Rehearsals - Week 2 - 28th October 2013

Another really successful week of rehearsals!

We hit some problems on our Tuesday rehearsal with Sarah, our choreographer being ill and not being able to make it. What did we learn from this? Always have a contingency plan! With having just over an hour to rejig the whole evening, it left us rather grasping at straws for the rest of the evening.

BUT - our cast worked really hard on Tuesday evening and a good few songs were learnt.

During the week we had a few meetings as a production team to re-assess the rehearsal planning process, coming to the conclusion that as there are so many members of our prod team, we all need a particular remit for who is doing what with who in which rehearsals. This said, we all planned Saturday's rehearsal together, and this was always gonna be a strenuous rehearsal!

And just an honorary mention for our daughters chorus for their sheer levels of stamina. Saturday was, well, bloody productive. We got 8 songs taught and a whole heap'o choreography learnt by the daughters which was no mean feat. It was a good 6 hours worth of rehearsal, it was hot and sweaty and strenuous for Sarah and the chorus, but it was looking and sounding amazing by the end of the evening.

We're one rehearsal away from the Act 1 finale, as is the rehearsal plan, needless to say, we're stupidly ahead of schedule and it looks like we'll get it all taught before Christmas.

Say wha'?! 'tis crazy. Jon and I are sat together as I write this and we're fangirling about how well it's going and just how amazing our cast are.

The week ahead is looking just as busy. After the first orchestra rehearsal was postponed, we have that this weekend with almost a full orchestra (bar 1 member). This Tuesday, we're teaching up to and including the Major General song, which leaves next Saturday's rehearsal for teaching all of the principle parts for the Act 1 Finale, for us to teach the chorus parts for the Act 1 finale which means that by Tuesday 5th November we'll have the whole first act taught.

That's the plan, at least.

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

Rehearsals - Week 1 - 21st October 2013

Having cast the show, we were faced with the rather daunting prospect of starting rehearsals. Come 15th October, we had our first chorus rehearsal and I think I speak on behalf of all the production team when I say how impressed we all were with everyone that turned up, and indeed the amount of people that turned up. We had 30-35 cast members which is a huge increase on last year!

Beginning as informally as ever with some warm ups et al, attention was turned to the first song that we'd planned to teach. With Thomas at the piano, Pour, oh Pour the Pirate Sherry was taught in little
under an hour. I must confess this rather left us scratching our heads as to what to do next, it took a lot less time than had been anticipated, and moreover it sounded better than any of us had expected.

So, what better than a Pirate battle? Chorus were split into two groups for some group work, seeing who could 'perform' the song the best, and, y'know it was certainly something. We had a text from AMD Katherine Bond saying she could hear us from the library!

This was of course followed up with the usual trip to the pub, success all round. First rehearsal, tick.

We were aware though that we had planned Saturday rehearsals from the outset and so come Saturday 19th, the first batch of principles joined us to learn their respective solos and begin blocking with them. The way this system is designed is to teach the principles their solos a few days in advance, so come the Tuesday, the chorus can learn their parts and the song can come together as a whole without having chorus sat round wasting time while the principles learn their part. In more than doubling rehearsal time, it means we can get as much contact time possible with the all the cast.

Again, rehearsals on Saturday were a success. Jon and I, along with Charli and Sarah got the first block of songs taught and began staging and getting lines run with Joe, Robin, Jenny, Alex and Charlie. Sage to say, I think it proves testament to the organisation of the production that we can have the first 4 songs taught to some degree to the whole cast. In a week. Considering that we have 21 weeks from first rehearsal to opening!

The week ahead will be run similarly, with chorus rehearsals on Tuesday teaching all the parts for the first block of songs and principles being called on the Saturday to teach them the next set of songs and so on. Of course, this weekend we have the first rehearsal with the orchestra. So it's a pretty busy weekend, but exciting nonetheless!

Feedback from the cast so far is almost universally positive, we're a happy production team. If you want to join our ranks on stage then our open chorus rehearses Tuesday evenings in building 34 on Highfield Campus!

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

Audition Weekend - 14th October 2013

So, we have a cast! I've sat down to write this on the Monday after our auditions weekend and I'm still absolutely exhausted. Alas, without further ado, it gives us all great pleasure to introduce our principles:

Frederic - Alexander Conway

Mabel - Rosie Bowen

Pirate King - Joseph Hand

Samuel - Robin Harris

Ruth - Jenny Samuel

Chief of Police - Pyotr Kurzin

Edith - Alex Blelloch

Kate - Sophie Brent

Isobel - Charlie Rowen

Major-General Stanley - Samuel Williams

The Auditions

Auditions began on the Friday night, with a panel of 6, comprising of Directors Jon and Ian, Musical
Directors Thomas and Katherine, Producer Charli and Choreographer Sarah.

