Accolade co-copy editor junior Serenity Li auditioned last semester to join the cast of the spring musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and director Annie Pagano — theater teacher Christian Penuelas’ substitute director — cast Li as one of Joseph’s brothers’ wives. With Pagano’s approval, the junior will document some of her experiences — before and during rehearsals — leading up to opening night, Friday, March 7. Be sure to stay tuned in the A&E section to read the rest of her entries. Those interested in watching the performance can purchase $15 tickets from the show’s ticket website.
Practice makes perfect.
This phrase is frequently quoted to describe the method used to achieve an accomplishment, master a skill or portray a performance. Though overused, it works. Knowledge can only take you so far, and sooner or later, you’ll need hands-on experience.
For example, I can memorize each movement in a dance, but unless I practice it physically, I can never train my muscle memory and perform it on command. I will never know what it looks like when I do it myself. This explains why shows involving musicals, plays or other forms of performing arts require rehearsals –– days to learn and review the choreography and discography.
Once rehearsal starts, the whole cast must be ready to dance, sing or act. Practices for the Sunny Hills spring semester performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” are divided into dancing and singing in a week: on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays we learn choreography while on Thursdays we learn the music.
This production is loosely based on the Old Testament Bible Story about Jacob, an Israelite patriarch, and his favorite son, Joseph. The father blesses Joseph with a cloak of many colors, leaving his siblings jealous and continues by following their hilariously resentful deeds and Joseph’s journey afterward.
Here is a day in the life of my rehearsals in January which consisted of getting to know the whole “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” musical. We learned songs and dances in order of when they are performed in the musical to avoid confusion unless the musical piece consisted of complex choreography needing multiple hours of dedication to learn.
Every day, I head to the Performing Arts Center. For the Saturday, Jan. 25, rehearsal, I put my water bottle down near a chair among the audience seats called the “House,” and I talked to my friends as we waited for the stage manager to start our practice. To keep us focused, we had to put our cellular devices in the dreaded phone pockets, where they remain in until a break or when we are finally done. Like others my age, I’m always not too keen on parting with my mobile device and only put it away a few seconds before we start.
Like every rehearsal, our director positioned specific characters around the stage as the choreographer taught them the first part of the song, “Go Go Go Joseph,” which is around six minutes long and the end of the first act. In the meantime, the rest, including me, practiced another dance and socialized.
The beginning of this song consists of seven characters who all take turns singing and dancing, so most of the other students don’t need to learn anything for the first part of the run-through of the song. The last few minutes of the song consist of the whole cast performing a string of different motions while harmonizing lyrics.
When we practiced the whole song without stopping, I stood with other cast members as we watched the performance from the wings. It started slow, with little to no movement. We cheered the onstage cast in encouragement and practiced the ending dance break. Soon, the music kicked up — and so did my heartbeat.
We filled the stage, harmonizing with smiles on our faces and bodies moving in sync. I ran and sang around the stage, frantically trying to remember the next dance move and lyrics. By the end, I was exhausted; I breathed heavily while keeping my arms up in the final pose.
I stood there, my lungs working overtime and my muscles screaming for me to sit down and take a break. At the same time, I felt exhilaration, or maybe it was adrenaline, coursing through me after completing the choreography without a misstep. The music stopped, and we all breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that we could rest and take a break.
While dance rehearsals are both physically and mentally exhausting, I still look forward to them every week. The pain of running out of stamina and trying to keep up with the rest of the cast pales in comparison to the happiness that comes with every jump, wave and turn in the choreography. My castmates and I have practiced and worked hard to learn the dances to provide an amazing performance to the audience. We had a blast working on this show, so I hope you like it too!
