We added harmonies to Falling Slowly
We also performed our solos. I was feeling under the weather and so I feel my performance standard dipped noticeably from the last time I performed "I'm Here", which was reflected in the feedback I received. Comments mainly focused on my lack of engagement with the audience; my eyes were closed for the majority of the song and I stood neutral throughout rather than exploring the performance space as I had before.
To develop my performance I will recap the lesson in which we were taught about the "circles of attention" and use those points to work on my eye line as well as how freely I move around the stage and utilise as much of the space as possible so that the story of the lyrics is conveyed as much through my body language as with my voice.
I will also reference my lyric sheet which I annotated using the tips learnt on the circles of attention and from there develop gestures I could incorporate into the performance to make it more interesting, visually to watch.
Wednesday 5 March 2014
Wednesday 5 February 2014
5 February, 2014: Different Intepretations
I've been listening to and watching different performances of "I'm Here" for inspiration.
I was most familiar with Fantasia's studio recording of "I'm Here" from her 2010 Grammy-nominated release, Back to Me. Fantasia had performed the song prior to this recording as part of the Broadway cast of The Color Purple from April 2007 to January 2008 and also at the 61st Annual Tony Awards.
Another R&B star who delivered a powerful rendition is Jennifer Hudson who performed "I'm Here" at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors as a tribute to Oprah Winfrey who was one of the honorees that night.
The most useful recording I found however was in the form of this clip - though the first portion of the song is missing. It is Jeannette Bayardelle live in the first national tour in 2007. This allows me to see how the performance looks with the full set, costume and make-up of the musical production and also how one can explore the stage and perform the song in this setting.
I was most familiar with Fantasia's studio recording of "I'm Here" from her 2010 Grammy-nominated release, Back to Me. Fantasia had performed the song prior to this recording as part of the Broadway cast of The Color Purple from April 2007 to January 2008 and also at the 61st Annual Tony Awards.
Another R&B star who delivered a powerful rendition is Jennifer Hudson who performed "I'm Here" at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors as a tribute to Oprah Winfrey who was one of the honorees that night.
The most useful recording I found however was in the form of this clip - though the first portion of the song is missing. It is Jeannette Bayardelle live in the first national tour in 2007. This allows me to see how the performance looks with the full set, costume and make-up of the musical production and also how one can explore the stage and perform the song in this setting.
29 Januay, 2014: First performance of "I'm Here"
I was ill this week with my voice taking the brunt of it - being hoarse and very unreliable. Knowing this, I took an extra half hour before the lesson to rehearse my musical theatre solo, "I'm Here"from The Color Purple.
I began with a light and gentle warm up of lip trills to a simple major, starting from the bottom of my range and working my way up to the highest that was comfortable before descending back to the bottom. I repeated this a few times which helped to increase my range ever so slightly but my voice was still void of elacity.
I then sang the song through an octave lower than the original pitch, but even still on the higher notes (which weren't particularly high for tenor and baritone voices) my voice had a very crackly and raspy tone to it which is not natural for me. This first run through was really just to test the condition of my voice and if I could sing through the entire song without feeling strain - which to a fair degree I did, though it didn't always sound that way.
The second time I sang the song through, I tried to use hand gestures to communicate the lyrics of the song so that it would be more of a performance than a recital. I also experimented with slight changes to the melody to avoid certain notes which were either unobtainable due to my vocal condition or just did not sound in any way pleasing.
Considering my vocal health at the time, I feel my performance was a reasonable success. I remembered all the lyrics and made attempt to perform the song rather than just sing it. However, from the feedback I received from my tutor and classmates, I could have communicated with my eyes by not having them closed for so much of the performance. Also, on the last note, my voice was noticeably poorly as the crackly, raspy and battered sound returned.
Once my voice is back on form, I will be rehearsing and performing the song in a lower key than the original song, which is written for a female mezzo-soprano voice, rather than a whole octave lower, which at times was grating at the very bottom of my range.
In this lesson, I also realised a longstanding dream to play the violin. We rehearsed the Academy Award-winning song "Falling Slowly" from Once, which shares its title with the musical stage adaption. I had never really played a violin before and so it was difficult holding it comfortably whilst bowing. Initially I was also very timid in the way that I bowed so the sound wasn't being produced properly, however, I did produce audible and arguably pleasant sound. Furthermore, as I am not an experienced sight reader of music and as I didn't have the sheet music for the piece, I attempted to improvise melodies, which complimented the song when I got the bowing right every once in a while.
I began with a light and gentle warm up of lip trills to a simple major, starting from the bottom of my range and working my way up to the highest that was comfortable before descending back to the bottom. I repeated this a few times which helped to increase my range ever so slightly but my voice was still void of elacity.
I then sang the song through an octave lower than the original pitch, but even still on the higher notes (which weren't particularly high for tenor and baritone voices) my voice had a very crackly and raspy tone to it which is not natural for me. This first run through was really just to test the condition of my voice and if I could sing through the entire song without feeling strain - which to a fair degree I did, though it didn't always sound that way.
The second time I sang the song through, I tried to use hand gestures to communicate the lyrics of the song so that it would be more of a performance than a recital. I also experimented with slight changes to the melody to avoid certain notes which were either unobtainable due to my vocal condition or just did not sound in any way pleasing.
Considering my vocal health at the time, I feel my performance was a reasonable success. I remembered all the lyrics and made attempt to perform the song rather than just sing it. However, from the feedback I received from my tutor and classmates, I could have communicated with my eyes by not having them closed for so much of the performance. Also, on the last note, my voice was noticeably poorly as the crackly, raspy and battered sound returned.
Once my voice is back on form, I will be rehearsing and performing the song in a lower key than the original song, which is written for a female mezzo-soprano voice, rather than a whole octave lower, which at times was grating at the very bottom of my range.
Fantasia Barrino - American Idol alum and Grammy Award-winning artist who won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Celie on Broadway from 2007-2008 - performing a shortened version of "I'm Here" at the 61st Annual Tony Awards
In this lesson, I also realised a longstanding dream to play the violin. We rehearsed the Academy Award-winning song "Falling Slowly" from Once, which shares its title with the musical stage adaption. I had never really played a violin before and so it was difficult holding it comfortably whilst bowing. Initially I was also very timid in the way that I bowed so the sound wasn't being produced properly, however, I did produce audible and arguably pleasant sound. Furthermore, as I am not an experienced sight reader of music and as I didn't have the sheet music for the piece, I attempted to improvise melodies, which complimented the song when I got the bowing right every once in a while.
It was a great experience playing the violin and it is definately an instrument I will be practising on - I may even get my own soon, I love them that much.
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