As is the format of LOpSoc auditions, the auditionee sang a song of their choosing, a range test to gauge where their voice lay and some libretto work (monologues, dialogues etc). On the Friday night alone, we had 14 auditions and then beginning on Saturday at midday, we had another 17 auditions, bringing our total to the weekend to 31.

What struck all of us in particular was the standard of auditions, and we all agreed when it came to deciding who we wanted to call back that there wasn't a single bad audition, nor anyone we wouldn't feel totally happy with putting on stage. This was reflected in the fact that of 31 auditions, we had to call back 18 people for consideration.

The Callbacks

We were only able to cast two principle roles off the back of the auditions alone, which means we had to call back 18 people for 9 principle roles. For us as a production team, we wanted to avoid the feeling of 're-auditions'. Hence there was an emphasis on relaxed teamwork and informality about the day.

We hadn't anticipated the high levels of people we'd have to be calling back so there was a bit of an emergency planning meeting the night before which didn't finish until 3am. Probably why we were all a bit highly strung on the Sunday!

We split into two groups with Jon and Sarah taking one group to focus on teamwork and getting to know each other and Ian and Charli taking a more theatrical approach and working on characterisation in order to assess the stage presence of the actors, response to direction et al. During the day, Thomas took individual characters aside in groups of 2 or 3 (depending on how many people we had called back per character), would teach part of a song belonging to that character and then each person would perform the song. This was to see how quickly songs were learnt, how well people put character into their vocals etc.

These sessions ran throughout the day and by about half 4 we had finally finished! It then came to casting...

Casting

There were some characters who we found really easy to cast, and some that we all agreed on from the outset. Unfortunately, there were some characters that we were seriously split on. It meant a lot of discussion and arguments and one of our characters in particular took the best part of 45 minutes to decide on the person we wanted to cast. But, we're happy with our final cast.

Then came the bittersweet task of phoning everyone we had back for callbacks. We all agreed that we would phone people after auditions and callbacks, whether or not the person was successful. After the initial auditions, we phoned everyone either inviting them for callbacks or asking them to be in the chorus, and again after the callbacks we offered parts by phone, just because we felt it was more personal and friendly.

Rhiannon Syndrome

Unfortunately, this round of auditions saw a good few cases of Rhiannon Syndrome. This is where we have auditionees who performed incredibly and we'd have loved to have cast, but there simply wasn't a part for them. And it sucks. Because the auditionees will undoubtedly feel disappointed and like they didn't do well enough, but often, the problem is that they did but there just isn't a character that fits their voice. It actually really upsets us as a Production Team because ultimately, these are often our friends and we have to let them down but it's hard to emphasise how well they did without sounding like we're patronising them! So to everyone who didn't get cast, we're so sorry!

Rehearsals 

So, we start on Tuesday! Everyone is called, we start learning the songs, and it's the start of the hard work everyone'll have to put in, but really, it's the start of the fun!

The Nuffield Theatre

Following the rebranding of the Nuffield Theatre, tickets are now on sale! You can see our listing on the Nuffield Theatre website.

So...

We have a cast. Rehearsals are about to start, the orchestra is almost complete, and in 5 months we'll be on stage in the Nuffield.

From myself, Jon, Ian, Charli, Sarah and Katherine, you guys are awesome, and, we cannot wait to start working with you!

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

October, ahoy! - October 3rd 2013

Sorry for the lack of posting of late, it's been a busy few weeks!

In between, we've had the bunfight and confirmation of our auditions, we've also had our welcome meeting, met some amazing freshers and our orchestra is only a few members away from completion!

Bunfight

Alex, Jon and Ian at the Bunfight

So, at the bunfight we signed up about 140 people including singers and musicians on one of our most successful bunfights. Of course, this means lots of singing, dressing up as Pirates and shouting at scared Freshers, but it seemed to work, and we got the word out there about Pirates and Sweeney!

Welcome Meeting

Our welcome meeting saw plenty of people turn up old and new to learn about LOpSoc and Pirates, including teaching some songs and hitting the pub afterwards to get to know our freshers and it was all such fun. Such fun!

Auditions

Audition information:

11th and 12th OCTOBER 

11th October 6pm-Late  

12th October 12pm-Late

BOTH BUILDING 34 

More audition information can be found on the LOpSoc Website  and on the Facebook Event.

