Palatsi Course, Day 5

The last day of the musical theatre course was upon us, and I'm pretty sure we all felt like we could've easily spent another week at Palatsi. We definitely were wondering about how much we'd come together as a group in just four days' time, already so comfortable around each other, filling the spaces of free time with bursting into song randomly and generally goofing around.

There wasn't much left to do before the final performance at midday. We squeezed in a quick run-through after we warmed up, and then it was time to double-check all the props, retreat backstage and wait for the audience (not a very large one, consisting almost entirely of our families and friends) to come in. People all around were whispering about which level of stage fright they were experiencing. I was honestly nervous about one bit only – my part in I'm Not That Girl. I kept missing the beat in the second half of my verse though sometimes I'd get it right without any difficulty. Today, however, the verse went perfectly fine so all was well!

We got through the entire thing without any colossal mishaps – or without any small ones either, come to think of it. Those of us who were backstage listened with baited breath as the second Galinda reached her "Why do you always have this funny little bottle under your pillow" line and felt so happy for her when she managed to get the word "bottle" out right, instead of "pigeon!" (I should inform foreign readers that the words for "bottle" and "pigeon" in Finnish are "pullo" and "pulu" so it's entirely possible to mix up those two when you're pumped with adrenaline) Third Galinda also conquered the word "project" in her scene, so things were going marvelously well. My monologue moment went smoothly as well, though it would have been nice if I had gotten at least some tiny laughs out of the audience because I tried very hard to write a funny speech. Well, as I commented on my ABBA show review, Finnish spectators are never the most active ones.

Our course wasn't quite over yet when the performance was finished. We were going to get individual feedback from all of our teachers. So we were called in one by one, while the rest of us waited – that is to say, made the most of our last opportunity to go crazy together. Mostly, that meant blowing soap bubbles (indoors and outdoors to amuse the pedestrians on the main street of Tampere) and singing together so loud that the teachers downstairs had to ask us to keep it down a bit. My feedback included quite a clear message that I have something of a gift in writing drama. Nothing could have made me happier than to hear that – I'll pursue my new-found dream of studying playwriting with even more confidence now.

All in all, this summer course has convinced me that the world of theatre and music is definitely something I want to keep learning about. It was wonderful to see what 17 people, most of whom didn't know each other beforehand, could achieve together in five days, and how much you can squeeze out of yourself when you throw reserve and pointless self-consciousness out of the window. As I revealed in my previous installment of this course diary, I haven't done any theater since graduating from high school, and now I've decided that it can't be like that any more. Mizzie-Me is going to find herself a theater hobby this fall...

Palatsi Course, Day 4 + ABBA Dancing Queen Show

Heya, sorry I'm so late with completing this course diary. First my Internet was mysteriously off for a couple of days and then our family was struck by a deep personal tragedy which took all my strength away. However, right now I'm quite happy to have something like this to take my mind off things. So let's get back to the topic!

At the end of the previous day, we had been discussing our costumes for the demo and agreed what sort of stuff everyone should bring with them. Therefore, today began with trying on all the shirts and dresses and wigs and witch hats and tiaras and cat ears etc. And making sure everyone had their own suitcase for the I Wanna Be Like You dance.

Once the costumes and props were in order, we started running through the whole performance from start to finish. I hadn't been in any kind of theatre-related performances for about three years, and I had completely forgotten how incredibly annoying the first couple of run-throughs are. The atmosphere when everyone is all stressed and paranoid about costume changes and shoes and finding their props where they're supposed to be and entering the stage from the correct side... It's not a nice party, I'll tell you that.

However, the run-throughs got smoother and smoother as the day went by, and despite all the usual hassle there was also definitely the positive side of seeing the huge progress we'd made in just four days. The scenes and dance numbers which had seemed so hard to put together on the first day of the course were now looking like actual performances! Everyone had learned their lines by heart, and once again I found I have some sort of super-auditive memory because I can honestly say that I know the whole script by heart now, from just listening from backstage. I even helped a friend rehearse her lines by stepping in as her opposite!

Not surprisingly, our acting teacher raised the issue of voice and articulation on stage. As everyone probably knows, you simply can't speak with a normal voice on stage and you have to be careful not to talk too fast or your speech turns into an incoherent mess. We went through the entire script as a "voice rehearsal" where we simply sat on the stage and spoke our lines, making sure we articulated properly. For some weird reason the whole situation got so funny that people kept cracking up in most inappropriate places, such as when Elphaba tells Galinda that her father hates her. It only got worse when one of the people playing Galinda suddenly couldn't get the word "project" out of her mouth (in the line "Elphie, now that we're friends I've decided to make you my new project.")

All the hard work paid off in the end, as all of our teachers were really pleased with the final run-through. We even had some audience from outside the production team as our acting teacher's sister – if I remember correctly it was her sister – snuck in to watch. I say "snuck in" because we had no idea she was there till the end of the run-through! We even got some feed-back from her, translated from Russian by our acting teacher. She said that even though she didn't understand Finnish, she could still tell what was going on all the time! Isn't that pretty amazing?

More great stuff was coming up today. Tonight, all of us on the course got to see a real, professional Palatsi Theater production, ABBA Dancing Queen Show, for free! Of course we all went, who would say no to a free concert (well technically the ticket was included in the price of the course, but anyway) full of ABBA songs, and with our course's vocal coach performing as one of the ABBA members? So, my review of Palatsi Theater's ABBA Dancing Queen Show starts now!

To all not-Finnish readers of my blog, I should first explain that ABBA is kind of a big thing here in Finland, even if the group has been disbanded since 1982. No matter how jealous we Finns are of the Swedes because we've never had such a megastar music brand as ABBA, almost all of us secretly think Dancing Queen is one of the most awesome jamming tunes ever and we know at least that song, Mamma Mia and/or Waterloo by heart. So audiences have very high expectations for any production that attempts to pay homage to the glory of ABBA. I'm pleased to say that the Palatsi production lived up to and even beyond at least my expectations in every way.

The ABBA four were played by Päivi Lepistö, Marko Lämsä, Kimmo Blom and Capri Selo (as Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lygnstad respectively). All of them were extremely good performers and went so well together that you might have believed they'd been performing together for years, just like ABBA! Their voices also went very nicely together; I just adore really good harmonies, like the ones they had at the beginning of Super Trouper. However, two of the ABBA performers really stood out for me, and those two were Kimmo Blom and Capri Selo (a.k.a. our course vocal coach!)

I really wonder why I had never heard of Kimmo Blom before, because that man's a superstar. Not only does he completely own the stage and make it absolutely clear how much he loves what he's doing, he also has a phenomenal voice which he, thank goodness, really got to show off during his SOS solo.

Capri Selo has an incredible powerhouse voice as well, and her solo performances were the definite highlights of the evening for me. If I had to name just one best moment in the show, I would probably pick Capri Selo singing The Winner Takes It All, because it combined three great things: my favourite ABBA lyrics, Selo's voice and perhaps the most skilled aerial ribbons acrobat I've ever seen.

Speaking of acrobats – in addition to the well-known songs and talented singers, the ABBA Dancing Queen Show provided some exquisite visual candy as well. Firstly, one of the things that made the original ABBA iconic was their disco-ballish costumes, so of course Palatsi's show had to recreate some of them. They were bright, they were sparkly, they were ABBA. Aside from the four singers, the show employed two dancers/circus performers. One was Paula Thesleff, the aforementioned aerial ribbons acrobat who twirled in the air during Dancing Queen and The Winner Takes It All. The other was Jenni Pylkkänen, who wowed the audience by twirling up to four hoops at once during Does Your Mother Know and some other song which I've sadly forgotten – it's been a week since I saw this show... When the two weren't performing their respective acrobatic acts, they were dancing to Mönzi Kurbanali's choreographies, which were also very nice to look at.

All of us from the theatre course had a great time cheering and swaying all together – it seems to me that the more friends you're with when watching a performance, the better the atmosphere! Our group of 17 was by far the loudest lot in the audience – Finnish audiences are very reserved in general and it usually takes something really iconic and well-known like ABBA tunes to cause a standing ovation. But even now that we had all those favourite tunes, I definitely think the audience could've been more lively. Come on Finns, don't you want the performers you're watching to know that you love them? You've got to learn how to "bring the house down" as the saying goes!

If you happen to be anywhere near Tampere, go and see ABBA Dancing Queen Show at Musiikkiteatteri Palatsi. You'll come back from the show with all the ABBA hits happily clumped up in your head.

