Don't panic!!

   I suppose it was inevitable that the moment I went on holiday, all hell broke loose.  Nobody volunteered to take notes for me at the rehearsals, but given the circumstances, I don't blame them.
   Essentially, just to keep readers almost up to date if not entirely in the loop, our venue has had to change.  Quite apart from the various meetings and thousands of emails flying through the virtualsphere (which have completely blown my monthly cap of downloaded material, by the way!), even once we had confirmed the new venue of Cooper School in Bicester, the amount of *additional* work necessary has been phenomenal.  Since I'm still away but taking advantage of some free internet access to update this (my phone won't let me anymore!), I don't know all the details of who has had to do what and what is still to be done, but the staging, the choreography, the seating, the front of house, the ticketing - all this and more has had to be re-examined.  So if ever anyone tells you that doing an amateur production is easier than a professional one, tell them to think again.  I know there are some very exhausted people out there already and we haven't started performances yet!
   I hope to be back on Wednesday for the rehearsal, so will fill in any gaps after that, but in the meantime, if anyone can lend some of the necessary props or help with painting the set, for however short a time, I gather it would be very much appreciated!

Topping and Tailing

This evening's rehearsal began with a serious buzz, partly because we were a little late starting.  The stage area was defined, the cast gathered, an invitation was issued from Martin for principals not needed to grab him in the staff room (apparently to rehearse their solo songs) and the time finally has come to start setting the finale.  Groups are summoned - salvation army band, bobby soxers are placed. Then it's back to Runyonland characters to be placed, since so many people multitask. Hotbox girls have a special place next, then Ali starts to place individual people.

We're now going to learn the dance routine to the words of the finale song, which Ali is certain we have sung before.  First the right arm is out, then the left arm raised and lowered - I hope someone is taking better notes than this! There's turning and bending of knees and all sorts, in unison. En masse. In some ways, if everyone's doing the same thing, it's easier, because chances are each bit will be remembered by *someone* - the difficulty is working out who has correctly remembered which bit.  We go through the first verse a couple of times and Ali is quite pleased with it so far. Then the second half of the song, and some of the actions parallel the words, so that should make it simpler for the recall process.  We get to the end of that section successfully too, and now Ali tells the main body of the cast to rehearse those steps quietly while she goes through the routine she has in mind for some Salvationists.  There is plenty of rehearsing but unfortunately everyone is on the same bit and therefore singing the same bit which distracts Ali from the bit she's trying to show her group. Complicated stuff.  However, undaunted, Ali completes that bit and then talks to the hotbox girls. Now it's back to the top for everyone, so that Ali can see if any of it needs to be refined.

The piano joins in and we sing it through, complete with steps. Most of the refinement Ali needs to apply is a reminder on exactly how to do certain steps.  Then it's through a couple more times as Ali checks the way the different routines are fitting together.

Meanwhile, I go in search of Gillian, our costume lady, with her cup of tea.  I locate her in a classroom, surrounded by assorted colourful costumes, some for Havana, some for New York. Gillian's background is in design and fashion, whereas Victor's background is in tailoring, so together they make an excellent team - Gillian picks out appropriate items from her stock and Victor alters them to fit. She is 'borrowing' individuals on and off throughout the evening for fittings.

Back to the hall. Before we forget, we practise Runyonland again, topping and tailing the show in one evening.  It works well, leading straight into the Tinhorn Fugue (which as you all know is probably my favourite song. I may have mentioned this before).

Hotbox girls are now called for costume fittings, and the chaps sing through the oldest established, again without having to pause for correction. Then it's straight to Havana, which fouls the plans of a few people who had thought they might have time for a cup of tea. Unfortunately this results in a very hot cup of tea being spilled over someone so the tables in Havana are not as full as previously while basic first aid is administered in the ladies.  The waiter is looking good, however, brandishing a cymbal as his tray, but without attempting to balance drinks on it. (Probably just as well given the record this evening with drinks.) Ali takes a moment to talk through the particulars with a couple of the cast and then we go through it again.  This time we include the dialogue between Sister Sarah and Sky, interposed with dancers.

