Contextual Research : HAIR THE MUSICAL

   HAIR The Musical opened in Broadway in October 1967. PlayWrights James Rado and Gerome Ragni worked together to create the most controversial musical 1960’s America had ever seen. On Stage Nudity had been banned since the nineteenth century, when the law was lifted HAIR being the over sexualised production that it is, was the first Musical to take advantage of the now uplifted law.

Staging:

Stripped stage. One raked playing area intimate to the audience; very easy access to audience and back. Totem poles (scaffolding decorated with the accoutrements of an affluent society), ramps and levels, tattered clothes, hangings, hippie decorations and posters. "Love" and other graffiti painted here and there.

Costumes:

The turned-on hippie generation: Indian-like buckskin jackets, loincloths, moccasins, pants, blankets, tribal masks possible, tee shirts, sweat shirts, old military uniforms, a single sequined gown in which three girls can fit, Afro fashions, wild flower-power shirts, pants and shifts, Indian bead headbands, Levis, bell bottoms and other Now fashions. White Indian linen, gold-embroidered gown.

Lighting:

Strobe lights, psychedelic coloured lighting aimed among the audience, fireworks, tightly controlled lighting that often changes rapidly, moving light projections, sound-mixing equipment required, hand mikes. Projection of dark mysterious men, FBI, and CIA agents. Police puppets.

Historical Event : The Cuban Missile Crisis Octoer 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The crisis was unique in a number of ways, featuring calculations and miscalculations as well as direct and secret communications and miscommunications between the two sides. The dramatic crisis was also characterized by the fact that it was primarily played out at the White House and the Kremlin level with relatively little input from the respective bureaucracies typically involved in the foreign policy process.

Aerial view of missile launch site at San Cristobal, Cuba. (John F. Kennedy Library)

After the failed U.S. attempt to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion, and while the Kennedy administration planned Operation Mongoose, in July 1962 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. Construction of several missile sites began in the late summer, but U.S. intelligence discovered evidence of a general Soviet arms build-up on Cuba, including Soviet IL–28 bombers, during routine surveillance flights, and on September 4, 1962, President Kennedy issued a public warning against the introduction of offensive weapons into Cuba. Despite the warning, on October 14 a U.S. U–2 aircraft took several pictures clearly showing sites for medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) under construction in Cuba. These images were processed and presented to the White House the next day, thus precipitating the onset of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Kennedy summoned his closest advisers to consider options and direct a course of action for the United States that would resolve the crisis. Some advisers—including all the Joint Chiefs of Staff—argued for an air strike to destroy the missiles, followed by a U.S. invasion of Cuba; others favored stern warnings to Cuba and the Soviet Union. The President decided upon a middle course. On October 22, he ordered a naval “quarantine” of Cuba. The use of “quarantine” legally distinguished this action from a blockade, which assumed a state of war existed; the use of “quarantine” instead of “blockade” also enabled the United States to receive the support of the Organization of American States.

That same day, Kennedy sent a letter to Khrushchev declaring that the United States would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba, and demanded that the Soviets dismantle the missile bases already under construction or completed, and return all offensive weapons to the U.S.S.R. The letter was the first in a series of direct and indirect communications between the White House and the Kremlin throughout the remainder of the crisis.

The President also went on national television that evening to inform the public of the developments in Cuba, his decision to initiate and enforce a “quarantine,” and the potential global consequences if the crisis continued to escalate. The tone of the President’s remarks was stern, and the message unmistakable and evocative of the Monroe Doctrine: “It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced a military readiness status of DEFCON 3 as U.S. naval forces began implementation of the quarantine and plans accelerated for a military strike on Cuba.

On October 24, Khrushchev responded to Kennedy’s message with a statement that the U.S. “blockade” was an “act of aggression” and that Soviet ships bound for Cuba would be ordered to proceed. Nevertheless, during October 24 and 25, some ships turned back from the quarantine line; others were stopped by U.S. naval forces, but they contained no offensive weapons and so were allowed to proceed. Meanwhile, U.S. reconnaissance flights over Cuba indicated the Soviet missile sites were nearing operational readiness. With no apparent end to the crisis in sight, U.S. forces were placed at DEFCON 2—meaning war involving the Strategic Air Command was imminent. On October 26, Kennedy told his advisors it appeared that only a U.S. attack on Cuba would remove the missiles, but he insisted on giving the diplomatic channel a little more time. The crisis had reached a virtual stalemate.

That afternoon, however, the crisis took a dramatic turn. ABC News correspondent John Scali reported to the White House that he had been approached by a Soviet agent suggesting that an agreement could be reached in which the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba if the United States promised not to invade the island. While White House staff scrambled to assess the validity of this “back channel” offer, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a message the evening of October 26, which meant it was sent in the middle of the night Moscow time. It was a long, emotional message that raised the specter of nuclear holocaust, and presented a proposed resolution that remarkably resembled what Scali reported earlier that day. “If there is no intention,” he said, “to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to untie that knot. We are ready for this.”

