We Will Rock You went fabulously. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself during the process of putting the show together, have worked with great people and have improved masses since the beginning of the rehearsal process. The show really came together over the last couple of shows (For me personally, the two evening performances were my strongest as I was warmed up both vocally and physically) and it's been a pleasure to take part in such a fun, dynamic and interesting show.
Song by Song Analysis: (Songs I was in)
Act 1:
Radio Gaga:
I believe that Radio Gaga was my strongest song. It was the first song that we were taught the choreography for and I believe this is why it was the best song for me. I'd also learnt the lyrics to this particular song after seeing We Will Rock You in the West End a few months ago as it was my favourite song of the show. The choreography for this song was very robotic and contained mainly hand/arm movement. Having seen the West End show, I knew a lot about the Gaga Kids and I knew that in order to show the way they are all robotic and have no originality, I knew we would have to dance in time with each other. The simple choreography made this a lot easier and I believe we managed to achieve this effect. Lyric-wise most Gaga Kids were word perfect- I know I was. However there were some people who were unsure on words which meant the volume of the singing went down. If we were to do the show again, I'd ensure that EVERY Gaga Kid was 100% on both lyrics and choreography as this would make the overall performance a lot slicker and more professional. Killer Queen:
Elle did a great job on choreographing Killer Queen. It wasn't as simple as Radio Gaga but the final product was just as slick. The dance was all centred around us holding canes. The use of canes sexualised the song even more than the lyrics do and the fact that us yuppies were all 'worshipping' Killer Queen highlighted the 'sexualisation' of the piece- it showed that the yuppies were in superior to Killer Queen as the whole dance was focused around her. The only improvement for this song would be the vocals as at times, I felt as though the only Yuppies that could be heard singing were me, emily and Beth.
I Want It All:
During I Want It All, for one of the casts, we made the decision during show week that the whole cast sang the chorus. This was because Meat and Brit struggled with the chorus and it made sense for everyone to join in and give the vocals more power and energy.
This Thing Called Love:
I loved this song! The choreography was brilliant and simple. What made this song so special was the sheer amount of actors on stage- it was a whole cast scene with the exception of Killer Queen, Khashoggi and the guards. Lyrics wise everyone was perfect and the song allowed me, as a bohemian, to really get into character and embrace the 'rock n roll' image through exaggerated dancing and 'air guitaring'. Act 2:
One Vision:
One Vision was by far my least strongest song. Both my vocals and dancing were pretty weak. The song had been choreographed by different people for different verses and up until the day before the show, I still wasn't 100% sure on the choreography. I think the problem with the choreography was that a lot of it didn't suit the music very well. I feel that the rest of the Gaga Kids weren't confident at all and if we were to do the show again, I'd like to think that they would ensure they were more confident with the lyrics as it was very clear at times that certain people hadn't learnt them.
Flash:
Flash was a very strong number- Elle choreographed it. During 'Flash' Khashoggi is electrocuting the rebellious
Seven Seas Of Rhye:
This was one of my favourite numbers in the show. I think it was really effective how Khashoggi grabbed the Bohemians and then threw them on the floor. On Elle's performance, she really got into a character and even grabbed me by the throat. It looked fabulous and all the Bohemians did a good job on looking genuinely scared- through both facial expressions and body language. We could've improved this number if all the bohemians were shaking and rolling round uncomfortably to show their fear.
Those Were The Days:
This song was performed to a high standard. The Bohemians are 'zombified' during this song and simply sway to the song. It was a very emotional scene and I believe I did a good job in portraying a 'zombified bohemian' by moving very slow.
We Will Rock You and Bohemian Rhapsody:
I think both of these numbers lacked organisation. No one knew how many 'We Will Rock Yous' Gallileo and Scaramouche would sing in We Will Rock You and no one was entirely sure on which parts of Bohemian Rhapsody the chorus were singing. If we were to do the show again, I'd ensure that both these numbers were both choreographed and learnt properly and efficiently.
Production/Tech:
Production wise I was responsible for sourcing/putting together my own costumes. For my Gaga Kid costume, a white T-Shirt was supplied by college and I had to stencil the GAGA logo onto it. I also brought pairs of white shorts and white plimsols to complete the outfit. For my Yuppie costume, we simply wore a black blazer over our Gaga costumes. I found a black blazer in the costume cupboard which I went on to use. For my Bohemian costume, I wore a pair of black converses, scruffy levi shorts and random pieces of clothing that I had found in the costume cupboard. These 'random pieces of clothing' included patterned braces, a Purple DFTA t shirt, ties to be worn as head/armbands and we also cut up random pieces of material to tie round our arms/heads. I decided to rip and cut the t shirt to make it look even scruffier.
Synopsis/Conclusion:
Overall, I really enjoyed doing We Will Rock You. I found the entire process more enjoyable than I found Grease and I believe this was due to several reasons. The main thing I could've improved on was my dancing but I feel as though I did the best of my abilities- I should have just spent more time going over the dance basics to ensure I improved.
There were several differences between WWRY and Grease. The biggest one was the fact that in Grease I was a principle role- I had solos and I was very rarely off stage. In WWRY I was a member of the chorus and spent a lot of time in the wings during the show. Being a member of the chorus meant that I had to be a lot more patient during rehearsals as a lot of the time we would be running scenes that I wasn't in OR was in for just a couple of lines. In Grease, I did very little dancing- with the exception of a couple of songs, it was very much about the acting and singing. However, in WWRY dancing was pretty much the focus of being a member of the chorus. This really opened my eyes into the industry and showed me that different performers have very different responsibilities in a show. I have to admit, I really enjoyed being a member of the chorus in WWRY as I felt as though the pressure was off- even though I had to learn a lot of songs in a short amount of time. Unlike Grease, I didn't have to worry about my voice as much as I was always singing in an ensemble- if i momentarily slipped out of key, no one would realise, however if I slipped out of key during one of my solos in Grease, everyone would have noticed. So there definitely felt like there was less pressure and I could really 'go for it' when it came to singing and dancing.
Another big difference between WWRY and Grease was the size of the production. In comparison to Grease, WWRY was a huge production. Grease had just 13/14 cast members whereas WWRY had around 30. It gave the rehearsal process and the show such a different feel to what Grease felt like. Grease felt very low key and was a much smaller production- we even had a smaller audience. WWRY felt so much more energetic and due to the huge cast, it looked a lot more energetic and dynamic on stage. I felt as though the bigger cast also helped morale. During Grease, I felt as though cast members were often influenced by other cast members negativity and it made rehearsals a very tense experience. Of course, there was some sort of negativity within the WWRY cast, but because the cast was bigger, the negative comments didn't influence the entire cast.
I've enjoyed myself so much doing We Will Rock You and I'm going to miss the year 13s a lot!
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