9th oct - rachel

Today everyone focused on certain songs their characters would perform either in a solo, duo or small group. One of my songs is 'Tango Maureen' which I perform as Joanne with Luke as Mark. Tango Maureen is about Joanne and Mark, who don't usually associate with each other for obvious reasons over Maureen, coming together in a snappy, intense duet. What begins as a conflicting debate about the behaviour of their shared love (Joanne's girlfriend, Mark's ex girlfriend who dumped him for Joanne), with taunting remarks from Mark such as "As she keeps you dangling", "Have you ever doubted a kiss or two?", turns into them uniting as potential friends concurring about the flirtatious Maureen.

Today we started with simple blocking of space which may need to be refined as we add proper movement.

What went well:

• The timing is going well in the singing, as it is very back and forth 
• Our facial expressions were good as Joanne's reactions to Mark's suggestinos about Maureen initially with many frowns, raised eyebrows, switch to looks of concern and panic, supported by lines like "She cheated!"
• I interacted well with Luke even though we hadn't created any choreo yet. I reacted well to the part when he bursts into a crazy dance movement in which, startled, I slowly walk back wide eyed as he approaches me
• When blocking areas of the space we managed to use most of it. This was led most by my character as Joanne repeatedly stomps away from Mark who is trying to get under her skin.

What to work on:

• More confidence with lyrics - Once I know all the lyrics, the whole scene will make even more sense as the song is an intense, frustrating conversation with the other character. 
• Hit notes better and stronger - there are certain notes that I am still uneasy on and need to practice them so I confidently project them
• Stronger harmonies with Luke - Me and Luke need time to practice the harmonies, possibly with the help of some others to go through the script of the scene and pinpoint where the harmonies are and what each of ours are.
• Creating movement for Tango dance and blocking movement
• Accent - I want to work on my American accent which I feel will then give me more confidence in the scene as well as other scenes I am in
• Blocking

Next run through

• We can start adding some choreography for the dance with Kat
• By then I want to have learnt the lyrics at least, so when we run through we can practice the harmonies