Hello my lovelies and welcome to BLOGMAS day 8, 9, and 10!
I hope you're all well and are enjoying Blogmas, it has been a challenge so far posting every day of December but I've been really enjoying it. So the reason I've decided to put these three days together is because it was the weekend of Drama Society's Christmas Show!
So as you guys know, early this year myself and a few others in the society were elected to be the new committee of 2016/2017. Every year we do a show at Christmas which can be anything you like and then a musical in the spring before we break up for Easter.
So for the Christmas show we decided to do a variety show with a bit of a structure. We created, A Night At The Movicals which had lots of classic movies and musicals we all know and love rolled into one show. To create the structure we wanted along came the creation
of, The Couch Gals. A group of 4 girls and 1 guy who are having a movie night and trying to find something to watch that they all enjoy.
Movicals such as, Grease, Pitch Perfect, Jersey Boys, Dirty Dancing, Mamma Mia, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and many others were included! This show was definitely a big challenge to direct, choreograph, and create but for me it was worth every minute. It's crazy to me because this show was just a few ideas I had down on paper and because of the amazingly talented cast and of course my incredible committee and I working so hard, these "few ideas" on paper came to life.
I will never be able to thank these guys enough for bringing my artistic vision to the stage as without them it never would've been possible. I am so proud to be the President of this society and the love I have for these guys reminds me why I wanted to be Pres and why I ran for that position many months ago at that AGM for our society. Pushing them and challenging them to the best of their ability is something our President did last year and I am glad that is something we kept in place this year. Running a society, you realise how much the society itself and the members within that society mean so much to you, it's like it becomes yours and that is all the drive you need to make it the best you can for yourself and all of the members.
After the show we had so many wonderful comments from audience members, "It was an absolutely fantastic show", "They're all so talented", and "It was so good, I didn't want it to end".
Myself and the rest of the committee feel the greatest pride from watching them when they first joined up till now. They have all come such a long way from when we first met them on the taster sessions to the two performances of this show. It means so much to know that we are a family and I wouldn't want these guys to be any other way. The make my job of being President a joy at every rehearsal and I hope it continues to stay that way when we return for the new year.
Speaking of the new year, it meant it was time to announce the musical for spring 2017! We kept it quiet for quite a while and only gave them one clue to what it could be. But, we finally announced it in the last week of term and I am so proud to announce next year's musical will be...
For those of you who do not know what Made in Dagenham is, here's the musical description:
"Made in Dagenham, based upon the BAFTA nominated film about the 1968 Ford Sewing Machinists Strike.
Inspired by a true story and based on the hit movie, Made in Dagenham is the uplifting new British musical comedy about friendship, love and the importance of fighting for what is right.
Essex 1968. Like millions of other working women, each morning Rita O’Grady is just trying to get her husband out of bed, get the kids off to school and get to work at the factory on time. But life is about to change forever when it’s announced that the girls in the stitching room of Ford’s Dagenham car plant will have their pay grade dropped to ‘unskilled’. Quickly drawing on a strength she never knew she had, Rita leads her friends in a battle against the might of Ford and the corruption of the Union supposed to protect them. As the girls’ inspiring journey gets bigger than anyone could have imagined, the pressure is too much for some, but can Rita keep up the fight and the happy home she’s worked so hard for?
Funny, touching and timeless, Made in Dagenham shows how ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they stand together."
We decided to go with Made in Dagenham because as a committee, we felt it would be good for the current cast we have. This musical is heavily female based and we have a heavily female cast. We've noticed over the past couple years, from our time in the society last year and current third year members who have been in Drama Society since they came to uni, have said the problem is the musicals chosen are always male based musicals. So we tried to pick a musical that would benefit the cast, the committee, and of course be enjoyable for both parties.
I loved the film when I watched it a couple years ago, the story line is good and easy to follow, the songs are really jazzy and fun, with it being set in the 1960s it means the costumes, hair, and makeup are gonna look amazing, and all of the characters are lovable. The committee and I are super excited to start working on it with them after Christmas, I cannot wait to see how it all comes together and the cast excel throughout the process. Eek, I'm so excited!
In other news, the first term of second year is coming to an end. It's been a really good first term, I am loving uni even more than I did in first year. But we do have something to celebrate. If you guys didn't already know, the grades you achieve in first year don't actually count towards your degree, they just count towards you getting into next year. Then second year is worth 25% and third year is worth 75%. So 25% of my top-notch grades from this year will benefit towards my final degree. So far this year I have completed one assessment, which was for movement. We had to do clowning, which was incredibly fun. I had so much fun acting through entirely movement to tell a funny story. Our group always felt a bit knocked back throughout the process as we always received comments of things we either needed to change or to work on. We never really had anything that was 100% positive about our piece. So we constantly felt like our piece wasn't good enough. So we performed to the best of our ability with what we had and honestly, none of us expected higher than a 2:1 at a push however...
WE GOT A FIRST!!!!!
We honestly couldn't believe it when we got the feedback sheets, 74% mine read. It meant so much to us as we didn't expect it whatsoever and it felt so good to have such good feedback from our assessors. It's also incredibly special because it's our first assessment mark that actually counts.
Well as the term is coming to an end, it does mean I am going home for Christmas in literally a week and I can't wait. I'm just really looking forward to going home, relaxing, having a nice Christmas with my mum and dad, catch up with my friends from home, and not have to worry work for a little while.
I hope you guys enjoyed this little catch up during this hectic time of the year. I will see you tomorrow for more Blogmas posts!
Love,
Katie
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