So, the show is over

And the body hurts.

 

Protea Stage Production's production of Aladdin and his magic lantern had a very successful run of total 11 shows. After the last show we had the traditional after show party. I got home at three O'clock in the morning and got up again at seven to be back at the hall for the strike. For those who don't know, 'strike' in theatre has nothing to do with no-work-no-pay. It means hard work for no pay. It is when the set is broken down and taken back to the warehouse for storage.

I love offering my skills for theatre. Hard labor is not one of my skills. Unfortunately, it is something that must be done. It does not matter how many hours of sleep we had.

Enough about my pain. We had a great review in the local paper. The reviews from the judges are in. I have a copy of only one of the reviews, and will therefore only talk about this one. I will only comment about the parts where I had a role to play. For the rest, it is sufficient to say that the judge review was great. He loved the show. Now we will wait for Februarry '14 to see if we get any nominations for the annual SANCTA awards. Hold thumbs please!!

Even though I was involved with a lot of areas, let me start to talk about the parts of the review that talks about the music. That is where I played the greatest part (pun intended). Although many of the songs get mentions, it is more in the context of the acting and choreography. Not often that the music get any mention at all, so I will saviour the mentions we did get.

In short, he loved the music, especially, the African songs that opened act 1 and act 2. Woot!

He commented about Storm's performance as Aladdin and offer the opinion that she got the role more for her beautifull singing voice than her acting ability. I agree with him that Storm has a beautifull voice and sings really well in this show. She had some opera training and it paid off. I do not think that her acting abilities lacked at all. I see absolutely no problem with giving some importance to singing abilities when casting roles. I have suffered through many musicals where actors who can not sing two notes got a role because of their superior acting ability (Les Mis, the movie being a good example). Me, being a musician / songwriter myself might be a bit biased.

Shannon's vocal skills in the role of the pink genie also got a deserved mention. In this case her acting ability matched.

Ok, here is the most important part in the whole review. "The band was superb. The musical directors and musicians need a huge pat on the back. Any play with live music is better than a recording and I felt that this particular musical ensemble was definitely an asset." Thank you Mr Judge. I accept and agree with every word.

Later on: "The songs were brilliant choices and ones that the audience enjoyed singing along to." Thank you! The songs were Cameron's choice, and the sing-a-long was co-written by Cam and myself. It had every single audience member on their feet clapping and singing in every single show.

Ok. It is not much out of 5 pages of review, but I am happy with getting any mentions at all!

Once again, congratulations to Cameron for writing and directing this masterpiece.

Next time I will look at the other aspect where I was involved, including the social media marketing campaign.

 

Making the magic of theatre happen

I am really blessed to have the opportunity to be involved with theatre. The greatest thing about theatre is the people that make theatre happen.
Our current production is very special. I have never before met so many people who are so special. Sometimes I feel like I just do not belong in the precence of these exceptional people. The least I can hope for is that I will be able to learn a little bit from them and just a tiny bit of the genius would rub off.
The show was written and directed by Cameron Lawry. I am honored to be able to say that I worked with Cameron. When he approached Protea with the proposal to stage his show, not everybody believed he could pull it off, but Protea was willing to giving him the chance. Hooray to Protea for being so brave to give such a young man the chance. Cameron not only pulled it off. He pulled it off big time. He did not only show Protea he can do it. He showed the world that he can do it. I am sure that we will see him go on and reach great hights.

It was so great to witness the support that Cam got from his parents. Debby and Neville had to make many sacrifices to support their son over the six months period. I am so glad that it all paid off in the end. The team of Cam, Debby and Neville can really be proud of what they achieved.
Musical theatre is by far the most collaborative form of art that I know of. It is impossible to make the magic happen on your own. You need to be able to make many work together and you need many more to support you to make it happen. When it all comes together the magic of theatre happens.

So, I am an iPad musician

I own my iPad since the iPad2 was released and have found many ways to use the iPad. Visual.ly published an interesting survey done on how musicians use the iPad. One problem I find with most app reviews on the internet, is that the apps are almost always reviewed by people who have been using the app for a day, or maybe a week, and by people who have been given the app for the review. Reviews by people actually using the apps in real life, and have been doing so for beyond the 'novelty-week', are hard to find.

