Annie Notes

I tried out for the Annie because I thought it would be an impeccable opportunity to experience onstage acting. I love to act but I've never done so on stage infront of a crow or audience so I knew this would be a great chance to. When it came to the auditions I originally tried out for an orphan and I also sang which was so nerve wrecking because I did not have a good voice. Overall I did not get that part I wanted however I did get a lead in the mansion chorus which I was very happy and surprised about. I felt so joyful just to be in the musical and felt honored. Reherseals started and at first we would just stay from 3 to 4 going through lines, memorizing songs and getting to know the people who we will be working with. I recognized a couple of people who were staring in the play, but I was not very close to them. After a couple of weeks from staying afterschool we got the songs memorized and practiced them with Mr. Winograd, we then started to run through the lines with some movement. That took us about a month and then we stayed afterschool from 3 to 5 practicing Act 1 with the scenes but only the main characters. By this time we were already on stage going through the scenes. My character was Mrs. Greer one of the main servants in the mansion chorus, she's a rather old lady who nurtures Annie and loves her like she's her child. And so when she hears that Annie's parents have come for her, she starts crying. She has a very bubbly character and is always prompt when Miss Grace or Mr. Warbucks calls. She cleans the mansion making sure it's spik and span and is in charge of all the other servants and having them do duties too. She loves her job and working for Mr. Warbucks, she's always happy and smiling. Being her character was simple and hard at the same time. I can relate to her character since I am a smiling happy person most of the time, but being in character as a servant was difficult. I always had to move around with my duster or notepad and pen joting down notes and collaborating with my close friend Mrs. Pugh who was in charge of cooking and confirm with head assistant Drake if everything is alright. It was hard at first getting into mode, I'm always up for a challenge I like doing things outside my comfort zone, I had to pu my mind to the aim as if I was working for someone famous and I want to do a good job. Sometimes even if I wasn't in the mood to practice it's all about acting, you have to pretend you are having fun and having a good time, that way the audience will believe your character by the way you're acting it out. I loved playing her character, I think I suited her well and enjoyed being her. The one thing that was also a difficult was that when we had to change scenes and get our props ready. We had to make sure they are in place inorder for us to get them in time. Dancing was also involved which I love, but the choreography we learnt was more of a ballet style that I also found hard at first, the moves were very fast and elegant, I'm more of a hip hop dancer girl but. But practice makes perfect so eventually I got the hang of it and started to enjoy it and make the best out of it, I think the dance suited the servants good since we are quick and choppy yet graceful which I liked. As an ensemble we sometimes had difficulties with some people who were behind or couldn't get the steps right, we made sure everyone caught up and worked well as a group. The singing was the one thing I was having most trouble with, since I knew I was not a very good singer, however with an ensemble, I was more confident. And because we practiced so much with the singing and always had good vocal warm ups it, I started realizing that I'm not as bad as a singer than I thought I was. Just with the right amount of practice, I managed to pull myself through and also the people who I was singing with I got really close with, which made me feel comfortable. The only problem with singing was that we really had to project our voices since the walls and all the audience absorbs our voices making us sing much louder. Another role I played was a newspaper person, I did not like playing this character as much as I liked Mrs. Greer because I could relate to her personality more. It was hard to imagine myself as being a newspaper person, with the way I dressed, all brown and beige with a cap which I wasn't used to at all, so it took me some time to adjust, with Mrs. Greer atleast she had a bit of style and colour. I kept thinking of how awkward my character is because I go on stage with my apple selling friend and just shout newspapers, newspaper, wallstreet journal new york times for sale 10 cents each. I kept thinking what am I doing, this is not me. But then again it's all about acting, as long as I believe in myself the audience will too. I never hated the part I played, I can never, acting is all about facing your fears. There’s never a time where one is not active and involved in the process of performing. There must always be a purpose for one to be on stage, whether it’s to act, for movement or even filling up space. By practicing my character more and more I started to get more confident in myself. I overcame being doubtful by really seeing the audience as being part of New York, with the help of the buildings on the side and lights I imagened walking the streets of New York and because I had an apple selling partner it made things easier for me and felt more realistic, we communicated and were close friends since our jobs were selling things. At the end of the two month practice I thought we improved a lot from when we first started as a cast, we stayed after from 3 to 6 and on Thursdays, however Mrs. Morris and Miss Denley still seemed frustrated somehow. I mean we memorized all the songs and lines, but then I realized they were just stressed and was just pushing us to do our best and get us to act at our best ability. I could understand from their point of view that they just didn't want to embaress us infront of an audience if we are not capable of doing our best. I'm so happy that they forced all these long hours of practice because when it was a week away from the performance I thought we were a million times better than we ever were and knew we were ready to perform, there is always room for improvement. I've never been in a play or musical before so I was certainly surprised by the amount of hours and effort you really had to commit too. They are such good directors and wouldn't have had it any other way.