Orchestra

Our orchestra is almost all complete! We meet for the first time this coming Saturday, and are still looking for violins, a cellist and a bassist. So, if you see this, please email me! MD@LOpSoc.co.uk - It definitely looks like we'll have an orchestra of around 30, including me conducting! So it'll be packed, but sound AMAZING! Or so I hope..!

Any more?!

We're all very excited. Frankly. So so so excited.

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

Piratical Apprentices - Welcome 2013 Freshers! - Saturday 17th August

So, as an update on LOpSoc itself, we just returned from performing at the 20th International G&S Festival in Buxton, which was incredibly fun!

But, now that has finished, it means that our current performance is 'The Pirates of Penzance', to be performed at the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton in March 2014.

Ruddigøre at the Pavillion Arts Centre, Buxton

As a guide for freshers who are looking to perform with us, we're LOpSoc (Light Opera Society), at the University of Southampton, and this year we're performing Pirates, as well as Sweeney Todd in summer 2014. 

Most importantly, we have an unauditioned chorus. Which means anyone can join, and we're the only Performing Arts society at Southampton to have an unauditioned show this season! Though our principles will be auditioned, and we will have smaller auditioned choruses as well, literally anyone can be in the cast!

Auditions will be running alongside auditions for Theatre Group and Showstoppers just after freshers' week, and you'll be able to find us in The Cube during the bunfight to talk to us about the show and the society itself. 

I'll be there recruiting musicians to join the LOpSoc orchestra, as we're planning on having a 28 piece orchestra to play in the band-pit for the production. All of the music performed is live and we'll be rehearsing from mid-November. If you're a violinist in particular, please email me! (MD@LOpSoc.co.uk)

LOpSoc itself, is just the most fun. We're an incredibly welcoming society, we're always spending time together, and having joined LOpSoc during my freshers' week last year, I can say without hesitation, they've become my second family! Don't be intimidated by the whole 'opera'/'operetta' label, it's really a lot of fun, a whole lot of drunken fun with some rehearsing spattered about.

You can find more about LOpSoc on our website - LOpSoc.co.uk - and our own Wiki Page LOpSoc.org.uk - and you can follow us on Twitter as well - @LOpSoc

Any questions? Come and find us, ask us, or email us, or whatever. But come and join us! Huge scale production on a professional stage with a full sized orchestra? What's to lose?!

As for those seasoned LOpSoc-ers who want to know more about the progress of preparations, we're in contact with the Nuffield and have submitted our bit for their 2013/4 brochure:

"A timeless audience pleaser since the day it was first performed in 1879, Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ follows the life of Frederic, a young man mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates. Following their successful performance of ‘Ruddigore’ at the 20th International G&S Festival in Buxton, The University of Southampton’s Light Opera Society present an exuberant large-scale production complete with a 28-piece orchestra, that is perfect for everyone from the most seasoned G&S fan to newcomers who want to experience one of the world’s first examples of popular musical theatre."

A list of recommended auditioned songs is due for release soon, and as well as that, posters and material for the bunfight is coming along well and now Ruddigøre is wrapped up, it's full steam ahead with publicity, preparations and lots of piratical rehearsals.

Your Loving MD, 

Thomas 

(My wiki page)

Musical Profile: Mabel

Ever since I started looking at the parts in Pirates, the one that stood out as the most challenging and the one that will demand the most from the actress is Mabel.

Obviously, there is the weight of expectation on whoever is to play the part. Mabel is the archetypal G&S heroine. A combination of damsel in distress and independent songstress, a large part of Pirates success will depend on the casting of Mabel.

As an MD, what I'll be looking for in the audition more than anything is vocal dexterity. As well as the ability to hit the high notes we would expect of a lead soprano, G&S have written a number of vocal ornamentations in the music. Especially during Act 1, you can see below the type of runs et al that the actress will have to be capable of:

There are some parts that require 'ad.lib' but, here, the actress must have the ability to sing what is written with precision.

Before an ad.lib section in 'Poor Wand'ring One', a trill is needed to be performed for several bars, which isn't an easy thing to sustain.

There are also large sections of runs and scales in Mabel's part,  which will require dedication from the actress to practice and learn to perform. 

Of course, the other thing that will have to be seen in the auditions is the range of the auditionee, especially their upper register. Especially for Mabel, not just the ability to reach the high notes is required, but the ability to sustain that dexterity and lightness in her voice. Again, in 'Poor Wand'ring One', there are bars upon bars of light staccato high Abs that simply cannot be ignored or half-attempted. Those notes must be hit with definition and confidence.

