Show Overview (PPP) - 08/02/11

Show Overview:

The first show on Monday was pretty successful, however I personally feel the second show was much better. Most of the routines went really well because we all performed and stayed in character throughout all the routines. However I personally had a number of different issues, particularly in the first show. As I have seen the film for the first show, my analysis on this show will be more in depth than my second show.

In the Dreams routine, I had an issue with my quick change in the first show. When I ran off stage, I put my clothes too far back in the wings, so when I came off to get them, I did not have enough time to change. This resulted in me being one count of eight late for the pair section. Also, as Julia had swapped where myself and my pair were in the rehearsal that morning, I found it difficult to get to my space. This was because some people were not in their right place, so effected the whole line.
In the second show I had no issues with this routine. I managed to get on stage in time and perform to the best of my ability.

In The Search routine, I had one main issue which was to do with my costume. The skirt was a little too tight, so I found it difficult to do the moving handstand, however I made sure that for the second show, I was able to do it. The other issue was the wig. Occasionally, parts of it would go into my eyes and would effect my vision. This effected me in both shows, however it was not as bad in the second show because I had got used to it.

In the Witches Convention routine, I had two minor issues. My first issue was to do with the wig. This is because in both shows, the wig kept getting into my eyes, which meant that in some parts of the routine I had to move the hair out of my face. However, when asking people from the audience whether it got irritating they said no and thought it was part of the routine. My other issue was to do with my performance. I personally feel that I did not perform to the best of my abilities in the first show. I did, however, make sure that in the second show I performed and used facial expressions throughout.

In The Witches Reveal routine, I had a couple of issues. My first issue was to do with my bald cap. In the first show, my bald cap was not fully on properly, which meant that the audience could see my normal hair underneath it. This ruined the effect of us being 'bald', so I made sure for the second show it was on securely by using bobby pins. My other issue was to do with spacing. In both the unison section and the last part of the routine, I had very little space to perform in. This meant that I had to make all my movements smaller, which in some places, meant that I lost the dynamics.

In The Plan routine, I had a number of different issues. In the first show, one of my issues was to do with my gloves. My issue was that I had lost one of my gloves, so I could not put my gloves on when we were supposed to. Instead, I covered my hands with my jumper and once I had got off stage, I grabbed some from the side. My next issue was that I wasn't using my face as much as I should've been, however in the second show I definitely performed more. The last issue was when the music stopped in the second show. I didn't make much noise, like we should have done.

In the Kids vs Witches routine, I only have one issue when watching it back. This was that I did not use the right dynamics. As the routine was an urban routine, the dynamics should be fast and sharp. However, when watching the first show back, some of my moves look slow and lacklustre. I made sure that in the second show, I did not use as much energy in the routines before, so that I could use the right dynamics in this routine.

In the Kids Hatch A Plan routine, I only have one main issue. This was that in the first show, I was not performing. I did not use many gestures which represented my character (a witch) and I did not use my face. This may have been because I had used all my energy in the dances before, so I did not perform as well. To make sure this did not happen in the second show, I went over the routine backstage and used facial expressions and gestures.

In the Making A Potion routine, I found my only issue was spacing. The majority of the time I did not have enough room to perform. This meant that I had to make all my moves much smaller. It also effected my performance (e.g. facial expressions) as I was more worried about my spacing, than the performance of the routine. For my next performance, I need to focus on my facial expressions as well as my performance.

In the Dinner Is Served routine, I only had one issue. This was that in the first show, when myself and Indea moved the table, the objects started to fall off the table because we had it at an angle. However, we managed to cover it up by acting. We made sure that in the second show we did not tip the table when moving it.

In The Witches Death routine, I had a couple of issues. The first was to do with length of our deaths. I  personally feel that in the first show, we took too long to die. When asking members of the audience later on, they did say it almost got 'repetitive' and 'boring' because of this. I made sure that in the second show I did not take as long to die. My other issue was that in the first show, when we did the rhythm section, we went too quickly. This resulted in it sounding messy and not clean. For the second show, we made sure we stuck to the same pace.


