Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome.

So, it appears it’s been quite a while since I updated this. Obviously because we’ve been so busy rehearsing every hour of everyday (wink). That said, rehearsals have been tremendously productive, even with a number of setbacks. We’ve been working without a pianist, but due to resourcefulness of Abbie and Nicole the cast are really making headway with the songs.

As I write this now, the show is blocked. Every scene has been set, with the exception of the finale, which we are working on this Saturday. It’s something that is going to demand our full attention, not least because the entire cast is involved, but also to make sure we get the right tone on which to end the show. It’ll be a long day, but fruitful.

Also on Saturday, we are being graced by the presence of RU:ON (the Student Television group here at Reading (http://ruon.tv/)) who are going to be filming our rehearsal and interviewing the cast for a promo. Advertising has really taken off this week. In week 2 we had Katie come in to take some photos of Jo as the Emcee, photos we are incredibly pleased with, and they have become central to our advertising campaign. I’ll upload some of them later, but they’re very impressive. In addition, Jo Green has been working on a proper poster for us, which will be printed en masse and put up around the uni once we receive the various legal jargon from the rights holders concerning advertising.

But legal jargon aside, the show is coming along very well. I had the privilege to watch Charis’s version of Two Ladies yesterday. And it was sublime. It’s going to have the audience in stitches. Most of the chorus numbers are set now, and looking fantastic, and all the cast are really making their characters their own. And each time we give direction, they come back bigger and better. It’s so rewarding as a director to have a cast that not only take the direction you give, but go away and work and work at what you’ve said. Old habits they had are gone, whether it be posture, or a nervous movement, and replaced with a much more confident, and intriguing person on the stage.

We’ve three weeks to go till we perform, and while there are still logistical issues to resolve, I’m convinced that what’s on stage will be more than ready, and I can’t wait for you all to see it. Tickets went on sale yesterday; catch them while you can! www.ticketsource.co.uk/rudstickets

*

Week 1. Day 3. Enter The Stool.

Saturday. 11am. Half a production team down. A locked supply cupboard. A waiting cast.

NOT how I intended to begin our first full cast rehearsal this term. Unfortunately, a number of members of my production team were still ill, so I was on my own in the directing chair. I should have relished this opportunity to have absolute power and run the show alone. Instead, our supply cupboard was locked, we couldn’t access our keyboard, and our piano player wasn’t with us. PANIC.

Luck was on our side, as we had spare keyboards across campus, and we had loyal groupies (visiting friends) to pick on. I doubt they imagined spending their Saturday trudging through the uni hunting elusive musical instruments, but they didn’t really have a choice.

So, finally, just before 12, we had a keyboard. We hadn’t been totally stuck, as we used this time warming up, both bodies and voices, and the MD’s took this opportunity to become familiar with the individual chorus voices.

Eventually, they started work on the chorus parts of Willkommen. Not being musically talented myself, I claimed the principles for myself and took them upstairs to continue blocking scenes. As we had a full complement, it was a perfect opportunity to work on big group scenes. With this in mind, I started on Act 1 Scene 3; Cliff getting his room from Fraulein Schneider.
From the off, it was clear that this had the potential to be a brilliant scene. It introduces the dynamics between Schneider, Kost, and Schultz, and is our first opportunity to see who they are. Luckily the cast have been working on character for some time now, and they just slotted in to this piece. Lydia’s Schneider is quite the eccentric woman. I’ve seen her played many ways; stern, bland, proud, but this take on the role is inspired. Lydia has a way with both her delivery and her physical movement that just completes this character. From the off, she enters with the line “You see?”, showing Cliff the room, and couples this with an excitable yelp, pointing at a random stool situated at the front of the stage. This stool has become quite the centrepiece of our show. It now appears in numerous scenes, and Schneider seems to have quite the soft spot for it. Whether fawning over Sally when she decides to sit in it, or using it to try and keep Kost from having her wicked way with Cliff, this stool is now a starring role in it’s own right. The temptation to give it a place in the foreground of our promotional materials is overwhelming.

But enough about inanimate, yet strangely alluring, pieces of furniture. The cast. Yes. The cast.

Jenny’s Kost has everything that is right about the character. The allure. The mystery. The…mischief. Her movements, the way she sat in a chair whilst inviting Cliff closer, it all reminded me of Lara Pulver (playing Irene Adler) in the new BBC series of Sherlock. She has power over others, and can play them against each other. It would be frightening, were it not for the timely intervention by Lydia, reminding us of the almost sisterly banter between the two characters.

Finally in these scene, we’re introduced to Herr Schultz, played by our own Luke. Luke has really done his homework with this character, nailing his ungainly movements, his awkward tone, everything that makes Schultz the lovable, harmless character he is. I’m almost embarrassed to say I had very little direction for him; he came on, did his piece, and was off, like a pro. He knew his character, he knew how he’d act. It was inspiring, and the rapport between him and Lydia just makes these characters all the more intriguing, and hilarious.

