I wrote a post a few weeks ago to advertise our tie-dying event to raise money for BUSOM’s (Bradford University Society of Operettas and Musicals) upcoming production of Back to the 80s. Since then, we have held the tie-dying event, at which we had approximately 25 people come to our table in the Exhibition Space in Student Central and use one of several different methods of tie-dying a white T-shirt (one method didn’t even involve tying up the T-shirt with elastic bands, but rather involved just scrunching up the T-shirt into a ball and splashing the dyes on the fabric randomly in small dashes. We even had the Activities Officer and a couple of members of staff join in on the fun!
On Friday 19 February, a group of us set up a little “stage” in the corner of Student Central for a five hour busking event to raise money for RAG.
Group songs included Train’s Hey Soul Sister, The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, Queen’s We Will Rock You, Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, Seasons of Love from Rent and The Fratellis’ Creepin Up The Backstairs, while solo and duets included Katrina and the Waves’ Walking On Sunshine, Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name, and The J. Geils Band’s Centerfold to promote Back to the 80s, Beyoncé’s If I Were A Boy, Paramore’s Misguided Ghosts, Take Me Or Leave Me from Rent, and KT Tunstall’s Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.
We did this performance after only one rehearsal in the president’s living room.
Rehearsals like this are also what has made BUSOM feel even more like home to me because it’s very casual and there might even be someone in their pyjamas, and as opposed to the usual piano that we are accompanied by, these rehearsals and performances are accompanied by a guitar. Footage from Hannah and Lucy’s performance of Black Horse and the Cherry Tree is below!
It’s also now coming up to show week itself!
As producer, I’ve been talking to each member of the cast about costumes for their characters (and a couple of the cast members play more than one character), so seeing the items of clothing that they have chosen to help to bring their characters to life has been quite exciting for me. Some of the tie-dye T-shirts we made are going to be used, as well as a black sparkly dress, a Star Wars T-shirt, jelly shoes and several pairs of Converse.
Last Sunday, I cut a computer cursor out of an old cardboard box on my bedroom floor to be used as a prop in a dream sequence I will be appearing in (which is the only time I will appear).
Last Tuesday, I saw the majority of the show complete with the songs for the first time, and I was very impressed with the progress of both the songs I had heard in previous rehearsals and also the songs that I had not heard yet.
On Thursday, my personal highlights were the energy levels demonstrated by cast members during the Dancing on the Ceiling and the choreographing of a staged fight scene between two characters. Here’s a clip from rehearsing Madonna’s Material Girl:
The final two weeks before the show are also being marked with a daily countdown with photographs from rehearsals.
Katie Beadle is a 3rd year Web Design and Technology student. In her spare time, she is a member of BUSOM (Bradford University Society of Operettas and Musicals), a presenter and studio manager at RamAir, goes to UBU Archery, and writes her own blog, Rainbow Sunshine Blogs.
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