Introduction

Wonderful Town was a Swingin way to end our final project, I have condensed in the portfolio the following

• how I worked to develop my individual skills as a performer throughout this project
  • Reflection on how these goals were met (areas of improvement) and finally 
• Reflection on the collaborative process of this project
  • How I intend carry the lessons learnt forward in my practise as a performer, creative, and teacher.

Goals
At the start of the Academic year I created a document which has been subject to continuous edits throughout the year, which contains my main goals for this academic year. It was from this master list where I selected three specific goals where I could track and tailor them to my desired progress for Wonderful Town. 

• Voice/ Musicianship
  • Become a more efficient Ensemble vocalist: Improve vocal blend and stylistic accuracy in ensemble numbers. create a strong control of vocal dynamics. Rhythms accuracy
• Voice/ Performance
  • present a style accurate and character informed performance. Key vocal focuses being rhythm, diction, breath support, and stage and vocal presence.
• Dance / Movement
  • Become a stronger ensemble dancer: Improve skill, style and accuracy of choreography. My main focus is to increase attention to the energy in the upper body lines with the arm positions receiving more attack and ensuring I work to the end of the line for clarity.

Method of Tracking Progress

I am an incredibly methodological person when it comes to measuring success and achieving goals in my professional practice. My incessant need to listify and categorise everything initially began as a way of controlling and aiding my raging ADHD but now has provided a fantastic tool for engaging with any self reflective practice/process. As a result I do not approach anything professionally as a teacher, performer and creative without a set of concrete goals, plethora of lists, tables much of which I will use to explore how I effectively tracked progress and developed during our final performance project: Wonderful Town.

I decided to Present and structure my Goals for this project through the use of SMART goals (Doran 1981). I started using this method during RnD processes to effectively measure goals but also have set skills as a performer which I could try and develop as a result, so even if the end project does not have desired outcome I can still see progress in myself as performer and add to my skillset in my creative practise.

ENSEMBLE VOCAL SKILLSET AND GENERAL MUSICIANSHIP 

Specific: Improve vocal blend and stylistic accuracy in ensemble numbers. create a strong control of vocal dynamics. Rhythms accuracy
Measurable: Successfully maintain pitch accuracy and balanced dynamics, especially in Darling Eileen.
Achievable: Practise harmonies individually and rehearse with the group each week. Continue, private reading of music theory, and vocal pedagogy theory.
Relevant: Strong ensemble singing is essential to Bernstein’s musical theatre style.
Time-bound: Achieve consistent vocal blend, ensure I contribute as a strong ensemble vocal member. Evaluate this specifically in my contribution to the song Darling Eileen. 

VOICE AND PERFORMANCE

Specific: Give a more skilled solo vocalist and present a style accurate and character informed performance. Key vocal focuses being rhythm, diction, breath support, and stage and vocal presence.

Measurable: Measured through my personal improvement on preforming swing! Also evaluating the research file created to achieve this goal.

Achievable: Based on personal research and create a toolkit for style appropriateness.

Relevant: Directly related to performing the song Swing! successfully.

Time-bound: To be achieved by the end of the rehearsal period.

DANCE / MOVEMENT ENSEMBLE SKILL

Specific: Improve skill, style and accuracy of choreography. My main focus is to increase attention to the energy in the upper body lines with the arm positions receiving more attack and ensuring I work to the end of the line for clarity.

Measurable: Perform choreography with correct timing and formations. Focus on arms and upper body lines, verifiable through feedback and videos. 

Achievable: Rehearse choreography independently and during scheduled rehearsals. Add extra arm exercises (weight) to my independent workout routine to increase general strength and stamina. I also took an extra contemporary and commercial class this term to increase my Dance rep and skill. 

Relevant: Tight ensemble movement is essential for the energetic Broadway style of Wonderful Town. 

Time-bound: Achieve this by the assessment.

Tracking Goals

I tracked my goals through this process via a progress Log and videos and voice recordings.

