Good afternoon, and happy Red Nose Day!
I thought I would update this a little earlier this week as I have the time today.
Starting with Monday (no use doing it in any other order, that would be most confusing!), in First Study I discussed with Mike what songs to do for the final singing assessment in April. Initially he said he wanted us to do different genres but when I spoke to him about my songs we ended up picking 3 musical songs! I don't mind as this is the genre I want to progress in. The songs as it stands are
1. "Don't Tell Mama" from "Cabaret"
2. "Be Italian" from "Nine"
3. "Being Alive" from "Company".
On Monday I also had Creative Industries Infrastructure. I can't say i'm getting much out of the lectures, but the presentations on Blackboard (as ugly as they are) provided me with a list of organisations that I have compiled together as part of my graded unit research. Another box ticked! (self-reliance, IT skills, research skills and commitment).
I feel I am slowly (very slowly) progressing in Music Theory as I have been looking at the study material at home. We have our exam in the next couple of weeks and so I am trying to fit in study time when I can, I only hope that it is enough! I have found a way to remember my key signatures at least! (musical technical knowledge).
I had Lord of the Blings rehearsal in which I was given another part! I am to play both Arwen and Galadriel now :D.
After that I had "Streets" rehearsal, Finn and I went through one of our characters most important scenes together (Jenny Baillie assisting with direction) and we have managed to get an idea of what we want it to look like. Now I just need to make sure I practice my lines as they keep escaping me even though I know them!
I then had "Guys and Dolls" rehearsal (and to be honest I was shattered!) it went well though.
On Wednesday in DAW I got some help creating the drum part for "Hotel Song" by Regina Spektor that I have to recreate using Cubase. I think as long as I get enough help with it it should work out ok.
We had songwriting next, learning about time signatures and how to put them to best use in a song. It's something I will definitely do when it comes to writing my own one for this class.
In band practice we had some good jams (possibly some songs to come out of there) and managed to get up and running with Squeezebox (a definite keeper for the next gig I think!).
Exciting News
- My Facebook page currently has 44 likes!
- This week I have also asked my good friend Mark Walker to do my publicity photos for my press kit, the shoot will be arranged in the next few weeks.
- I have also asked for assistance in creating a website from one of my friends.
Now I am off to start making a template sheet for my testimonials. Lunchtime too I think!
Peace off
LcB xx
Friday, 18 March 2011
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Onwards and... well, onwards!
Good morning!
Ok let's get down to it.
This week was busy as always. On Monday the rehearsal plans for "Streets" were changed for that evening and so I was able to stay at "Lord Of the Blings: The Hip-Hopera" rehearsal for considerably longer (versatility and adaptability) which was great as it gave me the chance to hear pretty much the whole thing and meet the rest of the cast that I previously had not met. It was pretty hilarious, hopefully all the jokes will go over well on stage. Alex has said that he is going to expand the scene with me in it, probably with dialogue with Aragorn (I'm playing Arwen). My song is a slightly changed version of "Wild Horses" (in the style of the Susan Boyle cover) with a slow rap section in the middle, by Frodo.
Monday evening I had "Guys and Dolls" Rehearsal, as usual. Can't believe the show is only in about 3 weeks time! I got a chance to see photos of what our HotBox costumes are going to look like, which was great as we usually just get a big shock at the costume call! The costumes don't look AS revealing as I was dreading so that's a bit of a relief! Plus most of them are red :). The show is really coming together though which is good.
On Wednesday in creative project we watched the Fat Sams gig which I was dreading, to be honest. I knew that the second song "Empty Walls" had gone wrong because I couldn't hear myself through the monitors and just had to guess what I was singing for the high section, which is usually the part that was easiest in rehearsal. Thankfully that section is only at the start of the song and the song isn't particularly long either! I was pretty mortified when I went off key though - sods law it had to be captured on camera and will probably come back to haunt me one of these days. I have begged my fellow band members not to use that song for their graded unit etc and not to upload it anywhere (I think I would have a panic attack an go in to hiding if that happened). It has taught me that I can sit through something as horrific as that without breaking down (professionalism) and also that in my next gig I will have a signal for whoever does the sound for my band, I had never been in that situation before and so didn't know if there was some sort of universal signal that I wasn't aware of! Anyway the 3rd song came across pretty well as after that atrocity I decided "what the hey" and went a bit crazy, which suited the song as it is very OTT. I displayed confidence and good stagecraft as well as team work throughout the performance and for this I am grateful!
Streets rehearsal at the church went well, I am really trying to get under the skin of my character, I have even been looking in shops at what clothes she would wear etc. Finn set us the assignment this week of looking in to our characters relationships and their past so that when we act we have a backstory in our minds and we can identify where our character is coming from when they say things. I set about doing this right away and think it will be really beneficial, at least where Brooke is concerned (passion, commitment, creativity).
