Balancing life and training

Since I last wrote I’ve been super busy trying to organise myself and get things together for September when I will finally be going to Drama school. I’ve received brilliant news that I have been awarded a DADA (full scholarship for those who don’t know what that is) which will cover my entire tuition fees and half my rent for the full 3 years; meanwhile, I’ve been working 45 hours a week trying to earn the other half of my rent in addition to rehearsals for our final performance and assessments and searching for somewhere to live. Admist all this I’m expected to retain some form of a social life amongst friends and honestly I’m just not finding the time!

I have a fabulous job at the Blackpool tower dungeons working as a “rogue” performing in all the shows. It’s brilliant to be working as an actor for the first time but when the shows can run up to every 7.5mins for 8 hours a day in peak times it can be incredibly draining especially when I then have to travel 90minutes and complete a class. Achieving anything other than a good nights sleep is last on my list by the time I’ve finally completed all the exercises and research that progress demands. Finding time for myself to simply breathe and be is proving more and more difficult which only adds to the anxieties that drama school could end up just like college. Constantly performing and training will no doubt improve and expand my skillset but experience has proven that a healthy mind taking a break is far more effective than the obsessive mind that doesn’t stop.

Over the next few weeks I finally have some free time during which I have vowed to take a breath, visit friends and work on projects other than my career (e.g this blog). Important things will get done one at a time and I won’t be worrying about the next till the prior is completed. Anxieties build up to easy when we don’t find time to forget!

The past 3 years have been focussed solely on one goal, a goal I’ve achieved (4 times over), exceeded and will be seeing through at long last. Whilst I’m usually an advocate of the “never stop learning” method there are ways to learn other than a book or a rehearsal studio. An exhausted emotionally drained performer never did any good to anyone so it’s time I celebrated my attainments and reminded myself (and all of you) to breathe!

REVIEW| Legally Blonde @ Leicester Curve

A childhood favourite, I was so excited to finally catch a professional production of this musical over the weekend. 

The musical remaking of the 2001 Reece Whitherspoon film tells the story of the stereotypically “blonde” Elle Woods on her journey of self-discovery whilst stalking ex-boyfriend Warner to the Ivy League Harvard Law school. Over 2 hours we watch Elle winning her first big case and bagging herself a better man all before graduation. With music and lyrics by Laurence O’keefe and Nell Benjamin and a hysterical book by Heather Hach the best thing about this show remained the “positive” feel-good tunes and pink humour- there are no bad songs in this show.

Directed by the usually genius Nikolai Foster, the curves production fell short of my (admittedly high) expectations. Individual performances were strong and scenes transitioned seamlessly into the next however ensemble numbers felt unpolished and messy. Danny Mac as Warner Hunnignton III was brilliantly arrogant as the role demands equally matched to his strong, independent law school girlfriend Vivienne played by the sublime Phoebe Street. Jon Robyns  also impressed as dorky Emmett but the stand out performance was given by leading lady Lucie Jones as Elle Woods. With stellar vocals and an honest, heart-wrenchingly naive and lovable performance I was left completely flabbergasted by critics who repeatedly criticised her (un)apparent lack of depth in the role – my only gripe was that she be more aware of her wig blocking the audience from seeing more of her fantastic performance.

Lucie Jones and Danny Mac were fantastic in their roles of Elle and Warner.

The less exciting aspects of the production included the simple and lurid pink set; although it may be Elle’s favourite colour it did little for the production except give the audience a mild headache. Equally I was not a fan of the Bollywood themed Spring break re-write in “what you want” which may have served the cast but felt out of place in a well known piece. Nick Winston’s choreography was strong in parts but lacked a level of difficulty making it feel tired and lacking energy (even for a Saturday matinee) however I suspect this was also due in part to the lack of attack in the performance given by the ensemble in the larger numbers where they were not always in sync.
Overall a suitably pink and fuzzy production; you’ll leave feeling generously uplifted after a hard days work. It’s a highly enjoyable night out for the family however I wouldn’t expect to see much more of this production following its close on 14th May. The fluffy feminism just fell too dated compared to the more substantial and emotive pieces that are currently dominating theatre land.

Legally Blonde the Musical plays at the Leicester Curve theatre till 14 May 2016. More information and tickets can be found at the Curve’s website: http://www.curveonline.co.uk

Being kind to yourself.

The past couple of months I’ve been in a rut hence my blogging absence and before I fully return I find myself wanting and needing to relay an important message not only to my readers (if you’re still here!) but also to myself.