Do you think you have improved? 
I personally do think I have improved a lot since the start of the show preparation. For example, when looking back at one of the first blog posts I completed, I mentioned that I did not perform or have the stamina to complete one routine. However, when reflecting on show day, I managed to perform throughout the whole show and I had the stamina to complete all the routines to the best of my ability. One thing I did mention in a blog post of mine was that I could not get to my space in time. In some respects this is true as in the Dreams routine, I was unable to make it to my space in time. However, the space I meant in that blog, I was able to get to in plenty of time.


Any targets for the future?
I think my one big target I would set for myself would be to use facial expressions during rehearsals. This is because when it came to the show, I found it challenging to perform as well as use facial expressions. Another big target I would set for myself would be to improve my stamina. This is because although I managed to perform and complete the whole show, I still could have done better if I had had more stamina.


Do you complete your targets? 
I feel I managed to complete most of the targets I set for myself in my blogs. For example, I managed to complete targets such as: improve my stamina, perform more, improve strength, improve flexibility and get to my place in time. Although I managed to complete these targets, I feel I could have improved some of them even more if I had concentrated on them more. These include things such as stamina and performance.


Do you feel you could have sold more tickets?

Hoodies that could have been used to publicise.

In my opinion, I think we could have sold out both shows. However, I do not blame the Marketing and Publicity team. The reason for this is because myself personally, did as much as possible to get the show 'out there'. For example, I got our school to publicise it, sent emails, created and placed posters around school, used social media and told lots of people about our show. I think if we had had the hoodies and t-shirts in time, we could have walked around with them on to publicise to the general public more.

Friday's Tech Run Overview (PPP) - 05/02/16

Friday's Tech Run:

On Friday, we had a tech run for our show. Overall, the tech run was not a success. This is because of a number of different reasons. In this post, I will talk about each routine and how I feel they went.


Dreams: 
Originally when rehearsing this routine in the studio, I felt that the routine was pretty clean and we all knew what we were doing. However, when we entered the Obie and started performing the routine in the space, it became clear it was not. Many people did not manage to get to their spaces in time and kept forgetting what came next.

I had a two main issues when running the routine on Friday. The first thing issue was deciding where to quick change into my Witches costumes. When we were quick changing in the studio, we decided to get changed behind the ramp, however behind the ramp was very dark and there was not enough space for everyone to get changed. We then came to the conclusion we should get changed in the wings and then run back under the ramp for our part. The other issue I had during Tech run was getting back on stage after the quick change. As I had to get changed into my pyjamas in 2 counts of eight, I found it challenging to get back on stage in time. To overcome this, I tried to get change as quick as possible and put my night cap on while running onto stage. Once I had figured these issues out, I knew exactly what I had to do to make sure the routine looked good for Monday.

At the end of the tech run, Julia and Josie gave us feedback. They told us that we needed to perform the routine more and be almost 'child like'. They also told us that the pair sequence needed to be much softer and lyrical. I personally felt like I needed to be much softer in the pair sequence, as I felt some of the moves looked rigid. I also felt I needed to interact with my partner more and work together. As well as this, in the section where there is two groups, my group (Josie's group) moved too far back and some people were being squashed by the ramp. To improve this, we all moved less, so there was no risk of anyone falling over.

Overall, after Friday's tech run, I felt that the Dreams routine did not need too much work. It was pretty clean, however we all just needed to think about our dynamics, performance and interaction with each other. Over the weekend, I made sure I thought about all the feedback given and applied it for Monday.


The Search: 
During rehearsals in the studio, this routine was very messy. We had to rehearse it many times with Julia at after school rehearsals to make it better. When we performed it in the Obie, not much had changed. The routine looked pretty messy and it looked like not many people knew what they were doing or the counts to go on.

Personally, I had two issues with this routine. Firstly, before this number there is a short narration with a film playing in the background. Julia told us we needed to come onto stage at a certain point. However, we found this an issue as we could not see the film, so would never come on at the right time. To overcome this, Julia recommended the person at the back (Grace) to watch in the next wing down and tell us when to go. The next issue I had was the timing for the unison part. People kept starting at different times, so I would get confused at what point I was meant to start. Later on, Julia told us to watch Nina (who was the person at the back) for the timings, so that we all started at the same time.

