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Prior to the auditions for the musical, we were given a list of characters with brief biographies and a section of the script to perform. After looking over the characters, I felt a connection to the lead female role- Martha. She was written as strong and fearless, easily able to hold a room, yet likeable. I wanted to bring some of this to my audition, so I learnt the script in advance and tried to channel her look based off things that I already had in my wardrobe. I prepared a song to sing ('Seventeen' from the new modern musical adaptation of the film 'Heathers') that I felt had connection to the story we were telling, and that also showcased my range as a duet singer. I picked this song in particular because it is a more modern version of a musical song, and it is an adaptation from a film, so the overlap felt concise. I spent time playing around with the emphasis of certain lines in the audition script, until I found a way that felt true and real to me, without being too small for a musical.

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On the day of the audition, I arrived early and spent some time warming up my voice in preparation for the singing and performance section of the audition. Once in the audition, I was asked to act for both female roles, Martha and Vicky. When portraying Martha, I was told to make it less theatrical and more of a whispered introduction, which I felt I adjusted to very well. When auditioning for Vicky, I had to improvise as I hadn't done any prep for that character and so I decided on a really over the top almost Shakespearian acting of the character. She was whimsy and fickle and that characterisation seemed to make the audition board chuckle and impressed them. I left feeling that the prep I had done was enough and held faith that if I was right for their characterisation, they would let me know. I also gave them evidence of my past makeup and costume work in case they felt that I wasn't strong enough to act in the film; I try to keep separated from a part until I am successful in gaining it, as it can be hard to enjoy another role that you are given if you are still in the mindset of another character/ role.

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Upon receiving the cast list, I was highly confused, yet ecstatic! I had gotten a role in the musical. The original characters had been adjusted so that there were more female roles and a character had been completely added to the story. That was my character... 'Zombella'! I was told that the character had been written specifically for me, based on the way I had acted out Vicky's part and my love for camp, over the top films, such as the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' that I had talked about in my interview. 'Zombella' was to be an out of this world, rock star of a zombie, that is on the hunt for the main cast throughout the film. I was to play the Zombie Queen!

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Our first read through made me realise that if I was to make this character stand out, I had a big job to do. Zombella is only in one scene and has one line, as well as her own solo song, but is killed off at the end of said song. I wanted to make this character memorable, even if her screen time is shortly lived. During the first read through, I tried to get a taste of my character's relationship to the other characters in the play, I just read my lines in my own voice to see how they fit me, so that I could take that and build on them. During this first rehearsal day, the director, Ben, spoke through his vision for the character with me, he couldn't decide if he wanted a growly low voice or more of a refined upper class way of saying my line. As this was a major 'character' role, I felt I had to go away and research different films and rock performances to perfect my portrayal of Zombella. This role was a big jump from the kind of work that I am comfortable in and would prove to take a while to settle into.

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Disturbed performs Down with the Sickness in Chicago

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Slipknot - Most Insane Moments | Rock Feed

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The Pretty Reckless: Going To Hell [Live 4K] (Boise, Idaho - April 2, 2022)

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Magenta scene pack (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

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Magenta scene pack (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

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frank n furter scene pack 1080p | rocky horror picture show

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I spent the next week writing out a list of films and bands to watch performances of in order to get a fully rounded view of how my character might sound/ act. I have linked here, a few of the performances I watched, as well as some short clips of characters that I took inspiration from when creating Zombella. I found that I really liked the way that Frank from Rocky horror moved, and that the old English accent had a charm to it that I wanted to use. I wanted to make Zombella move with grace and style, and sound like a Hollywood actress of the 1920's - albeit a little hoarser due to, you know, the dead aspect of her character. I tried out a couple of different accents in my room, but none of them felt right for my character in the first week of rehearsal. I even spoke to Ben about not feeling like I could do the character justice, as I felt frustrated with not being able to find something that worked for her.

