2. The focus within today’s rehearsal is to successfully structure the narrative for our chosen musical
and consider characters that will be necessary to cast.
Therefore my smart target for this rehearsal is to analyse the book of the chosen musical and
assist with creating the abridged version of the narrative. I also aim to identify key characteristics
for the characters that we include.
It was decided that in order to provide our company with a challenge, we would abridge ‘Grease’ the musical into a
twenty minute extract which would make narrative sense. From conducting extensive research into the musical and
the context in which it is set, I quickly realised that we would need to find ways theatrically to portray teenagers
from the 1950’s. I took part in a characterisation workshop which involved me playing various roles from the musical,
including Sandy, Rizzo and Marty. During the first task I has to embody the characteristics I knew were recognisable for
each person. For example, I knew that Rizzo was leader of the Pink Ladies and thought of in high regard by the other
girls, therefore played the role with a hoity distain towards those around me. I did this by looking down my nose at
them, rolling my eyes, standing with a strong stance and exhibiting fairly open body language. In contrast to this,
when playing ‘Sandy’ I used closed body language to portray her shy personality, but maintained a broad smile to
represent her innocent enthusiasm.
Following this exercise I was then asked to present the opening scene between the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies. My
challenge was to establish the relationship between the characters and elude to what they had done during the
previous summer through my physicality and delivery of dialogue. As I played Sandy, I tried to convey how much she
had enjoyed spending the summer with a charming and romantic boy. I did this by flicking my hair, batting my
eyelashes and smiling whilst reminiscing to the other pink ladies. In contrast to this, the boy playing Danny attempted
to convey how he’d enjoyed a summer of passion with a girl he’d met.
After exploring the opening scene I was challenged to help re-order the other sections of the narrative into an order
which would work for our upcoming showcase. As a company we decided that we should use small sections of the
libretto to link together the following songs; Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted, Freddie my Love, Sandra Dee
(reprise) and you’re the one that I want. I felt that this array of songs would challenge us vocally as a company, as
we’d need to learn harmonies, take on solo numbers and perform in ensemble sections. At the end of this workshop, I
set myself the smart target of learning the lines by the time that we had blocked the entire extract and to learn the
lyrics to the ensemble numbers by the next rehearsal.
3. One strength that was apparent throughout this rehearsal was my enthusiasm and strong work
ethic. I displayed concentration and focus throughout and managed to achieve all of the aims
that the director had set for this initial workshop. I took on the responsibility of writing up the
libretto that we had decided to use and worked very hard whilst we were exploring characters.
An area for development which I portrayed within this rehearsal was my sensitivity and
empathy towards others. I was very eager to put my views across and sometimes prevented the
others from presenting their ideas. As a result within the next rehearsal I will give other people
of the company a chance to present their ideas and decide as a company what our thoughts are
on everybody’s ideas.
Review of my smart target: my smart target for this rehearsal was to analyse the book of the
chosen musical and assist with creating the abridged version of the narrative. I also aimed to
identify key characteristics for the characters that we include.
I have successfully completed today’s target as I had full concentration and determination to
create the narrative. I also was enthusiastic about taking part in the warm up and showed I was
willing to jump into any character. This will help me in the industry as determination is
something many directors seek as they want to work with someone who will not disappoint.
4. Once the script was abridged and produced, I took part in a
workshop dedicate to projection. I stood in a line with the cast
and chose one line to project to the back of the room. I felt that
this was helpful and enabled me to ensure that my character
could be heard by all members of the audience.
After projecting lines to the back of the
room stood still, the director told us to
move around the room and read out the
first scene. I found this challenging as I had
to listen for my cue lines and still project
whilst moving and looking away from the
audience. However I successfully
completed the workshop and can
successfully project my voice within
rehearsals. This is something which I know
will be useful to me within the industry.