After we had completed the show, Julia and Josie gave us some feedback. They told us all to consider our intention for the routine. For example, as a Witch I hated children, so if I saw one I was to react to them (e.g. covering my nose, pulling faces, trying to move away). I made sure that on Monday morning (during our first rehearsal) I made my intention clear and tried to interact with other people on stage. We were also told to perform more, as many of us were not using facial expressions.

In general, after Friday's tech run, I was not too concerned with this routine, as I personally knew what I needed to do to improve. I made sure that over the weekend I read through my feedback and decided at what points I would do certain actions, such as covering my nose. However, I still did not feel completely confident, as I felt that some people did not take in the feedback, so were not going to focus and/or improve this routine.


The Witches Convention:
During the rehearsal process, I felt confident with this routine. This is because everyone knew what they were doing and the routine looked pretty clean. When performing it on stage, the routine went pretty well. There were a couple of minor issues, but most of it went well.

I only had one main issue when running the routine on Friday. This was that when we started taking off our costumes, I never got my old lady costume off before the next song started. This was an issue as it meant that I never got off stage at the right point. It also could effect other dancers who have to pass me. To make sure I got my costume off in time, I started to remove/undo some of my outfit before Issy (the Grand High Witch) instructed us to. I made sure they were little things (such as gloves, shoes) so that it wouldn't be obvious that I was doing so.

Once we had finished, Julia and Josie gave us feedback. They told us that we needed to interact with Issy more, for example get excited when she appears. We were also told to think about our mood (whether we were excited, happy or annoyed) at the conference. This mood would also effect the way we danced. I decided to be over excited, so all my moves looked 'over the top' and I exaggerated a lot of them to suit my mood. Also, some of the year 10's came up to us at the end of this routine and mentioned that this routine was their favourite.

Overall, the conference routine went pretty well on Friday's tech run. Although, we did not perform to the best of our ability, we all knew what was coming next and tried to portray our roles. I made sure that over the weekend,  I concentrated on the dynamics of the moves and my facial expressions.

The Witches Reveal:
In rehearsals, this routine was very mixed. At some points it looked clean and at other points it looked messy. I felt pretty confident with my parts of the routine and I knew all the choreography and timing. When performing it in the Obie on Friday, the routine looked quite messy. Although, it was not as bad as rehearsals, it was still not up to 'performing' standards.

I had a few issues with this routine. The first issue was my bald cap over my face because unlike most other people, Friday was my first time performing the routine with it over my face. I could not see very clearly and many people kept crashing into me, as they could not see either. Also, as I could not see very clearly, I hit my head on the floor (because I could not see where the floor was as it was dark like the lighting), which then effected my dancing. To overcome this, I practiced at home with it on, so I got used to it. My second issue was the timing at one point. This was because lots of us were doing different counts. To make sure this didn't happen, Julia asked us to count the timing out loud when we were getting feedback. We then all agreed on the first way (which was the counts I was already doing). My final issue was the lighting. I felt like sometimes the stage was too dark, so I could not see what I was doing (especially with the bald caps over our faces). However, as this was a tech run, all the lighting was changed for Monday so that we could see better.

When we finished running the show, we got given feedback. Both Julia and Josie said that we need to use our faces, even though we had bald caps over our faces. They also said we needed to be more creepy and like witches. They recommended us going home and watching the film again to get an idea of what they were like and how they acted. They also said that we needed to focus on spacial awareness and making our moves bigger (performing to the back of the audience). Julia had one point that was aimed at me. This was that I walked to the back at one point of the routine, rather than staying in character. I agreed with all the feedback given and took them into consideration when rehearsing over the weekend and on Monday.

Overall, the witches routine went fairly well. However, I felt like with more work and effort, we could perform it better than before. I decided that over the weekend, I would focus on wearing the bald cap over my face while practicing, working on my role and cleaning the routine

The Plan:
In rehearsals, this routine went pretty well. This is because we did not have the costumes, so could get through the piece quickly. However, when performing this routine in the Obie, it went badly. As it took so long for us to get changed into our old lady costumes, we ran out of music. Most people didn't know what they were doing and weren't staying in character throughout.

