First & Second Run: 25/05/11

These two runs went well but things did go wrong so has made me more nervous for the actual show. In this first run I forgot my glasses in one of the scenes and wore them in the next, I need to remember to put them on as this is really important - continuity. Overall I think the second run was much better than the first as we got some notes after we did the first run so this allowed us to improve and have a better performance the second time round. I am trying my hardest to play my teen girl to the full and trying to make my facial expressions really strong and believable. During the first run I played the teen girl like how I have been playing it up until this point but in the second run I performed so much better, I felt bubbly, girlie and confident. After Elle watched these runs she said she wants me to push my geeky character even more, to go so much further with it. I found this hard because I have not been working on being a geek throughout these whole rehearsals but just up until yesterday Elle has asked me to be play the part of the geek in the teen group. I need to work on this more and perform to my best ability as a geek in tomorrows show. There was times when people didn't make it in time for scenes because of changing from the scene before, so this is something we are worried about but if this happens on the show we will just have to work with it and style it out.

Notes for improvement:

Telephone hour:

• Keep eyes up and be frozen in a picture smiling whilst others are performing.
• Arms are out of time at the end, so this needs to be worked on and the timing needs to be set in stone.

Elle said for us to run down the stairs at the beginning of the show screaming, instead of being stood on the stage already. She said this will bring the audience in and make them feel like they are part of the crowd too. Dionne said for us to talk in the blackouts so that its not like we are waiting to start, as soon as we come on in blackouts be in character already. I need to push my character even more and in the dance numbers, to show that were not just dancers that we are our characters dancing. I need to wear the glasses and exaggerate my part as the geek. All the songs need to be more punchy and have clear diction, the chorus parts need to be louder. 

Dress run: 24/05/11

Notes:
This dress run went well, I felt like I was more the part when I had my hair done and full costume. Glasses were added to my costume today as Elle felt that I could play the part of a Geek and that I need to show that I am the geek throughout the show.

Telephone hour -

• Make sure arms are nice and curved on the swing.

New York scene -

• Bring the excitement up like we did the first time we got the signs.
• Turn our bodies to the audience more, they are turned in too much.

Ohio scene -

• Make sure we have signs as we forgot them on this run.

TV show scene -

• Coming on to the scene, we had great energy.

One last kiss -

• When we are crossing over, on the first step the arms need to come out.
• We need to sing up as Dionne could not hear us.

Put on a happy face -

• work on the dance duo that me and will do, it looks like we are stumbling on the moves.

A lot of living to do -

• Our heads are going different ways when dancing behind Jason and Olivia, so we need to work on which way we are starting first.

Ice house scene -

• I need to put my arms around Jason when saying "Loop the Loop".

Tech Rehearsal: 23/05/11 & 24/05/11

Doing the technical rehearsal was a really long process, we just had to work together and try our best to focus. Whilst doing the tech run, we worked out that in 'How lovely to be a woman' we couldn't do the set choreography of spinning the bed around with Olivia on it. Due to rehearsing without the set, when it came to doing it with the set up it was impossible. So this needed to be re-choreographed to us standing round the bed and us girls doing some turns, everything else in this tech ran well. We lost focus towards of the end of the rehearsal though and we was sent home early.

Notes for improvement:

We need to wait for the lights to black out before any movement.

Telephone hour -

• Need to make the moves more precise and strong
• Diction needs to be better
• Need to work on the ending, when watching it back I realised that the moves were out of time, the swings, the clicks.

How lovely to be a woman -

• I need to project more, use my diaphragm so that I can sing the last couple of lines without being out of breath.
• At the end spin instead of trying to make the step ball changes as I do not make it in time.

Put on a happy face -

• Be more grumpy like a kid.
• Work on the dance between myself and Will so that it is smoother. 

Honestly Sincere:

• When watching this back the two lines looked odd, we need to re-choreograph the beginning of this song.
• The swing of the arms works out better to be 8 swings up and 8 swings round and then just run over to Jason.

One last kiss:

• Need to polish my arms, are they bent or are they straight?.

