WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD
THE WIZARD OF OZ - NOVEMBER 2017
THE WIZARD OF OZ - NOVEMBER 2017
It was a funny feeling after Hairspray finished, that I had thought that maybe now my luck had run out with RARE and that I should take what my experience had given me and use it to move on to do other things. Thinking about it, I had done three shows in the space of a year and a half and three shows seemed like a nice round number to go out on as I was aware that I was coming of an age where I would become too old to audition and take part in RARE shows on an acting side of things.
But then this opportunity came up where I had discovered that RARE were doing the Wizard of Oz in Stevenage and that auditions would be in the second week of June, it was there I had thought to myself to maybe try and give a go and try out because there's no harm in auditioning and if I go and don't get it, I would have had nothing to lose and at least I could walk away saying, I gave things a try. As they say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" and in this instance, I decided to be optimistic and take my chances.
The reason for this just happened to be because of one, it was The Wizard of Oz a show which I have always wanted to do and never had the chance to, and two, it was in Stevenage and it was going to be on at the Gordon Craig Theatre. I went for an audition with not a lot of expectations or ambitions, I felt very chilled and relaxed about it, but that was only probably because I had done four other RARE auditions before and had become adaptable to the process. I wasn't sure about which part I'd want either, although I do remember thinking it would be cool to be the Scarecrow.
But sure enough, not long after my audition, I got a letter in the post and the way I can tell if you were successful or not was by the weight of the envelope. If it was heavy then that meant there was a welcome pack in there, if it was light then it was just a brief note to say thanks but no thanks, and the envelope was heavy, so I knew I'd got in before I had even opened the envelope. I was quite surprised and happy to discover I had got the title role of the Wizard, even though my mum had suspected that I would get that part.
Rehearsals started in September, we rehearsed in Knebworth Village hall on a Friday from 5pm - 9pm. That's where things started to kick off for me and the fun began I suspected. I do remember having a lot of fun at rehearsals, I kept myself to myself but wasn't completely unsociable, as the weeks went on I became more confident to talk to my fellow cast members and that made the experience all the more comfortable for me. And the more you attend rehearsals the more in sync you're kept up to date with your progress and what's going on.
Then actually performing it was a blast. I know that some people say with acting it's an on going thing of continuing to improve all of the time, and I felt that I got better each night. Friday night was better than Thursday night and Saturday matinee was better than Friday evening and Saturday night I felt was my best, I had all my family there that night to come and watch me and I guess the icing on the cake was just performing at the Gordon Craig and being in that glorious space, it really is a wonderful theare, and there were props and bits which I added, because when I was cast in the Wizard of Oz, I wasn't cast to be like Frank Morgan in the film, I was given a sort of blank sheet of paper and I had to do my own character and I wasn't all that concious about making things different, more just doing it in a way I felt, I should do it. I felt very refreshed, the eager need to be as wacky and off the wall as I could be, because I was playing a fairly optimistic and senstive, crafty character in Professor Marvel, and then this very mysterious and charasmatic wizard. The part just came naturally and anything I did, I added to help perfect my performance to the best of its ability as that I feel was what I worked hard for all my life, and that made me enjoy it more.
I guess what I am trying to say was I really embraced the experience for what it was and achieved a life long ambition and that to me, was a very rewarding thing.
