after watching back the performance...

Our performance of the panto was filmed on the Thursday matinee performance, which was the performance before our very last show. I had never been filmed before so it was very new for me. We performed to the school at which our college is placed, I really felt my confidence and energy lacked in this performance. It was not just because of the audience, I was still really sick but watching back on the performance..it did not look like I was sick which was such a relief because I didn't want my sickness to ruin my performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPatzt2-UTY  - this is the YouTube link to the whole show performance!

I still wish I could have done so much better, it was very good being able to have the chance to see the whole performance before this unit was marked. When watching it, you can see why Ella gave us the feedback that she needed too in some parts of the performance, so you can see how much scenes have improved and lets us see what we could have improved. My scenes with the princess, I really felt could have been so much better but I am still more pleased and reassured with myself than I was before I saw the panto.

This is a really good way too see yourself obviously and give myself the chance to improve for other performances. My strong relationships with Abanazar, the dame, and wishee washee really came through, and I felt that it was a very good strong bond that you could notice very crystal clear.

I do miss panto, but I am so happy with how it looked and turned out in the end. Unfortunately at some points during the filming of the panto, there was zooming and you could not always see everything happening on stage, which was difficult when I was trying to see my own performance too evaluate myself. But having the chance too watch the panto and be able to see what I could have improved and what I really pulled off (and others) as well. 

As I have said before, I wish I improved my relationship with the princess, I get on very well with Kira but I found it hard to pull off the scenes on stage, I really felt I lacked excitement too see her and showing how happy/caring/loving I was towards the princess. But as before I am very happy with how my cave scene turned out as that was a massive issue throughout the rehearsal process, and I am very pleased with the strong relationship bonds I had with some characters and the fact they came through very clear in the performance..and I really could see a difference in my own character from the beginning of the rehearsal process. 

The day after I watched the show myself on YoutTube, Ella told us all that we was going to spend our day watching it all together so she was reassured that everyone had watched it and written about it in our blogs, as some of our evaluations were looking poor,she wrote up the grading criteria: 

While watching as a class I took notes: 

Watching panto / notes: 

Weaknesses:

I was aware this is my worst performance 

I messed up a line in act 2 but did cover it up and did not react

My scenes with the princess was not as good as they could have been 

I think I let the audience intimidate me / most of the cast did 

Some cues were missed with sound effects / lighting

There was a big wait for princess/so shy/handmaidens to get on stage

Some people referred Abanazar as a 'him' but a girl played it 

Singing was sometimes hard to hear 

Bottle was left on stage

Wrong lighting
Sometimes couldn't hear people on stage

Strengths: 

I had good facial expressions 

Good reactions

Good pace in delivering lines 

Good projection / volume

I improved my stage whisper

I do feel the chorus had fantastic energy 

Good energy is chase scene

Eden has such a good energy 

Cave scene went really well 

Emperor was brilliant
Princess always has so much energy
Handmaidens were really energetic

Ella said to not just focus on our own performance but others as well even including the lighting and sound effects as well. I really think that by having this session has really helped everyone.

its showtime and evaluation for panto!!!

So on the 16th December was our first show day! Although everyone was still pretty sick we was still very excited and nervous.

I was very nervous, I was scared that I would start coughing badly on stage, or feel like I need to be sick while I was on stage, so I was worrying myself a lot. I had a lot of reassurance and had medication to take throughout the day.

As always we did a vocal warm up, by simple stretches and tongue twisters such as 'unique New York, New York Unique' , and 'Red lorry, Yellow lorry'. We also did small rhymes such as Ba Ba Black Sheep, and Jack and Jill and 1,121.

We had a small audience on our first show but we did not let that stop us, I was so incredibly nervous when I first walked on stage but I kept going! On our first show we had pictures taken of us during the performance.

                                  

Seeing the pictures was so great as we got too see our reactions and what it looks like on stage, helping to show us our spacial awareness and how we move on stage and react. 

