Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Evaluation - 23/01/17

Rent Evaluation:

Act One:

Opening (Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, Rent):

I felt that the opening was very strong and conveyed the emotions of our characters very well to begin with. My entrance was noticeable although I feel I needed more volume to be heard over the music. This is because I am standing next to the speaker at this point so if I were to perform this again, I would either stand further away from the speaker or sing louder.

Today 4 U/You'll See:

I feel that Today 4 U went very well! We had lots of energy and we all interacted with each other well when Owen comes on as Angel. During You’ll See, Owen and I looked very lost throughout as we didn’t have many lines. Also at the end when we’re all supposed to say “We’ll see” only Cameron does so as the rest of us forgot. Besides this, the rest of the song went very well.

Life Support/Another Day/Will I?:

For Life Support, Cameron managed to get the timing right for the fast section at the beginning which kept spirits high throughout this section. Everyone in the chorus could be heard during Another Day when we sing “I can’t control...” For Will I?, Henri and Owen left the stage at the right time which had been an issue a few times in rehearsal.

Santa Fe/I'll Cover You:

This part of RENT was probably the best section for me as my character. Santa Fe was full of energy and showed off my full range of vocal abilities. The movement was purposeful which stopped the number being forced.

I’ll Cover You was simply flawless. This was the best time we’d ever done it before with nice sounding harmonies, romantic movement and a believable kiss to end it.

Act Two:

La Vie Boheme/Happy New Year:

La Vie Boheme was a very impressive opening to Act Two with plenty of energetic movements. However, when it came to the “...brothers” section, Owen and I looked very awkward as when we kissed, we staggered before doing so making it look forced.

Happy New Year was purposeful and had plenty of movement which represented mood of the scene. Our separation between certain characters and our spacing displayed our relationships very well.

Without You/I'll Cover You (Reprise):

Without You was, in my opinion, one of the best numbers in the entire show. Taylor and Henri’s singing mad the scene extremely emotional as well as the miming in the background of the scene. Despite being non-verbal, our movement scene did well to display the emotions of the scene, not to mention the conflict between Maureen and Joanne and Benny’s redemption.

I’ll Cover You (Reprise) was the best it’s ever been. I feel I conveyed a great deal of emotion through this song and my facial expressions supported this. Towards the end, I lost volume as I went too high and I started to crack but I pulled this off into stuttering and crying which I felt worked well.

Goodbye Love/Seasons of Love:

At the last minute, I changed how I enter in Goodbye Love from walking in slowly into a run. This shows that I could hear my friends arguing from some sort of distance. I feel that my tone of voice during scene shows my disgust towards my friends and could possibly reveal that I leave my friends. This, of course, unconfirmed in our version as we end at Goodbye Love.

Seasons of Love was also very good! It was a brilliant ending to the rollercoaster of emotions which is RENT!

General Notes:

• Due to technical difficulties, the mobile phone used for the music in the performance received multiple notifications throughout the show which were sounded over the speakers which not only played a tone, but lowered the volume of the song playing at the time while the tone sounds.
• There were some errors regarding set/props such as two blocks being brought on for Owen to stand on during I’ll Cover You (Reprise) and props being left on the table after Will I? when they needed to be removed for Santa Fe.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 30 - 19/01/17

Today we continued working on different songs to A) sort out any issues and B) block all of the lighting.

In this rehearsal, Owen and I worked out all issues we had in I'll Cover You. I sang the chorus higher as when I attempt the harmony, I'm either out of tune or too low to be heard.

We also changed some of the movement for I'll Cover You Reprise as during the part where Owen and I sing together, he can't be clearly seen. To combat this, I step forward on "I've longed to discover..."; which is where Owen joins in.

I also finished making the programme which is pictured below:

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 29 - 11/01/17

Today we ran through the entire production up to "Take Me Or Leave Me" (due to running out of time). Below are the following notes I received regarding me (in no particular order):

• My harmonies in "I'll Cover You," need to be sorted out as I go far too low so I still clash with Owen. I'll be working on this afterschool as well as the reprise with Tom and Dan.
• Warren, Tyler and I need to go through Tune Up #2 to make sure they know when to enter and know the rhythm of how they hit me when mugging me (4 hits, 1 on each beat)
• I need to go through the beginning of "Today 4 U" with Cameron to make sure we aren't clashing with our harmonies.
• The energy in La Vie Boheme has improved a lot but I often find myself awkwardly alone as everyone usually pairs off but instead of being on the right I've moved to the left with Warren and Henri. This makes a lot more sense as there's 3 on both sides as opposed to previously having 2 and 4.

