WWRY EVALUATION

WWRY 1
WWRY 2
WWRY 3
WWRY 4
WWRY 5
WWRY 6
WWRY 7
WWRY 8
WWRY 9
WWRY 10
WWRY 11
WWRY 12


WE WILL ROCK YOU- EVALUATION


On Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th January 2017, we performed We Will Rock You, the musical over four performances, 4.30pm and 7.30pm on each day. I played Scaramouche for the first two performances and swapped to my off cast roles, as a chorus member for the second two shows. I feel as though I had a lot to offer when playing both characters and this showed through my performance and interaction with fellow performers and audience members. 



I feel as though when playing Scaramouche, I was able to take on a leader role on stage, bringing huge amounts of confidence, enthusiasm and charisma to  my character, which I felt helped encourage other members of the cast to put their all into their performance. Playing a lead role in such a big musical requires you, as the actor to really throw yourself into the role as you automatically set the bar of performance quality for the rest of the cast. I feel as though I really worked well with Luke, who played Galileo to do so. Luke and I are good friends and therefore already have a good connection. We perform well together as we are committed and also ensure we put in extra rehearsals prior to the show to ensure we have perfected our ensemble efforts towards performing.



Whilst playing my chorus roles on the second night, I feel as though I was a good team player and really worked well with my fellow cast members to create an ensemble piece. By this I am referring to the fact I felt I was on hand to help anyone back stage who had for example lost a prop or needed help getting into their wigs for the Yuppies. I was also able to interact with my fellow cast members well on stage if something went wrong. I was able to take hints and improvise in small sections where necessary if something did not quite go to plan with the blocking or with the band.


























SCARAMOUCHE EVALUATION



Something that went well regarding my acting was the way I interpreted Scaramouche with a slightly modern approach. For example when Scaramouche was angry with Galileo, I made a conscious effort to deliver my lines with rough aggression, making full use of the swear words in my script. If I had not made a statement out of the bad language, this would not have given off  a realistic image of modern day arguments between couples. I made my time of voice sound harsh, by elongating the bad language and making the rest of the words in the sentence sharp and short, adding emphasis to the bad language. 


I also feel as though I showed a lot of character emotion through my facial expressions. Facial expressions are definitely one of my strong points and I like to play to my strengths here. You can tell a lot from a character by looking at their expression therefore I did research into my lines, fitting them to expressions. For example, I used my tongue at one point and ran it along my teeth, to show aggression building up inside her. I also utilised a fair amount of eye rolls and eye brow raises as these are typical ways that females show exasperation towards males, something Scaramouche displayed to Galileo regularly through out the course of the musical.  



Something I could have improved on regarding my acting would have been my confidence with lines. I feel as though I knew my specific lines well however I did struggling with learning my cue lines. This problem occurred mainly when it came to mine and Luke’s scenes as the content of the lines was very repetitive and the same sort or wording was used over and over again. This lead to my confusion; I would muddle up which line came before and after Luke’s line and this became difficult as they were so similar. I feel as thought this confusion got in my way I'd characterisation slightly. I would find myself concentrating on my lines that I would momentarily loose my character expression, coming out of character in stage. This is unprofessional and to improve for next time I will make sure I spend a few hours, sit down and write out my cue lines, learning them just as well as my own character lines. This will allow me to preempt my following line, allowing myself to prepare this line in advance rather than panicking moments before delivery.  



I feel as though I positively contributed towards working as an ensemble by taking responsibility for Scaramouche vocally and leading the ensemble where necessary. I feel as though my vocals have really improved over the course of this process. Towards the beginning I had my doubts as to whether or not  I would have been able to hit some of Scaramouche’s notes however I have definitely proved myself wrong. I have put in a lot of effort leading up to the show and feel proud of myself that I was able to give the vocal performance that I did. Some of the noes Scaramouche has, are different to the notes sung in the ensemble backing her e.g. In Somebody to love with the Teen Queens and in Bo Rhap with the whole cast. This is her opportunity to show off her vocals, showcasing to audiences that she is indeed the lead role and has strong vocal abilities. I feel as though I was able to perform these notes and riffs as I had built up the confidence over the past few months. Regular rehearsals with Amber (playing Scaramouche as well) have contributed to my confidence improving as we have helped each other where necessary, giving advice and tips on how to hit some of her  difficult notes and what sounds best for our individual vocals.