Although U.S. experts were convinced the message from Khrushchev was authentic, hope for a resolution was short-lived. The next day, October 27, Khrushchev sent another message indicating that any proposed deal must include the removal of U.S. Jupiter missiles from Turkey. That same day a U.S. U–2 reconnaissance jet was shot down over Cuba. Kennedy and his advisors prepared for an attack on Cuba within days as they searched for any remaining diplomatic resolution. It was determined that Kennedy would ignore the second Khrushchev message and respond to the first one. That night, Kennedy set forth in his message to the Soviet leader proposed steps for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba under supervision of the United Nations, and a guarantee that the United States would not attack Cuba.

It was a risky move to ignore the second Khrushchev message. Attorney General Robert Kennedy then met secretly with Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Dobrynin, and indicated that the United States was planning to remove the Jupiter missiles from Turkey anyway, and that it would do so soon, but this could not be part of any public resolution of the missile crisis. The next morning, October 28, Khrushchev issued a public statement that Soviet missiles would be dismantled and removed from Cuba.

The crisis was over but the naval quarantine continued until the Soviets agreed to remove their IL–28 bombers from Cuba and, on November 20, 1962, the United States ended its quarantine. U.S. Jupiter missiles were removed from Turkey in April 1963.

The Cuban missile crisis stands as a singular event during the Cold War and strengthened Kennedy’s image domestically and internationally. It also may have helped mitigate negative world opinion regarding the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Two other important results of the crisis came in unique forms. First, despite the flurry of direct and indirect communications between the White House and the Kremlin—perhaps because of it—Kennedy and Khrushchev, and their advisers, struggled throughout the crisis to clearly understand each others’ true intentions, while the world hung on the brink of possible nuclear war. In an effort to prevent this from happening again, a direct telephone link between the White House and the Kremlin was established; it became known as the “Hotline.” Second, having approached the brink of nuclear conflict, both superpowers began to reconsider the nuclear arms race and took the first steps in agreeing to a nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Contexual Research - Vietnam War.

When was the Vietnam War?

The Vietnam War started in the 50's and lasted two decades, finally ending in the 70's. More specifically, starting in November 1st 1955 and ending April 30th 1975, reuniting North and South Vietnam as one country once again. Over time countries like, The United States, France, China, The Soviet Union, Cambodia, Laos and even more countries would become involved in this lengthy war which evidently claimed millions of lives.

What was the objective of the Vietnam War?

The main intent of US involvement was to restrict the communist domination that was present in  the government of Vietnam as it would soon lead to neighbouring countries adopting the same. This would result in a change of balance in power throughout Southeast Asia. The Domino Theory was a Cold War policy that the US government use to justify their involvement in the Vietnam War and it's Support for it's non-communist dictator in South Vietnam. By assuming Ho Chi Minh was a pawn of the communist giants, Russia and China, American policymakers failed to see that the goal of Ho and his supporters was Vietnamese independence and not the spread of communism. In the end, even though the American effort to block a communist takeover failed and North Vietnamese forces marched into Saigon in 1975,communism did not spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia. With the exception of Laos and Cambodia, the nations of the region remained out of communist control.

What was the TET Offensive?

The Tet Offensive had a strong role in weakening the U.S. public support of the Vietnam War.
In late January 1968 the North Vietnamese and Communist Vietcong force, launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam during the lunar year (or Tet) holiday. A lunar year is a measure of the Moon's rotation around Earth, a lunar year has 354 days in it, in comparison to a solar year which has 365 days in it. It was Ho Chi Minh's intent to attack major cities in hope of forcing the U.S into negotiation or even withdrawal. It was a political expediency that the Hanoi leaders attacked during the celebrations of the Tet holiday as it is traditionally a time of armistice. It would also leave the South Vietnam vulnerable as Vietnamese civilians would be travelling to visit relatives at this time so this provided cover for the movement of the North Vietnamese.
There were three phases to the Tet Offensive, however the first phase proved most effective and psychologically damaging. The assault began on the last two days of January, the North Vietnamese simultaneously attacked major populated areas and places with heavy troop presence, for example Saigon.The third phase lasted six weeks, The U.S and South Vietnamese reclaimed the towns that the North had secured. By the end of the Tet Offensive, both sides claimed victory although both endured major losses and casualties. The response of the South Vietnamese completely wiped out the North Vietnamese however the Tet Offensive revealed to the American public that an Overall victory in Vietnam was not going to happen.

What were the major protests against the War?

The anti-war movement began mostly on college campuses, as members of the leftist organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began organizing “teach-ins” to express their opposition to the way in which it was being conducted. Though most of the American population still supported the administration policy in Vietnam, a small but outspoken liberal minority was making its voice heard by the end of 1965. This minority included many students as well as prominent artists and intellectuals and members of the hippie movement, a growing number of young people who rejected authority and embraced the drug culture.

