WWRY

 

Today we got our parts for we will rock you. Me and Melissa got the part of Scaramouche, Josh is going to be playing Galileo. I am really excited about this as I have not had a lead roll in a production before and am really looking forward to this challenge.

In today’s rehearsal, we did speed runs of the show. We had to split into groups and quickly read through the script, picking out the key storyline

 

Wednesday 6^th March:
BLOCKING – ACT 1 – SCENE 2

As we have a double cast for this show, we take it in turns of who get’s blocked and then who takes notes and copies next time. To begin, Mel’s cast were being blocked so I had to watch and remember the blocking for when I had to do it. Rachel began by entering Scaramouche from the back curtain for the second part of ‘I want to Break Free’. I then move on the sing ‘Somebody to love’ which will include the teen queens, who all stood in a cluster and had synchronised movements. I love this song but I know that I am going to have to do a lot of work to get it right as it is really hard to sing. There are lots of high notes and notes that need to be held for a long time or ‘belted’ so I’m going to have to make sure I spend a lot of time getting it right.

This rehearsal left me feeling very confident about the show as everyone had great energy and had some good ideas about future blocking and things. However, I do know that is going to be hard work and I will need to take a lot of time to perfect things that I am not confident or comfortable with.

I think that when I do this scene again, I will direct more anger to the Gaga kids as I think that Scaramouche has spent a lot of time being mistreated by them so it is important that that shows to the audience. I’m also going to do some more research and watch some more videos so that I can get it right. I want my character to be enjoyable to watch but also believable to the audience so I would like to make these efforts to do that.

 

 

 

Wednesday 20^th March:
BLOCKING – ACT 1 – SCENE 6

Today we blocked scene 6 which is the scene between me and Josh in the ‘hospital’ after we have been abducted by Commander Khashoggi. We began with Josh and I laying side by side and the both of us slowly waking up feeling very disorientated and confused about what’s been going on. Throughout the dialogue, I start to get sarcastic again and more confident about the fact that I’m probably ‘better’ than the stranger next to me (Galileo) who doesn’t seem to know anything at all and begins stuttering and saying odd phrases. This is a really important part of the scrip as this is where we get a glimpse of Scaramouche’s soft side and realise that she hasn’t had any friends, and feels quite lonely. I think that it is obvious to the audience at this point that she feels lucky to have met and outcast like her.

The song in this scene is ‘Under Pressure’, this is where the two begin to get a bit more comfortable with each other and we think that there might be a chance for a romantic relationship, until the ending dialogue where Galileo calls Scaramouche ‘Baby’ and she begins to get defensive and quickly shoots him down.

It is important for this scene to be very energised as the dialogue is short and snappy. Josh and I need to feed off of each other’s dialogue so that the scene doesn’t lose pace and the audience don’t feel uncomfortable and get bored. This means that we are going to have to learn our lines and each other’s lines really well so that we know where we can interrupt and take pauses etc. I also need to make sure that I think about the fact that Josh is Galileo, a stranger, and not Josh, My friend.

Thursday 21^st March:
BLOCKING – ACT 1 – SCENE 8

Blocking Scene 8 was really fun today. Josh and I began by entering stage right, whilst Meat and Brit were hiding in the background. There is some dialogue and it begins to get uncomfortable so we move to separate sides of the stage to represent a divide in our relationship. It is there that meat and Brit jump out and grab me and Josh to begin questioning us about some of the things Galileo has been saying because they recognise it from the ‘Holy Texts’ they have been reading. As we had scripts, this scene didn’t look as energised or realistic as it could have, but when we have learnt our lines and don’t need the scripts, we can get it to look much more realistic.

I think that I need to work with Millie and Emily on how much restraint and struggling we can use so that I don’t look like I don’t mind being captured because this could look very static and un-realistic.

 

Today in rehearsals, we mostly went over dance’s and choreographed some of the big numbers. I took myself to a practice room when I was not needed, so that I can work on my songs as I am finding them very challenging. I worked on somebody to love most of the time as the notes at the end are really hard to hit.

