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!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- Week Seven: Attack of the Crows!

Attack of the Clones...I mean crows! This week our amazing Chameleons continued work on their production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- with even more costumes, props and madness to add into the mix. As you can likely tell from our countless rehearsal snaps, we're getting closer and closer to the production now and more costume is emerging. This week saw the appearance of a vert shiny Tin Man and a very fluffy Toto alongside our favourite wicked green witch!

Kicking the session off we got our energy going with a quick game of splat and then dived into a shape game. In teams the group were asked to make a new variety of shapes; the topic this week being kitchen and bathroom. Can you make a sink? Or a fridge? Or a microwave (apparently yes, but they all had chicken inside)? The group are getting really good at engaging with these shape games now.

Next we got stuck into some scenes. With our wonderful Scarecrow having recovered we backtracked a bit to Dorothy's first encounter with him in the corn-less fields. Particularly fun was discussing how the Scarecrow should be played. It's fantastic to see the Chameleons coming up with their own ideas for portraying their characters!

So Dorothy and Toto have their first companion. The focus with this scene then was working on the interactions and physicality. Recently we have talked a lot about physicality and how different moods can be portrayed using only body language. It was good to see some of the cast thinking about this and using aspects of physical performance in their work.

Meanwhile, at the Witch's castle, our wonderfully wicked Witch of the West continues to plot against the group. This week we had Elphaba donned up in her signature green and blacks. Again the relationship between the villains of the play is getting stronger and stronger and these scenes are a pleasure to watch. It's a nice opposition to Dorothy's adventure, as the Witch has known her henchmen for years and thus there is more history to build upon there.

Back with Dorothy and we put in the crows, who come and attack her, Toto and the Scarecrow at the end of their encounter. It's great seeing the Chorus adapt to their many roles- their crows are looking fantastic and they are really coming together as a single unit.

Then onto the Tinman; who is the next companion on Dorothy's adventure to join the crew. Though we started work on this scene last week it was great watching the heroes begin to come together, especially since now our Tinman is rocking the silver look. Of course, the Witch's henchmen are never far behind and so it isn't long before the Chorus are needed again- this time as evil trees who come to attack the group.

And so we are a week closer to the show. Next week the group shall finally be arriving in the Emerald City and come face to face with the Wizard of Oz! Puppetry and movement next week so let's hope everyone is ready to get moving! Hopefully even more costumes will emerge...and next week we will be working on the poster as well! Busy times!

We were lucky enough to be able to treat the Chameleons to a special workshop after the usual session today- run by Jesse as part of the skills share for his Arts Award Bronze certification. Jesse delivered a fantastic hour of 'stop-motion,' teaching the Chameleons how to create their own stop-motion film. It was fantastic fun and myself and Miles created a moving video about Edward Redtrousers- a noble lego man and his emotional journey across an orange chair. It was beautiful. Someone call Sundance.