Last night was a chorus rehearsal and so I didn't have much to do.
We started with Act 2, which is always a good thing for me. I enjoyed "The Last Supper" as usual, but we skipped over some of the principal numbers to focus on the chorus sections. Did the first part of "Judas' Death", skipped the middle bit ("My mind is in darkness now..."), then came back in with "you have murdered me..." for the chorus to come in with "So long Judas...". This sounded great in the end. There is a real clash between the accompaniment (minor key - for me) and what the chorus sing (major key). When the accompaniment stops and we are just left with the chorus, it resolves itself to the major key and sounds fab.
"The Arrest" and "Pilate and Christ" are coming on nicely. David is so right as Pilate and the chorus are really getting into the spirit of the scenes. We just need to lose the books so people can concentrate on putting the feeling into the words, and not get lost when turning a page!
Finished off with "Superstar" which went well again.
Next week is chorus only, so principals get a week off. Then the week after is NO BOOKS! We all get a fortnight off at the end of August, so I just hope we can all remember what we're doing when we come back!
Cleethorpes Carnival on Saturday. Looks like the weather should be good, so hopefully it will be an enjoyable evening.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Welcome friends
First of all, I'd like to say "Welcome" to everyone from Operatics who discovered this site just recently. Please feel free to comment on anything you see here (click on where it says "x Comments" at the end of each post) or email me direct. I'd be happy to hear from you.
This site has been a personal journal detailing my experiences over the last few months. It's not been intended to be an official GCAOS web site, but just the random ramblings of someone who can't believe their luck at having a dream come true. You've all been really great with me since I joined and I'm so grateful for you giving me the opportunity to play this part. I really do feel so lucky. That's why I wanted to record my experiences. I'm sure I'd never remember what had gone on once the show was over (I struggle to remember what I did last week!), so this should prove to be a nice reminder for me. And, if it drums up a bit of interest in the show at the same time, then all's the better.
As I said back in May, having no official website is going to hold us back somewhat. I spoke to Keith and Susan last night and offered my services to get one up and running. I'm not a professional web-designer, but I can come up with something simple to get us a presence. It doesn't take much...look at this site up and running in an afternoon.
Anyway, that's my explanations out of the way. Glad you've come back to read it and I hope you continue to visit.
This site has been a personal journal detailing my experiences over the last few months. It's not been intended to be an official GCAOS web site, but just the random ramblings of someone who can't believe their luck at having a dream come true. You've all been really great with me since I joined and I'm so grateful for you giving me the opportunity to play this part. I really do feel so lucky. That's why I wanted to record my experiences. I'm sure I'd never remember what had gone on once the show was over (I struggle to remember what I did last week!), so this should prove to be a nice reminder for me. And, if it drums up a bit of interest in the show at the same time, then all's the better.
As I said back in May, having no official website is going to hold us back somewhat. I spoke to Keith and Susan last night and offered my services to get one up and running. I'm not a professional web-designer, but I can come up with something simple to get us a presence. It doesn't take much...look at this site up and running in an afternoon.
Anyway, that's my explanations out of the way. Glad you've come back to read it and I hope you continue to visit.
Friday, July 23, 2004
Microphone Madness
Well, last night was quite an experience! We started half an hour earlier as Geoff (director) was coming. When we arrived, we were in the main hall (as opposed to the side-hall that we normally rehearse in), and there were 2 microphones set up. "Right," says Geoff, "I want to run through the whole show without stopping. Principals grab a mic when you need it. Lets go."
Well, I felt like I was back in auditions again. My voice had been pretty crap all day after have a cold on and off for the last few days, and this news just made it dry up even more. Of course, I was up first as well...argh!
So I grabbed a mic and tried to get into the groove of "Heaven On Their Minds". I wasn't very good really. I have never sang with a handheld mic before and wasn't really sure where to position it, how loud to sing or anything. So, I managed to hash my way through the opening number OK, straining and screeching like I'd never sung it before. Afterwards, Gary (Annas) took me to one side and gave me a quick pointer on how to handle the mic. That was much appreciated.
"Strange Thing Mystifying" and "Everything's Alright" were also dodgy, but at least people could hear me. As "Damned For All Time" drew close, I felt myself getting more and more tense. This song is really my nemesis...if I'm not on form it sounds totally crap...and last night I was really not on form. It wasn't good. The situation wasn't helped by having only 2 microphones to share between me, Caiaphas and Annas. Much swapping and changing at one point led to fits of giggles.