The launch of the Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese communist troops in January 1968, and its success against U.S. and South Vietnamese troops, sent waves of shock and discontent across the home front and sparked the most intense period of anti-war protests to date. By early February 1968, a Gallup poll showed only 35 percent of the population approved of Johnson’s handling of the war and a full 50 percent disapproved (the rest had no opinion). Joining the anti-war demonstrations by this time were members of the organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War, many of whom were in wheelchairs and on crutches. The sight of these men on television throwing away the medals they had won during the war did much to win people over to the anti-war cause.

What was some of the military tactics?

What were the mental effects on the military?

Psychological Effects:

PTSD is a development of characteristic symptoms following a psychologically distressing event.  "It begins with an event in which the individual is threatened with his or her own death or the destruction of a body part, to such humiliation that their personal identity may be lost. Vietnam veterans who experience PTSD have a feeling of helplessness, worthlessness, dejection, anger, depression, insomnia, and a tendency to react to tense situations by using survival tactics.  Combat experience remains the variable most often linked to PTSD among Vietnam veterans.  The frequency of PTSD was a lot higher among those with high levels of exposure to combat compared to the noncombatants.  PTSD was not taken seriously until the 1980's when many Vietnam veterans were complaining of similar symptoms.  These symptoms had been noticed after previous wars but there were only a couple of cases.  In some cases, veterans did not experience their symptoms until a year after they returned.  Thus, it was very easy for the government to ignore the effects of PTSD because it had such a delayed reaction.

Drugs and alcohol played a major role in the lives of the American soldiers during the Vietnam war.  In the beginning of the war, marijuana was the main drug of choice.  However, news that American soldiers were using drugs came back to the U.S., which resulted in immediate action by the military to suppress drugs, especially marijuana.  After marijuana was banned, many soldiers turned to heroin in order to get their "high".  Many soldiers enjoyed heroin better than marijuana because it sped up the perception of time, whereas marijuana slowed it down.  Because marijuana, heroin, and alcohol were so abundant and inexpensive in Vietnam, veterans used them to ease the stress and sometimes to forget what they saw on the battlefield.  As they returned to the states, drugs were not as easy to obtain.  Some of the veterans were too young to legally buy alcohol.  Other veterans actually stopped using drugs and alcohol, because it was hurting their marriage or relationships with others.  These were usually the men who had left a stable home and were a little older.  However, those young men who came back between the age of 19 and 23 had a much harder time adjusting to society.  One of the tragic effects of the Vietnam drug situation was that some men were refused employment because they had served in Vietnam and employers considered this evidence of drug addiction.  Since veterans had many problems adjusting to society, some continued to drink alcohol and do drugs not only to forget what they saw in Vietnam but to cope with the frustration and anguish of not being accepted into society.

The media had an immense effect on many individuals during the war.  The public were informed about the war's progress through the media, television, and newspapers.  Consequently, much of their opinions and beliefs about war and American soldiers were shaped by how the media viewed the war.  Photographers were very influential in forming, changing, and molding public opinion.  Some photographers were interested in showing the suffering and anguish of the soldier, whereas others wanted to emphasize the dignity, strength, and fearlessness of the American soldier.  Those at home had no experience of how the soldier lived or what he had to deal with during the war.  The media built up a stereotype of the soldier's life.  These stereotypes are formed, directed, and censored for military and political reasons, which were designed to build up morale at home or show that there was progression and production of the war.  When the soldier returned home, he was confused and annoyed to have seen that his family and friends did not understand what he had experienced and how he had changed.  What the people at home had learned and discovered about the war, they had seen mostly through the media.  Thus, whatever the media portrayed was what the public believed, but this didn't necessarily agree with what the soldier actually experienced.  Psychologists found that it was important not only to prepare the veteran for the necessary process of adjustment, but it was also important to prepare the people at home. They have to learn through the media, that the man whom they await will be somebody different from what they imagined him to be. In order to have facilitated the process of re-adjustment for the veteran, the public should have been told the truth as to what these men endured.

How did the War end?

The U.S combat troops left Vietnam as part of the Paris Peace Accords in March 1973, on the 29th.The U.S. could not stand the constantly increasing loss of American lives and the economic burden the war carried on its people and was eventually forced to leave Vietnam before the war ended. Without its direct support, South Vietnam surrendered to the North Communists and disappeared from the world map not long later. On April 30, 1975, as acting President General Duong Van Minh and his cabinet surrendered to the Communist forces unconditionally in the Independence Palace, Saigon, the Vietnam War which had lasted for nearly 20 years eventually came to an end. Objectively, North Vietnam – the communists – who achieved their goals of reuniting and gaining independence for the whole Vietnam won the war whereas South Vietnam under the U.S. support lost the war. The fact is the U.S. failed to stop the spread of Communism throughout Vietnam which led to its spread to Laos and Cambodia in 1975. However, it is arguable that the effects of the war in Korea and Vietnam that the U.S. had involved in did help the rest of South-East Asian countries such as communism. In short, in the picture of Vietnam, the U.S. failed to defend South Vietnam against the North Communists and probably lost the war politically rather than militarily as Vietnam was far from the war of major battles. In the bigger picture of containment, the U.S. did achieve their initial goals to a certain extent. It is noticeable that every party participated in the war suffered heavy losses. North Vietnam suffered approximately 1.1 million military deaths while South Vietnam had around 230,000, together with an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians’ deaths on both sides. As for the U.S., around 58,000 American forces were killed in action while more than 2,000 went missing during the war. The adverse effects of the war were even felt in the U.S. Some $140 billion (equivalent to around $950 billion in 2011 dollars) were spent. Its role and support for South Vietnam in the war carried a heavy burden on the country’s human and economic resources. Moreover, there were massive countrywide protests against the war wherein a few students lost their lives… At the end of the day, these losses, together with many war crimes such as massacres, rapes make one wonder if the war was worth fighting

