Unit 8 Final Evaluation

Unit 8 Final Evaluation

What type of research did you do and why?

I carried out various different types of research during the developmental and rehearsal process of our performance of the Rocky Horror Show. The first thing I researched into was the storyline, creation and creator of The Rocky Horror Show. The first piece of research I completed was to watch different versions of The Rocky Horror Show. I started off with watching the live version of the show which we watched as a class, I made notes on different aspects of the production that we could use in our performance making sure to pay particular attention to the character I play: “Magenta”. I did this because I felt like it would give me inspiration for the finer details of my characterisation such as how she moves, the tone and pitch of her voice, her body language and interactions with other characters. I then watched the 1975 film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show and noted the difference in the stage production vs the film. I did this so that I could see different interpretations of my characters. Finally I watched the 2010 Glee tribute episode to Rocky Horror: The Rocky Horror Glee Show, which was surprisingly helpful in that it is the only version I could find which featured a girl in the role of “Frank’n’Furter”. This helped as that was what we did in our production and it was great to see a performance of “Sweet Transvestite” in a key appropriate for a female range.

I watched an interview with Richard O’Brien where he talked about how he began creating Rocky Horror when he wrote the opening song to the show “Science Fiction Double Feature” for a Christmas party he’d been asked to perform at in 1972. At the time O’Brien was an out of work actor, having just been fired from the original west end production of Jesus Christ Superstar. He then worked in the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs where he wrote Rocky Horror as a side project before getting the opportunity to perform it for 3 weeks. I researched how this led up to Rocky Horror running in the UK, LA, briefly on Broadway and how it led to the making of the film in 1975. I made a timeline mapping out the major events that led The Rocky Horror Show into being the cult classic that so many people know. I chose to do this so that I’d have a deeper understanding of the story of The Rocky Horror Show and the journey it had to go on to become the great success it is now. This led me to researching the film; “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, I looked into the cast and watched interviews where they spoke about their experience being in Rocky and the unexpected appreciation the film received, I did this so I would be able to see why they made the character choices they did and help to influence my interpretation of the character I was given to play, the role of “Magenta”. As part of this, as well as part of researching the creation of Rocky Horror as a whole, I looked into Richard O’Brien as a personality and not just a creator. I watched an interview where he spoke about how his own intersex identity led him to create the “sweet transvestite” character of “Dr Frank’n’Furter” as he felt it was someone he could somewhat relate to in terms of having an identity that wasn’t accepted and was frowned upon at the time. This leads me on to the next research I did. 

I researched LGBT rights from 1966 until now. I looked at a sheet my class was given and made notes highlighting the key events that have occurred in the establishment of equal rights for the LGBT community in the UK. I did this research so that I’d be able to understand why there was such a mixed reaction from people when Rocky Horror was created and why it was seen as so controversial upon its cinematic release in 1975 as well as understand why O’Brien wanted to create such a character as “Dr Frank’n’Furter” during a time where there was no gay or transgender representation in the media. 

I also looked into the influence of Glam Rock culture at the time Rock Horror was created and how this influenced the musical style of Rocky.

The final research I carried out was on the genre of Science Fiction so I’d be able to really understand all the references in my solo song “Science Fiction Double Feature”. This opens the show and the research helped me get a better understanding overall of why O’Brien put so many features of old Sci-Fi B-movies into Rocky Horror. I looked online at an analysis of the lyrics and noted down a short description of everything mentioned, this included references to films such as “King Kong”, “It Came From Outer Space” and “The Invisible Man” as well as references to characters and film stars “Flash Gordon”, Fay Wray, “Claude Rains” and Jeanette Scott. 

What resources and techniques have you applied and why?

Resources:

Script

Why? In order to learn all the content of the show accurately, ensure we followed the story-line of the show and use stage directions to portray characters the way they were written to be portrayed.

Videos of live performances.

Why? To get inspiration for character choices such as body language, tone of voice, movement style and creative decisions such as how a character might interact with another outside the set guidelines of the stage directions. Also used as a way of knowing what Rocky Horror is supposed to look and sound like and use similar things to the profession production to heighten the quality of our performance. 

Film

Why? Similar to videos of live performance. To get character inspiration so we have more of an idea of how we want to portray our characters, to see a different actor play our role so we aren’t just copying the choices of the actor from the live performance,  but also for research purposes, to be able to understand the Rocky Horror most people know and to see how Richard O’Brien wanted Rocky Horror to look and sound like as he was in the film and had a big part directing it.

Cast Recordings

Why? To be able to hear how our songs should sound when sung to the best standard and to learn our songs before we went into our singing lessons so we could just sing through without having to waste time note bashing every song.

