Tuesday 7 January 2014

All Shook Up


Monday at Cabaret Summer School 2014

Arriving at La Boheme, we arrange ourselves at tables and the introductions begin.

We are a diverse group of eight; there's a professional opera singer, some who sing in bands or musicals, and others who just want to gain experience in performing.

Soon it's time for everyone to perform their first song of the week.

Each person is coached on stage, and with each new singer there is something for everyone to learn.

I'm still a bit unwell.  The cough has lost some of its chesty fire-power, but my voice is still a bit raspy and I'm not breathing freely.   Plus, there is the anxiety of knowing that everyone in the room is about to evaluate me.

As I begin, my throat and chest feel a bit tight, but once my breathing gets established I start to sing a bit better.  It feels strange being able to see everyone's faces (usually the audience is in darkness) and I try not to be distracted by this.  I finish the song and wait on stage for Catherine's response.

What she says is something I half expected: the song is about "crazy" but I am standing still and being serious.  My response is that there is a contradiction in the song - it's about "crazy" but it's a slow ballad.  Plus, I've often been advised to stand still; that a lot of movement can distract from the lyrics of the song.

Catherine wants me to do something a bit "crazy"; to let "crazy" come through in my performance of the song.  She asks me to sing the song again and to do crazy things while I sing; come out into the audience, dance around.  I'm happy to try; I've seen cabaret performers move around amongst the audience, but have never tried it myself.  I set off again, and during the song Catherine gives me instructions; "Sit on the edge of the stage", "Wave your legs in the air", "Juggle your shoes".

She's right.  It loosens me up.  It would be way too silly for a performance, but some of it could work.


Personal development is very uncomfortable.  In order to move to the next level, you have to challenge what you think you know.  I can already see that this week is going to shake up some of my beliefs about cabaret and how I should perform.

Our next segment is about marketing.   We need to get people to come to our show on Friday night, and we will also need to promote any independent shows we produce in future.  We discuss branding and image.  We work through exercises to develop descriptions of ourselves as artists.  We have homework to do.








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