There were certain scenes I was afraid to do as it was the real performance such as my cave scene as I had struggled with that scene so much, I was really nervous to do it but I gave it my all and I really think I pulled it off! 

Seeing this picture really helped me boost myself as I saw what I actually looked like during the cave scene as I haven't before. 

The next day for our matinee we had 'Challney Girls School' this performance was a massive challenge for me as the audience was very big which I didn't have a problem with, but they was very loud, which was very helpful with the reactions but was also a big shock for me and the rest of the cast, I always find I struggle performing to children especially. And that evening was the night we had 'Barbara Windsor' (Peggy Mitchell) come too see our show, this was our best show so far as we got a standing ovation and had such a good audience. This was also the night when all my family and friends came, and was also the show when I felt the most sick. Before the show I was actually sick, this immediately worried me and made me think I would not pull off this performance, I did the absolute best I could, I was really chuffed until during a scene I started coughing on stage and could not stop, I started panicking but I had to continue and had to handle this in a professional manner. After the scene I had to run off and be sick, I got really sad and doubted myself as there was still scenes left, but I knew the show had to carry on so I continued the show as I knew I had too, I had so much support which made me buzz even more to make that show finish and do myself proud. We got a standing ovation that night and got such a good audience reaction which really buzzed us all and made us even more proud of ourselves! 

The more and more times we performed the shows, the better it got! I had more confidence and had more of an idea of when the audience would react and felt more relaxed in certain scenes such as the cave scene, and the song 'Happy', which was really good for me. 

On Thursday was our last show day. We had Da Vinci see our matinee, which was also the show that got filmed...I had never been filmed whilst performing before so this was also a new experience, The Da Vinci audience gave good reactions and was very loud but sometimes I think we got shocked by the amount of people there was and the amount of reactions we got. Then after that it was time for our very last show, I really did not want this show to end but all shows must come to an end, I still felt sick but I knew I was capable to carry on. I must say EVERYBODY gave so much effort and I am so proud to work with the cast I had, my director, the production team, and the stage crew. I had so much fun on the last show and was really sad when it ended but this last show went so well as so much effort was put in, the audience was incredible, we had so many reactions and such good audience participation and made everyone push themselves. I felt so good doing the last show, I reminded myself how far I had come and how much I have learnt, through all them tough rehearsals to performing all six shows and being so proud of myself in the end. I had really hoped I wasn't poorly for the shows as I felt I could have pulled them off so much better, but everyone was so supportive and I felt I had done a good performance. 

Overall I do think I still struggled in the scenes with the princess, I found it hard to over exaggerate my excitement to see her or to not come across so serious and naturalistic in the love scenes. I do feel I got better the more and more I did them but I still felt like I could have done better. 

But I do feel that my relationship with Abanazar (Saskia) was really strong and good throughout the show, I also felt my relationship with the Dame (Jovan) was really good and strong too as I felt that our scenes got better and we all worked well. 

Overall if we was to put this into a professional situation, we would need so much more rehearsal time, read throughs and especially focusing on certain scenes that need a lot of work. This would help everyone being confident with everything that they are doing and help me and other people with there lines, and make people aware that they are adlibbing and make scenes one hundred times stronger. Throughout the show the main weaknesses were some events of adlibbing and articulation. I noticed that sometimes we let the audience affect our performances, at least I did and this is because when you have different audiences, you may feel they are really good and supportive towards the show or you have audiences that can be the complete opposite which can sometimes throw actors/actresses. Sometimes volume was a struggle throughout the rehearsal process but I do believe it became stronger the more and more we performed the pantomime. Obviously we did have strengths as well, which was the energy that everybody had, as we made every show exciting besides the fact of being tired. We had loads of motivation in every performance and rehearsal, and everyone was always willing to do better and improve their characters constantly after being given feedback. We really let all our efforts shine through in the performances and put all our hard work on stage. The volume off everyone improved so much when performing, especially with projection. In rehearsals we had this constant problem with nobody going to stage right, and that improved when we performed the shows as well. We never had a problem with missing props. And the show really came together considering we had doubts for a long time. 

