Saturday 23 June 2018

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- Week Eight: 'Oz, the Great and Powerful!'


And so we've arrived on the home stretch. With just a few weeks until the performance, rehearsals have stepped up a gear and we're at full speed with the Chameleons now; what exciting times. It was a busy week for us; we had plenty of publicity photos to get, as well as scenes to stage and some pretty cool effects to teach the group.


This week Miles was in charge of warm ups and the group dived straight into some fantastic movement games. Having to move around the room as if they were walking through different environments, such as in deep snow and with everything below their neck underwater. It is great seeing these guys moving around in such a great variety of different ways- their imagination knows no bounds.


Once everyone was warmed up we set ourselves back into position for the forest scene where we finished last week. There were a few bits we wanted to work out during the scene between Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion, as well as with the trees. The Chorus again showed us that they've really come along as a unit, working together to achieve the required affects of the show.


Then we split- while one group worked on Dorothy's party's arrival at the Emerald City, the Chorus worked on the tornado scene. Some simple moves, nice music, cool material and a birdhouse later and we had created a pretty nice tornado scene! It's always nice to have a completely physical theatre scene, where the group don't need to worry about lines and can just lose themselves in the movements.


Back at the Emerald City and Dorothy's team come to the Wizard's house, where they meet Basil the receptionist and must contend with one final challenge before meeting the Wizard. The cast really brought the scene to life and made it very funny!


Then, of course, we had the meeting with the Wizard himself. We've been excited for this for a few weeks since it's always great to use a bit of tech in a show. Even basic tech can sometimes transform a scene completely. In our case, our Wizard consists of different items which, when brought together by the Chorus, create a nice stage picture.


The moment is ruined, however, when the Wicked Witch makes a last minute appearance- declaring war unless Dorothy be handed over to her. Our Wicked Witch has been growing more and more over the past few weeks and her character is fantastic. Setting in motion the events which lead to the final act of the play, Dorothy and friends are left with one last mission before the Wizard will help them.


And so another week ends. Next week Dorothy comes face to face with the Wicked Witch as the play reaches it's final stages. The cast have worked so hard this term and it's been such a fantastic ride. We managed some pictures for the poster before the session was over and now have it made! Though exciting it always seem a little surreal to reach this stage of the term; still the show goes on and we cannot wait!
























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