Claire's Notes from Oct 27 Stumble-Through!

Hi y'all! Just a few notes to give to the group after our (very good) stumble through on Sunday afternoon. Please read carefully, and make notes in your scripts and scores so that we don't have to take too much time reviewing these in rehearsal.

Hey Ho!

• In general, we now need to start thinking about characters for this piece. Who is your character in this village? What characteristics do they have? Who else do they know or are friends with? Every time you sing Letter C ("soal a soal a soal cake"), you should be interacting with other people in the village. This will take a little time to settle in, but step 1 is you having a good sense of who your character is. We want to portray the feeling of a busy, if down on their luck, community.
• For our "family" (Sara, Dorian, Omercan, Neil, Katelyn + Rowan & Rhian from XYE), it would be nice to see you sticking together more throughout the whole song. When you finish singing your verse at Letter D, it would be nice if Sara and Dorian could guide their family away back into the crowd (arms around shoulders type thing).
• Similarly to the character work mentioned above, in the narration that directly follows Hey Ho!, everyone needs to be in "village mode" (talking, moving around etc). Men exit after the Narrator's line "...who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness". Xara does not exit at all, but reforms for the beginning of Mountain Nights.
• There is NO costume change between Hey Ho! and Mountain Nights.

Mountain Nights

• In our set meeting this week we determined that the Central Fire will actually be very far downstage, all the way to the front. 
• When Xara moves behind Ariana, the triangle needs to be right behind her...as if Xara was an extension of her body. See video for reference. Since Ariana now has to go even further downstage to get to the fire, let's put the original formation closer to Centre Left (rather than in the USL corner) so it's easier to get right behind her.
• Ariana and the Bear need to see each other at the top of page 5 (after Xara triangle has faded back). So Bear Team, the bear needs to be fully onstage by then, face to face with Ariana.
• Bear Team - you will have some bear prototype parts to work with this Sunday at rehearsal!
• Xara exit after Mountain Nights (fade off SL). There IS a costume change between Mountain Nights and Tundra.

Blocking Specific Notes

• Here are the things we need to refine in rehearsal. Please look at these items in your own time but know that I have flagged them and we will review them as a group.
• Tundra - hallway formations, especially 3 & 4, were very messy. Also the 2 lines at the end of the piece were very uneven (Letter F).
• Blow Blow - front/back action at mm 40 is messy.
• Tabula Rasa - sway action mm 75-85 is messy. Try practicing this one at home. Also review how the action gets smaller each time mm 83-85. Erin's notes here.
• Boadicea - All the forest formations were a little messy. Please review - particularly the sequence of the forests, and how you get there. We will review as a group.

Thanks everyone! See you Sunday!

Notes for Sunday Nov 1

Hi everyone!

Thank you for the great work on Sunday! Here's what we've got going on for this Sunday:

Sun Nov 1

1:15 Physical Warmup

1:25 Vocal Warmup

1:35 Jul Jul Music

1:50 Jul Jul Blocking

2:20 Music (SATB & SSAA)

3:20 Break

3:35 Blocking

5:00 Coast Best of Ball Music

The men will be at rehearsal from 1:15-2:45 pm. As you know, both Jul Jul (XCTE + men) and Hanget Soi (XCTE only) need to be memorized for this Sunday. In addition to blocking Jul jul, we'll be working on the blocking for Ariana's Lament, Hanget Soi, and furthering blocking work on The Wind.

There will be detailed blog posts to come this week from both Claire & Christina with notes from Sunday's stumble-through. Please make sure to read thoroughly to know what to work on!

Coast Best of Ball - Thurs Nov 5 - Lord Nelson Hotel

We have received more information from the organizers about this event. Soundcheck will be at 6pm. If you cannot make the soundcheck, you can still take part in the performance but we would ask whoever CAN make the soundcheck to try and be there so we can get a sense for the sound levels etc. Our guess right now is that the flash mob will take place at approx 9:30 pm.

In terms of dress, we are not going to wear our uniforms so that we can blend in with the audience. We've been advised that the event doesn't have a specific dress code, but since there will be a red carpet, they are expecting that people will dress up. So, just look fabulous! More details to come this week.

There are now sound files available for We Are the Champions posted on the blog. Please review before this Sunday's rehearsal. Thank you to Leah, Kallie, and Sara for creating an arrangement for us!

We Are the Champions

Hi everyone! Here's a link to the sound files for We Are the Champions, courtesy of Sara, Kallie and Leah!