Following ALRA I failed to get so much as a second look at the 2 other schools I auditioned which combined with a less than pleasant run in with some old class “mates” resulted in cutting my season short. I’ve never been one to be defeated by rejection but following my last audition everything seemed to collapse in. There are those who will make no attempt at covering their feelings of superiority and for the first time I really began to question if they were right – I mean it’s taken me 3 years to get a second look and they got in first time, could it simply be that I wasn’t good enough?

I’ve tormented myself this past couple of months believing in unconstructive notions that are simply not true. I train incredibly hard and have brilliant teachers to point me in the right direction. Where drama school is concerned, there are a whole number of factors that come in to play; some cohorts were in favour with the right people at the right time, some had the right look, some happened to have the right panel watching, Some are male (around 14 females to 1 male auditions for drama school places), some are actually studying a different medium, some went to schools I’ve never auditioned for, some have a clear niche that a school has picked up on – the list could go on forever. None of them are unattainably better or worse performers than myself nor are they guaranteed a more successful career because they trained two years earlier than myself; in truth, I suspect many will have a very trying time out in the industry where entitled attitudes and lack of resilience simply won’t stand. I have skills of importance that they haven’t developed equal to the skills that I am yet to delevop and the same is true for every performer at any level of their career. No-one has the right to make you feel inferior – especially not you.

A true lapse in confidence is one of the worse things an actor can go through. I’m a big believer that you should only pursue a career in the performing arts if you hand-on-heart couldn’t possibly live doing ANY other job. With that said it’s a crushing thought to think that there are variables beyond your control that could result in a future where you don’t get to perform. It becomes all too easy to fall into the trap of  questioning and comparing yourself to others and when these thoughts take root in your mind they can block and warp  the most basic of rules that we all know; believe in yourself. Losing sight of your self is truly disheartening and having others mocking you will always cause some degree of upset but you can only feel subordinate if you allow yourself to do so. The most vital and difficult skill a performer can have; a precarious balance of humility and confidence. Know that you can always improve, you are not above any of your fellow performers but realise that you have a skill that is special and unique to only you. It’s a skill I’m far from mastering yet find myself urging others to practice.

It is part of the job to be scrutinitised and criticised on our looks, our work and our lives in this industry. Often, at amateur levels this is misconstrued to mean that we must all tear each other shreds for the chance to further our careers. This one-up mentality can be carried into training and manifests itself in unhealthy bitching and self-depreciation – the latter of which can have a hugely negative effect on the progression of both ourselves and others and the decisions we make. We will face enough adversity in this career without dragging ourselves down. If we don’t set the example we cannot expect others to treat us better than we treat ourself nor can you expect support from those you belittle. Vindictive, defeatist and antagonising behaviour is easily spread so learn some humility but most of all be kind to yourself.

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts – Audition 2016

This will be quick (she says to herself every blog post) as I’m reluctant to give too much personal input on the day due to my bias as a foundation student.

Straight away I will share with you this – I got in!

Now for the day….

I auditioned at the north campus where I’m currently studying on the foundation. The campus is about a 5 minute walk from the station and relatively straightforward but as with south campus – it’s the actual getting in that’s the hard part. Even with a fob to the building it took me about 20 minutes to find out where we were (upstairs in the front building by Domino’s). Having been rescued by some of the second years I was taken up to the television studio where we were led in a short warm-up designed to loosen us up before meeting the panellists.

Following this we were taken over to the main ALRA building as the group was quite a bit larger than expected. Here we were taken through a second physical warm-up with one of the movement teachers which included spinal rolls and a lot of arm swinging and noise making. Finally we were split into our 2 panel groups and separated to perform our contemporary monologues.

At ALRA contemporary monologues are performed in front of the whole audition group then the panels are switched over and each candidate goes in one by one to perform their classical monologues. This really shows how adaptable you are as a performer and how you deal with the different types of pressure. In both sections the panel gave away nothing, in fact our classical panellists didn’t pass comment or question a single auditionee which can be quite daunting but it was comforting to know we were in it together.

After panel the staff deliberate and the first cut is made. This year the wait was relatively small although as a foundation class member I already I would be kept for the whole day as it is considered additional preparation as well as our audition. The first cut was relatively small and I’d say that at least half of us were kept for the second stage of the day which began with the movement workshop. Movement at ALRA is strongly based on yoga and fitness. The first part of the movement workshop we were asked to perform spinal rolls repeatedly for around 5 minutes. This is very telling of control and alignment. Next we used sound to affect our movement before performing an elemental piece during which we were stood up in groups of 3 and asked to represent the qualities of a waterfall turning in to a landslide.

