“Like I’ve Sailed Into The Eye Of The Storm”: Getting to the Finish
Hell0 there!
Big news… I’ve finished my musical! I finished all the scenes and sent it to Breona. She had a few suggestions to enhance the script in terms of word choice like for example adding a Shakespearean word where there wasn’t one. Overall though, she said the plot and writing were pretty great! I’m very happy to be done, and I think the show is going to be tons of fun. The name of the show is “Back to the Theater” which is a pun on “Back to the Future.” Fun fact: did you know that the debut actor for the main character of the “Back to the Future” musical was from Chandler, AZ? Ok, that wasn’t the most relevant, but I think it’s a cool fact.
Writing the scene where every character comes together after a rip in the space time continuum was very fun; and it’s hilarious that a piece of pizza caused it all (if you come to the read-through, you’ll see how). I loved including the song “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen, it’s a classic and it was so fun to divide between the characters. The very end was very fun to write as well; it just felt so satisfying to tie the show all together with a reprise of the first song. As I wrote the final scenes, I felt like I had more on a grasp of the line structure and flow of each scene. I learned how to make a scene feel full without adding too much fluff. For me, writing the end may have been the best part of the process.
This week, my focus will be on creating three sections for the script. One will be a director’s section with tips and tricks on how one can direct this show. Another will be a character breakdown section where each character will be given a small description, so the kids can visualize their personalities. The third will be a vocab section which will define any words that the kids may not know the definition too. I will also be reading up some material on the effect of theater on kids to make this process even better.
I am currently also recruiting kids for the read-through! Mrs.Nelson sent out some messages to some candidates. Ideally, there would be 14 kids for the read-through, the 4 main characters and the rest of the kids taking on two roles each for the time period characters. But who knows, we may have more, we may have less. The read-through will be rehearsed for 5 days, and it will be performed on Friday, May 16; one day before presentations!
We also wrapped up Matilda Jr. this week! It was a bittersweet moment, but it was exciting to take on the role of a teacher in this show. Some scenes I did didn’t go as well as I would have liked, but the ones that went really well made me incredibly happy. All the students had incredibly challenging choreography to learn as the musical is very kid-bases, but they took it on like absolute champs. Matilda as a show is very powerful as it reminds kids that just because they’re little doesn’t mean that they have to be overshadowed, and I think that it’s a great message to teach young actors. The scene where all the kids spell words wrong on purpose to go against Miss Trunchbull is one of my favorites; especially as the character of Miss Honey heals her inner child as these kids find their own voices.
Although it feels that I’ve reached the end, this home stretch could be the toughest part of all. It’s why I reference a lyric from the song “Quiet” from Matilda in my title; it’s not over yet, and I have to really work for it now. But it is going to be very exciting, and I can’t wait to give more details on when you guys can witness the final project in action.
Take 7 days until the last post.
Photo credits: Katherine Viboolmate
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