Making connections

 In English, we have been looking at 4 different texts that share similar ideas. These are a few significant connections that I have noticed throughout the 4 texts. The main umbrella idea that I had was personhood, however, within this idea, there are a few more underlying themes. When I am writing my English essay, I will use these ideas for inspiration however I must use more deep ideas. 

        

The name on everybody's lips is gonna be ROXIE

 

 

What song have you chosen to perform? 

I have chosen to perform "Roxie" from the musical hit Chicago. This is an "I want" song which is a very common type of song in Musical Theatre.   https://youtu.be/edjSK6yen_o

Why did you choose this material? 

I chose to sing this song because Chicago has always been a favourite musical of mine. I haven't really had the chance to branch out and sing a girly girl type of role so I thought it would be more of an acting challenge for me. I am using this song as part of my Drama assessment as well and I thought Roxie would be a suitable number for that too! I just love this musical and I really wanted to showcase a different side of me that no one has really seen before. 

Who performed the piece? 

This piece has been performed by many notorious broadway greats! Some of them include Gwen Verdon, Liza Minnelli, Ann Reinking, Brooke Shields, Ruthie Henshall and Bebe Neuwirth. This role has been played for numerous years on broadway. I will base my performance on the Chicago the Music Australia 2019 performance done by Natalie Bassingwaighte because I really like her interpretation of the number. 

What is the song about? What is happening in the story at the time of your piece? 

This is a very "I want" song. Roxie is singing to herself and the audience about how she always wanted to be on Vaudeville, and that this trial is going to be the real kick start of her performing career. She wants to be a celebrity, she wants to be recognised and wanted by men. In this piece, Roxie is awaiting her murder trial after a successful press interview with her top-notch lawyer Billy Flynn. She fully believes that she will avoid the death penalty, so she will use her fame from the murder to start her show on Vaudeville. She expresses in her dialogue before the song and through the lyrics how badly she wants to be a celebrity on vaudeville. This song is about Roxie and nothing else. 

What will be challenging about your piece? 

Acting-wise, it is going to be difficult for me to be open and kind of sexy which is what the role requires. Singing wise, the song isn't too difficult to sing, it's just that I get in my head about certain notes so it's more of a mental game and trying to stay relaxed so my voice doesn't sound tense. I have high hopes about this performance though so hopefully all goes well! 

How will I act as this character? 

Roxie is a very childish and selfish person, so in order to portray this, I will include coy giggles each time I mention vaudeville in my dialogue. I will be performing on a bare stage and need to keep the attention on me, in order to do this, I will keep my feel planted and only walk around/dance around when necessary. Musical theatre acting is over the top so I will use a very “American” accent in this performance and make sure to perform to the back of the audience. I will keep my voice projected and balanced. I purchased my own 20s style flapper costume so I will use this to not only showcase the time period of the piece, but also emphasise who Roxie is as a character. I will also play to the audience a little bit to demonstrate Roxies narrative as a dumb, comedic blonde. Throughout my dialogue, I will take little pauses to show how Roxie is a little “slow” and that she is a young, dumb blonde.