Peter Pan Rehearsals and my Production Role

So we had got the cast for Peter Pan on Monday 13th November, I ended up getting cast as John and a lost boy, since Kelly wants to see me play less mature roles and wants to see more physicality from me. 

Tuesday 14th November

Today was the first rehearsal day and we started off with voice warm-ups as were going to go through all the songs in our groups. So Tom would go in order of songs and have us come up with our other classmates who would be playing for example the other John or the rest of the darling family. The songs I need to learn for John and the lost boys are: 

• The Darlings
  
• Come Away, Come Away (Reprise)
• Wendy's Song
• We Believe in Fairies / Believe 
• We're going home
• The Darlings (reprise)

I also went through my script and started going through and highlighting my lines so that I can be prepared with my cast. 

Wednesday 15th November

We worked on lost boys and pirates stuff today. A group of us would go with Abbey and she would teach us movement to a song that song was Wendy's song. I did it twice once as a lost boy and a second time as John. I missed out on the other lost boy stuff since I did it twice but I managed to watch it from everyone else so I got a feel of what Kelly is wanting all the groups to go for.

After lesson Kelly wanted to keep all the Darlings and Peters back to go through  the first act which is a long 1 so we would rotate casts so that we could see one cast do it and see if they do anything different that could work for another cast. We also did this to help learn lines and block out the scenes. We ran through the song aswell this time with the backing track just so that we could familiarise ourselves with the words.  In this I have 2 songs to learn which is the Darlings and and Come Away, Come Away. I don't speak as much but I am always on stage so I just need to stay in character the whole way through and react to things around me. I also need to pretend to fall asleep for a long time, and remember to act tired when I get woken up by Wendy. 

Thursday 16th November

Today we continued on from what we had done the day before but this time worked with my cast so that I could watch what the lost boys need to do for when I was a lost boy in cast 1 and 3. I started off noting down things in my script so that I could read over my notes so that when a certain line is said I can then act out what I had noted down. 
We then continued on further from when Michael and John fly in. We ran through this scene a couple times to block it out and so that I could familiarise myself with the lines. After like 3 times of running through it I went of script as there's only a few lines where I say hello to Peter and ask why the lost boys are building a house for Wendy. We then blocked out the start of the song so that we could figure out why the lost boys gather around Wendy. Me and Sienna (who is playing Michael), improvised a bit when were we just say "no" to Peter when he asks us to help build the house then we go over to Wendy to make sure she's okay. Then the lost boys will run over and we move onto "Wendy's Song" where we had learnt the beginning of the movement to it. After I had done the scene, I then went and added notes for John so that I could remember what I did or if I forget I just come back to doing what comes naturally. 
At the end of the day we got tasked with going away over the weekend and learning the first 2 scenes that we are in songs included.

Monday 20th November

Today I spent time with the lost boys in the green screen room going over the movement Abbie had taught us so we could teach the rest of the other casts. This is also when I put my name forward for doing the props list again for my production role as last time I felt I worked well when it came to props. So for this year I decided to take on the lost boys for props and spread it out among ourselves that some others take brave girls and some take pirates. For the lost boys I had the idea of the main 6 lost boys all having swords for the final fight scene and of course Nib's bow and arrow. The rest of the ensemble lost boys we spoke about having items that resemble a sword or resemble something like a bow. 

Tuesday 21st November

Today we worked with Tom again and started off with vocal warm-ups before going through the entire script and going through all the songs that we were involved in. Whilst also going through the songs I was going back and fourth between the green screen room practicing the beginning darling's scene and songs so that I could be ready to move onto when we arrive in Neverland.
We also found out today that we were all part of another song which was "You got to believe" where it has the lost boys singing and interacting with the audience trying to get them to join in with the singing and standing and clapping. This is something I haven't done in a show before, I have interacted with the audience in the past such as the immersive theatre performances we have done at the globe but I haven't reacted with the audience in this sort of way getting them involved in the stage show a bit like a pantomime. 
We ran through scene 5, on Tuesday afternoon, where Peter returns home with Tiger Lily and Wendy and Peter sing "why". For this scene I was John and I had to act like Wendy was now my mother and all the lost boys were my siblings. We start the scene off with Wendy finishing reading us a story and we all need to act like little kids when she tells us to go to bed complaining and moaning. Since we are part of the lost boys now we sleep in weird ways so for example laying on each other or back to back. We then get excited when Peter returns and he shouts at us all to go back to bed. All the lost boys go back to sleep but John who pretends but ends up watching Peter and Wendy fight then break out into the song. Towards the end of the song I noted in my script to sit up and put my head in my hands upset because of whats happening, then Wendy comes over to me instead of me going over to Wendy and I say my line about missing our real mother because I finally figured out that Wendy isn't my mother and that I want to go home. 
Tootles overhears us and wakes all the other lost boys as I run and go awake Michael and bring Michael to the front and the lost boys grab us to stop us from leaving. They end up coming with us in the end so me and Michael help them grab our things before the twins come and collect me because Peter has shouted at Wendy that he wants to stay in Neverland. As we hear Peter cry about why he doesn't like his mother I made the decision to cover Michaels ears as he is still young and doesn't need to hear what has happened then as we go to grab our things again the pirates attack and we scatter around and I grab Michael and run to safety. 