We Are the Champions (if you switch to List view, rather than grid, the full names of each file will be visible)


This is only the chorus.
(Note: the A1 line is only split for the first half of the chorus.)
They will have the set up for the intro and the bridge for everyone by Saturday. 

Notes from October 25th

The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun

Singers embody the forest, scenery etc.

Blocking

Entering from SR: Jordyn, Tenille, Joanna, Nikki, Sydney, Grace, Rachael D, Carolyn, Maria, Georgia, Leah B, Sarah, Mackenzie

Entering from SL: Julia, Krystal, Leah P, Sara, Jess, Meghan, Sarah-Jean, Paige, Brianna, Talisa, Colleen, Hayley

M. 14 – Altos enter from two downstage legs, (half on Stage Right, half on Stage Left) fill the front of the stage

M. 18 – Sops enter from two upstage legs, (half on Stage Right, half on Stage Left) fill the back of the stage

Stay in these positions until M. 30

M. 30 – Break into 5 groups, fairly tightly clumped

Group 1 (USR) Rachael D, Sarah, Carolyn, Georgia, Maria

Group 2 (Centre) Nikki, Mackenzie, Grace, Leah B, Brianna

Group 3 (USL) Colleen, Hayley, Paige, Sarah-Jean, Meghan

Group 4 (DSR) Tenille, Jordyn, Sydney, Joanna

Group 5 (DSL) Jess, Talisa, Krystal, Julia, Sara, Leah P.

M. 44 – Move to mixed scattered

M. 54 – 56 – Find a new spot in the mixed scattered formation. You need to be in place and facing forward by the downbeat of M. 56

These people should be near SL,  and should line up in this order when you go off (from downstage to upstage) : Jordyn, Sarah, Nikki, Meghan, Hayley, Rachael D, Leah B, Paige, Krystal, Julia, Carolyn, Mackenzie, Georgia,

These people should be near SR, and should line up in this order when you go off (from downstage to upstage) : Jess, Joanna, Grace, Sara, Sydney, Leah P, Colleen, Tenille, Maria, Brianna, Talisa, Sarah-Jean

M. 62 – Split in the centre (as above), go offstage.

M. 67 – Enter just to the edge of the stage, forming two lines facing each other across the stage

M. 71 – 74 –Small steps toward the centre, start with right foot, one step on the downbeat of each bar. Only bring feet together on M. 75

M. 79 – Pivot to create 4 lines

- front line,  front half of the line on Stage Left

- second line, front half of the line on Stage Right

- third line, back half of the line on Stage Left

- fourth line, back half of the line on Stage Right

Remain here until the end of the piece.

Notes for Sunday Oct 27

Hi everyone!

Thank you for your wonderful work on Sunday! I think we are making huge progress and as of this Sunday we are going to start running sections of the show with full blocking, music, narration, and transitions! Very exciting!

Reminder that this week's rehearsal is at BETHANY UNITED CHURCH in the Fellowship Hall. The church's address is 7171 Clinton Ave., but the entrance to the Hall is off of Joseph Howe Drive.

Schedule

1:15 Small Group Scene/Text work

• Bear group (Sarah-Jean, Carolyn, Jess, Nikki, Julia)
• Scene 5 (Narrator, Ariana, Lucy, Queen)

2:00 Full Company Arrive - Warmups

2:15 The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun Blocking

2:50 Wind Blocking Part 1

3:40 Break + Fundraising Update

4:00 Men arrive

Run Sections of Show w/ Jennette & Full Company

• Prologue (XCTE, men)
• Scene 1 (XCTE, Narrator, Ariana, Ariana’s Family, Alan)
• Scene 2 (XCTE, Narrator, Ariana, Lucy, Alan)
• Beginning Scene 3 up to end of Boadicea (XCTE, men, Narrator, Ariana)

5:10 Jul Jul music

5:30 Full Company Depart

Special Rehearsal - Scene 3 (Narrator, Ariana, Leah, Colleen, Tenille)

You'll notice that we haven't called XCTE until 2pm, in order to do some small group rehearsing. Please arrive promptly at 2pm so we can get started! Men, please arrive a few minutes before 4pm so that we can jump right into our "stumble through" of the first half of the show!

Memorization

Reminder that The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun is to be memorized for this Sunday. And looking ahead to Sunday Nov 1, please keep working diligently on Hanget Soi as it will need to be memorized for that date (as well as Jul Jul!).