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Article Title: Vietnam War Timeline

Author:  History.com Editors

Website Name: HISTORY

URL: https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-timeline

Access Date: 8 June 2019

Publisher: A&E Television Networks

Last Updated: February 22,2019

Original Published Date: September 13,2017

Website Name: History Net

URL: https://www.historynet.com/vietnam-war

Publisher : World History Group

Last Updated : April 2019

Article Title : U.S. Involvement in The Vietnam War : The Tet Offensive,1968

Website Name : Office Of The Historian

URL: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/tet

Article Title: Who Won The Vietnam War?
Author: Alan Rohn
Website Name: Vietnam War
URL: https://thevietnamwar.info/who-won-the-vietnam-war/
Access Date: 20 June 2019
Publish Date: Nov 28 2012
Last Updated: June 4 2014

UNIT 12 : Reflective SINGING Blog 3

SONG DEVELOPMENT : 'DEAD END'/'LET THE SUNSHINE IN'

Vocally I feel like “ Dead End” is our strongest vocal performance, although its not as demanding as the others we still need to represent the frustration and alienation the tribe would be feeling and we have to show that in our facial expressions and the way we deliver the lines. Some feedback was to make sure we got to the end of each line and emphasised the last word of each line because it means something to the tribe and audience needs to feel and understand that. Originally in the musical the song is performed by the black cast members only and this implicates the black segregation and inequality in the late 60's that 'HAIR' wanted to touch on. I feel like our harmonies are strong, one thing we did change was the lower line, which I am apart of. In order to sing ' Dead end, deaaaaaaad, dead!' we had to cut the line before which was ' No parking..' this was so we had a chance to breathe and fit in the beginning of our harmony line.


Let The Sunshine In:

Click Here To View The Film Version of This song!

Click Here to see the Musical Version!

Above is our final performance version! (just a snippet)

Dynamically I think our performance shares similarities with the musical version. For example their blocking, we stand spaced out on the stage looking out to the audience, legs shoulder width apart and sing out as do they. I do believe our vocals sounded much better than theirs and it is a very vocally demanding song so we did our best to project and articulate whilst implementing emotion and a sense of lost. Initially, like all the other songs I sing on the lower harmony line, but my singing lecturer needed wait on the soprano line and although I am not really comfortable with that high pitched range, he said that I am good at belting out a note. So it was my job to then take that on board an practice with Ruth (the other girl on that harmony line) and ensure my intonation was correct and that I was projecting and not screeching.

UNIT 12 : Reflective SINGING Blog 2

Independent Development and Characterisation of 'Air'

The three of us were really excited to have a song to ourselves. Before this rehearsal we watched videos of how other people who have performed this song in a musical played this.

The song was very easy to learn, lyrically, because it was only a small section of the original - just like a nursery rhyme. With that being said it gave us a chance to incorporate our own harmonies and movement and characters. Evidently this song is the introduction to our scene and our characters, so it gives the audience some insight on the type of girls we are. The lyrics are very sarcastic so the way we perform it is very confident because we are very attention seeking girls however the underlying more serious problem is the fact that we are singing about how the war is effecting us. Further on in the rehearsal process some feedback was that as a group we do need to project and articulate our words even more because we won't have any mics so we will need to vocally project. Our movement was also changed by our choreographer so that we could implement the gas masks we would be using during the song.

UNIT 12 : Reflective SINGING Blog 1

                                                   DEVELOPMENT OF 'AIN'T GOT NO'

Throughout the rehearsal process, our group struggled severely with successfully delivering the song 'Ain't Got No'. I feel like this was because we didn't understand the context of the song and the frustration embedded in the lyrics and it was also a song where every one was responsible for their own line so it would really bring light to those to are going home and doing the extra rehearsal that is needed in preparation for the next rehearsal session and who is not. To be fair the song is very different and something as a class we haven't looked at before. In the link below you can see we were short casted as auditions to higher education drama schools were still ongoing and we were also very under rehearsed it is highly cringe to watch because we don't know our lines and we are not performing as a company or delivery at the higher level that second year students should be.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR REHEARSAL...