The ladies are about to be dismissed until Ali suddenly remembers that we haven't done Sit Down yet this week, so the invitation to go is hastily withdrawn and the chairs are set out for the next song.  Most of the moves from last week have been remembered although some of the swaying is a little ragged.  But at least Luke is able to stand at the front and remind people when the various moves happen. Ali tells us that we need to learn the moves, however, so she goes through the different waves and stands again. Apparently Luke won't always be there!

Having spelled out the moves so clearly, Ali optimistically starts the song from the beginning again.  It mostly works so the ladies are released - joy!

Back to the oldest established. Ali would like to rehearse with the chaps next Tuesday so please check your diaries. The numbers have changed since the last proper rehearsal so there is some deliberation about the on-stage groupings but Ali makes a decision and they proceed. The dance routine doesn't work properly since it hasn't been rehearsed enough unfortunately so Ali simplifies it.  Walking will still happen and hats will still be raised, however.  Back to the beginning and after a brief discussion about the cue that needs to be given, they start with the recitative section. Ali wonders if the new move is too frantic but the verdict seems to be that it's okay.

Now it's on to the gambling circles and there are a couple of changes for people to be aware of. Also, Ali would like the gamblers to find out on the Internet how to play craps. I really hope they don't just google 'crap' because that may not give them the answer they need.

Most of the chaps are now dismissed but Ali keeps a few to rehearse dance steps. It would be so much easier if they could make the rehearsal on Tuesday, which will be in a proper studio with mirrors and everything!  There's a certain amount of punching going on, rehearsed to a count at the moment. Music will be added at a later date....  Meeting in the foyer of the sports centre on Tuesday, rather a different use for it.

Not Stepping on Anyone's Toes (I hope!)

In case anyone thinks that this show is coming together via a single rehearsal of 2.5 - 3 hours each week, you need to know that between the two blogs there have been: a script rehearsal; a Sunday rehearsal, going through songs, dancing and acting; a committee meeting; and a dance rehearsal for everyone in Havana.  We start again tonight in Havana, probably to see if people have remembered from last night because it seems likely that not everyone wrote down their dance steps, though Harry the Horse proudly announced on Facebook that he had done that as soon as he got home (possibly hoping for brownie points from Ali, but more likely hoping not to forget the dance steps).

There is now a waiter in Havana!  Cheers! The stage has been marked out in chairs, so that people have an idea of how much space they have, and where the entrance/exit is. Ali wants to start from the beginning of the end, though she does then clarify whereabouts she means.  It's the last six of pages of the score, where the music is marked as 'cubanos', 'samba' and 'rhumba' and so the dancers are on straightaway, recalling those steps from last night.  Now, of course, they need to work in Sky and Sister Sarah, so the pairs who had rehearsed a fortnight ago have to take it one step further, to use an appropriate euphemism.  Choreographing chaos in such a way that it looks convincing is quite a challenge.  Once the planning is all done, we start the actual rehearsal - a line of dialogue as the cue and then let the mayhem begin!  Great hilarity and we reach the end without Ali stopping us, so presumably it's gone mostly according to plan.  Someone has been carried off through a 'wall' but other than that, it's officially 'okay'.  It is astonishing, however, how much time it takes to organise who is pulling whose hair when (yes, it's that kind of fight).

Meanwhile, in the lobby outside the ladies, there are some hotbox girls. I don't know if they're rehearsing or just gossiping, but time will tell.  In another classroom, Nathan and Adelaide are rehearsing 'Sue Me', trying to sing it despite their mutual ill health and to choreograph it despite falling about in hysterics.

(The hotbox girls have now come back. They tell me they were definitely rehearsing, even with a small audience. So credit where it's due!)