Act 2 rehearsal process

Out of the two acts act 2 is the weakest, as we haven't spent as much time on it as we have with act 1. So on the 5th December we did a run through of act 2 once and we got feedback after. Then we had a break and did it again, we ending up finishing half way through.

 - this a YouTube clip of my first return in Act 2. And this was filmed a few weeks ago.

On the 9th December we focused on act 2 first because we had spent the whole day doing act 1 the day before. Ruth (who used to be apart of the panto as a second year) was observing because she hasn't been in the panto for a few weeks now and she is giving back feedback as if she was an audience member. She mainly talked about some of the villagers and said everyone needs to work on the happy dance.

Act 2 got better as it was a lot shorter so was much quicker and easier to work through it. The main scene that I was in that needed fixing up was when I return to the emperors palace to ask him if I can marry the princess. We changed the script a bit by having the wedding when it was the finale so it was just going to be an engagement at first, by this changing we had to change the que line to leave the scene which I struggled with, as some of the cast had different ideas of what line was the que line. This scene also needed focus on the exiting as it was very messy, we changed it so that the villagers left first and mains stayed on stage but started to leave as the villagers  were just getting off stage.

(Act 2 main feedback)

- good energy in first song

- energy lacking slightly in some scenes

- Ella said I said the line as 'er could you point the way to go' and it is meant to be 'er could you point the way OUT to go' but it says what I said in the script but I will change it

- the dance to happy needs to improve

- need to improve energy / character

- Aladdin and princess went mumbly in the scene when I come to save the princess

- react more when genie comes in (be more chuffed to see him) 

Act 1 Aladdin Rehearsal Process

A few weeks ago, Chloe filmed mine and Jovan's first scene in act 1.

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By Chloe filming our scene, it helps me see how my character of Aladdin comes across to the audience.

When we first started blocking Aladdin, I played him as a very happy, kind and lovely boy, but that started not to show anymore and I got told on Thursday I am playing Aladdin as a bit like 'Jack the lad', I had noticed that was starting to come through and was given in feedback that I need to play Aladdin more happy and smiley again, and so I changed my tone of voice and made myself sound a lot more caring and softer in my voice, I smiled a lot more and was told it's a better improvement by Becky and Chloe.

Over the weekend I read through the script and kept practicing my voice to help improve and stop getting into the habit of performing Aladdin as 'Jack the lad'.

On 1st December me and Jovan went into a room to go through our first scene to try and improve it and make it much better and involve the audience more. We found this hard because we was alone and did not have anyone tell us if what we was doing was not working so we didn't have the reassurance that what we was doing was good enough. But on the following Wednesday, the main characters were called in to go through the script and improve scenes. Me and Jovan had to do our scene and we had a lot of feedback, there is a line when Jovan has to say 'how many times have I told you not to eat so much junk food?' And he has to pretend to shove junk food in my face and I have to be disgusted but Ella told me to look away and make a face and noise, then do another move holding my tummy and make a squeal. Most of the scene Jovan got help but some of the feedback she was giving related to me and the rest of the cast too such as using hands when I am talking to articulate my movement and voice more, and sometimes use aside comments to the audience to get there attention and interest. 

On 4th December we did a run of Act 1. We was told that this was our best run we have done so far as the energy levels were excellent, everything was so much more tidy but a few more scenes had to be cleared up and we was told that some scenes still have loads of potential to be so much more better. After that we felt so much better about the first act. Ella had only wrote fourteen notes and the majority were positive, she had said that she was watching us so much she didn't really have time to write notes.

