Literature continued

Whilst searching for literature related to my inquiry I have been looking at the opinions of successful practitioners in the Musical Theatre industry.

An article of interest that I have found is an interview with Cameron Mackintosh for the Financial Times from January this year. The main bulk of the article is about the monetary success of his business. However I have found it useful in relation to my inquiry as he talks about the aspects a production must have in order to be successful.

“When I did Les Mis I said, ‘I’m not going to take this on the road unless it’s as good as what people have read about, with the same lighting and the same sound.’ I think that’s my biggest bequest — that I imposed my standards. It’s sensible, actually, because the real thing will last longer than something shoddy.”

When looking at the rehearsal process of Musical Theatre work I must look at all elements that make the show - the repertoire, the sound, the lighting, the costuming.

A link to the article is below:

https://www.ft.com/content/af6b04f6-ba34-11e5-bf7e-8a339b6f2164

Another article of interest is that with Broadway and film producer, Marc Platt, for the London Theatre guide website londontheatre.co.uk. During his interview a range of subjects where covered including target audiences and time scale. In the interview Marc talks about the time scale of an upcoming film adaptation of the Musical 'Wicked'. He mentions that they do not have a release date yet as they do not want to rush the material and want to make the film the best it can be. This made me think about productions that might not have the luxury of a large budget or the flexibility of choosing when to open. An obstacle that the rehearsal process can face is time constraints. For example a choreographer or director may want to spend one more week rehearsing a piece, but if you have a set performance date and tickets sold this would not be possible. How does a creative team work to a time constraint whilst still producing the work needed?

Please find the link to the article below:

https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/west-end-features/an-interview-with-marc-platt

Whilst reading an article with Theatre Producer of Happy Days the Musical, Amy Anzel, for website 'We are the city' I considered other possible elements and obstacles of the rehearsal process of Musical Theatre work. Amy, when discussing the different between producing work in the UK to the US, mentions the regulations that you must follow when producing work. She says that it is a lot less regualated in the UK,

'You don’t actually officially need to abide by the rules of SOLT (Society of London Theatre) or Equity for tours or Off-West End productions, only when you’re producing on the West End – so you can just literally do things however you’d like. This has its pros and cons of course and as a new producer you have a lot of freedom but you are also a lot less educated. I think this is might be why so many productions here suddenly close or run into difficulty. It’s a case of more opportunity…but also more opportunity to fail. In the US there are many more regulations in place and more unionization.'

In my inquiry I must consider the ethical implications on rehearsals in terms of structure and obstacles. What bodies are there that regulate rehearsals in terms of workers rights? Does this effect the structure and protocol in rehearsals? How do companies work to produce work but also follow the guidelines?

A link to the article is below:

http://www.wearethecity.com/an-interview-with-amy-anzel-theatre-producer-of-happy-days-the-musical/

Looking at the opinions of successful practitioners in the Musical Theatre industry has proved helpful in providing thinking points for my inquiry. I will continue to look at these for document reviews within my inquiry.

Informal trial of an interview

Last week I was fortunate enough to have a Skype session with a fellow BAPP student Megan Louch. I have posted a link to her blog below:

http://meganlouch.blogspot.com.

We chose to have the Skype session as both of our inquiries are based on Musical Theatre and we wished to discuss are ideas and work so far. I thought this would be an ideal situation to carry out an informal trial of one of my chosen tools of inquiry. I plan to carry out a set of individual Skype interviews in my inquiry so this was the perfect set up for a trail. I decided to carry out a semi-structured interview so that I would be able to gather the data I needed but the interviewee (Megan) would have the freedom to share her opinions and experiences related to the topics as she wished.

The questions I prepared were:

1. When rehearsing for a Musical Theatre show or number what elements of rehearsal do you expect to experience?
2. In your current job where there any elements of rehearsal that were new or unusual for you?
3. What do you personally like to achieve in rehearsals in order to feel ready for a performance?
4. Have you faced any obstacles in your current rehearsals such as sickness or injury? If so how have you worked to overcome them?

