Best done in a group
Dr. Marc Reynolds
How to Learn a Role
Acting for Singers: Day 1, Topic 3
So you have been given a role in an opera or musical. What now?
Note: This is not necessarily a linear process as the outline suggests. It also includes a lot of principles and skills we will work on later in this course. This list is to get the ideas in your mind and to be a resource later when you know better how to do everything mentioned here.
- Read the libretto. Understand what every word that is spoken in the show means.
- Read the original work the opera was based on (if it exists).
- Listen to the music, trying to listen for the part of the story it is telling (imagery it evokes, emotions it conjures, the patterns of climax and release).
- Character Research (Intellectual)
- Primary Sources (Information that can’t be changed without the audience knowing it)
- Secondary Sources (Information that should be known but can be changed without the general audience knowing)
- Tertiary Sources (Information that can be used to help you reach a greater sense of understanding of your character)
- Character Research (Experiential)
- Do I have any life experiences that are similar to the character or situation?
- How did I or others act in this situation (break it down into as much sequential detail as you can)?
- Who do I know that is most like this character?
- What would it be like to live in their body? Try the Character Suit Exercise.
- If I was to be their mirror what would I do?
- What are their character hooks? What gestures and mannerisms are unique to this individual.
- Is there anyone I can talk to or watch that has experienced something close to what the opera calls for?
- Do I have any life experiences that are similar to the character or situation?
- Character Exploration (Off-stage)
- If my character were alive today how would they (fill in the blank with an action)? Go about your daily life as if you were this person.
- If I were alive in my character’s world how would I (fill in the blank with action)? Go about parts of your daily life as true to the period of your character’s world as you can get.
- Try the Black & White to Vivid Color in Motion Exercise.
- Character Exploration (On-stage)
- What is given to me to use and react to? What do I need to imagine and create for myself? Use the image you discovered in the Black & White to Vivid Color in Motion Exercise to compare and contrast with what you actually have on stage with you.
- How would my character use this object (prop)? How would I move in the world the set and lights imply?
- Explore The Possibilities.
- Unique vs. Original. Does how I am doing something communicate new information or reinforce already established information in the show? What is the way my character and only my character would do this certain action?
- Sequence The Action
- You haven’t started blocking rehearsals yet. You don’t know what the blocking will be. Don’t let this stop you from making decisions. Remember you can always change them later.
- Identify the sequence of actions being taken on stage. “I look at this person here. I walk away from that person here. That person walks away from me here.” No matter what the blocking is on stage and what the set looks like you can be sure about who you are talking to and what you think your character’s reactions and the internal world would be.
- Memorize the sequence of those essential actions that happen in the story.
- Walkthrough the sequence as your character.
- Not only will this help you memorize but it will also make it so you are ready for the first blocking rehearsal. The last thing you want to do is walk into a blocking rehearsal without any idea of what you think is going on around or inside your character. Be ready to amend those ideas but in the rehearsal room, you need to be the expert on your specific character.
- Learn your Music: See A More Effective Way To Learn Music
- Motivate Your Blocking
- During your blocking rehearsals do whatever you need to do to capture the blocking given to you quickly and accurately
- Do the “Magic if” in reverse adaptation to blocking given to you: “What would make my character need to do this action (stand, sit, walk, etc.) at this moment?
- The stage director may just tell you where to go and what to do. It is your job to “motivate” each thing you are told to do and to “connect” the dots between each given moment with your actions.
- If a director gives you blocking that you don’t think matches what your character would do then try to find another solution. Try it first.
- If you can’t find a compelling reason for the action you have been told to do and you have really done your best to think of one then do the following:
- Say something to the director like “I’m struggling to find a motivation for why my character would do this can you help me?”
- Be prepared with what you think your character would do and why and also why what you are asking to do doesn’t feel authentic to the character to you.
- You are expected to be the expert on your character. So make a decision and then be prepared to change it if you need to. The director may or may not be open to your suggestions. If not, then you have to find a way to make it as authentic and believable as possible.
