Reaching the Note Bash Summit!

Production: Closest to the Moon by Richard Taylor
Rehearsal Week 1
By Melanie Bell (Cast)

So we've officially finished the "note-bashing" process and I have to say, with great success. This is due mainly to the patience and thoroughness of the one fabulous Claire McKenzie, our MD. This is by far the most difficult score I have worked on and being in Claire's shoes I probably would have run screaming back to an American Juke Box Medley. In the vein of Sondheim, these songs are as intricate as they come and though somehow the lines meant for singing and the piano lines wouldn't be noticed as belonging together if one heard them separately, together they intertwine and promote instant emotional gut reactions. The music is marvellous, and now that I sort of have my brain wrapped around most of it I feel like I've been let into the secret world that Richard Taylor has created.

Claire started us off "rapping"! Yes, we chanted rhythmically for several hours and with time signatures rotating between 9/16 and 7/16 and 3/8 and 5/8 and 5/16 in a matter of brief measures - rapping was definitely the way to go. And then we meticulously added the notes. Yes, a tune too - ranging from 4 to 6 part harmonies. And the big kicker, though we're saving this for next week, two of these songs are acapella! It's one of those things that when you get right you really feel like you're standing on top of a mountain screaming with joy - which is interesting since the musical itself is about a man who is climbing Mt. Everest. So you could say that after this week of introduction to the score, we have reached the summit - or at least shaken hands with our sherpa.

Aside from familiarising ourselves with the music, we had a full company read-through with Claire, Phillip Howard the director, and Richard Taylor the composer. And as this is a new musical in developmental stages we were able to run around the room shooting off possible running orders and narrative plot ideas. It was concluded that this piece, Closest to the Moon, will remain non-linear - as it should in my opinion. But the biggest question, "Why do people climb Everest?" at it's centre and exploring the climber's reasons in correspondence to what the wife he's left behind thinks about the whole idea, is a way for the audience to be let in and hopefully connect to the climbers and non-climbers inside themselves.

The camaraderie in the room coupled with the artistic team's confidence in us, the actors - has started us off on a very exciting journey. This week ahead will allow for more exploration of the material as we discover exactly what it is going to become, and more chances to nail those terribly and wonderfully tricky numbers as a group. We have to "feel each other". We've started our own little Everest journey together and I couldn't be more pumped!
More to come!