Behind The Scenes : Cinderella by Eleanor While, Assistant Director

The company have been working hard to discover the magic in the storytelling of Cinderella. Key moments in the story such as the arrival of the beautiful glass slippers and the creation of the carriage that will take Cinderella to the ball have been explored in the rehearsal room to create the most enchanting way for the rats to help Cinderella on her journey.

The actors were given the opportunity to explore the theatre for one day of rehearsals this week. There is an extra challenge and excitement for them with this set as there is a ladder and a slide pole for them to use to travel around the space.

The company have also been working on the final song for the show which is all about fitting in and things that go together. For example…Daddy and Mum, chewing and gum, beans and toast, Pat and post. Maybe you could have a go at making up your own lyrics by thinking of some of your favourite things that go together?!

Behind The Scenes : Cinderella, by Eleanor While, Assistant Director

We had a fantastic day of rehearsals today with lots of laughter and singing and puppets... made out of rubbish! You see this is a production of Cinderella with a twist, instead of a wave of a magic wand sending Cinderella to the ball, she is befriended by a group of vermin- Tails, Ears, Claws, Teeth and Whiskers, the gang of rats that live in her kitchen. As well as five of the actors in the show playing these rats we are also using puppets. These puppets are made out of stuff that you might find in a kitchen, a spatula, an egg-box, a colander to name a few and it is magical to see how they come together and are brought to life when they are manipulated by the actors. You see, this is a theme that runs throughout the play, that with a bit of imagination you can make an awful lot out of nothing! One of the songs that the rats sing explain this to Cinderella...

We’re having to make something out of nothing
‘Cos nothing is the only thing we’ve got.
You can’t do much with a little bit of something,
But when it comes to nothing we’ve got an awful lot of zero and nowt,
But we can still dress up pretend to go out!.......

And to hear the rest of the song you’ll have to come and watch the show and maybe you could sing along.

Behind the Scenes : Cinderella by Eleanor While, Assistant Director

Welcome to this exclusive insider’s view into the Cinderella rehearsal room. This year Christmas in the Courtyard Theatre at The West Yorkshire Playhouse is going to be even bigger and better. With Gail McIntyre Directing a fantastic new play by Mike Kenney, designed by Barney George, with original music created by Ivan Stott all brought to life by six extremely talented actors, we’re set to laugh and dance and sing our way to Christmas and into the new year. The company have been working very hard to find the most exciting, engaging, and original way to tell this classic tale. Gail has been working with the company to create a strong ensemble of actors who are playing, sharing and inspiring each other to discover the most invigorating way to tell this story.

The fabulous songs that will be part of the show are accompanied by so many instruments that I have lost count. Maybe that could be a challenge for anyone coming to see the show!... Can you keep track of how many instruments are played? And of course, if there is music, there has to be dancing. Cinderella loves to dance so Sophie McSheera, the actress playing Cinderella , is practicing her Waltzing and Ceroc every day.

Behind The Scenes by Assistant Director Lisa Blair : The Secret Garden

01.12.09

We rehearsed during the daytime, continuing to adjust and fix various technical aspects, be that lighting or sound and musical notes too. It is such a valuable activity to do during the preview week because this Friday, it is ‘technical lockdown’. This means we won’t be able to change any technical aspects after this date… A scary thing to do!!

Tonight was a very special evening. We had our community network come and see the show which is an event that is really important to WYP. The feedback from the audience was really positive; with many joining in on the songs and getting really involved with the story.

Behind The Scenes by Assistant Director Lisa Blair : The Secret Garden

Tonight we had the first preview performance of The Secret Garden and it went fantastically well!

Before the performance in the evening, we had a dress rehearsal on stage. This was really important for the actors and the technical staff because they wanted to make sure that everything was running smoothly. It was important that we checked that all the lights were working and most importantly, that the cues we had arranged were in the right places! Once the dress rehearsal was completed, all involved felt very confident that we were able to deliver a great performance that evening… And we did!

The actors were very excited about performing to an audience for the first time and despite all the nerves (!), they did a great job. The children in the audience were sitting on the edge of their seats throughout the whole performance – and lots of them were copying the dancing moves that happen in the songs.

We were all very happy that we got brilliant feedback from people of all ages (Mum’s and Dad’s included!) – and we are looking forward to the really long run ahead of us… Until 23^rd January 2010!!

Photos From Tech Rehearsal Before Opening Night

A few More Rehearsal Photos taken by Lisa Blair. The Secret Garden is now showing and the rehearsals are truly over. Click here to book tickets now -

https://www.wyp.purchase-tickets-online.co.uk/public/show_events_list.asp

Behind The Scenes Of The Secret Garden Extract From Lisa Blair Assistant Director 'The Secret Garden'

25.11.09

It's the third day of the technical rehearsals and everything has been going really well. We have been working fantastically well together and it is making the process a very enjoyable experience!
A lot of the garden scenes in the second half of the play have been worked on and they are looking utterly magical. The lighting designer has been using lots of colours and even templates (trees, leaves, patterns etc) to create a very special secret garden.

The actors are having a brilliant time on stage and are getting used to the two different revolve mechanisms that make up the stage. These revolves are fantastically imaginative and have allowed the whole company to work in wonderfully new and exciting ways. We are really making sure that the revolve moves are timed perfectly so that the scenes can flow easily into one another – just like the four seasons we have in the play.

On the musical side of things, the sound is being perfected by the fantastic sound department – all the actors are wearing radio mics which means that they can be heard really easily throughout the whole of the auditorium. It also means that their singing is heard crystal clear too. Steve Ridley, the Music Director is looking forward to tomorrow (along with everyone else!), because the orchestra/band are in rehearsals. This will be super exciting because it will be the second time that the actors have rehearsed their songs with the band and it will be the first time that they have rehearsed on stage, with the musicians and the light… So, it will certainly be a big day!!