Hey!
Although
this semester was quite busy and academically important, I didn’t give up
enjoying myself. It’s all about balance am I right?
BUSMS put
on two new shows. Main Show this year was Made in Dagenham, a musical about the
female machinists at a Ford factory striking for Equal Pay in the 60s. I did
not get cast but rather took part in a couple of chorus numbers (and helping
out with the numerous and confusing scene changes), and I was so glad in the
end. It was already pretty time consuming to just be in the chorus and,
contrary to when rehearsing for In The Heights, this time I had a lot of uni
work to get done. We had six weeks of rehearsals, affected by intersemester
break, snow and lack of proper rehearsal space, but somehow we managed to pull it off! Olli and Aaron, the directors,
did a great job and so did the cast. Hannah the choreographer made us sweat
with all the shimming and jumping around and I got to live my best 60s life
(I’m all about vintage costumes in case you don’t know). An excuse to wear my polka
dot dress and petticoat was a dream and I also got to be a showgirl and
struggle not to flash my bum on stage in This Is America, while rocking long
tassel blue earrings.
All in all, it was a great experience and I managed to
tick off ‘doing a main show’ off my bucket list. It was my last chance to do it
and the organization efforts (and unavoidable stress) were worth it.
Unfortunately, show dates this year were a bit crap with them being the week we
split off for Easter, so we had an open dress rehearsal and a matinée. However,
it meant that a few of my friends managed to come and see it before going home
and also some of the crowds were buzzing and clapping along on the evening
performances, which was such a great and rewarding feeling! Fighting for
women’s rights made for an incredibly emotional show and I met a few new people
who got involved with BUSMS for the first time then – all for the win!
The last
(and possibly most pressed for time) BUSMS show I got involved in was, of
course, Encore (I definitely did the full BUSMS shebang this time round!).
Another revue show, including the 2018 Leavers Song. We only had 3 weeks to
rehearse so every hour was important… And it clashed with my oral exams so that
was fun… Anyhow, I got cast in The Nicest Kids from Hairspray which was fun but
also in Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror, possibly one of my favourite
BUSMS numbers I have ever done. It was challenging in the sense that we had to
go all out to make it work, but I really enjoyed the fishnet tights and was
amazed at Calum’s skills to trot along the stage in massive platform heels. I
hope we made Chloe the director proud!
The Leavers
Song this year ended up being a right nostalgia trip. Rather than changing the
lyrics to a musical song, we came up with a mashup of ‘The Best of BUSMS 2014
to 2018’ with songs from all the shows we leavers had been involved in over the
course of our years at Bath. Costumes and choreo borrowed from the shows
themselves. Grease, The Book of Mormon, Rent, Made in Dagenham, Sunshine on
Leith… and, of course, In The Heights. I wore the Dominican flag proudly as I
sung with the leavers one last time. It was very emotional that is for sure.
Joining BUSMS
was one of the best decisions I made at University. Lacking some artistic
pastime, I joined in second year and took part in chorus numbers, braving my
first ever audition (on video though!) for the second show I did. While in
Siena I sent my video audition for In The Heights and somehow got picked for
the ensemble – one of the best experiences of my 4 years at University for
sure. This last year I had my mind set on being involved as much as possible
despite the workload and I think I successfully managed to do so. BUSMS has
given me tonnes of self-confidence, making me more comfortable on stage or in
front of a crowd but, most of all, it has given me new friendships and the
chance to say I am proudly part of the BUSMS family! I know all the members will
go on to do great things in the future and I will be there for the aftershows
as long as I am able to… Who knows, I might do November show next year too?
#postgradonasuicidemission
Aside from
being involved in BUSMS shows themselves, I also did a few theatre trips in
general. In February I went to Bristol Hippodrome to watch Wicked and I
absolutely loved it! It is so well staged and is essentially a fairy tale. I
now understand why it is some people’s favourite musical. Later that month I
went to the Royal Theatre in Bath to watch an amateur production of My Fair
Lady which was fun. It was pretty cool to watch amateur troupes performing in
big theatres!