In the second clip below you see our acting lecturer Justin trying to help us with our characterisation and understand of the song because we were just singing the song meaninglessly. We lacked authenticity, we needed to really display the frustration and alienation we felt as a tribe and think about our motivation and responses. The only way we can resolve this problem is by knowing the words off book because then we can focus more on characterisation and it can stop sounding broken apart.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE SECOND SHORT CLIP

UNIT 12 : Reflective DANCING Blog 3

Learning the routine to 'HAIR' and Problem Solving

I think hair is one of the best numbers, physically, in the production. What the audience would have just seen before this song would be 'Margaret Mead' a older lady from the older generation, questioning hippie values and why they wear the hair so long. I think this dance represents how the tribe supports 'Claude' and works together as a company. My favourite part of this choreography is when we are repeating the chorus, we stand in three lines and do a little sequence of movement and tag the next line in, it looks very effective. I think that we do need to relook how we end the peace because after that movement and we are singing and holding our last note it looks very congested when getting in and staying in our final positions. Another issue that occurred a few times was the lift. I think that some people thought that there were enough people to lift Blaize but what they failed to understand is that each person had been designated a body part to be responsible for, so if that body part is not held and is left open the whole lift can be a disaster because the weight is uneven and Blaize will not feel safe. As a cast if we want to be able to be abstract and creative and successfully implement these types of moves in our performance we have to ensure we trust each other and we take our time to avoid any accidents. The aim is to successfully lift him and to successfully lower him to the ground without rushing things. I also feel like those who lifted Blaize rushed to get to the next piece of movement which is not wise because if the lift did take time and overlapped into the next movement, we could jus rearrange some of the choreography so that that wouldn't be the case. How we solved this problem was blocking where we would be standing after the lift, we also timed how long it would take for all of us to lift him. When we did this it was easier to lower him and swiftly move in to our blocked positions and continue with the routine.

UNIT 12 : Reflective ACTING Blog 3

1:1 Feedback From Justin 

In a one to one feedback with my acting lecturer, Justin, we discussed my progression within my roles in the production. My three main roles were, 'Dionne' ; 'Principle Three' and the Temptress - which is basically the Dionne character. He said that I have successfully developed my Dionne character and made effective acting choices. Some critique was that I was struggling to find authenticity in my Principle character and my temptress character which I agreed with completely. I felt like I had rehearsed the principle scene in one way and then continued to do it the same way with no progression in character development. Although the principle has lines there's also moments of the principle not talking which is similar to the temptress because the temptress has no lines that the audience can hear so it's just being present in the scene and being more representational rather than presentational. From the moment I enter the stage my presence must warrant authority, I must use facial expressions and small gestures. For example with the drop of a pencil my head should turn fiercely and sharply directed at the pencil that dropped. I feel like my approach to the principles tone of voice was all wrong as well, I sounded too much like myself with a hint of an American accent in there. Independently this was my problem to solve, implementing theory into practice I know that this scene implicates that the principles are like dictators, more specifically Hitler. So with my own knowledge and interpretation I believe that a dictator would talk more calmly and slower but eerie because it gives them a chance to intimidate their students and carefully observe every aspect of the student. Regarding the temptress role I just think to improve this character I had to take my time a little more, walk and a slower pace yet over physicalise and sexualise each step, which would just require rehearsing more with 'Hubert' (Remel). 

UNIT 12 : Evaluation of Rehearsal & Performance Process

I feel like the most successful moment within my performance as an individual, was the girls scene, where I played the character ‘Dionne’ alongside  Felicia as ‘Crissy’ and Erin as ‘Jeanie’. The reason why I felt this scene was so successful was because of my efforts in to my character development and creating depth to my character and the scene. I understood my characters purpose in the production and what motivates her and how she responds to the other girls. I understood that the reason for the introduction to the girls but more specifically ‘Jeanie’ was to implement context to aid the audience’s understanding of the relationship dynamics within the play and set up for later encounters. For example we later would understand that ‘Jeanie’ is obsessed with ‘Claude’ but Claude loves ‘Sheila’ but Sheila is in love with ‘Berger’ - Claude’s best friend at that! Additionally I had effective blocking which allowed me to make my own acting choices, which I found helped convey to the audience the dynamics of the friendship between the two girls, Crissy and Dionne are much closer as they tease Jeanie about her obsessive crush on Claude and they are able to share that with the audience and help the audience to feel more included in the secret shenanigans behind Jeanie’s back. I also felt that because I knew my lines off book very quickly I was able to explore the scene in various ways, each time would be different however it worked because I felt it was more authentic that way because I didn’t have to think of the lines and anticipate what was coming next, I just embodied the character and stuck with it.

Vocally, I was proud of myself for pushing through my lower harmony in the number “ I Got Life”. The song is very silly and playful and often changes pace and vocal range as well as the moment. What I was anxious about was that because there was only three girls on that harmony line, I felt like we may be overpowered by the rest of the cast and our harmonies. It is a quick vocal adjustment, but I felt like I achieved it because I cheated the line before and quickly took a deep breath in preparation for my harmony. Another reason why I was concerned about the delivery of this harmony was because I walk with my back faced to the audience until I get to my next blocked position, so I have to work harder to ensure I project and articulate my line and harmony so that the sound is clear to the audience and the rest of the cast because it could potentially throw them off.

