Well folks, I was not hoping to encounter this, but one of our cast members now has laryngitis and will possibly be tested for nodes.  I thought I would write another post because it is relevant what I have learned through participating in community theater in Murray, KY.

In smaller towns, it is easier to become starstruck with your own voice because much more is expected of you.  Think of the "big fish, small pond" scenario.  To compensate for gradual development of technique, which takes years and years, young actors push themselves to limits from which they cannot come down.  To put it into a realistic perspective, the human voice matures fully around age thirty.  My cast member with laryngitis has developed it from ONE song in the show that requires a singer of older age, with a solid maturation of the voice and knowledge of belting mechanics.  In order to "match" what is heard on Broadway, she has pushed herself to a point of not being able to produce speech.  You MUST know your own voice and body and their limits, otherwise you will be faced with damage that will affect you for the rest of your career.  I also have a very young girl who sings on a vocal fry.  A child attempting to imitate a pop star spells nothing but bad news and tells me that this has not only happened before, but is has possibly been encouraged, and it will continue to be praised until it is too late to realize irreparable damage has set in.

****In most cases, laryngitis is mild and can last for less than two weeks with correct treatment, but if it occurs more than once or twice, then we get into more troubled waters.

I have worked tirelessly for three hours a day, six days a week, since the beginning of last month to try and introduce healthier methods and habits to this mixed ensemble.  Just when I think progress has been made, we revert back to old habits.  The most I can do now is to continue to advocate health and body awareness in rehearsals and add more one-on-one coachings to introduce a new idea or two to apply to the problematic areas.  The point that I am trying to make is this: I have realized I cannot save the world in one show.  It takes longer than a few weeks to change anyone's current method of singing, and I have seen and heard it in the ensemble.

Aside from the daily struggles, there have been daily successes.  I am starting to hear character and expressive lines in many actors' voices, which means they're thinking like a musician and noticing that dynamics and note values are not just markings on a page; they are there for a reason.  WHY are we singing, WHAT are we singing about, HOW will our singing affect the story, and HOW is this reflected in what we see written in the score?  That is the real reason why we sing.  We sing because there is no other way to convey our feelings.  If I can say, at the end of this labor-intensive project, that I helped one person realize that music is more than "just singing notes," I will have made a difference.

This post has been long overdue and will chronicle all that has happened since we completed music rehearsals!

With eight days total to teach the music for this show (minus some individual coaching sessions), we were given two of those to run all of the music from both acts.  Since we had been given precious little time with each number, I knew the musical run-through was not going to be perfect, but the cast left with a concrete understanding of what was supposed to happen, even if everything wasn't completely nailed down by the time we finished.  Every day holds opportunities for learning, and they have not stopped learning since rehearsals have begun.

Part of that process begins at every rehearsal in the form of a short warm-up that I lead.  Through a series of vocalises and breathing exercises, I stretch their ranges comfortably, work to improve vocal production and tone for clarity, stability, and projection, and infuse character and emotion into their sound.  It's a lot to process, but I try to make it as fun as possible and relate all exercises to everything they do on stage.

Since music rehearsals have finally ended, my arms are no longer sore from vigorously conducting for three hours at a time AND the show is coming together marvelously!  Yes, we are still struggling with certain areas.  Yes, we are jamming a great deal of information into the cast members' heads every night.  They are fighting back and pushing forward, whether they are sick or missing a rehearsal or simply having more trouble than the rest with a particular part.  I must say, though, that I am proud of all of them and only expect more great things to come in these next two weeks leading up to opening weekend.

Today's lesson: don't be discouraged.

For a short hour I went back to work on the song "Make a Move" with the Three Blind Mice from Motown, eventually adding Donkey into the mix for the first time.  Music rehearsals are getting shorter and shorter and we are in a time crunch to learn as much music as we can.  The last time I worked with the Mice, we established what the song should sound like and how their parts stack up in the tight harmonies; I also gave them several intervals to listen for that would help them find their parts more easily.  Today we encountered some similar problems from the last rehearsal; note transitions from phrase to phrase, singing confidently, etc.  Even with repetition for an hour, it was still hard for them to wrap their brains around certain parts of the song.

We ran the song with the rehearsal track a few times to at least get entrances and rhythms into their bodies.  They sounded terrific, yet at the end of our short time together their faces carried looks of panic and frustration and disappointment.  The very last words I said to them before we went home were: "Don't be discouraged.  Don't give up.  We had these chords once and we'll get them again!"  I told them if one of them ever wants to practice a part during a break in rehearsal, to find me and I will  help them in any way I can.

We have all experienced self-doubt and frustration, whether in music or school or work...or life in general.  The motto I always remember is one from one of my mom's favorite movies: "Never give up.  Never surrender!"  The more you fight back, the more resilient you will become, and you'll learn something along the way, too.  There is always a way to make it work.

