A big thing that hadn't been completely decided and refined was set ideas so we had started with them, however we had help from a fellow student who was currently doing set design at university and was using our show as an project/work experience. He was mainly focusing on the killer queen side, so that gave us more to do with the bohemian side. Our director had quite a vision she wanted for the bohemian side so gave us the gist of it and then let us work whilst helping.
The two sides being complete opposites we had to really define this with different elements such as colour, lighting, set up and size. Focusing on size, by this i mean the amount of set that is included for that scenario for example the bohemians end is meant to represent like a memorabilia filled, rock and roll club, rebel hangout so would be filled with loads of items most people would consider junk but to the bohemians it all had a story and a purpose. Whilst helping out with the bohemian set others were sent off into different groups to work on the other set and props. Splitting up is always effective as it allows us to get more done more quickly saving more time for rehearsals, it also helps us work and bind as a team even more.
Whilst styling all the different parts of the bohemian side, we gathered each others opinions on what we were doing to make sure that others like it because in the real situation it would be a group event. This task took along time as there were many items to go through however eventually we did come to a final setting of all the props. This took a lot of commitment from myself and everyone as a team and was a achievement at the end. As this is my main characters home and kingdom as I call it I really wanted it to feel that way and give off a certain vibe so made sure that was hinted where it could be really communicating ideas with my peers.
If we were done and there weren't other set things to be done then we could work on things like scenes, lines and numbers, so some of us split off into small groups to do so.
This day was a very big day for independence as a group, really highlighting our ability to work efficiently as a team to get work done and to create the best performance possible.
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After creating our set, a lot of time following this in the week was focused on blocking within our new staging and set, especially, with musical numbers that required a lot of movement or cast members. As we had been rehearsing using the majority of what space we had we were used to using a lot of room compare to the smaller amount we now had due to the set this required a lot of patience from everyone as we had to make sure that the numbers still worked effectively within the set and that there were no problems.
The bigger numbers were particularly hard to work through especially with the year twelves who hadn't had as much time on the songs and material as we had. So we really had to support them so they didn't lose confidence. Within the rehearsal we did a lot of songs like we will rock you, bohemian rhapsody and we are the champions, so helping the twelves took place a lot in these segments. In bohemian rhapsody our class had worked on our own sections with harmony and practiced a few times so was harsh on the twelves to throw them in the deep end with new harmony and timings as well as choreography, so once split into our groups we could work individually with them installer amounts getting it done a lot faster than we had gone through it one group at a time.
However i was more concerned with the bigger dance numbers, as with these we have had cases of, not everyone at every rehearsal so numbers were always off and then so was timing. So adding all that to new set it was a challenge to get through it but with a lot of patience and listening to questions we got through it as a group and helped each other out where we could.
After a lot of runs with the different numbers I feel we had really developed our numbers as well as using the staging to create more dynamics in the performances. I feel that everyone felt very well accomplished at the end of this run due to a lot of productivity, even though everything wasn't perfect it was improved and we had all supported one another in the process.
In this session I feel that my peer support was effective with helping out with choreography in the dance numbers helping those who weren't used to going with the counts, which were essential so that we could work more in unison giving off that robotic feel in the gaga numbers. Our performance could have been improved with more energy as a group however i feel that we had worked efficiently through the day so may be a need of changing the dynamics of our timetable. I learnt that when more than one person puts their mind to it, things can develop smooch faster and effectively.
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DRESS RUNS!!!!
Dress runs are always one of the most essential things when creating a performance as it structures such a large percentage of the show and really is the finishing touch to telling the story. Our key situation with our dress run was test timings it took for quick changes and if they were achievable because if not they would have to be adapted and then whether or not a costume was suitable/practical for their character and scenes.
An example of testing all of this, is within some of the Killer Queen numbers, some of us off cast members act as several characters, when off cast, so have a lot of changes, we discovered one of our changes was just too crazy of a change to fit in time so, as a group we decided to come on in the next song as they follow one another and make sure to go on when everyone was ready. This was a very effective group decision as it created less stress and didn't have any repercussions on the scene.
However a good part of dress runs is that it seems to get people into character a lot more than just when in their own clothes, I especially feel this when performing, it gives that final edge in your character. This as a group creates such a buzz giving people more energy as whole when performing making the numbers more dynamic for the audience and really giving off the right atmospheres.
I feel that in this session my peer communication was effective when making group decisions about our quick changes and transitions between scenes. I feel I used a range of performance skills within this such as facial expressions and musicality to help portray my many personas within the show. To improve I still need to develop my lines knowledge so I'm 110% confident so that I can perform without the worry of forgetting. The challenge of this session was trying to stay calm and focused with all the chaos going on backstage with changes in costume and set, this we have resolved as a group so won't occur again in the future.
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