Thursday 12th November (Rent Start of Act 2)

In this lesson we began to work on Act 2 of the show, and began by discussing how we felt about the change in atmosphere, songs and our own character's development.

The tone of the second act is very contrasting to the first, it is much less exciting and high energy, a lot of the main events begin and climax during the first act, and they either end or get worse during the second act. The songs themselves are considerably less optimistic, but they have more meaning and emotion to them, because of the narrative, in that the characters are closer together and have built a bond with each other, and the audience. This impacted the lighting a lot, during the first act we used a lot of warm colours, for example in Light My Candle, we wanted to show that the flat was homely and Mimi was being welcomed in, whereas in Seasons Of Love B, we dimly lit the stage and used cold blues to show a lack in energy and happiness in the group. Personally I feel this added massively to the atmosphere, it helped me to portray my characters development throughout the production. It also allowed me to act in the right way, depending on the time of day and weather conditions. For example during Out Tonight, we had non natural lighting to show it was in the club, meaning I could move freely in a warm environment. Whereas in Goodbye Love at the beginning, it is set outside meaning I hunched my shoulders over and rubbed my arms, suggesting I was cold.

The time shift from the end of Act 1 to the start of Act 2 has a difference in character relationships, This is one of the only parts in the piece where Mimi and Roger are happy together, I found it quite difficult at first to show that physical connection and chemistry on stage. My proxemics were as focused on James and the door as much as possible. I held his hand and he had his arm around me to show our attraction to each other. From feedback, we did really well on this. Whilst singing to him in Happy New Year A, I made lots of eye contact and kept my body facing towards him as much as possible, but singing out to the audience, showing a maturity in our relationship.
I struggled with my physicality whilst singing in this song, I need to walk into the centre more and project myself physically, using a broad dynamic, to show that Mimi is relaxed and confident.

Next lesson We are going to be working on Happy New Year B, I am looking forward to working with the shift in tone and emotion, due to Benny's entrance in the flat.