Me and Nathan really had to work on our first scene together which happens at the end of act 1. We did a video for before and after so that we could see the difference we made just by putting a bit more work into it.

before:

and after:

On 8th December we started off by doing a run of act 1, if I'm honest I knew my energy was lacking and I don't know why but I had no energy and I didn't feel like I was doing good but I was well aware that I was not doing my best.

We did another run of act 1 later that day with the set up on stage for the first time, it was very different because we had to change a lot of entrances and exits because of the set and there was not as much space as we had before. Ella stopped us in scenes that was not going as well which was good because it meant we was cleaning up and fixing scenes that needed a lot of work.

Me and Kj had to work on our first scene in the cave:

Before: 

And after: 

The second video was an idea we had, mainly when I try to interrupt her but I was also told that I came across to angry and mean so I am going to work on that. 

techs, full runs, and dance practices!

Originally our tech run was supposed to be on the 15th December (day before open day) but we luckily got the chance to start doing the tech run on the 11th December on the Thursday. We started off by doing a 'que to que' this did take long but we was told it was expected to be long. We had to make sure the lighting and the sound effects were in the right place for the show, lots of us agreed it was lucky we got to do this on the Thursday as when rehearsing, some of the sound effects were coming to early or late so the production team had a lot more time to get used to them.

After the que to que, we did a full run of the show with the lights for the first time and in our costumes which we had done before. This boosted everybody and gave us a buzz for the show. Having the sound effects sometimes affected us because we was so used to not having any that we forgot they was coming sometimes or was not sure when they were.

Ella went through the 'chase scene' with us as it needed a lot of improvement. It started off by music being added which gave a better atmosphere, and then Ella made a routine for me, Lily and Jack. It also involved us going into the audience's seats which was funny. Then Ella added the idea of turning the scene slow motion when me, Lily, and Jack returned to the stage and when I reached the top of the stairs Michael would shout 'AFTER HIM' which made it return to normal speed to run off. I thought this was such a fun idea and so good, although I did struggle with it at first as I went a bit too fast considering it was 'slow motion', and I found it so funny it was hard not to laugh but after doing it a few times I felt a lot more confident with it.

Here is a video of the chase scene when we first did it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw8swbUMKLA

Eventually on this day we got about three runs done, and this was our last proper rehearsal before the tech run as Ella would not be here on the next day so we would not see Ella till the Monday.

The next day, we had Chloe have everyone go through the songs seeing who did/didn't know the song lyrics and then have the people who are actually in the song do the dance and song. This helped a lot of us, as some of us struggled with dance moves/lyrics. This also gave Jodie a chance to sort out the formations of the dances as the set affected them as it took up a lot of space.

On the Monday was our last ever day of rehearsals as our show started the next day. We was called in at 8:30 am, many of the cast including me was very poorly. By everyone being sick it made it very hard to rehearse such as trying not to cough backstage or on stage for that matter, feeling tired so not giving 100% effort in rehearsing, even some people throwing up when not on stage which gave a negative vibe across the cast. This also longed out the day as some people went to the doctors. I have never been in a show when the week of the show nearly the whole cast was very sick, it was a new experience for me and it shows that no matter what the show MUST go on.

Apart from everyone being poorly, we managed to get three full run rehearsals in the day, after all that we got given notes as per, but most of them involved the fact we was sick such as coughing backstage, but we knew the show must continue and we must push the sickness to one side.

Costumes

A couple weeks before the panto, we had to get pictures done for the program. We didn't have our exact costumes so had to wear different ones. 

This next photo got into the newspaper to promote our panto: 

For the show I had two costumes this was my first one; 

This was my first costume when I played Aladdin as a more 'poor' character. I also wore fishnet tights and jazz shoes with this costume. 

This was my second costume: 

For this costume I still wore fishnets but I wore knee high black boots instead. This was my costume when I was rich. The costume wasn't hiding the fact that I was actually a girl. I liked both my costumes as they really helped me develop my character so much more. 

