A Night of Magic: Music & Lyrics

In the University of Winchester, the musical theatre course strives to provide as much experience to its students to partake in or spectate. One of the many things that we get to partake in as 2nd and 3rd year students is an annual concert called ‘Music & Lyrics’, a paid show where we perform in the Winchester Theatre Royal to the public. According to my singing teacher, it is a performance meant to celebrate the journey of the 3rd years (this year being us!) alongside the 2nd years. Traditionally, the concert theme correlates to our final year performance. So, the theme for Music & Lyrics this year was ‘Fantastical Song and Where to Hear Them’ which entails all things magical and mystical, correlating with our show, Pippin.

While we were not allowed to select any song from Pippin, other than the set performance of ‘Magic To Do’ as a teaser, it was an incredible setlist of duets, trios, solos and ensemble numbers ranging from Disney to Sondheim’s classics.

The audition process was simple as it is meant to be a relaxed experience to balance it out with the commitments we have to our coursework. We were given a month to film a self-tape with our own choice of song based on the theme, and we would then have to submit it onto Canvas. However, if we could not decide on a song, we could submit a song from our repertoire that showcased our voices in order for our director to choose a song for us. 3rd years had the option to volunteer themselves to be the presenters of the concert, which I did not go for as my hands were entirely full with Pippin work!

The wait was equally relaxed and nerve-wracking all at once, but the full cast list along with the set list was released on a day of props making for Pippin. We had three presenters, two of which took on the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, and the third being a cheeky hint to the mysterious Leading Player in Pippin, played by one of our very own Leading Players.

The setlist had been divided into segments according to the themes of the songs that were selected. It started with an endeavor ‘Into the Woods’ then an ‘Introduction to Villains’ to ‘Under the Sea’. You get the picture!

I had auditioned with ‘Our Lady of the Underground’ from Hadestown which I had the pleasure of performing in the concert. My friends from my cohort performed other incredible songs such as ‘I Know It’s Today’ from Shrek, ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ and ‘Part of Your World’ from the Little Mermaid, ‘I Know Things Now’ from Into the Woods, and ‘Grow For Me’ from Little Shop of Horrors. Just to name a few!

As a full ensemble, we did a series of songs that have been a dream to perform. We opened the show with ‘The Ballad of Sweeney Todd’, then performed ‘Freak Flag’ from Shrek, ‘One Short Day’ from Wicked then 3rd years closed the show with a shortened rendition of ‘Magic to Do’ as we did not have the entire cast for the performance.

Hefty as all this may already sound, in addition to that, we only had two days to rehearse over the final week of our Easter break. The first day was dedicated to just note bash the harmonies for all the ensemble numbers then staging them as soon as all harmonies were recorded. For our second and final day of rehearsal, we polished the blocking for One Short Day as we had run out of time on the first day. It did not take very long, so we went straight in for a full run! It was an eventful two days with a lot of material to absorb but luckily, on show day, we had a tech session just before the performance which gave us the extra time we needed to prepare ourselves.

Overall, it was a great experience! According to our director, one of the reasons for this  concert is for us to familiarize ourselves with the theatre so that our final year show would not be our first time being in the space. And, in all honesty, it made our first day of tech for Pippin a lot less intimidating. Another reason was to calm the nerves of performing on the bigger stage as we’ve become so used to the auditoriums in university.

As it was my first and last Music & Lyrics, there were a lot of emotions, especially being surrounded by friends who shared the same sentiment. We knew we still had Pippin but it was then that the countdown began of the many ‘lasts’ that we would share together.

I knew we would not be emotionally ready for the final week of Pippin, but of course, it was the most thrilling week of my life.