A lot of living:

• The swaying needs to be worked on.
• Make sure the 'picture' is a clump, at the moment we are too far apart.
• Have a reaction from Conrad and Kim walking off together, wait for a moment and the run after them.

A Hymn for a Sunday evening:

• We need to make a clump not a line.

Rehearsals: 18/05/11 & 19/05/11

Notes for improvement after running Act One and Run of Show:

• Make sure that when singing its definite.
• Telephone hour: Energy was great and I really put effort into my character.
• How lovely to be a woman: Good work, remember to breath correctly so that I can sing because there is so much movement.
• Need to find a coat for New York scene.
• Face has got to have more emotion, needs to come alive when I see Conrad Birdie.

Rehearsals: 18/05/11

Dancing/Singing:

How lovely to be a woman:
We finished off the dance and worked on how we could travel from the bed to the other side of the stage, we did a couple of step ball changes and then a spin.

Honestly Sincere:
We worked on this dance, cleaned up some moves. Jamie pointed out that we need to have pointed toes and when we have our hands positioned either side of us they need to be sharp and strong. We also worked on the pace of the shimmy move and worked out the timing and figured it was in time when Jason sang a certain part in the song.

Telephone hour:
We went through telephone hour and polished the moves at the end and tried to see which way in swinging our arms would look best. We figured that the people standing on the chairs, we would swing our arms opposite to each other because this looked more clean and more effective. I struggled with my voice today and couldn't reach the notes that I needed too, I think this is because my voice is strained from previous rehearsals and not screaming correctly. I worked on my positions again at the beginning of the dance as they wasn't sharp enough, I worked more on my facial expressions and hand gestures to make the movements more girlie.

Rehearsals: 17/05/11

Singing: Notes for improvement

• Telephone hour: Need to be more bitchy when singing, make it more gossipy. 
• Put on a happy face: Need to look happy when singing this song.
• Honestly Sincere: Need to work on the screams, Sapphira said to scream from using your diaphragm like you would singing a note. 
• Hymn on a Sunday evening: We worked on the girls harmony because we kept falling into the boys part. So I need to remember the girls harmony.
• One last kiss: We worked on the harmony at the end, as Sapphira put me in to sing with the boys I used to struggle and fall into the girls part, but after todays rehearsal I now sing it correctly. 

Singing rehearsal went really well today as we all know the cues really well, were loud and sharp. I need to control my breathing and take in enough breath for the ending of the song so that I have enough power behind the note. 

Dancing/Singing:

We did a run through of all the group songs and they are looking good - I feel I am doing well as a teen girl in the group numbers and showing that excitement through my body and face. In this rehearsal 'How lovely to be a woman' was choreographed by Jamie and Jodie.

Acting:
We ran the whole of act two and we got some feedback. Dionne asked us to bring a skirt for next rehearsal so that we can get used to moving around in skirts. A lot of the scenes and dances need polishing up. A line was added for me to say "actually its an old barn" so that it makes more sense to the audience and gives more to my character that I know everything. Dionne also gave me feedback that when saying the history of the town I need to be geeky and proud about what I am telling Conrad. 

Rehearsals: 16/05/11

To start of todays rehearsals Dionne had us to an exercise. We had to pretend we was at a Conrad Birdie concert. Jason was stood on the stage and the rest of the class were crowded at the bottom of the stage watching him perform a song from the musical. Whilst doing this exercise I imagined I was at a Chris Brown concert and how I would react, this really helped me imagine. Dionne turned off the lights and Jason was spotlighted and this made it seem even more real, we really got into it - chanting Conrad's name, swaying our arms from side to side, singing his lyrics, jumping up and down, screaming when he came close to us, fainting. All these things that I was now doing, the energy that I used in this exercise; I needed to bring to the scenes and to my character. This exercise really helped me engage with my character and really pushed myself in being that number one fan.

Acting:
Today we started a brand new scene ' the ice house ' this scene was simple to do, it just showed Kim and conrad in the old barn and us teen girls interrupting them and being all over Conrad. I had a line where I said "loop the loop" at first I said this in a sweet voice but then Dionne told me that its a sexual reference and needs to be said in a sexual way, so when we next ran it i did it this way and she said it was good. After this we also ran a couple of the group scenes and polished some of the staging.