In April
BUSMS had their annual theatre trip and we went to the West End to watch Kinky
Boots. We had seats in the stalls and omg it was amazing! It felt like a school
field trip to go on the coach singing musical songs (of course) and then I had
dinner with a few gals before the show. The show itself was great. I absolutely
loved the Angels, it had been ages since I’d watched a drag show and it reminded
me of my love for it! I also particularly liked the rendition of History of
Wrong Guys – I love that song!
Finally, I
got a group going to plan a trip to Bristol Hippodrome in May to watch Miss
Saigon right after the exams. My favourite part of the musical was the
helicopter scene and the lighting, but I wasn’t a massive fan of the musical
itself. It’s a classic though, so I am happy I went to watch it!
I also went
to a few BUST, Bodysoc and BUSMS shows which included the annual Bodysoc
showcase (the gymnastics people set up a routine for The Greatest Show which
was amazing), BUST show 1984 which
was intense to say the least, BUSMS Cabaret night to raise funds for charity (I
wanted to sign up to sing but Jess’ birthday was on the same night so I had to
split my time between both events…) and Fringe! During Fringe I watched two
BUST shows: Yerma and The History Boys. I was pleasantly surprised by the cast
of Yerma and The History Boys was a fun one with cross gender students. I just
about made it to the BUSMS Fringe show, Oh What A Lovely War – a strange take
on wars from the last century. It was hard to follow but props to all of them
for putting on the show in just a week!
During
Fringe I also attended a workshop run by Gavin Wilkinson, a West End performer
and current performing arts teacher. It was such a high intensity workshop but
we worked non-stop and put together three choreos including the full number of
Don’t Even Know It from Everybody Is Talking About Jamie (I saw the live-stream
of the show a few weeks ago and you should totally go and watch it if you get
the chance!) which I really enjoyed, and also a Beyoncé song and my all-time
dream of doing All That Jazz. Overall it was a tough day and I had sore muscles
for a few days afterwards but it was so worth it! Gavin was super nice,
approachable and full of energy so it was an amazing day!
Related to
BUSMS but not shows included going to the Activities Awards at the Apex Hotel
on the 1st of May. The food was bad but it was a lovely night with
fellow BUSMers and an excuse to dress up. My booby MiD photo got flashed on the
screen which was just fab (sense the irony) and it was lovely to catch up with
people involved in the societies. Genuinely so glad societies are a thing! I
had to leave early because I had an oral exam the next morning, but I was glad
I went!
We also had
the BUSMS End of Year Meal on the 8th of May in Aqua. We had the
full restaurant to ourselves and it was a great chance to all meet up, celebrate
a wonderful year (Chair Hannah’s speech at the end of the night was so lovely!)
and receive awards… I got best BUSMS-related social media because I am the
#promoqueen when it comes to shows (if you don’t yet, you should follow me on
IG @zoeamz!). It is always so funny to see what awards people receive as there
are always some worth a cackle.
Finally,
the last BUSMS event of the year was, of course, BUSMS Tag to nurse our Summer Ball
hungovers… Once I’d woken up I made my way to Victoria Park to meet up with
Jess, Dan and a few other Siena Brits. It was good to see Dan again and catch
up for a bit. Then I joined the BUSMS lot who were day drinking, sunbathing and
playing football, before we made our way to The Canon for some burgers and open
mic. It was insanely hot so my fan was a god send but it was a lovely night
with some fun numbers.
So, as
you’ve read, I’ve been seriously involved with BUSMS this year – and I wouldn’t
have had it any other way. I have dedicated a lot of time to my BUSMS family,
but I also managed not to neglect (and actually do quite well) in my role as
Fencing Social Sec – more on that on my next post!
Zoe x
Snapchat: zoeamma
Great experience....artistic, emotional, funny and full of new discoveries about your "unknown" skills! Happy you enjoyed it so much and proud of you being able to study and enjoy at the same time with so good results!!!
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have followed a family tradition SO successfully! I am so proud...and jealous! And you have shown yourself able to organize your time, dedication and energy so as to achieve both your hobbies AND your duties as a student to the best level possible. CONGRATULATIONS on your results!
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