Poor Wand'ring One

The final quality, that is an amalgamation of everything said previously, is the ability to jump from octave to octave seamlessly. Needless to say, this is something required in the part. And also, the ability to ad.lib. This is either going to require considerable work with the right voice to teach them ad.lib sections, or the actress will have to have musical knowledge of how to ad.lib and how to do it in tune, in key and in the right style.

BUT.

Despite all of what's been said, it's an incredible part. But not the only part for females, and in many ways, not the best. There are some amazing alto parts in this show, so, watch this space.

Mabel is a hard part, but it's well worth it.

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

What ought we to do? - 25th June 2013

The planning continues.

Who is needed for what?!

When it comes to planning what needs to be taught to who, when and where is no mean feat, especially for a production this size. As such Jon has put together the pre-plan document to work out these things before a thorough rehearsal schedule can take form, as it were.

And there's a reason something like this needs to be done weeks in advance. Without a fully accessible rehearsal schedule, we would have problems over organisation and what music to learn for us as MDs / rehearsal pianists in time for which rehearsal.

Potential Audition Song List..

As well as that, Jon and I have been putting together a full song list of suggested songs for auditions. As we want to attract a broad range of talent to LOpSoc and this production, our suggested song list, which will be available soon no doubt, covers musical theater, G&S, other operettas as well as some classics. Of course, this had to be done plenty in advance so people could prepare for their auditions as well as the matter of my learning all of these songs on the off-chance people want to sing it in their audition. So y'know. No pressure.

Production Schedule.. so far. 

As well as that, the whole production has had to team together to put together when we are available to do costume fittings, choreography rehearsals (which we've lovingly named LOpSoc Danceathons) which means we've also had to put together a full production schedule. Which has.. more or less.. everything on it. So far, no doubt it'll be added to as we go including production meetings, extra rehearsals, meetings with the Nuffield and publicity drives, etc, etc, etc. So, that's our 'production diary' as it were.

So take this as a warning, you cannot be un-organised and on a production team for a show this large.

We've also had to factor in dates for Sweeney Todd auditions, as well as other shows, concerts, open days, exams, et al. As well as trying to get to grips with when orchestral rehearsals will be as well.

But, it'll be worth it.

I'm sure.

Your Loving MD and Director,
Thomas & Jon

Preparations for Rehearsals - 22nd June 2013

So, no rest for the wicked. Despite preparations going ahead for LOpSoc to take it's 2013 summer production of Ruddigøre up to the International G&S Festival in Buxton, the other thing that I've got to do over summer is prepare rehearsal tracks for the cast to help them learn their parts.

I started doing this for Ruddigøre, and the whole reason for doing this is ensuring that principles and chorus have the ability to continue learning their parts at home, or on the go, or wherever so they can come to rehearsals fully prepared.

Obviously, recording piano rehearsal tracks for all principles, then all sections of the chorus (for example, where songs split into 11 different parts!) takes a great deal of time, so this has to be done in advance.

The cast will initially be taught the music at rehearsals, and if there's anything they're not certain of, both Katherine and I, and hopefully our AMD, will be able to go over the music with them and ensure they know it. Of course, it also aims to cut down time wasted at rehearsal, for example, if a member of the chorus misses a rehearsal, I don't have to teach them their part and waste the time of the rest of the chorus while I take them aside and teach it to them, in that they can go online and find the track they're looking for and learn it themselves.

Set up for recording rehearsal tracks - Summer 2013

So, slowly, I'm sat at the piano recording each part, song by song, so by the time rehearsals start, once a song is covered in rehearsals, the cast can go and listen to the recording and continue learning it via that method.

Of course, while I do this, as you'll see in the photo, I'm also aiming to do a similar thing for Sweeney Todd, our 2014 summer show, and though this show is more or less a year away, the vocal score alone is 400 pages long, and in the interests of time, I wanted to get started now!

This method of recording individual parts seemed to go down really well with cast members for Ruddigøre, so, it made sense to repeat it again this year! Of course, any interested cast members can listen to the soundtrack and find the vocal score online this summer if they want to make a head start on learning chorus parts, etc. The soundtrack recording we will be using can be downloaded from Amazon here: Pirates Soundtrack Recording.

Orchestral scores are also available for the orchestra on the Facebook group for the LOpSoc orchestra, and if you're interested in joining (or want me to send you a copy of a certain part) then email me (MD@LOpSoc.co.uk) and I'll get back to you.

Right, that's it for now, once more into the breach!