This was a really good use of my time as I was also able to have some thoughts about my own personal choreography within my songs, as well as what the teen queens will be doing, so that I still look like I am being ‘Scaramouche’ when I sing. This is important as my performance needs to be believable to the audience so that they don’t come out of the show during songs.

 

Thurday 30^th May:
Production Roles:

Today we were assigned production roles for the show. I chose to be a part of props, which meant going through the scripts and working out all of the props we would need to the whole show and then working out how to either create, find or buy these props. Lauren and I divided up the script. She made the props list for act 1 and I had to make the props list for act 2. Lauren also set up the props tables whilst I took some more time to rehearse.

Staging:

Today we had a short hour long lesson space, so we used this time to put the staging up in the studio. I worked on the side of staging which I would be performing on as I thought that it was important for me to have a say as I know about entrances, exits etc for my part. I am really impressed with the staging; I think that is really effective to have the ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ stage on opposite sides of the studio to show the contrast between Killer Queen and the Bohemians.

After today’s lesson, I went home and sat down to learn my lines. I also spent some time going over and listening to all of my songs to make sure that I know them really well.

This is really important as it is vital that I feel comfortable with what I am doing so that I don’t lack confidence on stage and so that my performance is at my best.

Costume:

For my costume, I have decided that I am going to begin by wearing something torn and dark which suits my character well as she mentions in previous scenes about not wearing pastels. In have then decided that when the bohemians take Scaramouche to get dressed up like them, that I will wear a purple corset and a netted purple skirt as I have them left over from a previous costume which I can adapt to suit We Will Rock You.

 

4^th June:
 Today was our last rehearsal before the show. I decided to spend time, whilst I was not performing, making last minute changes to scenes and songs with Emily because we really wanted to get it perfect. I was taking a lot of time to work on lines and changing a few things that I did not think worked, like some of the punch lines. Finally, our cast did a full run through including lighting and sound cues. This run through went really well as everyone was full of energy and we could see the work that they had put in. However, as we were the second cast to do our run through, some of the other cast members and year 12’s left for various reasons, so our cast was looking a bit empty. This was frustrating as we had to keep remembering that we did have people missing and that It was going to look better and feel more energised when everyone else was in it. However, we pulled through and got it done, ready for our performance.

 

We Will Rock You and Character Research:

We will Rock you was written in 2000 and brought to stage at the Dominon Theatre in London in 2002. Original Cast members included Kerry Ellis,Tony Vincent, Hannah Jane Fox and Sharon D Clark, as well as a large number of ensemble cast members.

The Show pays tribute to one of the most famous bands in world, Queen, and tells the story of a time in the future, when the only music allowed on the planet, was created using computer software by the ‘Global Soft’ corporation which was owned by the “evil” character, Killer Queen.

Scaramouche is the lead girl of the musical. She is rejected by the ‘Gaga kids’ for being different, and does not discover the bohemians until she meets Gallileo after they are captured. Scaramouche is quite sarcastic and blunt, probably a result of always being an outcast and bullied by the Gaga’s. I think that this part of her personality is really important as it shows the contrast of how hardened she is when she first meets Gallileo, and how their friendship, and eventually their relationship, softens her up. It’s also really important as her hard personality is fuelled by her drive to discover the place of the living rock, and eventually over-rule Killer Queen.

I think that I will really play on Scaramouche’s harder side as I am quite comfortable with making sarcastic remarks and being quite blunt. I can relate to the character a lot as well which I think will be really helpful to me throughout the process.

I have looked at some performances on YouTube and think that I will take some of the West End characteristics on for my interpretation, such as the way some of the punch lines are delivered: “They think I’m a lesbian cause I don’t wear Pastels”. I also think that the strong London accent is really effective as it really separates  Scaramouche from the other characters, so I will try to include that in my characterisation too.