Little Shop of Horrors: Day 27
Today, we had our dress rehearsal. It started really well, everyone knew what they were doing and knew their lines. Which was brilliant. The dialogue seemed to flow and we improvised where necessary. I felt that the singing was good in solos also. However. Some chorus numbers did seem flat and the energy seemed to die away the more we performed. Feed me was a bit of a disaster as we only had the piano for it, meaning it sounded completely new to us and we didn't know where to start, I tried to carry on best I could and felt that I carried out my bits rather well. We stopped at the end of act 1 to sing numbers with the piano. In addition, Mushnik and son seemed a lot slower than normally, so we wet through that too. All I can think of is that the show just needs a lot it's energy and character. Two or three people being over the top isn't enough and throughout the run through today I felt as if the show was flat, which is extremely disappointing, as we have all worked hard on this.
Sunday, 19 July 2015
Little Shop of Horrors: Research
The whole idea of Little Shop of Horrors can be traced to 1960, when director, Roger Corman, set about producing an American style black comedy based on the writings of author Charles B Griffith. The original film has a similar plot to the 1986 remake as well as the stage musical. Where a man eating plant finds its way to earth and sets about world domination, with help from florist assistant, Seymour Krelborn. It is said, that the inspiration for the story line came from the 1932 film, "Green Thoughts" by John Collier, about a man eating plant. Although, there is also speculation that some inspiration came from Arthur C Clarke's short story "The Reluctant Orchid."
The original film was produced under the title of "The Passionate People Eater" on a budget of $30,000 and filmed in just two days. The original cast included Jonathan Haze as Seymour, Mel Welles as Gravis Mushnick (now Mr Mushnik) and Jackie Joseph as Audrey.
From Screen to Stage:
As the film became more and more popular during the 60's and 70's, it paved way to the creation of a musical. Composer Alan Menken, very famous for his work in Disney, and writer Howard Ashman were the brains behind the operation. Menken composed music in the 60's style to fit the time era. The musical had its off Broadway première in 1982 and ran for 5 years, proving to be the highest grossing off Broadway show in history.
The Differences from Screen to Stage:
The whole idea of Little Shop of Horrors can be traced to 1960, when director, Roger Corman, set about producing an American style black comedy based on the writings of author Charles B Griffith. The original film has a similar plot to the 1986 remake as well as the stage musical. Where a man eating plant finds its way to earth and sets about world domination, with help from florist assistant, Seymour Krelborn. It is said, that the inspiration for the story line came from the 1932 film, "Green Thoughts" by John Collier, about a man eating plant. Although, there is also speculation that some inspiration came from Arthur C Clarke's short story "The Reluctant Orchid."
The original film was produced under the title of "The Passionate People Eater" on a budget of $30,000 and filmed in just two days. The original cast included Jonathan Haze as Seymour, Mel Welles as Gravis Mushnick (now Mr Mushnik) and Jackie Joseph as Audrey.
From Screen to Stage:
As the film became more and more popular during the 60's and 70's, it paved way to the creation of a musical. Composer Alan Menken, very famous for his work in Disney, and writer Howard Ashman were the brains behind the operation. Menken composed music in the 60's style to fit the time era. The musical had its off Broadway première in 1982 and ran for 5 years, proving to be the highest grossing off Broadway show in history.
The Differences from Screen to Stage:
- The musical is based on the basic concept of the 1960 film, although it changes much of the story.
- Firstly, the setting is moved from Skid Row in LA to Skid Row in New York.
- Seymour's Jewish mother is cut in the musical, with Seymour becoming an orphan in the care of Mr Mushnik.
- The characters of Mrs. Siddie Shiva and Burson Fouch are also omitted, although Mrs. Shiva is mentioned in the musical
- The dental patient, originally played by Jack Nicholson is not in the musical but is in the 1986 film, played by Bill Murray.
- In the musical the dentist, Orin Scrivello, is killed by suffocation from his gas mask instead of being stabbed with a dental instrument in the film.
- His abusive relationship with Audrey is added to the musical to give Seymour a motive to attempt to kill him, although does not.
- In the film, Seymour murders several innocent bystanders, and Mushnik tricks a thief into looking for money inside the plant, which eats the thief. In the musical, Seymour tricks Mushnik in the same way when Mushnik plans to turn Seymour over to the police after discovering a dentists uniform in the bin.
