Running Through Part Of 'Cinderella'

Today we ran through part of act one of 'Cinderella'. I could still have put more energy into performing, so it would be beneficial to warm up more before college to improve this. When practising my sight reading and characterisation by reading monologues and improvising, I need to read more 'happy' monologues and improvise as happier characters, to get in the mood for Panto.

It was mentioned by the director that the pantomime, in general, is currently 'flat' (lacking in energy and boring for the audience to watch). It was also said that, in places, there is too much 'air' (meaning that too much time has passed between peoples lines).

We ran through the dance at least 5 times. I put more energy into the dance by the third run, but I should have done this sooner. I need to practise dancing at home with the music, in front of a mirror at least 20 times a day to get the dance moves moves as strong and precise as possible. My position in the dance got switched and then it was suddenly switched again without anyone notifying me, so I had to change back to my original position in the middle of the dance and it threw me off a bit. The professional approach would be to just swiftly move into the empty position, and carry on. In the future, this is the approach that I must adopt, as someone could easily take the incorrect position on stage during an actual show.

When it came to acting as part of The Chorus, I thought that I could have put more energy into my performance. I think I need to practise this character's reactions in front of a mirror more. I also need to make each move, stronger and sharper. I've never been part of an 'Acting Chorus' before so I have to watch some pantomimes and musicals to observe how they react.

I was given feedback that onstage I looked evil, moody and unattractive. The main cause of this is probably because in the past I had a track record of playing the evil villain, as well as aggressive and sly characters. The only two characters I've ever played that were 'happy' were the Scarecrow in The Wizard Of Oz and John Landis at Sadlers Wells. I need to apply the techniques I used to portray these characters to my character in Panto. For example, for the Scarecrow I had to use lots of energy and physicality to become the character. I also had to keep my eyebrows lifted and eyes wide, to appear more friendly. For John Landis, I was on a big stage so every move had to be big and extremely over exaggerated to come across to every audience member. I also smiled constantly, which is what I must do in Panto, with the exception of reacting to 'The Baroness'.