Singing/Dancing:
We ran these dance numbers today: Honestly sincere, Put on a happy face, A lot of living to do and telephone hour. The rest of the dances seemed good, we just worked on things like putting our faces to the front when singing so that we can be heard, positioning and what arms and legs were being used in certain steps. The dance that needed the most work was 'telephone hour' the ending of this song needed to be polished and we needed to re-choreograph the steps that we had come up with on the chairs as they wasn't the dance moves of the time and more 60s. We finished the ending and came up with the ending position and the dance now looks more tidy.

Run of the show: 12/05/11

We did a run through today and when performing these dance numbers they were so much more improved due to having worked on them with Sapphira, the two song numbers that still wasn't working well on the end notes were: A Hymn on a Sunday evening and One last kiss. The harmonies that were previously set for these songs is disappearing and us girls are falling into the boys harmony on both, so we are going to work on this more in upcoming rehearsals. I just need to remember my character development work and really push my teen character further, I know I can do it.

Rehearsals: 11/05/11

Today we worked on the dance numbers with Gillian and finished choreographing telephone hour. What I needed to work on was finding four positions that I would use whilst being on the phone. I kept forgetting what the positions were and kept changing them every time we ran the song, so us four girls went into the next room and worked on what our positions would be and we also choreographed what we would be doing whilst standing on the chairs whilst the others were coupled on the floor.

these are my  four positions for the telephone hour song.

Singing development: Getting the confidence

When we first started singing lessons I didn't have the confidence in singing on my own, it made me feel vulnerable and well out of my comfort zone. Having the lessons and the two assessments that meant I had to perform in front of the class on my own helped me so much, I had to do it to be able to even sing a solo line on my own. Now in Bye Bye Birdie I feel confident in singing a solo line and do not hesitate to do so. At the beginning I was nervous when we was rehearsing the songs in lesson because when I sang I felt like all eyes were on me but then I thought about it deeply and realised that everyone else must have been nervous too and that were in it together not to put each other down. My problem was that when I was singing I wasn't using my diaphragm and so when I was singing it wasn't as strong as it could be, having the vocal warm ups and breathing exercises helped me with using my diaphragm and being able to reach certain notes and producing a nice sound. Confidence is a big key when it comes to singing, if the confidence isn't there and you don't believe you can do it, you wont go for the big note and you wont sing loud enough. I now have confidence thanks to the singing lessons that we have had and even singing the little parts in bye bye birdie on my own is a big achievement for me. These two video clips show both, not having the confidence and then just going for it and believing in yourself.

Rehearsals: 10/05/11

Today we showed on the group dances to Sapphira as this was the first time that we had her presence whilst doing the dancing and singing together. When we have been rehearsing the group numbers up until this point we all know that we haven't sung to the best of our ability, I know this is because we have been focusing on the dance steps more than the singing and this has weakened the vocals. During singing rehearsals when we are not dancing the singing is really good, so today we just needed to combine the two and get that extra push from Sapphira to not forget about the vocals when dancing. After showing all the dances to Sapphira the singing has improved as she pointed out the parts that sounded weak, I personally feel that for me I need to work on my breathing technique so that when I am dancing, I can sing the notes in key and without straining my voice. This also comes down to using my diaphragm and taking the right breaths in songs so that I have enough breath to carry out a note. When inhaling the diaphragm contracts as it fills up with air, If I don't breath correctly I wont be using my diaphragm and the sound that is produced would not be at its best and I would be straining my voice.