I have downloaded many apps, most of which I tried out and never used again beyond the first week. Here is my list of how I use the iPad, and the apps that I actually use.

Tuner: I hate people who refuse to use a tuner. You know the type? Yes, there are still people around who believe that they can tune a guitar by ear only, and then halfway through a practice complains that everybody else is out of tune. Tuners are cheap, and often even free if you use an app on your phone. If you don't own a tuner of some sort, please give up playing guitar, or at least don't play in front of people. I have a few free tuner apps on my phone and on my iPad, but the one that I now use is the tuner built into Amplitube.

Guitar effects: Amplitube makes up the mainstay of my guitar sound, with Stompbox being used mainly for the odd clean sound. To be able to use either of these apps, you will need some hardware options to go with it. My rig consist of:

-My fender stratocaster - it all starts with a good guitar, and this is my idea of a good guitar. For acoustic work, I use my Yamaha APX.

-My guitar is plugged into an iRig Stomp.

-The iRig Stomp is plugged into my iPad2, running Amplitube or Stompbox. I also have the Audiobus app, which in theory would allow me to chain Amplitube and Stompbox, but for some reason, my iPad cuts out and go into silence mode at unexpected times when it is over-burdened.

-My iPad is held in place with the Hercules Tab Grab, which is fitted to my music stand.

-From the iRig, I have a cable plugging into my Marshall 14W amp. This requires that all the presets I use in Amplitube has the amp models switched off.

Next to my music stand, I have another music stand with my laptop. On the laptop I have Notion running as my drummer, pianist and synth. Notion on the computer has been my main composition tool for many years now and have served me well for all these years. I have the iPad app as well, but only use it to make small adjustments or compose melody lines and sound effects, etc.

For lyrics and set lists, I use a nifty little app called Songsheet. There are many apps around doing lyrics tabs and set lists, but I have settled on this app. It allows my to enter my lyrics and chords and transpose the chords to a new key and move verses around as the musical director change the arrangements. The only problem here is that I use my iPad to play live and in rehearsals for guitar effects - therefore I still need to print the lyric sheets and use my flip files on the music stand.

When it comes to staying in touch, I use the usual social media apps, like Blogsy, twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

To stay organized I mainly use Goodreader for all pdf needs and Evernote to keep notes of all meetings. There are also the usual office apps like Numbers for speadsheets and Pages for writing letters. For keeping track of income and expenses, I use Bookkeeping3.

As I look at the apps on my iPad, I see plenty more, including Garageband, Symphony Pro, Band-in-a-box, Sheetmuse, Progression etc. Most of these apps have never been used beyond the initial 'novelty-week'.

So there you have the list of apps that has proven themselves as being of real value. Let me know what you use in the comments or by email.

Until next week.

 

So, what does a musical coordinator do?

If you google for a musical coordinator, you will find many pages telling you what a musical coordinator does. None of them are really in agreement, and none of them really describe what a musical coordinator really do. So, here is my take on what a musical coordinator does.

In summary, a musical coordinates all the aspects relating to the music in the production of a musical theatre show. A musical coordinator's job is to do everything that nobody else does.

The tasks listed here are usually the responsibilities of the musical director, but the musical coordinator does not report to the musical director. If he does, he would be called an 'assistant to the musical director'. He would still do all the same tasks. The only difference is, if you report to the musical director, you do what the musical director tells you to do, but if you report to the producer, then you have to take the initiative, check for everything that needs be done, and do it - or find somebody to do it.

In our show, I am performing the role of the musical coordinator. As the production developed, I invented this job myself, and are making up the job description as I go along. Your job description will be different from show to show and in many cases, some of these tasks are not relevant. Just for the sake of completeness, I will add some tasks which I do not perform in this show, but which may normally form part of your task.

1. Song writing

This will depend on the show. The director may ask you to write some songs if he can not find an appropriate song to fill a specific gap. You have to write a song 'to spec'. The director will tell you what mood and feel is needed, and sometimes what the lyrics of song is about. This is not your chance to showcase your personal favorite from your own past catalog. Write a new song according to what the director want. If you can not write your own songs, coordinate with a songwriter. If the show is for a non-profit organization, chances are that you will not get paid for it. Just make sure that you sign a songwriting agreement and retain all the rights to the songs you write. That way you might be able to use the song again in another show or demo reel.

