Making a musical 13: A new beginning...

Yes, it's true, it's a new beginning!
I decided to go ahead and take the musical theatre course, and last night was the first lesson!
Firstly, let me just say, that this course, we get to rehearse at the Dominion Theatre (where the "We Will Rock You" musical is on); and the Royal Opera House. Two absolutely incredible venues; and then we get to do a show at the end.

I'm actually still on a high from last night, so none of my sentences will make sense, and my heads all over the place (in a good way), so please excuse if I jump from thing to thing.

Anyway, this musical theatre course includes singing, acting and dancing - perfect training for me in the run up to wanting to make a musical.
I knew it was going to be good as the teachers are quite cool... but nothing could prepare me for the awesome-ness of last night!

We started off with some vocal warm ups. Pretty simple stuff. Group singing - a bit like Sister Act actually! hehe. I loved it.
Then we did some improv... yup, they threw us straight in the deep end. And it wasn't just normal improv, but MUSICAL improv. So basically, we had to stand up in groups of between 2 to 5, and the instructor played some music on the piano, and we had to sing whatever we wanted.
So daunting, yet so amazing.

After all that, came an hour of dance... and what fun it was! We did a routine to Joseph, which was so much fun. Split into three groups, we put on quite a performance, especially considering that a lot of people were beginners.

In all honesty, this first lesson of musical theatre was even more amazing than all 12 weeks of beginners dance! I'm so glad I decided to do it. I can't wait till next week! hehe.

Making a musical 10: Lemon Merengue pie anyone?

I have been getting so used to going dancing on Monday and Tuesday nights, that I'm really sad now because Monday night classes finished this week.
The final show is this Sunday, after which we will of course require no more rehearsals :(
We do get an extra rehearsal day on Saturday, but it's going to be very strange having Monday nights free again.

I don't even want to think about performing at the show, because it will just make me really nervous... oh wait... too late!
Dancing in front of 1,500 people, when you can't dance is not exactly something I want to be remembered for doing.
But then again - this is exactly why I wanted to do dance isn't it? To practise, to learn, to perform - all in preparation for the musical. I just think it's all a little too soon. I've been dancing a total of 7 weeks so far, and I'm going to be performing in a show. I thought I'd have at least six months of lessons before being ready to do anything like this.

Anyway, enough of that. So, Monday was the performance rehearsal, but Tuesday was another class of Latin dance magic!
Last week we did salsa, which was awesome. And we did some more advanced salsa last night (yes, I can spin and I'm learning to lead); but we also did another dance called Merengue (not the dessert! It's pronounced "Meranga").
It's a dance from Puerto Rico, and it's actually very simple, but also quite fast - yet surprisingly relaxing compared to Monday's rehearsal.

I'm getting ready now for some proper Latin dancing. I think it's time to go out and hit the dance floor with some crazy Latin moves (he says as trips over his own two left feet) haha!

It never ceases to amaze me, how much love I have developed for dance in such a short time. I just want to know more.
Oh yeah, and guess what next week is?...
TAP!
Public transport beware.

Making a musical 8: Choreographing dance

Amazing! That is the word of the day, week, month and year!
It is also the only word I can use to describe last nights' dance class.
After 5 weeks of classes, we were set an assessment - work in small groups, and create your own 8-bar dance; and then teach it to the rest of the group.

As you can already tell, I was LOVIN' it! The rest of the group were so scared about thinking up a routine, but it's what I've been working toward the moment I started this class. Suddenly, all my street dancing, bus dancing, tube dancing, and dancing in my head; was put to use!

My routine was pretty simple looking, but I think it was a bit too ambitious. In the end, I even messed it up in the final performance (lol), but I learned one thing - I'm actually not a bad choreographer. I mean, I got the group doing it in the end, so that's an achievement. And it was a first try. So, nothing will dampen my spirits of what I managed to accomplish.

Imagine... 6 weeks ago I could barely put one foot in front of the other... now I'm choreographing?? I LOVE DANCE!

Making a musical 7: Dance class... week 5

Apologies for there not being an update sooner. Things have been hectic.
Since my last post, things have been going swimmingly. We did more street dancing, and then started on musical theatre - and one of the greatest routines... "You can't stop the beat" from Hairspray. Such joy :)

So, here's the exciting news. A few weeks ago, our instructor tells us that City Academy (where we go) are putting on a show at the Hackney Empire in March; and they want some of the beginners to do a routine.
As there are no guys getting involved, the teacher tells Marc and myself to go for it.
'Going for it' means extra dance classes on a Monday night, and a crazy medley routine to Saturday Night Fever!

Needless to say, Marc was up for it. I took some convincing - because, despite everything; I still have no rhythm, and it takes me AGES to learn any routine, be it even 3 steps.

On Monday, we attended the first extra class... and it was AMAZING! In fact, it overshadowed all the other classes. It was 2 hours of straight dance. By the next day, I was aching. But I can happily say that Marc and I were MUCH better than all the girls in the class... and that takes some doing.
I am now just going to model my life on dance and John Travolta. haha.
I've already started dancing on the street, and the bus. What's next I wonder?

Making a musical 3: Inspiration strikes again!

