Old London Town

Hi

So, this is my last blog...

My trip to London was great fun!
I visited the V and A Museum and saw the theatre and performance section, which was very interesting and enjoyable. It had costumes from shows and set design models on display.
I went to see "We Will Rock You" and "Matilda the Musical". Both were very good but "Matilda" was especially wonderful. The cast, set and songs were fantastic!

Hoping to get my photos from my session with Louis Flood soon so that I have professional photos to use when applying for jobs.

I would also like to get some recording done this week for graded unit.

Sweeney Todd opens on Friday night, so this week is filled with rehearsals, tech and dress.

Farewell and wish me luck!

LcB

The sun has got his hat on...

Hello and what a glorious week it is!

This past week ...
1) I received all the books I ordered and have been reading up on acting techniques, audition experiences and recommended monologues
2) I found out that I failed theory again (but signs of definite improvement!)
3) I have made great headway with my website design and I am now adding content.
4) I have arranged to have my headshot photo taken today with professional local photographer Louis Flood.

Later this week I am going to London! I'm hoping to take in a couple of shows while I'm down there, all in the name of research, of course!

LcB

Platinum

Hello

Just a quick update today.

In the past week I have
1) Sat my music theory exam (and there is a chance I might have done OK, even if I haven't passed)
2) Done my first study assessment (which, unfortunately, didn't go as well as I had hoped)
3) Stood down from doing Star Wars: A New Hop, as I have no time to commit to it.
4) Signed up to Star Now!
5) Ordered some books on acting techniques ("So You Want To Tread The Boards" and "Actions:An Actors Thesaurus")
6) Ordered a couple of Music books ("Cole Porter the Platinum Collection" and "George Gershwin the Platinum Collection")

The Sexy Stragglers plan to take to the recording studio in the next week.

I plan to get some more solo video recordings done this week and do some video editing.

I have contacted my friend Mark, a photographer, to see about getting some headshot photos taken. I hope to have these done soon.

Rehearsals for both Sweeney Todd and Streets are going well.

LcB

Fat Sam's, 2012

Greetings.

Last night's gig in Fat Sam's went really well. Our band, The Sexy Stragglers, were on first. The band comprises of myself, Alissa Toolan (also vocals), Jack Stevenson and Christy Mcintosh (both playing acoustic guitars). I asked Hannah Shovlin to video a couple of the songs on my camera and several people were taking photos. This means I will have plenty of evidence to use in my graded unit.

I thought all the bands did brilliantly, I made sure that I was there on the floor to support every band. I had a great time!

On Friday I will have First Study, followed by a meeting with Alex McKeating about "Star Wars: A New Hop", and then I have to head in to town to buy a costume for my "Streets" character "Brooke" as we are having a photo shoot on Saturday. Her taste is going to be pretty much the exact opposite of my own and so I'll have to find the things I think are hideous and try them on! This should be quite fun though.

The only thing that remains to be said is that on Monday I started constructing the bare bones of my website and I think I am getting to grips with iWeb quite quickly.

LcB

One of the Boys

Hello

At the moment I am being very 'arts and craftsy'. I am creating some mood boards for songs and for my website. The song ones are to help me get behind the mood of the piece which should help me in the performance of the song and the website one is to give me ideas about what I would like my finished website to look like.When I have finished these mood boards will be used as evidence of research on my website for graded unit.

I have been using today to practice a lot of the songs I have been learning recently. I have run through all my 'Sweeney Todd' songs, a couple of 'Streets' songs. I have also practiced the songs I am learning for college, including my first study pieces ('Sooner or Later', 'Spark of Creation', 'Sound of Silence', 'The Winner Takes It All', 'Fascinatin' Rhythm') and my songs for the Fat Sam's gig ('Emergency', 'One Of The Boys', 'Trust', 'Kiss From A Rose' and 'Master Exploder').

Last week we had the music history exam, I think it went well but we will have to wait and see. Still don't know my results for my history essay :/.

This week my session skills band recorded 'Higher and Higher', I sang backing vocals again.

I am taking my video camera and hard drive along to rehearsals and college just now so that I have every opportunity to get some footage for Graded Unit.

That's pretty much it just now.

LcB

Nowadays

Hello.

Sadly, last week I was absent from college and rehearsals as my Grandpa passed away at the weekend.

Here is my update of this week and the fundraising cabaret.

The fundraising cabaret for PAOS was very successful. I was asked on the day if I would also do a duet at the cabaret as well as my solo. I sang "Nowadays" from "Chicago" with Holly Stanford. It sounded really good and I am happy with the way we managed to pull it off after only two run throughs. My solo performance went well also, I did make a couple of mistakes but covered them successfully. I felt that my stage presence was good and I portrayed the emotions in the song. We raised about £500 for our production of Sweeney Todd at this event.