Wednesday 22nd November

Wednesday morning we started off with scene 5 again showing it to the other 2 casts so the lead roles knew what they were doing. At first I jumped in as a lost boy but was asked by Adam if I could take over as John to show him and Gracie what I did the day before. After showing them what I did the day before I then went and did the scene as a lost boy whilst also helping out Adam and Gracie when I could as John.
For the afternoon we worked on the big lead up to the big boat fight scene, where the lost boys are all lined up. The scene starts with Hook's big monologue before he orders the pirates to drag the lost boys on with John and Michael. Hook then goes down the line where we all reply the same thing about not wanting to be a pirate then passing it onto the next person. After Wendy comes on and gets tied up all the boys in a line get dragged to the floor by the pirates and then we see Peter holding a clock pretending its the crocodile so we need to signal it down the line. When Peter disappears we then need to cut Hook off when he starts to sing with "Rule Britannia" to which Hook then shouts at us but we need to pretend to be scared cause we know Peter will save us. I then added a little bit of giggling with Michael and the twins when the pirates get killed off 1 by 1 when they go into the hold and Peter kills them. The last part we did of this scene was when the lost boys then get dragged into the hold after Hook to just came out of there screaming and we need to pretend and act like we are scared cause we know Peter is in there and won't kill us. 

Thursday 23rd November

Today we continued on from what we had done yesterday and this time we were working with Tom and Aiden who is our fight captain when Tom isn't here. We showed the rest of the casts that scene starting from Hook's monologue all the way up to when the lost boys get thrown into the hold. From there we then choreographed the huge boat fight scene. When I am a lost boy in cast 1 and 3 me and Nathaniel team up and fight Smee near the front which will be William in cast 1 and Aiden in cast 3. We have to wait for counts of 7 before we attack so we did it that when our count is 7 is up Smee is already in his spot but he is struggling to take out his sword so I run at him but he manages to take it out just in time but he flings the sword towards me as he does so I need to duck underneath him. Then Nathaniel comes a second after me and swings behind him but gets parried by Smee, we both then take on Smee attacking and dodging. Then when we get Smee to the edge of the boat he starts to shake so me and Nathaniel look at each other nod and then both kick him over the side of the boat. 
In cast 2 when I am John, me and Michael fight a pirate in the middle of the ship and it's Aiden again. It starts off with Michael running on first and hitting the pirate with his teddy multiple times, having no effect, then when counts of 7 is up the pirate goes to attack Michael but I run on and block the sword swing with my weapon scaring the pirate and then attacking the pirate so that he keeps walking back to the edge of the boat. I then put my hat over the pirates eye's to blind him when he reaches the edge and then signal to Michael to give him one last whack with his teddy knocking him over board. 

Monday 27th November

For today my cast decided to focus on The Darlings scenes and songs upstairs, we went through the song all together to get the pitch for Michael and John since they share the same tune when it comes to certain words in the song. This I found to be difficult as I'm still slowly opening up to me singing infront of a massive group of people but my confidence with it has greatly improved alot due to doing this because I would never of seen myself singing on stage for a performance and now I am. So I have took it with stride and tried my hardest to overcome my nerves and fears so that I can push through the show with singing wise. We also went through the beginning scene and I improvised bits where I would walk to Michael or what I would do when everyone else is talking. This is hard to do at first when you sort of don't have any props or costume to fall into so I felt like sometimes I was just stood staring at them while they talk but that has improved in the upcoming days. 

Tuesday 28th November

 For the morning, we all got our scripts and did one big massive read through of the songs and scenes leading up to the songs. This was so we could familiarise ourselves with the songs. For the afternoon, we moved onto finishing the movement for the first lost boy song "Wendy's Song". We had already done the first part of the song, then theres some talking then we move onto the 2nd part of the song which hadn't been choreographed yet. We start off with going back into the line and then a comb being handed to us and we need to find out ways on how to use it without doing it properly. So I partnered up with Ben and decided to steal his comb and prod and poke him with it then scratch his back. After that we get told how to use it so we started acting like we knew what we were doing with the combs after being taught. We then continued on through the song Wendy telling the lost boys about not being clean and dressed properly so we would work on each other to sort our selves out and apologise about not being clean or our clothes being tidy. We then get into 2 lines and when we sing about the not being able to clean a shoe the back line walks off stage. 
We then rotated casts so that every cast would do it and get a chance to understand what is going on, so for cast 1 and 3 I was a lost boy so I already knew what I was doing for cast 1 since we finished of the song with cast 3. For Cast 2 I was John so a bit more is done and I have my own lines that I sing by myself aswell about them not knowing what a comb is. I have never really been into dancing or movement so I thought I would struggle to get it but I managed to take on that challenge and it wasn't a problem. 

