The Filmmaker can not See.

 This week has been slow, what with spending no money and not having a job coupled with the dismal weather here nothing much has happened that's worth blogging about! 

 I did, however, take my own advice (makes a change) and make a video for youtube. I've been thinking about rejoining for years and over the past few weeks have had a flood of ideas and finally on Wednesday I filmed and uploaded my first one.

 I'm still figuring out the editing process, as well as camera settings which right now are pretty darn awful! But that will be part of the fun of making videos, how do I make the quality better without spending a ton of money?

 So here it is! I hope you enjoy my little introduction and until next week.

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Top 5: Shows I've Seen

Ghost

Originally Ghost was not on my list of things to see, in fact I had no interest in it. For my dissertation I was looking at how technology affected the actors and seeing as Ghost was the most technological show on the west end it made sense that I firstly see the show and secondly interview the actors. So in April 2012 I took myself along and wasn't all too impressed, I mean the sets were amazing but I didn't even cry! I had been very focused on the technology though and after listening to the soundtrack realised what I'd been missing, so I dragged my friend along for a second viewing and sobbed. I let myself get caught up with the story and boy did it take me for a ride!

The good bits:

The technology- Come on you must have known that was coming! It was stunning, they made a man completely disappear in front of your eyes! I mean that's incredible. 

The score- I am obsessed with the music from this show, it seems to fit the story perfectly feeling modern enough for the setting of today's New York City, but with enough classic musical theatre thrown in for good measure.

The actors- They were wonderful, I saw Mark Evans and Siobhan's understudy on both visits and she was amazing. It must be an extremely taxing musical to do both emotionally and physically and they looked as though they were giving it their all.

Favourite song:

Suspend my disbelief/ I had a Life- There's something about the coming together of melodies that I adore, plus Sam's part of I had a life gives me goosebumps, some of the notes he hits are just insane and it manages to wrap up so much in one song. Okay so it's a nine minute song, but there's a lot in it!

Favourite character:

Molly- In all honestly it was going to be between Sam and Molly here and Molly won out because I can relate more to someone who's lost a loved one more than I can to a ghost. Her character is just so complex and goes through so much and still manages to stay positive. She really is a wonderful character and has some equally wonderful songs, With You really is her stand out song. It's stunningly beautiful.

Dream cast:

Last week was boring, and seeing as only two people have played each role I'm going to cast other people I think would be amazing.

Sam: Aaron Tveit. 

(Can you imagine those high notes, plus his acting in this role would be show stopping.)

Molly: Megan Hilty. 

(Again, the high notes, the acting! Perfect.)

Carl: Hadley Faser. 

(Would be interesting to see his take on this slime ball.)

Oda May Brown: Raven Symone. 

(You know she would kill it, even if she is a little young right now.)

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

The Starving Artist

It is 8pm on a Friday night and once again I am sat inside watching bad movies and eating my body weight in chocolate. While I have always admittedly been a bit of a loner this constant house arrest isn't due to lack of friends, more a lack of money.

 There's this romantic notion that surrounds the starving artist. They suffer for their art but ultimately grow from the experience.

 All I'm growing is the desire for a money tree.

 Not only am I not acting, I'm just not working, what job can you get with a drama degree? None apparently! The acting jobs want people from drama schools and the 'real' jobs want people with 'real' degrees leaving little old me back at my parents and finding free ways to entertain myself.

 So I thought I'd share a few things I've come up with for my fellow starving artists!

- Watch through your DVD library: Seeing as this is only a part of my collection I think this will keep me occupied for a while! 

-Spring Clean: 'Tis the season and all that. I'm actually really proud with the way my room has turned out and I have boxes full of things to sell, which in turn will make me money.

- Go for a walk somewhere new: It's free and you get to explore and learn something. If you take your camera along you can get some awsome shots too!

-Improve yourself: Get out the old singing books, go on youtube and teach yourself dancing, pull out the Stanislavski! You won't have this much down time for long so use it to better yourself and in turn your career.

-Get online!: Blog, make videos, find a way to be creative so the artist side of you isn't starving too. Even if no one reads it, you get it out and get to think!

In the meantime I've started a couple of savings projects to help with the lack of money issue. 

