Task 3c: Learning the Finale Rebel (May 5th) & (May 12th)

(May 5th First Rehearsal with Bethany) 

Today we had an entire group rehearsal, rehearsing the finale song ‘Rebel’. However, I did mention in my action plan two weeks ago I would have liked to rehearse this then to prepare for the work in progress. We didn’t get chance to do it then as a full group so Lynn scheduled a time for us to meet today, while the singing lessons were devoted to us and Bethany Barber listened to all the numbers in ‘Saints and Sinners’. I think the songs in the show are what need the most work and this really showed during the work in progress.

I managed to learn the lyrics to Rebel before this rehearsal as Beth posted the lyrics on the ‘Saints and Sinners’ (S&S) Facebook page, which meant I found it easier to learn the harmonies. The only problem we have had is lack of sheet music and lyrics for songs, we didn’t have any sheet music for this song. Jess managed to learn how to play ‘Rebel’ on the piano and then gave us our notes, we started off by singing the song altogether without any part of the song changed, then thought about splitting the two verses into four parts so not everyone is singing the whole song, everyone would then sing the chorus.

Here is a recording from todays rehearsal:

Here is the original song by Alyssa Bonagura, which was suggested by Jess as one of her three ideas during the presentations. The lyrics are perfect for our show and it is a beautiful song to have as the finale.

We decided after splitting it into parts that we would create a cannon where one group would start singing the chorus, followed by the next and then the next. We will all be singing the same thing but at different times, I found this partially difficult even after doing similar things in Amado. Doing this in a group of this size makes it difficult to hear the others who are on your part, this is something I will need to work on to ensure I sing the right part. I found that some people have extremely loud singing voices and they don’t necessarily need to have such an attack on a song like this. When we next rehearse ‘Rebel’ this will be something I would like to resolve as I find singing in a softer tone will not only help other but make it sound better. Even though I sing with Amado I still find it tricky to learn harmonies, and I couldn’t always hear if I was on the right part, but for once I found myself telling others to sing higher as some of the group who stood close to me I noticed were singing completely the wrong part.

I feel like after today everyone needs to go away and go over everything we did in todays short rehearsal, everyone has a recording of today rehearsal so another thing I have learnt while being with Amado is to sing along with the track, not to just listen to it and then try use the recording provided. For those in the group who seriously struggle when it comes to learning harmonies Jess has explained she would give some of her time to help them learn.

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(May 12th Working what we did with Bethany)

We started todays rehearsal by doing Idents and then checking we still remembered everything learnt in last weeks rehearsal.

Rehearsal:

After having worked the piece vocally last week with Bethany Baber we needed to focus on staging considering we have a work in progress approaching. Bethany also suggested last week to stage the piece in the round, to help us stay in the vocal parts we have been allocated during the cannon. Most of us strongly disagreed with this as it might confuse the audience and it wouldn’t be appropriate to stage it with everyone together. .Throughout the night arguments, fights and dramas have unfolded between couples, In order to stay in character we thought it would be more appropriate to spread out around the stage in a similar place to where we finish our last scene. Tom will be playing along with Jess on the guitar to support Jess.

I think it will become much more clear when we are on the real stage, trying to imagine the office and where the tables will be is slightly awkward. Overall, I think that harmonies still need to be worked, some people in the group weren’t singing. This may be down to lack of confidence because singing isn’t everyone’s area of expertise.

Here is what we managed to stage today: