Auditioning: Monday 10th February 2014: Dry Run for Singing Assessment

Monday 10th February 2014 

Dry Run for Singing Assessment

Today was an opportunity for us to perform our solos in front of the class and get some peer feedback and also watch others and give them some constructive criticism. 

I felt it was necessary to take part in this dry run to enable me to prepare for next week's assessment. 

For the dry run I had actually prepared a backing track to use but unfortunately the CD didn't work and I had to sing it a cappella. I was slightly embarrassed by this and felt that it impacted my timing of the song and pace as I didn't have anything to follow. But I carried on as best as I could. 

During the song, I felt that I added a lot of characteristic and confidence that the character of 'Fanny Brice' would have herself. I kept standing in the same place but used gestures to aid my performance and to keep it upbeat. I also felt that reacting and directing comments to the audience allowed them to be absorbed in my performance and be far more responsive to what I was singing. 

As this was a musical theatre number, and a very famous one at that, I wanted to give it as much justice as possible. I did start out quite nervous but as the song developed and I felt people were enjoying it, I was far more confident and happy. 

When I got to this part of the song: 

"I'm gonna live and live NOW!Get what I want, I know how! One roll for the whole shebang! One throw that bell will go clang,Eye on the target and wham, One shot, one gun shot and bam!"

I stumbled on the words but I kept my performance up as much as I could, obviously I should have gone through the lyrics more so I knew them completely and this would not have happened, unfortunately I didn't but I was glad that it carried on with the rest of the song. 

When I was finished I received some feedback from my classmates: 

Positives: 

• Max Wilkinson - "Strong characterisation and performance which was enjoyable to watch!" 
• George Hyde - "Projection was strong which led to a confident performance."
• Shannon Allen - "Confident performance and hit some of the bigger notes with the same confidence throughout!" 

Improvements: 

• Freya Hunter - "Make sure to practise with the instrumental as some of the singing was slightly out of tune." 
• Stephanie Ridge - "Breath out before breathing in so you're taking in as much as breath as possible and that will aid your vocal ability and strength." 

It was really helpful to get some feedback from my class about my performance because they were helpful and gave me a boost of confidence too. I'm not really a singer so having some positive feedback about the song and how I used characterisation to aid the performance was fulfilling to me and gave me a boost of adrenaline to really focus down on the song and rehearse so next week was even better. 

It would seem that the acting side of my performance was stronger than the vocal performance so this meant I need to truly focus on practising the song with the instrumental and focusing on my breath intake so the notes were performed to the best of my ability. 

In conclusion, performing to my class and gaining feedback before my assessment has given me a confidence boost and allowed me to know what to practise and rehearse. 

I have never been that confident with singing so singing in front of my class was a big step for me to take and I am happy that I took it because now it's given me that motivation and realisation that maybe with more work and effort into singing I could actually become stronger and a more rounded performer. 

Even though I had gone through the lyrics of the song, it was obvious that they needed more work as I stumbled on the words. I, of course, can't do the same in the real assessment so practising the words and completely knowing them off-by-heart is essential for the assessment. 

I performed the song in detail through my performance but to be fully confident in the song then I do have to work more on my singing ability. But overall, I was happy with the performance and I felt that the audience enjoyed it!

The assessments next week so I will focus on going through the song and the detail of the vocal performance so that next week I perform confidently and as accurately as possible. 

I feel confident in the acting side of my performance of the song and I feel like I've successfully used my research to portray a character which the audience enjoys watching. 

I stumbled upon the words of my song so I need to make sure that I know them before the assessment by just going through the lyrics and listening to the song. 

I hope that next week I take in the comments I received this week and apply them to my rehearsals, most of the comments are just reinforcing what I've already been practising and applying to the song but by doing this it should aid my performance.