- The Spending Fast: This is where you only spend on needs, such as rent, bills, food, and nothing else. Everything else you make goes into savings. These hardcore girls have done it for a whole year, I'm attempting three months and then I'll go from there. Who knows, maybe I'll manage a year too?

- The 52 Week Challenge: This is something I'm going to be lenient with, unlike the spending fast, the idea is you put £1 in week one, £2 for week two, £3 for week three and so on. By the end of the year you'll have around £1,700 saved and it won't have been too much trouble.

If you have any ideas please let me know and I hope these inspire you in some way!

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Top 5: Shows I've Seen

This is going to be a two part series of top fives that I may carry on with if I think of other categories! For now it will be the top five musicals that I have seen, starting today, and after that the top five musicals that I want to see.

 So without further ado, counting down to my favourite at number five is:

 Love Never Dies

It got a lot of bad reviews while it was running but I disagree! After seeing Ramin Karimloo in the 25th Anniversary of Les Miserables I was blown away and wanted to know what else he was in. When I found out he was The Phantom in a sequel to Phantom I wondered how it had taken me so long to see it.

So in December 2010 I hopped on over to the Adelphi Theatre, got cheap day tickets and sat right up at the back of the balcony where I proceeded to sob hysterically. I was a state! The friend that I had dragged along was actually worried I was in such a mess, so of course I proceeded to see it another three times.

The good bits:

The score, Lloyd- Webber does not disappoint, it's so romantic and gave me goosebumps every time I listened to it. I remember hearing Ramin sing ''Til I Hear You Sing' the first time and being so involved I was holding my breath in awe. The same happened when Sierra sang 'Love Never Dies', it was stunning, she was stunning. Even the annoying song 'Bathing Beauty' wins you over when it becomes sinister at the end, a part of the score I am completely obsessed with!

 As for the plot, I love it. It's romantic, tragic and sweeping. Everything a story revolving around Phantom should be. I know people have picked it apart but who cares!? I certainly don't, and the way all the characters had developed kept me more than interested throughout. In fact that was one of my favourite things, the way the characters had grown and changed, it was so interesting.

(Source)

Favourite song:

This is a hard category, why did I include it? 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' leaves me speechless, as does 'Love Never Dies' but I think I'm going to have to go with ''Til I Hear You Sing' because it's perfect, it gives me goosebumps every single time and the way Ramin sings it is just incredible.

(Source)

Favourite character:

Meg. I love Christine, I love the Phantom but I love what where they took Meg in this show. She goes from just a chorus girl, that is slightly annoying, to a complicated woman with so much depth and I really feel for her, more than I did for Christine at some points. She just wants to be noticed, to be loved and works so hard to achieve it. I think everyone can relate to that in some way.

(Source)

Dream Cast:

Christine: Sierra Boggess

Phantom: Ramin Karimloo

Raoul: Joseph Millson

Meg: Summer Strallen

I literally wouldn't change a thing. They were perfect, how boring! The only person I might switch up is Raoul because I adored Hadley Fraser in the 25th Anniversary.

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Catch Me I'm Falling

 Another day, another rejection. I didn't get the one from Sunday and, yes, I'm hugely disappointed.

"What did I do wrong? Why didn't they like me?" 

I'm okay at dealing with rejection, but every now and again (usually after a couple of them in a row) I get those horrible voices that pop up in the back of my mind.

 You're not good enough, you can't even get a supporting role in regional theatre what makes you think you can become a professional? You're 23 years old, that's too old to just be starting you should already be there. And then a list of people I admire and where they were at my age. (Aaron Tveit was already on Broadway in Hairspray no less, Sam Barks was in the Les Miserables movie! And you are sat on your behind at your parents... keep dreaming.)

 It's probably safe to say the reason I can deal with rejection and criticism well is due to the fact they will never be as harsh as my own mind. It all starts with one thought then my brain grabs onto that and runs with it, going around and around in circles until we're back at square one and curled into a ball of self loathing and tears.

 It used to cripple me, but I've got a lot better. I still think that way, I think we all do at some point, but I know not to let it affect me so much. So what those people were at so and so by my age, they're not me, they haven't been through my journey. When the time is right for you it will happen.