Tickets for Tales of the Old North

We have worked out a system with the theatre so that performers can sell tickets to our show hand to hand in advance, rather than directing everyone to purchase tickets via the Alderney Landing website/TicketPro. On Sunday you will be given an order form and will have until November 15 to collect ticket money and submit to Erin. Although we would please ask you NOT to post this on social media, you can let your family and friends know in person that by purchasing tickets directly from you, they will save about $3.00 in service fees per ticket! :D What a deal!!

Christmas Wreaths

Our annual Christmas wreath fundraiser will be starting soon! Tenille will be giving us an update on how the fundraiser works this Sunday at rehearsal. Thank you to Tenille for being our all-star wreath coordinator!

That's all! See you on Sunday!

Notes from October 18th

Hey Ho! Nobody Home - Video (no blocking)

Road Map reminders:

-       Sing straight through to the first ending of letter D (verse 2)

-       Repeat Letter C

-       Sing verse 3 at Letter D

-       Repeat Letter C, jump to the Coda (the words are “made us all” with “all” only lasting only an eighth note). Solo 1 begins with the word “Now”.

-       Continue to Letter E and sing through to the end of the piece

Blocking - VIDEO

General notes:

-       when you are walking around, be sure to use all of the space, and be purposeful in your walking

-       think about who your character might be in the village (you’ve been suffering through storms, there is the ritual of lighting the fire etc.) and make that clear in the way that you move around. It’s fine as well for there to be small groups of two or three who always travel around together.

M. 1 – Letter B – Standing at the back of the stage,  mixed (men mostly together, near the centre) on platforms and on the floor.

Letter B – Lights come up, you stay where you are

M. 31 (and into Letter C) – Move forward and fill out the space

Letter C

“Soal a soal a soal cake” – look at each other

“Please good missus a soal cake” – STOP, snap to look at the audience

“an apple…” look at each other again, walk around : Alan move to downstage right and Jess to downstage, everyone else mill about until you get to the side & back of the stage by letter D.

Letter C (second time)

More walking about. End up on the other side of the stage

“Please good missus a soal cake” STOP, snap to look at the audience

Continue to mill – then be at the sides of the stage at Letter D – Sara, Katelyn, two XYE girls, Dorian, Neil and Omercan at the centre as a family unit.

Letter C (third time)

Walking!

“Please good missus a soal cake” STOP, snap to look at the audience

By the end of C, men will be clustered in the centre near the back, two descant groups in the front on either side of the fire (Solo1 downstage left, Solo2 downstage right), Sops fill the space on stage right, Altos fill the space on stage left. Don’t isolate the descant singers, but they are at the very front. YOU MUST BE HERE ON TIME :-) 

Letter E to the end – Stand and sing

Boadicea - VIDEO

Singers embody the forest. Make sure you move very smoothly from one formation to the other.

First page of music – XCTE drift onstage until you are just on the periphery (Sops Stage right, Altos stage left – leave space near the front of the stage for the men on either side)

M. 10 – Men enter (Tenors DownSR, Basses DownSL)

Letter A – (FOREST A) Spread out to sectional mixed scattered formation, but men stay near to each other and near the front.

M. 29 – 31 Move to FOREST B

Letter B – (FOREST B) Diagonal formation from USR to DSL. Men will be in the centre of the formation. Sopranos upstage, Altos downstage. Ariana will walk through this formation. See photos for standing order. 

M. 42 Move to FOREST C

Letter C – (FOREST C) Two lines (groups of 2 or 3) with a channel down the centre – Tenors & Sops SR (Tenors in front), Basses and Altos SL (Basses in front).

M. 54 Move to FOREST D

Letter D – (FOREST D) Three very close semicircles around Ariana who will be front and centre. See photos for standing order, the lines will meet in the centre.

M. 69 Move to FOREST E

Letter E – (FOREST E) Fade very slowly backward (Sops to USR corner, Altos to USL corner maintaining your positions; Tenors and Basses also drift back, staying toward the front of the group)

M. 89 – End – Sopranos and Altos slowly leave the stage, walking backward. After the final chord, Tenors and Basses fade back as well.

The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun

Pay attention to the unintuitive rhythms (e.g. page 4 “so deep”; page 5 “Paradise with me, awake…”

M. 52 – All Sops and Middles sing the top line

Hanget Soi

Use the tools that have been provided for diction and pronunciation :-) 


Videos : 
I See You
Don't Be Afraid

Notes for Sunday Oct 18

Hi everyone!