The second stage of the recall was entirely different from past years. Instead of cold-reading a script for screen, candidates now go straight into an improvisation workshop. Personally improv is not a strong point for so my best advice here is to just take whatever they throw at you and go with it – don’t ever block an idea. The workshop included a warm-up exercise in which you picked a professional and their client and swapped roles continuously whilst maintaining the conversation. This resulted in some hilarious scenarios but the trick was including your partner and not falling into a conversation with yourself. Following this we were split in to groups of 6/7 and given a story to re-tell to the group. This was particularly difficult as everyone had different idea’s however I noticed that the people who progressed controlled with-out blocking the ideas that were flowing. In fact one girl who I felt had been particularly strong in panel and movement really did herself a disservice as all she did was block ideas and it didn’t pay off.

Finally the panel reconvened to discuss what they had seen and made the final cut. I was not kept for interview which initially shocked me having been told many times that I would 100% be kept for the whole day however I later discovered this was due to my place on the foundation – the panel decided they knew enough of me to offer me a place and sure enough 2 weeks later I received a call and e-mail offering me a place on the 3 year B.A Course at ALRA SOUTH!

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts- Audition (take 3)

Season 3 has officially began and once again we’re kicking things off with Mountview academy of theatre arts.

I’m currently sat in Euston’s caffe Nero trying to comprehend exactly what’s happened today as the ultimate decision has left me slightly baffled but I suppose I’ll get to that later. Let’s begin with how the day went.

I arrived perfectly on time having collected a gaggle of first timers I spotted at Wood Green station desperately searching for the ever elusive Morrissins that you must walk through to get to the school (seriously 4 auditions in and it still took me a minute, Mountview is not the easiest school to find). They were holding both acting and musical theatre auditions so the canteen holding area was pretty damn cramped for about half an hour until we were split in to our groups and sent for warm up.

The warm up itself was short and sweet, basic breathing exercises, shaking out the limbs, trills and a game of hep, hap, boing (zip zap boing but with 10 x the rules). Next we were split again and sent to either panel, movement and improv or the q&a section of the day. First up was the movement and improvisation workshops for my group. The movement workshop followed the exact same form that it has done in both of my previous acting auditions so I feel relatively confident that at least for the foreseeable future when doing this workshop you will be asked to the following; mould and be moulded exploring different materials (this year was putty, steel and brown paper), walk in neutral across the room, run at a wall (top tip: don’t smash into it and don’t slow down too early) and partake in an animal catwalk. The improv section also happened to take the same format as my first audition however I know the scenarios change from audition to audition so don’t expect this to always be the same. Our scenario was one of my absolute favourites, children and parents at a park. We were all numbered one or two, ones were given a card from a deck representing their relationship to their child with ace being “neglectful bordering on abuse” and the royals representing a parent who was “overbearingly loving and smothering – bordering on abuse“. The parents then partake in short q&a with the leader giving them a chance to build their backstory and the personality of their respective sons and daughters before we were sent to the “park”. We were given about fifteen minutes to create and live in the stories we’d discussed before we were stopped and the whole thing repeated in reverse (with ones being the child and twos the parent). These workshops have always been a highlight of audition season for me, I find them to be very enjoyable if you allow them to be and you really get to explore Mountview’s approach to the two topics. I’m confident that I performed strongly in this section and both tutors appeared to really observe, enjoy and interact with what I was doing.

Following the movement and improv workshop we broke for lunch. We were fortunate that the canteen was open all day during our audition as in previous years it has not and you don’t really have time to get food elsewhere – I strongly advise taking enough food to ensure you will be full for the whole day.

After lunch the groups swapped around, my group were split into 2 again with 10 of us sent to a q&a session and the other 10 to panel. The q&a was led by two past students covering topics on the school, living and finance. The boys leading our q&a told us a lot about their final year and how it prepared them for life after mountview which gave us a strong insight in to the type of actor mountview creates. They discussed all the different styles of performance from stage right down to dubbing video game sounds. As menial as it sounds there’s good money in these seemingly small jobs so it was nice to see that the school really prepares you to use your skills to create a sustainable career and lifestyle. Unfortunately the boy’s weren’t as clued up on finance which for myself wasn’t such a big deal as I’ve done all the research twenty times over however for those who are struggling to find the information or have specific questions they require answering I would recommend emailing the school as they have a fantastic finance officer who works really closely in ensuring all their students can afford a decent standard of living in addition to their course fee’s.

Finally we got to panel!