- The two neighbourhood girls in the film are replaced in the musical by a chorus of three girls, Crystal, Chffon and Ronnette (Although we have a Ronn!), named after 1960s girl groups.
- In the original film, the plant is called Audrey junior, in the musical it is called Audrey II.
- Perhaps the biggest difference is the ending. The musical ends with Orin, Mushnik, Audrey and Seymour all eaten by the plant, and the three girls report that Audrey II's progeny continues to consume people. In the 1960 film, Mushnik and Audrey survive, and the plant's flowers bloom with the faces of its victims, including Seymour. The musical references this ending in its finale, in which the Plant's four victims' faces are seen in its blooming flowers, which we have had to cut out, as we cannot think off a way to do this.
Little Shop of Horrors: 1986
In 1986, Director, Frank Oz recreated the musical into a film version. It starred Rick Moranis as Seymour, Vincent Gardenia as Mr Mushnik and Ellen Greene reprising her role from the Off Broadway show as Audrey. Steve Martin appeared as the Dentist with a cameo from Bill Murray and Levi Stubbs lending his voice to Audrey II.
The 1986 film follows the plot of the musical closely but cuts the songs "Ya Never Know", "Mushnik and Son", "Now (It's Just the Gas)", "Closed for Renovation" and "Call Back in the Morning"; the ending also cuts "Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed The Plants)".
One main change is a new ending, in which Seymour is able to save Audrey then, in typical Hollywood style, marry and move to the home of her dreams, but a small Audrey II-type bud is seen in their garden, which suggests a possible spread of the alien plants.
An ending more loyal to the stage version was also filmed, in which the plant eats Audrey and Seymour and ,goes on a rampage through New York. However, it was received poorly by test audiences, and the upbeat alternate ending was used for the theatrical cut.
Since the 1986 film, an animated series was produced in 1991, with a 2003 reintroduction of the musical on Broadway and a west end appearance of the show in 2006-2007.
Monday, 13 July 2015
Little shop of horrors: Day 26
Today, as we are one week from the show. We went for our first full run of the show. I felt that we needed this a lot. Seeing as we had only practiced act 1 and 2 separately, it felt satisfying to be able to tie the story together. I went the whole time without my script and needed prompting only once. So, personally, I was very pleased at how confident I was with my lines. I think it all went very well. Everyone knew what thy were doing and there were minor errors throughout. So I think we can be pleased. One problem though. Remained to be closed for renovation, where the timing of the song changed and didn't fit what we are used to. In addition, myself and Meg need to go over call back in the morning with the music as the vamp we used was horrendously difficult to sing along to. Again, as I always say, live music would be a great help for us in terms of timing. The only thing we can do, as performers, is to know our songs perfectly.
Today, as we are one week from the show. We went for our first full run of the show. I felt that we needed this a lot. Seeing as we had only practiced act 1 and 2 separately, it felt satisfying to be able to tie the story together. I went the whole time without my script and needed prompting only once. So, personally, I was very pleased at how confident I was with my lines. I think it all went very well. Everyone knew what thy were doing and there were minor errors throughout. So I think we can be pleased. One problem though. Remained to be closed for renovation, where the timing of the song changed and didn't fit what we are used to. In addition, myself and Meg need to go over call back in the morning with the music as the vamp we used was horrendously difficult to sing along to. Again, as I always say, live music would be a great help for us in terms of timing. The only thing we can do, as performers, is to know our songs perfectly.
Little shop of horrors: Day 25
We ran act 2 again today. I think it went very well again. I knew what I was doing, all that needs to be done is to perfect our lines and make sure our timings in our songs are spot on. Again, it would help once we can get on the stage and practice with props and the plant !
After our run through, were given notes on our performance. For me in particular. I was asked to make sure that I'm not gazing off into some mid distance when I was singing. So since I've been working hard on trying to interact with others around me whilst singing. To try and act out the song at the same time and almost live in the song.
We ran act 2 again today. I think it went very well again. I knew what I was doing, all that needs to be done is to perfect our lines and make sure our timings in our songs are spot on. Again, it would help once we can get on the stage and practice with props and the plant !