At the end of tonight's rehearsal, we had completed four days of music rehearsal with four or five more to go.  And, much like the song we rehearsed tonight, "things are looking up!"

I got to work with most of the ensemble on the song "What's Up, Duloc?", which introduces Lord Farquaad and his perfect, plastic kingdom to the audience.  Aside from rhythm and notes, the point I really wanted to drive home was that the characters are Farquaad's "yes men" and love everything about Duloc because their fearless leader made them perfect!  This is another instance of character and emotion influencing music.  Not only does it change the tone of their voice, but it helps make the directions I give them easier to understand (why we have strong cut-offs, why we emphasize the consonants, etc.).  After we went through each section of the song rhythmically and musically, I reminded them to be as cheerful and upbeat as possible to give the song energy and make their performance more believable.  The difference was day and night; we had ourselves a happy little kingdom of dolls.  I give full credit to the cast for being patient and observant in order to learn the music quickly.

After working with the ensemble, I switched gears to work with the Three Blind Mice, who help Donkey coach Shrek on the art of romance in the song "Make a Move" (because, after all, love is blind).  The mice act as Donkey's Motown-esque backup singers, so there are lots of tight and soulful harmonies.  The three mice have a gorgeous blend, but finding notes when they're so close together proved a bit of a challenge initially.  What I did to help them hear the relationship between notes was to have one girl sing her line in a trouble spot over and over and over again, then I would add the two other girls.  Repetition is key for learning a part.  We did this several times to hear how everything fit together.  Another trick I used to help them go from note to note was to play the interval and associate it with a popular tune, like "Here Comes the Bride" or "Star Wars".  Once they recognized that tune, they found their notes faster and more confidently.

So, things are indeed looking up in Duloc!  I'm so proud of this cast and can't wait to see what else they have in store! 

                                                         You gotta make a move...

What a whirlwind these past three days have been!  Tomorrow will mark the half-way point of music rehearsals and we still have a long way to go.  However, I am finding more and more ways to incorporate the steps I take to learn a song into teaching others how to effectively learn theirs.

On Monday I started off rehearsal with the song "I Know It's Today," which is sung by Fiona, awaiting her knight in shining armor to rescue her from the dragon's keep.  What's really interesting and fun about this song is that it's sung by three different Fionas: a young child, a teenager, and the adult Fiona we all know.  The two young girls playing Fiona in her youth are not new to community theater, but are semi-new to singing harmonies.  On Monday I worked with them chord by chord to really lock in the sound and help them hear where their parts fit in, which they mastered perfectly by Tuesday.  Once I had the notes in place, I started asking them questions about their personalities and what it was they were thinking when they sang.  When I started giving them moods and certain words to focus on, they took it to a whole new level.  They weren't just singing notes; they were telling their own special story!

A challenge of working in community theater is the fact that not everyone reads music.  For instance, Donkey has a sense of rhythm, but has no idea how to read notes.  My approach for Donkey was to listen to a recording of his song(s) first to get a basic idea of how they go.  Then, I took section by section and we spoke the text in rhythm first, then I played the notes on the piano, and slowly we put them all together and ran it with the rehearsal track.  With Donkey,though, his solos are much more about words and character than accurate notes, so we had a fun time free-styling and letting his personality shine through where it was feasable.

I have also rehearsed with Lord Farquaad, who is quite young in this production, yet he already takes voice lessons and has a musical background. He has no problem mastering most of the notes, but there is an element missing that I'm trying to instill: his character.  Believe it or not, character can help make the music easier to sing!  Lord Farquaad is what I like to call "adorably evil": he will tease you and taunt you, then flip his hair and giggle because he's fabulous, then cough and strike a powerful stance because he's the ruler of a kingdom.  I helped him find all of those instances to let the adorable-ness take him up to high notes and stateliness open up his sound and articulate rhythm.

All in all, in three days I have put together roughly six songs with principals.  Tomorrow I begin work with the ensemble on a song, then we hit the ground running next week with the rest of the show music.  I've got my work cut out for me, but I find great comfort in the fact that I'm helping people and making the learning process easier.  Sleep tight, kingdom of Duloc.  I'll see you tomorrow.

"I Know It's Today"

My journey "Far, Far Away" will soon begin!

This project and blog were created as partial fulfillment for my Professional Engagement class at Murray State University.

As the assistant music director for "Shrek the Musical" at Playhouse in the Park, I will be working with cast members of all ages in both individual music coachings and full ensemble numbers.  This includes teaching notes, rhythm, healthy technique, and influencing music through emotion.  With lots of zany fairy tale characters and bold personalities, there will never be a dull moment with this production and I look forward to the journey upon which I am about to embark!