- If you can’t find a compelling reason for the action you have been told to do and you have really done your best to think of one then do the following:
- Extra tips
- The hardest part of any project is overcoming inertia. Starting to do something can be so daunting that we end up doing nothing and procrastination and anxiety grow with each moment this continues. The key to success is in committing to doing at least something every day (even if it’s a tiny thing) on the role you are working on.
- Memorize from back to front. This way when you get up to perform the performance only gets stronger the deeper you get into it. It is much more pleasant psychologically to get more confident and not less as the show goes on.
- Get up and do the action while you speak the language. The more modes of learning you can engage the quicker you will retain it. Performing is a physical activity so connect everything you do to your body.
- Always stay open to amendment. The sooner you get used to this just being a part of being on the stage the happier you will be. Enjoy the process of exploration.
- Get help whenever and from wherever you can. If it is helpful and it makes your product better then it doesn’t matter where it came from. The opposite is also true.
- Memorize everything on the page that relates to your part.
- Carry note cards with you so you can memorize them on the go.
- Remember: Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.
Assignments:
Writing Assignment 0: Choose your performance projects
Writing Assignment 1: Marked Up Score 1.0
Writing Assignment 3: The “Who am I” Paper 1.0
Links to other articles in Acting 101 for Singers Day 1
Topic 4: The #1 asset a performer has is ______?
Topic 5: Where am I? Who am I?
Topic 6: Boxes – What does the Music Have to Say About Dramatic Change?
Topic 7: Lines – It’s about stress!
Topic 8: Arrows – Pinning Down Where Ideas Shift
Topic 9: Circles – Finding the music that we have to move to
Topic 10: Where does imagination come from?
A More Effective Way to Learn Music
Acting for Singers: Day 1, Topic 2
In my experience, young singers go about learning music completely backward. Really! Read the following steps, and you will not only get the correct learning process, but also see how musicians should spend their time in the practice room. An incorrect process leads to mistakes, vocal technique issues, inefficient practicing, unengaged acting, and in general, not-so-great performances. The following method may seem more time-consuming and tedious at the start, but in the long run, it will save you time and yield a much better final product. Give it a try!
Here is How!
1. Translate the language. Mark in breathing cues. Identify natural accents in the text.
2. Gather dramatic information that is in the printed music (musical form, expressive markings, dynamics, context indicators in language, action and mood music, and other primary sources that give insight into the piece).
3. Decide on the context for your piece (the who, what, where, when, why). Not all pieces have a given context. If the context is not dictated, then you get to choose one that you think fits the text, music, and you as an artist. Note: make a decision, but do it knowing that you can change any part of it later on if you come up with something better. The more vivid, imaginative, and emotionally charged, the easier it will be.
4. Storyboard your piece. Start with the big structural moments (beginning, end, new musical sections, climax, etc.), and then work down to individual phrases. Memorize the pattern of actions (“I go here, then I do this, then I see that, and I show this feeling on my face, etc.”). Be specific and talk in the first person when you are thinking about this character. Example: “At m. 25 beat 3, I see a candle in the distance and that gives me hope. I take a step towards the candle to try to see it better at the end of the next phrase, etc.”
6. Learn the diction correctly the first time by speaking it through until you can speak it like you MEAN it. It should feel fluid and natural on your tongue. GET HELP! IPA is great but a good coach or native speaker is even better.
7. Add in natural accents, dynamics, and phrasing required by the music while speaking.
8. Learn correct rhythms the first time. Take time to count it out with a metronome. Do it alone, then add in previous steps.
9. Learn correct notes on a vowel, or on all the vowels if you feel ambitious. Then add previous steps.
10. By this time you should have it pretty much memorized, so singing it over and over to learn it isn’t needed. You should sing through it while deliberately choosing one or two things you need to fix. Video yourself, review, and then choose new issues to focus on and adjust.
11. Listen to recordings of other artists performing it. By this point, you have already made all of your decisions. You are now listening not to learn the song, but to understand what other artists have done with it and learn from what they do well and what they don’t do well.