Promotion Event

On 6th December, me, Jovan, Eden, Lily, Georgia, Tom, James, And Michael went to promote the panto in our panto characters and costumes. Firstly we went to the Stevenage NHC, we had to walk around in our characters and give out posters of our pantomime offering a special offer to those who buy tickets that day.

I had never done something like this before so I was quite nervous! It was interesting and a bit hard sometimes to try and get people's attention. 

We then performed the dance to 'don't stop me now' which is in our panto twice that day. We attracted an audience and got pictures taken. 

We then went to lister and went into a few hospital wards and visited some patients. It was very lovely because they would say how we have cheered then up or made they're day. 

It was a lovely day out, and very nice to put smiles on peoples faces, get to speak to different people and get to know them and sell tickets to our pantomime! 

Gordon Craig Aladdin Panto

I was meant to be seeing the pantomime of Aladdin at the Gordon Craig in Stevenage with the cast on the 30th November but couldn't make it so I saw it with my mother on the 5th December.

I am so happy I got too see it in the end because it's helped me think of new ways to express my character of Aladdin.  In this panto 'Hannah Malekzad' played Aladdin. 

She played Aladdin as a very happy/smiley young boy. And wore black knee high heeled boots with fishnet tights and a red velvet long dress/top (similar to my costume). 

When seeing this performance I played close attention to how Hannah played Aladdin through her voice and body language. She put her hands on her hips a lot which is known as a 'hero stance', and she slapped her knee/inside of her leg a lot. She brought a very uplifting mood and energy to the pantomime. 

As I am particularly struggling with the cave scene at the end of act 1, I really focused on that when it came. She was not as panicky as I expected her to be, but she was very good and articulated her voice very good. 

I'm hoping I can use all this in mind to help me develop my character of Aladdin.

Feedback during rehearsal

On 4th December, we did a whole run through in the dance studio and got given feedback afterwards just like every rehearsal and I was told I need to be more melo dramatic when I am in scenes with the princess, more desperate to see the princess, more smiley, and work on body language from Ella. Peers had to give people feedback also, and Georgina gave me mine:

For our next run later that day I got this sudden boost of energy and self belief. We did a run of Act 1, this run went so good. There was so much energy from everyone, it felt so much better and more tidy. And after that we got given notes again, we only had fourteen notes from Ella, and when we first started doing runs we got sixty or more notes so it felt really good. Tom also gave feedback, the majority was positive but I got given a note on my body language again and my stance as he thinks my arms look a bit loose and I should do more arm and hand gestures. 

On the 5th December we focused on act 2. We did two runs of act 2, and got given feedback after that it needed more work which we was aware of because act 1 was a lot better. Act 2 is roughly only about 35 minutes long so it is much quicker than act 1. 

Feedback for Act 1 on 8th December:

Feedback: (act 1)

- should know where props are

- 1 script in the wings

- me and princess to play out to the crowd more 

- don't stand in a line in the abanazar frozen scene

- need more panic when emperor walks in

- react more shocked when I see the genie

- say my line 'yummy' a lot louder. 

- good run 

- was told my cave scene was so much better, all improved

(Act 2) 

- good energy in first song

- energy lacking slightly in some scenes

- Ella said I said the line as 'er could you point the way to go' and it is meant to be 'er could you point the way OUT to go' but it says what I said in the script but I will change it

- the dance to happy needs to improve

- need to improve energy / character

- Aladdin and princess went mumbly in the scene when I come to save the princess

- react more when genie comes in (be more chuffed to see him) 

(Feedback from Ruth) 

- work on happy dance

Showing character through song and dance

Last week we had a session with Chloe to help us show our character through song and dance and the second years took part as well. We used the song 'hit the road jack' as we can use loads of different types of characters to act out whilst singing. We started off by just learning the song, then Chloe separated boys and girls and made us make two lines facing each other and we had to sing to the person across from us. I found this very good because it helped with confidence too.