Anyway, 1st act out of the way, I settled down a bit. We moved staight on to act 2 - no break! I felt happier to be in the second half as it's an easier sing for me. The Last Supper went OK - it was good to have everyone standing up and to be able to actually "do" the argument with Jesus.
Then I think I peaked with "Judas' Death" (a bit late you might think, but better late than never!). It was pretty good I think, especially being "on stage"...I could fall to my knees looking crazed, stagger round the stage in despair and climb the steps on "My mind is in darkness now!". Good stuff.
Then "Superstar"...this went well. I got Pete to sit on the floor, where he had been left by Pilate, so I could sing "at" him. It felt pretty good. My only worry with this is that the coreographer is going to have to try to get me dancing properly! I have a long-standing arrangement with my feet that they will only have to do so much in the way of co-ordination. This could get interesting...
So, having run through the entire show, Geoff said he was very pleased with what he saw and heard. It's a shame I wasn't on better form. If he had heard us all last week, I think he would have been even more impressed. He's coming back mid-September to start floor rehearsals - can't wait for them. On the subject of hair, he wants beards (for the men only, this isn't Life Of Brian!) and longish hair. Pete gets to wear a wig so he can go get his hair cut, lucky sod! Goeff suggested I should keep growing my hair, then wear a headband tied around it for the show. Oh, and a bit of a beard as well - that's good news as everyone seems to like me with a beard (which I shaved off a couple of nights ago - we're off to a wedding on Saturday and it was getting a bit bushy. Hopefully it will be back to a neat little growth by then)
After all this, we discussed the Carnival. We're meeting at Sydney Park (where's that?) between 3.30 and 4pm. Then its 2 hours on the back of a lorry, trying to sing over the sound of the team of majorettes in front of us! Should be fun.
Well, I felt like I was back in auditions again. My voice had been pretty crap all day after have a cold on and off for the last few days, and this news just made it dry up even more. Of course, I was up first as well...argh!
So I grabbed a mic and tried to get into the groove of "Heaven On Their Minds". I wasn't very good really. I have never sang with a handheld mic before and wasn't really sure where to position it, how loud to sing or anything. So, I managed to hash my way through the opening number OK, straining and screeching like I'd never sung it before. Afterwards, Gary (Annas) took me to one side and gave me a quick pointer on how to handle the mic. That was much appreciated.
"Strange Thing Mystifying" and "Everything's Alright" were also dodgy, but at least people could hear me. As "Damned For All Time" drew close, I felt myself getting more and more tense. This song is really my nemesis...if I'm not on form it sounds totally crap...and last night I was really not on form. It wasn't good. The situation wasn't helped by having only 2 microphones to share between me, Caiaphas and Annas. Much swapping and changing at one point led to fits of giggles.
Anyway, 1st act out of the way, I settled down a bit. We moved staight on to act 2 - no break! I felt happier to be in the second half as it's an easier sing for me. The Last Supper went OK - it was good to have everyone standing up and to be able to actually "do" the argument with Jesus.
Then I think I peaked with "Judas' Death" (a bit late you might think, but better late than never!). It was pretty good I think, especially being "on stage"...I could fall to my knees looking crazed, stagger round the stage in despair and climb the steps on "My mind is in darkness now!". Good stuff.
Then "Superstar"...this went well. I got Pete to sit on the floor, where he had been left by Pilate, so I could sing "at" him. It felt pretty good. My only worry with this is that the coreographer is going to have to try to get me dancing properly! I have a long-standing arrangement with my feet that they will only have to do so much in the way of co-ordination. This could get interesting...
So, having run through the entire show, Geoff said he was very pleased with what he saw and heard. It's a shame I wasn't on better form. If he had heard us all last week, I think he would have been even more impressed. He's coming back mid-September to start floor rehearsals - can't wait for them. On the subject of hair, he wants beards (for the men only, this isn't Life Of Brian!) and longish hair. Pete gets to wear a wig so he can go get his hair cut, lucky sod! Goeff suggested I should keep growing my hair, then wear a headband tied around it for the show. Oh, and a bit of a beard as well - that's good news as everyone seems to like me with a beard (which I shaved off a couple of nights ago - we're off to a wedding on Saturday and it was getting a bit bushy. Hopefully it will be back to a neat little growth by then)
After all this, we discussed the Carnival. We're meeting at Sydney Park (where's that?) between 3.30 and 4pm. Then its 2 hours on the back of a lorry, trying to sing over the sound of the team of majorettes in front of us! Should be fun.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Cooking on gas...