As I started the session with Megan we discussed her line of inquiry on what interdisciplinary skills a performer should possess in order to impact positively on a Musical Theatre production. I found her line of inquiry and current job in the UK tour of Dirty Dancing very interesting to talk about. We began to cover many different subjects regarding our career experiences and before I knew it we had already covered many things relating to my inquiry without me having actually asked any prepared questions! This was a great learning curve for me as I am able to see how key it is for a person taking a interview to remain focused on the task and direct the conversation as needed.Once I realised that I had gotten slightly distracted I asked Megan if it would be ok to ask my prepared questions and for me to note down her answers to reflect back on in this blog post. I chose to write down her responses in my journal as my way of documenting the interview. Reflecting back on this I will continue to write down the responses of interviewees but also record the interviews as the speed at which people speak it is possible to miss important information when only writing the answers. By recording the interviews I can remain focused on the interview without worrying about missing information as I will have it recorded to look back at later on.Below I have written my questions followed by a summary of Megan's response.

1. When rehearsing for a Musical Theatre show or number what elements of rehearsal do you expect to experience?

Megan spoke about the structure she would expect in a rehearsal - Warm up, a plan of action for the rehearsal given by the Dance Captain, running of material. She also mentioned that she would expect constructive feedback from whoever is talking the rehearsal. If the number was to include props or a tricky costume, she would expect to rehearse with these before hand.

      2.In your current job where there any elements of rehearsal that were new or unusual for              you?

Megan spoke about how in her current job in the UK tour of Dirty Dancing she is cover Penny. This means that when she plays Penny and not her usual track she must go over things that are new to her including dancing with different partners, quick changes and entrances and exits.

     3.What do you personally like to achieve in rehearsals in order to feel ready for a                             performance?

Whilst touring Megan likes to get her bearings of a space before they perform. Different venues means that props will move differently, quick changes may happen in different places and overall the space will feel differently to perform in. She likes to feel prepared not only for a positive performance but for health and safety.

   4.Have you faced any obstacles in your current rehearsals such as sickness or injury? If so             how have you worked to overcome them?

Whilst people have been off during the tour they have had to have longer rehearsals in order rehearse with new people and go over the different tracks.

She also mentioned that they have had to get used to a raked stage, in particular extra practice lifts were needed.

Analysis

Megan was a very good candidate for me to interview as she is currently working in a Musical Theatre production which is touring which means that rehearsals are on going. I was able to collect the data I needed using open questions but I many consider using closed questions in my actual inquiry in order to gather some statistical data. For example I can ask 'Do you always have a warm up in you rehearsals' and then will be able to gather a specific number of people that are used to a warm up. Using Skye for the interview proved successful, it felt personal enough that Megan was at ease to answer my questions and the signal remained strong so there was no technological issues. I have learnt that I need to be more focused on keeping the structure of the interview and to not get distracted by any other topics established by the interviewees, especially if they are not related to my inquiry. I asked Megan's permission to carry out the interview as my trial tool of inquiry method, I know to ask my future interviewees permission and make sure they know the extent the data I collect will be used and gain their permission for this.

Overall the trial was very useful at showing me what worked well and what I need to work on. Preparation is key moving forward with my tools of inquiry.

Considering Tools of Inquiry

In order to collect data for my inquiry I must consider the methods available to me and how effective they will be at gaining the information I need to carry out my research. When looking at the tools I must consider the different factors that will effect the data I collect. Factors that I must consider include:

• People used within the method
• The environment where the data will be collected from
• My own personal bias

The methods that I must consider are:

• Observations
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Surveys and Questionnaires
• Document Reviews

Within all of these methods a tool that I will be able to use to review and analyse the data I collect is my journal. I will be able to use my journal to note down observations and answers to questions, use it to evaluate the results of surveys and to analyse documents. 

The Tools

Observations

Observations can take place as an outsider to an environment or as a participant in your working environment. When considering using observations within my own inquiry I think it would be an extremely useful tool for observing my own companies rehearsal process. I usually take part in the rehearsals anyway so my presence in the room would not effect the activities or the responses of people to the activities. I would need to gain the approval of my company coordinator and choreographer to use the results of my observations within my work. All data noted would be done so with anonymity so as to do incriminate anyone within their work place.

