We've started to push Walker past our regular placement and performance exercises and lessons! We're raising up the next RV musical lead! And boy oh boy have we started working towards it.
Even Walker's base line videos (his before videos) are getting INCREDIBLE!!! This kid knows how to work. His voice is already moving to be better than anything i've heard in an RV musical - we just have to have the rest of his acting (in singing), character, full musical theater stage placement, energy, stage presence, and movement to the same level.
To start down this crazy path that he told me he wanted - we've started working on our base line stage placements and tricks -- the things he needs to be as natural as our original placement for the stage. The place we start is energy.
Energy and movement in musical theater is key. It's the difference between sounding like you're singing karaoke and like you're on a stage. Movement helps bring the energy - but the sound by itself has to be able to carry. In order to do this we started working on projecting and raising the energy in our in between words, making sure that there are no dips in energy and pronunciation throughout the lines. We hit our consonants hard. We widen our vowels. And we use our diaphragm to bring both power and volume by pulling in our stomach muscles while pushing the airflow out as we sing.