It's true, I have been re-inspired to write.
In fact, I spent a lot of my free time on Tuesday writing the screenplay to the musical.
I'm so excited, I really can't wait to finish and start working on composing the music.
I have actually been practising guitar and piano in the run up to creating the music. I've been brushing up on my very limited skills, and also attempting to perfect my sheet music reading ability (which is terrible at the moment).

There is only one more day of filming left on Idle Confusion (the currently film I'm making), and after that, I can focus my free time on editing that and working on the musical.
There's not really much time left to be honest with you. I know I'm not filming until summer 2010, but in that time, I still need to write the music, finish the script, get a cast in excess of 50-80 people!, learn to dance, and raise near enough £5,000-10,000!!!
That's a lot of things to do, and not a lot of time. And let's not forget, I have NO experience of working on anything this big, let alone on a musical! :S

But, on a positive note, I've had a lot of offers of help from people, and I really appreciate this. I'm never short of people to help, so if you can do ANYthing (even having the strength to hold a camera will do). I know I keep asking for help, but I really do need it if this thing is to get off the ground.
I've not even started it properly yet, but I've already plugged in money and a lot of time into this, so I really don't want to see it crash and burn :(

Here's to inspiration!
-Mo

Making a musical 2: Script work

Here I sit, a year and a half before I plan to start filming. I have plenty of time to organise things, the music, the actors, the dancing (oooooh! I have booked dance lessons that start in January and run for 12 weeks! WOOOOOO), etc...
Everything is going to plan...
... Well, almost everything. There is a slight problem.
I have writers block :(
Typical right? All the time in the world, and yet, you can't write a word.
Every line I write, I delete, because it's just dry. I feel like one of those novelists who sit around by candle light, staring at a blank piece of paper in a typewriter, with hundreds of pages scrunched up on the floor around his feet -except there's fluorescent lights in here, and I'm sitting at a Mac... and there's no paper -but you get the picture.

Writing has always been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember... but for as long as I've been passionate about writing, I've also had inspirational problems. It starts off brilliantly, but soon my creativity dies and I'm stuck with unfinished stories and half written plays.
Obviously, that can't happen with the musical, as I've already started plugging money into this, and it's amazing how much of a motivator finance is! lol.
Still though, motivation doesn't equal inspiration.
I know the entire story of the film, I know where I need to go from where I am... the only problem is, I can't get there through words!

So, if you have anything to say that inspirational, please do go ahead and let me know!
Saying that though, writing this blog is inspiring me... but only to write another blog! lol.
HELP ME people!

In other musical related news, I hope I have found another choreographer to work with Marc (you know who you are!), and hopefully some more dancers.
I still need anyone who can dance or even slightly act.
Please do pass this message on to friends, and friends of friends:
If you want to be in a film, and not get paid - but get treated like an actor (dressing room not included), and be a STAR*, then PLEASE get in touch with me ASAP!
I need to audition early next year.
There's a lot of work to be done - vocal coaching, dance coaching, etc...

Thanks all for reading. Please pass it on :D

-Mo

*Star status may or may not be achieved.

Making a musical 1: The diary begins

I've been thinking about making a musical for a while (yes, it is largely due to the influence of High School Musical if you must know), but now, I'm actually doing something about it.
I am on a mission to create a musical by 2010.
But not some terrible looking, dry film where there's just music in the background... no... I'm talking about an full on, all singing, all dancing, cheese laden musical extravaganza.

It's going to be hard, considering I have no experience at directing anything musical or dance-y in nature; nor have I ever directed a feature - so it's all new territory.
I'm also quite a mediocre musician, so that's not going to help when I score the whole thing. Oh yeah, on top of all that, I can't dance either; and as I plan to play a role in the film, that's not really ideal.
But you know what? You can't let something like the lack of skills stand in the way of ambition right?

I would say that the creation of this diary is stage one on the journey to making this musical... but it's not. I've actually already written 3 of the songs, and about 1/3 of the screenplay. So it already is on it's way.
So why make the diary at all? Well, I want some kind of a documentation of the highs and lows of the film making process, but with the feedback of others (hint to comment). Then I can look back one day and reprimand myself for all the time I wasted in my youth trying to make a musical.

But seriously though, this really is a dream of mine, and through this diary, I hope to keep you all informed of the progress.
And, on that note, let me tell you what's currently happening...

The film is to be set in London and filmed in the summer of 2010 (it's not as far as you think, trust me).
Between now and then, I need to finish the screenplay, write all the songs, learn to dance, work on some dance choreography (with my flatmate Marc who is to be choreographer), find a cast, train said cast, find a crew, raise a tonne of money to pay for all of this, and remember to breathe. All of a sudden, 2010 feels far too close.

As I mentioned, the screenplay is coming along nicely, and some of the songs have already been written. I have also found a dance school to enroll in (yes... me... dancing :S ).
The main thing I need are a dedicated cast and crew that don't mind NOT being paid :S
And that's the other reason for the diary - perhaps it can entice some of you to come on board.
If you have acting/singing/dancing/filming/photography/musical/camera experience, and want to get involved, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact me.
Without good, dedicated help, this is NEVER going to happen.

Well, that's all for today I think.
There will be more to come as time goes on and things develop. I'm sure you'll be getting a podcast as some point from myself and perhaps some of the other crew involved.

Keep singing (and dancing) -Mo
p.s. - Did I also mention it needs to be made in the most cost-effective way possible? Because, let's face it... I'm not made of money.