Written by Matilda M (Year 7)
Wow, thank you so much! Being cast as Gavroche and Young Eponine is truly
amazing, I'm so excited! Here's my article on feedback from the Workshop.
It's still hard to believe I'm going to be Gavroche AND Young Eponine! The most important reason I felt so prepared for the audition was because of the amazing music workshop we had. It was so fun and got us all excited and confident for the school production of Les Misérables.
The workshop took place in the school Drama Studio on Tuesday Period 2. I walked in feeling nervous yet so excited! I expected it to be just about singing, but we did a full run through of the show, and created a dance to the finale song, “Do you here the people sing”, and I got to wave the flag in the song.
The workshop began with Miss Hobbs and Mr. Brown leading us with some really fun warm ups. We did vocal exercises like 1 to 8 where we go up the scale singing 1 to 8 to make our voices strong and warmed up, we also played this game where everything is the opposite move/action what made our brains think and made us engage. We played some games as well like splat, and it instantly made the room's vibe change and made us all friendly and closer.
Then we got into music. We sang the song “Do you hear the people sing” where we did a dance choreography and added lots of levels and a few cannons in there. It made the song sound completely different, much more like an ensemble cast. This really added character to the song.
The atmosphere was brilliant. Everyone was kind, and we all worked really well together. It was great to hear the other children's voices, especially when we sang together. Miss Hobbs and Mr. Brown were so helpful they didn't just tell us what to do, they explained why.
I learned so many skills, how to clearly pronounce the French names, like Cosette and Javert. The whole experience made me realise how much depth there is to the musical.
Walking out of the workshop, I was completely buzzing. It was one of the reasons I was so excited to audition for ‘Les Misérables: School Edition’. It gave me a huge confidence boost, not just in singing but in acting, too. Getting to work with the music and drama teachers made me feel ready to tackle Gavroche!
Then on Friday 19th September, I had the surprise of my life, which left me totally speechless! I was to be cast for BOTH roles Gavroche and Young Eponine! I couldn’t believe it as there were so many other talented performers auditioning for the same roles.
Thank you so much for casting me into the production, I am bursting with excitement and can't wait to be on the stage performing and doing the thing I love the most! I will give absolutely everything, from rehearsals right through to the live performances.