Another Musical!!!

Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't written in a while, I've been super busy! I'm probably just gonna make today short because I'm exhausted oker!! 

if you don't know what oker is watch Shocantelle Brown on Youtube.

Today, or tonight rather, I'll be talking about one of my favorite musicals called "Wonderland". It was written by Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd with music by Frank Wildhorn. The story was inspired by the traditional Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and another similar story, Through the Looking Glass. 

The show opened on Broadway on April 17th, 2011. 

Condensed version: Alice has a crappy job and lives in New York in apartment 8A with her ten-year-old daughter named Chloe. She gets into the elevator and it drops into this whole new world (Wonderland), where nothing makes sense and no one will give her any answers. Now this kind of sounds like the regular story except in this one a women takes over for the Mad Hatter, against his will, and also plans to take out the Queen of Hearts and Alice in order to rule Wonderland herself. So not only does Alice have to get home, she also has to save her daughter who the fake mean Mad Hatter kidnaps. Also, there is a cute prince who sings funny boy-band songs. The music is great, the show is great, watch it on youtube here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTZQtxrp5Bs

                                        Thanks guys, i promise to be better when college auditions are over!

                                                                                    -Kiani :)

Dealing With Disappointment....

Hey Guys, sorry that I didn't post on Monday or Thursday but I have been super busy, plus I wanted this post to come out after the cast list was posted.

Btw's CONGRATS EVERYONE!!!!

This post goes out to the folks who either got cast in a part they didn't want or were not expecting or to those who didn't get cast at all, trust me, if you go into the professional theatre world THIS WILL NOT BE THE LAST TIME THIS HAPPENS!!!!

Here's the thing, you get one day. One day to what? To do whatever you need to get over it. Whether that be eating chocolate until your tears taste sweet, or whether that be pounding your head into the wall until you can't see straight. ONE DAY.

I have been disappointed before, I know, it sucks. But here's the thing, at the end of the day the only person who is feeling sorry for you is you. There is rarely pity after a cast list posting, and I'm not just talking about this one. People are too busy celebrating that they got the job, not thinking about how many people they beat or what they must be feeling. This day gives you the time to think about what you could have done better. Were they better than you? Did they have a certain look? Did they sleep with the Director? (I know that's not the case at school, but in the real world don't be surprised.)

Then when you find the problem, you fix it, work at it until you get better. Whether that be vocal lessons, acting or dance classes, fix it. Don't just sit there and be like "oh they're just crazy" or "they don't know what they are talking about." Get off your butt, and be better......... tomorrow of course :)


                                             

A Lesson...

Hey guys! So today I thought that I would talk about something that is relevant to what is going on at school. AUDITIONS!!! Yep, those things that are literally the scariest thing in a performers career. BUT fear not my friends, because there is nothing that you can do about it. Auditions aren't one of those situations where if you practice at it then everything becomes easier. Nope, no matter how many times you audition, you will still be nervous and it will still be terrifying.

#theatrekidproblems right?

First let's talk about what you prepare for an audition. Normally for a professional show, or even amateur productions, you are asked to prepare one monologue and one song. The monologue should be something that is within your age range, because there is nothing more awkward then a 16-year-old girl standing there and talking about how she has to stay strong because her husband beats her. You are just going to make the Artistic Team feel uncomfortable no matter how well you deliver the monologue. Also, you need to pay attention to the show that you are auditioning for. Your job is to make the director see you as someone they want in their show. So, if you show up with a classical shakespeare monologue trying to audition for Seussical, you couldn't be further apart on the spectrum and the director is going to notice. Also,  DO NOT just go onto the internet and look for monologues, because of you do it, that means everyone else will too. Pick one from a play also, movie monologues suck and its hard to be taken seriously.

Okay, SONGS!!! Directors will normally ask you to prepare a 16-32 bar cut of a song from a musical or musical theatre style. DO NOT EVER SING A POP SONG, A SONG FROM WICKED, A SONG FROM ANNIE, OR A SONG FROM THE SOUND OF MUSIC!!!!! Unless directed to do otherwise. But these songs are over done and unoriginal, and no one will take you seriously with a pop song, unless they ask you to sing one because of the nature of the show. Also an audition is not the time to take risks. Don't pick an incredibly hard song that you have to pray for the ending note, you need to be confident in your material. Yes the song needs to show your range, but if you are straining to hit the notes, I'm sorry hun, the song is not in your range. Again, pay attention to the show, you want to pick a song that kind of has the same feeling as the songs in the show. If I audition for 42nd Street I'm not going to sing a song from Spring Awakening, it just makes you look silly.

