Warm-ups?!

[LightinGal]

Does anyone have any advice for vocal warm-ups.
im SMing. its not a musical, but we really need them to warm up their voices.
also.
what kind of warm ups do you do before the show.
i have a few. but this cast is older and "too-cool" to do a pre show shake down.
also, what kind of stuff do you do after rehearsals or shows.
i have been to some theatres where after an intense rehearsal they will do breathing exercises.
but once again. this cast is too-cool for that!.
which makes me mad. cause i have all this stuff i wanted to do with them but they look at me like im an idiot when i try to do it!
grr...

and finally. what kind of pep-talk do you give them on opening night?

any help would be great!
i plan on using alot of this kind of stuff on my next show!
THANKS!

[ccfan213]

haha warm ups? i assume you r talking about actors, ours dont really warm up (that i know of) i am usually doing my own warm up before a show aka changing mic batteries, picking preshow music, eating pizza...
pep talks, the SMs and directors tell the stage crew and cast how hard they worked to prep for the show and how wonderful they will be, stuff like that i think, again... i miss this cause of my battery changing and pizza eating. as far as crew pep talks, once evereone's on their headset, "good luck, dont screw up"

[Peter]

Our cast usualy does something in the chorus room (aka: changing room) before the show starts. It doesnt last more then 5 mins and we know the show is about to start when they go in there. (that's the time we run arround fixing everything they have been messing up (props etc...) before the show). I am not sure what they do in there, the last time a tech tried to go in there during that time he was never seen again. (ok, well, he was seen again, but was traumatized for life by the yelling at he got by the director).

There is another thread arround about crew pep talks that might be worth looking up!

[LightinGal]

haha...ya, i ment the actors.
in some theatres ive been to they do stuff like the hokey pokey.
its really more to get everyone energized and pumped up for the show.
and it really works when you do it. thats why i really want to find something to do with my cast!
and i generally do like to get the crew in on it too. since its a small show and we only have board ops and a few backstage people. its easier and it brings everyone together.
i went to one theatre and they have everyone stand in a circle, hold hands and for about a minute, they take their time, and make eye contact with everyone. it makes everyone feel appreciated. and when done. they all take one huge breath in and one huge breath out. its a nice relaxer and brings everyone closer. thats for after rehearsals though.
::sigh::...i love theatre people.... :wink:

[SketchyCroftPpl]

Ha ha wow memories ... but yes I know one ... its called ziga mamma ... its really hard to do or even type in something like this but if you look it up your might be able to find something, I'll see if I can download it somewhere and then send it to you, its alot of fun though especially if you start bouncing around.

~Nick

[tenor_singer]

I have them play some form of improv game talking quietly and then in time building to a louder voice. Some improv games I play:

The morphing prop (which is invisible and they have to pantomime it "morphing" into whatever they do a tiny skit about).

The prop circle where they take an every-day prop, like a feather duster, and act out a skit using the feather duster as an item that it really isn't. For example... one student can take it and act like he is doing a live guitar performance using the duster as his guitar. He can than pass it on to somebody else who uses it as something else.

The one word at a time story. You sit in a circle and I start you with a word like "Once". Then working around the circle you add a word, repeating what was said before you. It is good for memory and improv skills.

There are some vowel/consonant drills that you can do where you have them inflect their voices on different vowel sounds. You have probably seen movies where actors do this behind the normal scene... the movie I am thinking of is... I can't think of its title... it is the one where Tim Allen gets slapped at work and he works out to beat up the bully who slapped him. His ex-wife's boyfriend in the play is an actor who consistently goes around performing various vocal exercises. Either way your troupe sounds like a bunch of fire sirens... lol.

Hope this helps.

Tenor.

[SuperCow]

I personally refuse to participate in warm-ups. I stay in the booth during that time! But our cast does them.

[RelativeMischief]

The only theatre shows I've worked with extensively were musicals. The actors would rewrite the words to popular song so that it was about the show. They would add a little bit every rehearsal and when opening night came the song was finsished and was the warm-up routine.

I forget what the show is called but the best song they did was for a musical that was a combination of old testament bible stories (no this wasn't christian school, but it was the musical that the drama teacher picked). They re-wrote "Bohemian Rhapsody" into "Hewbrewian Rhapsody". I'll see if I can get a copy of the lyrics from one of the guys if they still have it, it was a few years ago now :P

The pep talk I usually gave the crew involved a basic rundown of who to talk to when things went wrong, that things were going to go wrong and to have fun fixing them. A perfect show is boring and it's not like we were getting paid to do any of it.

For aftershow wind-down we went to a little coffee shop just down the road from the school. We fit a cast and crew of about 30 people into a shop meant to seat 10-12 :D It was really fun (If you're going to do this, phone the shop before hand so they have extra staff of hand, it's a nice thing to do)

Cheers!
Aaron

[Too_Tall]

Well, our cast does do warm-ups. Most are improv games to energize up to. There is one that will warm up their voice though, It is called "Who Put the Penny in the Gum Slot" It is like a song/chant. It goeas as follows: "Who put the penny in the gum slot? penny and the gum go round, round, round, round. I get the gum and you get the wrapper cause i put the penny in the gum slot." That is the way it starts and then to warm up other vord one person will say a letter like "T" then everyone says "Tho Tut the Tenny in the Tum Tot? Tenny and the Tum go Tound, Tound, Tound, Tound. I get the Tum and you get the Trapper cause i Tut the Tenny in the Tum Tot." This continues until the main person thinks everyone is warmed up. you can use other constinates instead of "T", i just thought it was the easiest

[avkid]

Peter, you are a techie,bug the chorus room!