Next lesson we will focus on the songs that we need to work on e.g. I'll Cover You.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 28 - 09/01/17

Today we ran through all of act two and below are the following notes we received to improve (the following are the improvements which regard me):

• La Vie Boheme: During this song we really do need to bump up the energy. It's one of the happiest songs in the musical and we're not doing it justice with our current energy levels. Also everytime Alice and I have performed our short section ("Emotion, Devotion...") we end up crashing into Owen and Taylor as we walk past them. From now on we'll walk around the outside of them from around the table.
• I'll Cover You (Reprise): During this song, my diction needs to improve so the audience can fully understand everything I'm saying. Also, when singing, I need to look up from Angel's coffin at some point. The song at the moment feels very detached from the audience which shouldn't be the case at all; I should be relaying my feelings to the audience.
• Goodbye Love: When it comes to the transition from I'll Cover You (Reprise) we are now going to leave the table onstage.

Next lesson, we will perform a full runthrough of the entire show.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 27 - 06/01/17

Today in Rent, we worked a considerable amount on the transitions and working out things like set and props we haven't yet thought about. These included things like when should a table be taken off, who is taking it off and where it should go after being taken off. In our selection of props under the stage, I found a basket, scrap wood and an empty bottle which I could use in "Today 4 U" where I bring in food etc for Marka and Roger. The only things I'd need for that song is an empty box of cigarettes (Malboro), a packet of ground coffee (Bustelo), a box of cereal (a box of captain crunch would taste so good!) and a bunch of bananas (banana by the bunch). All of these will be easy to find and this would mean I can show off all items Collins mentions in "Today 4 U".

I have only one duty in terms of transitions and that's to take off the armchair we have in place during "You'll See Boys". Besides this, all I have to do is make sure I know when I have to exit and enter and do so.

As well as this, I have a few extra responsibilities:

• prepare lots of rock band posters for Mark and Rogers apartment.
• prepare and print the tickets and posters for the performance.

Below are the designs I have made for the tickets and posters for the performance:

The posters I will print out will be of not only the popular rock bands of the era of Rent (80's - 90's music) but I will include timeless rock bands such as Queen. Below are the artists I'll be using:

• Nirvana
• Queen
• Led Zepplin
• The Rolling Stones
• Guns n' Roses
• AC/DC
• Bon Jovi
• Metallica
• Pink Floyd
• The Beatles
• Green Day
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Creedence Clearwater Revival

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 26 - 14/12/16

Today in Rent, we blocked our movement for Without You. Typically, Without You is a song solely based on the downfall of the group where relationships break down. Joanne and Maureen have broken up, as well as Mimi and Roger and in our version, this is the song where Angel's life is tragically taken. We wanted to portray the breakdown of the group through this one song, displaying each relationship ending.

We start off the scene with the simple yet effective dialogue before the song between Mimi and Roger and then Roger exits leaving Mimi on her own on the blocks. I, Collins, enters with Owen, Angel, in my arms in severe pain and I place him on the table in the centre. I cover him with my jacket to keep him warm and stand with him comforting him. Partway through the song, Maureen walks in but as Joanne walks in a bit later, Maureen leaves almost immediately which shows the conflict between this pair. Tyler and Warren also walk in as individuals to mourn over Angel's illness.

We wanted to take this opportunity to show Benny's good side in this song as throughout he's shown to be an outcast and corrupted. However, throughout the story a lot of Benny's actions are taken for granted and unless you read between the lines, you never truly understand how much he does for the group. Will walks in and stops at a distance as he knows he probably won't be welcome there. However, upon Owen looking over at Will, Owen smiles and Will comes over. He walks over to me as I smile and we embrace in a friendly hug, symbolising the support Benny gives the group. For the rest of the song, Will and I stay with Owen until he dies, where I lower his hand down onto the table. Benny and Collins exit, Benny's arm around Collin's shoulder for comfort. Mimi then steps down and says goodbye to Angel.

