Sound..

Sound is the one aspect of Technical Theatre that I am not comfortable with. I'm working with it for the first time at the end of this week, and I'm petrified, mainly because whenever it has been my first time to use or do anything in the theatre I have been under the supervision of Tom the technician at Blatchington Mill who I trust.

This time I won't have anyone looking over me, I will be working on something I have never done before in front of a group of people I have never met. 

Honestly, I am overreacting, I do know how t do the jobs I am going to be set, I've just never done the job at the Windmill theatre before, so I am a little unprepared and I don't know any of the lingo. I'm sure they'll all be lovely!

I'm working on the dress and technical on Wednesday, so I'll post info about the show after that.

Chicago The Musical

Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a story murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery, all the thing we hold near and dear to our hearts, thank you. 

Chicago is one of my most favourite Musicals. Mainly because it has a fresh modern feel to it, without it being too mainstream. It's set in 1924 and contains all of the vibrant life of the 20s in America, as well as the contrasting dirt and poverty.
Even though the musical is famous for it's sexiness, it also has a classical element to it, the big 20s show tunes have been modernised in the film version, however, the classic feathers and risqué dresses keep it in the right era.Unlike Les Miserables, Chicago has a large amount of dialogue, which tells the main story. The songs, all 20 of them, reveal what the characters seem to be thinking, what their dreams and aspirations or life stories are. After watching the film and the West End version of Chicago, you notice that the main colours are red, white and black. Therefore the lighting seems to be only white and red light, although there is an occasional blue light, to enhance the rare appearance of innocence in this musical.These lights are perfect as they keep within the theme exactly. The set is very simple, with black backdrop with an occasional change and only small furnishings are brought on and off stage, and also, of course, prison bars.

Obviously in the film there is a lot more going on around the actors, as you can create a much more realistic atmosphere when you can film anywhere you want, taking the audience into a small bedroom then suddenly to a crowded nightclub then to a busy street and a court room. This is much harder to achieve on stage, and I believe the crew on Chicago in the West End have done an amazing job on changing the atmosphere very slightly so the audience know where they are and the crew have done hardly anything

I was asked the other day whether I would prefer to work for film crews, my initial reaction was yes, but after thinking about it, I realised I wouldn't want to. There is such a huge difference between working on a live performance to hours after hours of the same scene. The atmosphere is completely different, you only get one shot at making a film, but after every night of a show, you can sit down and work out what you can do better tomorrow. I wouldn't want to lose that. Nothing beats listening to a whole audience laughing or gasping or, especially, clapping.

Other roles behind the wings..

Some recognition of other roles that I haven't mentioned much about:

• Prop Maker -  They do what it says on the tin. They make the props! Which is not as easy as it sounds, making something look realistic and to do exactly what the director wants it to do, and for the actor who uses it (if the do) are comfortable with it, can be very difficult.
• Costume - One of the most tedious jobs backstage, as you can end up making the same costume for about 50 cast members. We had to make 30 muchkin suits for the Wiz and 'personalise' them all..
• Make-up - This makes sure the actor can be seen on stage. You have to put make-up onto EVERY actor.. effort.
• Sound-on-stage - Mic-ing up all the actors who need them. Sometimes this can be a BIG responsibility.as if someone is having a quick change AND needs a mic, you have to be very good at mic-ing people up. Also, you have to look after the mics, if they break YOU are blamed!
• 

Scan in Tuesday

Being recognised! Finally!

When I saw my name at the top of this section in "The Wiz" programme I got slightly over excited, it was nice to be acknowledged and to be given my actual job title. It saddens me that not many of the public will know the amount of work the goes into the DSM job. They never seem to stop and thing how exactly everything runs smoothly together, unless they've seen the chaos of backstage before!

Why I didn't carry on acting

Basically, because I suddenly realised I wanted to make theatre not be in it.

