Week 1
To start development on our project, we looked over the acting roles we were given; I was given the role of Frankie the Dwarf and the fourth student. The 7 dwarves in this play are not silly and charming like they are in the more well known Disney version, they are much more violent and immoral. They spend their days working as security guards in Snow White’s nightclub “The Love Apple”, lazing about and jumping at any opportunity for money and bloodshed. While the student role only has 2 lines, I decided to give them an in-depth backstory just for fun. It doesn’t really hold much plot-value, however I like to think that it gives reason for why they want to snitch on the Grimm twins for possessing a book. I decided that student #4 is a 34 year old man who works for the government; he is a spy sent by Lord Boseman’s evil crew to monitor the Grimm twins with Faye. This is why he jumps at the opportunity to snitch on them so quickly.
Week 2
During our second week, we sat together as a class and read the entire script from start to finish in a big circle. This was our first proper look as a class at what we were working with. I read my lines and got a greater grasp on how malicious yet somehow, deep down, loyal the dwarves are. They betray the Grimm Crew however in the end they realize that working together is much more important than any bribe. We then began working on the songs, starting with the first song “Revolting Children” from Matilda, then starting to block Act 2. I then began working on my Scrapbook.
Week 3
I read through my lines in Week 3, rehearsing them to myself in order to memorize them and get off script as quickly as possible. I then began to work on my Scrapbook in the back of the classroom as the people who were involved in the dances began choreographing.
Week 4
This week we had vocal training with Michael, after we had finished that we all went off to work on the production side of our project. I assisted the painting crew by washing the paint brushes whenever they needed to be cleaned/used for a different color. I then worked more on my Scrapbook.
Week 5
In Week 5, we blocked the final scene in which the other dwarves and I double-cross the Grimm crew and are reminded of the importance of friendship and loyalty by Snow and Rapunzel. I was placed just behind Serish and Nika as the dwarves held them captive whilst the Frog Prince retold his story.
Week 6
We attempted to go through as much of the play as possible in one go, finishing after 1 hour and 15 minutes. We did not get to finish a full run through, however we did manage to almost completely finish Act 1 which I felt helped strengthen our performance, or at least for myself as I was able to rehearse the dwarves’ scenes in a professional setting with my co-stars instead of just rehearsing by myself. I think that this is my preferred way of learning lines and cues as it is most effective for me personally.
Week 7
In this week we went over scene transitions, working out how we would take on and off certain pieces of set between scenes as well as making a list of who would close the curtains at the end of each scene. After this, we performed (an attempted) full run through of the show in front of the media makeup students. We did not get through the whole play unfortunately due to time restraints, however we got very close. I continued to work on my Scrapbook when I was not on stage.
Week 8
We continued blocking the final scene as it was the one that needed most work, we scrapped the dance battle scene and choreographed a fight scene in which the dwarves free the Grimm crew and handcuff the villains. I specifically was tasked with freeing Red and Stiltskin, then giving Stiltskin my sword so he could threaten Boseman. My character then ties Boseman’s hands together and steals the quill for The Ancient Book of Fairytales so he cannot write anything more. At the end of the week, we had reached performance day. We put on both of the shows and I feel like they went very well. I remembered all of my lines and cues, as well as improving in moments where people forgot lines or to fill long pauses.