PROBLEM SOLVING – Some enchanted evening

Part 1

Identify problems / issues that you anticipate may arise during the course of the production (including the performances) you have been cast in and propose possible solutions which may remove or reduce the impact of the problems. These issues may be:

• Technical / Practical
  • rehearsal / performance problems (acting, voice, singing, movement)
  • production problems (costume, sound, lighting, etc)
• Management –
  • time management e.g. learning lines in a timely fashion e.g. having costumes / props in a timely fashion
  • attendance (both yours and others),
  • independent rehearsals
• Rehearsal rooms (having access)
• Personal – This includes illness, personal feelings, barriers to overcome such as confidence, etc.

Please remember that this section is not for naming problems and attributing blame, it is about how problems arise and you solve them.

Part 2

Identify all problems / issues which actually arise throughout the development of this production, how these are solved and reflect on how effective the solutions have been in maintaining the expected production process. These should be dated and recorded on this page. (Any reflective blogs which provide additional supporting evidence can be linked to this page too but the main evidence for problem solving should be located on this page.)

Problem Solving UAL definition: The level of self-direction, personal initiative and commitment necessary to progress ideas and find solutions, and the practical, theoretical and technical comprehension, appreciation, knowledge and proficiency necessary to achieve identified goals

Fail                  Insufficient exploration of alternative ideas and processes. Problems unresolved.

Pass               Sufficient exploration of alternative ideas using established approaches to resolve practical and theoretical problems.

Merit               Decisive demonstration of initiative in effectively solving problems, adapting to unforeseen practical and theoretical challenges to achieve identified goals.

Distinction     Decisive demonstration of initiative in effectively solving problems, autonomously implementing creative solutions and adapting to unforeseen practical and theoretical challenges to achieve identified goals.

The above statements are guides to how evidence for the final unit (12) will be assessed. Tutors will let you know in their feedback how your evidence for this unit compares to these achievement standards so that you are aware of the level you are currently working at.

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Anticipated problems Section 1

Casting and Auditions 

• There could be some jealousy amongst the cast concerning our roles or what show we are cast in. Hopefully no one dose feel this way and will be happing with an role they get big or small however, this has become a problem in previous productions. In some cases, this tension can be seen on stage even after weeks of rehearsals, possibly making our show look somewhat unprofessional however I think people to get over it in the end. We could solve this problem by not debating, assuming or predicting anything about the casting. This avoids disappointment. Just doing our best, learning the required material, being civil and going along with what is decided for us overall makes us more well-rounded.
• In the past shows, we have often had times where auditions take longer than expected this can sometimes spread across a week. This means that it takes longer for people to be both casted in their company and their roles. This can also take longer as some of the teachers are unavailable on some days for example, Rob is only in on Mondays and Fridays this is why we do the dance auditions on these days. This also applies for auditioning songs with any sort of accompaniment, with Claire as she’s only available Wednesdays and Thursdays. Furthermore, this problem could be solved by people being patient tutors and working cooperatively in order to get the auditions completed as quickly as possible so casting can be done quicker.

Learning material

• I think some issues that will arise will be not remembering the dance routes after we haven’t gone over them in a while. This has happened in all the musicals I’ve been in and I have no doubt it will happen with this one because people will think that once we’ve learnt it, that’s it. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past. In order to solve this, I think we’ll need to have regular dance sectionals and go over dances in most of our rehearsals. We need to keep the dances fresh in our mind and I think when we sing along through the dances, we’ll remember because we’ll associate the dance moves with the lyrics.
• Another issue that I think will become problematic is accents in all the different songs. I know there are people in the cast who haven’t done much work on accents and will struggle with this one. It’s not much of an issue for some as their songs will be British, however some people will need to southern accent if they have a song from Oklahoma. I think the earlier we work on the accents, the easier it’ll be nearer the show and the more accurate they can become and develop during the rest of the rehearsal period.
• Another issue that I think could acre is people not learning harmonies. As this is all song based we will be focusing on the songs. This will slow down rehearsals as we’ll have people swapping to different sides of the stage so they’re in the correct place for the next dance/song. In order to prevent this I think we should learn then early on so we go over them while we dance.

Rehearsal rooms

• Due to there being two other shows being performed, we only have access to a limited number of rehearsal spaces. In certain rooms there may not be enough room to dance, therefore being unable to run a dance rehearsal. This also means that we might not be able to split the cast up in order to be counterproductive. It means that, for example, we may not be able to send half out to run a dance numbers whilst the soloists practice or dances with Han/Claire. Furthermore, On some days, due to different timetables, we may not have access to a rehearsal space to run lunch time rehearsals. This means that we may not have the routines/songs as refined as we would like them before half term.

Extra rehearsals

• In the past, we have had issues with people committing to rehearsals organised by cast members. When people do not attend these, they miss out on cleaning and extra practice, therefore not knowing any changes we have made. this then means we have to take more time in showing then again.
• It can also sometimes be difficult to schedule a rehearsal that suits everyone, ensuring that no one misses out. It needs to be highlighted to the cast, year ones especially, that extra rehearsals are absolutely crucial. one way I think we could fix these problems is, when scheduling rehearsals, we need to look at the timetables put together a list of free time when we are all together.

Production

• The biggest production problem that could occur is the fact that the show is set in a Thrust stage configuration, which could make it very hard to visualise and rehearse when setting songs and dances, and then also whilst performing them as well. I am not sure whether anyone has ever been in a show where the configuration has been Thrust, but I certainly haven’t. It could prove to be quite difficult when rehearsing, I might forget about the fact that there are audience members on both sides of the stage, and so we will have to remember to look both ways and make sure that both sides are involved at all times.