A possible negative aspect to the use of this tool would be my own bias towards the environment as it is one I am familiar with. I would need to address this directly by expressing clearly that the observations have come from my personal view point. I could then attempt to give the data more standing by backing up my findings with supporting data collected by other practitioners within a similar environment.

Interviews

Interviews would be a useful tool within my inquiry. It would allow me to access data from outside of my own workplace. I am currently working with a company in Spain which would make it difficult for me to travel for interviews. Therefore I would conduct most of my interviews through Skype. It would be very important to choose people to interview that have relevant knowledge on the subject of my inquiry.

I would need to be careful to word the questions without bias. The interviews would need to be conducted in a structure that makes the participants feel comfortable and able to share the information they hold. A negative aspect of interviews can be that when analysing the data I must interpret what i think the participant meant, you are

'constructing or documenting a version of what you think the data means' (Mason, 2002, p.149)

Focus Groups

When reading about Focus Groups a particular quote from Bell made see how a focus group could be useful to my inquiry.

'focus groups are more likely to include members who either have similar characteristics or experience ... or are known to have a professional concern and knowledge of the issues involved' (Bell, 2005, p.162) 

I believe a good place to start collecting data for my inquiry would be discussing the rehearsal process I am personally involved in with my current peers. I feel like the dimensions within our cast are positive and this will prove a useful tool on gaining information. The participants can gain inspiration from other peoples comments.

I will have to consider that it is important to keep the group discussion moving in a positive and productive direction. I will, as the conductor of the session, have to ensure that this is achieves. Similar to the interviews I may conduct I will have to be considerate of my choice of language within the discussion as to not show any bias to any elements we may discuss. I will need to record the session in order to collect or necessary data. I also need to consider whether this will be only a voice recorder or if I film the session in order to easily identify the speakers. I would worry that the presence of a camera may effect the willingness of participants to speak freely and they may feel self conscious. I believe a simple voice recorder would feel less ominous and more appropriate.

Surveys and Questionnaires

Surveys and questionnaires are a great way to target a lot of people with questions. They tend to gather quantitative data, statistics that you can use to prove or disprove an argument. Some qualitative data can be acquired by using open questions, similar to interview questions but the participant writes down their answer. Similar to interview questions it is important that when constructing the survey or questionnaire you are careful to avoid your own bias when writing the questions.

If I were to include a survey in my inquiry I must consider that the people I get to complete it properly represent the musical theatre industry in terms of age, gender ect. This might be quite tricky to achieve as the industry is not heavily regulated in terms of keeping check of these things so it would be difficult to ensure the right people were getting surveyed.

I would also need to weigh up if the data I would receive would help my inquiry in a significant way. My initial thoughts are that qualitative tools may provide more useful as opinions and experiences may prove more useful to me than figures and facts.

Document Reviews

There are many different document types that you can use to review in your inquiry including academic literature, reports, and journals. I can see document reviews being a useful tool in my inquiry. As i would like to look at the rehearsal processes carried out by Musical Theatre companies from different eras I will have to rely entirely on historical literature. I would also like to look at what policies and organisational documents, if any, current Musical Theatre companies have in place in order to conduct rehearsals.

I will have to consider many things when looking at the documents in order to ensure that I am analysing the data I collect objectively. Although documents could be an extremely useful tool in my inquiry it is important that I consider the context they were written in. The documents themselves can hold bias. I must think about factors such as who wrote it and why, the historical context of the document and the effect this could have on the view points presented and who is the document aimed at.

Conclusion

Looking at all of the methods I think it is important that I keep asking myself what information I need. I think it is also very important to remain open minded about the different methods available. Initially the methods I believe I will use, such as interviews and a focus group, will collect qualitative data. However practitioners such as Bell state,

'No approach depends solely on one method anymore than it would exclude a method merely because it is labelled quantitative, qualitative, case study, action research'. (Bell, Doing your research project: a guide to first time researchers, p.119)

I intend to perhaps include a survey within my inquiry so that I support the information I find through my qualitative data with facts and figures attained through a more quantitative tool.

Overall what is important is that I collect enough data to support and answer my inquiry questions and that the data is appropriately and correctly analysed.  

