Unspeakable Shenanigans Week 9

Coming off the back of another successful vocal workshop last week, the cast went straight into blocking the madness which is Act 2. The unique thing about the second half of 'Unspeakable Triumph' is that it basically flows as one extended scene with no stopping and high levels of energy. The cast have stepped up to the challenge and are starting to develop the frenetic nature of the scenes involved with this and as a result, rehearsals are proving to be a lot of fun for both students and staff.

Next week marks the end of an era for Holy Cross Productions, with our final rehearsal in Victoria Square before moving into the new New Norcia Performing Arts facilities. This space has seen six productions and countless hours of rehearsals. It has been a challenging space to work in at times but has allowed us to perform and build a production culture at the College of which we are particularly proud.

Next term will see the production begin to really take shape as we move to up to 5 rehearsals per week as part of the Senior Drama curriculum. Students in cast and crew roles will be busy preparing for four performances in Week 9 next term.

Until next week!

Mr Chris McRae
Production Director

Vocal Workshop #2

VOCAL WORKSHOP #2

Julia Moody from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts worked with our Senior Production students once again yesterday in the second of three vocal workshops in which cast members are learning to master the Minnesotan accent. We were particularly excited to learn that Julia had previously trained James Millar, who is currently performing as Miss Trunchbull in 'Matilda The Musical'. The students are picking it up quickly and learning the importance of the American 'r' and 'l' sounds. They were soon put to work by presenting the opening scenes of the play to Julia and receiving character specific feedback. Julia worked with the idea of speaking with intention and motivation and students were able to bring this into their characterisation. We look forward to Julia returning for the final workshop which will be held in the week prior to the first performance!

PERFORMANCE SPACE

Students, staff and members of the community were lucky enough to get a first look at the nearly completed New Norcia performing Arts spaces as part of Open Day yesterday. Several production students who were running tours were particularly excited to see the performance space and studios for the first time. Mr McRae and Mr Jackson ran the tours in conjunction with Mrs Sanders and we have to thank the builders for giving us this exciting sneak peek. The building is set to be completed in early April and be ready for use in Week 1 next term.

PROPS AND SET

Mr McRae will be visiting WA Polystyrene this week who will be working on designing our collapsing set. Props and other set pieces are now beginning to trickle in with the assistance of staff and students.

VICTORIA SQUARE 

It will soon be the end of an era at HCC with only two rehearsals remaining in Victoria Square. We have performed six productions in this space as well as countless rehearsals and as much as we are excited to move into our new spaces, it will be with a lot of nostalgia as the production culture has been built in this space over the past six years!

Mr Chris McRae
Production Director

Unspeakable Shenanigans Week 6l

We have reached the end of Act 1 with the final, frenetic scene of the first half of the show being the focus for this week. Student Assistant Director Zoe Paluszak took the reigns for this particular scene and enjoyed the opportunity to block the scene and work with the cast regarding their artistic and characterisation choices. This week was particularly energetic with lots of enthusiasm being shown from all and rehearsal having a particularly positive vibe.


Maria Bravo Echevarria and Michelle Karuga were on hand and ran individual cast interviews in order to get a sense of exactly what they wanted for their character's costume, allowing them to develop a sense of ownership around the costume and character.

Next week, we begin Act 2. The unique part of the second half of the show is that it is technically one large scene with no transitions and no breaks. This will be a great challenge for the students as they look to maintain high energy all the way through to the end of the show. 

Unspeakable Shenanigans Week 5

REHEARSAL PROGRESS

This week was the first chance our cast had to begin working what they had learnt in last week's accent workshop into their rehearsals. All cast members attempted the accent and they are working hard to be able to maintain the accent through rehearsals.

The focus now is creating 'characters within characters'. Students are being called on to develop verbal and physical choices and traits for two characters and will need to work hard in order to move in and out of characters throughout the action.

BUILDING PROGRESS

The building of the New Norcia Performing Arts facility  is rapidly approaching completion with the estimated date at the end of Week 9. This means that rehearsals will commence in the new spaces in Week 1 next term. This is set to be a state of the art facility with some very exciting features and will give students the opportunity to work and perform in some fantastic dedicated spaces.

PROMOTION AND TICKETS

Our official poster was revealed earlier in the week and will start being seen around the school and online soon. Ticket details will be included on the poster and tickets will go on sale mid next term for the shows in Week 9.

Mr Chris McRae
Production Director