Something Wicked This Way Comes

This week I saw Wicked for the third time - the last time I saw it was for my birthday last year and after seeing an advert at the cinema when I saw UP (amazing film by the way, go see it. Pixar are genius') I really wanted to go see it again. Last week at school we had a musical theatre lesson with a teacher we hadn't had before, George Ure, who's currently in the ensemble understudying Boq in Wicked, London. There were a fair few fans in the class and we ended up chatting about the show and he told us he was going on as Boq on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. We had a trip to Arts Ed to see their third year show, 'My Favorite Year' on Tuesday and managed to get tickets for the evening performance of Wicked.

The trip to Arts Ed was definitely inspiring but not particularly groundbreaking. We were taken to a series of lessons that covered all three disciplines and by the end of the classes I was desperate to join in. However, I didn't really learn anything knew, although the standard of the performers there was extremely high, which seemed a shock to some people. The show itself really wasn't my cup of tea, although the performances were all very, very good.

Then we made our way to Victoria and after a little mayhem involving tickets, watched a fantastic performance. Alexia Khadime was on as Elphaba and was brilliant as always - however, I did prefer her performance the last time I saw her, particularly in Defying Gravity, which usually gives that goose bump moment. However, this could due to my dwindling like of the show as a whole. However George, as Boq, was brilliant and another of my teachers, Adam Garcia (ensemble) was too - most of us could not take our eyes of them during most of the show!

During the interval we got a phone call from George - he was able to take us backstage after the show! This led to quite a lot of excitement by us and intrigue by surrounding audience members. After the performance we headed to the stage door and met Adam and George who took us backstage, much to the jealous of the fans gathered at SD - some of them wondered whether they could have followed us in!

Seeing the working side of the theatre was incredible - the props and costumes were amazing detailed and it was really interesting just to see behind the scenes. The best part, for me at least, was going in front of the Oz Map curtain and standing on the stage before of the 2,000+ seat theatre. It really inspired me and was daunting but amazing. It really brought home the reality of performing in front of so many people, night after night and gave me even more determination.

Finger Lickin' Good!

I've been at PPA about five weeks now and am loving it. Its hard work obviously and getting up at 6am is far from my glamorous but on the whole my all-acting, all-singing, all-dancing life is definitely living up to expectations. I can already see myself improving and learning so much, especially in dance, where previously I had no training whatsoever. I can now tell my fifth position from my plie, am beginning to master phonetics and have a whole bunch of new songs to sing. We've begun applications for drama schools which is quite scary already but I feel so much more prepared already. We have our GSA, Arts Ed and Mountview auditions privately through the course, which is nice, but I've begun my applications elsewhere too. I'm going to apply to RADA, LAMDA, Central, LIPA, East15, Rose Bruford, Guildhall, ALRA, Royal Scottish and Royal Welsh.

I got a call from my agent on Thursday, who had an audition for a KFC commercial the next day, which I went to, and yesterday heard I had a recall today! My Shakespeare teacher, Gemma, had told us stories of commercial auditions being notoriously short and not particularly taxing to an actor because they are mainly looking for a look and I definitely experienced that today. I left college at half two, traveled for almost two hours to get to the casting ten minutes early and then waiting for half an hour before going into the room, meeting the director and producer, and doing three takes of walking across a room pretending to eat KFC, wave to someone off camera, and then keep walking. Obviously its good experience and whatnot but I came out of it thinking "Was that it?!" However, the job is ridiculously good money and I've got everything crossed!

Lastly and completley non-theatrey but I am absolutely in love with Lady GaGa's new song 'Bad Romance'. I've always had a music-crush on the Lady but I think this is possibly her finest single and have it on repeat constantly! Hopefully a few of us from college will be going to her 'Monster Ball' when it tours England in February! Check out the song below:

No News is Good News?

