Friday, December 12

Our Musical Theatre Workshop has pretty much ended. We have a Showing tomorrow morning, which is simultaneously exciting and terrifying.

Now that things have ended, it's easier to sum everything up. The songs that everyone ended up singing were:

"I'm Not That Smart" from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
"Dawn's Song" from Not Exactly Romeo
"Cadillac Car" from Dreamgirls (Thrill)
"Lonely Room" from Oklahoma! (O.D.)
"I Can't Do It Alone" from Chicago (Two-Shots-Up)
"Run Away with Me" from The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown (Killer)
"Quiet" from Foward: A New Musical (All-the-Way)
"Maria" from West Side Story (Iceman)
"My Dogs" from Elegies: A Song Cycle
"Things Behind the Sun" by Nick Drake (Big Show)
"How Did I End up Here" from Romance, Romance
"Stranger to the Rain" from Children of Eden (Me)
"Don't Say Nothing Bad about My Dad" from The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World
"Being Alive" from Company (D-Train)
"Stars and the Moon" from Songs for a New World
"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" by Elton John
"I'm Here" from The Color Purple
"Stop and See Me" from Weird Romance (Wifey)
"A Call from the Vatican" from Nine
"The Man That Got Away" from A Star Is Born
"If I Didn't Believe in You" from The Last 5 Years

(The songs that I didn't put a name after were done by 2nd-years, and one 3rd-year. This is the order we worked on them.)

The man we were working with is David Brunetti, and he's amazing. He got seriously incredible work out of us. Even (and perhaps especially) the people here who don't think of themselves as singers. If you're an actor thinking of auditioning for musical theatre, check out his book. I own it, and he details the same type of breakdown of songs that we do in his workshop.

I have pages upon pages of notes from the week, but I'll try to briefly explain what we did.

1. Mad, Sad, Glad, Scared, Lonely
David would ask you where YOU as a person were emotionally when you started, asking if you were "Mad, sad, glad, scared, or lonely?" You could answer with a combination (I believe I said very scared, with a dash of lonely). He'd then talk to you for awhile about your past with singing and musical theatre.

2. Recite the Monologue as a Text
Just say the words. Not acting them. Just reciting them from memory.

3. This Song Is About Me Doing _______.
Pinpoint what the song is about, in an active verb/phrase. Say "I" and "me" instead of "he/she, him/her".

4. Summarize in One Sentence
If the song was to be cut from the musical and replaced with one line of dialogue, what would that line be?

5. Whom Are You Speaking To?
Always have an acting partner. Even if you're talking to a different side of yourself. It makes the song more active if you have someone you're trying to affect in some way. Also look at the politics of the relationship. Who has the power?

6. If Things Go the Way I Hope They Go
Basically, this is nailing down your objective. If things go the way you hope they go after saying (well, singing) this, what will happen when you're done? What is your goal? Also figure out what will happen if you DON'T get what you want?

7. Opening Beat
What happened right before you started singing? What are you reacting to? Why do you start?

8. Setting
Where are you? When is it?

9. Character Adjustment
Is the character something that you can't do "as yourself"? Do you need to adjust physically, mentally, or emotionally to get there?

10. Monologue
Act the lyrics of the song as though they were a monologue.

11. Tactics
You might want to do the monologue again, making sure you're using different tactics to get what you want in the song. For example, don't just "demand". Try "pleading", "reasoning", "teasing", and "kidding".

12. Speak to the Rhythm
Add music underneath the text. With the accompaniment playing underneath you, perform the text to the rhythm of the song (including extending held notes) without using the melody.

13. Sing!
That's right. All that other stuff happens before you sing a note.


Anyway. It has been a wonderful experience. I think we've all grown this week.

~A~