On Thursday I worked the shift that I would have done on Saturday (9-5.30) and afterwards headed to dance rehearsal for "Guys and Dolls", the rehearsal was short but sweet. We went over "Take Back Your Mink" which we hadn't really done very much, I think the choreography will be very effective in this number, plus I love putting on the "New York doll accent"!
The rest of the week I have been working although I have managed to get my Graded Unit Planning Stage resubmitted after making changes from the first draft.
Tonight I have created a musician page for myself on Facebook which my friends have started to join in support. This was part of one of my targets for graded unit, I'm glad to be able to tick it off my list! (self-reliance, time management, IT skills)
If you are on Facebook, please visit and "Like", it would be a wonderful thing to do and I would be most grateful.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Baillie/204685982890830
Thank you for your attention. I have been Lauren, and I still am.
Good night, LcB x
Ok let's get down to it.
This week was busy as always. On Monday the rehearsal plans for "Streets" were changed for that evening and so I was able to stay at "Lord Of the Blings: The Hip-Hopera" rehearsal for considerably longer (versatility and adaptability) which was great as it gave me the chance to hear pretty much the whole thing and meet the rest of the cast that I previously had not met. It was pretty hilarious, hopefully all the jokes will go over well on stage. Alex has said that he is going to expand the scene with me in it, probably with dialogue with Aragorn (I'm playing Arwen). My song is a slightly changed version of "Wild Horses" (in the style of the Susan Boyle cover) with a slow rap section in the middle, by Frodo.
Monday evening I had "Guys and Dolls" Rehearsal, as usual. Can't believe the show is only in about 3 weeks time! I got a chance to see photos of what our HotBox costumes are going to look like, which was great as we usually just get a big shock at the costume call! The costumes don't look AS revealing as I was dreading so that's a bit of a relief! Plus most of them are red :). The show is really coming together though which is good.
On Wednesday in creative project we watched the Fat Sams gig which I was dreading, to be honest. I knew that the second song "Empty Walls" had gone wrong because I couldn't hear myself through the monitors and just had to guess what I was singing for the high section, which is usually the part that was easiest in rehearsal. Thankfully that section is only at the start of the song and the song isn't particularly long either! I was pretty mortified when I went off key though - sods law it had to be captured on camera and will probably come back to haunt me one of these days. I have begged my fellow band members not to use that song for their graded unit etc and not to upload it anywhere (I think I would have a panic attack an go in to hiding if that happened). It has taught me that I can sit through something as horrific as that without breaking down (professionalism) and also that in my next gig I will have a signal for whoever does the sound for my band, I had never been in that situation before and so didn't know if there was some sort of universal signal that I wasn't aware of! Anyway the 3rd song came across pretty well as after that atrocity I decided "what the hey" and went a bit crazy, which suited the song as it is very OTT. I displayed confidence and good stagecraft as well as team work throughout the performance and for this I am grateful!
Streets rehearsal at the church went well, I am really trying to get under the skin of my character, I have even been looking in shops at what clothes she would wear etc. Finn set us the assignment this week of looking in to our characters relationships and their past so that when we act we have a backstory in our minds and we can identify where our character is coming from when they say things. I set about doing this right away and think it will be really beneficial, at least where Brooke is concerned (passion, commitment, creativity).
On Thursday I worked the shift that I would have done on Saturday (9-5.30) and afterwards headed to dance rehearsal for "Guys and Dolls", the rehearsal was short but sweet. We went over "Take Back Your Mink" which we hadn't really done very much, I think the choreography will be very effective in this number, plus I love putting on the "New York doll accent"!
The rest of the week I have been working although I have managed to get my Graded Unit Planning Stage resubmitted after making changes from the first draft.
Tonight I have created a musician page for myself on Facebook which my friends have started to join in support. This was part of one of my targets for graded unit, I'm glad to be able to tick it off my list! (self-reliance, time management, IT skills)
If you are on Facebook, please visit and "Like", it would be a wonderful thing to do and I would be most grateful.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Baillie/204685982890830
Thank you for your attention. I have been Lauren, and I still am.
Good night, LcB x
Where to begin?
Well good evening!
Yet again I'm running to catch up with this blog, so much going on!
So I'm going to jump right in and update you on last week as, yet again, I need to do 2 weeks update tonight - starting to become a pattern!