Your Loving MD,
Thomas

A Musical Welcome - 19th June 2013

Never one to shy away from shameless self-promotion, I thought I'd use this chance to do a little bit of recruitment.

First of all, I think I speak on behalf of both myself and my co-MD Katherine when I say how we are
excited to be taking on this huge challenge! Which brings me to the reason I'm writing this post, we're looking for people to join us.

Vacancies

Assistant Musical Director
We're looking for a 2013/4 music fresher to come on board with us to help put the show together. They'll be in charge of liaising with the music faculty, recruiting cast and musicians, and any teaching that may need to be done / they'd feel comfortable doing. Both Katherine and I were 2012/3 freshers so there's a history of taking on new musical production team members, and we'd love to have a music fresher on board!

Orchestra Members
What with being in the Nuffield, we're looking at having a 25-30 piece orchestra in the pit, as such, we're looking for the following instruments/instrumentalists:

• 4 Violins
• Cello
• Bass
• Horn
• Bassoon
• 2 Percussion
• Clarinet
• Flute

Rehearsals will initially be on Saturday afternoons from 4-6 but this is subject to confirmation. Basically, come along and join us, we're a lovely bunch, and you'd get your own mention on the Wiki (Click Here)

Cast

Obviously, it goes without saying, we'll be needing a cast to fill the stage. The plan is to have a core group of principles, two auditioned choruses (one male, one female) and then a larger unauditioned chorus! Information about auditions, etc, will all be coming soon. 

If you want any more information, email me: MD@LOpSoc.org.uk

So basically, we're all super-excited. It's gonna be a challenge. But, it's gonna be bloody awesome. 

Come join LOpSoc, we're not a cult. 

Your Loving MD, 

Thomas 

Putting it together - 19th June 2013

This blog is intended to serve two purposes, to keep the world up to date on the production of Pirates of Penzance 2014 and also to serve as a guide for future teams who want to put on a show in the Nuffield.

The idea to put Pirates of Penzance in the Nuffield Theatre first came up as so many ideas do over a Pub lunch. After our performance of "The Sorcerer" at the International Gilbert and Sullivan festival in Buxton we went out for a celebratory meal along with our President Professor Lilley. The coversation quickly turned to future shows, as per our old system Trial by Jury and Ruddigore had already been decided but looking past that it was time for LOpSoc to look at what we were to do for our Nuffield slot (this all happening before the change in the Performing Arts allocation system).

Ian and I got talking and he floated the idea of Pirates of Penzance, having done countless shows together since beginning University we decided to direct it together.  

Nothing much happened for quite a while after the initial conversation, with other shows to focus on there was a lot to do, during that semester the system of allocating the Nuffield changed for the first time in many years, instead of the previous three year allocation cycle between LOpSoc, Theatre Group and Showstoppers, the debate raged for a week or so and the end result of this  was that each society would pitch shows to the PA committee (as well as potentially Nuffield Reps) in future.

LOpSoc were of course put in a tricky situation by this change, 2014 was supposed to be the year where we had the Nuffield and now it looked like we would face a fight to get the slot, compounding this issue the previous system we had used to allocate our shows meant that there was no real pitching experience in the society at the time, luckily however some members had pitched shows before to Showstoppers and Theatre Group and had an idea of how the system worked. Just before Easter we set out to put our team together. In the end we had a team of nine people with potential to expand further

Jon North - Director
Ian Wainwright - Director
Thomas Joy - Musical Director
Katherine Bond - Musical Director
Sarah Hemming - Choreographer
Charli Bradley - Producer
Mike Cottrell - Producer
Emma Joy - Producer
Tab Kimpton - Head of Costumes

The Pitches were held on Monday the 10th of June, during which we pitched against Pure Dance, in the month coming up to the pitch we worked constantly on the pitch to ensure it was as watertight as possible.

Our spoken pitch covered the following aspects of the show most of which was also covered by our written pitch a few months earlier:

• Synopsis
• The Team
• The Cast and Characters
• Costuming
• Set Design
• Lighting
• Sound
• Other Tech
• Audition Plans
• Rehearsal Schedule
• Rehearsal Process
• The Orchestra
• The Music
• A detailed plan on Publicity both internal and external
• The Budget

One aspect we missed was the prospect of Fundraising which we had considered but ultimately left out as we do not anticipate a loss on this show however for a show with rights it may turn out to be more of an issue.

Months of hard work paid off in the end and we got the slot,  with only 9 months to go until opening night there's a lot to do, luckily the team is ready to go.

Nuffield here we come!

-Jon

Thomas and I outside the Nuffield just hours after getting the pitch! (Photo by Emma Joy)