 |
| *stares off into the middle distance* #emosh |
Auditions
Auditions are certainly the worst part about being in a show but at least you get them out of the way at the start! If you've been following my blog for a while you will be well aware that auditions are sometimes great experiences for me - ones I leave on an absolute high knowing I've done my best, and sometimes they are the most soul crushing and horrible experiences - where you've bared yourself (not literally, it's not that kind of audition) for the panel only to mess up and let yourself down or for them to tell you you're not good enough.
My audition for a part in The Hired Man was actually a fairly pleasant experience! I was absolutely terrified though, I can't lie. I had worked so, so hard for that audition. I knew all the scenes and pieces of music inside out and had researched and really thought about the character (I hadn't thought about much else for the two weeks leading up to the audition to be honest). I don't think I could have been much more prepared but there's something about having to deliver in front of a panel of six people and knowing this is your one chance to get it right which can make you feel a little nauseous! The two actors, Mollie and Emrys, who read in the other parts made the experience really great as they were amazing and so helped my vision of each scene to come to life - thanks guys!
Rehearsals
Once the cast list has been released, it's time to crack on with rehearsals! Some of my happiest memories from my whole life are of times in a rehearsal room. Until it gets super close to a show and everyone's a little stressed, rehearsals are fun filled times with your friends, watching a show start to take shape. Rehearsals for The Hired Man were so much fun - from note bashing to scene blocking to choreography learning. A huge shout-out to our director Ed, musical director Julie, and choreographer Kerry for being so organised and amazing during this process!
Most of the characters in The Hired Man are adult farmers and miners who lived over 100 years ago - a far cry from the group of 21st Century teens who had to play them! For this reason our director led a lot of workshop based rehearsals so that we could explore how it would feel to be living their lives; what it was like to live through war, to work the land, to be trapped in the mines, to lose loved ones, and to fight for rights we now take for granted. We even went on a trip to the Imperial War Museum in London to carry out further research. I absolutely loved this whole side of things because I'm a little bit of a history nerd and found it all really interesting! I also feel that it helped me make my performance much more authentic as I really appreciated what it would have been like to live the life of my character. As the song 'Work' from the show says: "If you lived our lives, you'd feel the same. In your heart too would burn such a flame".
 |
| The squad take the Imperial War Museum |
Tech and Stress
The correct term for this next stage would be the tech and dress but I've called it the tech and stress because it is bloody tense times! I think we lost count of how many pencils our director snapped out of pure rage in these last few rehearsals... tense times indeed! Although this stage is rarely the most fun, it is vital in producing the polished production that you see as a member of the audience. Every scene must be walked through to mark out every lighting cue, entrances and exits must be clarified, props and staging has to be set in the correct places on and offstage etc. As the majority of our rehearsals for The Hired Man had taken place in spaces other than the actual theatre, we had to tweak some of our dance numbers; 60 performers dancing on stage presents some logistical problems!
One of the things I was most excited about regarding being in The Hired Man was the costume. I've always wanted to be in a show that's meant I can wear period dress. All I'm saying now is be careful what you wish for. Don't get me wrong, I still loved my costume, but boy is it treacherous trying to navigate stairs in that skirt when it's a blackout on stage! In addition to the outfit, I had to have a hair piece because my natural hair is short. Similarly, this was all fun and games at first as I was loving having long hair again, but it wasn't so fun by the end of the night when it would be KILLING ME! It felt like my head was being stabbed all over. The ritual of taking the thing out at 11:30 every night was painful for both me and my mum, haha!
My moaning aside, Craig who was our hair and make up stylist was incredibly talented and did such a wonderful job of all the beards, mustaches, hair pieces, and ageing make up which really helped make the show more authentic and believable.
I personally think that Ben, Oscar and I all look better hairy... amma right?
For me, by far the worst part of the show was the microphone tape. That stuff should be banned. Banned I tell you! Basically, to hold our mics in place we had to have a little strip of transpore tape on our cheeks and back of our necks. Having these lil blighters ripped of at the end of the night made me want to cry. Whenever I've had this in shows before it hasn't been bad at all so who knows what this particular tape was made of. It left me with the biggest most gross spots on the back of my neck too which took ages to go! I would joke with some of the guys backstage that having my tape ripped off was worse than my son dying in the show. What, I'm a thespian, I can't help being a little dramatic lol.
Showtime baby!
Being in this show was just the best. I love the pre-show feeling of opening night: the nerves and excitement and apprehension. This show was no different. Most of my family were there on opening night and it was amazing seeing them in the audience, completely enthralled by the performance. I loved every second of performing that show - from the emotional moments to the comical moments. A particular highlight for me every night was a part of the show that no one actually got to see... In one of the songs 'Get Up and Go Lad' a group of us had to move across the stage and then up the stairs through the audience, we were then in a room at the back of the auditorium where no one could see us. I can't remember how this started but at this point during every performance we formed a dance circle and danced our little hearts out whilst some other members of the cast were continuing the song on stage. This little tradition became one of the things I looked forward to the most. It was so silly and just hysterical. So, shoutout to my dance squad: Thomas, Livi, Ellis, Archie, Xav, Dan.
It's all very well me saying that the shows went well but you can see here what the professionals said about it. Along with great reviews like this one and a 5 star review from the Oxford Times, we got some amazing messages from the composer of the show, Howard Goodall! His parents came to watch the show and enjoyed it so much that they came back a couple of nights later, this time with Goodall's brother too.
The feeling of singing, acting and dancing your heart out on stage is like no other feeling on earth. I think it's one that you need to experience in order to understand. That's probably why we all got a heavy case of the post-show blues after this one, because we were really craving that buzz.
 |
| Screeshot creds to Sofia |
The show must go on!
Would this really be a Katie's Corner post if I didn't have some sort of disaster or embarrassing story to share? True to form I got myself into a couple of pickles during show week but one particular nightmare took place during the Saturday matinee performance, I was coming offstage during a blackout (and when I say blackout I mean blackout, you literally couldn't see a thing), went flying over a stool that had been left in the wings after a previous scene and landed on my right hip. Turns out that concrete and bone is not a good combination. As soon as I was backstage, the team were putting cooling gel, and a bag of frozen peas on my injury and dosing me up on painkillers. I then had to alternate between a stick-on cooling patch and the bag of peas depending on whether I was on or off stage. I was also left with a lovely souvenir of the show: the most ugly bruise I've ever seen. But hey, it could have been a lot worse - I mean, it didn't stop me going for it at the after party!
Why there's no business like show business.
A friend of mine, a certain Miss Ellie Grieve once posted a photo on Instagram with the caption: "Musical theatre is so much more than singing, acting and dancing. It's the months of rehearsals, the hours spent learning combinations of dance moves or memorising lines, the chance to (for a number of hours) completely detach from the person you are and pretend to live a life where your problems (big or small) melt away, And that is a wonderful gift I am lucky enough to have experienced." I took a screenshot of this and saved it when I read it for the first time because I felt it summed up my experience beautifully and simply. I believe that there are certain emotions and experiences that cannot be expressed through words alone, I believe that when music comes in to play, you can express far higher and deeper levels of human emotion and experience. Musicals do just this and to be a part of it - whether that is by observing it or by performing it - is so powerful.
Finally I just want to say thank you to everyone who was involved in The Hired Man. From the cast and crew to everyone who came and watch. I had so much fun and wish I could do the whole thing again. And thank you for reading this post, it is very much appreciated as always.
Love,
Katie xxx