We decided to go on from this and block I'll Cover You (Reprise) as well as it's the song that follows immediately. The way we have staged this is by leaving the table in the center from Without You, place a stage block behind the table which Owen sits on behind me and everyone stand in a semicircle around the table which is now representing Angel's coffin. Cameron, Taylor and Alice speak their dialogue and when the music starts, everyone turns inwards as I begin to sing. When the chorus section starts, everyone turns back the way they were and sing and Owen steps onto the block and sings the same part as me. 

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 25 - 08/12/16

changing will i - santa/cover notes

Today we attempted a full runthrough of every number in the show so that we can change anything that seems weak or resolve any other issues. However, due to major tweaks being made, we only got up to I'll Cover You. Below is how each section I was in went:

• Opening (Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, Rent): This scene went extremely well as everyone knew their lines and timing, everyone acted out all of their parts with enthusiasm and it showed that everyone had worked on their individual sections at home. The only thing I'd say we can improve on in this respect is Alice making her voicemail as Mark's Mother more over the top however she still performed it very well!
• Today 4 U/You'll See: During Today 4 U, there was a lot more energy at the beginning between Collins, Mark and Roger and we did well to show the relationship between the group within the short amount of time available. However, despite Angel's entrance being the best it's ever been, during her whole storytelling section of the death of Akita, the rest of us still seem very static and just seem to watching her. I feel that Angel really needs to interact with the group during this song as she's not only telling the audience but she's also supposed to be telling the group too!
  
  You'll See was brilliant again and does well to show how much of an outcast Benny's become after leaving the group. Our interactions with Benny are great, Will's change between singing and speak singing is seamless and Collins and Angel on the side doesn't look unnatural as it did before.

For Life Support, some of us had major issues with timing ruined the flow of the song and thus didn't lead well into the next song. Luckily, I was very familiar with this song as I've listened to this musical countless times in preparation for this show so I was able to step in and assist the others who had timing issues. However, the biggest issue wasn't Life Support, it was Will I? Despite us all going home and learning the songs, we were very poor in this song due to the confusing overlapping and difficult timing on the last line of the repeated verse ("From...this...nightmare"). After a couple of singthroughs, we realised that this wasn't going to work so we tried something different:

• On the final lines of Life Support ("No other road, no other way, no day but today"), we all exit excluding Henri, who stays seated on the table centre stage, Lorna, who freezes and stays in her place from Life Support, Taylor, who walks into Roger's apartment and into Another Day, and Lewis (me), frozen mid walk exiting the stage.
• We all perform Another Day where we end with Henri and Taylor interacting with one another, Lorna and I frozen onstage and singing in the ensemble sections and everyone else in the wings singing the ensemble sections also.
• For Will I?, Mimi ends sitting on the edge of the stage, Henri sitting on the table centre stage and Lorna and I remain frozen. Lorna sings the first verse alone, Henri sings with her from the second verse in unison, Taylor does the same on the third and I do the same on the fourth. On the fifth verse, only Lorna sings and Henri and I exit. Finally, on the sixth, Lorna exits while Taylor stands and sings the final verse on her own.

I then felt it would be more fitting if Owen (Angel) took my place as it foreshadows later events to come. Not only the inevitable end of Mimi and Roger's relationship (which ends up being permanent in our version) but the death of the chirpy embodiment of Bohemia, Angel. We tried this again and not only did it make more sense for Angel to sing but Owen's light tone of voice worked better in this number than my heavier alternative.

For the rest of the lesson, we ran Santa Fe followed by I'll Cover You; two of my most important songs. I feel that Santa Fe went very well; the four of us, Cameron, Henri, Owen and I, interacted very well throughout, we all knew our lines and sang them with meaning and all of our movement was purposeful. I'll Cover You was also very good as we both had plenty of energy and interacted well with each other but the issue is our singing. Although we sound fine apart, our harmonies are very clashy; to prevent this, we'll both go see the school's singing teacher, Mr Quinn.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 24 - 05/12/16

Today in Rent, we had some major changes to our tracklist in order to better prepared for the show date and to put our own spin on the famous musical.

Below is our new tracklist:

• Act One
• Tune Up #1
• Voicemail #1
• Tune Up #2
• Rent
• Tune Up #3
• One Song Glory
• Light My Candle
• Voicemail #2
• Today 4 U
• You'll See
• Tango Maureen
• Life Support
• Another Day
• Will I?
• Santa Fe
• I'll Cover You
• We're Okay
• Over The Moon
• Act Two
• La Vie Boheme
• Voicemail #3
• Happy New Year B
• Take Me or Leave Me
• Without You
• Voicemail #4
• I'll Cover You (Reprise)
• Goodbye Love
• Seasons of Love

With our new tracklist, we've covered a lot more of it having only a few songs left to look at.