Physically I was very proud of the dance to “Electric Blues” - the opening number to Act 2. I remembered the characterisation I needed to portray throughout, although it challenged my endurance multiple times in rehearsals, I would particularly run out of breath by the second chorus which would make it really hard for me to finish the rest of the number, I think the energy and atmosphere of the show helped me to push through the number and make it look like as a tribe/cast - we do this all the time.

I believe the most successful aspects of our performance as an ensemble was again the routine to “Electric Blues” the movement was very challenging and physically demanding and I felt like we pulled together as a company to help encourage those who are not particularly as capable as others regarding picking up steps or muscle memory. In my opinion the dance looked very authentic because the energy and positivity was real, as a cast we made that decision to put in the work for extra rehearsal time and so it stopped becoming a challenge and became more fun to present as a unit. We all hugged as a tribe but also as a cast right before the number and it proved successful and watching the performance back, every thing was on point.

Vocally I feel like “ Dead End” was our strongest vocal performance, although its not as demanding as the others we still need to represent the frustration and alienation the tribe would be feeling and we have to show that in our facial expressions and the way we deliver the lines. Some feedback was to make sure we got to the end of each line and emphasised the last word of each line because it means something to the tribe and audience needs to feel and understand that. 

The Indians Vs Americans scene was the most memorable for me, ‘Hair’ is a psychedelic musical and  so it gives us a chance to take risks with our ideas, because it is a ‘trip’ experience, there were no limits to our creativity. So we took a very dramatic and stereotypical approach to portray these characters. For example the Indian’s created a call which informed the audience and the Americans of there presence before they entered the stage and then they used a rhythmical step and clap formation to approach the Americans and stayed true to the physicality of how we thought a tribal Indian would  act.

By including all three disciplines I can categorically say the most challenging aspect of our performance was the opening number “Aquarius”. I say this because as an ensemble we continued to get the same feedback which was a problem because it meant we weren’t absorbing the feedback and weren’t understanding the context of the song and the production entirely. Vocally I feel like we struggled to understand the style in which we should sing the song and this effected our dancing. We needed to find a balance of projection, articulation and characterisation. When instructed to be louder and more clear we were almost shouting, which drained our energy and then when we were told to take more of a slower and smooth approach we kept at that same level through the song, there was no vocal dynamic and no clear change in the story. Physically the movement side of things was great, it looked really good when everyone was doing the same thing we just needed to keep rehearsing because we changed some of the choreography the day before our show due to spacing, we needed to ensure we were all doing the same thing at the same time even though we were in duets, we were still performing in unison. We needed to remember our characterisation right from the beginning to the end of the song, our aim was to take the audience on our psychedelic journey as well and deeply engage them into our performance. We lacked characterisation and I think this was due to the lack of knowledge of the songs meaning. We needed to be more representational and show he audience of our amazement and sense of wonder of this new era where we were free to explore our sexuality and drugs and a time to emerge from societal evils such as racism and war and just be happy to be ourselves. We needed to keep this mindset throughout the number but this meant trusting our partners and feeling comfortable enough to portray this more sexual style of movement.
For me, I think I contributed a lot to the rehearsal process and development of the performance. Due to the class feeling under rehearsed after doing the first stagger run of the performance, it was my idea to arrange for the class to come together twice in the half term holidays for extra rehearsal time so that when we return we won't be behind schedule. I also helped 'Claude' (Blaize) and 'Jeanie' (Erin) with there duologue. They felt that they weren't making any progression with their scene or development in their characters. On the outside looking in I felt that the relationship was not three dimensional so the meaning would be lost. In my opinion Erin was holding back and she had a lot of time to be more comical with her obsession with Claude before she gets more serious and enquires about his draft card. My advice was to try out an exercise me and Blaize had actually previously learnt in first year when doing duologues which was to just improvise a conversation and when you feel ready just incorporate your lines into the conversation. This is effective because it helps create a build up and a rise of energy in the scene. I also took the position of Jeanie to present to Erin my interpretation on how the scene would go.
As this has been my first musical I feel like I was very naïve to the amount of time and energy that would be needed to make this production to what it came to be. I felt that the reason why the development of some characters and scenes were slow to progress was because we lacked depth and knowledge. We underestimated how much research we would need and how useful it would be to our character development. A skill I've learnt is how to just be in the scene, playing someone in the tribe taught me to not over act and just show that I am dedicated to my character throughout and I am completely entranced into the scene. All together I would say my target for future development would be to take much more risks and make more acting choices. I feel like this will help me progress as an actress because it will open opportunities for me because I'll be able to tackle various roles whilst also finding myself an my own style as a actress.
I feel like I communicated my ideas to the audience because when playing my main character Dionne I formed a persona for her with the way I portrayed her in the girls seen. So I felt that she was a very sassy and sexually confident person, I tried to subtly demonstrate to the audience her appeal to 'Hubert' ( Margaret Mead's husband) by making eye contact and small gestures up until I made a move. When I got dropped because Margaret caught us my response or rather Dionne's response was to laugh about it with the rest of the tribe, because that's how playful they are and with Margaret and Hubert being apart of the older generation the tribe has fun with their intrigue in their hippie culture. In addition it also showed Dionne's relationship with the tribe and how well they know her.

