Loco Show Co. is the musical theatre society at the University of Worcester. I even started uni with knowledge of it and a desire to join, and after two years of experience with the society I then volunteered to be director in my third year. The role has had me work closely with my production team (choreographer and musical director), and write a pantomime over last summer. I transformed the story of Beauty and the Beast, making it my own and heavily peppering it with nerdy references, including the addition of Batman as a character! I found the hardest part having to let the cast ad-lib, but only because I had spent three months writing the script. It really paid off in the end though, as the performances back in December were very successful and the cast did superbly!
The committee decided upon Our House as the summer musical to be performed in May this year. I have actually been in a production myself only three years earlier, which was one of the best theatrical experiences I have been a part of; it has provided me with a lot of foresight for this production, knowing the script and music really helps.
Auditions were held at the start of February. The dance auditions are always a good laugh, but in the acting and singing my production team and I were really blown away by some of the talent that came through the door. Even though we had worked with the majority of the cast during Beauty and the Beast, some of them had really stepped up their game over the Christmas break!
Rehearsals have been both brilliant and tough. For a few weeks I held separate rehearsals with only the principle cast members, which I feel really helped them in being comfortable with each other, their characters and the script. Our House relies heavily on character, and the script moves so fast between scenes that the definition of each character must be very distinct. Having steadily blocked each scene with the principle actors, I feel a lot more confident about the show and I think they do to. If all goes to plan then after Easter every part of the show should come together rather quickly.
Performances will be at the end of May, and if my vision comes to life then the production will be far more fringe theatre than West End material! The audience will hopefully be delightfully surprised. TM