	Become a more efficient Ensemble vocalist	Improv my skillset as a solo vocalist and performer	Become a stronger ensemble dancer
Week 1  (26- 30 Jan )	learnt start of darling Eileen	prepped 100 easy ways to lose a man  Personal Vocal notes from audition Positives  managed to opt up and keep with pacing  Confident presence and vocal presence whilst in room  Could have been stronger  would have liked to be off book  More clear less aspirate diction on spoken sections  Stronger presence in M1 not all mix placement  Better accent and character understanding (not necessarily bigger but stronger choices) (see figure 1)
Week 2  (2-6th Feb)  AUDITION RESULTS RELEASED ON 5th	Set Hard Deadlines for myself  :  be off book for all my harmonies as learnt thus far. Ensure accurate recordings of full song harmonies to rehearse with By week 4 (see fig 2)	Set Hard Deadlines for myself  :  be off book swing and scenes by week 4 (see fig 2)	started adding focused arm exercises into my workouts (see fig 3)
WEEK BREAK	WEEK BREAK	WEEK BREAK	took an additional ballet and jazz class in Glasgow to keep up with my technique as it is my biggest feedback to improve on at the moment
week 3  (16-20th of feb)	added Mix Exercises to my vocal routine a 6 minute vocal drill for mix register in order to achieve a more blended and forward sound required in wrong not wrag and at end of darling Eileen practice harmonies every second evening  (see fig 4)	vocal model and character research day  (see fig 5)	beginning to see increased stamina in creation of upper body lines during dance went to open class contemporary on Tuesday to add to a progressive overload of sorts on my dance experience at the moment
week 4  (23-27th of Feb)	wrong note rag finalisation  privately worked on really emphasising dynamics for darling Eileen was off book for all ensembles songs	Came in on Sunday of Week 4 to start creating my own vocal tract fo swing and learning it accurately, using a blend of both my selected vocal models from research of week 3   was off book for all solo material	another contemporary class on Tuesday , also enquired with Christina our ballet teacher week before  for Spec drills to add to our workout routine to weekly improve our technique, our warmup session that Wednesday she allowed us to film the session with tailored exercises. These have been integrated into my weekly exercise routine.  (See fig 6)
week 5 (2-6th of March)	added my falsetto head voice (my Monday) drills to three times a week as opposed to just 1 for a more connected sound for darling Eileen and access higher head dom mix belt for the doo doos on wrong note rag. (See fig 4)	My scheduled session for Swing with Julian got to bring in the dynamics and key changes which I had worked on privately from weeks 2-5. We got to keep most of what I had independently created, agreed on a jazzy ending and worked on rhythm (I feel as though my private work really paid off and was excited to offer my version of swing in a few weeks time). Also worked on rhythms and ironed out a lot of the timing and articulation struggles I had been facing. (See fig 7)	tried a new way of getting better at picking up and maintaining choreography by writing the conga choreo down in my own shorthand  (integrated ballet exercises to gym routine)
week 6 (9-13th of March)	Swing was the main focus of this week so used evenings to go over my company harmonies from my recordings.	First time doing Swing with the rest of the company voices it was much more of a challenge then anticipated after such a positive feeling and confidence with the song throughout week five, once singing with other voices I definitely got lost in pacing and rhythms. Big realisation I still had to do some more independent sessions of practise to ensure I was going to be strong and supported for the performance. (See fig 7)	Started learning swing choreo as well as placing it into venue   kept using my new drawing technique to memorize placement and emphasise top lines (silhouettes created by arms) this time on swing. (See fig 8)
week 7  (16th – 20th of March)	Revise harmonies, ensure clear dynamics noted.	Ensured this week during my weekly vocal drills I also allocated a 5-10 minute slot to drill the fast rhythms and sections (i.e the scat sections) of swing particularly as was selected for the dance break to ensure I was building strong vocal stamina to carry me throughout the performance.	Learned dance for Wrong note Rag, to be honest I dropped the ball a wee bit on ensuring this choreography was learnt as clean as the other two pieces.  Learned the swing dance break, allocated time throughout the week to learn this thoroughly to ensure I was selected for this opportunity.
Week 8  (PERFORMANCE WEEK)	REHEARSE FINETUNE  KEEP VOCALLY FIT FOR PERFORMANCE	REHEARSE FINETUNE  KEEP VOCALLY FIT FOR PERFORMANCE	REHEARSE  FINETUNE  KEEP PHYSICALLY FIT FOR PERFORMANCE

