I give my best performance. The first week of rehearsals we all jumped straight into it to try and develop our characters as much as possible. Before the auditions I didn't think I personally suited any of the characters and had a struggle trying to connect to the characters from an acting perspective but when I found out I got the role of 'Ike', I did my absolute best to find out the basics of my character and that includes who I am, why I am there, who I am friends with and what story I am trying to portray. In each scene I appeared in I would also find out exactly what my purpose is and I personally feel like doing this and developing my character the way I did came to an advantage to me. I feel as though from an acting perspective I feel as though I got used to my character really quickly but obviously I still needed to work hard to continue to develop it. When I first started rehearsing all about Oklahoma! I knew that it wasn't really a dance heavy show, it was mostly just acting and singing. The two main dance numbers include farmer and the cowmen and the 17 minute dream ballet. I feel very confident from a dance perspective as I feel that this is my strongest subject. The thing that made this difficult for me was that I was portraying a male character. So the way I hold and compose myself had to be completely different to the way I compose myself in everyday life. I had a few ways of helping myself with this and that was by rehearsing with a hat and belt straight away. I wanted to get used to dancing as a cowboy straight away rather than last minute before the shows. During the rehearsal progress of the dream ballet, we would always film ourselves so that we would remember the choreography to practise to, but this was also a great way to watch it back to check if there are any errors or anything I could improve. I found that when I was watching it back I was constantly looking down. When I dance looking down I don't look confident and I know that the cowboys in the musical are very confident with every step they take. I would continue to improve this by watching myself in the mirror and watch the others portraying the cowmen. From a singing perspective I knew that is was also going to be very vocally demanding so I really made sure that I was keeping my vocal health good, I made sure that if my voice ever felt tired that I wasn't over doing it. The thing I found the most demanding was the fact that my role was a male therefore in the song 'it's a scandal' I knew that I was going to struggle as the key doesn't fit well and I struggle to keep up with it. although I was struggling, I wasn't the only one and a few others found the notes difficult to reach but with the guidance of Chris our musical director it helped us out a lot.

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the first thing that we worked on when we started rehearsing was the dream ballet, I think because of how demanding this number is, we needed all our time to really focus on it and perfect it. Our choreographer for this number Jo, really knew exactly what she wanted from this and how she wanted to portray it. After the whole thing was choreographed all we need to do was continue to practise it and perfect it. For the first part of the dream ballet, (when the cowboys first come on) I felt like I had got the hang of it, the moves were very energetic and went really well with the music. At first I found it slightly difficult to get used to the timing but after watching other performances such as PROMS version of Oklahoma! and after a lot of independent practise as well I finally got the hang of it. For the second part the cowboys come in on the other hand I felt was quite demanding. The part I am on about is the part where the cowboys dance with the saloon girls. I found this difficult as Jo wanted us to dance with our partners and do all sorts of lifts and stuff. My partner was Zoe and we were pared together because our heights are quite similar. But a few of the girl cowboys found this partner bit difficult as we are not as strong as the actual men who have performed this professionally. Me and Zoe have been practising and practising to ensure we get it right. As of now we currently only have 3 weeks (2 working weeks) until the show and we still haven't mastered it. Jo is giving us all the help we need but we still need to continue working hard to make sure we get it right. The move that we struggle on is when I bed over and Zoe lies on my back with her legs in the air. I feel as though I struggle with this because of the way Zoe is placed on my back and because I lean forward to much which makes us both off balance. the way the move goes with the music is very important as well, as the girls are on our backs they move their legs to splits in time with the music, so if this goes wrong and someone is out of time it is very noticeable. I personally feel bad because the rest of the group have got it down and I feel as though me and Zoe are letting people down and making it not look as effective as we want it to. Jo suggested that if we still can't do it by next week then we will have to be cut from that part because it is very noticeable when we go wrong and I don't want to make other people look bad for my mistakes. So from now on me and Zoe are really listening to our feedback to ensure we get it right for next week. In farmer and the cowmen, the dance is very similar to the dream ballet, we come out looking all sharp and like we mean business, I think everyone of us really connected to our characters well to make it seem as though we knew what we were there to do. But for most of framer and the cowmen, I and just reacting to everything, there is a part of the number where I am sat at the rostrum and the bottom of the stage cheering everyone on. Although me cheering people on isn't choreographed it is all very spontaneous, I still managed to make sure I gave the same energy each time. When the bystanders are giving the other characters who are doing specific moves at that time some enthusiasm it gives a great atmosphere on stage and really helps them with that energy. We were told multiple times that we had to give more on stage but this was for other numbers too not just farmer and the cowmen. For example in 'it's a scandal' when we are just watching Alex (ali), we still have to engage with everything and make sure we are still focussed on everything he is doing. I think a few of us seemed to daze out at times so our feedback for that number is to always react to what is going on stage.,

