Final rehearsals and performances
Posted : October 29, 2016
Day 12
This evening we had our final Girl and the North Wind rehearsal. It was a bit frustrating because the boys weren't taking it as seriously as I'd hoped. I don't think it's sunk in for them that they're performing the show next Tuesday! I know it's hard for them rehearsing without all the props and we haven't even introduced costume yet. This was the first time they'd rehearsed with the set in the space so we spent a lot of time just going through staging when I'd wanted to focus on the acting. Can you tell I'm getting nervous?
Day 13
We all gathered in the theatre today for a dress rehearsal. Quite frankly I was amazed and pleasantly surprised that it came together as well as it did. No one came onto stage in the wrong costume and all the quick changes worked. I'd done a lot of homework on who could appear in dances and who would need that time to get into new outfits. I'm nervous, though, that the boys are still forgetting their cues and are sometimes slow to come on stage. I hope that they can pull something out of the bag for the performance to the other group on Monday. We ended the day by watching the Seal Wife and I could sense my group gulping at how slick it was. We have a lot of work to do...
Day 14
After the other group performed the Seal Wife to the rest of the school as a taster, my group showed our work. I was mortified! It was painfully slow, unsure, quiet and lacking in energy. Mr Hill had to step in on a number of occasions and demand that the boys hurried up and spoke up. Afterwards he told the boys he was very disappointed that some of them clearly didn't know their lines well enough and that everyone was slow on cues. I was seriously concerned and told the boys I would consider pulling Beauty and the Beast if it didn't improve drastically. There had been so much inventiveness in my sessions but a distinct lack of discipline in rehearsal and it was now glaringly obvious in certain performances. Mr Hill and I told the boys in no uncertain terms that they had to buck up their ideas, go over their lines again and again and map out their journey in the play. After the boys left I said to Mr Hill, I need a miracle! He told me that this often happened and that they always pulled it out of the bag. They have 24 hours....I don't think I'm going to get much sleep tonight!
Day 15-Opening Night
I was delighted to come into the school to discover some of my boys rehearsing independently of me. So far, so promising! They are very nervous and some of them have a bit of stage fright. One of then even announced tearfully that he was having a nervous breakdown. It's easy to forget how important this is to many of them and how scary it is to get up on stage in front of their friends and family. We quickly ran through some of the stories and I breathed a sigh of relief-they'd really put the work in and the plays were unrecognisable from yesterday. Mr Hill and I ran a group warm up that included some breathing exercises (a great help for those people who were feeling jittery) and some motivational positive affirmations. Then my boys made their way to one of the classrooms while the audience entered for the Seal Wife. I'd love to report that my boys remained quiet and focussed in the classroom, preparing themselves for the performance, but they mostly ate (I've never known a hungrier group of people) noisily played chess, and ran around the small enclosed space. Once the Seal Wife had finished, I nervously made my way to the theatre to help set up the stage and answer any last minute questions from the boys (of which there were legion). The music started, the lights changed and they were off. From the moment that Nao got a laugh when he entered as Beauty, I knew that it was going to be a success. It was amazing to see the boys respond to having an audience in. They really worked the crowd and you could see the delight in their faces when moments that they'd devised (like Max's umbrella suggestion) got laughs. They were gleeful when it came to the Abu Hassan fart, but took it really seriously knowing that this would be funnier for the audience. I was delighted that the Emperor denouement went down a storm with the audience and that the performances in the Girl and the North Wind really went up a notch, particularly Pip and Zeb's. All in all, it was a fantastic evening. Yes, there were moments that we can work on for tomorrow's show, like the choreography, which was a bit sloppy, but all in all, I was extremely pleased and went home with a big smile on my face.
Day 16-second night
Second night performances have a reputation in theatre land of being a bit of a disaster. Not so this evening. The acting was just as slick and joyous as last night and if anything, you could see the boys raise their game as they'd grown in confidence that we had a really good show on our hands. However, one major thing did go wrong but it reminded me that mistakes can be a gift in the theatre. As I was watching the show with my mum and my eighteen month old daughter Joshua poked his head out of the curtain and exclaimed "my costume has gone missing!" Joshua was playing the lead in the Emperor's New Clothes and had a fabulous padded naked suit to wear. I rushed out the back to find a very upset Joshua wearing a pair of ill fitting white jeans he'd found. He was in floods of tears. I told him that he could pull this off with his brilliant acting, but secretly I was disappointed: the moment of his reveal is the most important part of the story and I was frustrated that it would be diluted. Once I was back in the audience, I waited for Joshua to make his way behind the screen to "undress". His acting was still brilliant but I wondered what he was doing behind the screen? As the screen turned, I was amazed to see what looked like a completely naked Joshua! He'd decided that in lieu of a costume, he would do the scene in his underpants! The rest of the cast behaved admirably, but there was a palpable amazement from them, which worked brilliantly for the storytelling. Joshua styled it out like a complete pro and got even bigger laughs tonight than he did last night. I was desperately proud and afterwards looked him in the eyes and said "now THAT was professionalism and YOU were the hero of the hour". The other boys seemed to agree. I would have rewarded them with the goat pooh Revels but they'd mysteriously all been eaten. I will miss this group of scamps.