I personally did not have any issues with this routine. When we were doing dress runs in class, I realised that it would take to long to put on/take off my costume as separate objects. So the week before the Friday Tech run, I made adjustments to my costume. This meant that I was dressed quickly and if other people had done the same to their costumes, we would have finished the routine before the end of the song. I also stayed in role throughout.

When we finished running the show, Julia and Josie gave us feedback. The main issue was that we weren't getting changed quick enough. They also told us that we needed to stay in character throughout, even when getting changed and make sure we acted excited when given the sweets. As well as this, when we were being given the sweets by Issy, our chairs were in the wrong place, so we re-arranged them. I took all the feedback given into consideration, however this routine was not one of my 'priorities' as I had been given more feedback/points for other routines.

Overall, this routine went really badly. We ran out of music and weren't performing to the best of our abilities. However, I felt like if we all tried to get changed quicker and focused on this routine over the weekend, we could make it better and more interesting for the audience to watch,


Kids vs Witches:
In rehearsals, this routine was very mixed. Most of the time it looked pretty messy, however occasionally parts of the routine looked good. When performing the routine at the tech run on Friday, it was no different. The choreography looked sloppy, the pair/group sections were out of time and messy and people didn't know what they were doing.

I had two main issues with this routine. The first issue was the timing at one point of the routine. Originally when we were taught it, it was '3 and 4', however during rehearsals and at the tech run, most people were doing it as '5 and 6'. This confused at everyone was doing different timing. Later on we then spoke about it and Lucy told us all it was '5 and 6'. My other issue was my spacing in the three different pair sections. In the lesson before the tech run, Julia had changed all the spacing's for these sections, but I never got there in time and some people who were meant to be in our lines, were either in the lines behind or in front.

Once we'd finished our tech run, we got given feedback. Both Julia and Josie had one main bit of feedback for this routine - our timing. They mentioned this because during the routine we all did different timings and so the routine got messed up. To make sure this didn't happen, we went over the timings for each part of the routine. We also looked at our spacing. Julia also mentioned that we were too close together and that we needed to use all the space. So she placed us where she wanted us to be for each section. As well as this, Josie told us that we needed to portray our characters more. For example, if you're a child, you needed to be more scared of the witches and trying to get away from them. If you were a witch, you needed to be more persuasive (when trying to give the sweets) and more evil, because you knew you were trying to kill the children. Later on, Julia then asked me to send the music for this routine to everyone so that they could rehearse the routine at home and make sure they know their own timings.

In general, this routine in Friday's tech run went pretty badly. We did not perform and we did not know the timings. I felt like I performed to a certain degree, however I know I can perform better than I did. Over the weekend, I made sure I focused on my performance of the routines and went over the timings of each section.

Kids Hatch A Plan:
During rehearsals with Luke, this routine went quite well. We learnt the routine quickly and cleaned it to the best of our ability. When rehearsing with Julia later on, she changed a few sections of the routines, which meant that not everyone knew the timings or where they were meant to be. In the tech run, the 'Kids Hatch A Plan' routine went pretty well. Most people knew the choreography and timings, however some people did not.

I had two main issues with this routine. The first one was other people in the space. This is because there were some people who did not know what they were doing. This effected me as it meant that sometimes I wouldn't get to my place in time because someone would be in the way, as they did not know where they were meant to be. The other issue I had was spacing. This was because some people did not get to their places in time or some people would get their too early, and so would block the pathways for others. I also found that we were quite squashed on stage and were not using the whole space appropriately. In particular I found it difficult to get to my place at the beginning of the routine. This was because I had to run past a person who was next to the ramp. Occasionally, I nearly fell over the ramp because of this.

After the tech run, Julia and Josie gave us some feedback. The first thing they mentioned was the witches. They told us how we needed to look more confused during the routine, as all the children were now dressed as Luke. Julia also told us how some people were not in the right places, so made us go through each section and place us in the right space. I made sure that on Monday, I got to my correct space and made sure my character looked confused.