Mountview panel is pretty straightforward, you go in with about 10/12 candidates and perform to a senior acting tutor and a voice specialist. As we were so close to the end of the day we did a quick vocal warm up with Liz (our voice tutor). Normally I wouldn’t have taken note of anything important in this however being on a foundation and having done so many of the exercises in class before – it was clear to me that we were indeed being observed and marked on this second warm-up. Specifically, we did a number of diction and placement exercises (cunningly disguised as passing sounds around a circle) so get working on those t’s, d’s, p’s and b’s and research what is and how to speak “on voice”. Following this one by one we got up to perform our Shakespeare monologues and then we repeated the same order for our contemporaries. I will let you know now that the panel were lovely as always but eye-rolls were made for one candidate who performed romeo’s death speech whilst writhing around the floor as though someone had placed a venomous snake down his pants. Although he was not necessarily a bad actor I did feel the urge to whip out my I-pad and point towards my own, others and professional posts on what NOT to do in an audition speech. Although I can hardly speak as I made a rookie mistake in fluffing a line in my Shakespeare and I’m pretty sure that it showed as I definitely tensed up for a moment however I felt like my contemporary went well, I gave a strong performance and the panel seemed really engaged with my performance.

2 hours later we were split in to 3 groups and for the first time I wasn’t in the mountview rejections room (yay!) however I wasn’t in the recall room either…. Despite it being plastered all over my application and having mentioned it to a tutor that I am currently studying on an accredited schools foundation course, mountview decided to recall me for THEIR foundation course auditions.

Obviously something is better than nothing however in this case I feel that it was rather a strange outcome. I honestly cannot wrap my head around why they would offer a foundation student a foundation recall. I feel like my mistake in panel cost me dearly but otherwise I would be quite interested to read the feedback sheet they filled out throughout the day.

Drama School Costs: Is it really possible to work and train without detrimental effect?

A full-time BA course costs £9,000 per year min. here in the UK.

Drama school course’s can cost up to £14,000 per year. This excludes living cost’s which can stretch to more than £10,000 per year for students living in London.

Any readers who have been with me for a while will know that this September I began studying at ALRA on their part-time foundation course after having to reject place’s at 2 major oversea’s drama schools because I couldn’t afford to study without major financial backing. A question I have often been asked is why (given that I was originally a wait-listed candidate) I chose to study part-time rather on the more intensive full-time course and the simple answer, once again, is money.

At £7,000 for the year plus travel the full-time course was simply unaffordable. Opting for the part-time course has allowed me to work to save money for both this course and whatever follows – but not without causing detriment to my studies. Frustrating as it is working 2 jobs is necessary if I want to be able to further my training, unfortunately however, it eats into time which could be spent in class or at home working on my skills, monologues and audition technique. Working days and nights up to 6 times a week on minimum wage is exhausting but a better paid job comes with demands and commitments that an auditioning actor just can’t make and funding is few and far between. I’m stuck in a catch-22 and I’m not alone.

Prior to this year I was studying a HNC with a friend who is now in her first year of BA Acting at one of my top choice schools – Guildford School of Acting. GSA is situated in Surrey, for student finance purposes this would class applicants as studying “outside” of London prompting roughly a £2,000 drop in available student finance funding. However take a look at housing and accommodation price’s and you’ll find the cost of living is almost equal and compared to some London Burroughs; more. Fortunately, my friend had the foresight to account for this and throughout summer worked full-time hours to ensure that when she got drama school her training wouldn’t suffer – saving enough to cover a full years rent. Another friend, also studying at GSA, was fortunate enough to be granted the Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship allowing him to enter the industry without the pressure of the debts so many other students are to, although he must still work to cover the extortionate living costs.

With all this financial pressure students, increasingly, are seen taking up additional work to support themselves during their studies with tales of some Drama schools students attempting to work full-time hours in addition to their courses. Now for most students this is an inaugural step into adulthood however on a course with contact hours that double the average and strains both the physical and emotional limits of its students, can they truly be able to give 100%? Is it even feasible that a performing arts student can work enough hours to support themselves without additional funding? My guess is not. Now one may argue that this is the name of the game – out in the industry low and no paid work may find a performer working whilst performing – but can we justify preventing thousands of performers from having the chance to try? There is an abundance of scholarships for university fee’s but maybe it’s time we looked at what is really holding aspiring actors back and offered more support to those who can’t afford to live.

Review: Pomona @ The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Ollie is a girl, A girl whose sister is missing. Charlie is a security guard, what for? He doesn’t know. Fay was hurt but the police can’t help. One thing is sure; they are all shaped by whatever happens in the “hole” that is Pomona.

