Student Blog: One Show to the Next

Show time came and went by so quickly. In case you did not read my previous blog, for our New Musical Theatre module, we workshopped a musical called You’re A Catch, Why Are You Single? written by the incredible Sarah Wynen. We workshopped it for 4 weeks and had a public showcase from February 6th to 9th. According to Wynen, we’re the UK debut cast which is so insane to me! I have never been more attached to a show like You’re A Catch, and if I could go back to that week, I would. I’m currently in another show this week for Winchester’s Performing Arts society and even among a different group, I have several cast members singing songs from You’re A Catch that are just constantly stuck in their heads. It does bring me little explosions of joy hearing others sing the songs after having seen us perform because these songs are just so unforgettable, they have the tendency to linger in the back corner of your mind.

So here, I’ll take you on a little trip down memory lane through show week!

Throughout the week, we had classes as normal as our call time was later during the day at 6.25 pm so we still had plenty of time in between to do what we need. Grab a bite, do our makeup, sneak in a little nap, review the material or just relax. The only day when we did not have class was Monday which was tech day. We had a self-practice session from 9 to 12, then an hour’s lunch break in between before our call time at 1 pm in the Performance Gym (PG). Seeing the set for the first time under stage lights was an experience of its own. We had been training with chairs provided in Our Studios to the point we forgot that they were just placeholders for the actual real thing. We had park benches made for the show and the loveliest wooden chairs for scenes at a little coffee table. Seeing it all in place was just so surreal, we were actually doing this!

Tech might have been from 1 to 9 pm but to me, it felt like nothing at because of how much there was to do. It was also our first time doing a full run in the space, so with soundcheck and light plotting, we had to run through quick changes, prop presets, and song transitions backstage. We even had to rehearse the opening and shutting of curtains at the wings so that no one had to fight them on their way off or on stage (which has happened a good amount of times). I was on curtain duty for quite a bit as I had a massive gap in between some of the numbers I was in before having to dash to the other side of the stage for my next entrance. I love a good hustle.

A lot of things had to be readjusted or scrapped to fit the convenience of the Performance Gym. Some set designs that worked out in the rehearsal room had to be removed as they did not translate well in the PG, some entrances had to be changed as sprinting about backstage proved to be difficult and some blocking had to be readjusted too as some group entrances did not fit the angle of the wings; but these were all not too drastic. The day went by pretty quick, having ended with two full runs with each cast. We even had a photographer come in to take some shots of the show and they were brilliant. We’re still waiting on the photos, that is if we’re allowed to have them, but all of us took so many of our own which you can see along the stretch of this blog.

The next few days rolled in pretty fast! It went from opening night on Tuesday with the Pringle cast to closing night on Friday with the Mingle cast in a heartbeat! I won’t bore you with the greater details of each night but I will tell you the more memorable experiences from each run that were both equally fun and terrifying.

The most stress I felt during a number was ‘Lifelong Lessons’. The song is sung by the character, Stewart, who talks about the several different things people preach in life. Whether it’s religion or social media, he isn’t about all that. He’s more unique as all of his lifelong lessons come from Star Wars! This scene was blocked to look like we were at a convention with congoers in costumes, having a swell time onstage as we march about and power pose. We were equipped with specific masks and inflatable lightsabers of specific colors as we were divided into the light and dark side. Many lightsabers deflated, masks were lost, and props were taken. During opening night, a friend and I were holding our lightsabers the wrong way around because we couldn’t find our lightsabers in their preset nor could see the colors back stage because the blue light backstage cancels out all colors. We were tripping over each other because there was barely any space to move in pairs as there were props that were wildly out of place, and it was starting to become an obstacle course. During our little mock imperial march across the stage, my marching partner went missing because of the traffic backstage, and it ended up being a sprint because quite a lot of us could not make it out of the wings. As terrifying as it seemed to be, it’s become a fun anecdote to think back to for a good laugh. How props would constantly go missing, we’ll never know because no one ever seemed to have the answer so we’ve just decided that it was just the ghost that haunted the auditorium.

