01/04/19
As a class, we read through the script and decided what accent each character should use. We determined that Brad and Janet should have American accents because they represented the ideal preppy couple in 1960s America, fulfilling middle class values. They are young and in love, saving themselves until marriage to then have kids with both Brad and Janet planning to adhere to their gender roles - Brad would be the strong breadwinner of the family and Janet would look after the house and her children. We decided Rocky should also have an American accent because he was a representation of America's beauty ideals for a man - being incredibly muscular and hunky, with "blond hair and a tan".
Other characters like Magenta and Riff Raff were not a representation of American ideals in any way since they are aliens and are part of this wildly different lifestyle so we decided that they should have British accents until they reveal they are aliens towards the end of the play where they will have a German accent to show they were hiding who they really were throughout the play until now, where their true colours are seen.
For my character Columbia, we decided that I should put on an American accent and perhaps a squeaky high pitch voice like Little Nell in the famous movie. This is to go with her excitable happy personality and to show that she is not on the same level as Riff Raff and Magenta in terms of being close to Frank, having a part in their outrageous lifestyle and she is not an alien which excludes her from the inner circle containing Frank, Riff Raff and Magenta.
02/04/19
Today, all backstage and additional roles were given out. I have the job of choreographing my tap break in "Time Warp" and creating the poster and programme together with Nehemie.
We blocked the stage for Act 1 up to "Time Warp" - I was absent in this session so I had to catch up in my own time which I did by watching and learning the choreography from the following video:
23/04/19
As a class, we read through the script and decided what accent each character should use. We determined that Brad and Janet should have American accents because they represented the ideal preppy couple in 1960s America, fulfilling middle class values. They are young and in love, saving themselves until marriage to then have kids with both Brad and Janet planning to adhere to their gender roles - Brad would be the strong breadwinner of the family and Janet would look after the house and her children. We decided Rocky should also have an American accent because he was a representation of America's beauty ideals for a man - being incredibly muscular and hunky, with "blond hair and a tan".
Other characters like Magenta and Riff Raff were not a representation of American ideals in any way since they are aliens and are part of this wildly different lifestyle so we decided that they should have British accents until they reveal they are aliens towards the end of the play where they will have a German accent to show they were hiding who they really were throughout the play until now, where their true colours are seen.
For my character Columbia, we decided that I should put on an American accent and perhaps a squeaky high pitch voice like Little Nell in the famous movie. This is to go with her excitable happy personality and to show that she is not on the same level as Riff Raff and Magenta in terms of being close to Frank, having a part in their outrageous lifestyle and she is not an alien which excludes her from the inner circle containing Frank, Riff Raff and Magenta.
02/04/19
Today, all backstage and additional roles were given out. I have the job of choreographing my tap break in "Time Warp" and creating the poster and programme together with Nehemie.
We blocked the stage for Act 1 up to "Time Warp" - I was absent in this session so I had to catch up in my own time which I did by watching and learning the choreography from the following video:
23/04/19
We staged every scene in Act 1 so we could start to get a feel of where we would be positioned on stage throughout the play. We placed mats on the floor where the set would be i.e. the castle, the Q-Build, the stairs, etc to know the different levels we would be standing . We figured out entrances and exits onto the stage and went through the script. I realised that there are a lot of times that I am on stage but am not saying anything. This means I have to decide how I will stand or move around in character - in order to do this, I plan to research into my character and observe how other actresses play Columbia.
29/04/19
Today, we started staging the scenes for Act 2 up to the song "Floorshow/ Rose Tint My World". We then learnt the choreography to that song which was choreographed by Nehemie. After researching my character over the weekend and observing how Sophie Linder-Lee played Columbia in the 2015 Gala show for Rocky Horror, I felt like that I understood my character more and how to play the role. As we were staging the scenes, I was figuring out what poses and facial expressions (how I would react) I would be doing.
30/04/19
We recapped, developed and refined the choreography to "Floorshow/ Rose Tint My World":
07/05/19
We went through all of "Time Warp" including my singing solo and tap break. Shelley told me that my plan of going off stage to change into tap shoes after I sing, before my tap break, wouldn't work because I need to dance in the chorus so I have to be in tap shoes before the song starts. I asked if that would make too much noise when I do all the other movements and I was assured that the music would drown out the noise of the tap shoes.