Pomona at the Royal Exchange, Manchester (Photo by Richard Davenport)

This dystopian drama is nothing if not gripping. Set in and around a derelict former dockland in the heart of Manchester, Pomona is an unnervingly gritty, urban piece of theatre. Coming to it’s home, the piece couldn’t have been better suited to the unforgiving space at the Royal Exchange following it’s stints at the Orange Tree and National Theatre London. Alistair McDowall’s looping narrative – whilst sometimes veering to the unnecessarily obscure – delivers a sublime balance of fantasy and reality, capturing the Mancunian nature to an absolute tee and never quite allowing the audience to calm. Combined with stellar sound and lighting effects (designed by Giles Thomas and Elliot Griggs respectively), the audience is completely immersed in the interwoven lives of the characters. The prolonged blackouts sporadically placed throughout the piece provided an incredible deprivation, heightening all other senses creating an almost terrifying atmosphere.

As the centric character of “Ollie”, Nadia Clifford provides a varied performance with some regrettably weak choices and delayed reactions in the opening scenes but surpassing above excellence later in the piece. Excluding these minor blips the overall production suffers little with strongly emotive performances from the 7 strong cast. Most favourable was that of Sam Swann as “Charlie” whose blatant and refreshing honesty provided some much needed comic relief from the intensity of the piece whilst Sarah Middleton as the mysterious “Keaton” instantly draws attention without need to utter a word. Additional strong performances can be seen from by the battered wife turned sex worker “Fay” played by Rebecca Humphries and Guy Rhys as the city’s kingpin “Zeppo” opening the play with a fantastically dramatised synopsis of Indiana Jones; Raiders of the lost ark.

Overall a fabulous piece of contemporary theatre with merit in all areas. Deliciously dark this piece had me squirming on the train home through this wonderful city and I strongly recommend all who are yet to see this piece to get down to the Royal Exchange as quick as they can before it’s final performance 21st November 2015.

Drama School: A passion the pro’s lack?

Over the last year, I have seen countless production’s in regional theatre’s and on the west end but time and time again I have found the most gripping of performances come not from the seasoned, nationally acclaimed leads but from a much more exciting demographic: 3rd year drama school students on the verge of their careers.

In the final year of training students are filled with anticipation and anxiety for their long awaited career to finally begin. The stakes are raised possibly higher than they will ever be in their awaiting careers and perhaps as a result of this I have found that the physical and emotional energy used in a 3rd year drama school performance is almost double that of a professional piece of theatre. The focus and joy at finally being able to showcase 3 years of hard work to the public and potential employers pushes their performances to new heights and in my experience results often in a more engaging experience for all those involved. For many of the performers this the moment that will determine if they will have any career whatsoever in this cut-throat industry; they simply cannot afford to give anything less than 110%.

Professional productions, on the other hand, often fall just short of the high expectations set by the public often based simply on false understandings of the word “professional”. Now, that’s not to say that actors in many west-end, regional and touring productions don’t perform to an exceptionally high standard however I have personally found that such performers, many of whom are secure in their careers or at least their current contract, lack a sense of urgency and compulsion that is etched into a graduate. The energy of performances by established names or in established productions inevitably falters after years of performing 8 times a week. In fact the one west end production I have seen that was not lacking an ounce of energy was that by the Urinetown UK cast mere hours before it’s closure. Years into the profession it would appear that even the cream of the crop find it all too easy to disregard the determination and passion that drove them to their current positions.

Whilst in a number of cases the knowledge and skill set of an established professional actor may far exceed that of one yet to truly begin their career, I simply can’t ignore the unique spark that graduate performers bring to the stage and urge you all to see their work – if only to see the pure passion that drives a young performer.

Behind the Audition Table…An Interview with Pete Gallagher.

During my time with YMT, Director Pete Gallagher spared some time for me to grill him on the professional audition process. In addition to his roles as performer and more recently director in many a major production, Pete is also known to sit on many an audition panel and works with several of our major drama schools here in the UK…

A.First up, tell us a bit about yourself, who are you and what do you in the performing arts industry?

P. Well I left Drama college in 1983 and I was told I wouldn’t work because I was too tall and apparently I’m too soft. I then worked for 25 years so I suspect they were wrong… instead of shying away from the fact that I’m very tall, I made the most of it. So I marketed myself as that big tall bloke with the big booming bass baritone voice and ended up going from big tall role to big tall role and wasn’t out of the west for 15/16 years until I decided to take a break. After that I decided to focus a little more on directing and coaching and then got into television coaching for Andrew Lloyd Webber, Strictly Come Dancing, Gladiators etc. and about 4 years ago I decided it was probably time to get back into live theatre shows, big time, so I started to do west end shows again which I discovered I didn’t enjoy very much so I’m now being very picky and choosy with my work, I’m doing lots of work with drama colleges and lots of directing and writing.