“Is this the only right way to learn a song?”
Nope. It is a great starting place though. Find the way that works best for you, but be deliberate about it. Work smarter AND harder. My suggestion would be to follow this method step by step for at least a few songs, and then when you’ve got it down, start to alter it to best suit you.
Assignments:
Writing Assignment 0: Choose your performance projects
Writing Assignment 1: Marked Up Score 1.0
Writing Assignment 3: The “Who am I” Paper 1.0
Links to other articles in Acting 101 for Singers Day 1
Topic 3: How to learn a role
Topic 4: The #1 asset a performer has is ______?
Topic 5: Where am I? Who am I?
Topic 6: Boxes – What does the Music Have to Say About Dramatic Change?
Topic 7: Lines – It’s about stress!
Topic 8: Arrows – Pinning Down Where Ideas Shift
Topic 9: Circles – Finding the music that we have to move to
Topic 10: Where does imagination come from?
Exercise: Truth or Lie
Group Exercise for Day 1 Topic 1
The Basic Premise
This is essentially the game “two truths and a lie.” However, here the goal isn’t just to identify the lie, but what their body did that made you think it was a lie. Whether or not you guess the right answer doesn’t matter here. What matters is that we identify what communicates a lie and what communicates truth.
The Rules
Step 1: Choose an option and follow the instructions
Option 1: Choose one player to be “it.” That person should think of and memorize three phrases that they can repeat exactly in their mind. One phrase should be untrue and the other two should be true.
Option 2: Choose one player to be “it.” That person should think of and memorize three phrases that they can repeat exactly in their mind. All three phrases should be false. The person that is “it” will choose two of the phrases they want to communicate as “true” and one as “false”.
Option 3: Choose one player to be “it.” That person should think of and memorize three phrases that they can repeat exactly in their mind. All three phrases should be true. The person that is “it” will choose two of the phrases they want to communicate as “true” and one as “false”.
Step 2: Go through Rounds 1-3 (either with the same person and same set of statements or three different people)
Round 1: Silent Movie Version – The person who is “it” says each statement in their mind as if they are telling a single person or the whole group. They aren’t allowed to speak or mouth the words. They aren’t allowed to mime. They are just supposed to do everything they would do if they were communicating each statement minus making sounds with their mouth.
Round 2: Monologue Version : Repeat Round 1, but add the actual statements being spoken by the person who is “it.” Did their body language change? What is more or less convincing? If so, why?
Round 3: Sung to a popular song of choice Version : Now the person who is “it” must sing the statements to the tune of a melody they know well. For example: it might be “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” The objective isn’t to make it fit well with the melody so much as it is to introduce the challenge of having the pitch and timing pre-determined. Did their body language change? What is more or less convincing? If so, why? Were they more or less successful in communicating truth and lies? What made their delivery believable or not believable?
Step 3: Each person observing should record their answers and identify specific actions that led them to believe or disbelieve the person delivering the statements.
Example: “Round 1: with each phrase their eyes were darting all over the place. This made it so I didn’t believe any of the phrases she thought were true.”
Step 4: Discuss amongst the group and come to a consensus of which phrases were supposed to be true and false. Discuss how you arrived at those conclusions based on body language.
Step 5: The person who was “it” reveals their actual intent that they chose at the start of the exercise and discusses the insights and challenges they experienced as they tried to perform the task assigned to them.
Moral of the Story:
When we are on stage we are usually trying to convince the audience that something is truth or a lie. Introducing music into the equation adds a new level of challenge in this effort of convincing the audience that we are being authentic and genuine with what we intend to communicate.
Acting 101 for Singers Introduction
Whether you want to be the next Opera Diva, Rock Star, Pop Sensation, or Musical Theater Idol, you need to understand the basic concepts and skills to make your performance come alive for the audience. This article is the start of a course-style series designed to teach singers how to act on stage.
[Read more…] about Acting 101 for Singers Introduction