Backing tracks

Why? To practice our songs without the voice of the people on the cast recordings to rely on. To prepare us for the performance as we were practicing with the tracks we would be using in the performance so we were able to rehearse as though it was the actual performance, To help us to be much more confident with our songs and it meant we were able to sing to the best of our ability as we knew our sings and tracks well enough that they weren’t a distraction or worry. Also to use in the actual performance so we didn’t have to sing A Capella.

Studio space

Why? To have a suitable place where we could rehearse the show full out and a space that is designed for what we were using it for. Appropriate for running through and learning dances, sound system to play backing tracks and music to dance to, space designed to be the same as the theatre so spacing didn’t need to be adjusted at all.

Theatre

Why? To have a suitable place to perform the show with lights, sound system and stage. Designed to facilitate an audience and enable us to perform with as close to a professional space as possible.

Prop store

Why? To be able to get the correct props for all the scenes and songs in the show. Also so we didn’t have to spend as much money on buying props as we used a lot of pieces already available in the prop store.

Set workshop

Why? To assist our technical director in creating set pieces for the production. This includes pieces such as the car used in “Dammit Janet”. Additionally, to ensure that all set pieces were made in a space with correct equipment to make them as high quality as possible as well as with the correct safety procedures to ensure that no injuries occur and everything was made safely.

Costume Store

Why? To be able to get the correct costumes for all characters throughout the show that were as true to the show as we were able to get in order for the show to look more professional and help us all to get more into character by looking the part. Also to ensure that we didn’t have to spend money buying new costumes if we had appropriate pieces in the costume store.

Makeup

Why? To prevent looking “washed out” under all the lights and to help enhance our facial features, also to add another level to our characters and help us to make our characters more realistic to the audience. This is shown in Ella’s “Frank’n’Furter” makeup or Leah’s “Rif-Raf” makeup.

Internet & Articles for research

Why? To ensure we completed all research tasks with correct and detailed information and ensure we had the knowledge to be able to put on a very strong performance of Rocky Horror.

Teacher’s feedback

Why? To ensure we were constantly improving the quality of our performance and to make sure we knew what we needed to do to make our individual and group performance stronger. Also to know what mistakes were being made and being corrected by people who knew what would make the show of a higher quality.

Technical Director

Why? To ensure all the technical and backstage aspects of the show were taken care of to create as professional a show as we could. This meant meetings with our TD, Adam Billing, as well as ideas to help him design different technical sections of developing the show. This also included helping him do things such as paint the set, creating prop and costume lists and other backstage organisational tasks.

Techniques:

Singing techniques: 
We applied a variety of singing techniques during the  project. These  have been summed up  in the sheet pictured below: 


These  techniques include breathing exercises, exercises to help bridge the gap  between the higher and lower sections of  the voice, and importantly, projection and diction exercises. We did this so that  we would be able  to be heard clearly  both in  terms of volume and pronunciation, to have better control of our voices while singing these songs and to make any songs where one if one is forced to flip  between the "chest" and "head voice" much more smooth  and more  controlled. 

Acting techniques

Why? We applied a variety of different acting techniques throughout  this process. During the rehearsal process we used techniques  such as hot seating.  This is when you  are asked questions about  your character, their background and their role in the story. However, you must answer them as your character. This is really helpful for character development as you're able to really get into their mindset and it's much easier to be able to see the world from their view  when you're answering for them. It's also helpful as you have to make character choices quickly and on the spot. You also sometimes create a bit more of a backstory for them as not everything is laid out in the script and this can help to spur on different character choices such as what kind of body language they have, how they move or how they would react to different situations. You may also be asked about your character's relationships with other characters. This really helps to give inspiration in how to interact with the other characters on stage. 
We also used memory games to help us to develop our memory skills and get used to being able to rmemorise a lot in a short space of time which helped us to be able to learn all our lines quickly but effectively. One such game is "I went shopping". This game works by everyone saying "I went shopping and I bought" and then stating an item. However, it goes round in a circle and you must remember what everyone before you said before adding your item. This is really helpful in training your memory to learn and keep hold of information fast and efficiently. 

Dance Techniques

The dance techniques we used were mostly based around spacial awareness as people often changed their positions during songs and to ensure no collisions occurred we had to be very aware of where we were in relation to everyone else and how much we were actually able to move. We also used breathing and movement techniques so that we could perform the routine without getting so out of breath it affected our singing. 

How have those resources helped the development of your work?