Character Development: My Obsession

When thinking of an artist that I could truly say I would faint for it would be Chris Brown. He is more than a celebrity crush, the sound of his voice makes me get butterflies and when he is singing his love songs they touch me as if he was singing them to me. Like any number one fan, its the little things such as his lisp that make you feel weak. Okay I have a major obsession with 'Christopher Maurice Brown' and some may think this is weird, but I could use this to my advantage and take how I feel towards him into my character 'Nancy' and imagine that 'Conrad Birdie' is Chris brown. Up until this point I have shown some elements of being a fan but not the major parts of being a number one fan, I need to be constantly staring at this wonderful creature and showing extreme obsession in my eyes and face. I listen to Chris Browns music everyday and hearing his voice in the morning truly puts a smile on my face, so this weekend I tried to do something different.. I would listen to a Chris Brown song and then I would listen to a song that Conrad Birdie sings and try to make that same connection, this was hard but I feel this way I could merge Chris Browns voice into the song from 'Bye Bye Birdie'. I need to imagine what I would be like if Chris Brown walked past me and bring this to the scenes where Jason (Conrad) walks past me.

Character Development: Being a fan

When thinking of obsessive girl fans, I think of screaming, crying and girls fainting. Well this is exactly what us teen girls in 'bye bye birdie' need to be like. I have been slowly developing my character, each rehearsal I am connecting with my character more and more. I know I have more to give and so much more I can do with my facial expressions to show my love for 'Conrad Birdie' and this easiest way I can make myself do this is by imagining he is 'Chris Brown' who I am utterly crazy for! We done an exercise with Dionne which helped me so much to just imagine, we had to pretend we was at a 'Conrad Birdie' Concert and Jason had to perform to us, this was so much fun but was great character development for us all as we could really put ourselves in our characters shoes as if we really were them and at that concert. I need to bring the excitement not just into my body, but into my eyes. Believe I am that number one fan!

Rehearsals: 9/05/11

Today we redid 'honestly sincere' we worked on the timing for the dance at the end and the formation. This was quite messy and needed to be re-choreographed in certain places as some moves that had already been chosen did not go well to the music or to what Jason (Conrad) was singing lyrically. The formation for us teen girls at the beginning of the song was also changed to us standing up because it didn't really work out from the scene before where we was standing to then going to sit on the floor for the song, so this was changed and looks much cleaner.

Rehearsals: 5/05/11

Today we had to read the information of what happens in this scene, it was the scene where we are backstage for the show and we are getting ready for the performance. Dionne asked to come up with ideas where we could be keeping ourselves occupied and make it look good but not too big so the attention isn't taken away from Jo and will (Rosie and Albert). In this scene the teen girls came on in a group we came up with the idea to fuss over each other and preparing ourselves for the show, getting scarves and running over the routines. There was various things that girls called be going, sorting out make up and fans arguing over where they are going to be standing when Conrad comes on. As I was absent in a previous lesson I missed when ' One last Kiss' was choreographed so I had to learn the dance steps, this was easy and I picked up on it very quick. I like the dance that was created as it flowed, the steps were easy but slick. We were contemplating on whether to have a swing in the arms and it worked out nicer to have a swing. We also set the scene after 'One last kiss' which ran smoothly and I really tried to engage more with my character by being so obsessed with Conrad.

Rehearsals: 3/05/11

Dancing:

The dance lesson today consisted of Kerry and Jodie teaching us the choreography for ' A lot of living to do '. This went extremely well as they taught us the dance quite quickly and we was able to run over it a lot so we could perfect it. The choreography that they had chosen to do was majority pair work and I think this flowed well and suited the lyrics of the song. Thinking of everyones energy it was right for the energy needed in this dance and I was on task throughout. I think we worked well as a team today and think the work that Kerry and Jodie produced was of great standard. I think all this song needs now is more expressions in the face and It will be pretty much completed. Dionne said that this dance is all about the 'hands' and I took note of this so that when choosing my poses I knew what would work for this piece.

Acting:
The scenes that we ran today were ones that we have already done and we just polished them over, I am slowly developing my character more and more, I just need to work on putting that bubbly young teenager feel to everything that I do as Nancy. I know my Que's and the small lines that I have and feel confident with myself at the moment but would do so much better if I just bring my character up another level. Nancy is one of the teens therefore she is a 'gossip girl' and I need to show this in my body and in my face, being in the Conrad birdie 'fan club' I need to show my obsession and I feel I could show this really well in my body language and my vocals. 

