Thursday 24 November 2016

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 20 - 24/11/16

Today in Rent, we went through all of Act One in its entirety as we had gone through every number within it that we hadn't cut. As a reminder, the songs we've cut in Act One are:

  • Christmas Bells #1
  • Are You Okay Honey?
  • Voicemail #2
  • Out Tonight
  • On The Street
  • Christmas Bells
  • I Should Tell You
  • La Vie Boheme B
And in Act Two we've cut:
  • Happy New Year A
  • Voicemail #3
  • Seasons of Love B
  • Contact
  • Your Eyes (undecided)
Below are my thought on each song/section which I'm in:
  • Opening (Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, Rent): I feel this section went very well, despite only being able to rehearse in our classroom as opposed to the stage. There was plenty of energy for the entire opening. I feel that I performed my lines very well with good movement and it didn't sound too bad considering my throat wasn't feeling great. I'd say that the only improvements needed are improving some one the timings in sections like the phonecall to Benny, and having more energy in the dance break in Rent.
  • Today 4 U/You'll See: I'd say Today 4 U is in need of the most improvement out of all of Act One. Despite being the only one who knows the opening to the song, my timing still needs improvement. Also, Owen's movement as Angel needs to be much more feminine. Furthermore, I feel I need to interact with Owen more as this is the song where it's established that Angel and Collins are actually a couple as opposed to I'll Cover You which establishes that the pair are soul mates.
    For You'll See Boys, the singing is good with minor timing issues and the movement between Benny, Roger and Mark is relevant to the song. However, me and Owen seem very forced in this song as we have around 5 lines between us and we just stand there for the rest of the song so we should be more involved in Benny's request.
  • Life Support/Another Day/Will I?: Life Support was better than usual with everyone putting all their energy into every line making the song much more meaningful. This energy was replicated in Another Day which feels like one of the strongest numbers in our production. However, Will I? is still very weak as the echos are very messy. The energy's there but there's a lack in quality to the song which means it needs a lot more work. We will definitely work on this next lesson.
  • Santa Fe/I'll Cover You: Santa Fe is one of my favourite songs in this show, not just because it's an amazing song in it's own right, but because our interpretation of it is one of, if not, THE best song in the show so far. There's plenty of energy in this inspirational number and no character looks lost or out of place. I think the use of having a small chorus on the blocks stage left (comprised of Lorna, Warren and Tyler) is very key to this song as it beefs out the cast and makes the song louder.
    I'll Cover You, on the other hand, isn't amazing. Although our movement is a lot more romantic now, our harmonies are very clashy which ruins the romance of this song and destroys the idea of us being soul mates. Owen and I will arrange to go over these harmonies with Mr Quinn, the school's music and singing teacher.
  • La Vie Boheme: This number is full of energy and really does embody the idea of bohemian life which is the goal of the song. There are a few minor issues which can easily be changed but they do take a lot away from the song. For example, when we all say, "Evita" after Benny mentions his dead dog, we all sound very bland and the word has no meaning when it should really be a sense of realisation. This is the moment when the audience should understand that Benny's dead dog is the same dog that Angel assassinates for Benny's neighbour; this should be a very comical moment of the play. Additionally, when there's moments where only two or three characters are singing (e.g. Maureen and Joanne's conversations/Mimi and Roger's end section) everyone else sort of stops to watch them. We should either talk to ourselves, or continue dancing crazily.

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