 

 

    By doing this task there was so much energy and confidence in the room. Chloe told us we need to use this in our performances to help us make it a lot better. This task really helped and boosted me.

Learning lines process

To learn my lines, I start off by highlighting all my lines and stage directions to help me notice them more and focus on them. 

Then what I do is read over the lines a couple of times and try saying the line without looking at the script and every time I try to say the line I check afterwards if I got it correct word for word. After feeling confident with the lines, I then add the actions. Such as when it says before I speak (Laughing) in brackets, this helps me with how to say the line. 

As we started off blocking Act 1, I have learnt my lines for the whole of Act 1 first, just to get comfortable with them. I have learnt the word/line before my next line so I know when to come in with my next line. 

By blocking it a few times at college, it gives me a chance to get used to the lines even more and feel more confident with them. 

Blocking Aladdin

We have now started blocking the first act of Aladdin. By having to change the pantomime we have had minor changes such as more characters, different songs and having to remove some of the songs. In the first scene after the first song, I come in and speak to the villagers. Jovan, who plays Widow Twankey then comes in and our characters have a conversation. I had been told that I need to learn to pronounce the line 'Counterfeit' more like 'count her feet' but as one word to make it more of a joke.

On Monday 20th October, we had to show Act 1 to the 2nd years and Ella of them being aware we have only just blocked this. We had three main characters missing which was quite hard because even though other people were filled in for the parts, they had not learned the stage directions but as I am aware, that is not their fault as they did not have much preparation. To be completely honest sometimes I would try to say my lines without looking at the script but then forget what my next line which caused me to worry. But I carried on and tried not to show the audience I had gone wrong. Or I had forgotten in a scene with Jovan, that I was meant to catch him when her character fainted onto me and I had already gone off stage but I came back on and did it even though I went wrong.

At the end of everyone watching it, we got feedback. We was told it wasn't our best but we was aware of that anyway. I was given the feedback to change in my script that I don't call Abanazar an 'uncle' as half way through I started calling her auntie. I also was told to put my hair up because you could not see my face. But I was told my energy was really good and my interaction with the audience was also good.

After half term we have to know all our lines, I am preparing myself by reading through my lines in spare time or going through them in my head. I am going to start focusing on knowing Act 2, and then go over Act 1 afterwards.

Change of Panto

On Thursday 9th October, Ella gave us the news we would have to change the pantomime. My first reaction was that I was so shocked and upset. I got the idea we would have to do the whole audition process again so I was a little sad. We then found out that the replacement pantomime will be 'Aladdin', and our roles would also be secured as they were in Jack and The Beanstalk, just in Aladdin. Also, about five new roles were available to be auditioned for, which I thought was such a great opportunity for people in the cast to have a second chance to audition for a role.

Ella already had a full script of Aladdin written by herself. So as a class; like we did for Jack and The Beanstalk, we had a read through of the script. There were loads more scenes and lines which made it more interesting and fun in my opinion. Also there were lots more jokes in this script.

I personally think that reading through is a really good idea. It helps give me and others the idea of how their character will speak/present themselves, and gives us a chance to get used to the script and the story line. Also if you are auditioning it helps gives the director an idea who will good and what role.

In the afternoon, we then had our usual singing class with Chloe. So because of the change of the pantomime, some of the songs had to change. I always find the singing classes so fun and enjoyable. We was given three new songs, all three had different characters singing them but we learnt them as a class anyway.

After singing, there was auditions open for people who would want to audition for the five new parts. The rest of the class had to watch the auditions as well as the tutors. I thought this was a good idea because it helps who is auditioning with their confidence, and lets us support each other as a class.

So when I got home I started searching up on YouTube 'Aladdin pantomimes' and came up with the ITV2 pantomime of Aladdin starring Ed Byrne as Aladdin.

I found that Aladdin was very comic, and quite childish in this version of the pantomime. But he played it very well. And by watching this version of the pantomime, I think it will help a lot with how I will act the part of Aladdin.