Award Specialism Title

I have spent some time reflecting on my work in order to propose an award title for my degree. I have put this work into the Award Specialism Title Form. Below please find my reasons for choosing the specialism 'Musical Theatre'.

 I have chosen the specialism of Musical Theatre within my degree title by considering my previous expertise and knowledge, the basis of my inquiry and the plans I have for my future work as a practitioner.

I have previously trained within the Musical Theatre field, studying for three years at a Trinity London approved college gaining a level 6 diploma in professional Musical Theatre. I therefore have a detailed knowledge of the work and skills required within the field. As a result of my previous training I am now working in the Musical Theatre industry and because of this have directed my inquiry to aim to specifically increase my skills as a practitioner within this area. My inquiry with look at the rehearsal process when working on Musical Theatre repertoire. Through this inquiry I aim to improve my skills as a dance captain and assistant to the choreographer in the company I currently work for, to improve the efficiency and productivity of the rehearsals for the entire company.

Further to my current position, my intentions for my future work are to continue within the Musical Theatre field. I am set to purchase an established Musical Theatre and Dance School in the coming year. The skills and knowledge I hope to acquire within my inquiry, I plan to continue to develop in the rehearsal environments that will take place within the school.

Any feedback from my fellow BAPP students is appreciated.

Group session with Paula 25/11/16

On Friday I rushed from rehearsal and managed to make it to a group session on 'Tools of Inquiry' with Paula and two fellow BAPP students, Megan and Lauren. I'm so glad I managed to make the session as it was not only useful to touch base about section 6 of this module but to start to think about consolidating my learning in the module as a whole.

We spoke about the tools of inquiry available to use to gather data and information to support and guide our inquiries such as interviews, focus groups and surveys. We were asked whether we had made any decisions about tools we would use. I had given this some thought and shared my initial ideas of using a focus group to discuss ideas with my current cast about their thoughts on the rehearsal process we take as well as interviews with practitioners working within the Musical Theatre field in different productions and companies. I also mentioned that I had considered how relationships within my company may effect question responses and had therefore decided to carry out a focus group with my current cast but separate individual interviews with our choreographer and our production co-coordinator. I have chosen to do this as I would not want the presence of management to effect my cast members willingness to answer questions and share opinions freely. Also, vice versa, I would not want the management to feel unable or unwilling to answer questions due to the presence of the cast. Paula added that when conducting these interviews and focus groups it would be important to stress that they are confidential and anonymity could be used where wanted and required. This would also help to remove any feelings of unease people may have at answering questions related to work within a work environment.

Looking at the tools I had chosen to use so far they were all tools that would acquire qualitative data. I intend to do further research and thinking into whether collecting quantitative data would be useful to my inquiry, if collecting some figures and data numbers will be useful in proving or disproving the effectiveness of rehearsal methods.

The session was useful as it reminded me that it is important to not only consider what you can learn from your inquiry but also what you already know about your subject. In order to evaluate how much you can learn from your inquiry you need to know how much you knew already. My inquiry topic on the elements of preparation required in a Musical Theatre rehearsal came about due to a change of job role in the company I currently work for. I have been involved in rehearsal processes from a young age, for instance for my local dance school production shows and nationwide competitions. Therefore I know what is expected from me as a performer in that environment. However when I was made Dance Captain and assistant to the choreographer, I realised how different it is from being part of to taking a rehearsal. I therefore chose to carry out this inquiry in order to improve my rehearsal practice and improve the rehearsal experience for everyone that I work with, now and in the future.

Another important realisation I had is that it is important for me to keep in mind throughout this whole process what my aim is. It is important that I have a narrow field of inquiry and to focus on a particular subject. This not only means that the work load is achievable in the time given but that the work I produce will be to a high standard and the most useful to myself and my peers.

Now as I move forward in the module I am looking forward to consolidating my work and putting myself in a positive position to continue with the process and begin module 3.

Inquiry Design

When thinking about designing my inquiry I have first tried to relate aspects of inquiry to other areas of my professional life in order to gain further understanding.