Great rehearsal last night...all the principals were spot on (even myself, I might add...)
Pete was so amazing - he was positively shaking after "Gethsemane", and I think everyone else was just totally blown away. "Judas's Death" left me completely drained...I think It took some people aback - no-one has really heard me sing it before and I was really "in the zone" last night. I put everything into it and more. At the end I got a good clap, but I didn't really notice, I just put my head in my hands as I tried to bring myself back to life!
I think now is the time for the chorus to lose their books. We've been over the chorus parts so many times, they really now need to focus on what they're singing. Unfortunately there are still quite a lot who have their heads buried in their books for even the most simple of lines - they all need to start feeling the music.
Got our T-Shirts for the carnival last night as well, they're really cool. The JCS logo on the front, and the Auditorium logo on the back, with the dates. Mine's a bit big (XL is normally my preference for T-shirts coz they're usually quite small) but not to worry.
The battle of the beards has commenced! I decided to see how well I get on with growing the old biblical goatee beard this week. I reckon it looks OK, so we'll see how I get on with it. Pete has also started growing one, so looks like a competition in the making! I've also said that I'm not going to cut my hair till the show - not sure about this one. I think I'd look better with longer hair as Judas - my usual "number 3" shaved head would look a bit out of place I think, but I don't really want to have to find a wig. But then, I don't know how much my hair will grow by then - I'd be really cross if I looked a muppet for the next 4 months, then still had to cut it off coz it wasn't long enough. Again, watch this space!
Pete was so amazing - he was positively shaking after "Gethsemane", and I think everyone else was just totally blown away. "Judas's Death" left me completely drained...I think It took some people aback - no-one has really heard me sing it before and I was really "in the zone" last night. I put everything into it and more. At the end I got a good clap, but I didn't really notice, I just put my head in my hands as I tried to bring myself back to life!
I think now is the time for the chorus to lose their books. We've been over the chorus parts so many times, they really now need to focus on what they're singing. Unfortunately there are still quite a lot who have their heads buried in their books for even the most simple of lines - they all need to start feeling the music.
Got our T-Shirts for the carnival last night as well, they're really cool. The JCS logo on the front, and the Auditorium logo on the back, with the dates. Mine's a bit big (XL is normally my preference for T-shirts coz they're usually quite small) but not to worry.
The battle of the beards has commenced! I decided to see how well I get on with growing the old biblical goatee beard this week. I reckon it looks OK, so we'll see how I get on with it. Pete has also started growing one, so looks like a competition in the making! I've also said that I'm not going to cut my hair till the show - not sure about this one. I think I'd look better with longer hair as Judas - my usual "number 3" shaved head would look a bit out of place I think, but I don't really want to have to find a wig. But then, I don't know how much my hair will grow by then - I'd be really cross if I looked a muppet for the next 4 months, then still had to cut it off coz it wasn't long enough. Again, watch this space!
Friday, July 09, 2004
Snapshots and suits
An interesting rehearsal last night. Full chorus & principals, interrupted throughout the night by photographs for the programme and getting measured up for costumes.
Firstly, the singing...this went pretty well considering I felt like I hadn;t sung it for a month (not far wrong actually). "Heaven On Their Minds" was a bit ropey, but I did get a round of applause after, which was really nice - very reassuring after my previous doubts. I soon got into the swing of it again though, and by the time we did "Superstar" right at the end of the night, I was really going for it. Keith let all the men go home and kept the ladies to be the angels. It sounded really good...you could tell how much people were enjoying singing it at the end where we do the repeat to fade. It just felt like everyone wanted to get up and dance! So overall, a good singing rehearsal.
Photographs were a bit different to how I've experienced them before. In other societies it has entailed standing around in a cold church hall for the best part of a day while we get arranged into all sorts of groups and combinations....Men, Ladies, Chorus, Principals, Backstage crew, Committee members......it's normally worse than a wedding photo shoot. But this was quite different. Come in, sit down 6 at a time, smile, right thank you very much. All done in 2 minutes. Apparently the photographer makes use of the digital technology available to him these days and crops an individual head and shoulders for everyone. We could even check the photo on the digital camera, just to make sure we weren't looking too stupid! All very clever.