We also recapped "Hot Patootie" and I needed to know when Eddie (played by Ghazall) would dance with me, when he would dance with others and generally where I should be on stage during this song. Luckily, with the help of Ghazall and Shelley, I could write along the lyrics what I should be doing on stage.
13/05/19
We finished the choreography to Sword of Damocles and something I realise is a challenge for me is touching other people because it makes me uncomfortable. There are times when I have to stroke Rocky so I have to get used to that side of acting as it is very new to me.
As we were learning the choreography, it changed a few times which made it difficult for me to remember. I made sure to write it down in my script and Ghazall (the choreographer) wrote down what everyone is doing in her script and will show it to everyone so we don't forget. Here is my script:
14/05/19
Today we started off developing the choreography to "Hot Patootie" and creating a partnered Jive dance. We looked at a video of a performance in the British Museum picking out several moves we wanted to include like the pullback onto the heels:
Today we learnt Shelley's choreography to "Eddie's Teddy" which was inspired by the stage version. I feel more in character every lesson but it is difficult to stay in character. I know from previous performances that I need to exaggerate my facial expressions so I need to be confident in what exactly I want to convey to the audience. We are all in a clump as I sing my little part and I step out. I had the idea that when I sing my last line, "and threw away the key" that I can move back to my place in the clump looking past my arm that I extend as I say this line.
29/04/19
Today, we started staging the scenes for Act 2 up to the song "Floorshow/ Rose Tint My World". We then learnt the choreography to that song which was choreographed by Nehemie. After researching my character over the weekend and observing how Sophie Linder-Lee played Columbia in the 2015 Gala show for Rocky Horror, I felt like that I understood my character more and how to play the role. As we were staging the scenes, I was figuring out what poses and facial expressions (how I would react) I would be doing.
30/04/19
We recapped, developed and refined the choreography to "Floorshow/ Rose Tint My World":
It's a struggle for me to connect to my character at the moment since I haven't done enough research about Columbia and I haven't made a backstory for her (which is a technique that helped me connect to my character Mr Mushnik in our last play Little Shop of Horrors). However, looking at these videos, even though I need to use my facial expressions more, I think I have the main idea of who Columbia is and I am able to portray her well. I will work on exaggerating my facial expressions but I think the choreography looks really good.
07/05/19
We went through all of "Time Warp" including my singing solo and tap break. Shelley told me that my plan of going off stage to change into tap shoes after I sing, before my tap break, wouldn't work because I need to dance in the chorus so I have to be in tap shoes before the song starts. I asked if that would make too much noise when I do all the other movements and I was assured that the music would drown out the noise of the tap shoes.
We also recapped "Hot Patootie" and I needed to know when Eddie (played by Ghazall) would dance with me, when he would dance with others and generally where I should be on stage during this song. Luckily, with the help of Ghazall and Shelley, I could write along the lyrics what I should be doing on stage.
13/05/19
We finished the choreography to Sword of Damocles and something I realise is a challenge for me is touching other people because it makes me uncomfortable. There are times when I have to stroke Rocky so I have to get used to that side of acting as it is very new to me.
As we were learning the choreography, it changed a few times which made it difficult for me to remember. I made sure to write it down in my script and Ghazall (the choreographer) wrote down what everyone is doing in her script and will show it to everyone so we don't forget. Here is my script:
14/05/19
Today we started off developing the choreography to "Hot Patootie" and creating a partnered Jive dance. We looked at a video of a performance in the British Museum picking out several moves we wanted to include like the pullback onto the heels:
Today we learnt Shelley's choreography to "Eddie's Teddy" which was inspired by the stage version. I feel more in character every lesson but it is difficult to stay in character. I know from previous performances that I need to exaggerate my facial expressions so I need to be confident in what exactly I want to convey to the audience. We are all in a clump as I sing my little part and I step out. I had the idea that when I sing my last line, "and threw away the key" that I can move back to my place in the clump looking past my arm that I extend as I say this line.
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