WE ARE PERFORMING NEXT WEEK!!! Musical Theatre 2018

Here is a short and sweet reflection of musical theatre this week.

What have I learned so far?

Here are Bugsy and Blousey

This year in musical theatre I have already learned so much, from how to properly do a Brooklyn accent, to learning how to not lose my voice while yelling. My character is Fat Sam Stacetto, a grumpy, but sweet gang leader who has to deal with a dumb gang. Sometimes getting that character across can be hard. Learning to not use a throaty sort of voice while yelling was hard for me. This year, I have the massive job of telling a lot of people off during the musical, sometimes I can get carried away and the loose control of my voice and strain my voice a bit to sound louder. But lately, I have been trying to take deeper, longer breaths instead of taking a short one and straining my vocal cords. Another new skill I had to learn this year was how to do a Brooklyn accent. When first practising my accent, I sounded quite southern, like I was from Texas or something. But when I got home, I started to watch videos on how to do a Brooklyn accent and that kind of helped my situation. But it was when I started watching shows with people that had Brooklyn accents was when I really picked it up. I have gotten the hang of it now and can make it sound somewhat legitimate.

How have I been challenged?
One of the biggest challenge this year was again, learning how to do a Brooklyn accent. I spent so long trying to get the hang of it, it was a good choice in the long run. It seems to make the musical more authentic. One of the other challenges I faced was getting into character. Fat Sam has so many layers to him. His character is quite complex, he is able to be happy one minute and the next minute, he is screaming at the top of his lungs. I have been told many times that I am intimidating, and Sam is intimidating, but is also very sweet and isn't completely mean like Scar was last year!

What have been my favourite moments so far? 

There have been so many highlights from this year so far! From being able to play a lead role, to having my own song, this year has been great so far. One of the biggest highlights for me was to play another "mean" character this year. Last year I got to play Scar in the Lion King, and this year I get to play another "meanie". I love playing mean characters, this year I get to yell a lot at people and I find that really fun sometimes. Last year as Scar, I didn't have the chance to sing "Be Prepared" that is in the musical, but this year I am glad to say that I have my own song, "Let me Entertain you" by Robbie Williams. I really like this song, and I haven't had a solo in a musical yet, so this year's show should be great!

What am I looking forward to?
This year I am very excited to perform. I love performing, it is one of my greatest hobbies to perform. There is something about performing on stage that I love. I haven't performed in a musical in a year and I am so excited to get on the stage again!

YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING DEWDROPPER, I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!! Musical Theatre 2018

Sorry, that might have been a little rash. In Musical theatre, our group is encouraged to work a little 1920s slang into our script, here are some words I think I might use... 

Bimbo: Macho man.

Fella: a man

Giggle juice: Liquor
Giggle Water: Liquor

Hood: Criminal

Sap: A dumb guy 

Dewdropper: Lazy man that sleeps all day

Bushwa: Bull****

I think that I might be able to work some of these words into the script. 

ALL THAT JAZZ! AKA THE ROARING 1920s/30s, Whats so special about it? Well, let me tell you...

If you have been keeping up with my blog posts as much as you keep up with the Kardashians, you would know that for passion projects this year, I am going Musical Theatre and our musical for this year is Bugsy Malone. One of our blog tasks was to inform our readers about the history and things from the 1920s/30s. The time that our musical was set.

What were the buildings like?
The buildings of the 1920s were quite dull, to say the least. But they have quite a resemblance to modern time apartments in cities like New York. Skyscrapers and tall buildings were also quite common.




What was the Fashion like?
The 1920s were an iconic time for fashion and makeup. As I mentioned in my other musical theatre post, flappers were an icon at that time. What are flappers you ask, flappers were the generation of women who wore short skirts, had bobs for their hairstyle, listened to Jazz, and were very rebellious. Flappers were a staple at the time. Men wore what we consider "formal" clothes most of the time. Suits and ties were very common. Neutral colours were worn by both men and women,  most women wore very bright colours than dull, men often wore these dark or neutral colours. Makeup in the 1920s was heavily inspired by the makeup worn in the 1910s.  Lipsticks, eyeshadows, and mascara were the most common. The faces of women in the 1920s were desired to look artificial. The eyes most commonly wore dark eyeshadows especially common in flappers. Eyebrows were mostly plucked really thin, giving a doll-like appearance. It was a popular trend of the 1920s to have lips that appeared small, women would use a lip liner to draw lips inside of their lip line and drawn to fit the cupids bow shape. Mascara was especially popular in the 20s because who can resist making their lashes appear longer and fuller, this was common in the blond woman due to their lashes being lighter than people with a darker hair shade. Rounded faces were desired, so women used rouge in circular motions to gain this shape. Nails were also manicured.

What was home life like? 
In the 1920s, there were obviously different expectations for each gender. Men had the more "important jobs", the men were the people that had jobs such as lawyers and enforced rules among their household. The women were expected to cook and clean and take care of the kids. It was a common thing for the women to not be in power compared to the men. Women deemed talented enough would be in the performing business, as hall girls etc.

What was entertainment like? 
Jazz was a massive part of the 1920s, the radio became the first mass broadcasting system. But the 1920s was a monumental moment in time for the silver screen. The silver screen was born at this time, with the first release of films with sound.

Experts in role

Today in drama, 8Mt did some practice with roles skills. 

For my role, I was playing an idiot from Hornby High School. We had to  describe an object that we did not see, we had to explain what it was. We used some words like, smooth, hairy, old, ancient, smells like a toilet. The we used our imagining skills,  our listening skills. This activity was okay because some people made it really funny. But some people weren't contributing to the group. 

Hauora

Centring Exercises 
Centring exercises are good for posture, releasing tension, developing focus and concentration, uses stillness, controlled movement, isolate body parts. Examples of centring exercises are... Spine roll, pendulum and zen rock garden. 
It gets air into your lungs because you are breathing. 

Visualisation
Visualisation is using the power of imagination everyday. You can use visualisation when you have a test, imagining that you are on a cloud floating, 

Improvisation 
You can use improvisation to create a performance of some sort. 

Why is laughing good for you
Laughing can decrease your stress hormones. 

Why we play games

The purpose of warming up 
To prevent injury 
To relax and help mental health
Prepare for stage work
Help you be more expressive with your body. 

Drama games for kids: Bomb and shields. 

Purpose:   Great to play as a fun warm-up or a mid-session activity if the kids have been sitting for too long.

1.  Have the kids stand in a circle.

2.  Ask the kids to silently choose two people in the circle and label them: 1 person as a “bomb” and 1 person as a “shield”.  They should do this without letting anyone else knowing.

3.  When you say “Go”, the kids are to move around the room, always keeping their “shield” between themselves and the “bomb”. They must never stop moving.

4.  After awhile, say “Switch!”.  Now the “bomb” becomes your “shield” and your “shield” becomes your “bomb”.

5.  At the end of the activity have the kids circle-up and one by one share who was their bomb and who was their shield.

What I want to do in Drama this year: 
This year I would like to do more performing things such as... Musical theater, Shakespeare performances etc.