Guest Blogger: Joscelyne Tamburri

Well, here we are; Our last week of CCPA 2016/17. Our opening week of shows went extremely well, with a few minor 'cringy' moments - as to be expected with live theatre - but in all, it was an incredibly successful week! These unexpected ended up adding humour to the show, like when Cogsworth goes to look up with the Beast and Lumiere and say 'look at the Rose, it's wilting at an alarming rate' (or something like that), and the rose has disappeared, forcing the actors to improv while tech figures out how to get the rose back up there. Or when Babette's shoe flies off her foot in the tango, and our actress plays it off beautifully. It's that moment when at first you freak out, but 10 minutes later, you're dying of laughter from it. And, like I said, we have a great cast who can play it off so the audience doesn't know it's unintentional. My dad even asked me if Gaston's fall into the Orchestra pit (intentional) was supposed to happen because it seemed so real and spontaneous.

This week, students of the Canadian College of Performing Arts take you backstage to meet Belle.

It's our last week of rehearsals for Disney's Beauty and The Beast and I am eyes-deep in frilly bloomers and life sized household objects. We have a finished show which continues being polished each day and it's so beautiful. I cannot believe how we have managed to pull together such an incredible and professional looking show in the amount of time we have been working.

CCPA Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of 'Beauty and the Beast' Live in Victoria, April 21-29 at the McPherson Playhouse.

While in the midst of only our 2nd week of rehearsal, I am astonished at the rate that our musical is coming together. I am so used to working 2 hours a day, 2-3 times a week, painstakingly watching piece by piece slowly mend to one another; a snail's pace compared to this.

With my first year of college classes over, (it's so weird saying that!) we are officially into rehearsals for 'Disney's Beauty and The Beast.' These first few rehearsals have been so amazing and eye-opening; it's my first time working in this type of atmosphere and having absolute focus just on the show is so refreshing.

After countless hours of rehearsal over many months, All That Jazz, our production with the Naden Band is officially over. I am so proud of our school and the Naden band-of the Royal Canadian Navy - thought I would clarify who they were) for the amazing 2 shows we put on. It's a strange thing to have something we have spent so long getting ready for to be over in just 1 day and now we are completely moving on, it feels all too sudden. That's showbiz I guess. I must admit the nights off since we are no longer rehearsing for the show are nice. Though, we won't be missing musical rehearsals for too long; we startDisney's Beauty and The Beast rehearsals Saturday! But, like I was saying, this is the last week of real school where we have our final handwritten assignments due (and a lot of them!). It's nice to have those nights off to finish homework or get a few extra hours of sleep, even if we do miss rehearsals.

With less than 7 days left until opening of 'All That Jazz,' our big concert with the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, the excitement within the school is practically palpable. We now have had our very first full run through of the show with most of our costumes, and though there are obviously still some rough edges (like any show would have with their first full run), everyone finally got to see the bigger picture as a company, and after seeing everything we have accomplished over these past few weeks, we should all be so proud of ourselves. I know I am sure proud of it and everyone who's been pouring every bit of their time and energy to make it become this incredible show. The high level of performance that is starting to shimmer out from inside each of us is breath-taking to see. Everyone is starting to shine from excitement, I can see the little glimmers sparking behind their eyes, and I'm looking forward to seeing those sparks really begin to ignite day by day as we reach our peak at Naden.

Today begins a new blog by Joscelyne Tamburri, a Year I student of the Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA). The college is one of Canada's top training centres for students looking to train for a career on stage, screen or in the recording studios.