Day 1

The 16 participants met up last night at La Boheme for an informal briefing. Today was our first day of work.

During this week we'll each be creating an original 10-minute solo cabaret and will perform these segments on Saturday at The Promethean Theatre.

This morning everyone introduced themselves in detail, explained why they have come to Cabaret Summer School, and shared their goals for the week. There is a great variety of performers. Some are experienced cabaret performers. Some have had a lot of theatre experience but are new to cabaret. Some have recently graduated from performing arts courses. Some (like me) have discovered performing later in life - or have finally given themselves the permission to do it. It was fascinating to hear about all the different paths people have taken through life. Regardless of background, everyone now has the opportunity to create something unique. Each person identified their own strengths and specified the aspects in which they would like particular help.

This is my second time through Cabaret Summer School. I know how quickly the week passes, and am determined to squeeze as much value from it as possible. Whereas last year I was a bit reticent about declaring my objectives, today I did not hold back. There's no point keeping your goals a secret from people who can help you to achieve them.

We then moved into the first Masterclass. Each person sang a song of their choice and was workshopped in front of the group. My song was "This Happy Madness" by Jobim. I have been really obsessed by this song and have listened to the recording (sung by Jobim himself) hundreds of times. This meant I knew the song very well, but was imitating Jobim's phrasing. I was encouraged to identify what the song meant for me and to hold this idea in my mind whilst singing the words of the song. During each performance, the other participants were writing notes by way of feedback for the performer (to be handed to them at the end of the day). We were asked to focus on what we liked about the performance and to provide helpful suggestions, not criticism. Matthew Carey and Catherine Campbell gave their feedback publicly. We had the opportunity to sing again and put the feedback into action.

Some people performed their own original compositions and accompanied themselves on piano or ukelele. Very impressive!

I was surprised how nervous I felt during this exercise. You think you'll be fine, then when you get up and start singing, the adrenaline kicks in. I needed two hands on the microphone to keep it from exercising its own free will. I was offered some acting techniques to help me connect with the lyrics and with the audience. This moved me outside my comfort zone but I've learned that when experts are there to help you there's no point protesting and wasting time - just do what they are asking you to do and get on with it.

The big message from the day was "You are enough". Don't imitate other people or be the way you think others expect you to be. Authenticity on the platform is very "watchable".