After our run through, were given notes on our performance. For me in particular. I was asked to make sure that I'm not gazing off into some mid distance when I was singing. So since I've been working hard on trying to interact with others around me whilst singing. To try and act out the song at the same time and almost live in the song.
Little shop of horrors: Day 24
Today, we performed act 2 again. This time though. I went as much as I could without a script and realised I knew more than I thought, albeit with a few hiccups and blanks here and there was able to think on my feet if I went wrong to try and get myself out of trouble. Again, the main problem was call back in the morning, as the backing track was extremely difficult to pick up, hopefully, with our live band, it will be easier to know when to come in and when not to. I was extremely pleased with how much I remembered and without my script I had a much greater range of movement.
Afterwards, one of our new teachers came to work with us on harmonies and singing. She sat us down and listened to us perform skid row before asking us to perform with more emphasis on our face and shortening the down towns. Making for a sharper more powerful opening number. She also worked on the group harmonies, giving the song more substance and power. We did the same for ya never know. I think we learned a lot from that session. Especially how our facial expressions effect our diction and the song as a whole.
Today, we performed act 2 again. This time though. I went as much as I could without a script and realised I knew more than I thought, albeit with a few hiccups and blanks here and there was able to think on my feet if I went wrong to try and get myself out of trouble. Again, the main problem was call back in the morning, as the backing track was extremely difficult to pick up, hopefully, with our live band, it will be easier to know when to come in and when not to. I was extremely pleased with how much I remembered and without my script I had a much greater range of movement.
Afterwards, one of our new teachers came to work with us on harmonies and singing. She sat us down and listened to us perform skid row before asking us to perform with more emphasis on our face and shortening the down towns. Making for a sharper more powerful opening number. She also worked on the group harmonies, giving the song more substance and power. We did the same for ya never know. I think we learned a lot from that session. Especially how our facial expressions effect our diction and the song as a whole.
Little Shop of Horrors: Day 23
Today we began with Act 1 as we hadn't worked on any rehearsals for a while whilst we designed the set and worked on the more administrative side of the show. As we've been saying for a while, the show is in a very good state and ready to go. The only main issue is line learning, personally I feel that I'm getting better with lines in every practice. But I think as a group, our main target is to make sure we get the lines learnt as that will allow us to move around a lot more as give the performance our own creative edge, without the rigid structure of the script and immobilisation holding the script gives us. Throughout, I was making an effort to learn my lines as I performed but did encounter a nosebleed during Mushnik and Son, which stopped us from practicing. So i think, that is one musical number that we need to work on.
When we finished performing act 1 we moved into the hall and carried on working on the set, plant and whatever needed doing. As I'm in charge of the programme I continued working on that and organising the structure of what I wanted to put in it. Again, everyone knew what they needed to do and got on. Leading to it being another productive lesson.
Today we began with Act 1 as we hadn't worked on any rehearsals for a while whilst we designed the set and worked on the more administrative side of the show. As we've been saying for a while, the show is in a very good state and ready to go. The only main issue is line learning, personally I feel that I'm getting better with lines in every practice. But I think as a group, our main target is to make sure we get the lines learnt as that will allow us to move around a lot more as give the performance our own creative edge, without the rigid structure of the script and immobilisation holding the script gives us. Throughout, I was making an effort to learn my lines as I performed but did encounter a nosebleed during Mushnik and Son, which stopped us from practicing. So i think, that is one musical number that we need to work on.
When we finished performing act 1 we moved into the hall and carried on working on the set, plant and whatever needed doing. As I'm in charge of the programme I continued working on that and organising the structure of what I wanted to put in it. Again, everyone knew what they needed to do and got on. Leading to it being another productive lesson.
Little shop of horrors: day 22
Today we decided that the set and behind the scenes actions needed to take place. This led to us dividing the class into teams. I took the lead on the marketing team where other categories included tech, box office, front of house and so on. In my team, we were in charge of designing posters, programmes and advertising the show. I decided to lead the programme section whilst Danny lambert designed the poster, which was very impressive. Once the poster was finished he emailed it to me to use as the front cover of the programme. In the inside I decided to write the opening lines to the play as I thought it was a good synopsis to have and have very little away. The cast I decided to do in order of appearance as it immediately eradicated the feeling of a hierarchy in the play.
