1. Ramy BenFredj
Bring It On Crucial rehearsal
In today’sworkshop/rehearsal we performedourchoreographedrepertoirefromthe 2013 Tony
Awardsof the song‘It’sall happening’fromBringItOn the musical.OurteacherMrs Parkinwasvery
critical withussayingthat we as a collectivestruggledasa company withcombiningdancingand
singingwithinthe performance,she notedthatitsoundedflatandthatenergywaslacking.Thiswas
a huge wake up call for all of us, we realisedwe quicklyneededtofix thesefaults,firstof all we
gatheredtogetherandbroke downthe songonlyfocusingonsinging, labellingwhoshouldbe
singingeachpart andchangingparts too,an example of thisisthere isapiece inthe songwhere
originallyIjumpedinandsaid “I’min”stickingmy hand uptheneveryone elsedoingthe same after
me in a specificorder.ButI am nowafter everybody sayingitlasttwice asthere isan instrumental
that no one iscoveringandI was comfortable withsayingthe linetwice doubling myenthusiasm
betweenthe twolines!Nowonce we hadbrokendownthe songwe sangit a couple of timesthen
appliedittoa sloweddowndance routine tryingtomasterthe abilityingiving100% in botharts
whilstcompletelyretainingourcharacterisation.Ipersonallysoonrealisedthatthe energyhad
completelymultipliedonce we knew whatwe were doingsinginganddancing,whichelevatedthe
performance even ourteachersayingthatithas beenabeneficial workshop withusleavingthe
workshop/rehearsal inamuchbetterplace. Afterreflection Ihadrealised thatIneededtoretainmy
focusthroughoutthe routine andnot show myconcentrationthroughmyfacial expression,inthe
nextworkshopIneedtoaim onnot breakingcharacterdespite the factI am focused! Thiswill be
difficultasI’mhavingtoact as thisenergeticteenwhilstpoppingandlockingmymovementstoadd
towardsthe streetstyle of dance,andthenfinallystayinkeyanddelivermynoteswithclarityand
harmonise withthe otherperformers,itisa handful butIrecognise thistypicallyexpectedbyevery
musical theatre performerandIcan fitthemall togetherwithtonsof preparationbyrehearingover
and overagain!
Here’s the alteration we made as you can see
(red circle) I now go last sticking both my hands
up showing my enthusiasm that my character
is in on the routine wanting to be a
cheerleader! It was a better decision as it
sounded better filling the backing track
instrumental properly and multiplying
everyone’s energy.
