Hey everybody, it truly is good news that you've decided to give my blog a look. I thought I'd take this first entry as an opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Ben and I am an aspiring theatre director from Bath, Somerset. I am currently studying maths at University, which is a bit of a detour from my chosen career, but could potentially open doors to working in London, where opportunities to direct are to be found around every corner. I have been involved in several amateur productions during my childhood, my earliest experience is the role of Jacob aged 10 in my primary school's production of Joseph. I was over the moon with the opportunity, but now I don't really remember much of it (It was almost 10 years ago after all).
I wouldn't want to bore you all with a chronicle of every production I've taken part in over the years, but I'd like to tell you a bit more about the wonderful experiences of production team work that I've received recently. A year ago I had the opportunity to perform a song that I had written for a musical I was working on. I musically directed a small ensemble and choir, and conducted the piece for it's premiere at a church where I used to live. This was the first of many experiences that welcomed me into the behind-the-scenes world of theatre. When I came to university, I wasted no time in joining the musical theatre society. This was meant as more of a casual detox initially, however as opportunities arose, it has become more clear to me that what I really want to do with my life is show the world my visions of this world's theatrical masterpieces.
In November 2012, the society hosted a variety show to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, we rehearsed from 7pm Friday and performed 7pm Saturday. This became known as the 24 Hour Musical, and is my first experience of independent directing...well...almost. The roles were a lot less defined here than you would expect from many shows, I wasn't explicitly a director, but a musical director and to some extent a choreographer, however the latter title I stayed clear of, being a rather obvious weakness of myself, I worked with a qualified choreographer on the numbers who was incredibly helpful and I couldn't have gotten to where I was now without her. For the show, I did two numbers, "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge and "I'd Give My Life For You" from Miss Saigon. Both of these are incredibly difficult songs, especially under the pressure of such circumstances. My attack on "Come What May" stemmed from Christian's obsession with Satine, I visioned his love for her speaking to him even when she wasn't around him, to portray this, the choreographer I worked with created and performed a marvelous solo dance that expressed his romantic feelings as he sung the first verse and chorus. When the singer who played Satine took stage, the dancer left and I staged the rest in romantic context.
I knew from the start that I wanted to do it again, and as the production closed, applications to direct the group's March 2013 show were opening. No surprise, I applied. That year, the society performed a dual show, Bad Girls and the Full Monty, which alternated every night. I was incredibly lucky to be offered the opportunity to direct Bad Girls, and take on a cameo role in Full Monty. Auditions took place in December 2012, I particularly enjoyed sitting down and watching everybody perform, casting was a long and difficult task on the other hand having seen so many talented performers, many of which didn't get roles. We announced our cast the next day, however rehearsals didn't commence until February, 5 weeks before curtain up. For those of you who aren't familiar with the material, Bad Girls is based on a popular ITV drama set in a woman's prison, the story revolved around a sadistic and manipulative prison officer who was bending the rules to escalate to the highest position in the prison, and the implications his actions had on the inmates and his fellow staff. I took the opportunity to portray the prison as an empty box, full of restrictions, but nothing to make these poor women feel at home. This also helped cooperate with the production team for The Full Monty, who took a minimalist approach to their set, we made benefits of a 6 foot riser at the back of the stage, and a glitter curtain which was used in both shows. Scenes in Bad Girls were rather comic, and strayed from the dark atmosphere of the TV series, I admit I felt better working with dark material, but with what I was given, I took the initiative to milk the comedy. A particular favourite of mine featured a song called "All Banged Up", in which the girls lamented on the lack of male action behind bars. I spoke to the choreographer and discussed including a Tango where the girls were leading the male POs. Looking back on it, I felt as if the scene required an open minded audience to be appreciated, I however found the scene rather amusing due to a very talented group of actors. Working on this show was such a great opportunity which I dearly miss, I am so grateful for the opportunity and am so pleased to work with such a talented team on my first show. The London cast recording of Bad Girls is on Spotify and Youtube if you so wish to listen, and there's a filmed version of the London production circulating. It's well worth checking out.
So that takes us up to today. If you're still reading, I've either got to say "Thank you for your interest" or "You need to go out more!". As of now, I am working on the society's variety show, due to be performed in May 2013, I am not on production team due to previous commitments, however I am very excited to being involved as a cast member. Recently, I auditioned for a different society's production of two shows being performed at Bath's Fringe Festival in June, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Rose. My audition went ok, but as I was leaving the room, the director asked me to join production team as a producer. I was unsure as to whether to accept this offer due to it being very different to directing, however I decided to take up the offer. Work on this production doesn't start until June, but that will be my next adventure behind the scenes of a performer.
I'm certainly repeating myself here, but thank you for your time and interest. I will probably let you all know more about my experience as a producer, but this blog is about being a director, and whenever that opportunity returns I shall be waiting. Until then, I'd be happy to share my thoughts on any shows that I have the pleasure of seeing or just general comments on what's hot and what's not in theatreland.
Adieux mon amis
Ben
One aspiring director.