The lightsabers were probably the most dangerous props to give us as everyone would go around assaulting each other with those brilliant inflatables. Out of nowhere, you would feel a bonk on the head and suddenly, you’re engaged in a 5-person lightsaber battle in the middle of the hallway,

One of few other things I will always remember would be silly shenanigans from the creative team. Watching our music director, Thomas Arnold, for our opening cue was always so nerve wracking. We would watch him on a little monitor backstage, and he liked pulling faces at us and writing little messages on his phone to show us. Because he’s in charge of the preshow music too, he found it far too fun teasing us with massively long pauses in between songs to make is think that the show has begun. He loved his little victories; he would cheer on the monitor and give us this cheeky smile.

Every warm up we had in the studio grew progressively chaotic as descended further into what we called the ‘delulu (delusional) hours’ which would so often be by the time we had no sunset. The amount of energy amps up by a hundred despite the exhaustion from our classes/intensives, but it’s really the adrenaline that got us all pumped up for show and the vibes were immaculate. And with our show’s primary prop being our phones, we took advantage of it to the fullest to take as much content backstage as that was where we wreaked most havoc. Plenty of ghostly photos under the blue light and an abundance of forehead photos were the way to go.

The show can be quite an emotional rollercoaster. With some of us with the more comedic songs, we have to mentally prepare ourselves for the songs that come before ours that are narratively heartbreaking. No matter how many times I’ve listened to my friend, Tala, sing her song of a woman who would do anything to be a mother again in ‘What I’d Give’, I would always be in tears. So,  I had to find ways to deal with the weeping before my duet which came right after hers where I sing about the struggles of being constantly mistaken for a gay person in ‘Despite My Display’. I found that dramatic reenactments and contemporary dances backstage with friends did the trick but the constant threat of tears pricking at my eyes was an impending doom each night. Even after such a heart-wrenching number, Tala was an amazing scene partner to work with. She made it a challenge to make me laugh on stage every time I was on for Ajay, and she never once failed. 

I have to give props to my duet partner for being the incredible person she is. Naomi was so much fun to work with, it felt like I struck the lottery with the best duet partner. She's

one of my closest friends and having worked with her on more theory-based subjects, getting to work on a full song together was wonderful for a change. We would always retreat into a little corner to practice our harmonies while everyone was still prepping, find every moment to polish and add tiny details to breathe life into our scene, and for once, I've never been more conflicted by having too many options with someone in a singular scene because there was so much we could do but too little time! No run was ever the same, and our director even encouraged the authenticity of the moment which made it all the more fun to do as we always had something different to give. And we called that the magic of live theatre!

On Friday, our acting class was cancelled which left us far too much time on our hands so a few of my friends and I gathered to make an early dinner to reward ourselves for making it to closing night! My cast was on for closing night so, it was very emotional for me. And, on Chinese New Year Eve too! It was lovely getting to do the one thing I love so much, surrounded with all the people who I adore. I will admit, I cried before the show even began knowing full well this was not even our final show together. It was just incredible. After the show, we proceeded to head into town for the longest night out. I don’t think I’ve ever lasted until 4 a.m with so much energy but I’d do it again for a late night kebab.

I could go on and on about all the best moments but this blog may well turn into a multi-chapter retelling of each show day. So, I will leave you with these ones.

Following the show’s closing was our reading week which was the week for us to rest but for a few of us, it was time to open another show. We had the Saturday off after closing You’re A Catch! on Friday and as soon as Sunday came, we were back in the rehearsal room for 9 to 5, preparing to open the show on Thursday. I’m currently writing this 2 hours before my call time on a Friday afternoon, right before show 2! I’ve never had to do one show after another before but it was not as difficult as I thought. The Saturday we were free, it felt like a reset and I was already up and ready for 9 to 5 as soon as I stepped into the room. It is quite tiring (having woken up at 12pm) but I love the rush of show week. In the mornings, I normally don’t know what to do with myself but sit and wait, so the next 2 hours that go by are going to be quite slow.

I know I’ve already bade You’re A Catch! a farewell but it’s tricky when the remnants of the show still littered the backstage area as a reminder. The iconic benches made for the show, Christmas crackers, deflated lightsabers Star Wars masks, handwritten notes- It was like a treasure hunt finding all those gems.

On my next blog, stay tuned for some 9 to 5 shenanigans! It’s a show so full of surprises, even I was baffled the first time we had our first cold read, and the cast could not have been a better pick to bring the vision to life.

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