To make my ensemble contribution to the performance better when playing Scaramouche, I feel as though I could have been more aware of the happenings back stage. I found myself pacing around the back stage area, pre thinking my following scene and the lines/songs/movement I am about to perform. Looking back, I should have spent less time on this and focused more on ensuring all of the off casts members were ready to be on stage when appropriate, with the correct props in place as costume fitted. The blue wigs which the Yuppies wore to compete their outfits, were problematic, taking a considerable amount of time to put on and arrange. This is something I could have even helping with, rather than pacing and worrying about myself. To improve this I need to remember to be more aware of what is going on around me backstage by putting my nerves to aside and allowing myself to help others before going on stage. This will also distract me from thinking about what I am performing next on stage, allowing my mind to rest before preparing to go on stage. 



I feel as though I interacted with the audience well by making eye contact with audience members when singing, especially during ‘Crazy Little Thing’ which is a fun song. We wanted the audience to be singing along and interacting with us by clapping and generally enjoying themselves. As well as holding eye contact which made the audience feel part of the performance itself (breaking the fourth wall), I made sure I turned my body towards the audience when dancing and interacted with my partner. A mixture of the two gave me a balance between looking after the audience and ensuring my character connection with Galileo stayed strong. When facing the audience I made a special effort with my facial expressions, showing that Scaramouche was expressing her passion for her new found love, Galileo and making it clear that she was keen to share this with the world. I feel as though I brought confidence to this number, showing to audiences that I was enjoying myself and really getting into my character. I feel as though this is what made my audience interaction so successful. 

Looking back, to improve my audience interaction I could have directed more of Scaramouche’s one liner jokes out towards the audience, making eye contact with a certain members as if talking to them. I played Scaramouche as quite a relaxed and care free character, despite her under lying confidence issue. For her to be making jokes to outsiders (audience members) at Galileo’s expense, would have worked well as she likes to be hear by a wide range of people as she tries not to care about people’s opinions. There was one line that I did do this with however I naturally performed it in the last show, only then to realise it would have really worked if I had thought of it sooner. This line was “He didn't have any complains about that last night.” Which was an innuendo. The audience really appreciated this as it was relatable and comical, due to the fact I delivered the line as I'd Galileo was not in the room or aware that she was saying it about him. 







CHORUS EVALUATION- YUPPIE, TEEN QUEEN, GAGA KID AND BOHEMIAN



Something that went well regarding my acting was the way I really threw myself into all of the roles. I over exaggerated the expressions, body language, line deliver and movement
which worked well for the musical. For example when playing the Yuppies as saying “Oh no” and “That is great”, I made sure to properly pronounce the line to ensure my speech was clear for audiences to hear and my movements were certain  and non hesitant to show professionalism as confidence in my performance. 


When playing a Bohemian, we had to freestyle rock dance to the instrumental part in Bohemian Rhapsody. If I had performed this half heartedly, the movement would have looked incorrect and I would not have brought any energy to the overall performance. To avoid this, I made sure I let my body go, release any tension in my back and neck, allowing for my head to roll and body to be free from my legs. This movement was not set therefore I also feel as though I used my previously learnt improvisational skills effectively, being socially aware and taking into account movement my fellow cast members were performing. This made my acting performance well rounded, by showing that I was aware of actors around me and that I had the ability to react on the spot to their movements, when not set. 