Each resource helped the development of our work massively; as we had everything we needed to be able to rehearse as accurately to our performance as possible. For example: Having the right physical spaces for both the rehearsal and performance processes of the show helped with the development of our work as it meant we were able to have a suitable space designed for what we needed to use it for. This helped as we were able to stage the show correctly, the room wasn’t too small or too wide so there was very little change when we went into the theatre to tech, this also meant we saved on time as we didn’t have to spend a long time re-staging numbers or scenes because we’d spaced it incorrectly in the rehearsal space. Having the theatre meant we had the space for an audience, the resources to have stage lights and the equipment for sound effects.

Other resources such as the prop and costume store, set workshop and technical director, Adam, allowed us to create the practical things we needed to bring Rocky Horror to life as much as possible as well as make it as professional as we could using the correct visual resources.

Online resources such as live performance videos, the film, cast recordings and backing tracks allowed us to get inspiration from other people’s productions as well as give us an idea for what we should be aiming for and helped speed up the learning process of songs.

Which elements have been the most effective?

The most effective elements of the production were props and lighting. 

The lighting we had was very effective as it set the mood for different scenes in Rocky Horror. An example of this was during 'Hot Patootie'. When Eddie (Ghazal Sharharni) runs across the stage, followed closely by  Frank (Ella Botton) chasing him with a chainsaw, the lights went red. This was even more effective after Eddie ran off and screamed as this made it clear to the audience that Eddie had been killed as red has connotations of danger, violence and blood. However, the most effective use of lighting in the show was during Act 2, scene 1 where lighting was used to create silhouettes behind 2 screens instead of showing the actors in full light. This was especially effective in this scene as it was a scene of a sexual nature. Having the lights create this effect helped to keep the show a little more PG and easier for the actors to perform as it wasn't as awkward as having to perform a scene of that nature under normal stage lights. It also added to the humour to the scene as everything was hinted it at and suggested. This meant the audience had to fill in the gaps themselves and therefore an extra level of humour was added as they had to understand it on their own. 

The props were very effective as it meant the show was more naturalistic and brought it more to life. It also helped to make the story and show easier to understand as it was clear what each object was and we didn’t have to mime. An example prop would be the car used in 'Dammit Janet'. This helped to set the scene as it helped people to understand where the characters of Brad and Janet were as well as help them to understand what kind of characters they were as the car we painted was a traditional 60s Volkswagen campervan. This helped to set Brad and Janet up to be viewed as the sweet "all-American" couple they're meant to be viewed as at the beginning of the show. 

How did the performance of others impact on the progress of your project?

The performance of others had a very big impact on the progress of our project. This of course doesn't just mean stage performance but their overall job performance as cast members too. For example, poor performance in terms of attendance had a negative impact on the progress of our project. There were some occasions were members of the cast were not present in rehearsal and this meant we weren’t able to rehearse as accurately as we would have liked. This therefore meant it affected how much we were actually able to progress for reasons such as spacing wasn’t accurate, lines would be missing from the scene as people weren't there to say them or we had to skip out songs which affected positions, choreography learning or development or timing as we couldn't run the show properly.  Overall it was an inconvenience when we had cast members missing and this had a definitive impact on the progress of the project.

The performance of people performing not just their on stage roles but also their backstage roles had an undeniable impact on the progress of our project. The best example of this was the performance of those acting as choreographers for certain numbers. Luckily,everyone taking on this role performed very well in it, meaning that choreography was prepared before lessons, they had a clear idea of what they wanted and where in the song they wanted it and they were very clear when teaching it so that everyone understood very well what they were doing at all times during each number. This had a very positive impact on the progress of our project as it meant routines were learnt and polished quickly ensuring very swift progression when it came to getting through actually learning the content of the show. This also meant it left time to work on other sections of the show that weren't quite as clean.

How successful do you think your performance piece was overall? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the final performance?

Overall I felt the performance was more successful than anticipated and went relatively well. However, there were some weaknesses, having watched back the final performance I made notes based on the different strengths and weaknesses I saw.  

Weaknesses of the final performance:

Science Fiction Double Feature:

The runs on “oh” at the end of the song were weak compared to the rest of the song; they could’ve been much stronger. The higher phrases that I had to use my “head” voice for sounded different in strength to the rest of the song; I would’ve liked to have worked on that more before the performance.

Scene 2:

The tire sound affect in the first scene was a little late and could’ve been slightly louder.

The curtains didn’t open correctly in the scene where Brad and Janet arrive at the Frankenstein Place.

Scene 3:

I should’ve kept a longer pause before my line “The delivery boy” as it came across rushed.

I shouldn’t have looked at the other people in scenes so much, it looks as though I’m waiting for them to prompt me or waiting for them to say their line. I seemed too much like an “onlooker” instead of part of the scene.