REFLECTION ON PROCESS

Overall I am proud of the work put in and the final performance of swing. During the actual run I still somewhat messed up the final pick up into last verse (a section I had worked hard to time and get the rythms right with). In saying this I still think the amount of vocal and physical preparation I put in did mean that I was able to be present and put a lot of energy into my performance in this piece. In going forward I think I could have created more tools during the rehearsal process for myself, including clearer harmony backing tracks for myself (the ones I used were directly from the learning session with the MD). Equally with my dancing progress I could’ve pushed myself further and booked space to work on the choreography and my arm lines even more. As an independent vocalist wish I had done further research into methods of singing Swing and applied them to my practise. If I were to do the project again I would have applied exercises created by vocal Practitioner Fisher 2022 work on singing with Rhythm and Pulse to swing. As well as exploring a more music theory led approach to my vocal development.  

Reflection on Collaboration 

Before I go into what did not work in Wonderful Town in terms of collaboration I have to highlight what went really well particularly our Company Creative Team Molly, Lucy, Kaz and Annelise all made a tremendous effort in organising, directing and choreographing the entire piece. Kaz’s skills as a choreographer have grown so much over the past academic year and she really flourished in this project in terms of commanding a room with compassion and confidence, and creating fantastic stylistically accurate choreography. Molly and Lucy equally worked very hard to direct the show, keep up pace and create fun and interesting stagecraft choices. As well as the incredible Musical directors who all took on the mammoth task of learning our show whilst in the midst of their own exams and shows. I now would like to highlight what did not work as well which is in no way to negate the hard work we all put into the show, but more so to really analyse and evaluate what I can learn from what did not go as well. Particularly my role as a collaborative theatre maker and company member. 

I think our biggest challenges as a company throughout the year has been arguably our ability to collaborate. What I saw as perhaps most detrimental was the breakdown in communication often leading to a dangerous Trap of Assumptions; as a group I’ve seen the favoring of assuming Negative intent. 

In our first project Our House we saw this where there was a breakdown of communication between Company, Director and Musical Directors. What probably was just initial growing pains of a very newly formed group of students became characterised as purposeful mishandling of rehearsal time and mismanagement of company. In having reflective conversations about Our House we were all able to effectively outline what went wrong and what did not work, but we failed to consider how we impacted creating an environment which favored failure: we did not try and engage with solution based approach, it is only through looking back I can really see my own accountability in this process, I was very aware of what was not working but much too preoccupied with identifying all that was going wrong then trying to create communication which found compromises and solutions.  

I think we failed as a company to nip this negativity in the bud, as it seemed to blossom and bloom throughout negotiation of time, direction and scheduling of Wonderful Town. A major communication mishap was between Company and the Music Directors, Both sides having plenty of reason to be upset and complain. The Musical Directors did not have enough time to dedicate to Wonderful Town between shows and assessments and Company became increasingly frustrated at the lack of presence of any MDs for most of the project (especially considering how complicated a Bernstein Score is).  

When it came to this specific issue neither side seemed to put as much effort necessary to finding a solution or having a meaningful conversation that would resolve our issue: 

I have created below a table of how we could and perhaps should have handled issues in collaboration which arose during Wonderful Town: 

