The Lion King Kids Cast Diary
DAY ONE
And off we go... Day one we enter into the read through stage, each cast got to read through their scripts with the music. Reading aloud their dialogue and singing the crowd favourite songs. The Crew get to hear the amazing young talent come to life and how well their casting worked from the audition phase. Now onto the rest of the intensive week. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY TWO and THREE
A lot of vocal work needed for the next two days, harmonising and singing together as a group. Learning African words and songs that some of the cast have not heard before. We also saw on Day Two, some choreography kicking off with Ella running the dancers through their tracks. Starting to already sound amazing. Some great work with our production crew, led by Musical Director Maisy Jo and Vocal Coach Cloudy Davey. Keep up the good work. Tomorrow, staging with the Directors. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY FOUR and FIVE
A long haul and the cast and crew fight through some tough hot days! What a journey, to hear these songs come to life and with such flare! Amazing. We have some awesome Costume Peeps really working hard and creating some amazing prop pieces. Our Giraffe has been amazing and can't wait to see it painted up with full costumes. The dance choreography and blocking are coming along, but by far the vocals are the stand-out! Amazing effort all round! By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY SIX and SEVEN
Now our crew have managed to block half the show! This is amazing, especially considering the cast is 52 strong! Crazy amount of kids in one room, wow! With Kids versions of shows, we always find that there are no clear scenes outlined, all storylines just blend into each other. This means that the Directors had to spend time going through the script, creating scenes so our Admin can then break the scenes up into a rehearsal schedule. This is a long tedious job but well worth doing to avoid cast members hanging around waiting for one scene. Vocals and Choreography is much simpler, just listing the songs allows everyone to know exactly what they are working on. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY EIGHT
Our first run through, but not one - both casts shined on stage. We had some giggles, uncertainty, but overall a great first run seeing the coming together. The cast really enjoyed working together to create these characters whilst the crew through all they had to bring the best out of the performers. With only 2 weeks left and a few more run throughs, the work now is on the cast to practice at home! Well done guys and gals, let's make this the best we can. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY NINE
Costumes are really starting to come to life, with use of stage blocks helps the cast feel Pride Rock and the height they will be achieving on stage. Our costume gals are doing amazing jobs, creating amazing costume pieces, just take a look at the planning for Pumba. Amazing effort! Being able to rehearse with these costumes really helps the cast bring their performance to life. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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DAY TEN and ELEVEN
Set, props and costumes were the big push for these days, wow! The Costume department were going insane with all the amazing costumes they bring to life. Make-up attempts are tried and characters really beginning to take frame. We have a strong a dedicated team at NOW Productions. They were tirelessly with only one goal in mind, to bring opportunities to the local community not only for the young cast but also the audience to gain the very best experience they can By Joe Russell (Producer) |
BUMP IN
We have the truck, we have loaded the set for both Lion King Kids and the Addams Family. How crazy are we to do two shows at once! Don't ask the Costume Crew, they might be too honest! But, secretly, we love the chaos. Bring two shows to life is great fun, especially when one promotes the other. Bump in starts at 8am on Thursday. Only 5 hours to set the stage, go through the lights, check the microphones and organise the props table. Then we have the dressing rooms, cast photos and costume/make up arrangements. We then move into our 2 x tech runs and 2 x dress runs! We'll have a lot of exciting cast members and a stressed production crew. Bring on Production Week. By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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TECH and DRESS REHEARSAL
With two casts, we need to run two tech rehearsals and two dress rehearsals. This is particularly important as up until now, our cast haven't rehearsed with microphones, full costume and make up. Lion King has a lot of Costumes and Make Up, which causes some hiccups. The Tech crew have to work on the show and ensure they learn their roles and cues. This will also be the first time the cast and crew see the whole set come to life. Amazing and scary all in one! By Joe Russell (Producer) |
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SHOWS
Here we go, two months of planning and rehearsing and our cast and crew finally get to present Lion King Kids! First time Directors Alex Richardson and Emily Cumming deliver an amazing cast of whilst heading Choreographer Ella Ashenden followed by Musical Director Maisy Jo and Vocal Coach Cloudy Davey. Our Sound headed by Bryce Young and supported by Harry Rouse. All of this is Stage Managed by the always fun loving, Lily Cotton. What a journey, Now Productions Cast and Crew, take a bow! By Joe Russell (Producer) |