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we are all now so close to the shows, we get to enter the theatre the upcoming Wednesday which is very exciting. we have all been working well together and it seems like everyone has had the best mind set. everyone knows how focussed we all need to be at this moment in time so I am glad everyone is feeling ready. In my opinion I feel like we are all ready now to get on stage and show people how hard we have been working on this. The only thing I am nervous about is the number Kansas city. personally I feel like not everyone is giving it everything they have got. A few of us explained to our teachers how we feel 'awkward' on stage due to there being no reaction from us. After explaining to the teachers, Tara decided to take us away to work on it. She changed a few bits to get more people that were stood at the side more involved. After Tara made the change we all felt so much more confident and when it came to rehearsing it you could really see the change it made. More and more people were reacting on stage and it just looked more cleaner in general. Kansas city wasn't the only number that a few of us struggled on, we also struggled to get reactions out at the 'death of Jud' scene. Kelly-Ann was constantly telling us that there needs to be more reaction coming from the actors in the background, a few people did struggle with this quite a bit but after practising more and more we all came to the realisation that we need to act as though we have really seen someone die in front of us. We need to act as though this is real and forget that Callum (who plays Jud) is our friend. If you feel like this is a real situation and forget that it is just a performance, the audience will really believe how we feel and that is the whole purpose. We want the audience to be able to feel and see how we feel. Ig the audience don't understand what is going on, their overall experience won't really be a good one. After practicing this over and over we finally go the hang of it, more and more people were joining in and we were getting more reactions in general which is really good. Overall I do feel like we are all ready to show what we have done, it has been a very short process therefore a busy one because we have all been working super hard at a very quick pace to ensure we get it done. People have been ill and tired due to this, it can put people under stress because people are trying to work hard on getting everything perfect. A way I manage to keep healthy was by making sure I had plenty of rest when I needed and could. This really does make a world of difference. If people are not taking care of themselves by getting the right amount of sleep, food and water, it puts a lot of pressure on you. I do think that everyone understood this as we all came together and being close to the show now we are finally ready. Me and Zoe have finally nailed our duet bit in the dream ballet which I am super happy about because it means that we won't be cut and we get to show everyone that we can do it with everyone else. We continued to practise and practise until we got it right. We did both come out with bruises but it was all worth it, if you want to get something right you do have to work for it and that's what we did.

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like the music and the choreography, the dialogue has been very different to anything I have ever done. The accent was another big thing that I struggled with as well as the meaning of the dialogue. It took me a while to understand what some of the words meant but that is why I did some research to understand why people spoke that way in them days.

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The choreography that we have all learnt in my opinion as been very different from anything I have ever done before. My role as a Cowboy meant that I would have to compose and hold myself in a very different way compared to any of the other roles like the baskets girls or the saloon girls. The way everyone held themselves on stage meant that it was very clear what person fell into what group. Since the start of the rehearsal process we all worked on our identities and how we would like ourselves to been shown on stage.

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Libretto-vocal book.
Day one of rehearsal we did a full read through.