I've really neglected my blog over the summer but that could be due to distinct lack in drama-related activities, except the megafest that was NYT. Since returning from the course, I've really not done much performing, theatre-going or anything of that kind. Many if not most of my friends are off to university this week and next, and its been an emotional few days, with saying goodbyes followed by 'See you at Christmas!' which just seems ridiculously far away. However, with goodbyes comes hellos, and I've seen some NYT people recently, and next weekend will be venturing to Oxford for one's birthday, which will be fantastic. I can't wait to see everyone.

Next Monday, however, the relaxing and partying will pretty much stop as I start my course at PPA. I'm really excited, albeit nervous, because it will be a whole new place, whole new people, and when it comes to dance, a whole new discipline. Although its only a year, that's still a long time and if something isn't right... I dread to think. I'm going to go with an open, positive mind though, and hope I enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed previous experiences. I'm sure to learn a lot too, although I'm going to be exhausted!

I've also started rehearsals for a pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, which will be performed at the Epsom Playhouse in January - buy tickets! Its a new company for me, one where adults play the principle roles and younger members are in the chorus, so thats also a new and good thing. Being in the chorus, there's a lot more dancing and singing (which will help me!) and there's a proper choreographer and musical director (who works at Laine) - all good things! Met some nice people there too, already.

I'm hopefully going to see an amateur production of the Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown this week. I've never seen the show but I love the music and really wish I had seen the Notes from New York production with Julie Atherton and Paul Spicer. So I'm hoping this will be a good production and won't kill my love for the show!

Lastly, audition season is nearly upon us. I've begun to look at monologues, though haven't got serious yet, mainly looking at a few Shakespeare plays and one modern play in particular, Punk Rock, which I saw a few weeks ago. I'm not sure to what extent we'll work on audition prep at PPA so I'm not getting too concerned, though I have begun to rethink some of my course applications, having heard from a LIPA newbie that first year boys have to shave all their hair off...

We Are the Now Generation

Back again for the mega NYT review. This post will probably be fairly long.

NYT was a truly fantastic experience and definitely confirmed (if it needed confirming!) that drama and theatre is what I want to go into. The course itself was inspiring and educating, developing my skills and introducing totally new ways of working. I also met some of the most amazing people I've ever met and really made some lifelong friends.

The first week of the course was spent on developing our skills, because the next week we would develop a piece of theatre to be performed in the outside amphitheater at Laban. This meant daily yoga in order to both keep us fit and also give us an awareness of our bodies. This mainly consisted of the '5 Tibetans', a series of exercises that our director, Neil, performed with ease but which we found very difficult. We also performed Sun Salutations which gradually increased in number throughout the course. Both of these exercises became the bane of our lives but, ironically, many of us have carried on post-course both in tribute to Neil and in the realisation they actually did us good!

We also had workshops on movement with various outside instructors, to create interesting ways of moving and 'beautiful' theatre. This mainly meant working as an ensemble and moving in time as one giant machine. Similarly we worked on voice in order to make sure that we would be heard outside. We sang songs, improvised, learnt dance lifts, did trust exercises and played games

The second week consisted of developing two minutes of material that would be inspired by the work and play we had done the week before. There were 10 courses happening during the two weeks, and once each had come up with two minutes of material, the whole course would be incorporated to produce a twenty minute piece. Our piece, which eventually was known as the 'Haka Hug' began with a clump of people kneeling and singing a Kenyan funeral song. At the end of the song, one of our group was raised by the others so that she appeared to be flying and blew a kiss to another, who stumbled backwards. He then ran forwards to towards the group, lifting himself onto the shoulders of two, who would fall sideways. The entire group would then fall to the floor in a ripple effect. This was then proceeded by the standing picking up those lying and hugging them to a piece of music called 'Hope There's Someone' by Anthony and the Johnsons.

The other groups pieces were all very different but incredible and the final piece was amazing. We performed it twice on Saturday afternoon to a group of NYT higher ups and various other people. After the final performance, I felt conflicting emotions: we had just performed an amazing piece of theatre and were now officially members of the National Youth Theatre, but this also meant our course was over.

