Task 2d: Inquiry

Here are my answers to the questions within the Handbook:

What in your Daily Practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire, who also works with what makes you enthusiastic.

In my practice, I love learning about singing. There are so many different workshops with lots of different teachers who all have different techniques and ways of singing. Each persons voice if different, and therefore can be stretched and improved on differently. There is also so much to learn about the voice; how it moves, ways in which it tilts - creating different effects on the sound, what noises you can make, how you damage it and how you can repair it. I think there is always something new we can learn about the vocal folds.
One teacher who has helped me to explore this is Matthew Shaw. He is the head of Musical Theatre at London Studio Center and also taught us at Italia Conti. After a year of intensive 3 hour lessons once a week and another general class for 1 hour a week, he changed the way I thought about the voice and made me think about how I treated it in the past. Whenever I am learning a new song I always put into practice the different techniques he taught us (Twang, Belt, Sob, Tilt) and see if I prefer the sound before or after the added technique. Nine times out of ten, it is always positive and gives me outstanding results.


What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or anger?

One thing that really makes me angry in my profession is Untalented Celebrities. Just because they have a name and a face doesn’t mean that they have the talent to be the Lead in a show. When I have put so much time and effort into being the best performer I can be, seeing a celeb, who hasn’t had musical theatre training or any form of training, waltz right on to stage is really upsetting. For example, putting Amanda Holden in as the Original Fiona in ‘Shrek the Musical’ is just offensive. I didn’t personally go and see her performance as I didn’t want to waste my money, but fellow performers said she was clearly nervous and could hardly hold a tune. When she’s performing next to people such as “Landi Oshinowo” who played ‘Dragon,’ and is an absolutely stunning artist, it’s mind boggling why she even said yes to the part. One person I know feels the same is my singing teacher Angharad Sanders. She is one of the most talented singers I know, and yet has to watch people like Amanda and Kelly Osborn, who took the stage in 2010 in ‘Chicago’, take her place on the stage. We always have discussions on this, and I know that the only reason shows do it is because they need to sell the tickets. The general public don’t take an interest into Musical Theatre performers as they aren't Celebrities and are just drawn in to see how their favorite TV star looks on the stage.

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire who also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

It’s hard to explain what I love about what I do because really its just all I’ve ever cared about. I have always loved being in front of the camera or competing in singing contests or gymnastics because I guess I love the attention of being in the spotlight. It’s always really nerve racking when you take to the stage after a few months, but as soon as its finished it leaves you wanting more, the buzz you get from performing is something I don’t think anyone can explain as its different for everyone. I love the feeling of being so involved in your performance that you can’t even see the audience, all you feel is what your body is going though and the heat on your face.
Alfie Boe (Alfieboeuk.com) is a big inspiration to me. After seeing him at the 02 for the 25th Anniversary of Les Mislerables it was clear to see that he was so lost in the performance. His performance of ‘Bring Him Home’ was something I will never forget. The whole arena was captivated with him and what he was telling us. It brought me to tears, and I think overall we clapped his performance for about 5 minutes, which it was so worthy of.

What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked the same question as you?

I don’t really understand this question. As performing arts is my life and career I don’t feel I don’t understand anything, and if I did, I wouldn't be very good at my chosen career. I know that we are always learning and can improve upon what we already know, but I feel, overall I have a basis on everything. This is in terms of acting, and the skills you have to use to be able to ground yourself and the different ways to improve upon performance and being able to take direction to change your original thoughts if a director would like you to grow. Within dance being able to mimic the teacher and produce the goods they want every time and to always be giving your best with both technique and performance. With singing to have a basis of techniques, a firm knowledge of shows, whose written what pieces and what the feelings are behind them in order to perform them properly. Overall within this profession to have a basis of directors, networking, tax, shows, other performers, auditioning and keeping up with current trends of the industry.
I know that if I don’t understand something within a class, I will always get this resolved but I don’t feel there is anything Major I don’t understand within this profession.