ya never know

For the song 'Ya never know' we have yet another dance number. At first I found this dance quite difficult. I never feel comfortable with a dance when we first learn it and as we have to sing the song at the same time i found it difficult to do the dance with a sript in my hand. However I feel confident that once I have learnt the lyrics to the song I will be able to learn the dance easier. I had this problem with every song so far but as I have learnt the lines to the songs I have had an easier time learning the routine.

Overall however I felt that this dance was easier than the other dances we have had to learn. I think that this has to do with my confidence building in dance. Before Little Shop of Horrors and Things to Ruin, I had not taken part in any musicals, but after rehearsing these dances more and more I have started to comfortable enough to perform them.

I do enjoy the dance for 'Ya Never Know' and I am confident that once I know the song, I will be able to improve in the dance and be able to do the movements to the best of my ability however whilst I have to concentrate on what the next line of the song is, I will not be able to perform the dance at my best.

The one part of the song that I feel uncomfortable with is the part where we roll are shoulders, turn around and roll are shoulder again, I keep on making a mistake here as I turn the wrong way. As this is a mistake that I keep making it makes me panic when that movement comes up which makes me overthink the dance and make more mistakes. To try and stop this from happening I have watched the video of the dance multiple times to make sure I am 100% sure which way I have to turn.

My goal for this week is to learn the songs that we have had chorographed and to listen to the rest of the soundtrack so that I can feel comfortable with the song before we start to work on it.

Bernstein

For the character of Bernstein I want to create a flamboyant sales man type character. I want him to be completely over the top and to be very comical. 

Firstly, for costume I am going to wear a suit and sunglasses. I feel this will give him the appearance of a successful man and the sunglasses will make him seem more confident and charismatic.

I envision the charcter being the type of man who always gets what he wants because of how good he is at convincing people. I imagine him wanting being the type of person who could sell anything and would make a lot of money doing it. The character doesn't care about anyone else but himself. All he wants is to make as much money as possible and he doesn't care where this money comes from. 

After watching a video of 'The Meek Shall Inherit' on YouTube I was shown how a amateur production portrayed the character and I was able to receive insperation from the actor playing Bernstein. I feel that the way the actor portrayed the character perfectally matches how I want to portray him. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EeS6n8Uhj40

Thursday 14th may

Today we ran through act two. We ran through a few of the songs such as the final one and 'The meek shall inherit'. 

For the Meek shall inherit I play Bernstein. A producer for NBC and I want Seymore to do a TV so for the channel. The character of Bernstein is very camp and over the top. He needs to be comedic for the audience and to make Seymore uncomfortable. 

For the character I have decided to walk on looking like I want to hurt Seymore but then have a sudden character change for comedic value. I also am going give money to Crystal and Chiffon. Then I want to look Toms character 'Ron' up and down and give him a business card. This will emphasis the characters personality and I think it will add to the comedic nature of the character. 

After we ran the song we continued with the play and managed to finish the show we had to work on the final number a bit more than the other song as it involves the entire cast. First we listened to the song then sang along with the cast recording. After that we decided where everyone is going to stand for the song. We then sang the song (still with the cast recording) standing in our positions and finally we sang it with only the backing track. 

My goal for next week is to learn my lines in 'The Meek Shall Inherit' and to listen to the soundtrack to the show so I know the songs more. I will also try to find videos of 'The Meek Shall Inherit' online so that I can get some inspiration on how I am going to play the character. 

Opening dance

For the opening of the show there is an opening dance that involve the entire cast. At first I found the dance extremely difficult due to the speed of the movements and how quickly each movement changes to the next. I had to ask Dan for help and to demonstrate the dance several times. The more we practiced I improved a very small amount but still found the dance very difficult. 

Over the next few days I watched a video that the cast members who understood and could do the dance made. I watched the video over and over until I felt comfortable that I understood the dance enough to follow along with the ensamble. 

After practicing the dance over and over I know feel confident that I know the dance and now I just have to keep practicing until I can keep up with the rest of the cast. 

Da doo

For the song 'Da doo' we wanted to create a sense of a busy shopping high street,but not take the attention away from the song. To achieve this we all got into groups and came up with a very small devised piece. I worked with Theo Kai and Dan. We decided to create a small scene where the three of us steal from a shop owned by Theo. This creates a sense that there is crime in this town. we then run across stage and share what we have stolen. 

We only worked on this for one lesson so it is currently not polished as it could be but the more we work on it the more it will improve.

Today we finished 'Da Doo' we changed our piece a little bit to match the rest of the song. Instead of having a realistic approach, we now pause and switch between movements. This makes the scene no as realistic as we did not want to have our piece stand out and take attention away from the story. 

Skid row

Skid Row is the first song that we had choreographed. It is going to be the first big number in the show. The song starts with the whole cast frozen and we all come to life in two groups. After we come alive we all display a character that we had created for the song. 

I decided to create a stereotypical street salesman. I walk around stage right and try to sell people fake watches from my coat. I decided to create this character as he is unique so he stands out but he still blends into the group and doesn't look out of place. 

We all the get into a group and move as a pact. I interpret this to represent that even though the characters we have created have reached rock bottom we are still a community of criminals, homeless and poor people. 

After we have moved as a group we all get into a circle and rotate clockwise, raising and lowering our arms. We then stop and change the order of the circle and then get into two rows at the back of the stage. Here we once again do a synchronised movement where we turn and lean toward Seymour. I believe this foreshadows how our characters are going to be drawn to Seymour as he rises to fame. 

We then split into two groups and form a cross diagonal across the stage then walk off. We then slowly reappear and form a V shape and click our fingers in sync. On the final note we all raise our out side arm and hold it until the note ends where we drop out arms and head down. 

This song went really well as it only took us two lessons for everyone to know the dance and to have all the movements in sync. We also worked on the harmonies where we were split into two groups. If every song goes this well and quickly then the show will be finished and perfected a lot faster than we originally thought.