Oh no she didn't.

In my last blog I mentioned that one of the factors to a successful audition (which is not easily achievable, and was definitely not taught at college) is the power of the famous face. Its becoming exceedingly common for 'celebs' to appear in a lead role on Broadway or the West End to supposedly boost ticket sales.
My point to this, was that not only does casting a 'celebrity' face illegitimise the audition process, but also that it undermines training all together. The majority, although not all of the celebrities you see doing an eight week run in a leading role of the West End, have had no professional training in Musical Theatre.
After I touched on this in my last blog, I felt that maybe I had been somewhat harsh, to tarnish all celebrities as not belonging in the theatre is unfair, and then I went on Facebook, and the first thing that popped up was the following...

http://metro.co.uk/2017/02/21/mel-b-breaks-character-and-goes-all-scary-spice-during-performance-of-chicago-6464265/

Not only did Mel B (former spice girl) break character and start rapping some of her old girl group lyrics, she also instagramed a photo of herself in the production celebrating the fact she had completed an eight week run without cancelling a show.

What about the people that bought a ticket to watch the Musical 'Chicago' and couldn't care less that Mel B was playing the lead? What about the thousands of professionally trained actresses that would give their right arm for the part and have to watch their hard work and talent being overshadowed by celebrity stunts. Or maybe I should lighten up...

As always, I would love to hear some other opinions on this!

La La Land: a fair representation of the triple threat?

As part of my inquiry I am interested to discover whether the components of a successful musical theatre audition have changed and if so what they are. In my previous blog I discussed a brief history of musical theatre and the impact development has on the standard required from performers. This lead me to think of La La Land.

To me La La Land highlights a combination of factors very relevant to my Inquiry. I put the question 'what factors make a successful audition?' to my SIG who came back with the following points;

'Obviously it depends what job it is, but being a fabulous dancer, or a fabulous singer isn't really enough anymore, you need to be able to act, sing, dance, back flip and be incredibly good looking.'

'Being the best isn't enough, you have to be the right height, have the right colour hair'

'Being the best is sometimes irrelevant, i've been to auditions where they are clearly looking for someone who can fit in the costume of who ever they are taking over.'

'sometimes they aren't even looking for the best, sometimes they audition the best and then chose a famous face to play the role instead purely for bums on seats.'

'I think it still comes down to talent. Maybe not for everything, but if you are persistent and consistently perform well in auditions you will continue to get seen for productions and eventually will land a job.'

Are Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone triple threats? Yes they sing, dance and act in the film, but I know many people who can do all three to (in my opinion) A higher standard than the stars of this film. If you analyse this film, the choreography was basic, presumably because thats the level the leads were capable of, and the singing was weak. So why did they get the parts? For all the negative factors of a successful audition that my SIG discussed? All of which are out of our control? Why would they not cast unknowns that were true triple threats?
The same question relates to the theatre. It is becoming more and more common to cast the latest runner up of the X factor as the lead in a musical than to showcase an 'unknown'. But what many people who naively pay to see a celebrity face in a musical fail to realise, is that the majority of these celebrity faces, not all, have little to no training in theatre.

That being said, I actually loved this film. It's definitely a step in the right direction and Gosling and Stone are incredible actors which made me overlook the mediocre singing and dancing. Would I have felt the same if two unknowns were cast in the leading roles?

As always, would love your thoughts!

Musical Theatre History

How do qualified Musical Theatre Performers contend with ever changing auditioning procedures?

At college, one of the first lessons we were taught was to 'do your homework'. Know your genres, the directors, composers, choreographers, their unique styles, anyone who is similar to them. Never go into an audition without knowing everything there is to know about the production and the team involved.

 While researching the pressure on Auditionee's to meet current demands vocally and physically, I am intrigued to revisit the notes I made in my first year at college in regards to the history of musical theatre, to see if any patterns in genre emerge. Depicting the popular genre can in turn help to give you a clue as to what may be expected of you in an audition. For example, in the 50's a classical style of singing was popular, there would have been little or no need to be able to belt. Dance styles such as commercial weren't evident in Musical Theatre until the millennium, so again prior to the 00's, learning commercial at college would have been superfluous. 

1950's - 'Broadway' Music

• The King and I (1951) Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Robbins
• My Fair Lady (1956) Lerner and Loewe
• Gypsy (1959) Stein and Sondheim 

1960's - started off with more of the same

• Hello Dolly (1964)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1964)

A shift then began to 'Rock' musicals

• Hair (1968)

1970's - Sondheim introduces musical concepts

• Company (1970)
• Follies (1971)
• A Little Night Music (1973)

rock musicals quickly fade and concept musicals peak with;

• A Chorus Line (1974)

1980's -  'Brit Hits' or the 'Mega Musical'

• Cats(1983)
• Les Miserables (1985) 
• Phantom Of The Opera (1986)
• Miss Saigon (1989)

1990's - The surge in the mega musicals are not cost efficient - musicals now require a lot of backing to succeed.