2. Music licensing

If the director makes use of pre existing hit songs, make sure that you obtain permission to use that music from the local music rights organization (SAMRO, BMI, ASCAP, etc.). This may require you to do some research to determine who the rights holders are and fill in the forms, or at least assist the producer in these tasks.

3. Music budget

Ok, in this case, I have no responsibility regarding the budget, but in many instances, the producer may give you a maximum budget within which you have to hire musicians, musical directors and pianists, etc. At least, if the director handles the full budget himself, you may have to make sure that you are compensated for all your own expenses,

4. Hiring

This is a difficult one. It is the responsibility of the show director to hire a musical director. The musical director must be responsible to the director. If the director ask for your assistance in this regards, make sure that everybody understands that you are only acting on behalf of the director. The musical director may ask you to hire a rehearsal pianist. It would be ideal to have the show pianist and the rehearsal pianist as the same person, but it is not always possible. If you have a large orchestra, you also may need to hire a conductor.

5. Musicians

The musical director may abdicate her responsibility regarding the band to you. Check with the director and musical director what kind of sound they want, and put a band together according to their needs. In the average non-profit show you may end up with a 4 or 5 piece band (drums, bass, piano, guitar, saxophone). In the average Broadway show you may have a 9 to 24 piece orchestra.

The director may have made commitments to some people or friends to include in the band. Make sure you adhere to his wishes. Where there are gaps, get somebody. It may even mean that you fill in a seat yourself - just leave your ego at home. This is not a time for you to showcase your talents as lead guitarist, but rather an opportunity to demonstrate how well you can make things happen 'behind the scenes'.

6. Band practice

You must make sure that the band know the songs. Draw up a schedule and agree the schedule with the director, musical director, choreographer, producer, and band members. It is very unlikely that you will get all those people in one place at one time, so you will be required to do a lot of walking and phoning around. The normal schedule would include:

• Singers training and rehearsals. This is almost always the job of the musical director. Attend the sessions to understand what keys they sing in, what verses gets dropped, and what tempo songs are done in. Record the singers and play it to the band. Keep on recording the songs at each rehearsal and always keep the latest and best version.
• Band practice. Give the band enough time to get to know the songs before they rehearse with the singers. First just practice the songs until all band members know the music, the chords, and the tempo, etc. The songs don't have to be practiced in any specific order. Spend as much time on each song as may be needed. More difficult songs may need more time.
• Band rehearsals. When all band members know all the songs, rehearse the whole show from start to finish. At this stage each musician must be on the instrument he or she will use during the show. It is fine for the pianist to use an electronic keyboard during practice, or the guitarist using an acoustic guitar. In rehearsals the pianist must use a real piano if that is what she will use in the show, and the guitarist must switch to the electric guitar if the show needs it.

• Rehearsals with singers and dancers. Somebody invented the name 'sitzprobe' for this. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds epic. It is your job to make sure that the band knows all the songs by heart by this time. There may be some surprises as you may need to adjust some songs in tempo or key at this stage. During rehearsals songs may be done in whatever order is convenient. Coordinate with the band, directors, and singers to draw up a schedule. You do not want singers to sit around wasting their time while waiting for their songs to be rehearsed. However, when you rehearse a song, it can be a waste of time if the right singers are not present. That includes the chorus ensemble. During this time, take special care to balance the volume between the instruments and the singers.
• Dress rehearsals. The last week before a show is usually set aside for dress rehearsals. This time, the whole show is rehearsed from top to finish, in the order that the show runs. This is like running the show without an audience. The first dress rehearsal may be stopped and started as needed. The director would want to have at least two dress rehearsals running all the way through without interruptions, before the show opens. As musical coordinator, you must leave proceedings in the hands of the director. Do not interfere, comment, or interrupt. Make sure that no interruptions are caused by the band. If needed, make notes and discuss with the band after the rehearsal. The sound engineer must be present at dress rehearsals to make sure that sound levels are appropriate.
• Opening night. Calculate your schedule by starting with this date. This is the date you can not miss. Determine how much time is needed for each task and work backwards from here to calculate a start and end time for each step listed above.