This is a video of part of the performance taken by one of the directors, Paul Clayton:

The best part of the course, though, was the people I met. Everyone on our course was extremely friendly and interesting and there was a core of about 10 of us who spent the majority of our time together. Its really strange how close you can get to people within only two weeks but when you spend every minute with people and you're going through something so intense, you really feel like you've known them for years. Most of us hadn't lived alone before and the added pressures of cooking, cleaning and money management was another thing that brought us all together. The last few days were very sad and many a tear was shed on the final Sunday when each of us said our goodbyes and parted ways. We all tried to remember that we'd all see each other again and that it wasn't the end but the beginning. Still, it was a great group of people and, through Facebook and texting, we all know how much we miss each other. A few of the group are performing at the Edinburgh Fringe festival and others, including myself, are planning a roadtrip up there to see everyone and celebrate one girl's 18th birthday. I really can't wait to see them again.

A made a few videos with photos and songs that were used in the final performance:

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I really haven't covered half of what we did or half of how amazing it was, but if I did I'd be here for hours. I'm sure I'll come back to it someday, but now let me just say that NYT was fantastic, I'll never forget it, and if anyone's thinking about auditioning, DO IT!

National Yoof Theatre

I'll update with more information later when I'm less exhausted and depressed but I got back from NYT today and it was am-AH-zing. The course itself was interesting and I learnt so much - I really feel like I improved as a performer. It was very emsemble-based with lots of movement and visual elements. The best part of the course, though, was the people that I met. At the beginning of the two weeks, we were told that people make friends for life at NYT; we brushed this off as usual patter. However, by the end of the two weeks I'd met some amazing people who I will definitely be seeing again.

Things to look forward to in the long report - Olympic bids, Shakespearean actors, Peep Show actors, drama queens and invisible theatre.

Decisions, Decisions...

I really have't written in a while, which is bad because I've had quite a lot of exciting news! Its all been very last minute but I've recently auditioned for two foundation courses in Musical theatre and got onto both - they're very different courses and now I have to make a decision, but I can't!

The first course is at an institution called Performance Preparation Academy, or PPA. Its very new and hasn't really got a reputation yet and there's no way to tell how good their teaching is or what their results are. They're currently based in the Ebbisham Centre in Epsom, but next year are moving to a brand new facility at Guildford School of Acting. The move makes me a little more confident - I doubt GSA want their name tarred with the same brush if it turns out not to be what they say they are. The course is full time, so in respect to my singing and dancing I'll learn a lot, including ballet which I think will be really important. At GSA the dance classes will be streamed with the degree level students, which I think will be really interesting and beneficial.

However, the course is very expensive and I'd only be able to work part time. The school doesn't have much of a reputation yet, and this is important in the industry. However, they seem very friendly and caring, and have a good rapport with the students. Similarly, they seem to really want me, which is nice, and I think will work me hard. The qualifications are awarded by Trinity Guildhall and LAMDA.

The other course is at Arts Educational, which is a prestigious drama school in London. Its three evenings a week from 7.30 till 9.30, which worries me in the amount I will learn. If it was a straight acting course, I would chose it, as I believe I have enough experience in acting that I would just need to refine my skills and work on audition technique. However, I have limited training in both dance and singing and I don't know if six hours a week would be enough. However, it does carry a seal of quality in the teaching and would be a great name to have on my CV. However, I worry that the course tutors may put their degree students first and I'm unsure of the amount of attention and pastoral care that I will receive. The course is less expensive than PPA but in terms of the money to hours ratio, it is more expensive.

So, those are my two options - please give me your opinions, I'm really stuck!

All's Well That Ends Well

With the onset of revision, everything dramatic seems to have died in my life. Which is very sad for all. Sweeney went very well, the first night there were a few hiccoups but that's all to be expected. Second and third went brilliantly, very glad the family were there that night. On the Friday there was a press reviewer there - all positive things, four stars, very nice. About my performance in particular: "Tom Bovington was an earnest Anthony, who sang Johanna, one of the show's most difficult pieces, with fervour. Sophie McKinnon looked totally right as the object of his affection and the two showed their eagerness to escape together in Kiss Me." Very nice Mr Critic, thank you. This was slightly dampened by a bitchy text from the director to the stage manager, but I'll let that slide. Needless to say, I won't be putting my money anywhere near him again.