We started off today by going through I'll Cover You (Reprise) focusing on the chorus parts. When singing this song, I struggled to find the right pitch from the beginning as I didn't want to start too high which would mean I need to change key to get lower if I get too high. Besides this issue, I feel comfortable performing this song and it sounds even better now that the chorus has been added.

We then followed onto the end of our version of RENT and began Goodbye Love. This song is very conversation at the opening and evokes a lot of emotions out of the characters. Although Maureen and Joanne get back together, Mimi and Roger go their separate ways, Collins' is mourning the death of Angel and Mark's life is now empty considering most of his friends are upset.

With this song it's all about conveying the emotion through voice as well as our movement so today we focused on our voice. I struggled, initially, with knowing which of my parts were spoken in rhythm and which are sung but after listening to the original track multiple times and practicing at home, I feel that I've got it right.

Next lesson, we will work on adding movement to Goodbye Love.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 21 - 28/11/16

Today, we made a proper start on Act Two which I feel is going to be a lot harder than Act One. Act One is mostly comprised of songs between a few characters and each song reveals a new piece of the puzzle in the plot of Rent. Whereas, in Act Two, the songs are a lot more conversational and feature most members of the cast. This will be harder to rehearse as it means constantly learning the rhythm of our lines and if one person's ill, then it ruins the flow of the songs.

We spent this entire lesson learning Happy New Year B which I found quite difficult. Although the vocals aren't very advanced, it was the timing of when to say my line which was the issue. However, after singing through the song multiple times, I got the gist of the timings. We then went on to staging the scene which was very easy. We had Alice, Lorna and Cameron (Maureen, Joanne, Mark) stand on the blocks to the left, then when the rest of us enter from stage right on "5,4,3...open sesame", they jump down and we greet each other happily. When Will (Benny) enters, we react negatively and are disgusted by his presence. Throughout the song, Mimi and Roger become separated but when Angel speaks up the mood is lightened and even Benny is welcomed back into the group. We all then exit besides Mimi and Roger until their moment is over then Roger exits, leaving Mimi with The Man/The Drug Dealer (Tyler).

I'd say the main issues with the song at the moment is people not knowing how their lines are said (whether they're spoken or sung) and not knowing how some parts of the song goes (e.g. the final "Happy New Year" line). This is something we can pick up by listening to the track at home.

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.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 19 - 23/11/16

Today in Rent, me and Owen went over new movement for I'll Cover You and we all rehearsed from Life Support to Will I? We also went through You'll See Boys for the first time.

For I'll Cover You, we've made the movement much more romantic and we hold hands etc a lot more. This builds up the relationship between Collins and Angel better which will make I'll Cover You Reprise so much more emotional.

The run from Life Support to Will I? was okay but needed a lot of improvement. Life Support was sung very well but I struggled pitching the first note of each choral section. This is something I'd need to familiarise myself with; besides that, Life Support  was very good. Next with Another Day, I thought this was our best runthrough considering we'd only sung through it once or twice. We all came in at the right times and we all were very emotive when singing. Also, Henri did very well to keep his volume up and be heard above the rest of us all singing the same thing. Finally was Will I?. This song was brilliant until the echo came in. When the second group (Tyler, Taylor, Owen, me) echoed the same lyrics of the first group (Lorna, Warren, Will), we lost the timing especially on the fourth and final line, ("From this nightmare"). This led to the third group (Cameron, Henri, Alice) also being lost as they were following us. This is a song that we will need to keep practicing in order to get the timing right.

Finally, we went through You'll See Boys, for the first time which went very well. We sang each line as it was meant and our movement was relevant to the song. We will most likely go through this again, next lesson.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 18 - 21/11/16

Today we sang through everything in Act One (Besides Another Day and You'll See). Due to having a bad throat today I wasn't able to sing properly but in songs like Santa Fe, I had to still sing in order to get practise.

We then went over Another Day, which was very quick as Henri and Taylor had it learnt already and the chorus section is very similar to Life Support.

