The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- Weeks Nine & Ten- Dress Rehearsal!!!

PENULTIMATE BLOG POST!
Things have been busy at Anthos HQ and our Chameleons have been hard at work finishing the show and getting ready for the final performance next week. This morning was very exciting; it was dress rehearsal day! The dress rehearsals are always wonderful fun, as we get to see all of the work from the project come together!

New additions to the show feature more of our luminous Wizard, a lovely firefly dance number and a wickedly magical final battle between Dorothy and the Witch, featuring some nifty magic fire dancing routines. As always we try and push the Chameleons by giving the show physical theatre elements...both this week and last were spent working on what we had and incorporating even more into the madness.

With the arrival of our poster and programmes this week, everything is now set and ready for the doors to open next week. On Saturday our Chameleons will unveil their show to the audience. We're so excited to see how it all goes- with the lights and sounds it is bound to be a very exciting day for everyone. Plus, we can finally unveil our next project for after the summer holidays! As I said, it's been busy here.

Busy or not, that is it for this post. It's always hard writing these later entries; as we don't want to give too much away before the actual show. The Chameleons have done a wonderful job though and we are so very proud of all their effort and creativity that has been put into the performance. Next will be a round up post for the project after the show. Until then enjoy snaps from our dress-rehearsal.

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!