25th May

Today we started by refining the dances of certain numbers; including the opening number and Magic Foot.

We were also positioned officially for the final conclusive numbers (‘Second’- both parts -‘Weltenschauung’ and ‘Champion’). This was very useful for me. Although cramped, I now know my definite position to return to after ‘I Speak Six Languages’. I have been simply guessing which seat to remain in for the remainder of the show in rehearsals, until now. From here, I can position my belongings in advance; if needs be. However, I am still unclear about entering in act two; I have been coming onstage with Six Languages so far – so I may have to enter earlier in order to place my bags, although another parameter arises here, due to the fact that my official placing for the ending is owned by another chorus member prior to Six Languages. I will speak to my dance tutor who has been setting these placements; to find out when I come on, though I think it will be easier if I simply abandon my character’s belongings for act 2. There is enough action going on in the finale (especially because Barfee, the character I support, is in the final along with Olive, and wins the bee) for me to react to, so a lack of characterisation and consistency with acting should not be a problem here.

With Magic Foot today, I really enjoyed it this time. Following on from yesterday’s feedback, I made sure I kept my eye-line up towards the audience throughout the dance. This gave me more energy as well, and it helped me to practise the dance instinctively without having to check my footwork and lose focus by doing so. Despite the movement being successful, I am still losing energy by failing to sing correctly. I may suggest that we go through the number once more in a singing session, especially now that the entire chorus is involved with their own movement and singing on the bleachers. It would be very useful for me personally to refresh my memory of the timing and harmonies, as I have been singing Perry’s lines accidentally at points, and I cannot remember my harmony lines very well at all. Judging from those around me, the rest of the chorus are not confident with their harmonies either.

I also received my official costume today. Here is a photo of me modelling it:

I am very pleased with it. I am glad that it isn’t directly reflective of Perry’s costume (as I said in a previous log book entry, I did not want mine to look reminiscent of his), but is still unique and clear enough to establish me as a Barfee-character. For my own character, I would like it to be slightly askew and messy, similar to the student boys in ‘Spring Awakening’ (a musical), the students in ‘St Trinians’ (the movie) and the students in ‘School of Rock’ (a movie and adapted musical). Here are some particular examples of the aestethic from these productions:

 

This picture from the stage version of ‘School of Rock’ displays most of the ensemble cast and clearly shows the wild nature of the show and the characters. I am particuarly drawn to the boy third from the left; this is the type of look I admire and would like to channel into my character, especially in rock-like, energetic numbers such as ‘Pandemonium’ and ‘Prayer of the Comfort Counsellor’.

Here is an image of the boys in ‘Spring Awakening’, attacking a character called ‘Melchior’. Their animalistic behaviour contrasts with the courtliness of their costumes, which I intend to capture with my character and his clothing.

Although all female, the St. Trinians girls as shown above are almost an alalgamation of the first two pictures I have used as inspiration. They are uniformed and evidently supposed to be smart, yet they rebel against such an expectation to their own will. By the source material (‘St Trinian’s’, a british gag comedy strip in the 1940s), the comedy is intentionally drawn from this, and this is exactly how I want to entertain the audience with my character in the wildness of this show, as well as staying true to the odd, social-ineptness of the Barfee archetype.

 

This is why I have untucked the shirt, so the uniform doesn’t look too slick. I think this will seem difficult to match with my bag, so I am putting a lot of faith in the technical team to source the correct prop for this.

I think it works well with the other Barfee costumes, which are similar but varied slightly, as shown here:

I admire the variation, as we aren’t playing the same character, simply using an archetype to create our own interesting ones. We do not actually interact very much in the show, due to the social-ineptness of course characters, so the differentiation and slight uniqueness is good at representing this. On the other hand, I also admire the subtle implements of union into the costumes, particularly the blue cartoonish glasses. The uniforms are similar, but the glasses are identical, giving the impression that our characters are connected in a group. Hopefully these aspects will be clear to the audience – the glasses themselves are eye-catching and quirky, so they should be able to illustrate this well.

In conclusion; I thought that today was not overly productive, but we clarified some parts of the show which I was unclear with. If we continue to do so, I think I and the cast will be far more confident in what we do onstage, be comfortable doing so and therefore able to focus on our characters more to give quality performances rather than be lazy and distracted by uncertainties. I also think the awareness of what my costume looks like is very useful for me, as this will influence what I do with my character and my development in reherasals.