Time Warp:

I could’ve been more confident during my Time Warp solo in terms of my facial expressions and body language as I was playing it quite safe because I wanted to focus on the singing.

Mistake made after Columbia’s (Rina Yefet) sung solo. There’s another set of “let’s do the Time Warp again” and then the instrumental tap break begins. In the performance Rina moved back and Leah moved forward and continued the chorus saying “it’s just a jump to the left” instead of the tap solo starting. Luckily it was quickly fixed and wasn’t too noticeable unless you knew the show.

Scene 3:

Costume problem with my dress as I had to keep pulling it down however I tried to do this in character or subtly so that it wasn’t noticeable to the audience.

I shouldn’t have touched my hair or moved it out my face so much as it is distracting and breaks character a little.

I forgot to laugh in the undressing scene

Sword of Damocles:

Not everyone’s hips were moving in sync during the number

Make You A Man:

The arm movements could have been more in sync as they looked messy and off the music.

Hot Patootie:

I missed some movements in verse 2, I was out of sync with Leah at certain points.

Leah forgot to come and meet me for partner work in the second half of the second chorus so I had to walk forward and grab her.

Scene 5:

Bethany was sticking out the side of the screen during the Brad and Frank sex scene which broke the effect slightly.

Touch Me:

Rina and I were a little late coming on.

The dumbbell Rocky used should’ve been taken off after the song finished however it remained on stage until the end of the show.

Scene 8:

Leah, Rina and I could’ve carried Ella off in a more efficient way that allowed us to stayin character better.

Ghazal (Dr Scott) was moving her legs to move the wheelchair although her character was meant to be unable to move his legs.

Eddie’s Teddy

My movements were sharp but could’ve been more in character.

Scene 11:

My delivery on “How I long to sing and dance to your dark refrain” could’ve been much stronger.

Strengths of the final performance:

Science Fiction Double Feature:

My body language and arm movements fit very well with my character.

Sweet Transvestite:

The in-sync trio work was sharp and worked very well. Leah and I had strong characterisation and it was believable that we were siblings.

Scene 4:

Tili’s line “How wonderful for you” in the tone that she used allowed everyone to react in character and show the audience how the range of reactions also reflected on the range of characters present in Rocky Horror.

Sword of Damocles:

I had strong characterisation when I interacted with Brad.

Make You A Man (Reprise):

Ensemble movement was tight and looked clean.

Scene 5:

The use of projection and shadows was very effective and kept the show more PG without taking away from the humorous moments.

Touch Me:

The way I used and moved with the whip was very in character.

Scene 9:

Ella and I had a very fitting and in character reaction to the alien insinuation.

All the name toing and froing was tight and added another level of humour to the scene.

Scene:

Good reaction and communication with Leah to Columbia’s outburst.

The flip in character was effective with my voice and physical reaction and attitude to Frank.

Science Fiction Double Feature (Reprise):

The sorrowful mannered Usherette worked very well.

My timing for walking over and closing the certain was exactly right.

Time Warp (Reprise):

Nice high energy level.

GENERAL:

I walked in character in my entrances and exits; I did my best to stay in character every second I was on stage.

I had good eye contact and connection with the audience.

I knew all my cues with confidence.

I kept Magenta’s suggestive body language throughout all ensemble movements.

I interacted well with the other characters on stage.

Do you intend to change the way you do anything in future projects, if so why and what have you learned?

In future projects I would definitely change my organisational skills and ensure I keep up with blog up and daily logs better than I did with this project. While I kept up with research I didn’t make a log every day and as a result had to try and remember what we’d done each day or refer to my classmates to ensure my logs were accurate and that I was able to  label them with the correct video footage. This overall would lessen the workload at the end of the project as I’d be doing it gradually throughout and would make the project run more smoothly for me individually.

How does this link to your goals of progression?

This links to my goals of progression as I know now that to be able to obtain the grade I want I need to be more organised in my written work. This will help me progress in second year and in the future as I’m aware this is something I will need to improve on and will help me to stay more on track as I progress through different projects. 

What did you contribute to the collaboration process?

To contribute in the collaboration process, I learned dances from my cast-mates, organised all the props, helped paint pieces of set with Adam and organised aspects of my costume with Tilia. Learning routines from  my  cast mates was probably the biggest collaboration  I  did on this project and this directly influenced the quality of the show overall as my ability to pick up routines affected the performance aspect of the  show more  than the  backstage work I did. The main collaborations I did during this process were with Nehemie and Ella for 'Make  You A Man'  and  the subsequent reprise. Nehemie  and Tilia for Touch  Me, Ghazal for Sword of Damocles and Leah for Hot Patootie.