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I got working on a backstory for my character based on the information I was given by the director. This turned into a full spin off that I really enjoyed writing, and it gave me some motivation for why my character does what she does. Zombella is lonely and jealous, and will do anything to make sure that nobody gets to live the life she wanted.

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https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/britain1906to1918/g3/gallery3.htm

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The Big Question is too big to tackle in one go, so we have broken it up into smaller sections called case studies.

Click on the case study buttons to study the historical sources.

Click on the Big Question button above for a worksheet that will show you how to use the case studies and how to organise your work.

Click 'gallery background' for some information and sources which may be useful in your investigation.

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women and political issues; votes for women; women's suffrage; suffragettes; suffragists; anti-suffrage; wspu

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Early 1900s Women's Suffrage: gallery 3 | The National Archives

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The Big Question is too big to tackle in one go, so we have broken it up into smaller sections called case studies. Click on the case study buttons to study the historical sources. Click on the Big Question button above for a worksheet that will show you how to use the case studies and how to organise your work.

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When learning and rehearsing my song, I had to really explore in order to 'find my voice' in the performance. I was nervous about singing in front of big groups, and got uncomfortable practicing my song in front of the pre-production team, as they were very particular about my performance. By the end of the first week, I was able to sing in front of the group, but not with the 'gusto' that Ben wanted and expected from me. This character was the largest, most out there character I have ever done, and was really outside of my comfort zone. I couldn't give Ben the performance he wanted, because I was simply too nervous to explore the role in front of people. My sound sounded great, but wasn't characterised enough and didn't have the strength that it needed, so I put a lot of work in at home, practicing my performance over the holidays.

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Towards the end of the holidays, I was brought in to record my song with George. It was the first time I had ever been around recording equipment for music and was quite daunting, so straight away, I knew we would be there a while. On the first run of the song, my voice was shaky and not characterised, I was still nervous about singing in front of another person, let alone being recorded. Once I got into the swing of things though, I felt myself opening up more and putting more into my  performance. As we were recording, I began to think to myself, 'It is not acting if you're not losing anything', a quote taken from some research I had done in another project ( Jeremy Strong, an actor in the show ‘Succession’ says of performance, ““There have been times when it has felt really hard, but if the character is going through an ordeal, and you want the audience to experience that, then you can’t spare yourself. I have a belief – and this may be a fallacious belief – that it has to cost you something,” he says.” (Freeman, 2021)) We decided that I was singing things too nicely, too musical theatre, and putting too much emphasis onto the wrong words. I revised the song lyrics again and decided to pick out certain words to put emphasis on, words like 'died', 'blood' and of course 'Zombella'. Myself and George also worked on putting 'rock drawls' on words, which took me a while but I figured out that it was all down to putting on an American accent and singing as though I was trying to make myself sick! There was such a transformation in my voice after the recording was done that I felt feeling fulfilled, and as though I had figured out my character, and broken through the barriers that I was facing.

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Although I had left with a sense that all of my prep was done, Ben wasn't happy with my recording and felt that I could give more to it. I had gotten Covid and been recovered two days when I was called to re-record, so I had a rough, gritty voice, which really added to the performance. I suppose Covid was good for something! This time round, we only recorded everything twice (and only twice so that we could layer up), as Ben loved my performance! I was very happy with the way that I sounded and really felt settled in my character upon leaving, as I felt that it would be a fun process, after finding my voice.

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I had to arrive at 9am for filming day 1 for my song, and it ended up being at a theatre that I had shown to Charlie prior to the pre production on the film. Having a whole theatre to myself to perform in really gave me a sense of self worth, and helped me to transform into the larger than life character that I was portraying. I sat for just over an hour while my body and face were painted white, my makeup was done, and then I applied my wig. Upon that last step, I really did feel transformed! Once I got onto the stage, my ideas got flowing, and I never felt like I was underperforming. In fact I barely needed direction, only ever being told where I was standing, as Ben let my ideas flow, and loved each and every one I had! I suggested using the throne in a similar way to the Rocky Horror show, and wasn't afraid of throwing myself on the floor. I used the research that I had done of the rock performances to utilise the camera and really play up to my audience through the lens, as it gives the performance a really authentic rock feel. At one point, I suggested that I do a slide onto the floor for a chorus, arching my back and singing almost upside down, only to have the zombie hands claw at me 'Lady Gaga- Applause' style. We got wrapped filming early, despite recording my full song that day, and I was very proud of what we had done with the song. I felt that I had come such a long way from the quiet girl unable to find her character just weeks before.

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A bit of 'Sweet Transvestite'- Rocky Horror

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A bit of 'Sweet Transvestite'- Rocky Horror

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I arrived early on filming day two, as well as day one, as I wanted to make sure that I was in costume hair and makeup early enough for there to be as little stress as possible for the crew. I knew prior to filming that the day would be packed with scenes to film and so I wanted to make sure that my scenes ran as smooth as possible to make sure that we could stay on track. I also talked to costume and hair and makeup before filming, as I wanted to make sure that there was a way to differentiate the real time action of the story from Zombella's pop star world in which she is the star of a music video. I proposed that we make me more reserved, with vintage style milkmaid braids and slightly less makeup, as well as longer gloves and a cropped bolero jacket to keep out the obvious chill that she would feel from being dead. This really sent home the 'Cruella' vibes that Ben had talked about during the preparation, and meant that there was some character development over the short amount of screen time that I did have. We started off by filming the last parts of my music video, and again I used the performance that I had done previously in order to really play up to the cameras and make my character as avant garde as possible. I followed Ben's lead meticulously, but made sure to give the same energy and similar movements every take to ensure a smooth transition between shots, as my knowledge of crew roles helped to make sure that I was taking into account other's work, showcasing excellent teamwork and support. there were a few moments where technical difficulties occurred, but I made sure to keep the energy and performance the same in order to keep things running as smooth as possible from my side. Although I was performing in front of a much bigger audience this time, my fears seemed to melt away and I found that I really enjoyed bringing my character to life.

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After wrapping the music video, we filmed my line, which was what I had been most scared of starting the project. However, with my newfound love for the character, and my preparation and research to back it up, it came so smooth that even Ben didnt question my performance. As it was my last few moments on set, I really cherished the performance, speaking with the zombies that made up my clan, and deciding that I would force them to do the hard work for me. Zombella was not to bend and remove the shoe, she would just point and expect one of her zombie minions to do it for her. This stylistic choice really payed off, as it gave me both the physical height difference that I needed to look like the leader and also because it gave me the opportunity to really show Zombella's sense of entitlement and intelligence. She is not one to get her hands dirty. I really drew out the sniffs in between my lines and put on a voice that was a mix of Franknfurter and Magenta from Rocky Horror. This really payed off as I growled my last line 'Martha' insinuating that I had made up my mind to get her. The next scene we filmed was the biting of Martha and killing of Zombella. I made sure to really channel old horror films with my bite, through the direction of Ben, who said he wanted to show my bite as an over the top head thrown back, type of bite. So upon filming, I made sure to sneak up on Martha with a real sense of urgency, speeding up as I approached her, while also keeping that sense that I NEEDED to take Martha's life. It really payed off in slow motion, as you can see the thoughts racing in Zombella's mind as she does so. The close up of Zombella's death does the same thing. I kept a look of ecstasy after the bite for my close up and the quickly made my eyes go blank upon being stabbed by Arthur to show my death. This was perhaps the most enjoyable scene for me, as I had to go from feeling so much to just zoning out to get the glass eyed look that you see in the final product. It was hard work, but really did pay off.

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The week after we wrapped filming, I had to come back in to record my line. I didn't need a practice with the video, as I was able to recreate the line along with the speed of my performance extremely accurately, due to working on it so much prior to filming. We did two takes of the line for coverage and then I was sent home fully wrapped!