7. Coordinating between band, musical director and choreographer

It is your job to make sure everybody has a copy of all the music. Make up a folder for each musician in the band, choreographer, musical director and rehearsal pianist. The 'flip files' work best for this (a file book containing 30 or 50 see-through plastic pockets). Inside each musician's file, place a copy of the chord tabs of each song. Keep the songs in the order in which they will be done in the show. Do not print songs double sided. If a song spills over to a second page, place it such that the song starts on the left side and continue on the right. This will avoid musicians having to turn pages during a song.

Pianists do not like chord tabs. Print out complete scores for the pianists. Again, print on single sided paper. Pianists like to tape the score together to enable them to open it out on one long stream to place it on the piano music shelf. Brass and wind players also need a score printed, but for them you need their dynamic parts, i.e. the music notes containing only the parts they play, with no piano or vocal parts. Take heed of special tuning requirements for brass players.

Each file must also contain a CD of all the songs. This CD must be replaced every week. In the beginning each CD will have only original artist recordings. Replace these recordings with the singers and rehearsal pianist recordings.

8. Other music consumables and needs

You may need to check that all musicians have all they need. Each band member needs a music stand and music lights. Guitarists must put on fresh strings before the show. Pianos may need tuning. Everybody will however have to bring their own toilet paper.

This list is by no means complete. There may be many other tasks added here. Feel free to add anything you feel belongs here in the comments below.

 

PSP.TV @ProteaStage interview with Shannon Hancock

Our PSP.TVT host, Michael, presents the second of our interviews with cast and crew of Aladdin and his magic lantern! Earlier this week we had an interview with the show director and writer, Cameron Lawry.

Today we have the first cast member, Shannon Hancock, who plays the role of the genie in the lamp.

Watch out for our next interview with Ruvi Naidoo.

Activity is picking up everywhere, so also wait for some action footage as we have spent most of our Sunday painting the sets.

As it goes with many shows, things will have to change along the way.

One of the things that can change is the name of the show. Our show will from now on be known as Aladdin and his magic lantern! to keep it with the South African flavor of the show.

A number of songs will have to change and all advertising material will have to updated. Be patient and soon all will be done, so while I have lots of work to get all that on the internet, have fun and watch out video!

 



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PSP.TV @ProteaStage

PSP.TV Backstage with Michael Brownhill: Interview with Cameron Lawry

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Protea Stage Productions presents

PSP.TV

Backstage with Michael Brownhill

 

MB. Welcome to PSP.TV . I'm your host Michael. Today we will be interviewing our very own director, Cameron. Cameron.

 

CL. Yeah, well, my name is Cameron. Thank you for having me on the show.

 

MB. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Ow old are you? What grade are you in?

 

CL. I'm seventeen. I go to St Dunstan's and I decided on writing a pantomime in December, somI started writing it. I talked to Protea and ja, here we are.

 

MB. Tell us about your role in the production.

 

CL. Well, I'm the director, so, make sure that everyone's here. Put everything together. Ja, stuff like that.

 

MB. And what kind of skills are necessary for a person in your position?

 

CL. Ja, patience - a lot of patience.

 

MB. Tell us about the kind of training you had to go through for this role.

 

CL. Well, I've been with Protea since 2005, so I've picked up a couple of things along the way, and I think it is a lot of trial and error.

 

MB. And what was your first job in theatre?

 

CL. Was a chorus members I said in 2005 in Oliver.

 

MB. D why do you thing theatre is important?

 

CL. Think theatre is important because a lot of focus is on the sport and stuff like that nothing gets done about the other people in the world. You know, the cultural people. And what will we do without watching TV every evening when you get home going to watch that movie at the cinemas. Ja.

 

MB. D what is the greatest challenge for theatre today?

 

CL. I think to get guys to come and act.

 

MB. Amen. Amen. And would you like to pursue a professional career in theatre?

 

CL. Yes, I would. I'd like to become a writer and director of film and theatre. Yes.

 

MB. And anything else you'd like to tell us about?

