Final Evaluation

The School Song Evaluation

I will be discussing my evaluation and my strengths and weaknesses of my performance during our musical theatre showcase.

Singing

I believe that I greatly improved on my pronunciation throughout the weeks of learning this piece. The variety of different warm ups such as popular tongue twisters and singing up scales with lines of alliteration, really allowed me to build up my ability in fitting a lot of words into a short amount of song, whilst still executing them with a level of clarity. I think that I projected clearly so that the audience could hear and understand me. Breathing techniques such as holding our breath for a certain period of time, and then exhaling for the same amount of time, allowed me to develop and improve my oxygen take in, thus allowing me to be able to sing for longer and to projected easier. I was comfortable with the tempo played during the assessment, although slightly faster than what we had originally been rehearsing with. This means that I am able to adapt accordingly and that I have a good sense of musicality. Warm ups that included a rise in tempo helped me develop this skill.

However, I believe that my higher notes could have been louder and more refined. I struggled to project these notes for a couple for a couple of reasons. One being that the key was at the top of my range, so it was a struggle to get there, whilst also struggling with a sore throat during the performance. Another reason was that the high section of the song came just after a large amount of high energy choreography, so I was often out of breath. This meant that I also needed to improve on pacing my voice so that I don’t run out of energy.

Drama

In the School song, characterisation was a crucial part in enabling a successful performance. I understood that I was portraying a Big kid, with the intention to intimidate the little kids. I believe that I was able to use a range of facial expressions in order to show different emotions the song. Such as mocking during the lines “prince or a princess”, to anger during the stomping to the beat whilst the little kids are singing and also fear during the block sequence (I was holding the J and portrayed the emotion of fear to show that I was stuck “in jail”). I think I could have improved on my characterisation during the blocks sequence, as I think I focused widely on the block placements and keeping my vocals clear so I don’t think I was as expressive as I could have been. I think I held a strong and powerful stance when turning around to face the audience at the beginning. I held my hands in front of me with my legs spread slightly in a masculine and strong stance. This was important as it set the tone for the rest of my performance. Throughout the rehearsals, I think my biggest improvement was developing the relationship between myself and the little kids. Such as adding in elements such as shaking them to the beat and staring at them intimidatingly during the final “Why?”.

Dance

From what I learnt about the dance style of Matilda in the first lesson that we worked on it, I knew that the choreography was less about dance and fluidity, but about harsh and attacking motions in order to try show the inner thoughts and frustrations of a child. I think that I was successful in picking up the choreography quickly, making the rehearsals more efficient as I was able to focus on adapting the style that Peter Darling created for the musical, instead of worrying about which move was next in the sequence. I made sure that my arms were elongated and that I attacked each stomp with an anger and purpose, to mimic the style of a little kid not getting their way. I think I could have improved on my movements between each block placement as sometimes I focused too hard on getting to my next place, instead of mooing with a character still in focus.

Performing

Throughout rehearsals, the main challenge I faced was piecing together each element (singing, acting and dance) as I would often run out of breath and my energy would drop towards the end, due to the sheer number of steps and block placements. My aim was to make sure that I didn’t let the audience see if I was struggling or running low on breath. However, thanks to the techniques and specific breath control warm-ups that we had been putting into practise over the last couple of months, I was able to control my energy and stamina in order to perform the piece with the confidence that I could hold my energy throughout.

Costumes

As a group, I think our costumes played an effective part in making us look like authentic school children, with white shirts and black trousers or skirts. I think that this basic costume allowed us to, also, show some individuality as we were all wearing different variations of this basic costume. The little kids wore their shirts tucked in and had their tie on in the proper placement. However, the big kids had more room to be creative with their costume. For example, to show that I was against the rules and the school code, I tie my white shirt into a knot and wore my tie around my wrist. Not only does this show a clear status change from the little and big kids, it also allowed to stand out from the group. To improve, I think every big kid should have worn their tie in an unconventional way, as some group members stuck to having it on their neck. This wold have, potentially, allowed the big kids to look more unified.

Props

The blocks proved a challenge for me and the class consistently throughout the lessons. I knew that I would take a long time to confidently pick up the timings, but I was excited and prepared to learn them as it was an ode to the stage version of Matilda, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My blocks consisted of C, J, and V. Nadine made sure that each group member had at least 2 and tried to make sure that their was a gap in-between so there wasn’t any rush. The easiest block for me, personally was the C block. I think this is because I had to pick it up and throw it, sol the responsibility was in my hands. I think I struggled with relying on others to make sure that my block placements happened on time, like my block J and V. I didn’t have the most complex of block placements, which I was fortunate for. With C, I had to run and collect it and throw it to Lottie. I was passed J by Nadira and I had to kneel at the front and hold it up. Then, my task was to turn t to show P and hand it to Sophie. My final block relied on Bonnie to take away the block on top of mine, in order for me to pick it up and turn it, before placing it down at the front, showing V. I think that I was successful in not showing any discomfort or worry during my block exchanges. To improve, I would have liked to have gotten to the point where I didn’t even need to look at the block, but that I was just aware on how to turn it in order to show the correct letter.

Audience and Performer Relationship

I was given a target from my family during the lead up to the assessment, that was to try engaging the audience and use more eye contact. This is because I often use the middle point above the audience as my focus point. The main target for me was to use my eye contact in order to make the audience feel intimidated and slightly uncomfortable, much like the little kids should feel. When I first turned around, this was the first impression that the audience would get, so I made sure to stare at different audience members, with my eyes wide and a slight smirk. Then when the choreography began, my facial expression changed to anger and assertion, by frowning almost and attacking the movements. My feedback from my family who was present, was that they really found my expressions effective and I had largely taken on board the target.

Peer assessment

I got some feedback from my peers, and they said that my projection was consistent throughout and that they could hear me throughout the whole performance. I was also told that my starting stance once turning around was creepy and effective. They said that, as a group, the first dance section was strong and in sync. They also said that we created good, unique characters that were fairly consistent throughout. However, my peers felt that, to improve, our group lost some volume during “Like you I was curious”, due to the notes being at the top of our ranges. This means that we needed to work harder on controlling our breath and stamina.

Future Targets

My future targets will consist on aims and personal goals that I would either like to further develop during the duration of my course, or simply begin to include whilst continuing my Musical theatre classes.

-Engage in a personal warm up, which means that I learn and produce a warm up that I am able to do on my own, which should include specific techniques in order for me to grow and perform at a higher standard

- Focus more on my own performance and not worry about the other people in my group. I must still be able to work and create with others, but I sometimes caught myself watching others and worrying about their own choreography and blocks.

- To work on my range, in order to be confident that I can project them without fear of my voice breaking.

-To work on my dancing as I feel that its my weakest element out of the three. I think if I did constant rehearsals, the quality and level of my dancing would improve massively so that I could be able to take part in higher difficulty routines