I should write more, but it’s 10 to 2 in the morning. Needless to say, each scene we did was rehearsed with such energy and innovation. The singing in room below was sounding excellent, and with Willkommen almost completely choreographed, and Don’t Tell Mama well on the way, I feel confident that if the entire cast keep their production levels this high, our show will be simply fantastic. If they don’t, I won’t be able to keep filling these blogs with such immutable praise, which is no doubt inflating their already immeasurable egos. Yes, I’m looking at you Matt Urwin.

Despite their natural self belief (read big headedness), everything I’ve written is true, and I look forward to writing my next post.
When hopefully we have an all-singing, all-dancing chorus of gorillas, and Sally has been replaced by a stool.

*

Rehearsal Photos 21/01/2012

*

Week 1. Day 2. Monkeying About.

Two posts in one day. This is keen.

Just got back from our second rehearsal of the term. Again, extraordinarily productive. Unfortunately, half the production team was ill, so we were stretched thin, but thanks to the energy of the cast, and the tireless work of my team, we got so much done today. Makes me wonder if we just take a couple of weeks off. Or not.

This evening, due to our limited numbers, we properly split up; Sam (Ass. Director) took Callum (Cliff) and Murwin (Ernst) off to rehearse their various scenes together. I popped in briefly to see what they’d gotten up to. Impressed. Already their dialogue is flowing, their scenes are blocked, and there’s a rapport between the two of them that makes it all the more believable. It’s good to see two characters developing and establishing their relationship this early on. I can’t wait to exploit this later in the show as feelings sour. Though I’m questioning how good room 301 is as a rehearsal space, as I wasn’t too sure what Scooby Doo had to do with the rise of the Third Reich, a scenario I encountered when I came to check up on them.

Today, I was primarily working on ‘If You Could See Her Through My Eyes’ with Jo (Emcee) and Anna (Gorilla). Anna was particularly excited about this; when I first asked her to be involved in this song, she enthusiastically messaged back;

“DO I HAVE TO DRESS AS A GORILLA? Lovr it.”

I’m definitely questioning her sobriety at the time of this conversation.

Anyway, we started off by working on the vocal side with Jo, and our MD Abbie. It was here we hit our first snag in our casting of a female Emcee. Typically, the Emcee is played by a man. As such, the song is written for the vocal range of a man. Joanna, to my knowledge, is no such man, and neither is her voice. However, after experimenting with different octaves, we settled with the one most comfortable for her range, and got ourselves familiar with her style. The great thing about this song is the humour. It mirrors, and lampoons, what happens in previous scenes, and Charis, our choreographer, has created the perfect dance for this, with the right blend of slapstick and waltz.

We spent a good 2 and a half hours dancing, teaching Anna how to act like an ape, discussing the deep meanings behind the lyrics, and perfecting Joanna’s accent. Today’s rehearsal has really made me realise how much work we need to put into accents. The cast are doing well, but a show can be ruined by the littlest things. By the end of this process, everyone will have been subjected to so many European youtube videos, I wouldn’t be surprised if I have my own little Model UN. With it’s own pet gorilla.

Auf Wiedersehen. A Bientot.

Cap’n Jack.

*

Week 1. Day 1. ACH.

Yesterday we had our first rehearsal of the term.

In fact, I like to consider this our proper first rehearsal. This time we had a full production team, ranging from directors and producers, to MDs and a choreographer.

At the end of last term we welcomed Abbie and Laura as our Musical Directors, and Nicole as our Vocal Coach. We’ve thrown them in the deep end and I’m happy to say they coped splendidly. Already we’ve got our Schneider (Lydia) and Schultz (Luke) well on their way to know their songs, as well as exploring their characters further. I wasn’t on hand the entire rehearsal to see how things were progressing, but when I did pop in it sounded great, and the reports at the end of the night were very promising. I look forward to exploring their characterisation further in the rehearsal process.

Much of my time last night was spent with my Assistant Director Sam, and my Producer Charlie working on the relationship between Cliff (Callum) and Sally (Emily). We focused on their early scenes, intending to nail down who these characters are, before heading to the darker topics of the second act, where we really get to see what these guys can bring to their roles, especially considering what Sally does at the climax of the show (not giving too much away).

But enough of that. At the moment, it’s all about the early stages of Cliff and Sally’s friendship. Who are these characters? How do they react? What makes them tick? Luckily, they both brought something special to their roles. Once we managed to make Callum sit upright instead of lazing about like, well, a teenager, he brought a cheeky charm to Cliff, something I’d like to work on in rehearsals. Emily as well found the right balance to Sally; both a mysterious and enticing woman of the world, and a naive girl, curious about everything. She reminded me of Anna Maxwell Martin in the role, from the 2007 London cast, yet bringing a subtle hint of class, which was brilliant. Especially when we started rehearsing Perfectly Marvellous, and she demonstrated Sally at possibly her most excitable, showcasing what I have penned the ‘drunk baby’. It work magnificently. Coupled with the physical humour we choreographed for the song, I can’t wait for it to be performed in all its glory in March.

Writing March makes me think how long we’ve got to rehearse. It calms me. And then I realise that we perform in Week 7, and we’re in Week 1 now. And I stress. But looking at the productivity of yesterday, and the commitment and energy of the cast and production team, I calm myself, and look ahead to the next 6 weeks of song, dance, and multiple aviation fuel at the end.

Auf wiedersehen. A bientot.

Captain JACH

*