This week I started researching musician websites in ICT to get ideas for my own website. I plan to make up a mood board of my favourites to inspire me.

Band rehearsal was productive this week, we have all decided what song we want to perform at Fat Sams and we made a start on all of them. We are lacking a drummer in our band and so we are going to be doing an acoustic set. I was happy with this as the song I had chosen is acoustic, "Trust" by Bitter Ruin.

Today we had our music history exam. I think it went ok, I passed the mock test and had revised quite a bit and so I went in pretty confident.

Graded Unit
I have finished plotting the bare bones structure of my website and have now created a time plan so that I can start ticking things off and getting on my way towards completing it by the deadline (18th April).

LcB

Bleurgh

Hello

Not much to report as I have had a horrible cough and sore throat for the past week. I am on the road to recovery, however, and am trying not to overstretch myself before Friday. I have decided that the song I am doing for the fundraiser will be "If My Friends Could See Me Now" from "Sweet Charity", I decided on it after getting my hair cut as my new style reminded me of the character Charity. Also it is more of a character song and not very vocally demanding, so I should be ok even if my throat is still rattly.

Still have yet to hear the results of my history essay.

First study, I have to choose a Simon and Garfunkel song to sing and a Jacques Brel one too. I already did "J'aimais" for my last singing assessment so I think I need to choose a different one to do for this one. Also doing "Fascinating Rhythm" which is, unfortunately, probably my least favourite jazz song.

Other than that I'm a bit fed up of the course to be honest. As soon as I can get more recordings done and the sooner the 2nd semester gets up and running, the sooner I can start creating this graded unit website and doing something that feels creative and productive.

Streets rehearsal and Sweeney Todd rehearsal both physical workshops this week and so my voice was not put under strain. I felt like I gained a lot from both and I am really excited about the shows.

LcB

I never want to hear "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" ever again...

Hello. Here is what the last two weeks have brought.

Creative project - in my band we have been rehearsing our horror film medley. We chose "Sean of the Dead" as our film and decided on the songs "Ghost Town" by The Specials, "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation and "You're My Best Friend" by Queen to be in our medley.

Session Skills - My session band recorded our version of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" last week.I sang backing vocals and feel it went pretty well. I am currently writing my evaluation of the recording session. We still have yet to hear the final product. This week we started writing our jingle, we chose to make it about toothpaste. The plan is to make it in a cheesy pop style with a catchy tune.

Theory - I have found theory a little bit easier recently as Marlisa has given me help with the very basics, but it still remains a huge challenge.

History - We have been discussing Punk and Reggae these past 2 weeks. Still waiting to hear result of last essay submitted.

First Study - Currently working on "Sooner or Later" which is a jazzy Sondheim song (and I love it) and "Spark of Creation" by Stephen Schwartz from the musical "Children of Eden". We have also been asked to chose an Abba song to learn, I chose "The Winner Takes It All" so that I can work on my belt voice and I think it is going to be a fun one to perform.

Other - "Sweeney Todd" rehearsals are going well, starting to add in movement to chorus numbers. Tickets are now on sale and I have been talking to Marlisa about organising a college group outing to go to see it, it would be really nice to have my friends from college come along to support the show.

PAOS are also having a fundraising concert on the 10th of Feb and I have been asked to sing a solo. Still undecided about my choice of song.

This week I was offered a part in a Dundee production of "In to the Woods", which I really wanted to do! However, the dates clash with the "Sweeney Todd" show week :(.

I was also called this week with regards to a possible modeling job which I am going to follow up on in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed!

The first "Streets" 2012 cast meeting is to take place this Saturday and I am really excited about taking up this show again.

Friday 20th January - Sang in Alex Mckeating's honours recital band. The theme of the performance were covers of songs but in a different style of genre. For example, the songs I sang in were; "Paradise City" by Guns 'n' Roses sung in a jazz style, "Baby" by Justin Beiber sung in a rock style, "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC sung in a funk style, and "All Along The Watchtower" by Bob Dylan sung in an R'n'B/Hip Hop style with Martin Inches rapping the verse and me singing the chorus. The performance wasn't without it's hiccups, but I found it enjoyable and heard some good feedback about it afterwards.

Graded Unit - I have now listed all of the recordings I would like to do, meaning I can start recording and ticking them off :). I also plan to create a showreel with footage from shows and performances I have done in and outwith college during years 1 and 2 of the HND course.

Ta Ta For Now
LcB