#21: So there's hell to pay (bc i’m sick)
Monday 7/29/24
I’ve been nursing a cold since Friday afternoon and the ONLY thing keeping me going is a TikTok I saw on Saturday of Rachel Tucker singing The Wizard and I. If you don’t know who Rachel is, go see her crazy resume. She has a long history with Wicked all over the world.
The thing that is fascinating about this video is that it is totally a theatrical performance but in a small room and with a camera in her face. And she is still playing to the backwall of the Gershwin. Her performance in this particular video is a complete master class in acting. People think of Elphaba as a huge singing role, and it is, but my most favorite Elphaba’s are the ones who are so present. She is present, thoughtful, full of new ideas, and specific.
HOW DO I DO THAT?
Ah, yes. It’s all well and good to identify those attributes of a performance - words like “she was so present” can be infuriating because it’s like “ok great how do i do that?”.
I’m going to address “how to be present and specific” as it relates to singing a solo song. This would vary a bit for a scene or group number.
Try all or some of these!
Write your lyrics out (or just think it) as if you are in a conversation… what is “the other” saying back to you?
“Are you OK?” / Did that really just happen?
“What?”/ Have I actually understood?
“Ummm understood what?/ This weird quirk I’ve tried…
And so on. This gives you something to HEAR and respond to.
2. Linking words! Change it up!
“This weird quirk I’ve tried to suppress or hide”
SUPPRESS OR HIDE - “or” links these together. But, HIDE, being the added word, should mean something different.
3. Affirm yourself!
“If i make good”.... “So i’ll make… good”
Some of my favorite acting words are WELL BUT JUST SO & AND. These words shift the thought, go in a different direction, affirm, or add value. To me, the most interesting word here is “SO”.
4. CREATION OF THOUGHT - this is the strongest skill to develop. I highly suggest working on this on your own, in auditions, and in whatever show you do next.
We do this every day all day. We do not plan every word we will say or interaction we’ll have. Sure, we plan a bit of what we may say if we are expecting to have a certain conversation. But, most of the time we are creating thoughts and coming up with words each moment. “And with all his (idea) wizard wizdom…” To start, go through your song and look at adjectives as your trying this out. Another example would be “and i just had a vision almost like a (idea - find the word) prophecy”.
5. FIGHT TO THE END - i talked about this last week and it holds true here. WIN WIN WIN. Give yourself a win RIGHT at the end. “THE WIZARD (HOLY SHIT ITS HAPPENING) and IIIIIIIIII”
As I said in my notes on DoorDash, “extra spicy please, i’m sick & sad”... But this video has kept me ALIVE.
Dreams Don’t Die
Julie