What different skills did you need to draw on and how did you use them?

The skills I needed for this project were mostly practical, I needed to be able to sing, act and dance however I also needed to use my organisational skills for my role in props and my memory skills to ensure I could remember everything I had to do both in terms of on stage and off.

I needed to draw on my organisational skills to organise elements of my costume, my makeup and how I wanted to have my hair. To do this I created a costume and makeup plan for all 3 of my costumes to make sure I was organised when the performance happened and knew exactly what I did and didn’t need to have ready both before and during the show. Adding onto this, I needed to be organised in my costume changes as I had 2 changes in very quick succession, one of which I had only a short song to change in, I made sure to lay out all my costume pieces and had people on hand to help zip up my dress or help me put gloves on. 
However, I needed to draw upon my organisational skills the most during my backstage roll doing props as I needed to compile a list of every prop needed during the show, organise this with Adam so he could either get them from the costume store or buy them, create a prop table so every prop was on display and easily accessible throughout the show so nothing would go missing and everyone had what they needed for each scene.

I needed to draw upon my memory skills to remember cues, this includes entrances and exits as well as what lines were before mine so I knew exactly when to speak. I also needed to remember to take the correct props on and off stage, as well as remember where I entered on stage and remember all the staging during every scene and song. Above all of that however, I needed to remember my lines, song lyrics, harmonies and dance numbers to ensure I performed as well as possible.

How did your skills develop as a result of this work?

As a result of this work my organisational and memory skills as well as my ability to work on multiple things has definitely improved. I also learned how to work collaboratively with others as I had to work with Adam in Production Arts to get all the props together and with other members of my own class so I could learn routines from them. It also helped me develop backstage skills such as taping a prop table, knowing who used which prop and when exactly so I could lay everything out in the most logical way which is a skill I’ve never had the opportunity to work on before.

What was your additional role and how did it contribute to the overall success of the show?

My additional role was working on props for the production. It contributed a lot to the performance as it meant the show was more naturalistic and brought it more to life. It also helped to make the story and show easier to understand as it was clear what each object was and we didn’t have to mime.  I felt it had a big contribution to the overall success of the show as it was easier to be in character and act when you had the physical object you were meant to be holding instead of just miming it. To do props I made sure to 

How successful do you think the show was overall as a collaborative performance?

Overall I think the show was quite successful as a collaborative performance as everyone pulled together and performed and carried out their individual roles very effectively. The best example of this is the collaboration that occurred for all the different numbers in the show to be choreographed. In terms of actual performance, there were moments when everyone worked well as a collaborative team, this is shown in the fact that no one forgot cues or lines and everyone was able to rely on each other to get through scenes and songs with strong characterisation. However, there were some small downfalls, such as the fact that the energy as a collaborative group was quite lacking in the matinee performance that did let the group down as a whole. Because of this, the show couldn't be described as a total success in collaborative performance. 

What was the reaction of the audience?

The reaction of the audience was varied, naturally we found that the afternoon audience, filled with college students, were more likely to vocalise their reactions by shouting, making comments and laughing. We also found them to be more likely to have a more immature reaction to the racier sections of the show than the evening audience filled with our friends and family. For example, at the end of act 1 Frank’n’Furter (Ella Botton) pushes down Rocky (Nehemie Bubdi) in a suggestive manner. In the afternoon performance the audience all shouted and heckled while in the evening performance there was just some laughter, which was to be expected. However, it was harder to tell if the evening audience was actually enjoying the show as their reactions were quite reserved and harder to read. Overall they were more respectful and there was much less distraction in the evening audience. I feel as though my class was less nervous during this performance as we felt less likely to be judged by our families than our peers and knew that this audience wasn’t going to be as vocal or rowdy as our first audience. Additionally, as we’d already performed the show once to an audience earlier that day everyone’s nerves had settled a little more and people were more confident with their performance. Generally it seemed as though most people did really enjoy the performance, we were told that it was very entertaining and it was clear from the reactions of both audiences that everyone was engaged in the story.

What did you learn from the experience and how will you use it in the future?

I learned that there are a very large number of things to think about when producing a show and that all those things need to come together in the right way for the show to be a success. I also learned how to organise and manage different aspects of producing a show at the same time in both my roles as a performer and a prop manager. I also learned that you have to be able to rely on your cast mates and not on your audience as you cannot predict how they are going to react and you cannot let this affect how you're performing. I will use this in the future as I will know that no matter how the audience react you need to be able to stay focused on what you and your cast-mates are doing and this will hopefully allow me not to be distracted by the audience but give my best performance anyway. 

AFTERNOON PERFORMANCE:

EVENING PERFORMANCE: