A few weeks ago, when I admittedly probably should have been revising,
I went along to audition for Showstoppers’ (the musical theatre society) annual
24 Hour Show, a production raising
money for charity which is exactly what it sounds like – one famous show, two
performances, and only 24 sleepless hours in which to pick up lyrics, lines,
dances, characterisation, blocking and using the set. Given how I often
struggle to learn musical numbers in 2 or 3 months of rehearsals, this seemed
like a natural progression!
So I was extremely happy when, by some stroke of fortune, I later
received an email telling me to be ready for 4pm on Saturday 8 June, when I’d
be told the name of a show, and that I should be prepared to learn it!
With the name of the show a close-guarded secret amongst the inner
Showstopper circles, rumours were rife in conversations, with great titles such
as Oliver, The Wizard of Oz, The Lion
King and many more bandied about. But, thanks to a quite brilliant set of
false trails laid by the crafty production team (each of whom armed themselves
with a different name to “leak”!), nobody was entirely sure leading up to the
day, and the suspenseful anticipation leading up to the day was palpable.
And so on Saturday 8 June, armed to the teeth with sandwiches, pasta,
salads, water bottles, crisps, sugar-filled boosts of various descriptions,
Haribo, drinks and much, much more – not to mention a change of clothes and a
toothbrush (we’d been warned to prepare in case we couldn’t make it home!) –
the thirty or so cast members descended on the Annex Theatre and waited in
nervous whispers for the news.
Slowly but surely, the clock ticked by until it reached 4pm... and the 24 Hour Show 2013 was revealed! And so
onwards we went, with rehearsals starting at 5pm on the 8th and the show itself
5pm on the 9th, all in the name of charity.
And so began the most intense, and yet probably the most fun, rehearsal
period of my life, as thirty of us struggled to learn melodies, rhythms and,
most impossibly of all, lyrics, within a 24-hour period! After only five hours,
approaching ten o’clock, many of us felt completely exhausted – at three
o’clock we were heading towards positively delusional!
The state of the
green room fourteen hours in –
clearly sustenance was high on the agenda for
members of the cast!
We were split into groups depending on our parts, with myself a member of the Ensemble, and taught songs in short spurts of note-teaching before blocking the movement to these songs which, in some cases, included my dramatic arch nemesis: dancing! Ahhh!
But the joy of the 24 was in the spirit of just trying to do your best.
No audience really goes into a 24 Show
expecting a polished end product, and the knowledge that we would be performing
almost entirely devoid of pressure at all, with the crowd on our side willing
us on, made the process incredibly fun and surprisingly stress-free.
By the time we were allowed to head home at four in the morning, all
relevant melodies encountered (if words not learned at all!), many a surreal
moment had been and gone – groups randomly bursting into the Monkees’ I’m a Believer in music building
corridors, pretending to be a member of the mafia, attempting to learn
the most intricate lyrics I’ve ever encountered, and learning how to salsa dance in a
particularly risqué manner at two or three in the morning (this was as
hilarious as it sounds, though we definitely got into it more as tiredness set
in!) – it was a night to remember!
Two hours’ sleep and a couple of school costumes pieced together later,
we reconvened at eight to learn the final scene. We then just about had time
for a quick run of the entire show, and were unbelievably surprised by the
incredible standard of the show after only seventeen or so hours’ rehearsal –
it made us wonder why we struggle with six-week rehearsal periods!
But we weren’t the only ones working throughout the night. The
magnificent staging and technical society, StageSoc,
were also in on the act, with their own 24 hour target of rigging lights,
setting up soundboards, aligning projectors and constructing one of the best
sets I’ve ever seen in a student show. Working non-stop throughout the night,
they painted an individual “block” for every letter in the alphabet (with some
reinforced ones comically combining to represent “S O F A” or “B E D” or “T V” as part of the set), a process
which took many hours but looked brilliant – I can’t sing their praises enough!
24 hours’ worth of solid work produced...
... a set worthy of any West End show!
And so, the time came round to perform at last. The whole experience
was so surreal that in many ways, we all felt quite ready for what was to come
– well, except if the audience was expecting us to know the words, that is! The
musical featured many a crafty (some might say verbose!) turn of phrase or
rhyme throughout its songs, so learning the lyrics was somewhat of a nightmare.
Various tactics were adopted – in one song we had to sing, we all added a
cheeky glance to our arms into the choreography because one phrase escaped us
every time, and several members of the cast managed to smuggle scripts onto
stage in the guise of various props (such as notebooks and registers). Alas, my
own efforts to learn words didn’t go so well!
Surprisingly, I couldn’t read this on stage!
(Credit: Amy Fitzgibbon)
So how did the two performances go? Quite wonderfully, they were complete disasters!
Special effects didn’t work, people broke character, props were
misplaced or tangled, people fell over, many songs were supported by offstage
ensemble members holding scripts, and the vast majority of it seemed to be
improvised – particularly lyrically!
And that was the most fun thing about being part of the 24 Hour Show: nobody cared. At the end
of the day, just staging the show was achievement enough, and anything on top
of that was a bonus. The directors, producers, cast and technicians had gone
all out and were now determined to just enjoy themselves, and the audience
played off it and seemed to have a great time, on our side the entire way
through and always in the knowledge that the show was for fun, not for effect
(although hopefully it achieved both), and all in the name of a wonderful
charity, the Rhys Daniels Trust.
As I mentioned, the entire experience was so surreal, based on an
absolutely mental premise, and yet ended up being the most fun show I’ve ever
been a part of. I can honestly say I’ll never forget the mind-warping lyrics,
or salsa dancing like a Dad would on stage, or holding one half of a ‘swing’ (a
plank of wood!), or trying to remember the words to particularly difficult
songs (annoyingly word-perfect the morning after!), or, finally, just bouncing
up and down in the finale like a young schoolkid, humming the melody with no
idea of a single lyric but embracing the moment.
A particularly
troublesome number, where we had to hold up our letter
at the correct time whilst singing and dancing! Ahhh!
at the correct time whilst singing and dancing! Ahhh!
(Credit: Mike Frost)
Learning to salsa was so enjoyable, I’m tempted to carry it on next
year!
(Credit: Mike Frost)
Finishing with a flourish of a finale – happy faces abound!
(Credit:
Mike Frost)
I simply cannot thank everyone involved with the production enough. Times like those of the 24 Hour Show remind me just how fortunate I am to be here, in Southampton, with these people at this time, with amazing chances like this.
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