No matter what discipline or what sort of show you're working on, some rehearsals are fun and some are not.

The ones where it takes forever to get even a little bit done because you have to thrash out things in minute detail definitely fall into the 'not fun' category.

We had one of those this week, and the misery was compounded by the knowledge that we were going to have to do it all over again when we finally move into the actual performance space, because a lot of the thrashing out was to do with space. Let's face it, where are you going to find a rehearsal space the size of the stage at the MFCC in Ta' Qali? It's enormous!

Anyway, although the actual rehearsal was tedious, the evening wasn't a total loss – us chorus people had an extra-long break time while the principals were taken through their paces, and I had a fun time chatting with two of my friends.


Funny that, when I talk to people who have done Panto before, they all say the same thing – it's exhausting but fun, especially because of the friends you make in the cast.

OK, I'm cheating a little bit here because these two friends were ALREADY my friends before Panto, but I AM making new ones too, honest!

Because of being in a large group of people most nights for rehearsal, I think I have done more socialising in the last three weeks than I have in the last twelve months. My mother would be so proud.

That poor woman spent most of my teenage years worrying about my complete lack of inclination to be at all sociable. Don't worry Ma, I have been practising my social skills. I'm still not very good at mingling, I'm afraid, but my small talk is definitely improving.

Also, although I'm really bad at names and faces, I can now name almost all the girls in the chorus, and almost half of the boys. Big improvement, hux?


I'm currently sitting in the MADC clubrooms, blogging and enjoying the atmosphere. Downstairs, MADC members are poring over seating plans for the MFCC tent and buying tickets for the Panto, someone (probably Lino) is using power tools to build part of the set, and up here a talented young man is making his way from classical music to bouncy show tunes via some blues and jazz on the piano which Maestro Paul will shortly be using to take us through our paces. I'm keeping an ear out because very shortly a couple of dozen performers will come pouring through the door, ready for another evening of song and dance. Energy everywhere, the vital ingredient to theatrical magic that makes up a special show like the Panto!

Scuse me, got to go warm up my voice...

Panto Blurb

As the owner of a small business on the verge of bankruptcy, Sinbad the tailor certainly didn't need the additional hassle of going on a quest to save the world (and the beautiful princess Shanti). However, encouraged by his tomboyish friend Tamala and aided by an unlikely collection of allies, Sinbad sets off on his journey and discovers along the way that sometimes heroes can be found in the most unlikely places.


Book online - MADC.biz

Oops...

Today at rehearsal two people came up to me and said they enjoyed reading this blog... I guess the cat is out of the bag!

Well, it had to happen eventually I suppose. *waves to fellow Panto people*

Oh, look... it's my bellybutton.

Every year the MADC does publicity for the Panto, but this year it's even more important since we're MOVING to a different location - the MFCC tent in Ta' Qali.

The publicity photo shoot was, um, interesting.


Us female chorus members got to wear costumes that, on par with Panto standard, revealed our midriffs. Mine hasn't seen the light of day since I was eight years old, so I was worried that the photographer would have a problem with the glare...

Let me just say that some women look great with their midriffs exposed, but I am most certainly not one of them, which is why I don't wear bikinis. I have neither the figure nor the tan, and a year of marriage (and my husband's cooking) has added several kilos. To add further to my humiliation, one of the ladies doing wardrobe walked by while I was looking despairingly in the mirror while in costume, patted me on the belly and said, "Well, this [the costume] will help you get rid of that [my belly]". Niiiiiiice. I can't tell you what that did for my self-esteem.

All of the girls in the chorus, even the skinny ones, were self-consciously holding their arms over their tummies while we were standing around waiting for our turn in front of the camera, because there were lots of people around - the male chorus members, the main actors, the lights/camera/wardrobe/makeup people and so on. But, eventually you kind of get to a place of, hey, they've all seen my tummy by now, might as well give up.

Eventually it was all over, and it was such a relief to put a T-shirt on and once again conceal my bellybutton and associated wobbly bits. Maybe I should have chosen a less... revealing... hobby.

Pass the anti-bacterial lozenges, please.

Well it turned out that my sore throat wasn't really due to the singing rehearsal - it was a precursor to a nasty cold. By the time the next singing rehearsal rolled around, I couldn't speak in more than a croak, but I went anyway. I can still follow without singing, and let's face it, if this happened during the run then I'd still have to go on stage and convincingly fake it!

Luckily enough, the medicines I invested in to see my through my cold worked, and since it didn't hurt I did sing, albeit slightly more husky and with less volume than usual.

The singing for Panto is coming along really well - Maestro Paul is putting together lots of voices in harmony lines that sound amazing together. Apparently half this year's Panto cast was also in Voices, so that probably helps, lol.

Up in the rafters

Singing rehearsal today, with our Maestro Paul Abela.