Havana is run again. It was different the second time, so perhaps it'll be third time lucky. The girls who are fighting are asked to do more arguing than physical fisticuffs, and now we're going to do it again. Fourth time lucky?  They're still off a little too early, so with a staggered clearing, perhaps it will spin out the emptying of the stage a bit more. Last time through, Ali says. In a voice that suggests she means it.  There was a slight hustle at the end this time as they left it a bit late, but there is a musical cue in the speed of the music.

Now Havana has been done virtually to death, we're back to Runyonland.  This seems to take more preparation than you would have thought, especially since the chairs are cleared quite quickly, but a few of the cast need some information before they go on the stage as a couple of people are new to their roles.  In addition, a couple of people aren't here, which will add to the difficulties of the rehearsal.  One is having a birthday, although we have another birthday boy here anyway, so Ali isn't convinced.  (I did ask our lovely repetiteur if he could play happy birthday at some point, but unfortunately there just wasn't time.  Or the birthday boy paid him off.  One or the other.)

Things appear to go quite smoothly although Ali is still briefing in the wings. The starlets are already practising walking in their infeasibly high heels.  We're also a bobby-soxer down tonight. (It's probably just me, but every time I hear the phrase 'bobby soxer' I think of someone in stripy pop-socks. Just saying!)  We reach the end and with very little comment it's back to the beginning and go again.   Ali is breaking in a new policeman so she walks his route with him throughout this rehearsal. This time we carry on into the Tinhorn Fugue as there's quite a bit of movement to be organised during that too.  Twice through appears to be enough for tonight, though Ali still needs people to be aware of who they're following so that no one is late for their entrance.

Now we're going to try Sit Down, though Ali says she will set it next week. Having said that, there does appear to be some setting going on as people place chairs and tables in a layout for the Mission Hall. Then there is the added complication of trying to find a space for the people who aren't here. (Martin suggests just sacking them, but it's not really practicable, however tempting.) The chaps are using their collective armspans in an attempt to define the available space and I really wish I had a photo of that for you, but I was just too slow. 

Once everyone is sitting down, Ali rearranges them all before checking to see where the different choral sections are sitting. This necessitates a little more rearrangement, but eventually we are ready to start singing. Finally Martin has something to do, conducting the choir as they sing!  They have to stop once when Ian gives the rest of the choir the wrong verbal cue but once he's been reminded of what he should have been singing, the choir picks up again pretty quickly. 

When they've sung it through once, Ali gives some instructions as regards the acting that needs to happen while they're all singing. There won't be much jumping around, partly because there's not that much room, but also because it's a chance to show off BCOS' ability to sing choral music.  There will however be some coordinated swaying and sitting down that has to appear reluctant, hanging on to an invisible handrail with your RIGHT hand, people!  However, the standing up prior to the sitting down is currently too early, so it's back to the beginning of the song again.  There is some confusion over exactly which 'sit down' the choir should stand up to, but since the phrase is repeated several times, it is understandable.  Putting hands up on 'to resist' is easier since that's only sung once by the choir.  The directorial team think it's clear, but the run through results in about five people standing up to point and hastily sitting down again about two bars before they're supposed to stand. The word 'sheepish' springs to mind.  But I'm probably being harsh, I know I wouldn't get it right any time soon, which is largely why I'm sitting at the back writing the blog...

We reach the staggered sitting. The hands in the air are not definite enough, though the staggering definitely happens, and the resistance is lasting too long. Refinements are suggested and we start the song again.  A Mexican wave is added which Ali wants them to coordinate with standing, some reaching, stretching and other apparently straightforward arm movements, but putting them into practice may be another matter.  And yet, actually, most of the short routine tried out initially seems to work okay. Back to the beginning....  Not everyone quite manages the standing at the same time, but you know who you are!  We get as far as 'thank the lord' and Ali seems quite pleased with progress.  It is, after all, what rehearsal is for.  From the top again. Ian offers to sing his opening lines in a more operatic voice but the look Martin gives him persuades him otherwise. After some mock-scooping to his opening note, we're off again. By the time we get to thanking the lord, Ali says the only thing that is still going wrong is the sitting down, but the rest is almost there.  There's only three pages to go now and some brief instructions are given. Once the choir have remembered to sing, and they only need to be reminded once,  Martin thinks that provided the tempo doesn't get too fast, it'll be okay.