UNIT 12 : Reflective ACTING Blog 2

Character Development : The Three Principles

The video above is one of the first initial rehearsal runs of ACT ONE. In this production I have three completely different characters to portray, Dionne; a Principal and a Temptress, For me, I have really struggled with the development of my Principal character and the Temptress character also. Of my own judgement I've found that I haven't under rehearsed the scenes, I've just rehearsed it one way and sort of stuck with it the same way. I feel like I want to explore these characters more but I just haven't found what works for me. For example, implementing theory into practical rehearsal and using my own knowledge I know that teachers in the 1960's were very hostile and disciplinary. I thought I was introducing some mannerisms into my principle character but it still didn't feel authentic, my intonation was the same and the whole seen for me just felt of a lower level than I am training at. To solve this problem, independently I am going to explore my Principal character in further depth and even if there is a moment where I don't speak I want the audience to be aware by my presence and the atmosphere of my authority as a principal. In addition the three of us all simultaneously share the line "THIS - is World War Three!", this line will only be effective if it is delivered correctly, meaning we need to articulate our words and project or the audience will miss the underlying message in the line that there is NO third world war. I can also sense the hesitation with all of us of when to say the line because there is no cue point and we are facing the audience not each other so the line starts off more unsure and quiet and then sounds more confident once we realised we are now saying it. 

Independently the three of us formed a WhatsApp group chat so we could address problems, send videos of our rehearsals and share details regarding our personal performance. The picture above shows myself and Felicia discussing how we plan to approach the aforementioned dilemma.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE OUR UPDATED REHEARSAL OF THIS SCENE!

As you can see in the updated video rehearsal log, we did incorporate the new cues to our scene which worked effectively and we were able to all say the line in unison. However I still feel like my principal character is still rather plain and I have alot of time to enhance my characterisation.I feel like I'm delivering the lines of the principal but still appearing as myself. I think I am going to ask my peers to watch my scene and give constructive feedback so that I can utilise my skill as an actress and show that I am capable of playing the role and taking direction.

UNIT 12 : Reflective DANCING Blog 2

Learning the choreography to 'Electric Blues'.

'Electric Blues' is the opening number to ACT 2, so like 'Aquarius' the routine has to be very stylised and exciting as 'Hair' is. The difference between the two opening numbers is that 'Aquarius ' is about the sense of a beginning, an up rise of a new era and a time to discover yourself whereas 'Electric Blues' is almost like the result of Aquarius, we have all found ourselves and know our places and feel we are one as a tribe. The movement to 'Electric Blues' is very fast pace and challenging. We were given the option to not do the movement if we did not want to, but because I wanted to challenge myself and heighten my ability in dance I chose to be apart of the routine. Visually I feel like I was a bit nervous and felt a slight pressure to get the movement right because I am in the first line and I felt that I needed to prove my capability so it would get me further opportunities to showcase myself. I don't think I was unsure of the movement but I was anticipating the next move too much which took my focus more and so I failed to use characterisation and facial expressions. To improve I think I need to emphasis the physicality of the movement more because although it is a fast routine, the movements still need to be sharp so it is visually pleasing. The number is vocally dynamic, so I find that by the time I get to the chorus, I’ve ran out of breathe and it is harder to push through. How I plan to help myself so that this does not happen in the performance is to grasp and control my breathe when there is a pause in the music. For example “ It’s - What’s - Happening- Baby (Pause)..” By doing this I will be able to regain my energy and breathe control to continue the rest of the number to my best standard.

Manchester England

The Manchester England routine is a short number, we've been told that it is our strongest number overall but in my opinion the duets at the beginning of the routine need tightening. There is hesitance and confusion about cues and when to do the next piece of movement so all the couples are not exactly doing the same thing at the same time. I also think when we are moving back stage we need to remember the direction we are travelling to because although we are portraying hippies and they have a very lackadaisical and flimsy vibe it will still look nicer if it appeared more organised rather than a huge group of people waving their arms around.I think after the lift we work really well as a unison, using levels when pointing to 'Claude' also looks really effective.

UNIT 12 : Reflective ACTING Blog 1

THE GIRLS SCENE [ JEANIE,DIONNE&CRISSY] - CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Click This Link To See Our Initial Run Through Of The Girls Scene

In the video above you can tell this is one of the first times we were going through our scene. This video doesn't represent us well as actors that have been training in this UAL course for two years. What is different about this scene is that it is much shorter compared to how we have adjusted it now to this present day because we literally followed the script word for word. The scene looked quite boring to watch to be honest. There was no effective blocking or any authenticity within any of the girls characters, we also weren't picking up lines quick enough so the scene was not consistent. We didn't have much confidence and weren't making big enough acting choices that would further develop the scene - at the time we did improvise a small acting choice where 'Chrissy' and 'Dionne' simultaneously looked at each other in disbelief to how their friend 'Jeanie' was acting. However we lacked emotional connection between our characters, so their was no real change in the tone of our voices which means we didn't consider a change of thought process. 

