Workin’ Together
Throughout our year at the Conservatory many of our assignments have been individual ones. Monologues, solos, things like that. For the most part we've focused on building our own skill sets. But lately we’ve had a blast changing things up and working together on a few projects.
For the past month, our Singing For The Stage class has been dedicated to group songs. Mostly it’s been duets, but we’ve had a few trios thrown in there as well. Joann asked each of us to do at least two group numbers. Some of us did more than that. We divided ourselves into groups and chose our own songs.
Our group performance days were amazing. They were like mini cabaret performances. Everyone put a lot of work into their songs and included choreography, costumes, hairstyles…the whole package. And the result was two classes full of laughter and fun. We even had some special guests as a few cast members joined us!
I did two songs, one each week. JT and I performed “Love Is An Open Door” from Frozen, and then Abby and I sang “When You Believe” from Prince of Egypt. That one was really great because Nick and Amanda joined us for the last verse of the song. No one knew they were planning to. They simply stood up and we finished the song in four-part harmony. That’s definitely going to be one of my highlited memories from this year.
So singing together has been a lot of fun. But we've also had a chance to work as a group and put our new acting skills to use. For the past month we’ve used the time that would typically be our Friday morning acting class to focus on our One Act play, Twelve Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose. If you’re familiar with the movie Twelve Angry Men, this play is based on that. Except it’s been moved from it’s setting in the 1950s to present day, and obviously, not all of the jurors are men. :)
The play takes place in a jury room after a trial. The setting never leaves the room. Through the conversation of the jurors the audience begins to understand what the trial was about and the evidence that was presented. All of the jurors, except one, vote that the young man on trial was guilty. Only one juror is brave enough to admit that he isn’t convinced. There’s a lot of conflict as everyone begins to express their very strong opinions, some of it getting really personal. It's such a great show about standing up for what you believe it, even if it's unpopular. But there’s very little action in the play. Everything rests on the conversation of the jurors, which makes it an exciting challenge as actors!
I played the Foreman, and then each of my fellow students were assigned a juror number. There aren't any character names in the show. We all got to completely make up our own backstories based on the clues in the text. Again, another fun challenge!
It was a great project. We’ve had a few extra rehearsals to make sure we had time to block everything. Everyone really embraced their roles, regardless of the number of lines, and that brought the entire story to another level. There really isn’t such a thing as a small role, especially in this setting when everyone is on stage the entire time. You must listen and respond to everything that’s going on to build a believable world. That’s something I think everyone did extremely well.
Jeff really wanted us to experience a professional rehearsal process. The first day, when we had our table read, he took some time to ask us what we thought we should prepare for a first rehearsal. As an actor, there should be quite a bit of time and planning that goes on before you even step into the practice room. You should read the script, do some preliminary character work, know the author and the context of the show…etc. You should come prepared with ideas and thoughts about your performance, but with a flexible mindset. You have to know that things will change, and to trust your director.
One of the most important things Jeff has taught us is to always "go big" in rehearsal. Make bold choices. Go with your instinct. If you feel that you should make a cross on a line, do it. If you feel your line would be shouted, try it. The director can always pull you back and correct anything. They can always ask for “less.” But the last thing a director wants to do is constantly ask the actor for “more.” They would much rather begin with a ton of energy and then curb that. From my own experience directing, I completely agree.
Our rehearsal process was smooth and I learned so much through it. I know I'm going to be a much better performer because of this project. Then we got to put on our show! We had one performance last Monday night, October 2nd. Jeff created a blackbox setting (where the performance space is surrounded on three sides by audience members) right on the Sight & Sound stage. We put together our costumes, had someone running the lighting, and we even got to use our microphones. Admission was free, and many of our friends from the Jonah cast and crew came to enjoy the show. We even had to add more chairs! We all felt so loved when we saw how many of our friends had come to support us.
It was such a fun evening and I loved being able to put the things I’ve learned to use in a new context. It was a great change of pace from the massive Sight & Sound stage. We had a small playing space and needed to be fully engaged with our fellow performers. Jeff told us that he was very proud of the work we'd put in and thought we did excellent. That meant a lot coming from him!
That's one more project checked off of the "To Do" list. And now, with only a couple months left of the Conservatory, I'm looking forward to more "working together" with these amazing students.