So the week I was dreading is now behind me and I have to say it didn’t go as badly as I thought. We had ‘Run Freedom Run’ choreography on Wednesday and let me tell you now, I think it’ll be fantastic! Well judging by Wednesday’s rehearsal actually maybe not so much, but Sunday’s rehearsal was a lot better and has given me a little bit more faith in my own learning skills. We started off on Wednesday going through the song singing it first which actually was my first time singing it right through, needless to say I was both excited and nervous, nervous because this is probably the most iconic song in the show and people are expecting something great and excited because this guy (me) has a black woman constantly screaming to get out. The choreography is great and resembles the one that’s used in the Tony’s purely for the fact that it’s so iconic that the choreographer didn’t want to hurt anyone’s expectations for that number, as she said “there are some numbers in a show that you expect to see, you see 42nd street and you expect to see them dancing on coins”. This got me thinking and I have to agree, I remember seeing a performance of RENT a few years back and there were moments that I expected something and they gave me something else and it let down the whole show, I’d definitely say that if I went to Legally Blonde I’d be expecting pretty much the whole show to resemble the amazing choreography from the one filmed by MTV or if I went to Mamma Mia I’d be expecting guys to be dancing in flippers (which they do), so it makes sense and I completely understand the logic for this.
Soooo much better!
On a slightly side nite: I’d like to let you know that in the last 2 years I’ve gone from 128kgs down to 102kgs where I’m situated now, this has been a mixture of bad tricks to start with (which NEVER work in the long run I must add, you lose weight but it piles back on almost instantly) to eating well and exercising which is my current routine, and since finding out I was playing Bobby I’ve lost 10kgs through this regime. So I came in to this rehearsal knowing that I’d struggle with the running but I really did not know that I’d struggle so much haha running and singing is NOT easy especially when you’re the one leading it, so it’s time for me to do some major high intensity training at the gym as well as skipping and we’ll hope and pray that by the time we get to production week this Bobby won’t be puffing as much. From what I could see I’m not alone in this realization either, I think we all knew that this would be a physical number but I don’t think it hit us in the first run through of the number but by the 4th time running through it I was in full on shock mode.
I don't have a full body pic but Left is me at 128kgs and Right is me at 104kgs
Thursday’s rehearsal was just a recap of our songs again as well as finishing off ‘Why Did I Listen To That Man’ which is still a hard one to sing but we almost pulled it off after having to sing it in front of the rest of the cast. I just have to say that Chris is such a great Musical Director with a LOT of patience not only for our own antics but because this music can be frustrating and Kristen our rehearsal pianist has the patience of a saint too because you can tell this is not an easy score to play, so thank you both for being awesome.
The amazing Kristen & Chris
Sunday was more ‘Run Freedom Run’ choreography, for this I had studied the Tony’s version since we weren’t going to go with the actual way it’s conducted by a conductor and were going for something like the Broadway one and WOW! Who knew how sore your arms will get when waving them about like that, today my arms and legs are pretty damn sore. I can’t say exactly how many times we did this number but it felt like 10 at the least (possibly me over exaggerating because I was dying), there is one point when Little Sally (Deborah) has to wipe my forehead with a towel due to the 'sweat' and THANK GOD she does because that towel is going to get some use out of it (ewww just the thought). After that people required worked on the ‘Mr Cladwell’ choreography which we got to see the finished product and I love it! I wish I was in it actually, it’s such a musical theatre type number with the kick line type stuff which is why I'm so entertained by it.
"You're Mr Cladwell"
While choreography was still going on in the next room the rest of us were measured for our costumes and briefly told what we may need to try and get ourselves and also what the character’s wearing, and just the thought of a poo stained apron is enough to make me gag let alone the thought of ever having to be put in that situation where I had to do that as my job* lol. We then sat around the table and were asked by the Director (Adey) about our characters, thankfully I had already addressed this in my blog plus I had a few more ideas that had come to mind since so I was prepared for this question (even if it wasn’t half as articulate as it was in my head haha) and he seemed to respond well to the ideas. I’ve also been told to check out Babes On Broadway with Judy Garland & Mickey Rooney for more ideas about my character, but so far I’m pretty happy where my version of Bobby is heading so far but theres a lot more to work on. HOWEVER every musical theatre geek who’s watched the Urinetown stuff online always mentions the one Bobby that’s basically the best on youtube and I just feel a real pressure to make those people happy, however I’ve never been one to ever copy another actor, in fact usually once the show starts going in to rehearsal I find I never watch the show. I do this because I need my own ideas and thoughts to be put in to the character, but this is the first show where people are particularly fan girly about this specific Bobby and I can’t help but feel super nervous that this is the guy I’m going to be compared to, so know that I’m not going to be that Bobby but I hope I can still do this role as much justice as he does to the role.
Damn you Bobby Strong (Adam Garst)
So that’s it! All the vocal rehearsals are pretty much done and lightly dusted, it’s been a month since rehearsals started and I’m beginning to feel comfortable with my cast members, forming some friendships, quoting such great movies as Mean Girls (“You go Glen Coco”) and TV Shows such as Summer Heights High (“Ecstasy, Ecstasy, E, E, E, E, Ecstasy”) and Buffy most importantly the ‘Once More With Feeling’ episode (“I’ve got a theory it could be bunnies”). I’m having such a great time doing this show and I hope that all of this love and passion show’s on stage for you guys because you must of realized by now that this is an exciting show for me due to you getting a (most of the time) weekly update on what’s happening.
Tickets will be on sale soon and once they are I'll update the blog with the deets :)
*NOTE: No disrespect to anyone who deals with excrement on a daily basis as their job, I was only stating that I could never do it.
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