Since the start of September 2011, the Year 2 Performing Arts and Dance students were preparing for a brand new production called Malice, the story line was taken from the film Alice in Wonderland but our version of the story had a twist to it, which was there was a Reality and Wonderland world so basically there was two of the same character, e.g. 2 Alice’s, 6 Cheshire cats etc. The script was created by the Performing Arts teacher, who did a fantastic job.
We performed Malice on Tuesday 29th May 2012 and Wednesday 30th May 2012, we did three performances two on both nights and one matinee performance on Wednesday. Before we went on stage we had a photo shoot in full make-up and hair with our costumes on. The photo shoot was placed in a wood like place near the college because it created the atmosphere that we were actually in Wonderland. Our hair and make-up was done by the hair and beauty department from college, who also did an amazing job, most of the characters look liked their character. The props were created by the art department from college as part of their assessment, which was a really big help.
During the rehearsal process of Malice everyone was excited to meet and work together. When we read through the script people were surprised on how good the script was. A few months down the line people were worrying about how much time we actually had to make this production a good one because we didn't even have act 2 until a couple of months before the show, so the characters had to line their lines quick. I felt like the attendance was an issue that effected everyone because if someone wasn't there on the day and they'd missed something important then next week we would of had to go through it again for them which would of wasting more time. Some of the songs that were in the production were left to the last time; people still didn't know the words or the movement, which frustrated some people. Sometimes we went through songs a load of times each week and changed the movement every time we did it.
During the performing process of Malice everyone was looking forward to performing on stage especially the dancers because it was something new to for them. We all enjoyed working together. We had quite a few dress rehearsals because some of the props which were mainly hats or head wear had to be adjusted or the prop would fall of the head. We all had enough space on stage so that wasn't a problem. I thought I would have been nervous about going on stage and acting like my character which was 'Tweedle Dum' because I had some difficult lines to say, plus I was a twin so we had to cut each other up when speaking, but I was quite calm and couldn't wait for my scene. When performing with my twin I found it hard because the more I worked with her, the more I didn't get on but I managed to get off it. Everyone performed at the best of their ability.
Strengths
1. I was proud of myself that I got to play a character because the character that I got chose to be was funny, happy, dumb etc. I thought I could play that part really well, as I have got that in me a little especially when I am with my friend who played 'Tweedle Dee'. Obviously the teachers believed that I could pull it off and I think I did.
2. During the rehearsing I wore black clothes and my hair was tired up at all times so I looked professional and was ready to take part in different activities next day of the week. It annoyed me when people weren't in black clothes because it wasted people time because they had to go and get changed by the time they'd done that we would have wasted 15 minutes of the lesson.
3. I knew all of the words to every song and the movement because I came to every lesson and also I practiced in my own time, this made me feel confident about going on stage because I knew what I was doing. I also helped certain people that didn't turned up to every lesson with the movement, which I didn't mind but they should have come in to learn it.
4. My attendance was perfect, I didn't miss any lesson.
Weaknesses
1. I was pleased when I knew my friend was going to be working with me as my twin called Tweedle Dee because we get on well, but as months went on I felt like I couldn't work with her anymore because she wouldn't listen to me and always wanted her own way, she was telling me what to do and I just had enough of it. The way I handled it was to keep away from her and just do my own thing, I was trying not to let her put me down because I knew what I was doing and I didn't need to be told what to do.
2. I spoke most of the songs because I can't sing low pitched only high pitched. The songs were mostly low pitched. At least I was speaking them instead of standing there in silence plus I knew all of the words to each song, which I was proud about. I could have practiced singing low pitched but I am a dancer.
3. I felt like my costume was awkward to dance in because my braces kept coming lose or un done, which wasn't good when I was dancing as I could have tripped over them or they could of broke. Also my hat was a pain because it hurt my head when it was on, kept taking it on and off and I am one of them people that doesn't like to fuss about things like that. I needed to make sure my costume was fitted correctly before I went on stage and to make sure I felt comfortable in it and also my hat.
4. Some of the movements that I was given to do during the songs was that I could of made them a lot sharper and stronger because when we watched the production back I didn't stand out. Also when I spoke my lines I needed to speak up a little louder because I couldn't hardly hear myself, also it was hard to speak my difficult lines when running around the stage and off the stage because I wasn't facing the audition all of the time. I need to project my voice louder and towards the audition because it makes a lot of difference. Also to practice doing each movement in the mirror a few times to get it right before going on stage.
Overall it was a fantastic performance; I really enjoyed working with the year 2 Performing Arts as I have made some new friends. I loved the experience, I am glad it ran over two days because I was a little upset when it ended. All of us had support throughout the experience by the tutors because they believed we could do it in the short amount of time, we were all worrying but we managed to pull it off and performed a really good musical created by the tutor.
