Session 18 - 21 June 2009

As always we began with a physical warm up, taken by various members of the group, which quickly led into an energetic game of “Zip, Zap, Boing!” featuring Desara’s beloved “funky chicken”.

We then gathered round the piano for the vocal warm up and tried to make Jane feel uncomfortable by singing “Papa’s got a head like a ping pong ball” with unnerving panache and energy. The group did a run of Kate Nash’s “Mouthwash” and indeed the movements are now sharp and in synch which makes it very powerful to watch – Vik’s running exercise last week clearly did the trick! The singing also has force and aggression which makes the piece highly engaging.

We were shown a model of the set for the first time which was very exciting; the stage is designed to look as though it is made up of stacks of newspapers and wedged amongst these are various objects which can be used for many different things; such as a ladder (which will become the tree), a window, a piano and a bed frame.

The soloists in “Hometown Glory” performed to the rest of the cast; this song will be an effective way of connecting the journeys of Ellie, Shanice-Loren and Stacey and indeed of all the cast selling or escaping from something. Vik then rehearsed a number of scenes, whilst the rest of the cast went through Dance Per Chance in the green room (thank-you in particular to Eliza and Louie for teaching it to me, you were both very patient!)

Grace Chilton

Session 17 - 17 June 2009

Today we focussed on Naomi and Raz’ scene and linking it with the beginning of the show, which included three tableaux from each of the characters. I then had to master turning on Naomi’s alarm clock after my pose – which proved some goofy difficulty! It was great to see the scenes finally coming together and starting to look like a real show.

Jess

Session 16 - 14 June 2009

Today we spent a lot of time in the green room running through our lines or practicing our dance routine, while Vik called us down one by one to direct and perfect our scenes.

We then did some vocal exercises with Anne which helped me a lot with my projection and articulation. We then pieced the first scene together.

Layla

Session 15 - 10 June 2009

In this rehearsal, Vik wanted to start stitching the play together. He started working with Raz and Naomi and the rest of the cast went upstairs to learn their lines.

Shanice.

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Session 14 - 7 June 2009

After a brief physical warm-up, we played our much-loved ‘Zip Zap Boing’ which Jess and Yasemin tied.

Then we had a vocal warm-up with Harry singing “A ram sa sa, a ram sa sa, a riggy diggy diggy diggy, ram sa sa” (to the vague tune of the ‘Pizza Hut Song’). As we sang ‘sa sa’, we had to pat the knees of the person on our right and then on the ‘riggy diggy’ bit, we had to wave our arms in front of the person on our left which, needless to say, led to much confusion.

We then ran through ‘Mouthwash’ and rehearsed it with staging. We did have a distinct lack of energy which Vik tried to fix by making us sing while running on the spot. This also demonstrated to us the importance of being fit when we’re in a production!

After that, we sang ‘Chasing Cars’ which closes the show and staged it with the dialogue too. It’s starting to look brilliant and I think it will be a moving end to the play whilst also giving a sense of hope.

Towards the end of the rehearsal, we did one last run through of ‘Mouthwash’ which was significantly more energetic than earlier on. It’s looking good and thanks again to Vik, Harry, Jane and Tanya as well as the amazing projects team for giving us such a fantastic opportunity.

Bring on the Summer Festival!

Eliza Shea

Session 13 - 3 June 2009

Hi y'all!

Ok, today was another jam packed rehersal! We had to come half an hour early to do some recording, which was really good! We started with a warm-up, led by Naomi, which was fun, but different.... Then, Vik told us to work on our Bollywood dancing. We all seemed enthusiastic about doing it. First, we worked in our groups, re-tracing the moves. After, we decided to dance as a whole group. As Louie and Layla worked along side one another, they came up with a small piece together, then the rest of us joined in. When I was standing aside, I could see that the group is becoming more focused and better. The whole thing flows nicely and you could really see it's turning into a really awesome play! After that, we did the train scene. It was more improved than the last time we did it, also. It felt intense.... Overall, the rehersal was really neat and I really can't wait to perform on stage!YAY!

Catch you later, guys!

Chloe Morgan :) x