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PS I really need to say one more thing which has nothing to do with my course diary or ABBA. I made a fantastic new discovery in music, all thanks to Kristallikettu. I had never heard of Abney Park before or listened to that type of music, but now I've found them and I'm obsessed... Listening to the violin is one of my Huge Random Favourite Things along with top hats, chocolate and tea, and lots of Abney Park songs have some wonderful violin in them! Go look it up!

Palatsi Course, Day 3

I had to wait till quarter to one at night for the inspiration to write that monologue and once I was finished I stayed awake because I was so excited to see whether or not it was going to work on stage! But well, despite the sleep deprivation, today turned out even better than the day before.

We worked on the big Wicked scene some more today. We're doing the scene where everyone arrives at Shiz University and Madame Morrible discovers that Elphaba is gifted with magic. Today, we added in the bit where Elphaba performs the magic. We've got the Harry Potter theme tune on the background! I had a pretty nice bruise on my left knee that evening because I had to fall down on the floor like seven times...

I got my wish today – we practiced I'm Not That Girl! There's four of us singing it, each one gets their own verse. I have the "blithe smile, lithe limb" part. I kept messing up the rhythm in the second half of the verse all the time. I've only ever taken singing lessons with about 10 other people in the room singing at the same time, so it was really exciting having just three other people plus the teacher, and singing solo! And it's such a pretty song, I love it.

After teatime I finally could have peace of mind with that monologue I wrote because we rehearsed that scene next. What I do is basically this: there's a scene in Galinda and Elphaba's dorm room where Galinda tries to teach Elphaba how to be popular. We modified that scene a bit and added three other roommates there, one of them being me. Each of us tries to help Elphaba in different ways. My monologue is kind of a really girly, overexcited hibbidy-tibiddy where I pull out nice and girly things out of a giant bag. The bit I wrote for myself worked out pretty well, didn't have to modify it at all. The best thing really was when we had done the scene a couple of times and the girls who share the scene with me started to react to all my lines, they were all so funny and the stage got so nice and comfortable! Everyone keeps saying this and it's not a very surprising fact, but the communication between actors in a scene, even if they're not talking themselves all the time, is just vital for a scene to work out. I don't think I've ever realized this fact quite as profoundly as I did today.

I've mentioned we're working on two big singing/dancing numbers – I Wanna Be Like You and Good Morning Baltimore. We were supposed to have a third one, Kings of the World from the originally French musical Romeo and Juliet. Today, however, it was decided that it would be cut because the teachers felt we already had a bunch of stuff to learn and memorize, which was kind of true. But it was a bit sad too, because the song is AWESOME and I'd learned all the lyrics by heart... I'll put a video in here so you can all listen to that song if you haven't already!

We finished off the day with the Mambo number. STAGE RAGE on the loose again! We do this really cool thing where we form two rows and then march and shout insults at each other. When we meet at the center of the stage, each one gets a "fight partner" and we pull each other's hair and SLAP. But not for real, of course – we learned how to do all that so that it only looks real. Result: everyone was hysterical again.

When we were done with that day's course, three of us went shopping for a bit, because we had discussed our props and costumes for the final performance. I went to a costume store to get two witch hats, a cat ears + tail set and a black wig, which, for some unfathomable reason, is prohibited from children under fourteen. Can anybody tell me what's so dangerous about a wig?

Palatsi Course, Day 2

I woke up today feeling like I had forgotten at least half of the choreography we learned yesterday. I mean, if I have to wake up at 7.30 (like today) it takes me at least two hours to be even able to walk and think at the same time. Well, luckily we didn't jump to that scary dance routine right away because we warmed up first. We took a look at the basic steps of mambo and salsa for the West Side Story dace routine we'd be doing later on this week and it was really fun, loosened up even my anti-morning body. Brought back memories from a dance course back in high school! (Finns who are reading this, I'm talking about the course for Wanhojen tanssit!)

Vocal warmups were pretty much the same as yesterday, but after that we got to work on some stage rage (is that a real, established term? It should be, it sounds good!) and it was really hysterical! This too was in preparation for the upcoming West Side Story Mambo number where we'll be split into two "teams" who are competing against each other. Basically we just ran around the stage building up RAGE and then we'd shout it all out. The only downside to this awesomeness was that right after that, we started to rehearse Good Morning Baltimore and everyone's voices were hoarse from shouting... But we still managed to sing and dance okay. The teacher decided that some of us, with higher voices, would do harmonizing in this number. I've never sung harmonies before, so this was really great and exciting.

