We continued on to the dance which is mainly all about Roxie, therefore I decided that my character should be quite subdued and not too elaborate as the focus really needs to be on her at the time. A lot of our movements are the same as hers but not quite as big, by filling down our movements it makes her stand out more and us seem like the back ups like we are. The company have to sing in this song as well which I’d completely forgotten about because I was so focused on the dancing. When Nadine played the backing track we all haven’t it our best shot but none of us really knew what we were singing so we decided as a group that this needed to be worked on with Ralph, so for the duration of the dance we mainly sang. Although we need to concentrate on both elements (dancing and singing) it allowed us to get the motor programme of the dance in our heads and that way we would be able to focus on the singing as we’d be confident with the dance.
We then did a run through of “All That Jazz”. Personally I feel that I coped very well considering I learnt the dance in one lesson and very quickly. I remembered the base choreography however because we’ve lost someone from the class it really confused me as to where I need to be in the spacing for certain parts and everyone got a bit muddled. So for most of the run through I stayed at the back of the space to ensure that I could still go over the main choreography and not get in anyone’s way doing it. After the dance was over everyone agreed that there were certain bits that we needed to go over, so we refined these and then did a run through again. We added in the singing as well and I noticed that I was able to reach the note of the harmony and everyone else did as well so it sounded really good!
On Thursday’s lesson we began with Sam talking to us about
the difference between a tone and a semitone. A semitone, also called a half
step or a half tone and it is the smallest musical interval. It is considered
the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval
between two adjacent notes in a 12-tone scale. A tone is an interval equalling
two semitones. For example, the distance between C and D is a tone, because
between C and D there is a distance of two flats (from C to C# and from C# to
D). In terms of instruments a classic guitar, electric guitar, bass, ukulele, and
many more, each fret corresponds to a semitone. We completed a very similar
warm up compared to last week, beginning with our breathing exercises, which
meant breathing in for 8 counts and exhaling for 10 counts. Before we started rehearsals
for Chicago I was never able to understand or know how to control my breathing
and ever since these rehearsals I’ve been able to develop my understanding and
control of my breathing, which in turn assists me with my singing.
We then began with singing over “Roxie”, this was
particularly beneficial for me because although I know the song, I know it from
the perspective of singing it as Roxie, not the company. Once it had been clarified
which parts the company sing and what they don’t, I was able to understand how
the chorography links with the song. The song almost works as a conversation
between Roxie and her “Boys”. For this song I had to also consider my portrayal
of the “boy” that I’m playing, simply because I don’t want to be acting
feminine because one, I’m not and two, I don’t want to act in the same way that
I do when I’m Roxie because I’m not her at this point. After we’d finished
doing this the others went over “Cell Block Tango” as they were still unsure of
it, so I decided to go into another practice space and try and match up the
singing with the choreography so that I was sure of which piece came where.
Singing and dancing at the same time has never been my
strong point as I don’t have a naturally strong voice in the first place, so
this particular musical is quite challenging. In terms of the choreography it’s
not necessarily complex it’s just concentrating on two of the elements at one
time can be difficult, and in order to make the performance successful both of
these need to be of good quality. If you can sing really well but can’t remember
the dance then it’s just going to look atrocious. So I felt like this is a very
important thing for me to focus on in order to make my performance successful. Initially
I struggled because I couldn’t remember the choreography because I was focusing
on ensuring that my singing was in the right pitch etc. so I decided in order
to make this practice beneficial I should break it down by verse and chorus and
make sure that I was happy with both the singing and the choreography before
moving on. I found this to be particularly helpful in assisting me with working
on both singing and dancing at the same time.
Then on Friday’s lesson we started off with a gentle run
through of “All That Jazz”. We simply marked through the choreography so that
we could gently warm up and not sprain any muscles but also to ensure that the
spacing and arrangements were correct and so they could be corrected if needed.
It also allowed us to keep refreshing our minds with the song and choreography
so that we wouldn’t forget about it.
After this we started going through the scene with “Roxie”. We
began with the reporter scene before the song ensuring that everyone one
understood how the scene would finish and how we would then enter as the boys. We
had a brief discussion about showing the difference between us being reporters and
then into Roxie’s showcase boys. We decided that as the reporters we should
have a prop or some kind of coat that would identify us as reporters and then
remove this to then be in all black for the dance. Roxie went over her monologue
which allowed us to hear the first part of the song which she sings and
performs be herself and then allow us to know our cue when to come in. then we
clarified our spacing and formations which then allowed all of us to try the
whole scene again. This rehearsal process I find to be very helpful because we
as the performers get to hear our cues and understand how the show will work on
the night. I don’t find it helpful when we learn the choreography and the song
but then don’t know the scene beforehand or afterwards to know what happens
before and after the dance, an as to where we enter and exit the stage.
Following this Richard came in to assist me and Alex with our
scene that we performed to Nadine last week. We talked together through what we’d
already worked on in terms of our placement and our costumes and then we
performed our piece to Richard. He then helped us with the corrections that
Nadine mentioned last week in terms of building and dropping the tension. He then
added a few additional changes. The first one was to do with Alex telling me
about what I should wear, he suggested that Alex should get closer to me, so
much so that I would need to bend my back in order to get away from him. However
the way he should do this, is that it should almost be choreographed so that it
reminds the audience that we’re still performing our lives in a show. I really
felt that this suggestion would help the audience as well as my performance as
when Alex gets closer me it’s almost like he’s telling me that he’s the boss
and that I should listen to him, which helps decrease the tension and that
point. The other suggestion that he made
was that instead of Billy almost grabbing Roxie’s neck he should actually grab
it, this also helped to show Billy’s rage but and then drop the tension for
Roxie, and then allow her to explode after this. The final suggestion that was
made was about our staging. Originally we had Roxie enter upstage but it was
suggested that we move it so that she comes into parallel with Billy as it
shows there is equal power at that point and then when Billy moves closer to me
the audience can see the movement of the feet.
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