So I will keep being as prepared as possible for each and every audition and try my hardest to keep those voices at bay. I mean 23 isn't too old, right? In the eyes of everyone outside the theatre community I'm young! I just need to keep telling myself that.

 Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

The Audition

 After the harsh "That's all we need," yesterday was a nice surprise. To begin with the people holding the audition were incredibly lovely. (I'm not saying the others were horrible, I just had about 10 seconds with them and that's not enough time to tell!) 

 As you know the day started with a dance audition. We were taught a routine from Newsies. For those of you familiar with the show can you imagine my intense fear when I hear that name come up, especially as a none dancer! For those of you unfamiliar here is a video to show you the standard these guys are at...

(The insanely incredible dancing starts around 2 minutes in.)

 At that point I thought, might as well give up, you're dead meat! Oh boy was I wrong. For starters the way the guy ran the audition was extremely relaxed, he'd make jokes (Including A Chorus Line "Again... Again....Again..." thrown in for good measure!) If you were stuck he would run over it with you without being snotty about it and when it came to actually performing it if you were very stuck he got up and ran it with you. 

 I can say very proudly that A) My group managed to perform the dance unsupervised... whether I got all the moves or not is another thing, but I did it with a smile on my face, and B) I didn't fall on my behind! That for me is a huge success compared to my last dance audition.

 Then came the singing... this was my time to shine! I sang No Good Deed from Wicked and am so happy with the way it went. If you add in the laughs I had with some girls I met the day was actually one I will look back on fondly, even if I don't get a part. And this is how I will look back at every audition from now on, by listing the things I achieved and learnt from the day rather than focusing on the bad. So here goes...

- I learnt a very hard dance combination for me, and managed to overcome my worries and perform it with a smile and a character.

- I remained standing through the entire thing!

- I met some wonderful people who pulled me out of my shell enough to dance in a very crowded street and sing in a pub, two things the old Annabelle would never dream of doing. (Well, maybe after a couple of pints...)

- I belted my little heart out managing to put character into my song, despite my nerves.

 All in all I'm happy! Now I need to wait out the week to see if I get a part or not.

Wish me luck, the same to you!

Annabelle

xoxo

Dancing Through Life

 On Sunday I have another audition, it's for regional theatre this time around and that makes it no less scary than any other in my mind! In fact it's even more terrifying as it starts with a dance audition.

 Now I'm okay at dancing if you give me time to pick up the steps, I've had some training and figured out my problem is confidence. (I know, join the club!) That doesn't stop me sabotaging myself every time a dance audition comes around.

 Let me give you an example. I had an audition for Into the Woods, having never heard the music before (remember my thing of not researching shows until I've seen them...) that was a big enough issue, thank you very much Mr. Sondheim. On top of that I had to learn a dance routine... I picked up the steps easy enough and while rehearsing as a group I felt pretty confident, hidden, able to watch the choreographer.

 Then it comes time for the groups of four to perform it and when one of the turns comes up I fall flat on my backside. There was no way to hide this, I was sprawled on the floor very ungracefully scrambling to get back up and complete the rest of the combination head down in shame.

 It's safe to say I didn't get the part... or any part for that matter!

[Source]

 So how do I stop myself doing the same on Sunday? If you have any ideas please let me know because I sure don't. I'm naturally a very nervous person, something happens when I sing that takes it all away, the same can't be said for dancing.

 It's that thing that when I sing I stop over thinking, everything becomes very simple and life is one big happy pie full of rainbows and fluffy bunnies. (I'm not sure either.) When I dance in front of people I other think. Should my arm be here or 3.5 inches up to the very slight left? Yeah my perfectionist comes out in full form and as someone who falls over their own feet while walking, trying to manoeuvre while thinking about if your head should be tilted to the left looking to the right while your arms flip to both sides is near impossible.

 On the plus side there are plenty of female parts that require no dancing, Eponine. Elphaba, she's actually meant to be awful! Natalie in Next to Normal, Molly in Ghost, any of the girls in Hair. Just flail and you're a hippy!

Wish me luck, the same to you!

Annabelle

xoxo