The Show Went On!

On Thursday and Friday last week, the performance of the musical I have been rehearsing for the past couple of months ('I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change') took place in the auditorium of the music box.

The show itself ran very smoothly on both nights and the audiences were fabulous, laughing when laughter was required and being very encouraging to the cast and crew! As a cast member, there was nothing that I would have changed about the performances, well, maybe one thing, but that was a wardrobe malfunction on my part which I managed to fix in a particular manner...

The whole experience of rehearsing for the show has been an enjoyable, though sometimes stressful one, but it was a pleasure working with all the cast and crew. They were all so encouraging and gave constructive criticism and enjoyed the experience. The learning of the material could maybe have started a bit sooner but we did pull it off. One of the things that had me very worried about was when one of our cast members had to pull out and I was given a new song to learn in two weeks. It didn't help that I had to miss a few rehearsals either with living too far away or in one example, my car locking me out and having to stand in the rain and wind for two hours, but John Chan, who was our pianist for the show was able to keep going through it with me and I am very grateful as I wouldn't have known the song by the performance if he hadn't done it!

The songs and scenes that I had been given in the show were very different from one another and displayed the different ranges in my voice. Two of the songs, which were very different in genre, were quite low and I did find that tricky as I am not normally given pieces that are set and the lower range in my voice. It was a challenge, having to project my voice when it had to go that low, but it was also interesting as I now know how to project in lower tones and the support that I need to have in order to do so.

Another thing that I didn't necessarily need to do but chose to was acting drunk in one of my pieces (that newest of the lot). I think this is the first time a student at Stevenson College Edinburgh has acted drunk in her performance exam! This was a great opportunity to actually act out a character and the other scenes that I did required me to really act a certain way. This is the first time in the 13 years of doing Amateur dramatics that I have felt I have actually really presented the character in the right way and it has truly been a rewarding experience!

So, now that the show is over, it is now time to get all the assessments done and also prepare myself for the Grade 8 exam in June. I think that I will be able to pass the exam but I really have to work hard during the performance exam.

Anyway, have to go.

Bye for now!