Thank you for a very productive rehearsal on Monday evening. We now have six pieces blocked and are charging ahead with the rest. As we noted at rehearsal, we are making great progress, but we are sliding backwards on pieces we memorized/blocked earlier in the process (Mountain Nights, Tundra etc). We NEED to make sure we are keeping everything perfect from week to week so that we do not slide backwards and use up rehearsal time on review. We totally believe that this is within all of your capabilities, and we know that if we all work together, we can make a beautiful and brilliant show! Don't be afraid to reach out to other singers if you need help - sectional parties are a great idea, Erin's blog posts are full of helpful information, and Christina and I are happy to answer questions as needed outside of rehearsal time. We try to give you as many resources as possible to help you - we want this show to be as sparkly and amazing as it can be!!

For this coming Sunday:

• Hey Ho! Nobody Home and Boadicea are to be memorized (music)
• We will be blocking the above two pieces on Sunday with the men.
• Please review the first four pages of the script in detail this week. While most of you do not have lines to learn, it is incredibly important that you become familiar with the narrator's text, especially when it comes to ***cue lines***. As we work through more of the detailed blocking, memorizing your cue lines for coming on/off stage, starting a new blocking action etc, becomes crucial. Step 1 is to become really familiar with the text and the shape of the story.
• You will receive the second half of the script on Sunday.

Schedule

1:15   Physical/Vocal Warmups (XCTE + men)

1:35  SATB Repertoire/Blocking

3:45  Break

4:00  Guest Speaker (tentative) AND/OR SSAA music/blocking rehearsal

Hey Ho! Solo Results

*note - we are cutting Verse 1 at Letter D

Letter D

• Verse 2 - Alan (Solo 1); Jess (Solo 2)
• Verse 3 - Sara J + 2 XYE singers (Solo 1); Dorian, Neil, Omercan (Solo 2)

Letter E

• Nikki, Colleen, Sarah N (Solo 1); Paige, Mackenzie, Sydney (Solo 2)

Additional Things

• I have posted a poll on the Facebook group surrounding a potential performance opportunity on Sat Oct 24. Please respond with your availability as soon as possible.
• XCTE fall fees are now overdue - please coordinate with Erin if you have not already spoken with her or submitted your tuition.
• Please review and sign your choir contract and submit to Erin if you have not yet done so.

Blocking Notes from October 12th

Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind (Ariana’s lonely song)  Video

Opening formation – open curtains

M. 8 – 16

“Blow blow thou winter wind” Lean forward into the wind, arms pull back

“Thou are not… because thou art not seen.” Stand and sing

“Although thy breath be rude” Lean back with the wind

M. 17 - 18 Cross to the other side of the stage, end mixed scattered.

M 20 -  Reach right hand, left hand, sweep hands across to the right, then left and allow that movement to carry you back to your original side, end in MIXED SCATTERED.

M 26-28 Peel back to the open curtain formation.

M. 29 - 36

“Freeze, freeze… “ Lean forward into the wind, arms pull back

“that does not bite… thy sting is not so sharp” Stand and sing

“As a friend remembered not” Lean back with the wind

M. 37 – 38 Sop 1s & Alto move backwards, Middles move forward, ending in mixed scattered formation

M. 40 Step back with right foot, lean right shoulder back – then Sop 1s & Altos push forward and step with their right foots while Middles reach forward with right hand and pull back. Return to MIXED SCATTERED

M. 44  Same as M. 17 (side to side cross, arms sweep up and cross back)

M. 51 Peel back the curtain

Tabula Rasa - Video

Beginning until the end of page 4:  Xara will be at the back of the stage, providing a backdrop for Ariana & Lucy. See photo for standing locations (Carolyn between Talisa and Jordyn)

Letter C – Come down off the platforms and fill the stage in mixed scattered by measure 53. Path TBD.

Letter D – M. 74 – Stand and sing

M. 75 – 82 Arms come up in a hug, sway one bar right, then rock back to centre. Lead with your right shoulder. Sense of comforting and keeping safe. See video.

M. 83 – 85 Gradually come to stillness and drop arms slowly to sides.

M. 86-87 Complete stillness

Don’t Be Afraid - Video

Remain offstage until measure 12. Then enter just enough that you can see Christina. Just on the periphery. Sing from here until Letter B.

Letter B – Enter a little more, remaining on the edges of the stage. ¾ turn toward Christina.

Letter D – Fill the space (spread around Ariana & Lucy, don’t be further toward the front of the stage than they are)

Letter E – Hold hands with your neighbour (Carolyn hold hands with Maria)

Letter F – Release hands and spread out to fill the space even more (it’s ok at this point to be further downstage than Ariana & Lucy)

Tundra Video 

Mountain Nights Beginning Lines: