Musical Theatre Action Plan

After watching back my solo chicago audition piece i have decided to make an action plan for myself.

The main things i will need to work on are:

- using rehearsal time better and video more rehearsals
this will be done by getting started straight away when being given a project to do, instead of sitting about thinking of ways to structure the piece it is better to get up and do it and improvise a bit more to come across new ideas. My audition wasnt complete when it came to the time to perform it, however this could have been avoided if i had used rehearsal time better and spent a bit more time choreographing enough material to fit to the whole piece. i had focused too much on the beginning and middle sections and didnt have much time left to sort out the ending as the song was quite long.
So that i could have seen what i needed to improve on i could of got someone else to record me rehearsing the piece so that i could hear myself and see how the moves looked that i was doing, this way i could have improved the piece ready for the performance day.

- practising the song from start to finish plenty of times

As said above i focused mainly on the beginning and middle sections of the song and then seemed to run out of time when it came to sorting out the end section of the piece, because of this i was practising the beginning section a lot more than the end section and this shows in the performance when i forget lyrics and also dont do as much dance movements towards the end as i had not choreographed that part. Next time i need to make sure i focus on the whole piece and make sure i use rehearsal time better to get the whole pieced prepared and polished ready for the audition.

- overcoming nerves when singing

Nerves always get in the way when i am singing in front of an audience and this shows in my voice as it goes wobbly. i need to try to overcome my nerves a bit better and think deep breathes before going on seem to help but i will look into how i can improve on this and find away to not get so nervous and up tight before performing. I also feel if i had been more prepared for this audition i wouldnt have been as nervous.

- carry on working on breath control when singing and dancing at the same time

I have been doing singing exercises to work on my breathing and these have helped, however in my audition as i was dancing and singing a lot at the same time i ran out of breath as i forgot to breathe. i shall carry on doing the exercises to improve my breath control further so that this does not happen and the vocal performance will flow much better.

if i work on all of these aspects, next time i do an audition piece i should be much more prepared and ready for the performance.

My Character in chicago

The character i tried to portray throughout the chicago performance was influenced by Bob Fosse's original characters. In my audition i took on the role of Velma Kelly a very powerful and bold character. I tried to maintain a similar role in the performance of chicago as the two pieces i was in "all that jazz" and "cell block tango" both involve Velma Kelly in the original work. In the singing and acting pieces i did throughout the performance i stayed within my character which was very strong and bold similar to Velma Kelly. I do feel that giving myself a character to portray, helped me to stay focused and use good body language and facial expression to fit in with the piece. As i was focused i was able to interact with others well, for example in "Cell block tango" i used a male partner to dance around and interact with whilst saying my acting piece. I feel my role was very strong and consistant throughout the performance. Although i was influenced by the character Velma Kelly i didnt try to be her and copy it completely. 

Singing exercises - Dynamics

To help me add dynamics into my voice when singing i find the best way is to sing up and down the scale singing alternate loud and quiet.
For example if i was to sing "la" up the scale i would alternate and sing the first "la" loud then the second quiet and so on.

I may go up the scale loud and then come back down quiet.

I feel that this simple exercise will be very effective to me as i need to focus more on the use of dynamics.
The same as the exercises for breathing and pronunciation i shall video myself to show my improvements and how i am progressing when practising these exercises.

I shall then create a vocal warm up using all the exercises i have mentioned that will help me improve on my weakness areas, this will also be videod and uploaded.

Singing exercises - Pronunciation

To improve on my pronunciation when singing i find that tongue twisters help.

A few tongue twisters that i have found are:

"Unique new york"

"Flash message"

"Good blood, bad blood"

i find that the shorter tongue twisters are more effective to use for pronunciation as they can be sung quickly going up or down the scale.
To show that these tongue twisters are helping to improvpe my pronunciation i shall video myself trying them out to show my progression and improvements.

Singing exercises to help me improve - Breathing

As i previously said my weaknesses in singing are breathing, dynamics and pronunciation.
To enable me to improve on these three areas, i will need to do some voice exercises that will focus in on these weaknesses.

A breathing exercise that i have found to be effective is breathing in for four holding for four then out for four, found from the source:
http://voiceexercises.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/voice-exercises-and-breathing-tips-for-singing/

"Ideal breathing during singing engages the diaphragm. Rehearse the routine outlined below to strengthen good breathing patterns.

* Breathe in deeply, then let out your breath fully
* Take a breath and let out your breath
* Inhale once again, only this time, breathe in for four seconds. Maintain your breath for 4 seconds, then let out your breath for four seconds and wait four seconds prior to breathing in yet again
* Replicate the four second breathing exercise 3 times repeatedly

Inhale 2 3 4, Maintain 2 3 4 Breathe out 2 3 4 and Wait 2 3 Once again.
Breathe in 2 3 4, Maintain 2 3 4 Breathe out 2 3 4 and Hold 2 3 Last Time.
Breathe in 2 3 4, Maintain 2 3 4 Breathe out 2 3 4 and Hold 2 3 4."

Another breathing exercise i have tried is taking in a breathe and then counting until out of breathe, I have found a youtube link to this exercise
 from 2:10 onwards.

These two exercises are very effective as they help to increase the lung capacity and this will enable me to hold notes for longer whilst singing.