Onwards and Upwards

We just finished a long rehearsal - well by professional standards, a drop in the musical ocean - and we got to the end of finale Act 1 ! Phew ! Actually it is a short finale and not very musically complex, but we have a number of first timers, and they need spoon feeding a bit as at first, all of the G&S finales are musically tough and need quick changes and many different positions of the cast, so the quickness, the feet and the singing altogether can be tricky and a bit brain churning !

 

There is lots of illness around, quite a bit of end of term 'lowness', and much of that 'we are so near and yet so far' feeling which one always has a couple of weeks before the show, when it all seems bitty and lacking in dramatic fluency. This will gradually smooth out and the whole show will gain that seamlessness which comes from the extra hours of work.

 

I must be honest, I am feeling the weight of, once again, having to do it all. Last time I had C helping with teaching the chorus music, and L who choreographed some of the bigger set pieces, but this year both of them have been otherwise engaged and not able to help. This means that sometimes I feel overwhelmed at working out all the blocking, trying to push the music in the cast's brains, and having to play the accompaniment (very badly I hasten to add) as well. I definitely feel unable to sustain all of that indefinitely, and remember saying a couple of years ago that without help these large endeavours were not viable. This year has absolutely proved that to me.

 

I need to find willing folk with the requisite talents if we do another. Sadly I am just not as young as I was, and it is such hard work.

 

In essence I suppose it means that I feel I do none of it very well, and I am not a natural 'jack of all trades' and never have been. The choreography will be less sparkling than last year, and the part singing is not so secure. Oh well, only another couple of weeks, and with the imput and help from our Pirate King played by T, and the other major General, A, both of whom will try to lift the burden, it will be a good show.

 

Posted with Blogsy