Next lesson, we will go over Will I? and move onto You'll See.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 17 - 17/11/16

Today, I went through I'll Cover You (Reprise) and I'll Cover You again.

When singing the reprise, I start off slightly too high which becomes an issue later in the song. At the beginning, this isn't an issue and suits the song very well but after the first verse, I become too high as the song gets higher; this leads to me straining my voice and it sounding bad. I've tried to sing the song lower but this is something I've struggled with so I'll need to work on this outside of lesson.

Next we went through I'll Cover You, which went very well. It took a minute to go through the harmonies with Owen but after that we acted out the song a lot more and made it into the romantic, happy song it's supposed to be.

Next lesson, we are hoping to work on Will I?

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

Today in Rent, we were in the hall again to get a better idea of our volume. We also had some of the staging blocked using steel decking and stage blocks. Below is a diagram of the stage:

When in the hall we decided to run through the opening which included Tune Up #1, Voicemail #1, Tune Up #2, and Rent. We did this so we could get a feel for how ready the opening is and loud we all are in each part of the stage.

Before singing the opening, we were asked to stand on the stage where we feel comfortable that we can project enough so that the entire audience can hear us over the audience. Where Lorna and Alice have years of training in singing under their belt they stood quite far back to nearly the back of the stage. Meanwhile, the rest of us weren't too far away from the apron as we weren't all so confident with our ability to project. We were then asked to take a step back, besides Lorna and Alice, which is where we were told that we need to be able to project from by the time we perform RENT. To achieve this, we have all arranged to go to singing lessons with Mr Quinn, our music and singing teacher, every week. This will improve not only our projection but also our harmonies as well.

After performing our opening, we were given the following notes:

• Although it's difficult, you need to sing up. The backing track volume can't be lowered or the atmosphere will be lost.
• The movement needs to be more purposeful at times.
• The dance break section looked very good.

Next, we began singing through Life Support, the scene where the counselling group is introduced. The song starts with the Life Support group introducing themselves and singing until Mark makes his awkward entrance. Then there's a discussion between Paul, the leader of the group, and Gordon, a member of the group.

After singing through the song multiple times, we went over the staging where we're on the blocks and steel decking in a group.

Next lesson, we'll go over this once more and then move on to Will I?

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 15 - 14/11/16

Today, Owen and I blocked the movement for I'll Cover You, we went over Today 4 U, and then after the lesson I sang through I'll Cover You (Reprise).

We started I'll Cover You by walking in after Santa Fe, and we perform our short dialogue section. Owen then leads me off to the side singing his first verse. I then lead Owen to the opposite side during my verse. During the chorus, we look towards the audience but then on "you are my love" we face each other holding hands. During the short instrumental, we got to the side of the stage where someone (Tyler/Warren) will be selling coats/jackets/clothing etc. During our next verse, Owen buys the coat and puts it on me. On, "You'll be my king," Owen mimes putting a crown on my head, but on, "You'll be my queen," I place the crown back on his head and hug him from behind. We repeat the same movement for the chorus. During the bridge, Owen and I look at each other across the stage. We end holding each others hands.

We then went on to Today 4 U, where me, Cameron and Henri went through the opening ("Bustelo, Malboro"). Then we helped Owen walk more femininely in heels and putting more energy into his character.

After the lesson, I went through I'll Cover You (Reprise) which I found extremely difficult. Not only do I struggle with finding the right pitch in a song, but I've also never sung a solo before so the nerves leading up to the show kicked in in rehearsals. After singing through the song once, I realised I lacked emotion and was focused too much on trying to hit the correct notes. In order to improve my performance I had to become my character and fully imagine what it feels like to lose someone you really care about.

Next lesson, I'll be going through this song again as well as other songs.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 14 - 09/11/16

Today we blocked Rent, the song.

We started off with a sing through which went extremely well besides some harmony issues between Cameron and Henri. We agreed that I, Collins, would start on the steps that led up to stage as we thought this would be a good place to get mugged so that Henri/Cameron can literally "throw down the key" to me from the stage. Throughout the number, I remain silent on the stairs waiting for my solo. When it comes to my solo I try to prop myself up to stand but just end up falling over once more where I remain for the rest of the song.

After everyone was taught the dance in the dance break we ran through the song multiple times and now I feel that we can comfortably perform this once again. The only issue I can see is that the chorus needs to be louder but this can be worked on at any point.