In this second video you can see evidence of progression within the scenes dynamics and character development. We began to explore the scene more and understand how our individual characters acted alone and as a group. In my opinion I liked how we created the idea of a closer relationship between 'Chrissy' (Felicia) and 'Dionne' (myself). It's more entertaining because the audience becomes more engaged and involved in the scene as it progresses and we begin to understand the formation of the group. Chrissy and Dionne mock Jeanie's obsession with Claude but coming to the end of the scene when Claude ignores Jeanie we see the other two girls do genuinely care about Jeanie's feelings. We still needed to pick up cues faster so the scene doesn't stop and the audience won't be taken out of the believe that the scene is real and the friendship is real. I feel like I'm still anticipating my lines which is why the scene doesn't feel authentic and flow as it should. How I plan to approach this problem is to stay engaged with who I am talking to because I already know my lines I should only be concerned about my characters motives - what are my characteristics and how do I respond. I need to absorb what is being directed to me so I can immediately respond and that should demonstrate my thought process to the audience. Also we have made strong acting choices which is more comical and different to the choices I've made in previous units, which were more serious and natural. The scene has potential we just need to exaggerate our movement much more, I think at times we look stiff and uncomfortable because unknowingly we are playing it safe because the context of the production is new to us, this type of acting is a bit more challenging to us. For example when Dionne and Crissy creep up behind Jeanie miming her, we could be more aware of our proxemics and not be so close to each other or the blocking looks a bit clumped. In addition we should look at how much we use our bodies, if we are creeping we need to emphasis the delicacy of that and implement the excitement and rush of the fear of being seen by Jeanie and for that we need to use our whole body. 

Click On This Link To See The Video Above!

The rehearsal video above is a week until our final show and I feel like I have made a lot of progress with my 'Dionne' character. I'm feeling more comfortable and taking more risks, my blocking is more effective and I am making person acting choices. One thing I would like to improve is timing when I pick up 'Crissy' I feel like it would be more effective it I paused in my struggle to carry her and then drop her once I've been caught, I think I dropped her too fast and it appeared rushed. I am very confident with this scene and still feel like it can be improved and the energy can be heightened even more. We did some problem solving in this rehearsal as we discussed where our gas masks props would be placed on stage and how would we get them because we can't come off stage.We decided that when we come on stage at the start of the show to do the protest scene we would bring on the props and place them on stage and then after the number "Dead End" and the following explosion we will pick it up and perform the song "air" and then do our scene. However this could change in the dress rehearsal.

UNIT 12: Action Plan

UNIT 12 : Reflective DANCING Blog 1

Learning the choreography to Aquarius.

This video is one of the first rehearsal recordings of the opening number to our production, 'Aquarius'. I had missed the first session when this choreography was being taught, therefore independently I asked members from the class to teach me what they had learnt so far, in order to be a bit prepared for the next session and so that I would not be holding my class back because we had little time to learn this number. As the choreography was being taught I got very excited because I haven't been apart of a musical production in first year or second year and I also felt like we hadn't done something extremely dance demanding since the performance of 'Chorus line' in Unit 8. Although the duets are a bit intimate, I understand the culture of the play 'HAIR', so I understand why the movement is slightly sexualised. In my opinion the movement that was challenging for myself and my partner was that my partner had to lay on top of me and as he rolls over onto his back I must follow in the same motion and land on top of him on my back. What I found difficult was I couldn't transfer my weight on top of him in time to stand up and restart the chorus. A substantial part of this unit is to problem solve, identify practical, theoretical and technical problems in the production and devise and construct a solution to resolve the problem. My plan to solve this problem would be to independently rehearse this section with my partner including transitioning into the next steps. My partner should hold my waist as we turn on our backs so that I would not have to quickly shift on top of him and make the duet look unattractive to the audience because it would be noticeable.

UNIT 12: Discussion of The Roles of The Principles

Discussion of The Roles of The Principles



In the images and links below, myself and Felicia constructed a fairly detailed mind map across two boards, to present our understanding of the meaning of the scene, the role we play and how it contributes to the themes of the production. Unfortunately, as the video was quite long it was difficult for me to upload. So I have created a YouTube link for viewing purposes.The video has been shortened but I will explain the parts missing.

The first picture above is some key dialogue we felt was important to the scene. The board also includes the props we plan to use and symbolic actions we have implemented into our characters and the scene.

"This is your principal"
...

"Mr Brain..."
...

"Washer"

The lines above are shared between the three principals. What I didn't realise when reading through the lines was that they linked to form the phrase 'Brain Washer'. This pun was intended to indicate that principals in schools in that era were highly influential and controlling that they were basically brain washing the children into following their believes and ways of live.

CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE DISCUSSION PART 1!!!

This second board focuses on what I felt was an epiphany to me in the script - World War Three. Because as I went on to explain it I realised there is no World War Three! So it was used to be a metaphor.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE SECOND DISCUSSION!!!