I don't officially know whether I am alto, soprano, etc. One singing teacher said I was an alto, another said I was a soprano. I dunno. No-one ever took the time to really check my range. So when the Maestro told us to group ourselves by voice, I consulted with a fellow chorus member who has sung with me before, and decided to go with the average, i.e. declare myself a mezzo.

Maybe I should have classified myself as an alto instead, because our Maestro had the mezzo section singing ridiculously high, lol. I enjoyed the singing, but with all the voices going on I'm having trouble picking out my starting note. I guess I need to sit down and figure it out. For now I can get help by listening to the other people standing next to me singing the same voice, but, erm, I won't be able to do that when we're all spread out over the stage and dancing (especially since most of the time I'm dancing with a bass!).

My throat hurts a bit now, because I pushed it too much trying to belt the high bits. Note to self: try not to kill voice.

That wasn't so bad now was it?

The rest of rehearsals this week weren't so bad compared to our marathon first rehearsal, and we also had a couple of days off, so all in all it wasn't too tiring.

I was checking the rehearsal schedule against the script just now, looking for days where the schedule calls for scenes that don't involve us hard-working members of the chorus - i.e. hopefully a day off *grin*.


At odd hours of the day I find myself going over our dance routines in my head - makes me look silly when I do it in public, but I know from experience that it's the only way I'll remember everything from week to week. It means that I have less chance of looking silly during rehearsal (as happened yesterday) when the entire chorus freezes but I, in my own little world, whirl off towards centre stage.

Well, here comes another week, let's see how this one goes.

First Rehearsal

So I survived my first Panto rehearsal, and what a rehearsal it was.


We went on until quite late, and all these rehearsals (if they all run this late) present a problem, as I desperately needed to do a load of laundry but at this rate I'm only home between 11:30pm and 7am. However putting the washing machine on at 11:30pm would be an extremely antisocial act. So instead I decided to be only slightly antisocial and put it on at 6:15am this morning, so the quick-wash cycle would be done in time for me to hang up the washing before dashing off to work. I can see that I'm going to have to be super-organised with respect to housework.


Last night we started off blocking our first scene with the director, Frederick Testa. Well actually it was more than blocking because we got to a reasonable level with it. It's always cool to see a scene being built up and watch the cast go from a bunch of people standing around to a group of people working together to give a performance.

Since we were doing a crowd scene, there were various lines to be said by random chorus members. As Frederick was handing these lines out to people, I was trying to write who was saying what in the margin of my script, but I had to give up after the third person because so far I only know the names of a few people. I imagine this will change fairly soon as it looks like we are all going to be spending a LOT of time together!


After blocking, we had a dance session with our choreographer, who is Alison White, and it was insane. Insane as in, we did a lot very quickly! I've seen Miss Alison in action before, when I was a student at the Alison White School of Dance about ten years ago. She didn't actually teach me, but I was in a school show where she was choreographing some massive dance numbers. She had a huge stage to fill (the MCC, which besides being very big has multiple entrances all over the auditorium), and lots of classes (ranging from four-year-olds to twenty-plus-year-olds), some of which she wasn't even teaching.

Our classes only came together for the first time a few days before the big show, and it was incredible to see how everything slotted together like a great big animated jigsaw!

Well Alison kept us on the hop last night and I'm looking forward to seeing how all the dances turn out. Like most dance/singing/acting teachers who find themselves working with musical theatre performers, she is being very accomodating of the fact that she is working with a group with very mixed abilities, including people who are either not very gifted in the area of physical movement (like me) or who have never danced before. We don't get yelled at for poor technique (yet?!) or for making mistakes, but we ARE expected to put a lot of energy into it.

In the course of the rehearsal, I stepped on one of my dance partners' feet, and I think I accidentally gouged a chunk out of one of his fingers with my fingernail, although I keep them fairly short. But then I got an elbow in the ribs from someone else while doing a double spin elsewhere on the dancefloor, so I guess it all evens out in the end. It's just a fleshwound.


At one point there was an announcement where we were given an injunction to keep all show content secret, so as not to give away surprises (mostly because this year we have COMPETITION). Never fear, I shall blog with the utmost discretion.

So I am absolutely not going to tell you about the bit where *sounds of a stuggle, and possibly of a body being dragged away from keyboard*.

And so it starts.

Today we had an information meeting about Panto and rehearsals.

I got a huge shock when I heard how many rehearsals we'll be having, and how late they'll be finishing - don't ask me when I'm going to get to do the laundry! Should be fun though, if I survive it *grin*

Tomorrow we dive into Act One. Enter the villagers, stage left.

Rehearsals (dum dum dum)

I got an email saying that rehearsals are starting soon... I'm excited but rather nervous because I don't know what it will be like and, well, what if I'm not good enough?

Mostly I'm concerned because I'm not very physically fit right now - a bit overweight and not in terribly great shape. I've been meaning to do something about it but summer was just too hot for exercise. Maybe the thought of being on stage in potentially embarrassing costumes will provide the needed impetus. We'll see.