PROBLEM	CONVERSATION	POTENTIAL COMPROMISE (compromise I would offer if in the Creative Team)	WHO IS IN ROOM FOR COMPROMISE/  HOW IS EVERYONE INFORMED
MDS not being available enough not being able to rehearse with the right music	Early (ie as soon as) acknowledgment from MDs that they would struggle with time and being presence  Choreographer and director clearly stating exactly what materials they need imperatively and timelines which work for all team	rehearsal tracks recorded and distributed from beginning of process	CREATIVE TEAM  Musical Directors  Choreographer, Dance Captain  Director  Assistant Director Rest of cast sent rehearsal tracks and when expected to be off book
Mismanagement of rehearsal blocks not clear teaching of necessary material from MDs to cast particularly soloist	Clear conversation at start of when everything needs to be learnt by between MD and Directors  ENSURING all soloists have at least two sessions one just with MD and one with MD and DIRECTOR	master document from beginning of process with everything needing to be learnt by who and with time frames for each	CREATIVE TEAM  Musical Directors  Choreographer, Dance Captain  Director  Assistant Director cast have access at start of rehearsal time
People Not being Offbook	In writing Directors to Cast  In person conversation and re emphasis of this point weekly	Genuine non negotiable deadline for knowing lines that is at least a week before performance	directors to cast  via all channels of communication viable
Time management, rushed staging, rushed rehearsal blocks due to essential three weeks of going over already learnt material with MDs and	Directors conversation and negotiation of essential deadlines, essential full run through date (week before assessment)	Creation of a REHEARSAL SCHEDULE and plan, create at start of project, integrating all imperative deadlines mentioned in conversation ensuring also one MD and one Director is available for each of these dates and Cast have NON NEGOTIABLE days they must be in for rehearsals, made clear from OUTSET of project	CREATIVE TEAM  Musical Directors  Choreographer, Dance Captain  Director  Assistant Director cast have access at start of rehearsal time
Company being unable to go forward with scenes or solos due to the casting process taking over a couple weeks to get sorted from audition date	Agree on the amount of show which needs to be completed and choreographed by week two. Realistic and potentially uncomfortable conversation regarding company needs for how much of the show we realistically need set staged (ready to be cleaned).  what the MDs are willing to sacrifice Creatively and Casting wise to meet said goal (discussing whether any already definitive casting can get released to meet the deadline) .	Directors using Veto power in project and casting certain roles for scenes in order to have all non musical elements set and staged ready for enough staged and set for a week to be able to then have. POTENTIAL COMPROMISE N2  Choreographer to create and choreograph all group numbers by end of week two, becomes a speedy choreography focused week. Schedule updated and edited accordingly	CREATIVE TEAM  Musical Directors  Choreographer, Dance Captain  Director  Assistant Director cast have access at start of rehearsal time

Overall what could’ve made this a more effective process of communication 

• More meetings with the creative team to discuss solution based outcomes to process. 
• Increased transparency between creatives and cast with hard lines and deadlines written and reiterated in regards to expectations and deadlines. 
• A preagreed code of conduct following the likes of Sheri Sanders OCU CARE CONSTITUTION (have attached a copy below) To increase an environment of accountability and assume best intentions, solutions focused approach to collaboration. 

I myself did not think of anything solution based until perhaps the final few weeks where I called in a favour from a friend in sound production to create us rehearsal tracks when the MDs did not have time to record them (in all fairness we should’ve sorted those from day dot not several days before the assessment).

I would argue is incredibly beneficial for all of us to witness this happen as it enables everyone to acknowledge our own partaking in negative or hostile environments and from here on out play a pivotal role in re-centring empathy led and a cooperative positive working environment.  I now am incredibly aware of the importance of solution based conversation and action and really intend to bring a heightened awareness of this group dynamic that is all to easy to slip into. Going into the process of creating my own working environment for my show ‘About Love’ at the Leeds Theater Festival I have used this experience to not only educate myself about environment creation and facilitation in collaborative theatre but have also created tools which I can use to effectively manage any communication issues. I also (inspired by a conversation with the wonderful Sheri Sanders) created my own rubric code of conduct of sorts to bring in as my personal practice, and will be tested as we begin the process of “About Love” this Spring.

APPENDIX

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Fig 3. (Modified gym routine)

Fig 4

Fig 5

https://leedsconservatoire.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b6c573a7-3fae-4493-be59-b42a013d54bf

Fig 6

https://leedsconservatoire.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a4bb4f7c-8108-4bcc-9af2-b42a0145bc7c

Fig 7

https://leedsconservatoire.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=c8c229ff-349b-4a58-ab30-b42a013d54c8

Fig 8

https://leedsconservatoire.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=b9ca9d0b-a753-426d-8e52-b42a013d54bb

works cited

Doran, G.T. (1981) There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70(11), pp. 35–36.

The Vocal Process (n.d.) Rhythm and pulse. Available at: https://vocalprocess.co.uk/rhythm-and-pulse/#post/0

YouTube (n.d.) Wonderful Town | 2004 Tony Awards video [Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEoLnxmbV8Q

YouTube (n.d.)  [Video]. Swing” from Wonderful Town @ Interlochen Arts Camp 2024 Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNsxm8U4e8U