• Disney's 'The Lion King' (1994)
• Ragtime (1997)

2000's - initially relied heavily on rehashed works

• Footloose (1998 - west end 2006)
• Fosse (2001)
• Saturday Night Fever (2000)

Also saw a resurge in the 'American Musical'

• The Producers (2001)
• Hairspray (2002)

By looking at a brief history of musical theatre it is apparent to me that even though musicals are constantly evolving, the 'old classics' are still a prominent feature in the current industry. This in turn would mean that colleges are not out of date by continuing to teach the age old practices of classical singing, ballet, tap and jazz as these are at the root of the style of golden era musicals. With new movie musicals such as 'La La Land' making waves currently, this style is more prominent than ever. 'Throroughly Modern Millie' and '42nd Street' are also being revived, 'The Pajama Game' had a successful run in the West End last year, as did 'Funny girl'. 

Skype session with Paula

On Friday I attended the midday skype session with Megan Louch, Laura jayne and Victoria Vickers also present. We began by giving each other a brief description on our inquiry and explaining what we wish to research/discover.
We looked at the following diagram which can be seen in the module 3 handbook and discussed where we all were in the process;

I am currently in between stages 2 and 3, as I am constantly looking at literature and am in discussion with my participants to decide on times and dates for interviews. It was a comfort, having listened to the other girls in the session, to know that we were all currently working around the same stage.

We were shown some images that might depict how we feel as we begin to venture into module 3. This image represents my current feelings towards module three and also the previous modules. For me, the course so far has been a bit of a maze of all of my thoughts and ideas, and although the finish line isn't straight, I now feel that my direction is clearer and that I will make it through!

I discussed how my SIG had brought up some ideas that I hadn't thought of and that I needed to factor into my Inquiry, this being that, by searching for factors of the perfect audition, there are many factors that are out of our control. 

A key point that was made by Paula in this skype session was that we are looking for an UNDERSTANDING of the line of inquiry NOT an answer. 

Module 3 Inquiry Progress

While waiting for ethical approval and reading through the handbook and reader 7, I began to panic. How is it possible to write a detailed Inquiry outline, plan what you need to do for module 3 and still feel overwhelmed when it comes to actually putting your plans in to practice?

...and breathe...I have always found writing things down very therapeutic. There is something about putting my thoughts down on paper that seems to relieve me of the stresses of carrying thoughts/ideas /questions around with me and remembering them all! So I began to make some basic notes to remind myself of the purpose of my inquiry, as one thing I have found exceedingly difficult throughout this whole process is to stay on topic and not veer off down different paths.

Living as a professional Auditionee: How do qualified Musical Theatre Performers contend with ever changing auditioning procedures? 

What do I want to find out? 

I am interested to find out whether the components of a successful audition, taught whilst in training, have evolved and if so what they are.

I intend to compare the successful factors of an audition taught whilst in training to the factors professional auditionee's now consider to be vital, having ventured beyond training and into the industry. In essence, is training relevant to the current industry?

Initial Thoughts

• patterns in history - genres of musical theatre have developed through out time so it may be helpful for me as well as looking at literature to look at the history of musical theatre. The genre depicts the style of singing, style of dance and therefore can suggest what will be expected of you in an audition.
• speaking with my sig to gage a more detailed understanding of what other performers felt professional training did and didn't prepare them for. I can work off my own knowledge and also my interviewee's but I feel the broader the scope on this, the better.
• factors out of our control/factors college cannot prepare you for - look, agent etc
• do schools that offer professional training change their syllabus based on the current market? do they ever refresh the curriculum to suit the direction the industry is currently taking? If so how often?
• If college doesn't prepare you sufficiently, is taking dance class, singing lessons, after graduating, enough? Are there any audition masterclasses available? 
• developments in technology, showreels, voicereels, networking. Do any colleges have the resources to create showreels and voicereels before you leave college?

Although these initial thoughts feel like a bit of a jumble, they give me some direction in regards to future blogs are research that I can do along side my interviews and literature review.

As many of my fellow bapp students are performers I welcome feedback on my initial ramblings! 

Literature on Rejection

Rejection​the act or process of rejecting someone or something:

•  fear of rejection
• I applied for ten jobs and got ten rejections.

Rejection is a fundamental part of a performers life, so I was keen to undertake some further research in to what may have already been written in regards to the auditioning process and resulting rejection.


The first article I found, via Summon 'Jazz artist thanks Simon Cowell for Idol rejection that spurred her on' (Edmonds, Lizzie. Evening Standard 14 June 2016) focuses on a singer who had been rejected by Simon Cowell at an audition for American Idol. However, the article claims this as her spurring moment, as the rejection for the popular TV show led her to audition instead for the Montreal Jazz Festival, which she won.
Through my inquiry, I want to find out how performers deal with the process of a Musical Theatre Audition. even though this is a relatively short article and the genre of music is pop and Jazz in this instance, the fundamental ideas of rejection on audition are the same and therefore this article highlights a very important point that I hope to explore further in my inquiry. Do all performers use rejection as a force to fight harder with? Do they take it to heart and let it effect their confidence at the next audition they go to?