A. So what is it about Drama College’s that draws you to them?

P. Talent! I just adore talent, I love working with talented people. I find it quite difficult to work in smaller drama colleges who’ve taken the people everywhere else has rejected, not because I have anything against those people but because I thrive on other peoples talent and if there isn’t as much raw talent in the room my job is made very, very difficult because I know that a lot of the things I want to achieve, I can’t because they just don’t have the natural ability but when I work somewhere like ArtsEd in London, or GSA I find that I am surrounded by people who have got so much to offer that they inspire me and I love working with them.

A. Thats fantastic! Over the course of an audition season, roughly how many people do you think you see each year?

P. Pffft… So I take summer audition courses  at GSA and see about 50, 60 people, I’ve taken auditions at East 15 drama college… oh blimey! I head up the YMT auditions where I see about a 1,000 a year as I organise the whole thing… It sort of depends. I work for Associated Studio’s (which is in Baron’s court by the way, run by Leotine Hass who’s an amazing vocal coach!), Arts Ed, GSA, I’m talking about the last year or 2 now, the American Musical Theatre Academy and that’s about it for the last couple of years, so all-told probably about 15 hundred a year overall.

A. That’s a lot of candidates, how does the standard vary from summer schools to the more advanced students?

P. It’s interesting there’s a level of older student who obviously brings something different to the room but is normally not as enthusiastic and energetic as the younger ones, there’s a level of keenness which makes the energy sometimes go in all the wrong directions. It’s the people in the middle who are the really exciting ones, normally the 18/19 to 22/23 year olds. So that group in the middle, who know they are going to spend 3 years of their lives studying something and are really excited because they know there’s a whole life change ahead of them, as long as they have some form of life experience before, they’re the most exciting group usually. I love working with older students but they’re very aware they’re never going to play the younger roles, they’re limited before they’ve even started in their heads really, but the range, if somebody has left school and had a job and travelled a bit and fallen in love, fallen out with their parents and moved out then gone back home again and made it up… that range of human and life emotions makes it all fall into place as long as it’s mixed with the right amount of talent.

A. So, what is the weirdest thing you have seen at an audition?

P. Oh good grief!… The weirdest are commercial auditions… I want you to represent the smile seen on a sailors faces when he first see’s a large fish, that kind of stuff, it’s nonsense, it really is nonsense! But at proper auditions, I went for an audition once for Batman, the arena show and they told me the guy in before me, for the part of the joker, had actually pulled a revolver out and pointed it at the audition panel in order to try and frighten them so they immediately called security which I don’t think did his chances any good at all… There was a piece in the speech they sent us that said he pulled a revolver out so he chose to take an imitation revolver which was just ridiculous… I’ve seen people turn up in every wild colour they could possibly think of and they think it makes them (with gestures) “wacky” but it doesn’t it makes them mental! And they turn up in fluorescent pink, yellow green and they bounce in and they say something like “I’m mad, I am. I’ll be brilliant at this college, you wouldn’t believe what I’m like at parties!” and you just think No, you’re not this is really nonsense. The craziest thing I was ever asked to do was for Lord of the Rings, they said there’ll be an assault course and they asked me to hurl myself across a pile of broken furniture and I just said no, I’m going home now! And people were injuring themselves all morning!

A. As a  Panellist…

….NO! I’m gonna change my mind, the greatest audition ever, a polish film director, (whilst miming actions) he balanced a pound coin here (points to the flat of his hand) and you had to put your hand above his head and you had to try and catch the coin before it hit the floor, then he sent you to buy bread… that was, that was the audition. And he asked me to shave, so I mimed shaving my face and he said “why you shave your face, how boring! Why not you shave your shoes, why not you shave a goat!”  So I started shaving my shoes, as you do, thinking this man is mad. Then he sent me to buy bread and I came back and he shouted “this is not bread” and he threw it out the window, slice by slice he threw it out the window, told me his flat was bugged so it didn’t matter and uh asked me to do a couple of other things, I said no to the part when he offered me it because he is obviously as mad as box of frogs! …I love him, I love him, it had nothing to do with the play he was casting at all he just got carried away.

