Teching....

Today started bright and early with Ros Steen, head of the department for voice at the academy. These were detailed sessions that showed just how much you can still pull out of the text this far into the process.





We then moved into the theatre to plot the lights and sound. This is a really long process but the results were excellent, with our lighting man Alex doing an amazing job.





So tomorrow is a big day as it's the first time the cast will get to run the play on the set, very exciting stuff! Tickets are going really well so make sure you pick yours up from the RSAMD box office as soon as possible.

Location:Chandler theatre, RSAMD

Music....

 As well as featuring classic tunes of the period such as' Sing! Sing! Sing!' and 'Tuxedo Junction' - this interpretation of Much Ado features original compositions using Shakespeare's words.  Jess Hardwick plays the part of Ursula, have a listen above to hear her version of 'Sigh No More' - this is a recurring theme throughout the play and was written and recorded by our assistant director Andrew McGregor.

Our director speaks....

Our director for 'Much Ado About Nothing' is the wonderful Ali De Souza, here he tells us what his thoughts are as the show edges closer to its opening night on the 10th of June:

"As we glide into production week (like a cool swan, whose feet are paddling furiously below the surface of the calm water…) I am taking a few minutes to reflect on my wonderful cast and crew! The rehearsal process has been a joy – mainly because the play has engendered such passion in all of us. Much Ado about Nothing is so rich, so engaging and so surprisingly modern – not bad for a play written 412 years ago.  The Goddess of Loveliness has conferred all her gifts on the supremely talented cast, and still found plenty over in her coffers to bestow yet more loveliness on the supremely talented stage managers, designers, choreographer, movement directors and my invaluable assistant Andrew – whose talents worryingly know no limits. It all makes my job very fine indeed. We have a wee way to go, but time yet to go there, and I am looking forward very much to introducing that last crucial ingredient - the audience"

Tickets available from the RSAMD Box Office.

Beatrice writes...

Lucy Hollis is playing the part of Beatrice in our upcoming production, here's a little bit about where she it at right now:

"Rehearsals are coming along very well, so much fun. Its actually the first play I have done here at the Academy that feels like it changes every time we do it. New things are constantly being discovered and it still feels very fresh and playful, even 5 weeks on! Hopefully this means that on the performance nights it will still have that spark...hmm...thats the plan anyway. Getting into the Chandler on Wednesday, woop! Jess and I just practised the dance in our living room and it's pretty spectacular..."

To see more of Lucy talking about the play then have a look at our little sneak preview video on the right.  Tickets are going really well, you can pick your up from the RSAMD box office!

Set design

The play is set in Leonato's fading nightclub, once a place of great renown it has surely seen better days.  To turn this idea into reality the RSAMD backstage crew have been busy making a wonderful marble floor:

And have chosen some lovely 1950's wallpaper to really bring the set to life.

The get-in for the crew is next week and we can't wait to see how they transform the space of the Chandler into this world of faded decadence. Once it's all in place and the costumes are on it's going to look truly spectacular!

Tickets are available from the RSAMD box office now!

Costumes!

One of the most exciting parts of doing any show is the costume fitting, and when it's based in the 1950's then that only makes it even more exciting - they knew how to do style back then!  Here is Martin as Benedick, a soldier just coming back from war:

Molly is playing the part of Margaret, here she is in her summer dress:

One of the highlights of the show is the masked ball, here Bobby shows how her character Hero will be dressed at this party:

We did a run of act 2 this morning and it's coming along really well, it's amazing how sad and (even now in the 21st century) how funny Shakespeare's writing is.

Tickets are available from the RSAMD box office.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Phew! A hard, but fun, morning of working through the main dance routine (to the swing tune Sing! Sing! Sing!) it's all looking really good and now we have the whole dance in place we can really work on getting it tight. Our choreographer Robert (see him studiously observing us below) has done am excellent job in creating a visually striking dance.






After dancing we really delved deep into the strange relationship between Beatrice and Benedict. It really is one of the great love stories and we can't wait to show it on the 10th-14th May. Only a week and a bit left to go....

Location:Renfield St,Glasgow,United Kingdom