Lord of the Rings Episode 3

Back for the final session before the audition. The Civil War song is working much better and the subtext seems to have made a difference.

We worked on playing the song today, and particularly on placing the various people and things mentioned in the text. It is amazing how powerful an actor's eyeline can be (that's the direction he looks in, not the black pencil). By placing characters around you, the audience can pick up subtle cues about your relationship with other people. It is possible to people the entire stage with relationships and still keep the story clear and focussed.

It is also important that wherever you place your other characters, that they act "naturally". We worked on keeping them in the same areas relative to each other, so that the audience is able to differentiate between, say, the band of soldiers that you fight with, and your best mates (who are part of the group but also closer to you). God is an interesting one - it is easy to put God up above you, but it's not always relevant to have him there. Of course your characters are allowed to move around the stage, but you need to "follow" them with your eyeline or at the very least make the audience aware that you are still referring to the same person.

My other area of fascination is timeline. Since the song deals with past, present and future, real and idealised, I asked the client to decide where the future lay. Each client's personal timeline directions can be different and it is good to start with what you do automatically. In my case, my future tends to be streaming off forward and right, with the past streaming back to my left, almost touching my right shoulder. Different people can have lines moving forward/back, diagonal, up/down. Notice when you think about the future or the past, which way your mind's eye goes.

In this case his future was downstage and slightly to the right. (Incidentally this was good for staring off into the distance while facing out, which was handy!) It is then easy to introduce near future and distant future, or real future and wishful future, and put these into the song journey. The singer can refer to the future while communicating with someone, or just get "lost" in the future.

I usually find that once these areas or ideas are embedded, the acting becomes much more detailed, more subtle, and strangely, more natural and more understandable. All of this comes from the text - I tend not to make it up!

With all of that in place, the song really took off, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck (no mean feat if you've seen my photo). Both he and I felt he was ready for the audition, and he was pleased to have two days to embed the information.

Well, a couple of days later I had a phonecall - he had managed the audition well, and had been offered the recall.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
Looking at a Voice (endoscopy video download)
Constriction and Release (opening the throat on video - the latest endoscopy video download)

Vocal Process is running two courses in October:
Vocal Anatomy for Voice Professionals with Dr Meribeth (Bunch) Dayme
Singing and the Actor Training with Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher

Lord of the Rings Episode 2

On Monday I took my client through the Learn a Song in 15 Minutes routine with his new song.

On Wednesday he came back for another session, and the difference was extraordinary. Not only has he learned the song, and can sing it competently with a pianist, his voice sounds more secure, and he is displaying much more confidence in his own ability. He also commented that he had never been so far on in the song-learning process in such a short space of time. I know that many people simply don't believe that they can learn a song in 15 minutes, but the sequence works!

It is interesting to note that the new song now actually sounds better than his original song. Now with him having spent the time at home getting to grips with the words, rhythm and melody using the process, we could spend our time concentrating on plot, subtext and characterisation.

This particular song, Brother, My Brother, is sung to a group of fellow soldiers in the show. For the LotR audition we decided to create a complete physical landscape for the character to inhabit.

So the singer becomes a sergeant in a scratch army - with the sentiments he conveys he couldn't really be a much higher rank. It's dusk, and the fires are being lit, with the camp settling down for the evening. The sergeant is surrounded by about 12 men - an intimate group within a larger encampment.

It is important for this client to fill in as much detail as possible in this way. It makes the portrayal of the song much easier, and gives him something to concentrate on other than the sound he is making. This was essentially a rush job with a deadline, but my feeling is that having got through the first round he will come for more general technical input and access to a wider repertoire. He also has a bigger, more expansive voice but not yet the technique to sustain it, and I'm itching to help him discover it!

He's coming again on Friday for a wash and brush up - I'll keep you posted.

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
Looking at a Voice (endoscopy video download)
Constriction and Release (opening the throat on video - the latest endoscopy video download)

Vocal Process is running two courses in October:
Vocal Anatomy for Voice Professionals with Dr Meribeth (Bunch) Dayme
Singing and the Actor Training with Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher

Lord of the Rings Episode 1

Working with a new client today.

He has a Lord of the Rings audition in a week or so and came to brush up on his singing technique and to ask about repertoire. Although he already has a song that he was comfortable with, the first task is to find a suitable second song, both for him and for the casting. An experienced actor but not an experienced singer, it's important to find a piece that was fairly easy to learn and also appropriate for the task in hand.

I wanted something folky yet powerful - he is a physical actor and needs to connect emotionally with the text. I suggested the song Brother, My Brother from the opening of the show The Civil War, by Frank Wildhorn. Wildhorn has a knack of writing simple, strong ballads with a powerful message.

If you've read the Successful Singing Auditions book you will know that Gillyanne and I use the "Learn a song in 15 minutes" routine. This works even for non-reading actors (although it might add another 5 minutes onto the time as I demonstrate the rhythm of each phrase). It is such a useful process, and actors often feel that spending this focussed time at the beginning of the learning process helps them to feel more confident in both the song and their own ability.

In Brother, My Brother there are a few small phrases that are slightly awkward, but there is nothing untoward, and it is fairly easy to latch onto the musical patterns that occur. It is quite extraordinary watching an actor move from struggling to understanding the concept and shape of a song in a few minutes.

This client is sensible - he knows that he can practise at home, but has also booked an extra session with me in a couple of days' time.


Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
Looking at a Voice (endoscopy video download)
Constriction and Release (opening the throat on video - the latest endoscopy video download)

Vocal Process is running two courses in October:
Vocal Anatomy for Voice Professionals with Dr Meribeth (Bunch) Dayme
Singing and the Actor Training with Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher