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)