After lunch, we had free time to rehearse independently whatever we wanted while a couple of people worked on a scene with the teachers. So some people worked on the two choreographies we had now learned, others were going through their lines, and I tried to write my monologue... and failed. Total writer's block. Luckily it didn't matter that much, we just worked on the scene without my bit for now. And as I stayed behind when the day's work was officially done, the acting teacher gave me some more ideas about what I could put into the monologue and that really helped. Oh, there was one thing I forgot to mention about yesterday! I sort of stayed behind that day too and got to see the room where they keep all the costumes, which was incredibly cool! There was this one little black top hat that I was really itching to grab with me...

So another day is done now. I'm trying to get that monologue ready for tomorrow and really looking forward to when I get to work with I'm Not That Girl from Wicked. Before the course began we were given a couple of songs to choose from which we'd be doing in smaller groups and I chose that one, we haven't done anything with it today but maybe... tomorrow?

The interior of Palatsi! The stage looks a bit different now than in the picture,  here you can't see the balconies and the stairs. But you can see it's quite a special-looking little theatre!

Palatsi Course, Day 1

It's been a while since my last post! And in the meantime my blog has reached exatly 1111 page views (the last time I checked at least) The baffling reason for that is, once again, the weather which is much too nice for sitting and typing! But now I'll be posting at least five days in a row because there's something interesting going on: I'm attending a course in musical theatre and I'll be keeping a course diary in here.

A little background info first. Five years ago, a small theatre in Tampere was re-opened and named Musiikkiteatteri Palatsi (=music theatre Palace) . While it had been built in the 20s as a place to show silent films with live music, it now produces musical theatre productions in a dinner theatre format. They also run a musical theatre school, and it's a summer course by this school that I'll be attending this week. During the course we're going to rehearse some acting scenes, songs and choreographies and then put together a sort of "demo" performance on the last day.

Okay, so today was the first day. First of course we were introduced to the teachers – there are three of them, for acting, singing and dancing. Then we went to see the actual stage where we'd be rehearsing and performing. I'd never seen a stage like that before, kind of small and cute, with a staircase in the middle and "Juliet" balconies on both sides.

While we were warming up before getting down to actual work, I realized I'd been suffering from severe stage-deprivation during the last couple of years between high school and present day – I never regarded myself as a big spotlight addict, but today it felt really nice to get up on a stage and do things! And during the vocal warm-ups we learned some really interesting stuff about how singing works, including a short discussion on the limitations of under-16-year-old voices which makes the morality of child singer industry very questionable.

After lunch, we got down to real business and started rehearsing one of the songs we'll be performing as a group on the final day: I Wanna Be Like You from Disney's The Jungle Book. You know, the one where the orange monkey wants to be like a human. Seems like my new hobby of memorizing (mostly show tune) song lyrics has paid off because I had the lyrics down pretty quick even though I'd never before taken a look at this song.

But then it all got so much more complicated when we started learning the choreography to go with the song. Okay so I went to a dance school for some years when I was a kid, but I quit ten years ago and dancing was never my thing. Therefore I was expecting the dancing part to be the most challenging for me, which it was, but it was also so much fun! It's funny how just having some background music makes even sweating so much more enjoyable. We'll be using suitcases as props when we dance and there's this one really cool part where I change suitcases with another girl – I slide mine to her and she throws hers at me. Surprisingly, I didn't drop that big scary suitcase once even though I'm usually very untalented at catching stuff. I learned to respect musical actors even more than I already did, because even when you think you know some lyrics by heart, it's damn hard to make them come out when you're supposed to dance at the same time...

The acting part of the course is going to be three scenes from Wicked, one of them being a big group scene with all of us on stage, and then two smaller ones. When the acting teacher announced who was going to play which part, it turned out that... I had somehow been glossed over in the casting process and I didn't have anything to play! However, that was quickly fixed. I'll simply get to write my own monologue in the scene where Galinda is trying to teach Elphaba about popularity! I'll get to try my hand at play-writing, which has always been a huge interest for me and which I'm now aiming to do for a living one day – awesome!

So all in all, a hard-working but also happy and rewarding day. Can't wait for tomorrow. There's still a handful of choreographies to learn and songs to sing...