I think that the main way to solve this is purely by practice. I cannot think of any sort of method that will help apart from making the cast sit on either side of the stage to act as the audience and watch and see if there are any moments when they see gaps in the dances. Also due to the size of the dance studio this may work.

Attendance & illness

• Illness is always an issue during shows. There are always bugs going around and a lot of people getting ill. All people can do to try and avoid illnesses is to try and dress appropriately for the weather, which means no wearing short sleeved tops and skirts if it is -3 degrees.  By doing this, people will be decreasing their chances of a cold. Also, if people only had an illness that wasn’t that major, like a head ache for example, they should still try and come in as even though they might have to take it easy, they could still do stuff or at least try. If company members attend college and they are ill, there is the risk that they will spread whatever illness may have to the rest of the cast. This then results in more people being absent and missing rehearsals, needing to catch up on what they have missed
• If company members attend college and they are ill, there is the risk that they will spread whatever illness may have to the rest of the cast. This then results in more people being absent and missing rehearsals, needing to catch up on what they have missed.

 If someone does miss a rehearsal, then people can make any notes in order to help them catch up on anything they have missed in that rehearsal for example, Taking recordings of the harmonie

personal feelings, barriers to overcome such as confidence, etc.

• I think I could end up lacking in confidence in my own abilities, mainly when singing as I am never impressed with myself. I always get given notes about being more confident and trusting myself more this is something I really try to work on.
• I know that there is no such thing as getting it wrong when it comes to acting, but it hasn’t fully settled in yet and I haven’t fully realised it, which is something I am hoping to overcome during this rehearsal process.
• Reputation is always something crucial to remember; no one wants to work with someone who is rude, jealous or unkind in any aspect of life. The way we choose to act can seriously affect our work/education in the future and choosing to be a decent human being is beneficial to everyone.

I haven’t found an actual solution yet, but all I am doing is trying to remind myself constantly to just make my own decisions and let the director tell me differently afterwards. If I keep drilling it in my head it should hopefully settle in sooner I just need to trust myself.

Tech

• Tech rehearsals may take longer than expected, meaning that breaks are later in the day and shorter, and we are static on stage for longer. This might result in a lack of patience amongst the cast. this can sometimes resolute in arguments.

Ticket sales

• A matinee & opening night are notoriously hard to sell. This could mean that we struggle to sell tickets for our Saturday matinee. This could result in a lack of energy, not being able to feed off of the audience. mainly it just isn’t nice to perform in front of no people.

To avoid this, we need to ensure to promote all of the shows on social media frequently, providing the link and giving the public easy access to purchase

Hair, makeup and costumes

• Some people have less experience doing their own makeup and hair, therefore may not be able to do their own (especially in the style of the 1920’s-50’s) thus can be solved by simply helping each other out and offering help when needed. We can lend other cast members our makeup (including palettes with particular colours) and hair styling tools (like a curling or straightening wand) to help some people who don’t have them.
• Getting costumes for this show may be difficult because we are meant to be wearing very formal attire (ball gounds and tuxedos).  These items are both expensive if you don’t already own them and may take long to arrive if they’re ordered. People need to be able to not only dance, but stand for long periods of time in heels/character shoes. This is going to be very tiring for some people especially is they haven’t done it before however, something that will really help this become easier will be rehearsing in our shoes this was we will get used to them.

PD or new intake days

• We may have a PD day or an intake day in the middle of our rehearsing period this means we may end up missing rehearsals. This results in less time to learn and refine choreography and songs. We also have half term (study week) in the middle of our rehearsal weeks this could lead to people forgetting stuff however, this can be fixed by everyone making sure to recap on everything while they are off college.

Injury

• If people become physically injured, it poses a massive issue for our choreographer. Entire routines may have to be altered as they might have to be removed, using up rehearsal time unexpectedly. This may lead to people being absent witch then still affects everyone as we could be partnered up with them.
• However one main injury that is bound to accrue is damage to the voice. This can be very bad as this show is dependent on singing. If people damage their voice, it can mean that they struggle to sing any sort of song, including solos. It’s not just people with solos that matter is ensemble members with strong harmonies loose there voice this can be very critical as the harmonies can be lost. Furthermore this can be prevented by people drinking plenty and making sure not to strain there voice in anyway (unnecessary shouting). Also need to ensure to drink lots of water, staying hydrated at all times to give us energy and keep our throat from becoming dry and our body’s fit for dances

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Prat 2

– There have been a lot of occasions where people have been ill/at auditions. This means we haven’t had much full cast rehearsals since early on in the show. There isn’t a lot we can do about this issue as if people aren’t there we can’t do anything about it. However, we have been effective with the rehearsal time and if people have missed too many rehearsals, then they wont be in the dances. The solution has been effective in the most part as we have spent hardly any time recapping things but at the beginning we did have a lot of recapping that took a lot of time.

– 31/10/19 The tickets have been on sale for a while and they aren’t selling very quickly as usual. This is what the ticket sales currently look like:

We have currently sold 210 out of a possible 570, Friday and Saturday night have sold very well but we still have a long way to go for the Wednesday and Thursday evening performances. To try and help the ticket sales, I am going to help create a promotion video for the Instagram page. I think this will encourage people to book tickets because people often like to see a sneak peek of what the show is going to look like so using a promo video will encourage people to book their tickets and come and watch.