Alistair Robertson 062974753

Alistair Robertson 062974753Graded Unit Evaluation Essay HND Musical Theatre

DP9R 35
Research Analysis:
Song In terms of research, I believe this was my strongest effort. Having
purchased the original vinyl recording, I went on by watching both the Richard
Harris and Richard Burton versions (one stage and one film respectively). I took
inspiration from Harris boisterous and energetic portrayal of King Arthur,
however, I believe I understood the style of the piece more from Burtons
rendition. I also looked into the historical aspect of the setting, and discovered a
lot about how the Arthurian legend changed over time. Furthermore, I obtained a
greater of the setups and stylings used in Lerner and Loewes music.

Duet I found this musical the most difficult to get my head around. The musical
has a large scope in terms of a story arc. Tatehs story encompasses several
years and dots about from location to location along the way. In this sense, I
should have made more effort in researching more into the other characters, as I
would have gained a greater understanding of the overall piece. I played too
much upon the given circumstances, and not the subtext of the show and its
other characters.

Monologue - Passing Places Seeing as this play is used in several school

courses, I obtained several resource packs about the show, which explained
everything from its connotations to its production history. Therefore, I built up a
strong understanding of its target audience and from then on, I could mould my
performance to suit the demographic. Alexs character is an everyman
character type, and therefore I had to appear down to earth and relatable. To do
this I worked on a stronger Scots accent and used observation techniques to
create a gait and physicality that represented Alexs background.

Performance Analysis:
Acting I believe my use of various practitioners techniques paid off during the
performance. In using circles of attention, I managed to maintain a good
connection with the environment around me and therefore illustrated my
surroundings to the audience. I also believe my research into physicality worked,
as I differentiated King Arthur and Alex well. However, my diction still needs
attention, as some of my lines were lost. This may link to forward placement and
vocal energy, so I may work on speech as well as singing, in my next few singing
lessons.

Singing I believe I made good use of my chest voice and recitative practice, as
the sections sung in my lower register got good feedback. Furthermore, I have
confidence in that I had enough vocal energy to carry the melody and harmony
in both songs, without having pitching problems. However, I do believe that more
effort has to be made in getting a more forward placement, as my higher register
can sometimes sound swallowed or held back. Also, I need to concentrate more

Alistair Robertson 062974753Graded Unit Evaluation Essay HND Musical Theatre

DP9R 35
on dynamics, as I didnt build enough during Camelot, and therefore it stayed on
one level.

Dance In my dance assessment, I tried to use the technique of separating the

steps into sections and provide each section with a name or image. This
technique did aid me somewhat, in that I remembered the opening of each
section. However, this meant that my technical ability deteriorated, as my
concentration was on following the steps. I tried to go over and refresh sections
in my head, however, I kept getting stuck on the middle of each section.
Therefore, in future dance calls, I need to pay more attention to the middle
sections and rehearse them thoroughly.

Character I think overall my character choices were correct when considering

the given circumstances. In my dance I used bright, energetic and vibrant facial
expression and physicality, to represent the colourful tone of the song. In my solo
song, I used different vocal colours to represent King Arthurs changing his
tactics to impress Guinevere. For Ragtime, I believe I used the correct tonal
quality and setup to create status and alter my age. And lastly, in my
monologue, I believe I my use of observation and mirroring created a realistic
and naturalistic character that is relatable to the audience.

Unforeseen Circumstances:
One of the major issues I came across was that my songs were consistently
coming up short of the time limit. However, due to my knowledge of Ragtime and
Our Children, I realised that I could add dialogue/text from the shows books. This
added around 30 seconds onto the overall runtime. When it got to the
performance, I mistakenly rushed the opening section of dialogue. Realising this
mid-way through the dialogue, I slowed down and only lost 7 seconds. Another
issue was that, due to unforeseen circumstances, I had not rehearsed with
Megan for several days. I overcame this by meeting her early on the morning of
the performance, and we did a quick refresh to settle our concerns.

Strengths:
I believe that across the 3 aspects of the performance, that my characterisation
was correct to the specified style of the piece. I also believe that I chose apt
staging for each piece (with the correction of narrow the projection of the piece
to just the panel) and I believe that my lower register and speech quality were of
a high standard. I believe I gave structured answers during my vive voce and
maintained a standard of technical and professional vocabulary that I can take
forward into auditions in the future.

Weaknesses:

Alistair Robertson 062974753Graded Unit Evaluation Essay HND Musical Theatre

DP9R 35
In terms of my weaknesses, I believe that my dance technique was very poor. I
struggled with the pickup rate and this was down to poor concentration and
disregard of previously taught technique. In my singing I need to improve on
building upon my higher register, especially in terms of forward placement.
Furthermore, I need to put more vocal energy and diction into my pieces, as
some of the words were lost. On a technical standpoint I need to add more
dynamics to each piece, as some sections appeared to similar in tone or energy
to differentiate the level of intention.

Changes:
I am going to work heavily on finding the vocal line and forward placement, so
that I can vary the type of sounds being produced. I also must work much harder
at my pickup rate, before it is anywhere near a professional standard.
Furthermore, I need to work on slowing some sections of dialogue down,
especially the start of monologues, because I can race ahead and then stay at
the pace. This can sometimes make my diction deteriorate and that hinders my
performance greatly.

Word count: 1082