YOU GUYS!!!! If you ever have questions on what to sing for an audition, what kind of style to go for, how to preform it, COME TO ME! I promise to tell you the truth, you might hate me afterwards but hey, I know what I'm talking about. Trust.

Our First Musical

Hey Guys! Kiani here:) Who's ready to talk musicals?

I thought that I'd start out with a classic, but one that isn't too classic because let's face it, those are boring.

So....here we go: GUYS AND DOLLS!!!!

I love this musical. It's sooo cute, and if you haven't seen it, don't fret my friends, there is a movie. But I must say, it isn't as good as the staged version. Even though it has Frank Sinatra.

Guys and Dolls was written by Joe Swerling and Abe Burrows with music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser. It premiered on Broadway in 1950 and had 1200 performances. It also won the Tony for Best Musical. A little synopsis would be that the show takes place in New York city where the nights are more alive than the days. The story focuses on four main characters: Sarah Brown, Sky Masterson, Miss Adelaide, and Nathan. Sarah is a Sargent for a mission and she has a run in with the sly and sexy gambler Sky Masterson. He bets her that he can fill her mission with one dozen "genuine sinners" if she agrees to go to dinner with him. Desperate to keep her mission above water, she agrees, and before she know it she has fallen in love with a man she never though would capture her heart, but what happens when she finds out that the reason Sky asked her out in the first place is because Nathan, the local crap game runner, bet him that he couldn't? WATCH IT AND FIND OUT!!!

Now Nathan is New York's floating crap game runner and he is engaged to the lovely Miss Adelaide who dances down at the Hot Box. Though Nathan has promised his fiancé that he's give up the game, when Sky Masterson roles into town he can't help but make a bet. So he bets that Sky can't get the mission doll, Sarah Brown, to go to Havana, yes Havana, Cuba, with him. Now of course, Nathan is sure he's gonna win, but so is Sky......ooooo, now your interested aren't you???

Seriously guys, this musical is so great, and it's really fun to be in also. But I urge you that if you go to see this live , PLEASE go to a good company because the show is long. And there is nothing worse than sitting through an awful show- trust.

Here are some links to videos from the show, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqkAHEGSzAU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S2PJ9m-Ffk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7XAj3S0Sp8

Here Goes Nothing.....

Hey Guys! Kiani Here:)

So I decided to start this blog for 2 reasons. 1, because my theatre teacher told me that it would be a great way to help my classmates build some broadway knowledge, and 2, because I could literally rant about musicals for hours. Easily.

A little info about me would be that I have been preforming ever since I was super little. I used to do church choir, and then I went on to tour group show choir, where I got to preform at lots of cool places like Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, the San Diego County Fair, and Magic Mountain. From there I started to do musicals at my after school daycare during elementary school. I actually made my musical debut as Sarah Crew in The Little Princess when I was 6.

It was awkward because....well....I'm black.

Anyway, from there I found a youth theatre program called Christian Youth Theatre (CYT). CYT is an after school theatre arts program for kids ages four to eighteen and they offer classes in singing, dancing, acting, stunts, makeup, and much more. It was in CYT that I actually started preforming in front of people other than friends and parents. Through CYT I got the courage to branch out and do shows with other theatre groups around San Diego, and I even got involved with the theatre program at my school (Point Loma High). Now, I'm getting ready to audition for BFA programs at four-year universities for musical theatre because I really don't know what else to do with my life, and I love preforming.


So yeah, basically that's it! Every week or even every couple of days I'l be posting about a musical and basically just going through some history of it, maybe post some links so y'all can watch it. Its just to get the word out really, and of course I'll be making comments on everything. This blog is COMPLETELY BIAS!!! Do not read this for impartial commentary. BUT, my track record shows that I am hardly ever wrong ;)


                                                                                    -Kiani