Student Blog: Starting Out Again

Here I am once again, blogging another season of my academic studies in my second year! It's absolutely insane how fast the time has gone since my first year began and I've been busier than ever. To those who are new to my blog, welcome to the start of my tale in second year of musical theatre in the University of Winchester. For those who have been here, welcome back!

I truly cannot wait to tell you all the things I've been up to so far in the course of a month and a half since I started because it really has been a lot. I've leapt straight into intense rehearsals, workshops, classes and the most astounding of all, having my first filming experience in London as an extra. I can only go into so much detail now with these few topics but with approvval, I will take you on my journey with me on these different adventures. I will give you the briefest run through of them, as well as what my course entails this year as we have topics that are vastly different from what we did last year.

To begin with, the most exciting projects I have this academic year are the 'New Musical Theatre' and 'Swing' projects. We only start our Swing project after mid semester which is very soon, and like its name implies, my cohort will be training to cover multiple tracks in a musical just as a swing does in a show. For that, we will be doing a revue of Come From Away (2017) which is truly one of the best musicals I could ever ask to be a part of, and the perfect one to take on several different roles with a singular part. Come From Away (2017) was the first West End musical I'd ever seen so it holds a special place in my heart, in all of its beauty. 

As for our New Musical Theatre (NMT) project, the course team selects works from writers who've submitted their pieces for us to workshop with them. With our cohort divided into two separate casts, we each take on a different musical and work to present them for our assessment showcase which is in two weeks! My class' piece is called 24 Hours in A&E in which we tell the story of a hospital cutting its costs just as they are confronted with a case which requires the department they'd just cut. So, it's up to those left to deal with the case. If I get permission to share with you our workshop process, it will have its own blog, and I really can't wait to show you all.

Outside of class, I have the honor of being a part of my performing art society's musical, 9 to 5 (2008). We have only been in rehearsals for about 3 weeks now and it's been so much fun meeting people from across other courses coming together to bring to life this iconic masterpiece. It's so wondorous how everyone interacts with theatre outside of their courses. Even for me, the experience from class to rehearsal room has been quite different because of the array of people I've been working with and their different methods of directing a room full of performer. It's always interesting observing how people command a room in their position as director or teacher, and learning to adapt has become very important to me as I'm starting to branch out into the working world of performing.

Just yesterday, I had my first filming experience as an extra in London which was not something I had on my cards for 2023. I went with my best friend who got the call as well and it was the sunniest day in London this season which was amazing. It's never been that beautiful from all the times I've gone and it made the experience all the more memorable. There's nothing I can disclose other than my appreciation for the opportunity and for the people we met on set who ensured that our first time went smoothly and as fun as it could be. 

I can assure you, there will be more exciting things in store here as I delve deeper into the semester. Barely two months in and I'm so thankful for all I've been able to be a part of. I hope you will stay for the rest of the journey!

Thanks for reading! I offer you a marvelous photo of the Big Dipper I took on my home from rehearsals.