 

CL. Come and watch the show!

 

MB. Thank you for PSP.TV It's Michael. Over and out.

End of transcription.

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Since kicking off our SMM campaign, we picked up considerably on Facebook followers, email subscribers, twitter followers and got some youtube subscribers. The youtube numbers seem to be a bit low, but with about 25 video views on the first day, and over 50 views within two weeks, I suppose most folks feel that they get notifications of new videos through twitter and Facebook. Not exactly viral yet, but it is not bad for the first two weeks!

A major part of the SMM campaign will be the interviews with cast and crew to keep interesting content flowing, so please subscribe to the links above to make sure you are the first to know.

The success of the campaign will be eventually in the attendance numbers for the show, so please book your diaries for October 18th to November 2nd.

Over and above being songwriter, musical coordinator and marketing assistant, your honourable blog host will also be featured as guitarist in the pits!

 

This is why we love theatre

We love theatre because of the wonderful people who are in theatre. With all the auditions over and all the roles casted, it is time to share some of the wonderful moments we had.

 



 



Brad is a very talented actor and has been in Protea productions before, and as sure as I can be, he will be around in theaters for some time to come. It takes a lot of guts to be on stage. Some people just have more of it than others. These are the ones who will stretch the boundaries a little bit and who will be remembered.

Brad, thanks for being such a sport a making theatre such a wonderful experience for us all.

Set designs and backdrops

This weekend promises to be very busy. Tomorrow will start off with Anne recording in my studio, before we will take the kids of the Aladdin cast to see the Wizard of Oz. This is a fantastic production, starring our own Michael Brownhill as the scarecrow.

For the set, Startimers uses a very clever idea. The backdrop is made up with a huge "book" that fills the whole stage back. During scene changes, the book's pages are simply flipped behind closed curtains. It is very quick and allows for a large number of different scenes, each with a different backdrop.

The day after tomorrow (Sunday) we are getting together at the warehouse to start planning the set for Aladdin. Aladdin will also require a fair number of different scenes, and we may consider the same idea. Alternatively, we may go for the more traditions idea of a large canvas backdrop.

Our previous production, Bottoms up, needed only one set for the whole play. All the scenes were played out inside a living room of a flat in downtown Liverpool. For that production, we designed a "box set". This means we've built the room onstage, complete with doors, cupboards and furniture. A box set allows for far more realistic scenery and more intricate details.

Below is a story board presentation of act 1, scene 1, from the musical, The exile, with the opening song, Freedom day. It shows my idea of the backdrop for this scene.

The exile will require a fair number of different backdrops for the different scenes. The idea of a book as backdrop, as used in the Wizard, may just work very well.

 

Aladdin and his magic lamp

Those who' s been following this blog will know by now. We (Protea Stage Production) are well underway with our second show for 2013. Our first show, Bottoms Up, directed by Margaret Todd, was a huge success. Scarcely one month break, and we are all system going again.

Protea stage is a non-profit theater production company here in Benoni. They have been around for about fourty years now and won many awards over the years.

Aladdin and his magic lamp is a youth musical, written and directed by Cameron Lowry. Cameron has been with Protea for many years and starred in many of the past productions as a child star.

 

I have been involved with Protea since the start of this year and wrote a few songs for the musical. This week we started rehearsals, with the first shot at the one song I wrote, A wonderful world.

 

Aladdin auditions underway!

Auditions for the Protea Stage Productions musical for this year is underway. This first two days of auditions over this weekend went pretty well.

The show we are doing is called Aladdin and his magic lamp. The show was written by Cameron Jordan Lawry and is based on the classic story of Aladdin, with a few twists. Most of the music for the show will be standard well known hits, with myself contributing three original songs specially written for the show.

The show will be produced by the Protea Stage Productions. Cameron will also be co-directing the show with Michael Brownhill.

The show will feature at least 14 cast members, with a still to be determined chorus.mthis means that any voluteers are still welcome to join us. We can always fit you in as one of the towns folk, venders, guards, suitors or servants.

Last chance for auditioning is Monday night at the Tom Newby school. Do not miss out on this opportunity to be part of something magic!