Something I could have improved on regarding my acting would have been keeping a straight face during ‘It’s a kind of magic’. This scene did not go to plan as we had restricted space to perform our set choreography therefore before going o stage, we made a mutual decision as actors to make the dance comical, as a posed to it looking under rehearsed when the movement inevitability went wrong. We did this by putting on a cheese like smile through out the dance, making the Yuppies look even more programmed and robotic than usual. This really work as we got a positive reception from the audience, as thy were laughing and smiling along with us throughout.
 
To improve however, I needed to have kept a straight face through out the performance. Even though we were smiling and having fun as actors, I did let a laugh slip out a couple of times during the performance, which was negative and unprofessional from me as this broke my character. For next time I will have to learn to control my natural reactions to last minute changes, by preparing myself for change by not getting to comfortable with arrangements until on stage. 

I feel as though I positively contributed towards working as an ensemble by holding the  ability to work with my fellow cast members and perform as a group, even if something did not go quite to plan. I was able to communicate and interact with my class mates on stage to cover up any points which went wrong. If someone in the chorus sung the wrong part, I did not react to this, I carried on with my own performance.


On stage as an ensemble we sing We are the champions. No specific movement was choreographed for this however we all came together in the centre of the stage, wrapping our arms around each other to make the atmosphere more communal and celebratory. This was improved on the spot on the opening night and this is what we stuck with for the rest of the performance. When it first happened, we didn't not react to the chance, but simply went along with the movement, which looked natural and really worked with the lyrics and meaning to the song.


I also feel as though I did my best to help any fellow team members with back stage, ensuring everyone had their correct props and costume present with them when necessary. If someone did not have or could not find something they needed then I would make a special effort to help them find it, after I had sorted myself out with costume and props. 




To make my ensemble contribution to the performance better, I could have toned down my vocals as I feel as though at some points, I did not take into consideration my fellow performers. For example during We Will Rock You and Bohemian Rhapsody, I did get carried away by singing notes louder, above the rest of the ensemble’s volume and I performed some vocal tricks (riffs) which were not meant to be added.  I feel as though this happened because I was so in the moment when performing that I forgot I was not playing Scaramouche, as changing my vocal to contrast to the ensemble vocal is what I would have done when playing her. For the future, I need to remember when to take a step back and allow for my vocals to be mixed in with the rest of the ensemble, making me more a part of the group effort. I need to be able to find a balance between performing to the highest quality I can at the same time as being an enable member; finding equality, rather than showing off my skills. 

I feel as though I interacted with the audience well by interacting with my fellow chorus members. For example it was enjoyable for the audiences to watch the chorus members working together well, with everyone's movements looking sharpe and vocals all in time. I feel as though we were very together as a whole ensemble and this showed through our performance. Audience’s will always enjoy a performance if the actors know what the are doing and perform movement confidently, which is what I did, definitely. I was also able to confidently take a step forward, showing my character personality coming through the ensemble. For example all of the Bohemian’s would have had different personalities therefore I created a bubbly and outgoing personality for mine, through use of random arm gestures and a light facial expressions whilst singing.



Looking back, to improve my audience interaction I could have ensured I was fully confident with the timing for the movement to Somebody to love when playing a Teen Queen. The issue with this was that I was facing the audience, head on and all movements I performed, I had to direct to audience members. There were points when I felt unsure as to what the next movement was so I would look to other performers. This looks unprofessional, especially as I was at the front and clearly visible to all audience members. They would have seen my eye line go off track, distracting them from watching Scaramouche, the main point of focus. To improve I will for future, I will make sure I spend more time on my off cast roles and learn the dances to the point I could recall them on own, without the prompt of other cast members. This will increase how the audience view your performance quality, making me look professional and polish within my performance. 


Overall in conlusion to this evaluation, I am very proud of my performance, both on and off cast. I feel as though I really threw myself into both roles, enjoying them both which showed through my confident movements and facial expressions on stage. To have imporved my perfromance in heinsight, I would have spent more time learning my cue lines to ensure my delivery was seemless and flowed well.