I'm Picking Up Good Vibrations | Life Update and Last Ever School Production

Hello Everyone!

9 weeks is a long time to not blog isn't it? But I'm back after my break and have so much to tell you about!

After completing the 12 Days of Christmas blog series, it was straight back to school for me, greeted by some lovely mock exams (can you sense the sarcasm?) meaning January consisted of endless hours of revision.

January also welcomed the beginning of the rehearsal process for the school musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet, a much more enjoyable feat. This involved (you guessed it) rehearsals for 2 hours every night after school and 6-9 hours on a Sunday.

If you read my post A Saunter On The Moors | The Reason I've Been Gone So Long, you would know that I love the amount of rehearsal time put into the school productions. Because the cast ends up spending almost every waking hour together we all become so close and like one big happy family. The rehearsals become my social life, because we're all friends and enjoy the time spent together rehearsing.

This year I was a dancer, or, if you like, a Swinging Spacecat, which was a lot of fun. We were in almost all of the dances which meant a lot of routines were to be learnt. 

The Swinging Spacecats!

Our Sunday rehearsals would be taken over by learning these dances, and repeating them over and over and over and over..... and over, until the sweat was dripping off of our faces and the moves were drilled into our brains. This was what our director, called 'dance workshop'. More like 'dance until you can't breathe and can't move'. Even so, this was my favourite part of rehearsals! If you weren't fit before rehearsals, you certainly were by the end!

And like a flash, January was over quicker than we knew it and we said hello to February.

As part of Sixth Form, each form class has to present an assembly to the whole of the year. Our classes assembly was on friendship. As the first form class to present their assembly, we wanted to set the bar high, and so decided to create a music video. Yes, we made our very own music video to the theme tune of Friends. If you really want, you can watch it here. 

It is something I'm going to cherish. 5 years with these people means a lot, and since we are all going our separate ways in September, it will be nice to look back at this video and cringe a little!

February also saw the RTTFP cast take a residential trip to Ford Castle. 2 and a half days of rehearsals. You heard me right. We spent the weekend learning new dances and nailing all the musical numbers. We also got to have some quality bonding time. This was when all cliques disappeared and we all became like one big family. Oh, and I went on a zipwire too. A massive achievement for me!

March. Where do I even start with March. It finally dawned on me that this was the last week I would ever spend with all of the wonderful people in the RTTFP cast. It also finally dawned on me that this was my last ever school production, and the last time I would ever perform like this.

I made a promise to myself that I would cherish every moment of each show, and with 5 performances, there were lots of moments to cherish. Each show got stronger and stronger, better and better, each and every one receiving a standing ovation.

Then came the final performance. As I walked off stage after the first number, I couldn't help but smile knowing that for the last 5 years I've been doing something I love, and I was going to make the most of my final few hours.

As the curtains closed on us and our final standing ovation, I had never felt happier. There is no better feeling than doing something you love and enjoy, and seeing that you've brought happiness and laughter to other people. Getting your grades, or finally going out with that person you've liked for ages. No feeling compares to that of getting a standing ovation. You're sweating, you're struggling to breathe, and you smell a little bit, but the feeling is still out of this world.

Giving out gifts and hearing speeches at the end of the night made me realise just how lucky I have been.

Over my 5 years in high school I have been in 5 musicals and 1 straight drama production. Not only have they all been an incredible experience, but I've made friends for life through these shows, people I will never forget, and they've made me into a much better person, the person I am today.

These are the moments and the memories I am going to remember forever, always with a smile on my face.

If anyone would like to read the review of our production of Return to the Forbidden Planet, click here.

Cheerio x

A Saunter On The Moors | The Reason I've Been Gone So Long

Hello Everyone!

Oh gosh, I haven't posted anything in almost two months.

For the last eight weeks, I devoted my life to six rehearsals a week for my school's senior drama production of Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights... Wuthering being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.

The demanding rehearsal schedule didn't put me off though. Although it seems like a hell of a lot of time to give up for a school play, they have been performed to such a high standard over years and built such a huge reputation that it would seem silly not to put so much time and effort in.

Now that it is all over, it doesn't seem like it was that much time at all. In fact, we've only been closed two days and I already feel as though I have too much spare time. 

Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we brought April De Angelis', adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights to the Alnwick Playhouse stage.

This is the 5th school production I've been in, but only the first senior production, and my, what an experience it has been!

I was playing Frances, wife of Hindley Earnshaw who he randomly brought back to the Heights. I also died. 

Be warned Mr Lockwood, people have a habit of dying in this tale.