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So it was finally time to have the band call and finally here how it would sound with the company and the band together. I was extremely excited as it always sounds so different with a band rather than just a track. When we did the number "Oklahoma" we found it difficult to keep in time with the band. I feel as though this was due to there being a slight delay with the sound. This is very common and it is due to not many people hearing the right bet and people starting at different times. We all knew that we shouldn't be worried as this will be a different case once we are in the theatre with mics. The use of mics will help people be heard a lot better.

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This week we got to rehearse in the theatre for the first time to work on our spacing on stage. This is very needed as we have all been so used to working in the studio, it was quite difficult for me at first as some changes need to be made. In a few of the numbers I had to change positions to enable me to not knock of any of the set or get anybody's way. Other than that it wasn't that different. When it came to rehearsing with the band it was very different as the theatre is a lot bigger compared to the studio, we knew that things would be different from a sound perspective. We had to sort out what we were going to do in terms of keeping up with the band etc. but when we did the dress run it was clear that were not many implications with mics and the band.

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Oklahoma made it's debut when America was getting back on track. After the war, America was left in a bad state from an economic side and a political side. Rodgers and Hammerstein wanted to set out to make something that audiences will love and feel something from it. Round about the time this was made, so many well known choreographers and composers wanted the people around the world to feel escapism through their work. Oklahoma is a great example of this, it made the audience forget about all the tragedies that were happening around the world at that moment in time, so they could focus on the musical and the storyline that comes with it. The great thing about Oklahoma is not only does it just show happy endings and rainbows, it also shows tragedy and death. All the horrors that people have to face in the world. It is a brilliant concept and that is why it is so loved and has been so loved by many people around the world for a long time.

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West side story and Oklahoma both have a lot of similarities. They both show social, political and economic struggles through the music and libretto. The two main things I will be speaking about are the musical numbers called "dance at the gym" from west side story and "farmer and the cowman" from Oklahoma. The main issues that both of these numbers face come from a social side. In west side story it is all about two communities coming together, two communities that are known for not getting along well together. (the jets and the sharks, the Americans and the Puerto Ricans). In Oklahoma it also faces socials view because of the farmers and the cowmen. Both of these scenes take place at parties, where lots of people gather round to have fun but during the numbers, both communities face each other to have a fight. As I performed in West Side Story I knew that the Oklahoma farmer and the cowman dance was going to be very similar and I knew what was asked of me. I did a lot of research last year to find out how find immigration was back then and how it affected America at that time. I did the same thing this year, I wanted to know why farmers and cowmen had rivalries and why it was a big problem in them days.

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musical theatre is a genre of drama in which song and dance take a part in. It is a way of expressing a story/performance through song, dialogue and dance. song and dance can be used as a transition between scenes or to enhance the story. Musical theatre has developed vastly over the years and has shown just how much it can change in a short space of time. Changes in musical theatre happen because of different choreographers and performers that come around as well as life experiences that have happened. Many musicals tell stories that have happened in real life and a great example of this is Les Mis. Les Miserable tells the story of the French revolution, this educates people on history as well as entertainment. Another example of this is Hamilton. Although Hamilton only first premiered in 2016 it tells the story of the American civil war. A lot of directors like to tell true stories that help educate people better. It is just like a history class except it is more fun and you learn a lot from watching it. Many musicals are not just for entertainment but it also makes learning new things fun. Musicals such as Oklahoma! have been known to have been created as an escapism, o help people escape the horrors in the world and have fun watching a fantasy.

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Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers created the musical Oklahoma with the first every performance being premiered on stage on March 31st 1943 at St. James' theater..

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Rehearsals in full swing.

(Practicing the 17 minute dream ballet piece)

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The show dates are not far away now so everyone is busy working hard. Everyone is working hard to get used to the set and props. Everything is very realistic and a lot of work has been put in to make the show look the most appealing as possible. A lot of research has been put in place to enable our show to look as realistic as possible.

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Practicing ‘Many a new day’.