I then read 'Rejection is just a hill an artist has to climb: Critics can be harsh but we should never let them dull our passion to create and perform' (Naughton, Eddie. Sunday Independent 13 Jan 2013).
This article focuses on rejection (of a writer) and dealing with the success of others, which has prompted me to consider that as auditionee's, we do not just deal with our personal rejection, but we also have to learn to cope (and be happy for) our peers success. As performers, a NO to us is a YES to someone else, and quite often that can be someone we are friends with, trained with or go to class with.

'WHENEVER a friend succeeds, something inside me dies." Thus wrote Gore Vidal, capturing perfectly the feeling of envy you experience when news that someone you know has had some success with a play, film or book they've written. This is usually followed by an email or letter informing you of yet another rejection of your script. Oh the agony!' (Eddie Naughton 2013)

When drafting an Inquiry question and turning my focus in particular towards how performers prepare for the process, deal with the process of an audition itself and then deal with success or failure, I had not actually considered that we do not just deal with our own success or failure but the success of others also effects us as well. This is a topic that my SIG had also failed to contemplate, and I wonder whether the connected emotions of someone else's success, jealousy being the main one, means that people are less willing to talk openly about the subject. 

I have nothing but admiration for the actors who lose out on academy award night. They sit there smiling, giving the performance of their lives when beneath the studied grin they are arm wrestling with the twin demons of jealousy and rejection. (Eddie Naughton 2013)

this article has been exceedingly thought provoking for me and its I intend to use its influence when shaping my questions for participants of my enquiry.


References

Mdxacuk, L.E. 2016. Jazz artist thanks Simon Cowell for Idol rejection that spurred her on. june 2016. Mdxacuk. [Online]. [11 December 2016]. Available from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/docview/1796336181?pq-origsite=summon



Eddie naughton, E.D. 2013. Rejection is just a hill an artist has to climb: Critics can be harsh but we should never let them dull our passion to create and perform. 13TH JAN . Sunday Independant . [Online]. [11 December 2016]. Available from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/docview/1268866615/abstract/E8B292332F7945BDPQ/1?accountid=12441

Trial interview: Is there a stigma surrounding dance as children mature?

I have conducted a trial interview with a member of my SIG who shall remain anonymous. I decided to trial an interview with one of the potential lines of enquiry I have now disregarded as I wanted to focus on the method of interviewing and not by the information given.

For the benefit of my research I do intend to reveal the gender of the interviewee as well as age. in this interview the participant was female and aged 23. Although this bares no relevance in this trial, I believe gender and age will play important factors in my real line of enquiry.

My interviewee began our semi structured interview by explaining that her classes were non syllabus and so the majority of the children she taught were there for fun or something to do after school. she went on to say that there were schools in the area that they could go to if they wanted to do exams, so the groups she taught were very mixed in ability. 

Q: Are you conscious of different attitudes towards dance, depending on age range?

'Most definitely, my early stages classes are angels, very well behaved and once settled and comfortable, have no inhibitions and are happy to dance and play confidently. All they want to do is dance and sing really. My most troublesome groups are my 6-9's, they are often quite embarrassed to dance and just want to play games.'

Q: What do you think is the cause of this change in attitude?

'I personally think that the parents are responsible for the changes, it depends on what the child is allowed to watch on TV - for example I know lots of my kids watch 'Wiggle Town' which has children on the show who dance - when it comes to ballet, they only show girls doing the ballet, therefore depicting from a very early age that ballet isn't for boys. Children don't argue with what they see on the telly, so it is a battle to change their perspective, even at five years old.'

Q: What type of music do you use for your classes? Does your music choice change depending on age?

'Yes definitely. I do a lot of nursery rhymes with my early stages classes, but where as you might expect the next step to be disney music there is now a straight jump to pop music. I play chart music now from age 5+ and the majority know all the words and tell me they listen to the songs at home.

She then explained that she also does princess parties as well as teaching

'I see the divide at parties as well, particularly with the 5-7 age range. I did one party where the mum asked specifically for only childrens music to be played and none of the kids knew any of the music and all asked me to put pop music on. Most kids have Ipads now, so they can easily access youtube or listen to what their parents are listening to if it is a shared device. Kids are really smart when it comes to technology. 

I also think the age of the parents plays a key role as well. I think older parents tend to stick to the classic kids music and disney where as a younger couple might introduce their taste in music earlier on.'

Q: Have you experienced anything else that suggests there is a stigma?

'I was running a mixed gender street class for months and was only getting girls sign up. I decided to advertise an all boys street class and suddenly I had loads of parents sign their boys up. If that doesn't indicate that the stigma continues into adulthood I don't know what does! I also teach dance as an after school club in a school and spoke to the head teacher about organising an assembly to advertise my new cheerleading class. When I turned up on the day of the assembly I walked into a room full or girls and when asking where all the boys were was told by the head teacher that she had told the class teachers it was an all girls assembly as it was to advertise cheerleading, so not only had the head of the school decided that cheerleading was only for girls, but none of the other teachers had questioned it either. I made it very clear that cheerleading was for boys too, and i now have seven ten year old signed up.'

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