Mirrors and Makeup (The Musical) is one of the most challenging things I have done since entering the performing arts and music area. It’s not for the faint-hearted, and directing a musical is not for the faint-hearted, but it can be advantageous.
The concept of Mirrors and Makeup came from wanting to develop young artists into a field where they could, where they probably hadn’t done any drama at school, singing, or dancing. Still, I wanted to help them gain experience in a group setting and with guidance from people I knew and those who had done it previously, although there weren’t many.
This was hard; it wasn’t easy for me because the director needed to learn everybody’s lines and understand where people came in and out. Rem Conway was excellent because he has done it before. We put exercises in place that stretched all actors, assisting them with concentration and focusing on moving their bodies into positions that would engage the audience more effectively. Facial actions that enhanced the direction of the script. I used a
flipchart to demonstrate the blocking I was looking for, highlighting at the same time methods of learning their lines quickly. Because the actors had never acted, I set up a WhatsApp group where I referenced YouTube videos to highlight what I was looking for.
One excellent thing was getting people to work in pairs and groups of three. It assisted them with their lines and, gradually, the entire script.
This was crucial because we had to prepare for the unexpected, knowing we would only sometimes have the whole cast present at rehearsals. Having cast members who could step into someone else’s role was essential to managing this.
Cast members were encouraged to learn the whole script, making understanding their cues and those of their co-members more accessible. We were working with two groups of young people, Northfield Youth Service, a group brought together by Wheeler Street. Both groups worked well together, assisting with the movement of props, positioning young people in the right place at the right time and blocking. However, it was tricky because most people had never acted in the field of performing arts and preparing for a performance in front of 400 hundred people.
The storyline of Mirrors and Makeup starts with a young girl who could be more confident at school. She achieves this because she is an outstanding singer. However, she doesn’t look like an artist or an individual who could develop into a chart-topping vocalist.
The scene is set with famous “top” students in a school or college. A girl engages with one of the top boys, who encourages her to enter a singing competition. She befriends another girl, who seems supportive but is deceitful. This false friend manipulates her, secretly enters the competition, and wins. The girl is devastated by the betrayal, but the boy who helped her initially warns her of the other girl’s true nature. Despite facing threats from a chool gang, he supports her. Eventually, the girl confronts her fake friend during the competition, revealing the betrayal in front of the judges, who then uggest they sing together.
The script relates to real-life scenarios frequently occurring in the global and British Reggae music industries. The task for any artist or band confronted with such deceit is to reach out to mentors and professionals who are part of the production team and who can handle these issues sensitively in the first instance.