I'll admit at first I was apprehensive... I was nervous about looking silly, but being in a room full of actors it was a stupid thing to be worried about! I came out of my shell and had such a fantastic time. 

Being in a cast of less than twenty, we all grew so close. By the end were were like one big family!

The three performances were honestly the most fun I'd had in years, and I was so sad to see it all come to an end.

Before the last night of the show, people joked that I had a heart of stone because I was the only female member of the cast that hadn't cried during rehearsals, but I was a blubbering wreck on Friday. I do have a soul!

Eight weeks of blood, sweat and tears had finally come to an end. It was the last time we were all to be together as a cast, and for some of us, including myself, our last ever senior production. T'was emotional to say the least.

Performing Wuthering Heights has helped me understand the story so much better, and everyone did their character justice. I'm not just saying this because I was in it and I think we were amazing anyway, but it was 100 times better than your average school play. We put in 110% everytime we performed and it all payed off in the end. The praise we have been getting from peers, teachers and members of the public has been phenomenal.

I really must thank everyone who was involved, our director and assistant director, the people who made our costumes, which were FANTASTIC, the sound and lighting crew, the set designers and the backstage lot. None of this would've been possible without you.

Since I'm in my final year of school, its more than likely that I won't be acting with this amazing bunch again (unless I do Return to the Forbidden Planet haha!) so I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who made this experience as amazing as it was. I love you all.

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

Girt eedle seeght! xx

© Images by Amber Brown and Otello Calvert

A feline fantasy: CATS the musical.

There's something not quite right about humans dressing up as cats. They always seem to make a poor effort. Some black clothing, a little black nose and a few small whiskers. This was not the case last night however.

I had never seen CATS before, but I had heard somewhat mixed reviews about it, yet the Senior Youth Theatre at Alnwick Playhouse did not disappoint.

Walking into the auditorium was quite a shock. Some of the cast were already in character prowling around. One even came up and hissed at us as we walked in to find our seats!

What amazed me was that they managed to stay in character the whole time. With one 'cat' staying in character whilst one audience member tickled their neck- it was rather surreal.

The cast of CATS.

If I'm being completely honest, before seeing the show I didn't understand the story line at all, and even afterwards I still wasn't 100% on what I had just been watching. All I took away from it was that Deuteronomy disappeared and then reappeared, they all hated Grizabella the 'one time glamour cat', and she was the one chosen to be reborn. A rather confusing story line if you could call it a story line at all.

With all of that put aside, it was still an amazing show; a real visual treat. The set was as if it was a back alley, with dustbins, old tyres and old boards. Somewhere you could really imagine alley cats roaming about.

The costumes were even better, and in my personal opinion, the best costumes the Youth Theatre has ever had. Not only did they have the catsuits with tails and spray painted to make them look like real cats, they had individual face paints to give each of their cats a unique character. The makeup and costume department really did go all out.

Becca Gray, Emily Hope and Emily Pearse were a great trio as Bombalurina, Jellylorum and Demeter,  staying in character throughout, and their harmonies were top notch, in one song reminding me of Christina Aguilera's Candy Man.

Arthur Mills as Mungojerrie and Catherine Walker as Rumpleteaser really did light up the stage with the comedy duo act, and their realistic east London accents fit the part well. Their character on stage left the audience smiling and laughing throughout their scenes.

Anna Tucker was flawless as Grizabella, and her rendition of Memory, about her wish to start a new life sent shivers down my spine as she hit the high notes with ease. Definitely someone to watch out for in the future. A British Taylor Swift perhaps?

Obviously I have to mention charismatic tom cat Rum Tum Tugger,  executed effortlessly by Toby Hope, who left the audience wanting more of his, tail shaking and swagger. Hope stood out as one of the strongest members of the cast with his stage presence alone.

Others who stood out were Lexy Bee for her incredible dancing and Chris Richardson for his delightful singing voice.

Of course it would be rude to not mention the rest of the cast, who were all fantastic. Their mannerisms really  did make you believe they were actual cats. They had even perfected the little things such as the way their turn their head, and the way they would stretch, it really was interesting to watch them all.

Not every single dance move and note was hit exactly, but hey, that is just me being extremely critical. Considering this show was put together on one rehearsal per week alone, by an amateur group,  it was near professional standard.

A massive hats off to director Cheryl Stewart for managing to pull off such a challenging production- the hard work really payed off! Visually their best production yet.

I'm now off to repeat the same line of Mister Mistoffelees over and over whilst I practice trying to walk with  a bit more grace.

© Photographs by Amber Brown and Helen Ellis