#putnamcountyspellingbee

Today was our last day of practice before symposium (the show)! I cannot believe how fast these two weeks have gone by. Today we did one last run through of the dhow, which I thought was our best yet. I think I improved quite a bit on staying in character today, which was really exciting! I think that overall the show ran a lot more smoothly than it has been running, and I am psyched to see the real thing. I think that I just need to brush up on my lines and songs one more time to be ready for tomorrow night. Though I wasn’t at the entire open dress rehearsal tonight, I thought that everyone did wonderful in the parts that I saw! I’m truly excited for people to see all of the hard work we put into our show! I’m feeling tired but proud of how far we’ve come and excited for what’s in store for tomorrow night! Can’t wait for tomorrow!

Today in ColLAB we reviewed the I Love You Song in the morning, as well as the Prayer of the Comfort Counselor and the choreography for the opening number. In the afternoon we did a full run of the show which went really well! One area I think that I’ve improved the most in ColLAB is getting into character. I think that I’m getting into character much better than I was at the beginning of the ColLAB session. Something that I did want to work on last night while practicing was going over the words and the timing for the end of Second again. Something I specifically want to practice tomorrow during our run through is not laughing at what is going on onstage and staying in character. I also want to try to keep my voice low for the whole show, without breaking at all or laughing at myself. Tomorrow I think I need to really buckle down and focus on my character so there are no slip-ups in the show. I also need to be emotionally prepared to perform this in front a real audience on Thursday night! My favorite part about my character is his underdog victory, as well as the unlikely friendship he finds in Olive. I like that he is able to find a friend, and is not as calculating and cold as he likes to seem he is. On the morning of the Spelling Bee, Barfee was so anxious that he awoke at four a.m. to review his words, even though he already knew them all. He went  downstairs for breakfast at around seven, and that’s where everything started to get messy. His baby stepsister Lena had gotten sick was wailing relentlessly, only put on pause by the times she threw up. His fake mom Sheila tried to make him breakfast, but she burnt it whilst trying to wrangle the baby. This set off the smoke alarms, and by 8 the fire department was there, along with Barf’s angry father who had had to leave work. Sheila and Barf’s dad went back and forth for a long time, with the baby crying in the background, until finally, Barf’s real mom Joan picked him up at 9. Then he went to the bee. Excited for rehearsal tomorrow!!!!

Me shimmying my way into show day!! :)

When I try to do the Magic Foot choreography without the video in front of me 😂 

On Friday I worked on Magic Foot, Second, the I Love You Song, and ran through my lines a little bit. Specifically I worked on the choreography for Magic Foot and I worked on singing Second with Tia, not just the track. I am most proud of how Magic Foot is coming along. I think that I made some real progress with it, and that once I can put it all together it will be really good! I still need to work on Second, as I am still having a hard time with some of the rhythms, and I also need to continue to practice Magic Foot and my lines so they are solid. Otherwise, I just really need to buckle down and get into character more, and I think that will help me to be successful. I think that I partially completed my goal, as we went over Magic Foot quite a few times, but we didn’t practice Second as much as I would have liked. On Monday I really want to work on Second more, but I also just want to get a run through the show to see how it goes. I think my biggest area of progress this week was in the song Magic Foot. At the beginning of the week I really didn’t know anything about the song, and by the end of the week I was doing much better singing and dancing in the song. Barfee’s worst birthday was when he turned six years old. Though his real mom Joan, had specifically ordered a cake without nuts, his fake mom, Sheila, who was in charge of picking up the cake, grabbed the wrong one, one that contained an assortment of nuts on the inside. No one noticed, and poor little Barfee ate it. He suffered a severe allergic reaction, and spent the rest of his birthday in the emergency room. 

Today I worked on the I Love You Song for the the first time with everyone who is in the song, we finished all of the choreography for Pandemonium, we learned the background for Woe is Me, and we did a rough run of the show through Pandemonium. We also worked a bit on other songs, including Magic Foot. The most fun thing I did today was probably the game Kitty in a corner, or honestly go through the choreography for Pandemonium. The hardest thing I did today was Magic Foot, mostly because I haven’t looked over it as much as I probably should have. However, I felt this song helped me achieve my goal for today, in connecting more with my character, which I felt I did a bit more. Tomorrow I want to work specifically on Second and Magic Foot, as I haven’t gone over them too much. My character listens to classical music, as he enjoys its complexity, much like the complexity of words. He knows that when he listens to the music, it will help him focus in his studies, which he does quite often. He listened to the most classical music during his preparation for the spelling bee. His favorite composer is Bach. I began practicing at 6:30 and ended at 7:20. Had a great day in ColLAB :)))

Feeling a bit frustrated about the difficult time I’m having with getting into character, but otherwise some pretty good work today in ColLAB. Back at it again tomorrow for a fresh start!

Today in ColLAB we learned the First and Second Goodbyes, as well as the blocking and choreography for Pandemonium. We also went over harmonies on My Friend the Dictionary, and personally I went over Magic Foot and the I Love You Song. My biggest accomplishment in ColLAB today was memorizing all of the words to the I Love You Song. To be perfectly honest I did not meet my goal of getting a better understanding of my character, and I am still having trouble trying to portray him, as it is hard for me to connect with him. Tomorrow I really want to buckle down and work portraying this character accurately, as I feel it is really important moving forward. One new thing I learned about my character today is that he is very confident in himself and his abilities, more so than I had previously thought. As a full ensemble I hope we can work on just running through all the scenes a bit more, so that we can work on our interactions with one another and try to make them more authentic. My character’s fondest childhood memory was when he was younger, about 7 years old, and he was sitting in a pet store with his real mom Joan. He looked around for a while, and just as she asked him what he wanted for a pet, he saw it. In the back corner was a sea anemone, which Barf chose immediately. He named it Rocket, because it waved back and forth faster than the other anemones. This would be the beginning of his greatest project yet, the sea anemone circus he would cultivate over the years in his basement. I began practicing at 5:50 and went until 6:45.  Another pretty successful day in the books!