Wednesday 29th November

For Wednesday

 morning we finished off the casts of the choreograph for "Wendy's house". So that for the afternoon we could move onto working with Abbey and choreographing for the Darlings and their song "The Darlings". The song starts off with Mr and Mrs Darling talking about Mr Darling's tie to which then Mr Darling breaks out into a song about how annoyed he is. So for this instead of me sitting there watching like I mentioned I had done before I decided to make a joke out of his tie and act like he was complaining about nothing. So I gestured towards Michael and Wendy about doing my own tie up and laughing at farther. At first it was cast 1 who did the choreographed piece first so I watched Adam so I knew what I was doing. When the kids start singing they're all sat down till Wendy mention she's a darling so then the kids lay on the beds facing the audience kicking the feet up in the air. Michael and John do this for a while before marching around the beds when you hear like a march sound effect during the song and then they sword fight singing before being told to stop and we go into a family photo to end off. 
When it was cast 2's turn to try it I got scared I would do something wrong or miss a timing on when I was supposed to change. The only thing I got wrong was the marching as I was late by a couple beats and when sword fighting I was forgetting about singing. They are easy mistakes to sort out and go over before the show. 

Thursday 30th November

Today we started off by coming in early if you were a darling or lost boy so that we could run through the very end scene where the darling children arrive home with all the lost boys leading up to the darling reprise and the end of the show just before Peter comes in and has his last song with a Wendy. This scene ran very smooth, there was only one thing we had to discuss and it was what Mr Darling would be doing since it says he crawls into a dog house. That ended up getting changed to him laying on a dog bed or dug rug so I went through my script and just changed the lines around a bit so come the show when im reading over them to get ready I wont get mistaken for him being in a dog bed. 
On Thursday afternoon we then had all 3 casts get chosen out of a hat for what cast should do a full run through and the cast chosen was cast 3. So for this cast I was a lost boy so I sat watching waiting for the lost boy parts while watching Gracie and taking notes on my script of things I could add or change to my performance without changing too much as I still wanted the way I do John to be my own thing and not everyone else's ideas I watched and stole. 

Monday 4th December

We ended off cast 3's full run through and we realised that we hadn't choreographed some sort of movement for "were going home" so we got all casts to go over "were going home". I found it hard to be apart of the movement and song whilst also watching what Adam or Gracie was doing as John because I had to stay in character as my lost boy doing the movement and singing but also watching their John at the same time so that I know what John would do and where he would go during the song. Most of it was the sam there was just moments where John would be moving around alot more than what the lost boys moving around. So it was hard to focus on both at the same time, so that when It came to doing it with cast 2 I messed up a couple things as John but they're also easy fixes. 

Wednesday 6th December

Wednesday was same as Monday this week. We started off with a cast 1 run through. I was sick so I wasn't in on Tuesday so I missed my cast run through. After that we realised again we had to go over and add finishing touches to the songs mainly "were going home" as that was the one we were struggling the most with. We kept getting words wrong or wrong movements so every time we got a part of the song wrong we would go away for 2 minutes rejig our memories with the lyrics and go again till we got it right. 

Thursday 7th December

Some of us in came early today and we started off by pairing more of the fights together since we had to make some changes. Then we finished off cast ones run through and spent the rest of the day working on the fight scene on the big boat since there is alot of us with not alot of space so we had to make work with what we had. We tried pairing people up based on height with another person and the lost boys pairing up in some of the fights since it was part of the process for the lost boys to win. 

Monday 11th & Tuesday 12th December

Monday was the day we moved into the Arc for a week. It was also a long day as it meant alot of watching and staying quiet as they did lights for tech and sound queues, making sure mics worked and everything. After we had got all the lights figured out for the darlings scene we were asked to have costume on since it was also a costume run also we were working on cast 1. Since this was a costume run everything felt more alive when it came to the flying and the lost boys doing the songs and all the ensemble parts felt more real like we were in Neverland. We noticed character started coming to life more as well and bits where it felt a bit like there was no character or life were completely different. For Tuesday since there were was nothing to change for tech we did a full costume run through of the show with mics and songs a few more changes to the fight scenes where we had Michael and John now fighting Smee in every cast this did cause a bit of roadblock trying to switch names around but it all worked out in the end cause everyone knew who they were fighting and we were ready for Wednesday for the first 2 shows to begin. 