Singing: 3/05/11

In todays lesson I came in the lesson focused and prepared enough to be off book for every song without any doubts. To start of the warm up we did the usual breathing exercises and when doing the scales of: 'Mee, Moo, Lala, Zaa' I felt confident and reached to the top note in the scale. During the breathing exercises I became light headed and Sapphira told me that this was because of the way we was breathing and the amount of oxygen we was taking in to open our lungs. I also found that when I was doing the 'Lala' exercise I kept stumbling and slurring towards the end of each note, this was because I was not opening my mouth wide enough and felt that when Sapphira corrected this it improved but its also because I need to practice the techniques at home.

The song that I am most confident with would have to be the 'telephone hour', I know the complete structure of this song and do not struggle to remember when to harmonize. I know the lyrics extremely well and Sapphira has praised me on this because I have practiced this song and feel this is the strongest song for me so far. I need to work on my character and work on making the lines punchy and more 'bitchy'. At the moment I seem to be just focusing on my vocals and singing the lyrics correctly but I need to make sure I am bringing that character into the singing and expressions in my face.

Other songs that we worked on today were:

• Hymn for a Sunday evening 
• A lot of living to do
• Put on a happy face
• How lovely to be a woman
• Overture

One of the main focuses during todays rehearsals was trying to remember the harmonies that we have worked on previously and making sure songs like ' A lot of living to do' were sharp and perfect timing. Although ' Hymn for a Sunday evening' is an extremely short song for the chorus part it is essential that the timing is good and also tuning is correct because even the slightest tuning problem could make a big difference to this small number and make it sound off key. Sapphira worked on the tuning in this song and I think we all feel confident that this song is working and running smoothly. One of the songs that is also really well known is 'Put on a happy face' the only thing that I need to work on is my expression and to remember to put emotion in to what I am singing as I know the words well I just need to move on and develop this.

I am proud of myself because I am one of few that have learnt their lines extremely well, I know my timing and what I am meant to be singing. In 'How lovely to be a woman' Again I need to work on my character and think of being more 'girly' but I know that I also need to work on using my diaphragm more so in this song because it is such a high key that I forget to take breaths before big notes and I cant hold them as long as I should be able to. In the 'Overture' we didn't really work on this too much but we all already know the words as we have done this numerous times, so I am just going to go over this with the backing track and have it ready to show Sapphira next week.

       'Using my diaphragm when singing will improve the sound quality'

Overall Singing/Dancing/Acting up until 28/04/11

Singing:
So far in singing we have done various warm ups that have helped us with our breathing technique and singing technique. Some warm ups that we have done for breathing are 'SHH' and 'SSS' these two are warms ups help us use our diaphragm correctly so that when singing we can hold notes for longer.  The warm ups that we have done to help us with hitting notes are 'AEIOU '1234 'ABCD' these exercises help me with warming up my voice for when we come to singing the songs from 'BYE BYE BIRDIE' I am prepared and know the range of my voice, whilst doing these exercises I prove to myself that I can hit the notes on all the scales that Sapphira plays on the piano.


Whilst rehearsing the songs I have been completely focused and know have followed the instructions so that I know what parts I am singing when I am meant to be harmonising and when we have been asked to emphasise on particular words. Being a teenager in the play I know that when singing I have to bring a more fun and bubbly style to it but I have to remember to keep the volume and make sure I am singing from my diaphragm.


Dancing:
So far in dance we have focused on the song 'PUT ON A HAPPY FACE' and 'A LOT OF LIVING TO DO' . In 'put on a happy face' I am playing the "sad teenager" the dance moves for this are not complex and I have not struggled with connecting these moves together. In a 'a lot of living to do' I am playing the happy teenager this time who is obsessed with Conrad Birdie and flushes at his every move. I have enjoyed seeing the progress that has developed over the weeks and feel that once the pieces are completed they will be great.


Acting:
So far in acting the only scenes that I have been a part of are the scenes with the 'conrad birdie fan club' and I have fully committed to the work. I am playing a teenager called 'Nancy' and she is a bubbly young vibrant teenager like the rest of the fan club. We continuously sing 'WE LOVE YOU CONRAD..' and I put the right amount of energy in to this and am happy with the work I have done so far and will continue in developing my character more.