BUGSY MALONE FINAL PERFORMANCES!!!💃

(sorry for bad quality, Blogger ruined them lol)

My costume!

The day is finally here; it's Thursday December 6th, and we finally performed Bugsy Malone! Manning ourselves with liquid eyeliner, we took to the mirrors to paint our faces for our two big performances. By twelve o'clock the glamorous and elegant barmaid that is Betty Flowers was onstage and serving cocktails and champagne to underage child actors. (Okay, I'm just kidding, there were no alcoholic beverages served throughout the production.)  


But just wait - here's the full costume and a couple of other photos from our first performance. It was so incredibly nerve racking performing in front of (...) but I found that once I got into stage and into character, I became sassy and confident and everything I told myself I would be onstage beforehand. My time was spent either pouring drinks, talking to Fizzy (played by the very hyperactive Chloe McQueen) or ducking behind the bar avoiding getting splurged by s̶h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶c̶r̶e̶a̶m̶  very real and not-fake splurge foam erupting from splurge guns. By the end of the performance I was feeling alright about the next show because I discovered that there was really nothing to worry about. 


Overall the performances were great. During dress rehearsal there were a couple of missed cues and some forgotten lines, but we did better during our first performance, and by our second performance there were NO MISTAKES AT ALL! 

I also ended up doing a solo in the song 'Hello,' along with a few others, which was incredibly nerve racking but I remembered that no one practically remembers my solo from the Lion King unless we actually think about it. It was especially terrifying performing in front of all of my classmates and teachers (especially teachers) but by the time I got onstage and was really getting into it I found myself to be the sassy Betty Flowers I was always meant to be. 

The shows ended with an enormous show of cream pies and party poppers and balloons and streamers which got the audience really going (or as Bugsy might say, it got their motors racing). 

A big well done to everyone who participated. I CANNOT WAIT to do musical theatre next year (I'm begging you, teachers, please bring this back) and be able to meet new people and make new friends like I have this year.

Lots of love, Betty Flowers xoxo

WELCOME TO FAT SAM'S GRANDSLAM! 🥂

Finally I've arrived back at school for musical theatre. Today we ran through the whole performance, and I've got to say, it was extremely nerve-racking. It didn't help that I'd been away for the whole week.

Some things I need to work on/don't know -- and how I can fix it.

• When the lights are focused on something else and the bar is dark, what do I do? I can ask a teacher to fix this.
• I don't know the lyrics to some songs: tonight I'm going to listen to the soundtrack on repeat to fix this.
• What am I going to wear for the big night? I can reference to photos of 20's inspired bartenders to fix this.

Other than that I generally just have to work out where I'm standing (in the wings, offstage etc.) and work together with the rest of the cast to put on an amazing show. 

UPDATE: I have pulled out of the role for the drag queen who auditions/Kornukopia (I'm definitely not as confident as I was in the Lion King!) I am instead going to incorporate Kornukopia into the role of bar manager instead!

I have been working on some sketches to illustrate what I believe Kornukopia will look like - I'll share these with you sometime soon in my next blog post.  Until then, goodbye!

THE ROARING 20's (no, not the P!ATD song, the other one) 💃

What do you know about the world of Bugsy Malone? Things were very different in the 1920's and now is your chance to get into the mindset with some research. 
- What were buildings like? 
- What was the fashion like?
- What was home life like?
- What was entertainment like?

To find out about fashion I created a 1920's inspired mood board to represent some of the fashion trends (although I doubt that word was used back then!) including jewellery, shoes, suits, perfume, etc for both females and males. 

The 1920's (Roaring 20's if I may) was the era of very glamorous fashion. Dresses were very common in females, the dresses being very straight and long. Striped suits were very on-trend for males, often paired with bowties, sensible shoes and fedoras. Probably the most iconic fashion piece of the decade were beaded or feathered headdresses on women.

These looks were the trend
for men and women of the Roaring 20's.

WANT TO BUY A BEADED HEADDRESS LIKE THE ONES FROM 20'S? SHOP GUCCI'S CRYSTAL HEADBAND FOR $900. IT'S SO ICONIC THAT JEFFREE STAR OWNS IT. 

Makeup in the 20's - exaggerated, dark lip lines were very popular in the 20's, especially after 1915 when the metal lipstick container was invented. Although, modern makeup like mascara wands weren't invented until the mid 20's, so women resorted to household products such as Vaseline mixed with coal to achieve the look of darker lashes. Blush was also popular in the 20's and women would achieve this look using blush (or rouge, as they called it back then) in compacts. 
Men in the 20s would often sport clean shaven faces. However, it wasn't uncommon for men to grow moustaches. Even less rarer, the beard, as it went out of style after its success in the 1800's. 

The ideal female body type in the Roaring 20's:
- Flat chested
- Short hair (bob hairstyle like as shown above)
- An almost 'boyish figure' - no breasts, small hips and waist, skinny.

Music and entertainment in the 20's was very different as it is today as we have much more developed technology to do things such as listen to music and watch films - for example, we no longer have to watch *gasp* silent films! Yes, there were actually films made without sound, simply because, they didn't have the technology in the 20's.


One of the most famous silent film stars had to be Charlie Chaplin. He was an actor, filmmaker, comic actor and composer who starred in over 26 successful silent films over a span of 75 years lasting from his childhood through to his last film in 1967. 21 years later, in 1988, Charlie Chaplin died, leaving behind 11 children, a collection of amazingly-successful films, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Drag queens were prominent in the 1920's - though not as popular as they are now. Jean Malin was one of the first gay drag queens in the 20's, but, surprisingly, he was not punished for this.


In fact, the 20's was an era of LGBT (although they definitely did not call it this!) acceptance that was not seen again until at least the 1970's. The 20's was a great time to be alive if you are LGBT! 🌈

CAN SOMEONE TEACH ME TO DEATH DROP? 💅

It's that time of the year again. Yes, remember Festival of The Arts and that surprisingly-successful production of The Lion King we did last year? Hornby High is back again with another school production. No, I'm not playing an ape. I'm playing my ultimate alter-ego, the stunningly-sassy, flamboyant and gorgeous Kornukopia the drag queen. 

This is the look I had in mind.
of course this is the gorgeous IRL drag queen,
Pearl.

Okay but for real, I'm playing a small character - a drag queen who auditions for a job at Fat Sam's lively joint. I'm also playing the often-seen but never heard bar manager who works at Fat Sam's. 

CHARACTER PROFILE
Name: Kornukopia
Age: 22
Gender: Male>female drag queen
Appearance: Very pale skin. Blonde Marilyn Monroe wig with one of those beaded flapper headpieces. Long and straight black/white dress (something very 20's) Enormous high heels - borrowed from my Mum. Fur coat possibly.
Early life: Raised in the Bronx, her father Jean Malin was a drag queen, her mother died of Polio. Self-taught singer and actress who has starred in a number of silent films including 'The Jazz Singer' in 1927. 
Props: microphone.

CHARACTER PROFILE #2
Name: Betty Flowers
Age: 25
Gender>female
Appearance: Light makeup - bright red lipstick, subtle eyeliner (this role appears before Kornukopia does, so I need to be able to put makeup on top of it instead of having to remove it) White collared shirt, suspenders, black pants and black kitten heels. I need to be able to possibly dance and move around in the 'Fat Sam's Grand Slam' number. 
Props: Cigarette/cigar, tray of drinks. 

PHOTOS FROM REHEARSALS SO FAR