There's some more swaying and variations on pointing to be done in these final pages, and some complicated standing and sitting. The timing of this needs to be gone over quite carefully and you can guarantee that it won't work properly on the first run through, but explaining it very specifically initially will help the clarity of later criticisms.  The singing sounds pretty good but the standing appeared from behind to be fairly random.  A talk-through of the stages is quickly done and then it's back to the 'happy hands' moment.  Apparently the result of that is 'good' in Ali's opinion. This sounds like praise. Back to the happy hands moment, do it again and then we'll do the whole thing.  Tying to get the swaying in the right direction and the sitting at the right time appears to be trickier even than we had imagined and Adelaide and Sky stand behind Martin, claiming to be helping with the direction since Martin is playing the piano now. There is a brief pause as Nathan is accused, incorrectly, of singing the wrong lyric, but the singing picks up again quickly. The swaying on the squeaky school chairs is beginning to sound like a somewhat unseaworthy vessel by now but we get to the end and there are shrieks of delight and applause even though Ali is not quite convinced by the performance. It is to be done one more time and then people have to go and write it down.

Ali had planned to go through Luck Be a Lady as well, but we've run out of time. Men, you'll need to be at the Thursday rehearsal!   Then, off home.  I think we're all too tired for the usual/occasional post-rehearsal pub visit.

I should at this point also give a mention to Nicky who has been sitting at the back of the hall too for most of the evening, trying to give out tickets that have already been purchased and collect money for those ordered but not yet paid for.  Neil S-S currently holds the record for most tickets sold, with a massive £567.90 in spite of some of them being concessions.  That's 65 tickets! Normally Andrew holds the record but he has been pipped to the post this time. So the challenge to the rest of us now is - beat that!

Needing Luck to be a Generous Lady!

Men Only tonight, as we work on a dance for the gamblers! Still quite noisy as they arrived but Martin is certain that they'll be so busy that it won't be a problem for long.  Also - the press are here! Peter Barrington from the Bicester Advertiser is going to write a feature on us and has come on a fact-finding mission.

After a brief discussion with Martin, Ali greets the men. She needs dancers. Who would 'like a go?' This is a potentially worrying phrase, but on we go. A few volunteer.  In the end, all are told they will give it a go and if it doesn't work, some will be sidelined.  It will be smooth, not moving on every beat... But to begin with, a lesson, so tall men at the back. Ali tries out a few different movements, any that people clearly can't do will be left out of the final choreography.   What looks like an untangled grapevine with tap-dance arms is already showing signs of being tricky.  Then she wants to speed it up. Surprisingly, this seems to make it easier. Then she adds a heel-down step that needs to be coordinated with clicking fingers.  Large arm movements, all in the same direction at the same time? Could prove challenging.  Then all the men have to try what is effectively a rocking horse step, turning their heels definitively at the back.  She asks if they all feel okay with that...  The answer is incoherent but not a clear no.

We're almost ready to try it to music, so Ali groups the men in semicircles rather than leaving them in the three lines that they have been. Now the steps begin to happen in a more coordinated fashion, with alternate men doing different steps. It's going to require a degree of concentration.  There's turning and sweeping and switching involved, though even then someone manages to overcomplicate what he's trying to do. Each step also needs to be with pointy toes. We could be here some time...   Some of the steps are to look as though dice are being thrown, but in between we practise clicking fingers rhythmically. Then the music starts. Slowly.  It's a little like something out of West Side Story, but they're both set in New York so that's probably suitable!

Suddenly, after lots of working through it at half speed, the music is brought up to tempo and you would be forgiven for expecting chaos to ensue. Remarkably, it doesn't. There are a couple of times when people aren't in quite the right place at the right time, but on the whole...  There is general satisfaction until Ali points out that it has taken 40 minutes for us to get about a tenth of the way through the number.