And then there's the familiar ritual of getting measured up for costumes. As usual, two ladies were in charge and there is much banter with the gentlemen over the size of their waists and inside leg measurements. It all seemed a little over the top for most of us, however, as we're mainly going to be in long flowing robes. Not a lot of need for exact measurements there, but not to worry.
Oh, and I handed in my black t-shirt to be printed up for the carnival. Look forward to getting that back...it should be a nice memento of the show as well.
So, all in all, things seem to be picking up a pace. Geoff (director) should be coming to see us soon, so hopefully we'll get an idea of rehearsal commitments from September.
Firstly, the singing...this went pretty well considering I felt like I hadn;t sung it for a month (not far wrong actually). "Heaven On Their Minds" was a bit ropey, but I did get a round of applause after, which was really nice - very reassuring after my previous doubts. I soon got into the swing of it again though, and by the time we did "Superstar" right at the end of the night, I was really going for it. Keith let all the men go home and kept the ladies to be the angels. It sounded really good...you could tell how much people were enjoying singing it at the end where we do the repeat to fade. It just felt like everyone wanted to get up and dance! So overall, a good singing rehearsal.
Photographs were a bit different to how I've experienced them before. In other societies it has entailed standing around in a cold church hall for the best part of a day while we get arranged into all sorts of groups and combinations....Men, Ladies, Chorus, Principals, Backstage crew, Committee members......it's normally worse than a wedding photo shoot. But this was quite different. Come in, sit down 6 at a time, smile, right thank you very much. All done in 2 minutes. Apparently the photographer makes use of the digital technology available to him these days and crops an individual head and shoulders for everyone. We could even check the photo on the digital camera, just to make sure we weren't looking too stupid! All very clever.
And then there's the familiar ritual of getting measured up for costumes. As usual, two ladies were in charge and there is much banter with the gentlemen over the size of their waists and inside leg measurements. It all seemed a little over the top for most of us, however, as we're mainly going to be in long flowing robes. Not a lot of need for exact measurements there, but not to worry.
Oh, and I handed in my black t-shirt to be printed up for the carnival. Look forward to getting that back...it should be a nice memento of the show as well.
So, all in all, things seem to be picking up a pace. Geoff (director) should be coming to see us soon, so hopefully we'll get an idea of rehearsal commitments from September.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Superstar Soul Girls
It was good to get back into the swing of things last night with a funny rehearsal of "Superstar" with the Soul Girls (Fiona, Helen, Mandy etc). It's not a hard piece to grasp, it's just one with a lot of repetition, so it's more a question of keeping track of what you're supposed to be singing when. We were ensconced in Keith's conservatory with a glass of winbe...all very civilized! When Mandy had finished trying to eat a banana while trying to "Ahh" angelically, things went pretty well! I think this will be great...the crucial thing will be how the rest of the chorus gets fitted in. We shall have to wait and see how this develops.
Had a bit of a hiccup yesterday...work want me to go to Glasgow 3 days a week. Hmm...not good huh? I spent the day trying to negotiate a workable arrangment, eventualy coming down to an early start on Tuesday, then getting home late on Thursday, meaning a mad dash in to say hello, then dashing out again to rehearsal. Hopefully it will only be for a few weeks though. Watch this space.
Had a bit of a hiccup yesterday...work want me to go to Glasgow 3 days a week. Hmm...not good huh? I spent the day trying to negotiate a workable arrangment, eventualy coming down to an early start on Tuesday, then getting home late on Thursday, meaning a mad dash in to say hello, then dashing out again to rehearsal. Hopefully it will only be for a few weeks though. Watch this space.
Saturday, July 03, 2004
So bad to be back...
Well, I'm back after a fantastic 2 weeks in France. It only served to reinforce our feeling that we really want to move there. Needless to say that we're not happy to be home.
Although I am, of course, looking forward to getting back into JCS again. Got Monday night rehearsal next week to do "Superstar" with the Soul Girls...I think it may prove to be a good night!
Although I am, of course, looking forward to getting back into JCS again. Got Monday night rehearsal next week to do "Superstar" with the Soul Girls...I think it may prove to be a good night!
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