I started helping out backstage on a couple small School productions and very quickly realised that I loved it. One of the worse things about acting is that you can never see the work in progress or the final piece. With technical theatre you can have an input in all levels of a production and then be able to see the finished result cannot compare to acting. Actors are almost always just puppets, and I hated that. There were so many moments while I was acting that I wanted to change parts of the set, or mention something to the Director, and I would normally be pushed aside and not listened to. However, once you start working on the productions themselves, you are always listened to.

I can't say that I don't miss acting, but this is mainly because I want to yell at the actors for doing stuff wrong and then I usually just tell the director and he/she sorts it out.

History

I have always had a passion for History. Sometimes it even challenged my love of Theatre.

However, a light has shined upon this slight problem, RADA does a supplementary course alongside the one I want to take called "The History of Theatre".

My favourite era of History is the Tudor period, mainly because I love the drama in the Royal Court and all the secrets historians keep finding out about different people who were once high in society. I read many Phillipa Gregory novels, which manage to create that exact feeling of mystery and the Tudor court that I love. One of my main ambitions is to take one of her books and create a stage production (preferably a play) of one of them. I can imagine this being effective because the Tudor court was well know for its extravagance and colours; reds, greens, golds. Making a stage which represents the Tudor Court would be a visual masterpiece and a delight to work on.

The story lines of Gregorys novels could easily be re-written as a script, especially as her most famous novel "The Other Boylen Girl" has already been made into a film.

After leaving University I would love to be able to work behind the Globe Theatre and help run the famous Shakespearean plays that are run there throughout the year. The Globes stage is the closest to resembling a Tudor court, or a theatre in those times. This is mainly because it is replicated from the Elizabethan period which came literally right after the Tudor era (Queen Elizabeth was the Daughter of Henry VIII).

Maybe one day I'll be able to work on a production of "The Constant Princess" or some sort of Tudor play.

Scan in Tuesday

Publicity over the years


I've decided that every Tuesday I am going to scan in some sort of programme or mention in the local papers of a show I have worked on.
Today I am going to start with one of the more recent ones, this is a small article from the local Argus of our four main stars from 'The Wiz'.
You can't really see much of the crews work from this image or article, however you can see the wonderful costumes some of my team made.
I think I'm going to push more to have pictures of the set in the background and such for the papers in next years show.

Decisions

To lead or design?.. Lead designers?

Even though I know I want to work on stage productions, I haven't decided what aspect I want to focus on. I like the idea of being a Stage Manager because I believe I can be a natural leader when needed. However, I think that my creative side would be wasted on the Stage Manager role. This is when the jobs like Prop maker or Lighting designer become more appealing.

This uncertainty of what I want to do exactly is one of the reasons I really want to go to RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), because the course I would take covers all areas within technical theatre and stage management. During my gap year I am going to volunteer or even search for a job (if i'm lucky) in the field. I will try my best to cover different roles within the technical team, so then I can be sure what jobs I shall offer to do when I go to University and work on the productions there.

Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts

My aim for two and a bit years.
Technical Theatre and Stage Management - RADA - London


In the first year you get involved with work on RADA productions as crew and/or operators. Then, in the second year, you will be ready to take on senior roles as Stage Manager, Production Electrician and Prop Maker on the Academy's public productions, along side professional directors and designers.
I can only go into the third year if I gain a high award in the foundation degree and I need to be chosen. Then I can go on to gain the BA Hons degree.


The training covers: 
- Stage Management   - Stage electrics and lighting design
- Sound   - Scenic Art
- Scenic Construction   - Property provision and making
- Costume   - Set Design
- Production Management   - Stage Craft
- A four to six week professional secondment to a theatre company, organisation or practitioner.


Supplementary classes take place in:
- First Aid   - Health and Safety
- Technical Drawing   - Music Score Reading
- History of Theatre   - Company Management
- Television and Film   - Career Development


I am strongly considering taking a gap year after my next year of college, so I can gain more experience so I can have more of a chance of getting into RADA. Their requirements are mainly, confidence and experience, and to be able to use those together. I need to be able to show them my passion for Technical Theatre and Stage Management and that I have an understanding of what it takes and involves, e.g. the long hours and the personal rewards. Of course I must have some sort of experience, which I already do, however, I want to gain much more over the next two years.