Moving onto the next few bars, the men are on their knees, still preparing to throw their dice and then up again, moving round and high-fiving each other. There is now mention of how the words and steps fit together but none of the men seems unduly concerned at the multitasking that will be required.  In fact, they won't be singing during the dance, but the tune is the familiar part of the chorus, so they need to imagine the words. Doing this section to the music proves too much, so Martin suggests they try standing still and just clapping at the right point in the music.  They can manage this, so now we try again with the moves.

We carry on, working through the routine slowly until Ali tries to include a step that involves rolling across a partner, back to back. This degenerates into grown men rolling on the floor and giggling. Just as well the teenagers aren't here tonight!  "Find a space" is the instruction. They need to practise the move somewhere where they aren't likely to collide with each other.  Ali decides, after counting up the number of dodgy-hip-dodgers, that she will modify or incorporate that move elsewhere.  Time now to rehearse something akin to Greek dancing.  With their arms around each other's shoulders, they form two circles that  twist and turn and even take the opportunity to rehearse their sequence independently when Ali is revising things with the other group.   The steps are mostly there now, but not quite up to speed.  As soon as the music is added in again, there's a problem and they have to slow it down again. Particularly getting up and clapping seems to be a bit tricky.  They go through it again, with Martin shouting 'clap' at the appropriate moment. So far, so good, but then they do it again without the shouting and the coordination of the clapping seems to have gone again. Either it's on the wrong beat or with the wrong hand or just not happening at all!  Ali needs them to be anticipating the next clap as they're doing the current one, but when they try to walk it through, some of them feel they need the music. With lots of counting and looking around, they reach the end of the musical phrase but there is still a gap. Ali creates a step involving a manly grip between the pairs in which they can twirl each other and also fill in the hiatus. Swing, lean back, imagine you have eastern European ancestors, lengthen shoulders and arms and trust your partner! Once more to the music and then we move on.

Now it's the rocking horse step again. Into two rows, rather than four groups, which strangely proves more difficult than you might expect, while they hold invisible hats on their heads so that ultimately, as one spectator remarks, they look more as though they are rehearsing an advert for Nurofen.  But they do reach a point at which Ali thinks they can try it as part of the overall sequence and our pianist plays the piece from the beginning of the intro, partly so that they can hear how long they have to wait before the dance steps start.

Then Ali goes through the steps again slowly with those who ask, so pianist Paul leaves (it is 9.30, after all!) and Martin quietly plays the music so that Sky can rehearse his solo singing part, not least because he's been here all evening and hasn't been involved in the dancing.  Back to the beginning of the dance and Ali decides that one of the steps is going to have to be scrapped/replaced if they can't improve it.  More deliberations as she works out how to get everyone into one big circle rather than two small ones. It sort of works though trying to do the steps while Martin does triplets on the wood blocks is very difficult.

Ali's plans for the gamblers while Sky starts singing the main song are dealt a fatal blow when she is reminded that there are 12 pages of dialogue between the end of the gamblers' dance and the beginning of the song.  However, she'll deal with that later, she decides.  For the actual song, we try out a tableau effect, even for when the gamblers join in the singing, carefully arranged in groups that take into account which section of the choir the gentlemen are from.

Finally, Ali is satisfied that they have reached a point at which most of the dancing is mostly right most of the time.  The men are told, however, that they need to go home and write down their steps before they forget them.

In the background of all this, meanwhile, Victor the Assistant Wardrobe Mistress is measuring Big Jule with his fat suit in place, so that his actual costume will fit. This is just as well, since Big Jule wasn't involved in the dancing (Ali felt that with the fat suit, it would not be practicable) and he was getting a little fidgety.   Also in the background, Steve has tried to take a few photos of principals for the programme, but it's a little difficult when they're all kept in permanent rehearsal mode!  And last but by no means least, Nicky has been taking orders for tickets. Good news - we have an audience every night!