Next lesson, we will look at blocking a new scene.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 13 - 07/11/16

Today we ran through La Vie Boheme and Seasons of Love making sure everything we could do to make them better was done. We then moved on to singing through Rent together which went very well as we had looked at this independently at home.

We then went on to work on Santa Fe as we felt it still needed work and that we needed more interaction between the main four characters. When promoting my ideas of a world without worry in Santa Fe, I need to fully be confident with my movement onstage whether it be standing still, walking around nonchalantly, or breaking into dance. Today, I interacted a lot more with Lorna, Warren and Tyler and made the divide between the group less significant to show the unity that Collins' idea promotes.

However, when singing, I was told that a lot of it was far too low, even for the character of Collins. My voice was too low so it lost volume which meant I was inaudible compared to powerful voices such as Cameron and Henri. After working on my voice with Tom and Dan, I was able to sing much higher in order to be as loud as the others in the number, but not too high as this would prove difficult when harmonising with Angel in I'll Cover You.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 12 - 03/11/16

Today we worked heavily on La Vie Boheme making it more energetic and making it the happiest song in the musical.

We started by working out a lift to do during the "Death of Bohemia" speech. We decided to lift Taylor as she's the lightest, and me Tyler, Henri and Warren lift her so she's lying face up in mid air. We then lower down onto the table and we all gather round crying and looking mournful towards the death of Bohemia.

Throughout the number, we are dancing, posing, and jumping around in a spontaneous fashion but all of which is choreographed. When Alice and I sing together we have choreographed our movement:

"Emotion" - mimic crying
"Devotion" - gesture towards each other lovingly
"To causing a commotion" - face the audience and gesture anarchically
"Creation" - mimic the shape of a human
"Vacation" - mimic wearing sunglasses
*mucho masterbation*
"Compassion" - hug each other
"To fashion" - gesture to our clothes
"To passion when it's new" - *undecided*

After running through the song twice, we realised some areas needed to be worked on. For example, on "When Dorothy and Toto..." we decided that it was too static and that we needed to do something more relevant to the lyrics. We now have Alice leading Lorna as a dog across stage on an imaginary leash while Cameron and Taylor sing. The rest of us raise our hands from right to left like a rainbow.

Next lesson, we will run through this and some other numbers and perhaps look more at Santa Fe.

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Blog 11 - 02/11/16

Today was our first lesson performing on our school stage which is where we will be performing our production of RENT.

We started off performing Seasons of Love, masking our staging from our usual room to the stage. I feel that this went very well as we all knew the words and blocking for the song and it was a very basic song compared to other songs.

We then performed La Vie Boheme which didn't go as well. After performing it twice, we understood straight away that there was a severe lack of energy in one of the most energetic songs in the entire musical. A song filled with spontaneous outburst was very lacking in movement and this was something we really needed to change. We decided to make the most of the time we had on the stage and then work on La Vie Boheme next lesson.

We looked at Santa Fe next, which again wasn't the best. I was severely lacking in volume which in our classroom wasn't noticeable, but on the stage with the speakers facing the audience, my voice barely reached the front row. This is something I struggle with constantly and a lot of that volume is sacrificed when singing too low. However, trying to sing higher is something I struggle with also and doesn't suit my character if it's too high. Over the week, I need to work on this and possibly ask singers like Lorna or Alice to assist me. However, a positive to take from the song is that the staging is very nice to look at with me, Owen, Cameron, and Henri (Collins, Angel, Mark, and Roger) at centre downstage and Lorna, Tyler and Warren seated far to the right of us, singing any backing vocals.

We finished this rehearsal with Light My Candle. Henri and Taylor's movement was very good and showed the relationship between the pair very well, however they suffered the same issue I did in Santa Fe: Volume. This is something we're all going to have to practise for next lesson.

Our goals for next lesson are to give La Vie Boheme some energy and up our volume. 

Triple - Musical Theatre Unit (RENT) - Research - 19/10/16

RENT
Broadway debut: April 29th, 1996

Rent is a rock musical, loosely based on Puccini's opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in New York City under the shadow of HIV.

Many of the characters and plot elements are drawn from Puccini's La Bohème. Below are how the characters link between RENT and La Bohème:

La Bohème is a story about the lives of young poor artists just like RENT. Tuberculosis, the disease of Puccini's masterpiece is replaced by HIV/AIDS in RENT.