A. That’s brilliant! When you’re on a panel what do you specifically look for in a successful candidate?

P. I look for rawness, I look for someone who has clearly got talent but they don’t think they’re wonderful but they do think they possibly have something, so I look for a bit of confidence. No arrogance, confidence is good. Um, I look for rawness, a spark of something, in particular, I tend to be called on to panels where they would like their students mixed up a bit because I tend to like dangerous artists. I like people who bring a bit of danger into the room and do something really brave and even if they screw up I love the fact that they’ve done something brave. So I tend to look for a raw spark of, you’ve got bravery, you’ve got some really bold choices, it doesn’t matter to me how many of them go wrong because if they’re your choices, they’re worth something and then I consider that person on their own terms, not on some formula many colleges work towards. For instance, this is what GSA likes, if they give me a call and say will you come in, it means they’ve got enough of those “bog standard” people and they’re looking for someone who’s a bit of a maverick because those people keep groups alive. So I tend to go in looking for someone with a dangerous spark, but mix that with talent. It’s very easy to spot talent, it’s also very easy to spot people who have only ever done something for – no disrespect – say stagecoach. You know all they do, they smile, they look out front and they shout their lines very loudly, it’s very easy to spot those people. I look for naturalness and people who are completely engaged in the moment.

A. And what are the most common mistakes you see candidates making?

P. Uhh, The biggest mistake they ever make is they copy someone else’s performance, which they always do. Somebody comes in and does an Adele song and sings it exactly like Adele or, or tries to do a Barbara Streisand song – Don’t do that! You’re gonna be compared to her, especially if you try and imitate her but um, that’s the biggest one ever. There’s nothing there, there’s no originality there, that’s just somebody thinking I can do what someone else can do. The most exciting thing is when somebody engages you for their own reasons, on their own terms. And I suppose the other thing is something I learnt in academic teaching which is most people fail their exams because they didn’t answer the question they were asked, they simply said everything they knew about that subject and if that’s not the question they were asked they fail their exam. And the same thing happens quite a lot in drama college, especially the interviews. You talk to someone, you ask them something specific and they immediately turn the subject round to how impressive their life has been so far and you think, well, that’s not what I asked you. I don’t want to know how many amateur productions you’ve done when the question I asked you was “what’s the last show you saw” or “who are the actors that inspire you”. So I would say answer the question you’re asked and make sure you are bring yourself to the audition and not someone else’s performance.

A. So how do the drama school auditions differ from each other?

P. They’re all different! Its really good to do your research into who wants what at a drama college. For instance GSA will do one discipline first, they’ll do the singing first, you go to ArtsEd the musical theatre course is run by a choreographer, Chris Hocking, so he wants to check out everyone’s dancing. A common mistake that’s made is you think “oh god, I’m not a dancer so I’m not even going to make it through the first stage.” …a lot of people do because they do it with gusto, it’s marked down they’re not a natural dancer but they’ve got a lot of bravery so let’s see them in the next round. You’ve got 3 disciplines, you have to start with one of them. But then you go somewhere like Central and you go for the morning audition and if you pass you’re kept for the afternoon, so you get an instant recall. So of 50 people who turn up in the morning maybe 12 will be kept. I think that’s a wonderful method. You can assess people reasonably quickly, not in 10 minutes but over 4 hours you can assess people quite well, keep the dozen you’re interested in, push them further. It might be 1, it might be 12 of those that end up impressing you or it might be none of them but at least you’ve worked with the people who showed they have gumption and talent a little bit longer. But RADA you’re in, you’re out and it’s still 50 quid, so do your research, find out which audition style would suit you best.

A. Last of all, top 3 pieces of advice to aspiring actors?

P. Argh! … Listen and be – that’s the greatest piece of advice ever, nobody does either really. Um, Never, ever, ever stop learning or be so arrogant to think you have nothing left to learn I should say and…Always value experience, never write it off as old school!

YMT:UK – A Bachelor Girls Guide to Musical Brilliance

As I mentioned in my last post, for the past 2 weeks I have been away on an intensive musical theatre course with Youth Music Theatre UK. In these 2 weeks myself along with 35 talented girls, 4 mind-blowing musicians and a creative team of pure genius learnt, blocked and created a fabulous piece of brand new musical theatre in time for its world premier at the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

Our poster outside the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.

The course was one of the most valuable theatrical experiences I have gained to date. Our creative team was headed by Musical Theatre royalty with west-end stars Pete Gallagher directing. Heather Douglas choreographing (/being all-round fabulous) and the brains behind the brilliance, the power team Jennifer Green and Caroline Wigmore guiding us in staging their vision. In addition to this we had the talents of Jamie Simmons (F*cking Men, Kings Head Theatre) on set design and costume along with GSA MA graduate-to-be Aimee Gray who gave us a crash course in vocal health and manipulation to hit those darling flapper tones the era of the piece so desperately called for. Surrounded by so much experience, knowledge and talent, its not surprising how much I gained from these 2 intensive weeks.