When looking at the four main research methods explained in reader 6 and thinking about my workplace, my immediate thought was on the methods used by my company to gauge audience reaction to our shows. They use both qualitative and quantitative measures. An example of a quantitative measure used is the company producing short surveys for audience members to fill out once they have watched a show. The questions asked cover aspects such as personal enjoyment and chance of returning to watch another show. Audience members are asked to answer the questions by choosing from five options covering very good - very bad. The number of each answer to each question is then added up by management and used to decide the popularity and success of a show. In contrast a qualitative approach they use is encouraging cast members to talk directly to audience members on their reactions to a show and then the cast members feedback their comments to management.

Looking at the both methods used I can see positives and negative aspects in both. The surveys allow for a larger range of opinions to be gathered, examined and compared. However by speaking directly to clients they are able to gain more in depth answer and opinions. I think in this instance it is a good idea to use both qualitative and quantitative measures in order to gain a fuller perspective on the audience mood.

My initial thoughts on my inquiry are to use qualitative measures of interviews and focus groups in order to gain information however I will not rule out considering the positives that collecting quantitative data could bring to my process.

Literature and more

Over the course of this module I have been researching literature in order to help me decide on an inquiry topic and then to use as resources to guide and inform my inquiry. My research as well as the rest of the work in this module has meant that I have chosen an inquiry topic of the elements of preparation of performance in Musical Theatre work and the obstacles this can face.

This is relevant to my current practice as a performer as I currently work for an Entertainment company that produces Musical Theatre shows to perform in various venues around Spain. I have worked for the company for 18 months but have recently been promoted to dance captain and the choreographers assistant. My role involves taking rehearsals with the cast when the choreographer is not there and to offer advice and help to the choreographer when needed. I aim to use my inquiry to increase my knowledge on the rehearsal process in order to improve the rehearsal experience for the entire cast and to act as a greater aid to the choreographer. In my future career I aim to own an independent dance school in partnership with my Sister, a fellow performer and dance teacher. The school will teach children from the age of four through to adults. Although my inquiry will not focus on working with children, I intend to use what I learn about the rehearsal process and input it in the future teaching of my students so that they are used to and can benefit from a good working rehearsal environment.

I plan to look at what elements are present in a rehearsal of Musical Theatre work that gets the work from rehearsal stage to performance ready. As anyone who has been part of a rehearsal process knows it can take hours and weeks of rehearsal for a few minutes work on stage.

I plan to follow an active inquiry in my own place of work, observing rehearsals and carrying out interviews with my fellow cast members and managers. However I wish to look at other elements too. I plan to look at rehearsals of work throughout the age of Dance and Musical Theatre. I will compare examples of rehearsals from different eras to the rehearsals carried out by professionals today in order to see how the elements have developed. I hope to see what elements have stood the test of time and see what is is about them that enables them to help achieve what is necessary with the work to put it on stage. An example of the literature i will use is work by Jennifer Neville on the rehearsal process of opera theatre in med-seventeenth-century Italy. She mentions that there has been evidence found that rehearsals used to entail  practicing in the performance space, the use of costumes in rehearsals and the importance of communication between the creative collaborators. (Parergon Volume 28, 2011 pp. 135-153)

Another focus of my inquiry will be on the element of ethics within the rehearsal. I plan to investigate what elements are present in a rehearsal due to ethical reasons and how much they contribute achieving what is needed in the rehearsal. I have been looking at different companies and organisations codes of conduct. One example I have found is that of the RAD dance education and professional organisation. Although its focus is more on teaching certain elements are still valid for a rehearsal environment. Please find a link to the document below.

https://www.rad.org.uk/documents/about-docs/code-of-prof-practice-for-teachers-en-web.pdf

I intend to look at what work has already done on my inquiry subject in order to see whether my work finds similar results and also what is different and what this means to my findings. An article of interest to me is 'Practicing perfection: How concert soloists prepare for performance'. Although this is not directly based on Musical Theatre work I believe their findings will show similarites to my own. For instance they talk about an element of rehearsal is the extensive repeating of work in order to memorise what will be performed. (Advances in Cognitive Psychology Volume 2, 2006, pp.113-130)

I am continuing to research and read relevant literature to my inquiry. I appreciate any feedback from my fellow bloggers on the work I have done so far.