The past week has been devoted to two ventures: revision and Spring Awakening. As closing night rapidly approached, I felt driven to see the show more and more. On Monday I went to see it with a friend who hadn't seen it before, K. We were both very kindly bought our tickets by someone I'd met through one of the Facebook groups (I know, online safety and all that jazz but it all was fine) and the show was brilliant as usual. K decided she wanted to see it AGAIN before it closed (typical!) and V wanted to see it for the ninth time, so we got up RIDICULOUSLY early Thursday morning to queue for day tickets. Unfortunately we could only get two for the front row and three others for the dress circle, so K and I managed to nab the day ones. Sitting in the front row was magical, managed to catch eye contact with cast members several times, particularly with Aneurin during 'Totally Fucked' which set K's heartbeat a flutter. Was very sad too - you could tell the cast felt it was all coming to an end, with a few tears and handholding towards the finale.

Then Saturday came, the final night. S and I went up earlyish to hang about London which was very nice in the glorious weather. Whilst in Starbucks, V rang to say she had managed to get me a stage seat! Which I was very happy about. We went to the stage door after the matinee because, as we rightly predicted, the evening would be manic. The mat was also rather crazy but, having got there early, we had prime positions. Because of said craziness, barriers had been erected outside the stage door, with the cast slowly moving down a fan-free corridor to sign things and take photos.

We went to get food, came back and the 'protest' had started. A French man, whose name i later learned was Bastien, had come over from Paris and brought his guitar. He was persuaded by another fan to begin playing songs from the show and before long, the whole crowd had joined in. Slowly, cast members poked their heads out of their dressing rooms to see what the commotion was about and they joined in too! Hearing Connie Walker do the 'Herr Gabor!' in Totally was great. Lots of youtube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/29penfold01

The actual performance was amazing. I've already written about it elsewhere and its very long and thus would take up a lot of space, but the crowd was electric, cheering as soon as the swing came in. Every song had a huge applause and you could just tell the cast were enjoying themselves. There were lots of little goofs - Jamie Blackley singing the American, "Looks so nasty in those khakis" which elicited a huge audience response, various smiles, and the boys hanging off the bars and touching audience members during 'Touch Me'.

I was fine throughout the whole of act 1 and only began to get a little teary during Moritz's monologue before he dies. Left Behind began and the tears started, and then I looked two seats left and saw Jamie B in floods of tears - this set me off no doubt, V had to grab my hand and I'm sure Richard Cordery who plays the Adult Men saw me. Jamie was still crying at the beginning of Totally and I felt so bad for him - I just wanted to give him a hug!

The stage door after was INSANE. A friend who was in a bar around the corner text me: "Just heard an explosion of sound, SA?" We later discovered the cast were all having a drink and some having haircuts - as the crowd became impatient the yells of "We want *insertcastmemberhere*" began and the cast member (sometimes in various states of undress) would poke their heads out of the windows. The sight of Aneurin Barnard and Iwan Rheon topless evoked deafening screams from many of the crowd. There was more singing, including a rendition of Totally Fucked where Edd Judge opened his window and called it "They kill for fun!" It was really great.

Eventually the cast came out, and after a long wait we got photos with Charlotte, Sian, Lucy, Edd and Iwan. Completely missed Ni which was sad and Jamie was swamped by people - he eventually said he had to go. However, this was completely made up for by a message popping up on my Facebook wall the next day from him, thanking me for my support and saying how much he appreciated it. I really appreciated his message too, and its made some friends very jealous, which is nice.

Now I'm back to a life of mediocrity - exams, exams, exams. I've sent off my application for the Arts Ed foundation course, which will hopefully give some meaning to my life next year. If not, who knows what I'll be doing!?