The mandatory dressing room snap:- even moments before a show, one always makes time for tradition.

Unlike many of the other YMT Projects produced this season, The Bachelor Girls cast had never met before we began the course on August 17th – not one of us had seen so much as a single line from the script yet we all threw ourselves into the project head first. After arriving we went straight to rehearsal and began the getting to know you process, we learnt sections of songs, period dances moves and Pete’s patented warm-up song to be jammed to every morning “Start wearing Purple”. By day 2 (possibly the most intensive day of the entire course) we had began the casting process and by day 3 we were off on our journey each of us laying claim to a brand new original character. The piece was based on a truly fascinating period of history in women’s rights following the first world war. Largely based on the idea of the ensemble we followed 3 girls journeys into womanhood following a speech (eloquently delivered by our trooper Ela Yalçın!) informing their class of the hardships they would face following the death of millions of men. With no husbands to be found women were often deported to other countries and the homely life girls typically dreamt of were no longer possible for the majority. In the days that followed casting we learnt 2 hours worth of material before heading to the theatre after just 6.5 days worth of rehearsal time to tech and dress our piece – even the pro’s were just a little impressed.

Rehearsals ran 9am till 9pm every day and I simply can’t relay how much I learnt during this time (including how to steam like a pro). Halfway through rehearsals we were visited by Aimee Gray – currently completing her MA in voice and singing at GSA – who’s help was absolutely invaluable in understanding how to use the voice properly. I was lucky enough to grab her for a short one to one session which; along with some advice from our book writer Caroline; aided me in identifying a number of bad habits I have never been corrected on such as pushing the larynx low down whilst singing- habits which I was shocked to find out could lead to some serious vocal problems – which I can now work on correcting (and I am very pleased to announce that poor diction was no longer on the list although many other things were). In addition to the improvement seen in my vocals, working under the ferociously fabulous Heather Douglas saw a massive increase in stamina and physical strength – the routines given to us were not those usually expected to be seen in a youth theatre production and I feel like every single one of our 36 strong cast saw a enormous improvement in our physical abilities – in particular we all have an unrivalled Charleston to add to the C.V.

Just a few of the wonderful girls with whom I shared the journey.

Whilst the course was a lot of work we still had some down time which was mostly spent in our lodgings – the boarding house of Plymouth College Junior school which was our rehearsal base before we got to the theatre. All 36 of our all female cast and 4 of our all male band formed strong bonds the likes of which I am sure will be carried forward for years to comes. This really added to the excellence of the experience and made for a number of very tearful goodbyes when we finally had to part! Together we received 3 cooked meals a day prepared by the school kitchen staff – for many of us food was our main concern (growing girls need nourishment!) so it was relief to discover our meals were nothing short of delicious. In fact despite Heather’s best efforts to work us to the bone I’m confident that I must have gained at least 10 pounds from the sheer quantity of scran my stomach has consumed. During our stay we were also given a day off to explore Plymouth which is home to the lovely Drake Circus shopping centre and the amusingly named “The Hoe” which had some beautiful views of Devon (but not Cornwall as my table “Nommer” Naomi was very disappointed to find out). Another highlight for me were the frequent visits from Jen and Caroline’s recent additions to their respective families even if Jen’s baby did cry the first time I tried to hold him.

The beautiful view from “The Hoe” on our day off exploring Plymouth.

Overall the experience was utterly unforgettable and I am already counting down the days to the annual “Let It Snow” reunion concert. Our creative team imparted a plethora of industry advice and it was very arresting to peer into the professional world through they eyes of such prominent figures in the industry. Our director Pete was particularly inspiring and I was exceptionally grateful of his graciousness in answering all our queries (watch this space for an auditions interview later this week!). It was simply incredible to hear of the journey we face as aspiring performers and the advice has been unrivalled to say the least. Our final performance was one I will not forget. I am so incredibly proud of every member of the first ever “The Bachelor Girls” cast and feel humbled to have been given this opportunity. My experience was trebled during our final night when Heather (who it’s safe to say we all idolise) bequeathed part of my costume – given to her by her mother who influenced her to be the star that she is today – under the condition that I must pay it forward. As one would expect, I count myself profoundly blessed to not only have been part of a phenomenal journey but to be gifted with such a beautiful and significant piece of a truly remarkable woman’s life!

The highlight of my experience: Heather Douglas, myself and the exquisite flapper dress gifted on our last evening.