My Production Role

My production role for Peter Pan was props again. My goal this time was to do better than what I did in Little Women when it came to props as I felt I didn't have much to write about. The first week was slow as we were still getting stuff ready with rehearsing and figuring things out what we needed and didn't need. 

Tuesday 21st November

So today was the start of props team getting together and to start thinking about what each person could use as a prop. Kelly mentioned that it might be easier if we split into groups and someone tackled the different ensemble roles of pirates, lost boys and brave girls. I put my hand forward for lost boys as I could also start working on my prop idea for my lost boy and my costume as well. I then went and asked the main 6 lost boys what they would be using as their props for fight scenes. I got told that the Nibs for each casts would be sharing the bow that we had and that when Tootles grabs it to shoot Wendy it would still be the same bow. I mentioned about maybe the main 6 having swords as it would make them more obvious to the audience that happened to be a harder task. I also sent a teams message in the chat asking the ensemble lost boys if they could give me some prop ideas so that they could start thinking about fleshing out their characters. 

There was a bit where the chat would go quiet as we were working on getting into the new space and I was sorting out my costume for John and my lost boy. When we got into the new space is when I started to take my production role to the new level. 

Tuesday 28th November

So today was when I got back on it with my production role as it went a bit quiet with Lost boys coming up to me with no prop ideas. So I made a list and went to each and every lost boy who was on the list and asked what props they would be using for as their prop for the big fight scene at the end. After I got the list I made an announcement in the teams chat if we could bring these in for definite the start of the following week on the Monday so that we could start working on the fight scenes. 

Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th November

I got together the rest of the Lost Boys who weren't in to give me their prop so that I could add it to the list on the Wednesday, I then also went around and saw if anyone had brought their prop in already so that I can tick it off the list making it easier for me as I was struggling a bit with the communication I was getting back when props is a vital part of a performance cause it will add to the scene alot and help make your character. On the Thursday, I got shouted over by Kelly and she told me that she had a box with props that were used for The Darling's or any smaller props that are used in scenes where you don't need alot of props just so its easier to keep track on. I decided to make the box just for entire first act when its all The Darling's, Tinkerbell and Peter. Kelly had given be a notebook that had all the props she had written down from skimming through the script and if she had missed anything I can add to it or change some things around. I only added like 1 or 2 things that weren't major but would bring the scene to life.  I then organised the box and went through the bags making sure we had everything for the first act when its just the whole Darling scenes before Neverland. After that I noted down next to things we didn't have like the paper hats and the paper boat that would need making. We also got the cardboard swords for Michael and John that Freya had made so I put them into the box. After organising what goes into the box and what i've added to the list and changed around to also go in the box I moved onto the random scraps we had lying around to go in a separate bag that we could use for Lost Boy's tree.

Monday 4th December

With the box still needed to be added to I decided to help out by making the paper hats and paper boat, I had to do this last time for Little Women where I had to make paper hats so I knew what I was doing and luckily didn't take me to long. For the paper origami boat I had no clue and used a video tutorial, while making the boat I spoke to some of the props team about going around and grabbing everyone who is in their group like the pirates to ask them what they have as their prop and if they can tick them off yet for having it in or not. I asked Ben if he could do the same for Lost Boys just while I make the paper boat. After I had finished I went and checked if the hats fit on all the Michaels and Johns and then went and put them in the box after showing Kelly. 

Wednesday 6th December

With me not being in on the Tuesday I made an announcement saying if everyone could please bring in their props for today cause I had a few people on the list not ticked off for showing me their prop yet I got some thumbs up on the announcement but no real communication aswell. This was also a very big struggle as the show was next week so I just made sure to let them know that the show was in a weeks time so this needs to be sorted and that if they don't have a prop it won't help in creating their character. 
I had to change the list a little bit today as well as some of the ensemble had changed their ideas or the main 6 lost boys couldn't get swords so they changed their prop ideas aswell. 

I then left it for show week, so that on the Thursday the fight scene could be focused on without me pulling and taking people out of that as that was a very big job aswell. When it came to show week I spent the Monday and the Tuesday running around getting last little bits and making sure we had all the props, ARC let us use 2 tables that we placed either side of the stage. On the left side we had all The Darling's scene props like the hats and book, John and Michaels swords with the thimble and sewing kit aswell. On the right side we had Neverland props like the Lost boys tree or the pirate props like the mushroom Hook sits on with other various props the pirates use when doing "Rich Damp Cake."