Overall, this routine went quite well in the tech run. We didn't perform to the best of our abilities and we did not use the space productively. Although, over the weekend, most people had looked over the feedback and cleaned the routine and performed it more. I made sure that over the weekend, I cleaned the routine, worked on my facial expressions and looked at the spacing.

Making A Potion:
In rehearsals this routine was clean and looked quite good. When doing the dress run in rehearsals, it also went well. In the tech run on Friday, it went quite well too. Most people knew what they were doing and were performing. As a group the routine looked well, however individually we all have things we need to improve on.

I had a couple of issues. My first issue was that by the time I had got round the back of the stage and collected my lab coat, I never could do it up. This was an issue as underneath was my old lady costume, so could be seen if the coat was undone. I managed to do up most of it, however during the tech run, I had to do the coat up on stage when I couldn't be seen. To make this better, on the show day, I got people to help my do up my coat in the wings. The other issue were the books. I found it difficult to dance one they had been placed at the front/back of the stage, as I felt like I would fall over them. Not all of them got collected, so made it more challenging for me to dance around.

After the run, Julia and Josie gave us feedback. First of all they mentioned the coats and how they weren't done up. They suggested that we pilled the coats up at the sides of the stage, so that we could grab them as we're running round. They also explained how they felt like we weren't portraying the characters we were meant to be - happy children who are plotting/creating the potion to kill the witches. Some people did not get on stage in time, so they also said that we needed to get on stage quicker. As well as this, Julia said how she needed all the books collected during the routine so that they weren't in the way of our dancing or the next routine. I made sure that on Monday, someone helped me with my coat and I made sure that I was much more happier.

In general, this routine went pretty well. I feel like the we did not perform to the best of our ability and I do not think we portrayed the characters. However, as it was a tech run, I knew that we would do better in the actual performance. Although we were told to concentrate on all feedback over the weekend, I did not as much for this routine. This was because I felt like there was not much I could focus on individually at home.


Dinner Is Served/The Witches Death:

During the rehearsals, both these routines were pretty messy. The rhythm section always went wrong because we would either go too quickly or we would go out of time with each other. Also, the dying the section always looked messy. In the tech run on Friday, the two routines went pretty well. Some parts looked very clean, however other parts looked messy.

I had a couple of issues with both of these routines. My first issue was where the table and chairs were on stage. The year 10's always placed our table too far back so we had to move it quite a long way on stage. To resolve this, we told the year 10's where our table needed to be, so we didn't have as far to go. My second issue was the items on the tables. In Friday's rehearsals, some tables did not have enough items on their tables, so some of their acting didn't make sense. To make sure this didn't happen on show day, we let the year 10's know what needed to be on the tables. The Stage Managers also placed the right amount of things on the right sides of the stage. My final issue was spacing. I found that in both routines, I was limited to a certain amount of space on stage. In the 'Dinner Is Served' routine, myself and Indea never had enough space to do our pair section and in 'The Witches Death' routine, I did not have enough room to do my solo section. To improve the amount of space I had, I made my moves slightly smaller and made sure they traveled less.

After the tech run, Julia and Josie gave us feedback. The first thing they mentioned was that our moves needed to be more 'exaggerated' when we were dying, so that the audience could see what you were doing. They also told us that we needed to interact more with the audience - almost as if they were part of the scene too. Julia told us that the rhythm section was too fast and that we needed to slow it down. This was because it sounded rushed and people began to go out of time with each other. Josie also mentioned that we spent too long dying and that instead we should spend more time 'dying' at the tables instead of dancing straight away and then dying before the music ends. I made sure that on Monday, I did not die straight away and I exaggerated all my moves, so that everyone could see.

Overall, I feel these routines were very mixed. Some parts of them were very clean and looked good, but most of it looked quite messy. I felt like I could've performed more and made my moves much larger. I made sure that over the weekend, I concentrated on my solo part section - to make my moves larger and use of space less. However, most things I could not focus on individually, as I needed to work with everyone in my class (for example, the rhythm section).

When reflecting back on Friday's tech run, I feel as if it was quite successful, however I personally did not feel like it was 'performance' ready. We had a lot of feedback given and we needed to apply it by Monday. I made sure I looked at all the feedback given and improved individually.