I think the whole day ran very efficiently. Everyone got on with what they were doing, and helped each other where they could. Meaning lots got done very quickly. I think a lot of work still ha to go in to getting the set completely finished as well as Audrey II.
Today we decided that the set and behind the scenes actions needed to take place. This led to us dividing the class into teams. I took the lead on the marketing team where other categories included tech, box office, front of house and so on. In my team, we were in charge of designing posters, programmes and advertising the show. I decided to lead the programme section whilst Danny lambert designed the poster, which was very impressive. Once the poster was finished he emailed it to me to use as the front cover of the programme. In the inside I decided to write the opening lines to the play as I thought it was a good synopsis to have and have very little away. The cast I decided to do in order of appearance as it immediately eradicated the feeling of a hierarchy in the play.
I think the whole day ran very efficiently. Everyone got on with what they were doing, and helped each other where they could. Meaning lots got done very quickly. I think a lot of work still ha to go in to getting the set completely finished as well as Audrey II.
Little Shop of Horrors: Day 20-21-22
The previous two days, we took a break from rehearsals to work on the set and Audrey II. And to get any odd jobs that needed doing. As there is a lot to do !
Today, we were able to get one of our teachers to come and play the piano for us and help us get the musical numbers in order. We sang through all the musical numbers and looked at our timing. However, as he had only seen the music about half an hour before, he was still learning it, so we spent time getting the music right, however I thought the piano was far better than the backing tracks and have us much more flexibility as performers. In between songs we tried to paper mâché the Audrey 2 further with coloured paper, and it is now looking much better with colour.
The previous two days, we took a break from rehearsals to work on the set and Audrey II. And to get any odd jobs that needed doing. As there is a lot to do !
Today, we were able to get one of our teachers to come and play the piano for us and help us get the musical numbers in order. We sang through all the musical numbers and looked at our timing. However, as he had only seen the music about half an hour before, he was still learning it, so we spent time getting the music right, however I thought the piano was far better than the backing tracks and have us much more flexibility as performers. In between songs we tried to paper mâché the Audrey 2 further with coloured paper, and it is now looking much better with colour.
Little shop of horrors: Day 19
Today, we began with another warm up (surprising, isn't it) before setting with the beginning of act 2 and running everything until the end. I think it went well again. I think we all knew that act 2 is perhaps our weaker side so worked on it. Although I had my script in my hand, I tried not to look at it as much as possible and made a conscious effort to learn them whilst rehearsing at the same time and I feel more confident as a result.
Also, we were given the missing pages to the dialogue running into supper time, which was helpful as we don't have to try and make up a bit of dialogue! So we ran the whole scene and it made sense!
We experienced a few problems with the meek shall inherit in terms of wording and movement. However these were only minor hiccups and were ironed out with a sing through and step by step movement run through before we performed it properly. Furthermore, we found suddenly Seymour a little more difficult as we couldn't pick out the harmonies, something we will have to address when we have our live musicians to tell us what the harmony is.
That aside, it was another good rehearsal. I'm finding my character more comfortable to perform in for greater periods of time and feel as if i know the role much better than when we started. From here, it's all about perfecting scenes now and trying to set it on stage.
Little Shop of Horrors: Day 18
As always we began with a warm up before running through "now it's just the gas" to make sure that we all knew what we were doing at the right time and practiced this to make sure everything was in time and looking good.
We then moved onto running all the musical numbers in the dog as well as dialogue leading into it to see how far off the dances and words we are. Which appears to be rather good. And again, to perhaps tweak and polish parts here and there.
In addition, in my frees I continued to work on making the Audrey 2, which is beginning to take shape. As well as staying after school to work on it.
As always we began with a warm up before running through "now it's just the gas" to make sure that we all knew what we were doing at the right time and practiced this to make sure everything was in time and looking good.
We then moved onto running all the musical numbers in the dog as well as dialogue leading into it to see how far off the dances and words we are. Which appears to be rather good. And again, to perhaps tweak and polish parts here and there.
In addition, in my frees I continued to work on making the Audrey 2, which is beginning to take shape. As well as staying after school to work on it.
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