So, firstly I had my singing assessment on Monday morning. I performed "Life On Mars" and "Windmills of your Mind". It went really well and I put a lot in to it. Unfortunately I did have a bit of a mind blank on a line or two in "Windmills of your Mind", which I was almost expecting as the song goes round like a circle in a spiral, it's like a wheel within a wheel, never-ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel and you get really confused! Hehehe. So I got a B+ for that one and an A for "Life On Mars" - which I was really chuffed with as I felt it went brilliantly.
During the week I had to contact my manager at work to arrange for me to have that Saturday (the 5th) off for an important all day rehearsal. We arranged that I would work my shift on Thursday (the 10th) instead. Here I used my people skills and my skills in negotiation. It also displayed my commitment.
On Wednesday in our stagecraft lesson we watched the video of our performances and had to give feedback to each other on how we think they did as well as to judge ourselves. I had been in a band with Andrew McCulloch, Katy Forrest and Christy Mcintosh and we had chosen the genre - Country music. Our task was to
1. Write an original country song
2. Do a cover of a song from a DIFFERENT genre and turn it to country style
3. Do a cover of a country song in a DIFFERENT genre.
We wrote a country song called "Dear Old Billy" or maybe it was "Poor Old Billy"? For our song to be turned country we did "Live and Let Die" and for our country to another genre we did "Ring Of Fire" in a bluesy style. We all dressed according to genre - I wore my long wavy red wig (I wore it for the show"Anything Goes" last September) in bunches with a cowboy hat, checked shirt, denim mini skirt and brown boots. We definitely looked the part! I also spoke in a Southern American accent - yeehaws and all.
We did have a few musical glitches but our stagecraft was definitely evident! The other bands had mostly good feedback for us which was encouraging. I only wish the Fat Sams video had been as enjoyable to watch (I'll get to that in the next post).
"Streets" rehearsal on Saturday was great as we had the whole cast there for the first time and we got to know one another as well as get a rough idea of how the show is going to be. I'm very happy to be in it along with Ian Stobbie as we knew each other in Perth Youth Theatre and I hadn't seen him for years, it will be good fun to work with him. I'm glad that I got a different character assigned to me (due to someone else dropping out) as I think the part of Brooke will be great fun - she's a bad girl, but a really interesting character, I think.
Those were the most notable moments of that week I reckon.
On to next week which was actually this week but...the...yeah....
Yet again I'm running to catch up with this blog, so much going on!
So I'm going to jump right in and update you on last week as, yet again, I need to do 2 weeks update tonight - starting to become a pattern!
So, firstly I had my singing assessment on Monday morning. I performed "Life On Mars" and "Windmills of your Mind". It went really well and I put a lot in to it. Unfortunately I did have a bit of a mind blank on a line or two in "Windmills of your Mind", which I was almost expecting as the song goes round like a circle in a spiral, it's like a wheel within a wheel, never-ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel and you get really confused! Hehehe. So I got a B+ for that one and an A for "Life On Mars" - which I was really chuffed with as I felt it went brilliantly.
During the week I had to contact my manager at work to arrange for me to have that Saturday (the 5th) off for an important all day rehearsal. We arranged that I would work my shift on Thursday (the 10th) instead. Here I used my people skills and my skills in negotiation. It also displayed my commitment.
On Wednesday in our stagecraft lesson we watched the video of our performances and had to give feedback to each other on how we think they did as well as to judge ourselves. I had been in a band with Andrew McCulloch, Katy Forrest and Christy Mcintosh and we had chosen the genre - Country music. Our task was to
1. Write an original country song
2. Do a cover of a song from a DIFFERENT genre and turn it to country style
3. Do a cover of a country song in a DIFFERENT genre.
We wrote a country song called "Dear Old Billy" or maybe it was "Poor Old Billy"? For our song to be turned country we did "Live and Let Die" and for our country to another genre we did "Ring Of Fire" in a bluesy style. We all dressed according to genre - I wore my long wavy red wig (I wore it for the show"Anything Goes" last September) in bunches with a cowboy hat, checked shirt, denim mini skirt and brown boots. We definitely looked the part! I also spoke in a Southern American accent - yeehaws and all.
We did have a few musical glitches but our stagecraft was definitely evident! The other bands had mostly good feedback for us which was encouraging. I only wish the Fat Sams video had been as enjoyable to watch (I'll get to that in the next post).
"Streets" rehearsal on Saturday was great as we had the whole cast there for the first time and we got to know one another as well as get a rough idea of how the show is going to be. I'm very happy to be in it along with Ian Stobbie as we knew each other in Perth Youth Theatre and I hadn't seen him for years, it will be good fun to work with him. I'm glad that I got a different character assigned to me (due to someone else dropping out) as I think the part of Brooke will be great fun - she's a bad girl, but a really interesting character, I think.
Those were the most notable moments of that week I reckon.
On to next week which was actually this week but...the...yeah....
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